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MacBarnett_2014X-_为什么一本好书是一扇神秘之门_
Hi everybody. So my name is Mac. 向我问这样的问题了。
My job is that I lie to children, but they're honest lies. 我的工作是「哄」小孩, 但那都是善意的谎言。
I write children's books, and there's a quote from Pablo Picasso , "We all know that Art is not truth. 我是童书作家, 巴勃罗?毕卡索曾说过: 「我们都知道艺术是虚虚实实的。
quote:v.引用;报价;举例说明;开价;为(企业的股份)上市;n.引用; Pablo:n.帕布鲁棕色; Picasso:n.毕加索(西班牙画家);
Art is a lie that makes us realize truth or at least the truth that is given us to understand. 艺术是让我们感悟真实的谎言 或至少是让我们领悟真实的事实。
The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies." 艺术家必须瞭解这种方式 让人们明白其谎言的真意。」
whereby:adv.凭借;通过…;借以;与…一致; convince:v.使确信;使相信;说服,劝说; truthfulness:n.真实;坦率;正当;
I first heard this when I was a kid, and I loved it, but I had no idea what it meant. 第一次听说这句话时还很小, 觉得超爱这句话, 尽管我一点都不了解其藴意。
(Laughter) （笑声）
So I thought, you know what, it's what I'm here to talk to you today about, though, truth and lies, fiction and reality. 所以,我想,大家肯定猜到了,今天在这里 要与诸位分享的话题, 也就是真实与谎言,虚幻与现实。
So how could I untangle this knotted bunch of sentences? 那么,我该从何入手 来解析这句盘根错节的句子呢？
untangle:vt.清理;整顿;解开…纠结; knotted:adj.多节的,有节的;棘手的; bunch:n.群;串;突出物;vi.隆起;打褶;形成一串;vt.使成一串;使打褶;
And I said, I've got PowerPoint. Let's do a Venn diagram . 我准备了简报,和大家一起做个文氏图。
Venn diagram:n.文氏图(将集表示为相交的圆,以显示不同集之间的共同性质);
["Truth. Lies."] (Laughter) [真实、谎言。]（笑声）
So there it is, right there, boom . 瞧这里,变。
boom:n.繁荣;吊杆;v.激增;繁荣昌盛;轰鸣;轰响;adj.(美)猛涨起来的;
We've got truth and lies and then there's this little space, the edge, in the middle. 这里有真实与谎言 和一小片空间, 边缘,靠中间的位置。
That liminal space, that's art. 这片非常有限的空间,就是艺术。
liminal:adj.阈限的;
All right. Venn diagram. (Laughter) (Applause) 好了。这就是文氏图。（笑声）（掌声）
But that's actually not very helpful either. 但其实也不太有用喔。
The thing that made me understand that quote and really kind of what art, at least the art of fiction, was, was working with kids. 让我真正明白这句话 而且理解什么是艺术, 至少理解虚幻艺术的事情, 是和孩子们互动的时候。
I used to be a summer camp counselor . 我以前当过夏令营的辅导大哥哥。
summer camp:n.夏令营; counselor:n.顾问;法律顾问;参事(等于counsellor);
I would do it on my summers off from college, and I loved it. 在大学暑期会做一些这样的工作, 而且非常热爱。
It was a sports summer camp for four- to six-year-olds. 记得有一次运动主题的夏令营 孩子们的年龄在 4-6 岁之间。
I was in charge of the four-year-olds, which is good, because four-year-olds can't play sports, and neither can I. 当时我是 4 岁孩子的领队, 很不错,因为 4 岁的小孩还不会运动,正好我也不擅长。
in charge of:负责;主管;
(Laughter) （笑声）
I play sports at a four-year-old level, so what would happen is the kids would dribble around some cones , and then got hot, and then they would go sit underneath the tree where I was already sitting — (Laughter) — 我就是玩玩 4 岁小孩的活动, 他们的活动大不了就是 绕着一些交通锥跑跑,要是觉得热了, 就去大树下面乘乘凉, 而我老早就坐那等他们了。（笑声）
dribble:v.连击;使滴下;运球;n.点滴;运球; cones:n.视锥细胞(cone的复数);锥形体;v.使成锥形;使成斜角(cone的三单形式); underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的;
and I would just make up stories and tell them to them and I would tell them stories about my life. 我会编一些故事讲给他们听, 给他们讲一些我生活的故事。
I would tell them about how, on the weekends, 比如,我会告诉他们,周末时
I would go home and I would spy for the Queen of England. 我会回家,然后去做英国女王的特工。
And soon, other kids who weren't even in my group of kids, they would come up to me, and they would say, "You're Mac Barnett, right? 不一会儿 其它组的孩子们, 也会不约而来,他们会问: 「你就是麦克?巴内特吧？
come up to:v.达到;等于;
You're the guy who spies for the Queen of England." 你就是那个替英国女王做特工的。」
And I had been waiting my whole life for strangers to come up and ask me that question. 我早就盼望有陌生人 向我问这样的问题了。
In my fantasy , they were svelte Russian women, but, you know, four-year-olds — you take what you can get in Berkeley, California. 想像中,应该是些身材苗条的俄罗斯姑娘, 但 4 岁小孩也行啦, 在加州柏克莱这地方就将就一点。
fantasy:n.幻想; adj.虚幻的; v.空想; svelte:adj.苗条的;线条清晰的;和蔼的;
And I realized that the stories that I was telling were real in this way that was familiar to me and really exciting. 我意识到我所讲的故事 从我所熟悉的角度来看是真实的 而且是令人兴奋的。
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友;
I think the pinnacle of this for me — I'll never forget this — there was this little girl named Riley . She was tiny, and she used to always take out her lunch every day and she would throw out her fruit. 我想这整件事最经典的,我一辈子忘不了, 有位名叫莱莉的小女孩,个子很小, 她每天总喜欢将午餐取出来 然后把水果扔掉。
pinnacle:n.高峰;小尖塔;尖峰;极点;vt.造小尖塔;置于尖顶上;置于高处; Riley:adj.生气的; throw out:v.扔掉;伸出;说出;否决;突出;
She would just take her fruit, her mom packed her a melon every day, and she would just throw it in the ivy and then she would eat fruit snacks and pudding cups, and I was like, "Riley, you can't do that, you have to eat the fruit." 她每次都把水果, 她妈妈每天给她备一个甜瓜, 她都把瓜扔到常春藤里, 然后开始吃水果糖 和布丁果冻,我告诉她:
melon:n.[食]甜瓜;(鲸目动物头部的)圆形隆起;主要用于美式英语; ivy:n.[植]常春藤;长春藤; snacks:n.点心; v.吃点心(或快餐、小吃); (snack的第三人称单数和复数) pudding:n.甜点;热布丁糕
And she was like, "Why?" 她好奇地问道:「为什么？」
And I was like, "Well, when you throw the fruit in the ivy, pretty soon, it's going to be overgrown with melons ," 我回答:「你把水果扔进长春藤里, 不久,就会到处长满甜瓜。」
overgrown:adj.蔓生的;生长过快的;v.生长过度(overgrow的过去分词); melons:n.瓜类植物(如西瓜,甜瓜等);额外股利(melon的复数);
which is why I think I ended up telling stories to children and not being a nutritionist for children. 这也正是我后来写童书 而不去做儿童营养学家的原因。
nutritionist:n.营养工作者;
And so Riley was like, "That will never happen. 莱莉回答道:「这不可能。
That's not going to happen." 哪有这样的事情。」
And so, on the last day of camp, 夏令营的最后一天,
I got up early and I got a big cantaloupe from the grocery store and I hid it in the ivy, and then at lunchtime, I was like, "Riley, why don't you go over there and see what you've done." 我起得很早,在商店 买了个大哈密瓜 悄悄放在常春藤中。 到了午餐时间,我说: 「莱莉,去那边瞧瞧,看你做了什么。」
cantaloupe:n.哈密瓜;香瓜;[园艺]罗马甜瓜; grocery:n.食品杂货店;食品杂货;
she went trudging through the ivy, and then her eyes just got so wide, and she pointed out this melon that was bigger than her head, and then all the kids ran over there and rushed around her, and one of the kids was like, "Hey, why is there a sticker on this?" 她蹒跚地穿过常春藤, 眼睛瞪得大大的, 指着那个比她脑袋还大的哈密瓜, 这时,所有的小孩都蜂拥过去,拥簇在莱莉周围, 其中一位小孩说:「咦, 为什么甜瓜上会有张标签贴纸呢？」
trudging:v.步履沉重地走,缓慢地走,费力地走;(trudge的现在分词) sticker:n.粘贴标签;贴纸;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And I was like, "That is also why I say do not throw your stickers in the ivy. 这时我说:「不是告诉你们 不要往常春藤里扔贴纸吗？
stickers:n.粘贴标签;贴纸;(sticker的复数)
Put them in the trash can . It ruins nature when you do this." 应将它们扔进垃圾筒。到处乱扔有害环境。」
trash can:n.垃圾箱; ruins:n.遗迹(ruin的复数形式);废墟;v.毁灭(ruin的三单形式);
And Riley carried that melon around with her all day, and she was so proud. 那天,莱莉将她的甜瓜抱了一整天, 她觉得非常自豪。
And Riley knew she didn't grow a melon in seven days, but she also knew that she did, and it's a weird place, but it's not just a place that kids can get to. 莱莉知道她并没有在 7 天内种出甜瓜, 但同时她知道自己确实又做到了, 这就是奇怪的地方, 不是只有孩子们可以到达,
weird:adj.奇怪的;奇异的;离奇的;n.命运;宿命;命运女神;
It's anything. Art can get us to that place. 任何事情都可以。艺术能够让我们到达此处。
She was right in that place in the middle, that place which you could call art or fiction. 那就是中间的那个位置, 可以称之为艺术或小说。
I'm going to call it wonder. 我将其称之为奇迹。
It's what Coleridge called the willing suspension of disbelief or poetic faith , for those moments where a story, no matter how strange, has some semblance of the truth, and then you're able to believe it. 英国湖畔诗人柯勒律治将其称之为「自愿终止怀疑」 或诗意的信仰, 在倾听故事的瞬间,无论故事多么奇怪, 它们都与真实的意境有神似之处, 能够让你相信故事中发生的事情。
suspension:n.悬浮;暂停;停职; disbelief:n.怀疑,不信; poetic:adj.诗的,诗歌的;诗意的;诗人的;n.诗学,诗论; faith:n.信心;信任;宗教信仰; semblance:n.外貌;假装;类似;
It's not just kids who can get there. 不仅仅孩子们能够做到。
Adults can too, and we get there when we read. 成人也可以,我们在阅读时就能做到。
It's why in two days, people will be descending on Dublin to take the walking tour of Bloomsday and see everything that happened in "Ulysses," 这正是为何在两天内 人们飞往都柏林参加布鲁姆日徒步导览 并感受《尤利西斯》中所发生的每个故事。
descending:adj.下降的,递减的;v.下来;下去;下降;降临;来临(descend的现在分词) Dublin:n.都柏林(爱尔兰共和国的首都);
even though none of that happened. 尽管这些故事都未曾发生过。
Or people go to London and they visit Baker Street to see Sherlock Holmes' apartment, even though 221B is just a number that was painted on a building that never actually had that address. 或者就像人们去伦敦,他们会到访贝克街 要去看看福尔摩斯的寓所一样, 尽管 221B 仅仅是漆涂在建筑物上的编号, 并非是该建筑物的实际地址。
Baker:n.面包(糕饼)师傅;面包店老板;
We know these characters aren't real, but we have real feelings about them, and we're able to do that. 我们知道这些人物都是虚拟的, 但我们却能真实感受到这些人物的存在, 我们能够做到这一点。
We know these characters aren't real, and yet we also know that they are. 我们知道这些人物并非真实存在, 但我们能感受到他们的存在。
Kids can get there a lot more easily than adults can, and that's why I love writing for kids. 儿童比成年人更容易感受到虚拟人物的存在, 这正是我喜欢写童书的原因。
I think kids are the best audience for serious literary fiction. 我认为儿童是严肃文学小说的忠实读者。
literary:adj.文学的;书面的;精通文学的;
When I was a kid, 孩童时,
I was obsessed with secret door novels , things like " Narnia ," 我沉迷于神秘之门这类小说, 比如《纳尼亚传奇》,
obsessed:v.使痴迷;使迷恋;使着迷;(obsess的过去式和过去分词) novels:n.小说;(novel的复数) Narnia:纳尼亚传奇(电影名);
where you would open a wardrobe and go through to a magical land. 打开一扇衣橱,就能进入魔幻世界。
wardrobe:n.衣柜;衣橱;(英国)放置衣物的壁橱;(一个人的)全部衣物;
And I was convinced that secret doors really did exist and I would look for them and try to go through them. 当时我确信真的存在神秘之门, 我四处寻找并企图穿越神秘之门。
convinced:adj.坚信; v.使确信; (convince的过去分词和过去式)
I wanted to live and cross over into that fictional world, which is — 我想要穿越到科幻世界,并在那里生活,
fictional:adj.虚构的;小说的;
I would always just open people's closet doors. (Laughter) 所以我总是去开别人的衣橱门。（笑声）
closet:n.贮藏室;壁橱adj.隐藏(身份等)的;v.把…关在房间里;
I would just go through my mom's boyfriend's closet, and there was not a secret magical land there. 我恰巧打开了我母亲男朋友的衣橱, 衣橱里并没有发现神秘的魔幻世界,
There was some other weird stuff that I think my mom should know about. 却发现了些怪异的东西,我想我母亲应该要知道。
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
(Laughter) （笑声）
And I was happy to tell her all about it. 我高兴地告诉她所有这些事。
After college, my first job was working behind one of these secret doors. 大学毕業后,我的第一份工作 是在一扇神秘之门后面工作。
This is a place called 826 Valencia. 这个地方叫做「瓦伦西亚 826 号」。
It's at 826 Valencia Street in the Mission in San Francisco, and when I worked there, there was a publishing company headquartered there called McSweeney's, a nonprofit writing center called 826 Valencia, but then the front of it was a strange shop. 位于瓦伦西亚大街 826 号, 就在旧金山米逊区。 我在那里工作时,有一家总部设在此处 名为麦斯威尼的出版公司, 一个非盈利性的写作中心,名为瓦伦西亚 826 号, 但写作中心的前面 却有一家奇怪的商店。
Mission:n.使命,任务;代表团;布道;v.派遣;向…传教; headquartered:adj.以…为总部所在地的;v.设立总部于(headquarter的过去式和过去分词); nonprofit:adj.非赢利的;不以赢利为目的的;
You see, this place was zoned retail , and in San Francisco, they were not going to give us a variance , and so the writer who founded it, a writer named Dave Eggers, 这地方是零售店区, 在旧金山,这类零售店大同小异, 因此该店创始人兼作家大维?艾格斯
retail:vt.零售;转述;vi.零售;n.零售;adv.以零售方式;adj.零售的; variance:n.变异;变化;不一致;分歧;[数]方差;
to come into compliance with code, he said, "Fine, 赋予了这家店特色,他说,
compliance:n.顺从,服从;承诺;
I'm just going to build a pirate supply store." 「好吧,我正好把这家店改建成一家海盗用品店。」
pirate:n.海盗;盗版;侵犯专利权者;v.掠夺;翻印;剽窃;
And that's what he did. (Laughter) 他真的改建成了海盗用品店。（笑声）
And it's beautiful. It's all wood. 商店很漂亮,全实木。
There's drawers you can pull out and get citrus so you don't get scurvy . 有些抽屉,你可以打开,并在抽屉里找到柑橘, 这样你就不会得坏血病。
drawers:n.抽屉;内裤;出票人;起草者;酒馆侍者;(drawer的复数) citrus:n.[园艺]柑橘属果树;柑橘类的植物;adj.柑橘属植物的; scurvy:adj.卑鄙的,下流的;n.[内科]坏血病;
They have eyepatches in lots of colors, because when it's springtime , pirates want to go wild. 店里出售各种颜色的眼罩, 因为春天的时候,海盗都会想疯一下。
springtime:n.春天;春季;初期;
You don't know. Black is boring . Pastel . 谁知道。黑色很无趣。要柔和色系的。
boring:adj.无聊的;令人厌烦的;n.钻孔;v.使厌烦;钻孔;(bore的现在分词) Pastel:adj.柔和的;彩色蜡笔的,粉蜡笔的;n.粉蜡笔;粉蜡笔画;
Or eyes, also in lots of colors, just glass eyes, depending on how you want to deal with that situation. 或者出售各种颜色的眼睛, 都是玻璃而已啦,或如果你想入戏一点也可以。
And the store, strangely , people came to them and bought things, and they ended up paying the rent for our tutoring center, which was behind it, but to me, more important was the fact that I think the quality of work you do, kids would come and get instruction in writing, 奇怪的是, 居然有人光顾这家商店,并购买物品, 到后来,盈余居然可以为 商店后面的写作中心支付租金。 但对我来说,更重要的是 所从事工作的性质, 孩子们能够从这里获得写作指导,
strangely:adv.奇怪地;奇妙地;不可思议地;
and when you have to walk this weird, liminal, fictional space like this to go do your writing, it's going to affect the kind of work that you make. 当你写作前得先经过这怪异中介的虚构空间时, 将对你的作品产生影响。
It's a secret door that you can walk through. 这是一扇能够穿越的神秘之门。
So I ran the 826 in Los Angeles, and it was my job to build the store down there. 后来我到洛杉矶成立 826 号分店, 我需要在那里创立一家门店。
So we have The Echo Park Time Travel Mart . 所以就有了「回声公园时光旅行商店」。
Echo:vt.反射;重复;vi.随声附和;发出回声;n.回音;效仿; Mart:n.集市;商业中心;
That's our motto : "Whenever you are, we're already then." 我们的座右铭是:「不管什么时代我们都去过了。」
motto:n.座右铭,格言;箴言;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And it's on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. 这家店位于洛杉矶日落大道。
Sunset:adj.霞红色的; n.日落(时分); v.(使)定期届满废止; Boulevard:n.[建]林荫大道; adj.娱乐性的; vt.给…提供林阴大街;
Our friendly staff is ready to help you. 我们和蔼可亲的店员已经在等您了。
They're from all eras , including just the 1980s, that guy on the end, he's from the very recent past. 店员们来自各个时代, 比如,来自 1980 年代的店员,图中最左侧的那位, 这位员工所处时代距离现在最近。
eras:n.[天]纪元,时代;年代(era的复数形式);
There's our Employees of the Month, including Genghis Khan , Charles Dickens . 我们的每月最佳员工 有成吉思汗、查尔斯?狄更斯等。
Genghis Khan:n.非常残酷的人;极右分子; Dickens:n.魔鬼(等于devil);
Some great people have come up through our ranks. 一些伟人出现在我们的店员中。
This is our kind of pharmacy section. 这是我们的药品区域。
pharmacy:n.药房;配药学,药剂学;制药业;一批备用药品;
We have some patent medicines, 我们有些专利药品,
patent:vt.授予专利; adj.专利的; n.专利权;
Canopic jars for your organs , communist soap that says, "This is your soap for the year." (Laughter) 用于存储你器官的卡诺卜坛罐, 还有共产主义肥皂,上面写: 「今年你只配发到这一块肥皂。」（笑声）
organs:n.[生物]器官;机构;风琴(organ的复数); communist:n.共产党员;共产主义者;adj.共产主义的;
Our slushy machine broke on the opening night and we didn't know what to do. 开张之夜, 我们的冰沙机出现故障,我们当时不知所措。
slushy:adj.泥泞的;融雪的;n.船上的厨子;(澳)厨子的助手; opening night:n.(戏剧的)首夜演出;(电影的)首夜放映;
Our architect was covered in red syrup . 我们的建筑师浑身沾满冰沙的红糖水。
architect:n.建筑师;设计师;创造者; syrup:n.糖浆,果汁;含药糖浆;
It looked like he had just murdered somebody, which it was not out of the question for this particular architect, and we didn't know what to do. 看起来就像刚杀了人, 对这位特别的建筑师来说, 这不是不可能, 当时我们真不知道如何是好。
out of the question:不可能;不知底细;根本谈不上;
It was going to be the highlight of our store. 这都快成为我们店的头等大事了。
highlight:vt.突出;强调;使显著;加亮;n.最精彩的部分;最重要的事情;加亮区;
So we just put that sign on it that said, " Out of order . Come back yesterday." (Laughter) 于是我们在机器上贴上标示: 「功能紊乱,请昨天再光顾。」（笑声）
Out of order:发生故障;次序颠倒;
And that ended up being a better joke than slushies , so we just left it there forever. 这笑话后来比冰沙机本身还好笑, 所以我们就把标示一直贴着。
slushies:adj.泥泞的;融雪的;n.船上的厨子;(澳)厨子的助手;
Mammoth Chunks . These things weigh, like, seven pounds each. 我们出售猛獁象厚片。每罐 7 磅重。
Mammoth:n.长毛象;猛犸象;庞然大物;adj.巨大的,庞大的;猛犸似的; Chunks:n.厚块;大块;相当大的量;组块;(chunk的复数)
Barbarian repellent . It's full of salad and potpourri — things that barbarians hate. 还有野人驱虫剂,瓶内装满了沙拉和百花香,
repellent:adj.排斥的;防水的;弹回的;令人讨厌的;n.防护剂;防水布;排斥力; potpourri:n.百花香;混合物;杂曲;大杂烩; barbarians:n.野蛮人;蛮夷(barbarian的复数形式);
Dead languages. 还卖死掉的语言。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Leeches , nature's tiny doctors. 店内还售有水蛭,大自然的微小医生。
Leeches:n.蛭类(leech的复数);v.用水蛭吸…的血(leech的三单形式);
And Viking Odorant , which comes in lots of great scents : toenails , sweat and rotten vegetables, pyre ash. 还有海盗香氛,有很多种刺鼻味道: 脚趾甲、汗水、腐烂的蔬菜,以及柴堆灰。
Viking:n.维金人,北欧海盗; Odorant:n.有气味的东西;adj.有气味的;有香气的; scents:n.气味;踪迹(scent的复数);v.嗅到;使充满…气味;察觉(scent的三单形式); toenails:n.脚趾甲(toenail复数); rotten:adj.腐烂的;堕落的;恶臭的;虚弱的;极坏的;adv.非常; pyre:n.火葬用的柴堆;
Because we believe that Axe Body Spray is something that you should only find on the battlefield , not under your arms. (Laughter) 因为我们认为 你应该在战场上去找斧牌香体噴雾, 而不是在你的腋下去找。（笑声）
Axe:n.斧;v.削减;用斧砍; Spray:n.喷雾; v.喷; battlefield:n.战场;沙场;斗争的领域;容易引发冲突的情况
And these are robot emotion chips , so robots can feel love or fear. 我们还出售机器人情感晶片, 有了晶片,机器人就能感受到爱或恐惧。
emotion:n.强烈的感情;激情;情感; chips:炸土豆条(chip的复数)
Our biggest seller is Schadenfreude , which we did not expect. 店内最畅销产品是「幸灾乐祸」, 这是我们没有想到的。
Schadenfreude:n.幸灾乐祸;
(Laughter) （笑声）
We did not think that was going to happen. 我们从未想过会如此畅销。
But there's a nonprofit behind it, and kids go through a door that says "Employees Only" 但这家店后面的写作中心是非盈利性质的, 孩子们进入门上贴有「非员工勿进」标示的写作中心,
and they end up in this space where they do homework and write stories and make films and this is a book release party where kids will read. 然后就在这里 做功课、编故事、制作电影, 照片上的是新书发布会, 孩子们会在这里朗读。
release:v.释放;发射;让与;允许发表;n.释放;发布;让与;
There's a quarterly that's published with just writing that's done by the kids who come every day after school, and we have release parties and they eat cake and read for their parents and drink milk out of champagne glasses. 这里每季度都要发行 孩子们利用每天放学后的时间 在这里完成的写作作品, 我们还举行发布会, 孩子们一边吃着蛋糕,一边把作品读给父母听, 还用香槟酒杯喝牛奶。
quarterly:adj.季度的,按季度的; v.按季度,[农]一季一次地; n.季刊; champagne:n.香槟酒;香槟酒色;
And it's a very special space, because it's this weird space in the front. 这里真的是一个很特别的地方, 完全是因为前面的那家怪异商店。
The joke isn't a joke. 笑话不再是笑话。
You can't find the seams on the fiction, and I love that. It's this little bit of fiction that's colonized the real world. 小说里看不出拼接的痕迹, 我超爱这点。正是这种小小说 俘获了现实世界。
seams:n.缝合线(seam的复数);缝合处;v.焊接(seam的三单形式);用线缝接; colonized:vt.将…开拓为殖民地; vi.开拓殖民地;
I see it as kind of a book in three dimensions . 我觉得它有点像三维立体书。
dimensions:n.规模,大小;
There's a term called metafiction, and that's just stories about stories, and meta's having a moment now. 有个词叫「元小说」, 即讲述小说的小说, 现在「元」的概念非常热门。
Its last big moment was probably in the 1960s with novelists like John Barth and William Gaddis, but it's been around. 上次流行的时候可能是 1960 年代, 以小说家约翰?巴思和威廉?加迪斯为代表, 这个技法现在还有人在用。
novelists:n.小说家(novelist的复数);
It's almost as old as storytelling itself. 它的历史几乎和讲故事一样久远。
storytelling:n.讲故事;说谎话;adj.讲故事的;说谎的;
And one metafictive technique is breaking the fourth wall. Right? 其中有一个元小说技巧 是打破第 4 堵墙。对吧？
technique:n.技巧,技术;手法;
It's when an actor will turn to the audience and say, "I am an actor, these are just rafters ." 举个例子,演员面向观众, 说道:「我是个演员, 他们只是些椽木。」
rafters:n.椽子;v.给…装椽子;把(木材)作成椽子;(rafter的第三人称单数和复数)
And even that supposedly honest moment, 即使是这种看似诚实的介绍,
supposedly:adv.据说;据信;据传;
I would argue, is in service of the lie, but it's supposed to foreground the artificiality of the fiction. 在我看来,也是为了揭露谎言, 使小说人为的虚构性 更加突出。
foreground:n.前景;最显著的位置; artificiality:n.人工;不自然;不自然之物;人造物;
For me, I kind of prefer the opposite. 对我而言,我喜欢反其道而行之。
prefer:v.更喜欢;宁愿;提出;提升;
If I'm going to break down the fourth wall, 如果我要拆除第 4 堵墙,
I want fiction to escape and come into the real world. 我希望小说逃离 进入现实世界。
I want a book to be a secret door that opens and lets the stories out into reality. 我希望书籍能成为一扇秘密之门, 开启故事王国,再进入现实世界。
And so I try to do this in my books. 写自己的书时我一直努力这样做。
And here's just one example. 举个简单的例子。
This is the first book that I ever made. 这是我写的第一本书。
It's called "Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem." 书名叫《比利推特和他的蓝鲸问题》。
Twitters:n.微博客,鸟叫声;vt.吱吱叫;嘁嘁喳喳地讲; Blue Whale:n.[动]蓝鲸;
And it's about a kid who gets a blue whale as a pet but it's a punishment and it ruins his life. 故事讲述一个小孩,养了一条蓝鲸当宠物, 后果可想而知, 毁了他整个人生。
punishment:n.惩罚;严厉对待,虐待;
So it's delivered overnight by FedUp. 所以这只蓝鲸以肥死快递送到。
overnight:adj.夜间的; v.在夜间; n.(美)前一天的晚上;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And he has to take it to school with him. 他还得带蓝鲸去学校。
He lives in San Francisco — very tough city to own a blue whale in. 他住在旧金山, 这个城市能养条蓝鲸很不容易。
A lot of hills, real estate is at a premium . 那里山多,房价高。
real estate:n.房地产;不动产; premium:n.额外费用;奖金;保险费;(商)溢价;adj.高价的;优质的;
This market's crazy, everybody. 市场简直不可理喻,各位。
But underneath the jacket is this case, and that's the cover underneath the book, the jacket, and there's an ad that offers a free 30-day risk-free trial for a blue whale. 书的封套下面是这个盒子, 那是书下面的封面,封套, 上面是一则广告, 30 天免费试养蓝鲸, 当然没有任何危险。
risk-free:adj.无风险的;
And you can just send in a self-addressed stamped envelope and we'll send you a whale. 读者只需寄来一个含邮资信封,写上自己的姓名和地址, 我们将给您寄去一条蓝鲸。
self-addressed:adj.寄给自己的;写明发信人姓名地址的;自言自语的; envelope:n.信封,封皮;包膜;[天]包层;包迹;
And kids do write in. 还真有孩子写信过来。
So here's a letter. It says, "Dear people, 这是其中的一封。上面说道:「敬启者,
I bet you 10 bucks you won't send me a blue whale. 我赌 10 美元,你们肯定不会给我寄蓝鲸。
bet:n.打赌;赌注;预计;估计;v.下赌注(于);用…打赌;敢说;八成儿; bucks:n.元;雄鹿;(buck的复数)
Eliot Gannon (age 6)." 艾略特?甘农（6 岁）。」
(Laughter) (Applause) （笑声）（掌声）
So what Eliot and the other kids who send these in get back is a letter in very small print from a Norwegian law firm — that says that due to a change in customs laws, their whale has been held up in Sognefjord, which is a very lovely fjord , and then it just kind of talks about Sognefjord and Norwegian food for a little while. It digresses . 艾略特和其他写信给我们的孩子 收到的是 一封小号字体打印的信,由挪威一家法律事务所寄出。 信上说,由于海关法修订后, 他们的蓝鲸滞留在松恩峡湾, 挪威最美丽的峡湾之一。 信中接着聊了一会松恩峡湾 和挪威的美食。律师也离题了。
small print:n.(协议或法律文件中易于被忽略但重要的)小号字印刷的附加条款; Norwegian:adj.挪威的;挪威人的;挪威语的;n.挪威人;挪威语; fjord:n.[地理]峡湾(等于fiord); digresses:vi.离题;走向岔道;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But it finishes off by saying that your whale would love to hear from you. 信最后说道: 「蓝鲸期待收到你的回信。
He's got a phone number, and you can call and leave him a message. 他有电话号码, 欢迎你来电留言。」
And when you call and leave him a message, you just, on the outgoing message, it's just whale sounds and then a beep, which actually sounds a lot like a whale sound. 当孩子们真的来电留言时, 电话这头的录音 是鲸的声音,然后是「哔」的一声, 确实很像鲸的声音。
And they get a picture of their whale too. 他们还收到一张蓝鲸的照片。
So this is Randolph, and Randolph belongs to a kid named Nico who was one of the first kids to ever call in, and I'll play you some of Nico's message. 照片里是伦道夫, 伦道夫属于一位叫尼科的小朋友, 他也是第一位打进电话的小读者, 现在我给大家放一些尼科的留言。
This is the first message I ever got from Nico. 这是我收到尼科的第一条留言。
(Audio) Nico: Hello, this is Nico. （录音）尼科:你好！我是尼科。
I am your owner, Randolph. Hello. 我是你的主人,伦道夫。你好啊。
So this is the first time I can ever talk to you, and I might talk to you soon another day. Bye. 嗯,这是我第一次和你聊天, 呃,改天我再找你聊了。拜。
Mac Barnett: So Nico called back, like, an hour later. 马克?巴内特:然后呢,大概过了一个小时尼科又打过来。
(Laughter) （笑声）
And here's another one of Nico's messages. 这是尼科的另一条留言。
(Audio) Nico: Hello, Randolph, this is Nico. （录音）尼科:你好,伦道夫,我是尼科。
I haven't talked to you for a long time, but I talked to you on Saturday or Sunday, yeah, Saturday or Sunday, so now I'm calling you again to say hello and I wonder what you're doing right now, and I'm going to probably call you again tomorrow or today, so I'll talk to you later. Bye. 好久没和你聊天了, 我周六还是周日找你聊过吧, 没错,周六或周日, 所以我才又给你打电话了, 你好吗,我想知道你现在干嘛呀。 我大概会在明天或者今天 再给你打电话。 到时我再跟你聊咯。拜。
MB: So he did, he called back that day again. 麦克:果然,他当天又打过来了。
He's left over 25 messages for Randolph over four years. 他一共给伦道夫录了25 条留言, 持续四年的时间。
You find out all about him and the grandma that he loves and the grandma that he likes a little bit less — and the crossword puzzles that he does, and this is — I'll play you one more message from Nico. 你会非常了解他 和他喜爱的奶奶, 他外婆呢,他比较不喜欢。 还有,知道他做的填字游戏。 让我们听听另一则尼科的留言。
crossword:n.纵横字谜;纵横填字游戏; puzzles:智力游戏;谜题(puzzle的第三人称单数和复数)
This is the Christmas message from Nico. 这是尼科的圣诞留言。
[Beep] (Audio) Nico: Hello, Randolph, sorry I haven't talked to you in a long time. [哔]（录音）尼科:你好,伦道夫, 对不起,我好久没有和你聊天了。
It's just that I've been so busy because school started, as you might not know, probably, since you're a whale, you don't know, and I'm calling you to just say, to wish you a merry Christmas. 主要是我一直很忙, 因为开学了, 你可能不明白,也许吧, 毕竟你是鲸鱼,自然不知道了。 我打电话给你,是想说, 想祝你圣诞快乐。
merry:adj.愉快的;高兴的;
So have a nice Christmas, and bye-bye, Randolph. Goodbye. 圣诞快乐啊, 拜拜,伦道夫。拜拜。
MB: I actually got Nico, 麦克:我实际上发现尼科
I hadn't heard from in 18 months, and he just left a message two days ago. 已经 18 个月没有捎来消息。 不过就在两天前,他留言了。
His voice is completely different, but he put his babysitter on the phone, and she was very nice to Randolph as well. 他的声音变化很大, 他也让保姆讲电话, 她对伦道夫也很好。
babysitter:n.临时照顾幼儿者;
But Nico's the best reader I could hope for. 实际上,我觉得尼科是最好的读者。
I would want anyone I was writing for to be in that place emotionally with the things that I create. 我希望我的每位读者 都能用心感受 我创造的东西。
emotionally:adv.感情上;情绪上;令人激动地;情绪冲动地;
I feel lucky. Kids like Nico are the best readers, and they deserve the best stories we can give them. 我觉得很幸运。像尼科这样的小朋友是最好的读者, 他们值得我们给他们创作最好的故事。
deserve:vi.应受,应得;
Thank you very much. 谢谢各位。
(Applause) （掌声）