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PicoIyer_2016T-_未知的美丽_
One hot October morning, 在一个炎热的十月早晨,
I got off the all-night train in Mandalay, the old royal capital of Burma , now Myanmar . 我下了过夜火车 在曼德勒, 那是旧的缅甸皇室首都, 现在是缅甸联邦了。
all-night:adj.通宵的;通宵营业的; royal:adj.国王的;女王的;皇家的;n.王室成员; Burma:n.缅甸(东南亚国家); Myanmar:n.缅甸(东南亚国家);
And out on the street , I ran into a group of rough men standing beside their bicycle rickshaws . 到了街上,我碰到了一群衣着朴素的人, 站在他们的黄包车旁边。
out on the street:无家可归;失业; rickshaws:n.黄包车(rickshaw的复数形式);
And one of them came up and offered to show me around. 其中的一个走上前, 想带我在附近逛逛。
The price he quoted was outrageous . 他提出的价格是难以置信的,
quoted:v.引用;引述;举例说明;开价;(quote的过去分词和过去式) outrageous:adj.粗暴的;可恶的;令人吃惊的;
It was less than I would pay for a bar of chocolate at home. 比我在家一根巧克力棒的价格还要便宜。
So I clambered into his trishaw, and he began pedaling us slowly between palaces and pagodas . 所以我爬上他的三轮车, 他开始缓缓地载着我,穿梭在皇宫和宝塔之间。
pedaling:vi.踩踏板; n.踏板; vt.骑(自行车); adj.脚的; pagodas:[建]塔;
And as he did, he told me how he had come to the city from his village. 这时,他开始讲述他是如何从他的村庄来到城市,
He'd earned a degree in mathematics . 他取得了数学的学位。
mathematics:n.数学;数学运算;
His dream was to be a teacher. 梦想成为一名老师。
But of course, life is hard under a military dictatorship , and so for now, this was the only way he could make a living . 但是,受军阀独裁的统治的生活是很困难的, 所以到现在,这就是他唯一赖以生存的方式。
military:adj.军事的;军人的;适于战争的;n.军队;军人; dictatorship:n.专政;独裁权;独裁者职位; make a living:谋生,维持生活;
Many nights, he told me, he actually slept in his trishaw so he could catch the first visitors off the all-night train. 多少个夜晚,他告诉我,他睡在自己的三轮车里, 为了能够接到下连夜火车的第一个乘客。
And very soon, we found that in certain ways, we had so much in common -- we were both in our 20s, we were both fascinated by foreign cultures -- that he invited me home. 很快,我们发现,在很多方面, 我们其实很像—— 我们都是二十几岁, 我们都热爱异国文化。 他邀请我到他家。
So we turned off the wide, crowded streets, and we began bumping down rough, wild alleyways . 所以我们离开了宽大且拥挤的马路, 开始颠簸在一条条凹凸不平的巷子里。
bumping:v.碰上,撞上;颠簸行进(bump的现在分词) alleyways:n.胡同;小巷;窄街;走廊;
There were broken shacks all around. 身边都是破旧的小屋。
shacks:n.棚户(shack的复数形式);
I really lost the sense of where I was, and I realized that anything could happen to me now. 我完全不知道我在哪, 我意识到什么都有可能发生在我身上。
I could get mugged or drugged or something worse. 我可能会被打劫或者下药, 或者更糟。
mugged:v.(公开)行凶抢劫;扮鬼脸;(mug的过去分词和过去式)
Nobody would know. 没人会知道。
Finally , he stopped and led me into a hut , which consisted of just one tiny room. 最终,他停了车,带我进了一个棚屋, 棚屋只有一个小小的房间。
Finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地; hut:n.小屋;木屋;[军事]临时营房;[美俚]牢房;v.(使)住临时营房[小屋]; consisted:vi.组成;在于;符合;
And then he leaned down, and reached under his bed. 然后他趴下, 伸手到床下。
leaned:v.前俯后仰;倾斜;倚靠;使斜靠;(lean的过去分词和过去式)
And something in me froze. 有点让我不知所措。
I waited to see what he would pull out. 我等待着,想知道他会拿出什么东西。
And finally he extracted a box. 终于,他抽出了一个盒子,
extracted:adj.萃取的;引出的;v.提取(extract的过去式及过去分词);
Inside it was every single letter he had ever received from visitors from abroad , and on some of them he had pasted little black-and-white worn snapshots of his new foreign friends. 里面是每一封他从外国游客那里 收到的信。 其中的一些,被他粘贴着, 他新交外国朋友的 小小的黑白照片,
abroad:adv.在国外;到海外;adj.往国外的;n.海外;异国; pasted:adj.膏的(胶的;浆糊的); black-and-white:adj.印刷的;黑白混合的;用笔写的; snapshots:n.[摄]快照(snapshot的复数);v.拍快照(snapshot的三单形式);
So when we said goodbye that night, 那个晚上,当我们在互道再见的时候,
I realized he had also shown me the secret point of travel, which is to take a plunge , to go inwardly as well as outwardly to places you would never go otherwise, to venture into uncertainty , ambiguity , even fear. 我意识到,他也向我展示了 旅行的秘密, 那就是沉浸于其中, 由里及外, 去你不会去的地方, 去探索不确定, 模糊, 甚至是恐惧。
plunge:v.暴跌;使突然前冲(或下落);骤降;突降;n.跳水;突然跌落;突然分离;骤减; inwardly:adv.向内地;思想上;在内部; as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且; outwardly:adv.表面上;向外;外观上地; venture:v.敢于;冒险;投机;n.企业;风险;冒险; uncertainty:n.不确定,不可靠; ambiguity:n.含糊;不明确;暧昧;模棱两可的话;
At home, it's dangerously easy to assume we're on top of things. 在家,我们极容易 认为事情都在掌控之中。
dangerously:adv.危险地;不安全; assume:v.承担;假定;采取;呈现;
Out in the world, you are reminded every moment that you're not, and you can't get to the bottom of things, either. 离家在外的时候,你要记住,每一分每一秒, 你不会,也不能了解事情的全部。
reminded:v.提醒;使想起;(remind的过去分词和过去式)
Everywhere, "People wish to be settled ," “无论何处,人们都想通晓世事,”
settled:adj.稳定的; v.结束; (settle的过去分词和过去式)
Ralph Waldo Emerson reminded us, "but only insofar as we are unsettled is there any hope for us." 拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生提醒过我们, “但是正因为我们无法通晓世事 我们才有希望。”
Ralph:v.呕吐; insofar as:na.在…限度内; unsettled:adj.未决定的;怀疑的;未处理的;不整齐的;
At this conference , we've been lucky enough to hear some exhilarating new ideas and discoveries and, really, about all the ways in which knowledge is being pushed excitingly forwards. 在这个会议,我们都很幸运, 能够听到一些令人激动的新主意和发现, 知识就在这样令人激动 的方式里被传播。
conference:n.会议;研讨会;商讨会;体育协会(或联合会) exhilarating:adj.令人兴奋的; v.使高兴; (exhilarate的现在分词) excitingly:adv.刺激地;振奋人心地;
But at some point, knowledge gives out. 但是有的时候,知识不再起作用。
And that is the moment when your life is truly decided: you fall in love; you lose a friend; the lights go out. 那就是 当你的人生将被决定的时候: 坠入爱河, 失去朋友, 面对死亡。
And it's then, when you're lost or uneasy or carried out of yourself, that you find out who you are. 然后,当你失败或失落的时候, 你才会发现你是谁。
uneasy:adj.担心的;忧虑的;不安的;不稳定的;
I don't believe that ignorance is bliss . 我不相信无知是福。
ignorance is bliss:无知是福;无知便是福;难得糊涂;
Science has unquestionably made our lives brighter and longer and healthier. 科学毋庸置疑让我们的生活 变得更光明,更长久,更健康。
unquestionably:adv.无可非议地;确凿地;
And I am forever grateful to the teachers who showed me the laws of physics and pointed out that three times three makes nine. 我永远感激教导我物理定律的老师 和教会我三乘三得九的老师。
I can count that out on my fingers any time of night or day. 我能在任何时候 用手指算出来。
But when a mathematician tells me that minus three times minus three makes nine, that's a kind of logic that almost feels like trust. 但是当一个数学家告诉我, 负三乘负三等于九, 这种逻辑感觉有点像信任。
mathematician:n.数学家;善作数字计算的人; minus:prep.减,减去;n.负号,减号;不足;负数;adj.减的;负的; logic:n.逻辑;逻辑学;逻辑性;adj.逻辑的;
The opposite of knowledge, in other words, isn't always ignorance. 博学的反义,换一个角度来说,不一定是无知。
It can be wonder. 也可能是思忖,
Or mystery. 或者怀疑。
Possibility. 都有可能。
And in my life, I've found it's the things I don't know that have lifted me up and pushed me forwards much more than the things I do know. 在我的人生中,我发现是我不知道的事情 让我进步和成长, 远超过我知道的事情。
It's also the things I don't know that have often brought me closer to everybody around me. 而且也是我不知道的事情, 让我和身边的人更亲近。
For eight straight Novembers, recently , 最近连续的八个十一月,
recently:adv.最近;新近;
I traveled every year across Japan with the Dalai Lama . 我和达赖喇嘛在日本游历。
Dalai Lama:n.达赖喇嘛(西藏佛教领袖,从前为西藏统治者);
And the one thing he said every day that most seemed to give people reassurance and confidence was, "I don't know." 他每天说的一件事, 似乎最能够让人们安慰和自信的, 就是“我不知道。”
reassurance:n.使安心,再保证; confidence:n.信心;信任;秘密;adj.(美)诈骗的;骗得信任的;
'"What's going to happen to Tibet?" “西藏会发生什么？”
'"When are we ever going to get world peace?" “什么时候世界会和平？”
'"What's the best way to raise children?" “培养孩子最好的方式是什么？”
'"Frankly," says this very wise man, "I don't know." “坦白说,”这个智者谈到, “我不知道。”
The Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman has spent more than 60 years now researching human behavior, and his conclusion is that we are always much more confident of what we think we know than we should be. 获得过诺贝尔奖的经济学家,丹尼尔·卡内曼 曾经花了超过60年研究人类行为, 他的结论是, 相对于我们真正知道的事情, 我们总是对自以为知道的事情更自信。
Prize-winning:获奖的; conclusion:n.结论;结局;推论; confident of:确信,相信;
We have, as he memorably puts it, an " unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance." 他的表述是,“我们拥有 无尽的忽视无知的能力。“
memorably:adv.难忘地;明确地;显著地; unlimited:adj.无限制的;无限量的;无条件的; ignore:v.驳回诉讼;忽视;不理睬;
We know -- quote, unquote -- our team is going to win this weekend, and we only remember that knowledge on the rare occasions when we're right. 我们知道“我们队伍这周末会赢。” 我们只会记得这个在少数 我们是正确的情况下。
unquote:vi.(句,文等)结束(引文);vt.(句,文等)结束(引文);
Most of the time, we're in the dark. 大多数时候,我们都处在无知当中,
And that's where real intimacy lies. 这也是正是亲近所在。
intimacy:n.亲密;密切;关系密切;性行为;
Do you know what your lover is going to do tomorrow? 你知道你的爱人明天要做什么吗？
lover:n.爱好者;情侣;热爱者;
Do you want to know? 你想知道吗？
The parents of us all, as some people call them, 对于一些人来说,我们的父母,
Adam and Eve , could never die, so long as they were eating from the tree of life. 亚当和夏娃, 如果他们只从生命之树获取食物,他们可以永生。
Eve:n.前夕;夜晚; so long as:adv.只要;
But the minute they began nibbling from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil , they fell from their innocence . 但是他们开始一点一点地从 知善恶树上获取食物的时候, 他们落入了无知的陷阱。
nibbling:v.小口咬;(对…)略微表现出兴趣;(nibble的现在分词) evil:adj.邪恶的;不幸的;有害的;讨厌的;n.罪恶,邪恶;不幸; innocence:n.清白,无罪;天真无邪;
They grew embarrassed and fretful, self-conscious . 他们不耐心和烦躁, 自我意识太强。
embarrassed:adj.尴尬的;窘迫的;v.使...局促不安;(embarrass的过去分词和过去式) self-conscious:adj.自觉的;
And they learned, a little too late, perhaps, that there are certainly some things that we need to know, but there are many, many more that are better left unexplored . 他们可能意识到的太晚了一点, 总有一些事情是需要了解的, 但是还有更多最好处在未知的事情。
unexplored:adj.[地质]未勘查过的;
Now, when I was a kid, 当我还是个孩子的时候,
I knew it all, of course. 当然,我觉得我什么都知道,
I had been spending 20 years in classrooms collecting facts, and I was actually in the information business, writing articles for Time Magazine. 我已经在教室里花了20年收集信息, 而且,我在信息行业工作, 给时代杂志写文章。
And I took my first real trip to Japan for two-and-a-half weeks, and I came back with a 40-page essay explaining every last detail about Japan's temples, its fashions, its baseball games, its soul. 我去日本的第一次旅行持续了两周半, 回来的时候,我写了一份40页的文章, 关于日本寺庙 时尚潮流,棒球比赛的每一个细节。 还有日本的民族魂。
But underneath all that, something that I couldn't understand so moved me for reasons I couldn't explain to you yet, that I decided to go and live in Japan. 但是,更深的层次里, 依旧有一些我无法理解的东西, 无法言表地打动了我, 让我决定造访并在日本定居。
underneath:prep.在…的下面;在…的支配下;n.下面;底部;adj.下面的;底层的;
And now that I've been there for 28 years, 现在,我已经在那儿待了28年,
I really couldn't tell you very much at all about my adopted home. 我真的没有办法告诉你们很多 关于我的第二个家。
adopted:adj.被收养的;被采用的;v.采用;接受;(adopt的过去式和过去分词);
Which is wonderful, because it means every day I'm making some new discovery, and in the process , looking around the corner and seeing the hundred thousand things 这真的很棒, 因为这意味着我每天都会有些新发现。 在这个过程中, 我会查看墙角,并发现上万的
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;
I'll never know. 我永远不会知道的东西。
Knowledge is a priceless gift. 知识是无价的礼物。
priceless:adj.无价的;极贵重的;非常有趣的;n.非卖品;
But the illusion of knowledge can be more dangerous than ignorance. 但是装作知道可能比无知还要危险。
illusion:n.幻觉,错觉;错误的观念或信仰;
Thinking that you know your lover or your enemy can be more treacherous than acknowledging you'll never know them. 想想看你了解你的爱人, 或者你的敌人, 可能会比你不了解他们 还要危险。
treacherous:adj.奸诈的,叛逆的,背叛的;危险的;不牢靠的;
Every morning in Japan, as the sun is flooding into our little apartment, 在日本的每个早上,当阳光涌入我们小公寓的时候,
I take great pains not to consult the weather forecast , because if I do, my mind will be overclouded, distracted , even when the day is bright. 我都会因为不看天气预报而难受, 因为如果我看了, 我的思绪会被积压,分散, 即使是晴天。
consult:v.咨询;请教;商量;查阅;查询;参看; weather forecast:n.天气预报; distracted:adj.心烦意乱; v.转移(注意力); (distract的过去分词和过去式)
I've been a full-time writer now for 34 years. 我当全职作家已经34年了,
full-time:adj.专职的;全日制的;全部时间的;
And the one thing that I have learned is that transformation comes when I'm not in charge, when I don't know what's coming next, when I can't assume I am bigger than everything around me. 我学到的一件事, 就是改变是在无知的时候发生的, 当我不知道接下来会发生什么的时候, 当我不知道身边的事情都是光明的时候。
transformation:n.转变;(用于南非)民主改革;
And the same is true in love or in moments of crisis . 也是当坠入爱河的时候, 或者身陷危机的时候。
crisis:n.危机;危险期;决定性时刻;adj.危机的;用于处理危机的;
Suddenly, we're back in that trishaw again and we're bumping off the broad, well-lit streets; and we're reminded, really, of the first law of travel and, therefore, of life: you're only as strong as your readiness to surrender . 突然,我们又回到了那辆三轮车, 我们正在颠簸地离开宽大明亮的马路, 并提醒我们旅行的真谛, 因此,在生活中, 你因面对未知的能力而强壮,
well-lit:光线好的; readiness:n.敏捷,迅速;准备就绪;愿意; surrender:v.投降;(被迫)放弃,交出;n.投降;屈服;屈从;放弃,交出
In the end, perhaps, being human is much more important than being fully in the know. 可能,在最后, 做普通人, 可能比做一个无所不知的人 还要重要。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （鼓掌）