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MairaKalman_2007-_插图释我心_
What I am always thinking about is what this session is about, which is called simplicity . 我一直在想 这个演讲的主题应该叫什么,就叫简单吧.
session:n.会议;(法庭的)开庭;(议会等的)开会;学期;讲习会; simplicity:n.朴素;简易;天真;愚蠢;
And almost, I would almost call it being simple-minded , but in the best sense of the word. 差不多是这样,我几乎叫它头脑简单, 但用更确切的词汇来形容.
simple-minded:adj.头脑简单的;愚蠢的;
I'm trying to figure out two very simple things: how to live and how to die, period. 我试图弄清两个非常简单的事情: 如何去生活,如何去死,结束.
That's all I'm trying to do, all day long . 这是我整日尝试去弄明白的事.
all day long:"allday"的变体;整天;一整天;终日;
And I'm also trying to have some meals and have some snacks and, you know, and yell at my children and do all the normal things that keep you grounded. 然而我也想想饭菜啊和零食啊什么的 还有,你知道,对着我的孩子大声责骂并做日常的事情 这些让你活在现实里
snacks:n.点心; v.吃点心(或快餐、小吃); (snack的第三人称单数和复数)
So, I was fortunate enough to be born a very dreamy child. 事实上,我有幸生来就是爱空想的孩子.
fortunate:adj.幸运的;交好运的;吉利的; dreamy:adj.梦想的;空幻的;轻柔的;恍惚的;
My older sister was busy torturing my parents, and they were busy torturing her. 比我大的姐姐非常喜欢折腾我的父母, 他们也正忙着折腾她.
torturing:v.拷打;拷问;使痛苦;使苦恼;(torture的现在分词)
I was lucky enough to be completely ignored -- which is a fabulous thing, actually, I want to tell you. 我有幸被完全忽略了-- 这是很微妙的东西,事实上,我想告诉你一件事.
ignored:v.忽视;对…不予理会;佯装未见;不予理睬;(ignore的过去分词和过去式) fabulous:adj.难以置信的;传说的,寓言中的;极好的;
So, I was able to completely daydream my way through my life. 我可以完用通过白日梦的方式过着自己的生活.
daydream:vi.做白日梦;n.白日梦;
And I finally daydreamed my way into NYU at a very good time -- in 1967, where I met a man who was trying to blow up the math building of NYU. 最终在一个很好的时期,我做着白日梦进了纽约大学. 那是1967年, 在那里我遇到了一个人,他试图炸毁纽约大学的数学教学楼.
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
And I was writing terrible poetry and knitting sweaters for him. 然而我写了糟糕的诗,还织毛衣给他.
poetry:n.诗;诗意,诗情;诗歌艺术; knitting:n.针织;编织物;[外科]骨愈合;v.编织;皱眉(knit的ing形式);
And feminists hated us, and the whole thing was wretched from beginning to end . 女权主义者恨我们,并且整个事情是个杯具 从头到尾.
feminists:n.女权运动者(feminist的复数); wretched:adj.可怜的;卑鄙的;令人苦恼或难受的; from beginning to end:自始至终;
But I kept writing bad poetry, and he didn't blow up the math building, but he went to Cuba. 但我仍然坚持写着糟糕的诗,他也没有炸毁教学楼, 但他去了古巴.
But I gave him the money because I was from Riverdale so I had more money than he did. 我给了他钱因为我从Riverdale区回来 所以我比他有钱.
(Laughter) (笑声)
And that was a good thing to help the, you know, the cause. 去帮助别人的事业,你知道,是件好事.
But, then he came back, and things happened, and I decided I really hated my writing, that it was awful, awful purple prose . 但是, 之后他回来了, 然后出事了, 我真的恨透了我写的东西, 真是很糟很糟的空洞修辞.
purple:n.紫色;紫袍;v.变紫;使成紫色;adj.紫色的;华丽的文辞; prose:n.散文;v.用散文写;译成散文;平淡无趣地写;
And I decided that I wanted to tell, but I still wanted to tell a narrative story and I still wanted to tell my stories. 并且我决定我要去倾诉 但我仍然想讲故事 我仍然想倒出我的故事.
narrative:n.叙述;故事;讲述;adj.叙事的,叙述的;叙事体的;
So I decided that I would start to draw. How hard could that be? 所以我决定开始画画. 这能有多难啊
And so what happened was that I started just becoming an editorial illustrator through, you know, sheer whatever, sheer ignorance . 所以我开始 慢慢变为一名编辑-插图画家, 这个你知道, 十分无所谓,十分愚昧.
editorial:adj.编辑的;社论的;n.社论; illustrator:n.插图画家;说明者;图解者; sheer:adj.纯; v.十足地; n.透明薄纱; v.[航海](使)偏航; (使)转向; ignorance:n.无知,愚昧;不知,不懂;
And we started a studio -- well, Tibor really started the studio, called M & Company. 我们开了一个工作室 -- 好吧, Tibor 开了一个工作室, 叫 M&公司.
studio:n.工作室;[广播][电视]演播室;画室;电影制片厂;
And the premise of M & Company was, we don't know anything but that's all right, we're going to do it anyway. M&公司的基本状况就是:我们什么都不懂. 但没有关系,我们照样做.
premise:n.前提;假定;v.假定;预述(条件等);引导(论述等);;
And as a matter of fact , it's better not to know anything, because if you know too much you're stymied . 事实上, 一无所知其实更好, 因为知道太多反而影响你的思路.
as a matter of fact:事实上; stymied:n.妨碍球;困难的境地(等于stymie);vt.完全妨碍;从中作乱;
So, the premise in the studio was, there are no boundaries , there is no fear. 所以,这个工作室的前提是, 无所不为,无所畏惧.
boundaries:n.边界;分界线;(boundary的复数)
And I -- and my full-time job, I landed the best job on Earth, was to daydream, and to actually come up with absurd ideas that, fortunately there were enough people there -- and it was a team, it was a collective , it was not just me coming up with crazy ideas. 而我, 和我的全职工作, 我有了地球上最好的工作, 就是做白日梦, 然后提出各种荒谬的创意 幸运的是我们有足够多的人 形成一个团队, 一个集体, 不只是我提出疯狂的创意.
full-time:adj.专职的;全日制的;全部时间的; come up with:提出;想出;赶上; absurd:adj.荒谬的;可笑的;n.荒诞;荒诞作品; fortunately:adv.幸运地; collective:adj.集体的;共同的;集合的;集体主义的;n.集团;集合体;集合名词;
But the point was that I was there as myself, as a dreamer . 那时的意义是,我可以做真正的自己 -- 一个梦想家.
dreamer:n.梦想家;做梦的人;不切实际的人;
And so some of the things -- I mean it was a long history of M & Company, and clearly we also needed to make some money, so we decided we would create a series of products. 我的意思是说这是M&公司漫长历史的一部分, 当然我们也需要赚钱, 所以我们决定我们要创造一系列的产品.
series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书;
And some of the watches there, attempting to be beautiful and humorous -- maybe not attempting, hopefully succeeding -- that to be able to talk about content, 例如这些手表, 尝试设计的更美丽更幽默 -- 也许不是尝试,而是希望成功 -- 才能去思索内容是什么,
attempting:v.努力;尝试;试图;(attempt的现在分词) humorous:adj.诙谐的,幽默的;滑稽的,可笑的;
to break apart what you normally expect, to use humor and surprise, elegance and humanity in your work was really important to us. 跳出你的思维定势,幽默和惊喜, 高雅的美感和人文内涵对我们非常重要.
normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地; elegance:n.典雅;高雅; humanity:n.人类;人道;仁慈;人文学科;
It was a very high, it was a very impersonal time in design and we wanted to say, the content is what's important, not the package, not the wrapping . 设计的要求极高,完全摒除个人喜好 内容的本身才是最重要的, 不是周边配件,也不是包装材料.
impersonal:adj.客观的; n.非人称动词; wrapping:n.包装材料;包装纸;v.包,裹(礼物等);用…包裹;(wrap的现在分词)
You really have to be journalists , you have to be inventors, you have to use your imagination more importantly than anything. 你必须成为记者,成为发明家 你的想像力胜于一切
journalists:n.新闻记者(journalist的复数); imagination:n.想象;想象力;创造力;想象的事物;
So, the good news is that I have a dog and, though I don't know if I believe in luck -- 所以, 好消息是我有一条狗 虽然我知道我不并相信运气 --
I don't know what I believe in, it's a very complicated question -- but I do know that before I go away, I crank his tail seven times. 我也不知道自己信仰什么, 这个问题很复杂. 但我知道我每次离开之前,都要摇七次他的尾巴.
complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式) crank:n.曲柄;奇想;adj.易怒的;vt.装曲柄;
So, whenever he sees a suitcase in the house, because everybody's always, you know, leaving, they're always cranking this wonderful dog's tail, and he runs to the other room. 所以无论什么时候他看到小提箱的时候 因为所有人离开的时候 他总是摇狗尾巴 然后跑进其它房间.
suitcase:n.[轻]手提箱;衣箱; cranking:v.用曲柄转动(或启动);(crank的现在分词)
But I am able to make the transition from working for children and -- from working for adults to children and back and forth , because, you know, I can say that I'm immature , and in a way, that's true. 但我可以从为儿童或成人工作之间 来来回回的转换角色, 因为,我可以说我不成熟, 从某种角度来说,这是真的
transition:n.过渡;转变;变革;变迁;v.经历转变过程;过渡; back and forth:前后移动的,来回的,反复的; immature:adj.不成熟的;未成熟的;粗糙的;
I don't really -- I mean, I could tell you that I didn't understand -- 我不懂, 我真不理解那些 --
I'm not proud of it, but I didn't understand let's say 95 percent of the talks at this conference . 我并不是以此为荣, 但我真的不懂. 这个大会的95%的内容我都不懂.
conference:n.会议;研讨会;商讨会;体育协会(或联合会)
But I have been taking beautiful notes of drawings and I have a gorgeous onion from Murray Gell-Mann's talk. 但我曾经讲过美丽的画做笔记, 我在Murray Gell-Mann讲座里完成了一个很酷的洋葱插图.
gorgeous:adj.华丽的,灿烂的;极好的;
And I have a beautiful page of doodles from Jonathan Woodham's talk. Jonathan Woodham的演讲里我也画了美丽的一页.
doodles:n.涂鸦(doodle复数);
So, good things come out of, you know, incomprehension -- 于是, 美好的事情接连出现, 无法解释 --
incomprehension:n.不了解;缺乏理解;
(Laughter) (笑声)
- which I will do a painting of, and then it will end up in my work. - 我要画画的时候, 它会结束我的工作.
So, I'm open to the possibilities of not knowing and finding out something new. 所以,我打开思想,用无知无畏的心态 来寻找一些创新的东西.
So, in writing for children, it seems simple, and it is. 儿童创作, 看起来简单做起来也简单.
You have to condense a story into 32 pages, usually. 你通常需要将一个故事简化到32页以内,
condense:vi.浓缩;凝结;vt.使浓缩;使压缩;
And what you have to do is you really have to edit down to what you want to say, and hopefully, you're not talking down to kids and you're not talking in such a way that you, you know, couldn't stand reading it after one time. 而你需要做的就是你要编辑故事的精华来呈现你想表达的东西, 还好,你不是以居高临下的口气对着孩子说话 你也不用自己的方式去表达 孩子们看完一次就再也无法忍受的东西.
So, I hopefully am writing, you know, books that are good for children and for adults. 所以,我满怀希望的写作 书将有得于孩子和成人.
But the painting reflects , 但绘画所反映的,
reflects:v.反映;映出(影像);反射;表明,表达;(reflect的第三人称单数)
I don't think differently for children than I do for adults. 我不认为孩子和成人的内容有所差别.
I try to use the same kind of imagination, the same kind of whimsy , the same kind of love of language. 我试图用相同的想像力,相同的古怪念头, 相同的爱的语言.
whimsy:n.怪念头;反复无常;
So, you know, and I have lots of wonderful-looking friends. 我有很多很漂亮的朋友们.
This is Andrew Gatz, and he walked in through the door and I said, "You, sit down there," you know, I take lots of photos. 这是Andrew Gatz, 他走进门. 你,坐这儿 你知道,我拍很多照片.
And the Bertoia chair in the background is my favorite chair. 画面背景上的Bertoia椅子,是我最喜欢的椅子.
So, I get to put in all of the things that I love, hopefully a dialog between adults and children will happen on many different levels, and hopefully different, different kinds of humor will evolve . 我将喜欢的东西全部都放在一起, 还好成人与儿童之间的对话会发生在很多层面上. 并且将有更多不同形式的各种乐趣出现其中.
dialog:n.对话;会话; evolve:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;
And the books are really journals of my life. 这些书是我的人生的日记.
journals:n.学术期刊(journal的复数);日记;日记账;
I never -- I don't like plots . 我不喜欢情节,
plots:n.情节; v.划分;
I don't know what a plot means. 我不知道情节的意义.
I can't stand the idea of anything that starts in the beginning, you know, beginning, middle and end, it really scares me, because my life is too random and too confused , and I enjoy it that way. 我无法忍受任何事情都必须有开场, 开场, 中间和结局, 我真害怕. 由于我的生活变数太多并且太迷茫, 但我很喜欢这样的生活.
random:adj.[数]随机的;任意的;胡乱的;n.随意;adv.胡乱地; confused:adj.困惑的; v.使糊涂; (confuse的过去分词和过去式)
But anyway, so I was in, we were in Venice , and this is our room, and I had this dream that I was wearing this fantastic green gown , and I was looking out the window, and it was really a beautiful thing. 这是我们在威尼斯, 这是我们的房间,我有这样的一个梦想 我装着无比漂亮的绿色礼服, 我正在朝窗外看, 那感觉好极了.
Venice:n.威尼斯(意大利港市); fantastic:奇异的,空想的 gown:v.给…穿宽大的长袍;使穿睡衣;n.长袍;长外衣;睡衣;
And so I was able to put that into this story, which is an alphabet, and hopefully go on to something else. 这样的故事,我才能把它放进文字中 继续发展其它的东西.
The letter C had other things in it. 字母C有其它的含义.
I was fortunate also, to meet the man who's sitting on the bed, though I gave him hair over here and he doesn't have hair -- well, he has some hair but, well, he used to have hair. 我很幸运,遇到一个男人坐在床上, 尽管我给他画了头发,实际上他是个秃子 -- 好吧, 他有点头发, 或者, 他过去曾有头发.
And with him I was able to do a project that was really fantastic. 跟他一起我能做一些非常有趣的项目.
I work for the New Yorker, and I do covers, and 9/11 happened and it was, you know, a complete and utter end of the world as we knew it. 我为《纽约客》设计封面, 然后9/11发生了 我们都知道, 这跟世界末日一样.
utter:v.说;出声;讲;adj.完全的;十足的;彻底的;
And Rick and I were on our way to a party in the Bronx , and somebody said Bronxistan, and somebody said Fareerristan, and we came up with this New Yorker cover, Rick和我在去参加晚会,在去布朗克斯区的路上, 有些人说是布朗克西斯坦 有些人说是法瑞里斯坦 我们拿起来《纽约客》的封面,
Bronx:n.布朗克斯(纽约市最北端的一区);布朗克斯鸡尾酒;
which we were able to -- we didn't know what we were doing, we weren't trying to be funny, we weren't trying to be -- well, we were trying to be funny actually, that's not true. 我们不知道我们正在做的是这样, 我们也没刻意这样有趣, 并不是这么设计的. 实际上我们希望设计变的有趣,这是真的.
We hoped we'd be funny, but we didn't know it would be a cover, and we didn't know that that image, at the moment that it happened, would be something that would be so wonderful for a lot of people. 我们希望我们变的更有乐趣,但我们没有预料到它会成为封面, 我们不知道那个图像,在那个时刻, 居然发生了, 成为很多人喜欢浏览的插图.
And it really became the -- I don't know, you know, it was one of those moments people started laughing at what was going on. 它真的变成了.... 我不知道. 从那时起, 人们开始笑正在发生的事情.
And from, you know, Fattushis, to Taxistan to, you know, for the Fashtoonks, Botoxia, Pashmina , Khlintunesia, you know, we were able to take the city and make fun of this completely foreign, who are -- what's going on over here? 从“肥油西斯”到“的士斯坦”,你知道的 还有“发酵臭桶工业废墟区”,“肉毒素西亚”,“波斯羊毛区”,“克林顿尼西亚”等纽约客斯坦的地名 我们拿这个城市 胡乱的把它变的像那些友好或不友好的其它国家 -- 这儿发生过什么事?
Pashmina:n.披肩; make fun of:取笑;
Who are these people? What are these tribes? 谁是这些人? 谁是这些部落?
And David Remnick, who was really wonderful about it, had one problem: he didn't like Al Zheimer, Al Zheimers, because he thought it would insult people with Alzheimer's. David Remnick, 一个真正喜欢它的人, 有一点反对意见: 他不喜欢阿尔?芝海默（Al Zheimer两个词每空格就是老年痴呆症的意思） 因为他认为这会侮辱老年痴呆症患者
insult:v.侮辱;辱骂;损害;n.侮辱;凌辱;无礼;
But you know, we said, "David, who's going to know? 但我们说: David,你想想谁会晓得呢?
They're not. 没人知道.
(Laughter) (笑声)
So it stayed in, and it was, and, you know, it was a good thing. 所以还保留着, 这是件好事.
You know, in the course of my life I never know what's going to happen and that's kind of the beauty part. 在我的生命里,我永远不知道接下来会发生什么 这也是生命的美好所在.
in the course of:在…过程中;在…期间;
And we were on Cape Cod, a place obviously of great inspiration, and I picked up this book, "The Elements of Style," at a yard sale , and I didn't -- and I'd never used it in school, 我们在鳄鱼角,一个明显有很强的灵感的地方, 在一次二手书清仓甩卖中, 我挑选了这本书, 《风格元素》（一本知名写作参考书） 我从来没在学校里用过它,
Cape:n.披肩;披风;短斗篷;地角; Elements:n.要素;基本部分;少量;一群;(element的复数) yard sale:n.庭院拍卖会(在自家庭院售卖二手家什);
because I was too busy writing poems and flunking out and I don't know what, sitting in cafes . 因为我一直忙于写诗和补考 坐在咖啡厅.
flunking:vi.失败;放弃;考试不及格;vt.使…不及格;n.不及格;失败; cafes:n.咖啡馆(cafe的复数);
But I picked it up and I started reading it and I thought, this book is amazing. 我开始读它,然后我发现,这本书真棒.
I said who -- people should know about this book. 大家应该来读读这本书.
(Laughter) (笑声)
So I decided it needed a few -- it needed a lift, it needed a few illustrations . 所以我想, 如果加一些点缀, 加点少许的插画
illustrations:n.[印刷]插图;插画(illustration的复数);
And basically , I called the, you know, I convinced the White Estate , and what an intersection of like, you know, 然后, 我说服了White Estate, 然后还真是物以类聚啊
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; convinced:adj.坚信; v.使确信; (convince的过去分词和过去式) Estate:n.房地产;财产;身份; intersection:n.交叉;十字路口;交集;交叉点;
Polish Jew , you know, main WASP family, here I am saying, 波兰裔犹太人, 白种盎格鲁撒克逊新教徒
Polish:n.磨光,擦亮;擦亮剂;优雅,精良;v.磨光,使发亮;使完美;改进;adj.波兰的; Jew:v.(集合词)犹太人;犹太人的世界;犹太教;-dom;n.犹太人;犹太教徒; WASP:n.黄蜂;[昆]胡蜂;易怒的人;vi.黄蜂似的直扑;
I'd like to do something to this book. 我想为这本书做点什么.
And they said yes, and they left me completely alone, which was a gorgeous, wonderful thing. 他们说可以, 然后他们让我完全自主发挥, 这简直太棒了,无敌了.
And I took the examples that they gave, and just did 56 paintings, basically. 我完成了他们给我的例子 基本上只需要画56张图.
So, this is, I don't know if you can read this. 所以, 我不知道你能不能看到图上的字.
'"Well, Susan, this is a fine mess you are in." Susan, 这次你糟蹋得真棒
mess:n.混乱;餐厅;杂乱;肮脏;v.使不整洁;弄脏;弄乱;随地便溺;
And when you're dealing with grammar, which is, you know, incredibly dry, 当你关注语法的时候, 你会发现超级干涩,
incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地;
E.B. White wrote such wonderful, whimsical -- and actually, Strunk -- and then you come to the rules and, you know, there are lots of grammar things -- " Do you mind me asking a question? E.B. White写的这么优美,异想天开, 你会深深投入在角色里, 这里有很语法问题, 比如-- Do you mind me asking a question?
whimsical:adj.古怪的;异想天开的;反复无常的; Do you mind:你介意吗？;
Do you mind my asking a question?" Do you mind my asking a question?
'"Would, could, should, or would, should, could." Would, could, should, 还是 would, should, could.
And "would" is Coco Chanel's lover , "should" is Edith Sitwell, and "could" is an August Sander subject. would 是Coco Chanel最喜欢用的词, Should 是Edith Sitwell最爱用的词, 而Could 是August Sander的专利.
Coco:n.椰子(果);椰子树(等于coconutpalm);脑袋;adj.椰子壳的纤维所制的; lover:n.爱好者;情侣;热爱者; Sander:n.打磨机;
And, "He noticed a large stain in the center of the rug ." 还有, He noticed a large stain in the center of the rug.
stain:v.沾污;败坏;给…着色;n.污点;瑕疵;着色剂; rug:n.小地毯;垫子;(盖腿的)厚毯子;v.用厚毯包;
(Laughter) (笑声)
So, there's a kind of British understatement , murder-mystery theme that I really love very much. 这样有点英国式轻描淡写,神秘谋杀案的主题 我真的是非常喜欢.
understatement:n.保守的陈述;不充分的陈述;有保留的陈述;
And then, "Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand." 要清楚, 要用人类能够理解的方式去表达.
obscure:n.朦胧; adj.无名的; v.使模糊;
E.B. White wrote us a number of rules, which can either paralyze you and make you loathe him for the rest of time, or you can ignore them, which I do, or you can, I don't know what, you know, eat a sandwich . E.B. White 给我们定了一系列规则, 这些规则让我们呆若木鸡并且在接下来的时间里恨他, 或者你可以像我一样忽略它, 或者,如果你能, 你可以选择吃一个三明志.
paralyze:vt.使麻痹;使瘫痪; loathe:vt.讨厌,厌恶; sandwich:n.三明治;夹心面包片;
So, what I did when I was painting was I started singing, because I really adore singing, and I think that music is the highest form of all art. 我做的是我会在画画的时候唱歌, 因为我真的喜欢唱歌, 我认为音乐在是艺术的最高表达形式.
So, I commissioned a wonderful composer , Nico Muhly, who wrote nine songs, using the text, and we performed this fantastic evening of -- he wrote music for both amateurs and professionals . 所以我找到了优秀的作曲家, Nico Muhly, 用文字写了九首歌, 并且我们用他写的歌演奏了整个美妙的夜晚-- 他的音乐真是雅俗共赏.
commissioned:adj.受委任的;v.正式委托;任命…为军官;(commission的过去式和过去分词) composer:n.作曲家;作家,著作者;设计者; performed:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好)(perform的过去分词和过去式) amateurs:n.业余爱好者;业余运动员;生手;外行;(amateur的复数) professionals:n.[管理]专业人员(professional的复数);
I played the clattering teacup and the slinky in the main reading room of the New York Public Library, where you're supposed to be very, very quiet, and it was a phenomenally wonderful event which we hopefully will do some more. 我用杯子和衣服在纽约公共图书馆的 主阅览室也演奏了音乐, 在这个本该非常安静的图书馆, 这是一场非常美妙的活动. 我喜欢希望有更多这样的活动.
clattering:v.发出响亮的撞击声;移动发出的响声;(clatter的现在分词) teacup:n.茶碗,茶杯;一茶杯容量;心理极其脆弱,不堪一击的人; slinky:adj.(指女装)紧身的,线条优美的;鬼鬼祟祟的; in the main:基本上; reading room:n.阅览室; supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式) phenomenally:adv.现象上地;明白地;从感官认识到;
Who knows? The New York Times Select, the op-ed page, asked me to do a column , and they said you can do whatever you want. 猜猜下面发生什么? 纽约时报的特稿专页, 邀请我去做一个专栏,他们说, 你想怎么做都可以.
op-ed:n.评论版; column:n.栏目,纵队;
So, once a month for the last year 所以,去年的一个月,
I've been doing a column called The Principles of Uncertainty , which, you know, I don't know who Heisenberg is, but I know I can throw that around now, you know, it's the principles of uncertainty, so, you know. 我都在做 不确定原则 的专栏. 我不知道谁是海森堡. 但我知道我现在也很迷惑, 这就是不确定原则.
Principles:n.原则;主义;本质;政策;(principle的复数) Uncertainty:n.不确定,不可靠;
I'm going to read quickly -- and probably I'm going to edit some, because I don't have that much time left -- a few of the columns . 我会读的很快 -- 大概我会编辑一些. 因为我没有太多时间了 -- 几个专栏.
columns:n.柱:(通常为)圆形石柱:(书,报纸印刷页上的)栏(column的复数)
And basically, I was so, you know, it was so amusing because I said, "Well, how much space do I have?" 但基本上, 我就是这样, 仍然很搞笑. 但我说: 好吧, 我们有多大的空间?
amusing:adj.有趣的;逗人笑的;v.逗乐;(提供)消遣;(使)娱乐;(amuse的现在分词)
And they said, "Well, you know, it's the Internet." 他们说, 你知道,这是互联网.
And I said, "Yes, but how much space do I have?" 然后我说, 我知道是互联网,但是我有多大的空间呀?
And they said, "It's unlimited , it's unlimited." 他们接着说. 网络是无限的无限的呀.
unlimited:adj.无限制的;无限量的;无条件的;
OK. So, the first one I was very timid , and I'll begin. 刚开始的话我非常的胆小, 但我开始了.
timid:adj.胆小的;羞怯的;
'"How can I tell you everything that is in my heart? 我怎么能告诉你,所有事情都是在我心中?
Impossible to begin. Enough. No. Begin with the hapless dodo ." 不可能开始. 够了,我们从渡渡鸟开始.
hapless:adj.运气不好的,倒霉的; dodo:n.渡渡鸟(不能飞行,现已灭绝);笨人;蠢人;
And I talk about the dodo, and how the dodo became extinct , and then I talk about Spinoza. 我开始讲渡渡鸟的故事, 渡渡鸟是如何绝种的, 之后我又讲哲学家斯宾诺莎.
extinct:adj.灭绝的,绝种的;熄灭的;vt.使熄灭;
'"As the last dodo was dying, Spinoza was looking for a rational explanation for everything, called eudemonia. 在最后时刻,渡渡鸟死去的时候, 斯宾诺莎正在为所有的事情寻找一个合理的解释. 一个被称为eudemonia（亚里士多德的幸福说）的理论.
rational:n.理性;人类;合理的事物;[数]有理数;adj.合理的;理性的;明智的;理智的;
And then he breathed his last with loved ones around him, and I know that he had chicken soup also, as his last meal." 然后他在爱人的怀抱里吐出最后一口气. 我知道他最后一餐吃的是鸡汤.
I happen to know it for a fact. 我是碰巧知道这件事的.
And then he died, and there was no more Spinoza, extinct. 然后他死了, 于是就再也没有斯宾诺莎大师了, 绝种了.
And then, we don't have a stuffed Spinoza but we do have a stuffed Pavlov's dog, and I visited him in the Museum of Hygiene in St Petersburg in Russia. 然后我们就失去自大的斯宾诺莎 但我们却有了一只被填充了的巴普洛夫的实验狗 我在俄国的卫生博物馆访问他.
stuffed:adj.饱;装满的;v.填满;装满;给…装馅;(stuff的过去分词和过去式) Hygiene:n.卫生;卫生学;保健法;
And there he is, with this horrible electrical box on his rump in this fantastic, decrepit palace. 他在那, 尾巴上带着可怕的电子方盒. 在一个雄伟的,古老的宫殿里.
horrible:可怕的,极讨厌的, electrical:adj.有关电的;电气科学的; rump:n.(人的)臀部,(动物的)尾部;残余,渣滓; decrepit:adj.衰老的;破旧的;
'"And I think it must have been a very, very dark day when the Bolsheviks arrived. 我觉得,布尔什维克到达的那天, 一定是非常黑暗的一天.
Maybe amongst themselves they had a few good laughs, but Stalin was a paranoid man, even more than my father." 因为他们之间曾闹过一些大笑话. 但斯大林就是一偏执狂, 比我父亲还偏执.
amongst:prep.在…之中;在…当中(等于among); Stalin:n.斯大林(前苏联领导人); paranoid:adj.类似妄想狂的;属于偏执狂的;n.患妄想狂的人;偏执狂患者;
(Laughter) (笑声)
You don't even know. 你都不知道.
'"And decided his top people had to be extinctified." 他决定他的顶尖人才必须被区别对待.
Which I think I made up, which is a good thing. 这个我同意,是件好事.
And so, this is a chart of, you know, just a small chart, because the chart would go on forever of all the people that he killed. 但这是只是一张图. 因为这张图会为那些被他杀害的人们永远的保存下来,.
So, shot dead, smacked over the head, you know, thrown away. 枪杀, 爆头, 然后弃尸.
smacked:v.用巴掌打;掴;使劲碰(或撞);(smack的过去分词和过去式)
'"Nabokov's family fled Russia. How could the young Nabokov, sitting innocently and elegantly in a red chair, leafing through a book and butterflies, imagine such displacement , such loss." 纳博科夫全家逃亡俄国, 年轻的纳博科夫怎么会天真文雅的坐在红沙发上, 翻着书和蝴蝶标本, 想像一下如此的逃亡,如此的丧失.
fled:v.迅速离开;逃避,逃跑;(flee的过去分词和过去式) innocently:adv.纯洁地;无罪地; elegantly:adv.优美地; displacement:n.取代,位移;[船]排水量;
And then I want to tell you that this is a map. 我要告诉你,这是一张地图.
So, "My beautiful mother's family fled Russia as well, too many pogroms . 我的漂亮妈妈一家也是从俄国逃亡的, 那里有着太多的大屠杀.
pogroms:n.大屠杀,集体迫害;(pogrom的复数)
Leaving the shack , the wild blueberry woods, the geese, the River Sluch, they went to Palestine and then America." 离开小木屋, 蓝莓森林,天鹅和斯卢奇河, 他们逃到了巴勒斯坦,后来又到了美国.
shack:n.棚屋;小室;vi.居住; blueberry:n.蓝莓;[园艺]越橘属的浆果;
And my mother drew this map for me of the United States of America , and that is my DNA over here, because that person who I grew up with had no use for facts whatsoever . 然后我妈妈画了这张美国地图给我, 这就是我的DNA, 因为陪我长大的这位母亲 从来不需要任何真相.
United States of America:un.美利坚合众国; whatsoever:pron.无论什么;
Facts were actually banished from our home. 真相就是我们是从家园被放逐.
banished:v.放逐;流放;赶走;驱除;(banish的过去分词和过去式)
And so, if you see that Texas -- you know, Texas and California are under Canada, and that South Carolina is on top of North Carolina, this is the home that I grew up in, OK? 你在图上,能看到得克萨斯和加利福尼亚 是在加拿大的下面,然后南加利福尼亚是在北加的上面, 这就是我成长的家, 对吗?
Carolina:n.卡罗莱纳州(在美国东南部);
So, it's a miracle that I'm here today. 所以, 我今天能站在这里,真是个奇迹.
miracle:n.奇迹,奇迹般的人或物;惊人的事例;
But actually, it's not, it's actually a wonderful thing. 事实上,不算是奇迹,但确实是一件很发简单的事情.
But then she says Tel Aviv and Lenin, which is the town they came from, and sorry, the rest unknown, thank you. 然后她给我讲特拉维夫和列宁, 说他们来自于同一个镇子, 然后是抱歉, 无可奉告, 谢谢.
But in her lexicon , means sorry the rest unknown is sorry the rest unknown, go to hell, because she couldn't care less. 在她的字典里,抱歉无可奉告是意味着 其他的我就不知道了,下地狱吧, 但他没办法做到无所谓.
lexicon:n.词典,辞典;
(Laughter) (笑声)
The impossibility of February, is that February's a really wretched month in New York and the images for me conjure up these really awful things -- well, not so awful. 二月的不可能性 是二月是纽约的最难过的一个月. 这张图片对我来说真是一件可怕的事情. 嗯, 其实没那么可怕.
impossibility:n.不可能;不可能的事; images:n.印象;声誉;形象;画像;雕像;(image的第三人称单数和复数) conjure up:想起,使在脑海中显现;用魔法召唤;
I received a box in the mail and it was wrapped with newspaper and there was the picture of the man on the newspaper and he was dead. 我收到了一封报纸包装的邮件. 报纸上有张照片, 印着一个死去的男人.
wrapped:adj.极高兴的;十分满意的;v.用…包裹;用…缠绕;(wrap的过去分词和过去式)
And I say, "I hope he's not really dead, just enjoying a refreshing lie-down in the snow, but the caption says he is dead." 我说: 我希望他不是真的死了, 只是喜欢躺在雪地上玩, 但文字解释说,他死了.
lie-down:n.卧地抗议示威;小睡;
And actually, he was, I think he's dead though I don't know, maybe he's not dead. 但实际上, 我认为他死的,虽然我并不知道. 也许他没有死.
'"And this woman leans over in anguish , not about that man but about all sad things, it happens quite often in February." 这个女人极度悲伤的靠在那里,并不是因为那个男人 而是二月中所有悲伤的事情.
leans:n.倾斜;倾斜错觉(lean的复数);v.倚靠(lean的第三人称单数形式); anguish:n.痛苦;苦恼;v.使极度痛苦;感到极度的痛苦;
There's consoling . 这里有少许安慰.
consoling:v.安慰;抚慰;慰藉;(console的现在分词)
This man is angry because somebody threw onions all over the staircase , and basically -- you know, I guess onions are a theme here -- and he says, "It is impossible not to lie. 画面上的男子很生气,因为有人把洋葱扔的满皮箱都是, 基本上, 我猜这是以洋葱为主题的 -- 他说: 不撒谎是不可能的.
staircase:n.楼梯;
It is February and not lying is impossible." 现在是二月份,不可能不撒谎.
And I really spend a lot of time wondering, how much truth do we tell? 我确实花很多时间去想, 我们到底说过多少实话?
What is that we're actually -- what story are we actually telling? 我们到底在讲一些什么样的故事?
How do we know when we are ourselves? 我们怎么知道什么时候是真正的自我?
How do we actually know that these sentences coming out of our mouths are real stories, you know, are real sentences? 我们怎么知道自己口中讲述的故事是真实的? 这些都是真实的吗?
Or are they fake sentences that we think we ought to be saying? 或者我们只是在说我们应该说的假话?
fake:n.假货;骗子;假动作;v.捏造;假装…的样子;adj.伪造的;
I'm going to quickly go through this. 我带着你快速过一遍这个.
A quote by Bertrand Russell, "All the labor of all the ages, all the devotion , all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius are destined to extinction . 引用勃特兰?罗素的话, 任何年龄的劳动者,任何忠诚,任何灵感, 所有天才的正午光明 都注定湮没.
quote:v.引用;报价;举例说明;开价;为(企业的股份)上市;n.引用; devotion:n.献身,奉献;忠诚;热爱; noonday:n.中午;adj.正午的(等于midday); brightness:n.[光][天]亮度;聪明,活泼;鲜艳;愉快; genius:n.天才;天资;才能,本领; destined:adj.注定的;命定的;去往…的;v.注定;(destine的过去式和过去分词) extinction:n.绝种;
So now, my friends, if that is true, and it is true, what is the point?" 现在,朋友们呐, 如果这是真的, 都是真的, 这意味着什么?
A complicated question. 这个问题太复杂.
And so, you know, I talk to my friends and I go to plays where they're singing Russian songs -- 我跟我的朋友说 我要去看俄国话剧--
Oh my God, you know what? 我的上帝呀,你猜怎么着?
Could we have -- no, we don't have time. 我们有没有 -- 不,我们没时间.
I taped my aunt, I taped my aunt singing a song in Russian from the -- 我录了一首我阿姨唱的俄国歌曲 --
You know, could we have it for a second? 能让我们听一会吗?
Do you have that? (向工作人员说)可以给我们播放一下吗?
(Music) (音乐)
OK. I taped my -- my aunt used to swim in the ocean every day of the year until she was about 85. 好了, 我的阿姨曾经坚持每天在海中游泳 直到85岁.
So, and that's a song about how everybody's miserable because, you know, we're from Russia. 这是一首关于每个人都是一场杯具的歌, 因为,你知道,我们都来自俄国来的嘛.
miserable:adj.悲惨的;痛苦的;卑鄙的;
(Laughter) (笑声)
I went to visit Kitty Carlisle Hart, and she is 96, and when I brought her a copy of "The Elements of Style," 我曾拜访过Carlisle Hart, 她有96岁了. 我带给她了一本《风格元素》
Carlisle:n.卡莱尔(英国英格兰西北部城市);
she said she would treasure it. 她说她会珍藏起来.
And then I said, oh, and she was talking about Moss Hart, and I said, you know, when you met him you knew it was him, and she said, I knew it was he. 然后她正在讲Moss Hart的故事, 然后我说, 你见到他时你能认出他吧, 她说, 我知道就是他.
Moss:n.苔藓;泥沼;vt.使长满苔藓;
(Laughter) (笑声)
So, I was the one who should have kept the book but it was a really wonderful moment. 所以,我才是应该保存这本书的人,但这真的是不寻常的时刻.
And she dated George Gershwin, so, you know, get out. 他跟乔治?格什温曾约会过, 一起出去.
Gershwin died at the age of 38. 格什温 在38岁的时候就去世了.
He's buried in the same cemetery as my husband. 他跟我的丈夫埋在了同一个公墓.
cemetery:n.墓地;公墓;
I don't want to talk about that now. 我现在不打算说这个.
I do want to talk -- the absolute icing on this cemetery cake is the Barricini family mausoleum nearby . 但我想说 -- 公墓所用蛋糕的糖衣部分 是在Barricini 家族的陵墓附近.
mausoleum:n.陵墓;阴森森的大厦; nearby:adj.附近的,邻近的;adv.在附近;prep.在…附近;
I think the Barricini family should open a store there and sell chocolate. 我想Barricini家族应该在那儿开家商店卖巧克力.
(Laughter) (笑声)
And I would like to run it for them. 我真想替他们打理生意.
And I went to visit Louise Bourgeoise , who's also still working, and I looked at her sink, which is really amazing, and left. 然后我去拜访了Louise Bourgeoise, 看她的洗脸池, 真的很漂亮,
Bourgeoise:n.中产阶级的女人;资产阶级的女人;
And then I photograph and do a painting of a sofa on the street. 我拍了照片并且画了街边的一个沙发.
And a woman who lives on our street, Lolita. 在街上住的一个女人, 叫洛丽塔(Lolita).
And then I go and have some tea. 然后我去喝了一些茶.
And then my Aunt Frances dies, and before she died she tried to pay with Sweet 'n Low packets for her bagel . 然后我的阿姨弗朗西斯去世了, 在去世之前 她试图用她放面包圈的小方盒子付钱.
bagel:n.百吉饼(先蒸后烤的发面圈);(体育比赛中)零蛋;
(Laughter) (笑声)
And I wonder what the point is and then I know, and I see that Hy Meyerowitz, Rick Meyerowitz's father, a dry-cleaning supply salesman from the Bronx, won the Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest in 1931. 我很好奇她的意义是什么, 然后我明白了. Rick Meyerowitz（Kalman的合作伙伴,上文的Rick）的父亲叫HY 一个布朗克斯来的干洗店的销售员, 赢的了1931年的一个卓别林模仿秀大奖.
dry-cleaning:v.干洗;(dry-clean的现在分词) Chaplin:n.卓别林(喜剧演员); look-alike:n.外形酷似之人;adj.极为相像的;
That's actually Hy. 那确实是HY.
And I look at a beautiful bowl of fruit, and I look at a dress that I sewed for friends of mine. 我看了一下美丽的水果盘, 我看我为朋友缝制的一件衣服.
sewed:v.缝;做针线活;缝制;缝补(sew的过去分词和过去式)
And it says, Ich habe genug, which is a Bach cantata , which I once thought meant, I've had it, I can't take it anymore, give me a break, but I was wrong. 上面写着, Ich habe genug 其实是一个巴赫清唱剧, 我曾经认为不好听, 我已经听过了, 不想再听了. 让我歇歇吧, 但我错了.
cantata:n.大合唱;(意)清唱剧;康塔塔(一种声乐套曲);
It means, I have enough -- and that is utterly true. 我是说, 我已经够了 -- 是真的.
utterly:adv.完全地;绝对地;全然地;彻底地,十足地;
I happen to be alive, end of discussion. Thank you. 我居然还活着, 结束. 谢谢你们.
(Applause) (掌声)