Ladies and gentlemen, gather around. I would love to share with you a story.
先生女士們,大家圍過來吧。 我很想與大家分享一個故事。
Once upon a time in 19th century Germany, there was the book. Now during this time, the book was the king of storytelling. It was venerable. It was ubiquitous. But it was a little bit boring. Because in its 400 years of existence, storytellers never evolved the book as a storytelling device. But then one author arrived, and he changed the game forever. (Music) His name was Lothar, Lothar Meggendorfer. Lothar Meggendorfer put his foot down, and he said, "Genug ist genug!" He grabbed his pen, he snatched his scissors. This man refused to fold to the conventions of normalcy and just decided to fold. History would know Lothar Meggendorfer as -- who else? -- the world's first true inventor of the children's pop-up book. (Music) For this delight and for this wonder, people rejoiced. (Cheering) They were happy because the story survived, and that the world would keep on spinning.
曾幾何時, 在19世紀的德國, 有的是書本。 在這期間, 書本是講故事的首要力量。 它是可敬的。 它是無處不在。 但它是有點沉悶。 因為在其400年的存在, 說書人永遠不會將書本進化到 成為一個講故事的設備。 但一個作者來臨, 他永遠地改變了遊戲的方式。 (音樂) 他的名字是Lothar, Lothar Meggendorfer。 Lothar Meggendorfer斬釘截鐵地 說,「Genug IST genug!」(夠了!) 他一把抓住他的筆, 搶着了剪刀。 這名男子拒絕屈折於正常的慣例, 他決定對折。 歷史認識Lothar Meggendorfer 作為 -- 還有誰呢? -- 當然為世界上第一個真正的發明人, 兒童立體彈出的書。 (音樂) 對於這個奇蹟的喜悅, 人民歡欣鼓舞。 (啦啦隊) 他們很高興因為故事的存活, 和世界將繼續轉動。
Lothar Meggendorfer wasn't the first to evolve the way a story was told, and he certainly wasn't the last. Whether storytellers realized it or not, they were channeling Meggendorfer's spirit when they moved opera to vaudville, radio news to radio theater, film to film in motion to film in sound, color, 3D, on VHS and on DVD. There seemed to be no cure for this Meggendorferitis.
Lothar Meggendorfer不是第一個 率先發展說故事方式的人, 他肯定不是最後的一個。 無論說故事人辦到與否, 他們都在引導 Meggendorfer的精神, 當他們移動歌劇到歌舞雜耍表演, 無線電台新聞到電台戲劇, 膠片到電影, 到有聲,有色 到3D, 到VHS和DVD。 似乎脫離不了Meggendorferitis本色。
And things got a lot more fun when the Internet came around. (Laughter) Because, not only could people broadcast their stories throughout the world, but they could do so using what seemed to be an infinite amount of devices. For example, one company would tell a story of love through its very own search engine. One Taiwanese production studio would interpret American politics in 3D. (Laughter) And one man would tell the stories of his father by using a platform called Twitter to communicate the excrement his father would gesticulate.
在上網時代來臨時,事情變得更加有趣了。 (笑聲) 因為,人們不僅可以在世界各地播出他們的故事, 但他們更加可以 用似乎無限量的設備地這樣做。 例如,一間公司, 通過其自己的搜索引擎 訴說著愛情故事。 一個台灣製作工作室 用3D動畫來解釋美國政治。 (笑聲) 另外有一個人會轉述他父親的故事, 通過使用Twitter的平台, 溝通他父親會說出的垃圾。
And after all this, everyone paused; they took a step back. They realized that, in 6,000 years of storytelling, they've gone from depicting hunting on cave walls to depicting Shakespeare on Facebook walls. And this was a cause for celebration. The art of storytelling has remained unchanged. And for the most part, the stories are recycled. But the way that humans tell the stories has always evolved with pure, consistent novelty.
而在這一切之後,每個人都停下來; 向後退了一步。 他們意識到,在6000年的說書, 他們已經從洞穴牆壁上描繪狩獵 到去在Facebook描繪莎士比亞。 這是值得慶祝的。 講故事的藝術一直保持不變。 而大部分的故事都被循環再用。 但人類講故事的方式, 一直一致清澈地, 新奇地演變。
And they remembered a man, one amazing German, every time a new storytelling device popped up next. And for that, the audience -- the lovely, beautiful audience -- would live happily ever after. (Applause)
它們紀念了一個人, 一個了不起的德國人, 每次一個新的講故事設備 彈出來。 因此, 觀眾 -- 可愛的,美麗的觀眾 能從此過著幸福快樂的生活。 (掌聲)