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PicoIyer_2014S-_静观的技艺_
I'm a lifelong traveler. 我这辈子都是个旅行者。
Even as a little kid, 即使还是一个小孩子的时候,
I was actually working out that it would be cheaper to go to boarding school in England than just to the best school down the road from my parents' house in California. 我便了解,事实上, 去读英国寄宿学校会比 去加州父母家附近最好的学校就读还来得便宜。
boarding school:n.寄宿学校; down the road:只要沿着这条路;将来;在路上;
So, from the time I was nine years old 所以,当我 9 岁时,
I was flying alone several times a year over the North Pole , just to go to school. 我在一年中,会独自飞行几回, 穿越北极,就只是去上学。
North Pole:n.北极;
And of course the more I flew the more I came to love to fly, so the very week after I graduated from high school, 当然,飞得越频繁,我越是爱上旅行, 所以就在我高中毕业后一周,
I got a job mopping tables so that I could spend every season of my 18th year on a different continent . 我找到一份清理桌子的工作, 为了让自己可以在 18 岁那年, 在地球不同的大陆上,分别待上一季。
mopping:v.用拖把擦干净;用布擦掉;(mop的现在分词) continent:n.大陆,洲,陆地;adj.自制的,克制的;
And then, almost inevitably , I became a travel writer so my job and my joy could become one. 接着,几乎不可避免地我成了一个旅游作家, 使我的工作和志趣可以结合在一块儿。
inevitably:adv.不可避免地;必然地;
And I really began to feel that if you were lucky enough to walk around the candlelit temples of Tibet or to wander along the seafronts in Havana with music passing all around you, 我真的开始发觉如果你可以幸运地 漫步于西藏的烛光寺庙, 或者在音乐的缭绕间 悠然信步于哈瓦那海岸,
candlelit:adj.烛光的; Havana:n.哈瓦那(古巴城市);哈瓦那雪茄烟;
you could bring those sounds and the high cobalt skies and the flash of the blue ocean back to your friends at home, and really bring some magic and clarity to your own life. 你便能将那声音、天际 与靛蓝海洋的闪烁光芒 带给你家乡的朋友, 真确地捎来些许神奇, 点亮自身生命。
cobalt:n.[化学]钴;钴类颜料;由钴制的深蓝色; flash:n.闪光; v.闪光; adj.庞大的; clarity:n.清楚,明晰;透明;
Except, as you all know, one of the first things you learn when you travel is that nowhere is magical unless you can bring the right eyes to it. 除了,如你们所知, 当旅行时,你学到的第一件事情是 你必须以正确的视角看世界,否则大地依然黯淡无光。
nowhere:v.无处; n.无处; adj.不存在的;
You take an angry man to the Himalayas, he just starts complaining about the food. 你带一个易怒的男人爬喜马拉雅山, 他只会抱怨那儿的食物。
complaining:adj.抱怨的;v.抱怨;控诉;(complain的现在分词)
And I found that the best way that I could develop more attentive and more appreciative eyes was, oddly , by going nowhere, just by sitting still. 我发现,有点怪异的是, 最好的让自己可以培养更专注和更珍惜世界的视角的诀窍是 哪儿都不去,静止于原处即可。
attentive:adj.留意的,注意的; appreciative:adj.感激的;赏识的;有欣赏力的;承认有价值的; oddly:adv.古怪地;奇妙地;单数地;
And of course sitting still is how many of us get what we most crave and need in our accelerated lives, a break. 当然呆在原地正是我们许多人寻常所得到的东西, 我们都渴望在快速的生活中获得休息。
crave:v.渴望;恳求; accelerated:v.(使)加速;加速;加快(accelerate的过去分词和过去式)
But it was also the only way that I could find to sift through the slideshow of my experience and make sense of the future and the past. 但那却是我唯一的方法, 让自己可以重历自身的经验幻灯, 理解未来与过去。
sift:vt.筛选;撒;过滤;详查;vi.筛;详查;撒下;细究; slideshow:n.(摄)幻灯片播放; make sense of:搞清…的意思;
And so, to my great surprise, 如此,我惊异地发现,
I found that going nowhere was at least as exciting as going to Tibet or to Cuba. 我发现无所去处 和游览西藏或古巴一样,令人兴奋。
And by going nowhere, I mean nothing more intimidating than taking a few minutes out of every day or a few days out of every season, or even, as some people do, a few years out of a life in order to sit still long enough to find out what moves you most, to recall where your truest happiness lies and to remember that sometimes making a living and making a life point in opposite directions. 无所去处,只不过意谓着 每天花几分钟, 或每季花几天, 甚至,如同有些人所做的, 在生命中花上几年 长久地静思于某处, 寻找感动你最多的一瞬, 回忆你最真实的幸福时刻, 同时记住, 有时候,谋生与生活 彼此是处于光谱线上的两端的。
intimidating:adj.吓人的;令人胆怯的;v.恐吓;威胁;(intimidate的现在分词) recall:v.记起;回想起;使想到;勾起;召回;n.记忆力;记性;回归请求;回收令;
And of course, this is what wise beings through the centuries from every tradition have been telling us. 当然,这是明智的众生历经几百年 从每个传统中所告诉我们的。
It's an old idea. 这是一个古老的概念。
More than 2,000 years ago, the Stoics were reminding us it's not our experience that makes our lives, it's what we do with it. 早在两千多年前,斯多葛学派提醒我们 并不是我们的经验成就了我们的生命, 而是我们用那经验做了什么。
Stoics:n.斯多噶派学者;禁欲主义者(Stoic的复数); reminding:v.提醒;使想起;(remind的现在分词)
Imagine a hurricane suddenly sweeps through your town and reduces every last thing to rubble . 想象一下,一阵飓风迅速扑向你的城市, 将所有一切化为废墟。
hurricane:n.飓风,暴风; sweeps:n.清扫; v.清扫; rubble:n.碎石,碎砖;粗石堆;
One man is traumatized for life. 某个人身心遭受终身顿挫,
traumatized:adj.心理受到创伤的;v.使受创伤(traumatize的过去式和过去分词);
But another, maybe even his brother, almost feels liberated , and decides this is a great chance to start his life anew . 但另一个人,也许甚至是他的兄弟,却几乎感觉释怀, 并认定,这是一个可以使自己重获新生的重要机会。
liberated:adj.不受传统思想束缚的,开放的; v.解放; (liberate的过去式和过去分词) anew:重新,再
It's exactly the same event, but radically different responses . 这是同样的事件, 截然不同的回应。
radically:adv.根本上;彻底地;以激进的方式; responses:n.回答,答复;反应;响应;(response的复数)
There is nothing either good or bad, as Shakespeare told us in " Hamlet ," 没有什么是绝对的好坏, 正如莎士比亚在《哈姆雷特》中所告诉我们的,
Shakespeare:n.莎士比亚(英国剧作家); Hamlet:n.小村庄;
but thinking makes it so. 好坏由思维决定。
And this has certainly been my experience as a traveler. 这无疑就是我作为一个旅者的经验。
Twenty-four years ago I took the most mind-bending trip across North Korea. 24 年前,我完成了一次最不可思议的旅程: 横跨朝鲜。
mind-bending:adj.离奇古怪令人费解的;强烈影响心绪的;
But the trip lasted a few days. 但这次旅行只持续了几天。
What I've done with it sitting still, going back to it in my head, trying to understand it, finding a place for it in my thinking, that's lasted 24 years already and will probably last a lifetime. 这经验对于无所去处的我来说,允许我可以在心思中回朔, 试着了解它,让它在我的思维中寻得一个位置, 在那儿,它已存留了 24 年, 而且很可能会在我这生中,一直持续下去。
The trip, in other words, gave me some amazing sights, but it's only sitting still that allows me to turn those into lasting insights . 换句话说, 这次旅行,带给我一些惊人的景致, 但唯有处于静止的状态 才让我得以将这些风景线化为更长的见识。
insights:n.洞察力;眼力;深刻见解(insight的复数);
And I sometimes think that so much of our life takes place inside our heads, in memory or imagination or interpretation or speculation , that if I really want to change my life 我有时会想,我们的生活 有太多东西发生在我们自己的脑袋里, 在回忆中,在想象里,透过诠释,或是猜测, 如果我真想改变我的生命,
imagination:n.想象;想象力;创造力;想象的事物; interpretation:n.解释;翻译;演出; speculation:n.投机;推测;思索;投机买卖;
I might best begin by changing my mind. 我可能最好从改变我的思维开始。
Again, none of this is new; that's why Shakespeare and the Stoics were telling us this centuries ago, but Shakespeare never had to face 200 emails in a day. 同样,这一切都不是新想法; 然而,莎士比亚从未面对过一天收到两百多封电邮的日子。
(Laughter) （笑声）
The Stoics, as far as I know , were not on Facebook. 据我所知,斯多葛派的学者们也没待在脸书上。
as far as I know:据我所知;就我所知;
We all know that in our on-demand lives, one of the things that's most on demand is ourselves. 我们都知道,在我们的按需生活中, 一种最迫切需要之物 就是自己。
on demand:请求即;按需;随选;随需应变;
Wherever we are, any time of night or day, our bosses, junk-mailers, our parents can get to us. 无论我们处于何处,处于何时,无论是夜晚或白天中的任何时刻, 我们的老板,垃圾邮件,我们的父母都能找到我们。
Sociologists have actually found that in recent years 社会学家近年来所发现的是,
Sociologists:n.社会学家;
Americans are working fewer hours than 50 years ago, but we feel as if we're working more. 当今美国人的工作时间竟然比 50 年前还少, 但我们却觉得自己的工时更长。
We have more and more time-saving devices , but sometimes, it seems, less and less time. 我们有越来越多的可以用来节省时间的设备, 但有时,时间似乎越来越少。
time-saving:adj.节省时间的; devices:n.[机][计]设备;[机]装置;[电子]器件(device的复数);
We can more and more easily make contact with people on the furthest corners of the planet, but sometimes in that process we lose contact with ourselves. 我们比以前更容易与 身处地球另一端的人们联系, 但有时候,在那过程中, 我们与自己断了线。
furthest:v.最远地; adj.最远的; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的; lose contact with:与…失去联系;离开…;
And one of my biggest surprises as a traveler has been to find that often it's exactly the people who have most enabled us to get anywhere who are intent on going nowhere. 作为一个旅行者,让我最为诧异的事情之一就是 我发现,时常,往往那些 最使我们能够走向世界各地的人 却最希望身居原处。
enabled:v.使得;授予…权力;(enabled是enable的过去式) intent on:专心致志于;抱定决心要实行;
In other words, precisely those beings who have created the technologies that override so many of the limits of old, are the ones wisest about the need for limits, even when it comes to technology . 换句话说,正是那些 创造了打破旧时的 限制人出游的科技的人们 才是最具智慧的个体,他们理解限制的必须, 甚至在面对科技本身时,亦是如此。
technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数); override:v.凌驾;(以权力)否决;比…更重要;超驰控制; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
I once went to the Google headquarters and I saw all the things many of you have heard about; the indoor tree houses, the trampolines , workers at that time enjoying 20 percent of their paid time free so that they could just let their imaginations go wandering. 有一次我造访谷歌总部, 我见到了所有你们听说过的事; 室内树屋,蹦床, 拥有 20% 属于自己付费工时的员工, 允许他们的想象自由漫游。
Google:谷歌;谷歌搜索引擎; headquarters:n.总部;指挥部;司令部; indoor:adj.(在)室内的;在户内进行的;在室内用的; trampolines:蹦床; imaginations:n.[心理]想象力;空想;幻想物;
But what impressed me even more was that as I was waiting for my digital I.D., one Googler was telling me about the program that he was about to start to teach the many, many Googlers who practice yoga to become trainers in it, 但更让我感到印象深刻的是, 当我正在等待我的数字身份证时, 有位谷歌员工告诉我一个项目, 说他正打算教许许多多的谷歌员工 来练习瑜伽,并成为训练师,
impressed:adj.印象深刻; v.使钦佩; (impress的过去分词和过去式) digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键; was about to:眼看就要;即将;正要;行将; yoga:n.瑜珈(意为"结合",指修行);瑜珈术;联想可360°翻转的平板电脑;
and the other Googler was telling me about the book that he was about to write on the inner search engine , and the ways in which science has empirically shown that sitting still, or meditation , 而另外一个谷歌员工向我阐述了一本他正想写的书, 一本关于内在寻索的书, 以及科学如何经验性地证明 打坐,或冥想
inner:n.内部;射中接近靶心部分的一发;adj.里面的;向内的;内部的;接近中心的; search engine:n.(计算机)搜索引擎; empirically:adv.以经验为主地; meditation:n.冥想;沉思,深思;
can lead not just to better health or to clearer thinking, but even to emotional intelligence . 不仅能促进健康,明晰思维, 甚至也能增加情绪智慧。
emotional:adj.情绪的;易激动的;感动人的; intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报;
I have another friend in Silicon Valley who is really one of the most eloquent spokesmen for the latest technologies, and in fact was one of the founders of Wired magazine, Kevin Kelly. 我有另一个在硅谷工作的朋友, 他的确是当前最前沿科技的 最有说服力的代言人,事实上, 他是《连线》杂志的创始人之一,凯文·凯利。
Silicon Valley:n.硅谷(美国加利福尼亚州一处计算机和电子公司聚集地,有时用以指任何计算机公司聚集地); eloquent:adj.意味深长的;雄辩的,有口才的;有说服力的;动人的; spokesmen:n.发言人; (spokesman的复数) founders:n.创办人;造物者(founder的复数);
And Kevin wrote his last book on fresh technologies without a smartphone or a laptop or a TV in his home. 凯文当时正在写一本有关最新技术的书, 但他家里却没有智能手机,笔记本电脑,或者电视。
smartphone:n.智能手机; laptop:n.便携式电脑;笔记本电脑;
And like many in Silicon Valley, he tries really hard to observe what they call an Internet sabbath , whereby for 24 or 48 hours every week they go completely offline in order to gather the sense of direction and proportion they'll need when they go online again. 如同许多住在硅谷的人们, 他非常努力地观察 那个称为互联网安息日的东西, 在每个星期,有 24 或 48 小时, 他们会彻底地下线, 以寻求一点方向感, 用来重新调整,并汲取他们重新上线时之所需。
observe:v.观察;看到;庆祝;监视; sabbath:n.安息日; whereby:adv.凭借;通过…;借以;与…一致; offline:n.脱机;挂线;adj.脱机的;离线的,未连线的;adv.未连线地; proportion:n.比例;部分;份额;均衡;v.摊派;使相称;
The one thing perhaps that technology hasn't always given us is a sense of how to make the wisest use of technology. 有件科技可能尚未给予我们的是 如何可以更聪明地使用科技。
And when you speak of the sabbath, look at the Ten Commandments -- there's only one word there for which the adjective "holy" is used, and that's the Sabbath. 谈到休息日, 让我们看看十戒吧, 其中只有一个字的形容词涉及“神圣”, 而那就是安息日。
Commandments:n.诫命(commandment的复数);戒律; adjective:adj.形容词的;从属的;n.形容词;
I pick up the Jewish holy book of the Torah -- its longest chapter, it's on the Sabbath. 我拿起犹太圣典《托拉》, 它最长的章节,就是关于安息日。
Jewish:adj.犹太人的;犹太族的; Torah:n.律法;圣经旧约之首五卷;
And we all know that it's really one of our greatest luxuries , the empty space. 我们都知道,这真是我们所拥有的最大奢侈之一: 空。
luxuries:n.奢侈的享受;奢华;奢侈品;(luxury的复数)
In many a piece of music, it's the pause or the rest that gives the piece its beauty and its shape. 在许多音乐作品中,停顿或静默 赋予了这作品美丽形貌。
And I know I as a writer will often try to include a lot of empty space on the page so that the reader can complete my thoughts and sentences and so that her imagination has room to breathe. 我知道,作为一个作家, 我时常会在页面中留下空白, 让读者可以完整地领会我的思维与句法, 以留给想象呼吸的空间。
Now, in the physical domain , of course, many people, if they have the resources , will try to get a place in the country, a second home . 现在,在实际的领域中,当然有很多人, 倘若他们稍微富余的话, 会试着在国内拥有第二个家。
physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; domain:n.领域;域名;产业;地产; resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); second home:n.别业;第二寓所;别墅;第二故乡;
I've never begun to have those resources, but I sometimes remember that any time I want, 我从未有过那些资源, 但我有时记得任何时候,若我想的话,
I can get a second home in time, if not in space, just by taking a day off. 我可以给自己放一天假, 来适时地,获得第二个家。
And it's never easy because, of course, whenever I do I spend much of it worried about all the extra stuff that's going to crash down on me the following day. 当然,这从来就不容易,每次我这么做, 对于所有多出来的 会压垮我隔日工作天的忧虑就会出现。
extra:adj.额外的:n.额外的事物:adv.额外:另外: stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
I sometimes think I'd rather give up meat or sex or wine than the chance to check on my emails. 有时我会觉得,我宁愿放弃吃肉,性生活,或红酒, 也不愿失去任何一丁点查邮箱的机会。
(Laughter) （笑声）
And every season I do try to take three days off on retreat but a part of me still feels guilty to be leaving my poor wife behind and to be ignoring all those seemingly urgent emails from my bosses and maybe to be missing a friend's birthday party. 每一季,我的确给自己三天假期, 但关于丢下我妻子以及忽略那些 老板寄来的看似紧急的邮件, 以及错过一个朋友的派对, 我内心某处仍然觉得有负罪感。
retreat:v.撤退;退却;后退;退缩;n.撤退;退却;退缩;退避; guilty:adj.有罪的;内疚的; ignoring:v.忽略,忽视;(ignore的现在分词); seemingly:adv.看来似乎;表面上看来; urgent:adj.紧急的;急迫的;
But as soon as I get to a place of real quiet, 但一旦来到某个真正安静的地方,
as soon as:一…就;
I realize that it's only by going there that I'll have anything fresh or creative or joyful to share with my wife or bosses or friends. 我才了解,只有去那儿, 我才能拥有全新的,有创意的,或快意之事 和我妻子,上司和朋友分享。
creative:adj.创造性的; joyful:adj.欢喜的;令人高兴的;
Otherwise, really, 否则,老天,
I'm just foisting on them my exhaustion or my distractedness, which is no blessing at all. 我能够加诸于他们的仅仅是我的疲惫或分神状态, 实在无福可言。
foisting:v.把…强加(于);(foist的现在分词) exhaustion:n.枯竭;耗尽;精疲力竭;
And so when I was 29, 所以当我 29 岁时,
I decided to remake my entire life in the light of going nowhere. 我决定要重整自己全部的生活, 为了获得那无所去处的体验。
remake:n.重做;重制物;vt.再制; in the light of:根据,按照;当作;
One evening I was coming back from the office, it was after midnight, I was in a taxi driving through Times Square, and I suddenly realized that I was racing around so much 有天晚上,我从办公室回家, 当时午夜时分,我正在出租车上,经过了时代广场, 我突然惊觉,自己仓皇度日
I could never catch up with my life. 以至于永远无法赶上自己的生活。
catch up with:赶上,追上;逮捕;处罚;
And my life then, as it happened, was pretty much the one I might have dreamed of as a little boy. 而我当时的生活,事实上 已差不多就和我小时梦想的一般。
I had really interesting friends and colleagues , 我有非常有趣的朋友和同事,
colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数);
I had a nice apartment on Park Avenue and 20th Street. 我在公园大道和第 20 街交口有个非常棒的公寓。
Avenue:n.途径;(城镇的)大街;林荫道(尤指通往大住宅者);选择;
I had, to me, a fascinating job writing about world affairs, but I could never separate myself enough from them to hear myself think -- or really, to understand if I was truly happy. 我有个对我来说绝佳的工作,这工作让我得以撰写世界事务, 但我从来未能将自己和它清楚分开, 让自己倾听自己的思绪, 或,去理解是否我真的处于喜乐之中。
fascinating:adj.极有吸引力的;迷人的;v.深深吸引;迷住;(fascinate的现在分词)
And so, I abandoned my dream life for a single room on the backstreets of Kyoto , Japan, which was the place that had long exerted a strong, really mysterious gravitational pull on me. 因此,我放弃我梦想中的工作, 就为了待在一个位于日本京都某后街里的单间房内, 这地方长久以来产生了一种强烈的 对我来说极为神秘的吸引力。
abandoned:adj.被抛弃的放纵的;v.抛弃;丢弃,离开;放弃;(abandon的过去分词和过去式) backstreets:n.偏僻街道(backstreet的复数) Kyoto:n.京都(日本城市); exerted:adj.外露的; mysterious:adj.神秘的;不可思议的;难解的; gravitational:adj.[力]重力的,[力]引力的;
Even as a child 甚至在我孩提时代,
I would just look at a painting of Kyoto and feel I recognized it; 我会看着一幅京都的画作并感觉,我认出它来了,
recognized:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到;(recognize的过去分词和过去式)
I knew it before I ever laid eyes on it. 在定睛审视它之前,我便知如此。
But it's also, as you all know, a beautiful city encircled by hills, filled with more than 2,000 temples and shrines , where people have been sitting still for 800 years or more. 但它也是,如同大家所知, 是一个群山环绕的美丽城市, 充满了 2000 多座寺庙和神社, 人们在那儿静默了 800 年以上之久。
encircled:v.环绕;围绕;包围;(encircle的过去分词和过去式) shrines:圣地;神殿;神龛;圣祠(shrine的复数);
And quite soon after I moved there, I ended up where I still am with my wife, formerly our kids, in a two-room apartment in the middle of nowhere where we have no bicycle, no car, no TV I can understand, and I still have to support my loved ones as a travel writer and a journalist , so clearly this is not ideal for job advancement or for cultural excitement or for social diversion . 就在我搬到那儿不久, 我与现在的妻儿, 挤在一个有两间房的公寓里,在一个不毛之地, 我们没有自行车,没有车, 没有可以理解的电视节目, 我还得以作家和记者的身份, 抚养我的至亲家人, 因此很明显地,这对职业生涯, 对文化探索, 或对体验社会文化纷繁来说,都不是一个理想的规划。
formerly:adv.以前;原来; journalist:n.新闻工作者;报人;记日志者; advancement:n.前进,进步;提升; cultural:adj.与文化有关的;文化的;与艺术、文学、音乐等有关的; excitement:n.兴奋;刺激;令人兴奋的事物; diversion:n.转移;消遣;分散注意力;
But I realized that it gives me what I prize most, which is days and hours. 但我理解,这赋予了我那些 我最珍爱的日子, 与时刻。
I have never once had to use a cell phone there. 我在那儿从未需要使用手机。
I almost never have to look at the time, and every morning when I wake up, really the day stretches in front of me like an open meadow . 我基本上几乎无须看时间, 每天早上我醒来时, 在我眼前展开来的一天 是一片敞开的草地。
stretches:v.拉长; n.一片; (stretch的第三人称单数和复数) meadow:n.草地;牧场;
And when life throws up one of its nasty surprises, as it will, more than once, when a doctor comes into my room wearing a grave expression , or a car suddenly veers in front of mine on the freeway , 当生活向你抛出某个重大惊喜时, 它不只会出现一次, 当一个医生来到我房里, 脸上带着肃穆的表情, 或一辆汽车在高速公路上突然改道,漂移到我车子前方,
nasty:adj.极差的:令人厌恶的:不友好的:n.令人不愉快的事物: grave:adj.重大的;严肃的;黯淡的;n.墓穴,坟墓;死亡;v.雕刻;铭记; expression:n.表现,表示,表达; veers:n.方向的改变(veer的复数);v.转向(veer的第三人称单数); freeway:n.高速公路;
I know, in my bones, that it's the time I've spent going nowhere that is going to sustain me much more than all the time I've spent racing around to Bhutan or Easter Island. 我知道,在我骨子里, 正是那无所去处的时光 帮助我持续保持平静, 那比起我在不丹和复活节岛所度之日都要有帮助。
sustain:v.支持;支撑;遭受;证实;
I'll always be a traveler -- my livelihood depends on it -- but one of the beauties of travel is that it allows you to bring stillness into the motion and the commotion of the world. 我永远都会是个旅者, 那是我生活之所系, 然而旅行的美好之处在于, 它让你保有沉静之心, 在这莽撞与躁动的世界之中。
livelihood:n.生计,生活;营生; stillness:n.静止;沉静; commotion:n.骚动;暴乱;
I once got on a plane in Frankfurt, Germany, and a young German woman came down and sat next to me and engaged me in a very friendly conversation for about 30 minutes, and then she just turned around and sat still for 12 hours. 有一次,我在德国的法兰克福搭机, 一位年轻的德国女子坐到我身旁, 与我展开非常友善的对谈, 近 30 分钟, 接着,她就转过身去, 静静地坐在那儿 12 有个小时之久。
engaged:adj.已订婚的; v.吸引住; (engage的过去分词和过去式)
She didn't once turn on her video monitor, she never pulled out a book, she didn't even go to sleep, she just sat still, and something of her clarity and calm really imparted itself to me. 她未曾打开屏幕, 她也没有拿出书本,甚至从未睡去, 就只是静静地坐着, 她那明晰和沉静已真正传授于我。
imparted:adj.给予的;授予的;
I've noticed more and more people taking conscious measures these days to try to open up a space inside their lives. 近来我注意到有越来越多人刻意地 试图在他们的生活中打开一片空间。
conscious:adj.意识到的;故意的;神志清醒的;
Some people go to black-hole resorts where they'll spend hundreds of dollars a night in order to hand over their cell phone and their laptop to the front desk on arrival. 有些人参加黑洞之旅 他们会一晚花上几百美元 只为了将自己的手机与电脑 上缴给度假接待处。
resorts:n.度假村;度假胜地(resort复数);v.诉诸(resort的第三人称单数); front desk:n.总台;
Some people I know, just before they go to sleep, instead of scrolling through their messages or checking out YouTube, just turn out the lights and listen to some music, and notice that they sleep much better and wake up much refreshed. 有些我认识的人 并不会在睡前刷屏看信息, 或观看 YouTube 视频, 反而就只是关灯,听音乐, 他们知道,这样会有更好的睡眠, 在隔天一早将更神清气爽。
scrolling:v.滚屏;滚动;(scroll的现在分词)
I was once fortunate enough to drive into the high, dark mountains behind Los Angeles, where the great poet and singer and international heartthrob Leonard Cohen 我曾经有幸地 驾驶于洛杉矶旁的高耸黯黑的群山之中, 那儿曾经住了伟大的诗人乐手 -- 举世皆知的莱纳德·科恩。
fortunate:adj.幸运的;交好运的;吉利的; heartthrob:n.柔情;心跳;激情;迷恋的对象;
was living and working for many years as a full-time monk in the Mount Baldy Zen Center. 他曾在那儿附近作了好几年的僧人, 就在博帝山禅学中心。
full-time:adj.专职的;全日制的;全部时间的; monk:n.僧侣,修道士;和尚; Mount:n.山;坐骑;山峰;衬纸板;v.登上;爬上;攀登;准备; Baldy:n.秃子;adj.秃的;秃顶的;
And I wasn't entirely surprised when the record that he released at the age of 77, to which he gave the deliberately unsexy title of "Old Ideas," 当他在 77 岁发表了 自己的唱片专辑, 他故意给这个专辑取了一个非常不性感的名称 “旧思维”,
released:v.释放;使免除;已发布;(release的过去分词和过去式) deliberately:adv.故意地;谨慎地;慎重地; unsexy:很不性感;
went to number one in the charts in 17 nations in the world, hit the top five in nine others. 然而这专辑在全球17 个国家冲上排行榜首位, 在另外 9 个国家冲上前 5 名。
Something in us, I think, is crying out for the sense of intimacy and depth that we get from people like that. 它触动了我们内心里某种东西, 触动了躁动的人们
intimacy:n.亲密;密切;关系密切;性行为;
who take the time and trouble to sit still. 一种亲密、深刻与沉静的思绪。
And I think many of us have the sensation , 我想许多人拥有这种感觉,
sensation:n.感觉;轰动;感动;
I certainly do, that we're standing about two inches away from a huge screen, and it's noisy and it's crowded and it's changing with every second, and that screen is our lives. 我当然也是, 我们站在一个巨大的屏幕前,距离大约两英寸, 人声鼎沸,摩肩接踵, 每一刻都在变动着, 而那屏幕即为我们自己的人生。
And it's only by stepping back, and then further back, and holding still, that we can begin to see what the canvas means and to catch the larger picture. 唯有向后退一步,再回头一步, 静静地屏住气, 我们才能开始了解那画布上描绘之物, 并以更宽广的眼界洞察世界。
canvas:n.帆布;(帆布)画布;油画;vt.用帆布覆盖;
And a few people do that for us by going nowhere. 有些人已如此做了,他们无须来去。
So, in an age of acceleration , nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow. 因此,在这个快速转变的时代, 没有什么比慢下来还要振奋人心。
acceleration:n.加速,促进;[物]加速度; exhilarating:adj.令人兴奋的; v.使高兴; (exhilarate的现在分词)
And in an age of distraction , nothing is so luxurious as paying attention. 在这个失焦的时代, 没有什么比凝神专注来得奢侈。
distraction:n.注意力分散;消遣;心烦意乱; luxurious:adj.奢侈的;丰富的;放纵的;特级的;
And in an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still. 在这个不断变动的时代, 没有什么比静思来得急迫了。
So you can go on your next vacation to Paris or Hawaii, or New Orleans; 所以,下一次当你们 去巴黎,夏威夷或新奥尔良度假时,
I bet you'll have a wonderful time. 我保证你们会有一段美好时光,
bet:n.打赌;赌注;预计;估计;v.下赌注(于);用…打赌;敢说;八成儿;
But, if you want to come back home alive and full of fresh hope, in love with the world, 但如果你们想回家,期待满怀全新希望, 爱这个世界,
I think you might want to try considering going nowhere. 我想,也许你们应该试着哪儿都别去。
Thank you. 谢谢各位。
(Applause) （掌声）