(Music)
(音乐)
(Applause)
(掌声)
Thank you for being here. And I say "thank you for being here" because I was silent for 17 years. And the first words that I spoke were in Washington, D.C., on the 20th anniversary of Earth Day. And my family and friends had gathered there to hear me speak. And I said, "Thank you for being here." My mother, out in the audience, she jumped up, "Hallelujah, Johnny’s talking!"
感谢你们今天到场。 我说感谢你们今天到场, 因为我已经有17年没有开口说话了。 而我再次开口说话是在首都华盛顿 是在地球日20周年纪念日的当天。 我的家人和朋友们聚在那里等着听我开口说话。 而我说的第一句话就是:“感谢你们今天到场。” 我的妈妈在人群中跳了起来, “哈利路亚,小约翰在说话。”
(Laughter)
(笑声)
Imagine if you were quiet for 17 years and your mother was out in the audience, say. My dad said to me, "That’s one" -- I’ll explain that. But I turned around because I didn’t recognize where my voice was coming from. I hadn’t heard my voice in 17 years, so I turned around and I looked and I said, "God, who's saying what I’m thinking?" And then I realized it was me, you know, and I kind of laughed. And I could see my father: "Yeah, he really is crazy." Well, I want to take you on this journey. And the journey, I believe, is a metaphor for all of our journeys. Even though this one is kind of unusual, I want you to think about your own journey.
想象一下如果是你沉默了17年 而你的妈妈那个时候在人群之中蹦出来这么一句话。 我爸爸对我说 :“总算了却了一件事。” 我过会儿解释。 然而我转过身,因为我没有弄明白我的声音是从哪儿来的。 我已经有17年没有听到过自己的声音了, 于是我转过身,看了看说: “天哪,谁把我脑子里想的说出来了?” 之后我意识到是我自己,我笑了。 我能看见我爸爸在说:“是的,他真是疯了。” 好吧,我想带你踏上这段旅程。 这个旅程象征着我们所有人的历程。 尽管我的这段旅程很不寻常, 但我想让你们思考你们各自的历程。
My journey began in 1971 when I witnessed two oil tankers collide beneath the Golden Gate, and a half a million gallons of oil spilled into the bay. It disturbed me so much that I decided that I was going to give up riding and driving in motorized vehicles. That’s a big thing in California. And it was a big thing in my little community of Point Reyes Station in Inverness, California, because there were only about 350 people there in the winter – this was back in '71 now. And so when I came in and I started walking around, people -- they just knew what was going on. And people would drive up next to me and say, "John, what are you doing?" And I’d say, "Well, I’m walking for the environment." And they said, "No, you’re walking to make us look bad, right? You’re walking to make us feel bad." And maybe there was some truth to that, because I thought that if I started walking, everyone would follow. Because of the oil, everybody talked about the polllution. And so I argued with people about that, I argued and I argued. I called my parents up. I said, "I’ve given up riding and driving in cars." My dad said, "Why didn’t you do that when you were 16?"
我的旅程开始于1971年, 当我亲眼看见两辆油罐车在金门大桥下相撞, 50万加仑的原油涌入港湾。 这一幕令我深感不安, 于是我决定再也不骑或驾驶任何机动交通工具。 这在加州可是个大事, 在我的小社区里更是件大事。 我的社区是加州因弗内斯的雷斯岬站, 当时是1971年冬季,那里大概只有350人。 因此当我开始步行去往各处的时候, 人们才发现出了什么事。 他们就会把车开到我身边。 对我说:“约翰,你这是干嘛呢?” 我回答:“为了环境保护,我在走路。” 他们说:“ 不对,你在走路 为了让我们看起来像做错了事,对吧?” 你在走路为了让我们感觉难堪。” 然而也许这里面有些道理, 于是我就想如果我开始走路的话,大家都会跟我一起行走。 因为那次原油泄露事件,每个人都在谈论污染问题。 于是我跟大家争论这个问题,我不停地争论。 我把我的父母叫起来, 跟他们说:“我再也不开车了。” 我爸爸说:“你怎么不在16岁的时候就这样做呢?”
(Laughter)
(笑声)
I didn’t know about the environment then. They’re back in Philadelphia. And so I told my mother, "I’m happy though, I’m really happy." She said, "If you were happy, son, you wouldn’t have to say it." Mothers are like that.
那时候我还小,还不知道环境问题。 他们回到了费城。 我对妈妈说:“我非常高兴,我真地很高兴。” 她说:“儿子,如果你是真高兴的话,你就不需要说出来。” 妈妈总是这样的。
And so, on my 27th birthday I decided, because I argued so much and I talk so much, that I was going to stop speaking for just one day -- one day -- to give it a rest. And so I did. I got up in the morning and I didn’t say a word. And I have to tell you, it was a very moving experience, because for the first time, I began listening -- in a long time. And what I heard, it kind of disturbed me. Because what I used to do, when I thought I was listening, was I would listen just enough to hear what people had to say and think that I could -- I knew what they were going to say, and so I stopped listening. And in my mind, I just kind of raced ahead and thought of what I was going to say back, while they were still finishing up. And then I would launch in. Well, that just ended communication.
于是,在我27岁生日的那天,因为之前我争论得太多, 我也说得太多, 因此我决定要停止说话 一天-- 就一天 --歇一歇。 于是我就这样做了。 我早上起床,没有说一个字。 我得跟你说,这个经历很感动。 因为长久以来,这是我第一次开始聆听。 我所听到的令我很不安。 因为从前我原本以为我在听的时候, 我只是听到人们必须要说的那点东西就够了, 我认为我都知道他们想要说什么, 所以我就不再往下听了。 在我的脑子里,我就开始往前赶, 想着我要怎么回答他们, 而这时他们其实还没把话说完呢。 但我已经开始回答他们, 以便结束这段对话。
So on this first day I actually listened. And it was very sad for me, because I realized that for those many years I had not been learning. I was 27. I thought I knew everything. I didn’t. And so I decided I’d better do this for another day, and another day, and another day until finally, I promised myself for a year I would keep quiet because I started learning more and more and I needed to learn more. So for a year I said I would keep quiet, and then on my birthday I would reassess what I had learned and maybe I would talk again. Well, that lasted 17 years.
因此这才是我真正聆听的第一天。 而这让我很难过, 因为我意识到这之前的那么多年里我根本没有在听。 当时我27岁,我以为我什么都知道, 其实不是。 于是我决定我要再多坚持一天, 再多一天,再多一天,直到后来, 我对自己承诺我要一整年都保持沉默, 因为我开始学到越来越多的东西,而且我需要学到更多的。 于是我决定一年里都保持沉默, 在我下一年生日的当天,我会再次评估我所学到的, 然后也许我会再次开口说话。 唔,这一下子17年过去了。
Now during that time -- those 17 years -- I walked and I played the banjo and I painted and I wrote in my journal, and I tried to study the environment by reading books. And I decided that I was going to go to school. So I did. I walked up to Ashland, Oregon, where they were offering an environmental studies degree. It’s only 500 miles. And I went into the Registrar’s office and -- "What, what, what?" I had a newspaper clipping. "Oh, so you really want to go to school here? You don’t …? We have a special program for you." They did. And in those two years, I graduated with my first degree -- a bachelor’s degree. And my father came out, he was so proud. He said, "Listen, we’re really proud of you son, but what are you going to do with a bachelor’s degree? You don’t ride in cars, you don’t talk -- you’re going to have to do those things."
在这17年当中,我行走,我弹班卓琴, 我画画, 我写日志, 我通过看书试图研究环境问题。 我决定我要去上学,于是我就去了。 我走到俄勒冈州的阿什兰市, 那里有关于环境研究的学位。 只有500英里远。 我走进报名处,接下来, 什么,什么,什么? 我拿着一份报纸剪报。 噢,那你真地想来这里上学? 你不会? 我们有一个特别的项目专门针对你这类情况。他们确实有。 在接下来的两年里,我拿到了第一个学位-- 学士学位。 我爸爸过来了,他为我感到十分骄傲。 他说:“听着,我们非常为你骄傲 儿子, 但是接下来你要用这个学士学位做些什么呢? 你不开车,你也不说话, 你一定躲不开这两样的。”
(Laughter)
(笑声)
I hunched my shoulder, I picked my backpack up again and I started walking. I walked all the way up to Port Townsend, Washington, where I built a wooden boat, rode it across Puget Sound and walked across Washington [to] Idaho and down to Missoula, Montana. I had written the University of Montana two years earlier and said I'd like to go to school there. I said I'd be there in about two years.
我耸了耸肩,我再次拿起了背包, 开始行走。 我一路走到华盛顿的汤森港,在那儿我造了一艘木船, 划过普吉特海湾, 走过华盛顿州, 爱达荷州 一路来到蒙大拿的米苏拉。 两年前我就给蒙大拿大学写过信, 跟他们说我想去那里上学。 我说我大约两年之内能到那里。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
And I was there. I showed up in two years and they -- I tell this story because they really helped me. There are two stories in Montana. The first story is I didn’t have any money -- that’s a sign I used a lot. And they said,"Don't worry about that." The director of the program said, "Come back tomorrow." He gave me 150 dollars, and he said, "Register for one credit. You’re going to go to South America, aren’t you?" And I said -- Rivers and lakes, the hydrological systems, South America. So I did that. He came back; he said to me, "OK John, now that you've registered for that one credit, you can have a key to an office, you can matriculate -- you’re matriculating, so you can use the library. And what we’re going to do is, we’re going to have all of the professors allow you to go to class. They’re going to save your grade, and when we figure out how to get you the rest of the money, then you can register for that class and they’ll give you the grade." Wow, they don’t do that in graduate schools, I don’t think. But I use that story because they really wanted to help me. They saw that I was really interested in the environment, and they really wanted to help me along the way.
两年后我真地到那儿了。 我讲这个故事因为他们给了我很大帮助。 在蒙大拿有两个关于我的故事。 第一个故事是说我身无分文,这是我经常用的一个手势。 他们对我说:“不用担心。” 项目负责人告诉我:“明天再过来。” 他给了我150美元, 他说:“先注册一个学分。 你会去南美洲,好吗?” 我说 那些河流湖泊, 水文系统, 南美洲。 于是我就照做了。 他回来了, 跟我说, 他说:“ 好了,约翰,现在你已经注册了一个学分, 那么你就能拿一把办公室的钥匙了,你可以正式入学了, 你可以用学校的图书馆了。 我们要做的是 让所有的教授允许你去上他们的课, 他们会先为你保留学分, 然后等我们想出办法再帮你筹到余下的钱, 到时候你就能注册全部课程,他们就会给你全部学分。” 喔,在研究生院里他们一般不会这样做的,我这么觉得。 但我讲这个故事,因为他们确实想帮助我。 他们也看出来我对环境研究非常感兴趣, 他们很想在这方面助我一臂之力。
And during that time, I actually taught classes without speaking. I had 13 students when I first walked into the class. I explained, with a friend who could interpret my sign language, that I was John Francis, I was walking around the world, I didn’t talk and this was the last time this person’s going to be here interpreting for me. All the students sat around and they went ...
在那期间,我还确实教了课但没有说话。 我第一次走进教室的时候,那里有13个学生, 我让一个朋友帮我解释,他可以翻译我的手势, 我告诉学生们,我是约翰弗朗西斯,我正在世界各地行走, 我不说话,而且这是最后一次 这个人会在这里帮我翻译。 所有在座的学生都是这样的反应。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
I could see they were looking for the schedule, to see when they could get out. They had to take that class with me. Two weeks later, everyone was trying to get into our class.
我能看出来他们在查课程安排 看什么时候能结束。 他们不得不上我的课。 然而两周后,所有的学生都想方设法申请加入我的课。
And I learned in that class -- because I would do things like this ... and they were all gathered around, going, "What's he trying to say?" "I don't know, I think he's talking about clear cutting." "Yeah, clear cutting." "No, no, no, that's not clear cutting, that’s -- he's using a handsaw." "Well, you can’t clearcut with a ..." "Yes, you can clear cut ..." "No, I think he’s talking about selective forestry." Now this was a discussion class and we were having a discussion. I just backed out of that, you know, and I just kind of kept the fists from flying. But what I learned was that sometimes I would make a sign and they said things that I absolutely did not mean, but I should have. And so what came to me is, if you were a teacher and you were teaching, if you weren’t learning you probably weren’t teaching very well. And so I went on.
我也从他们身上学到很多,因为我上课的时候只做手势, 于是所有的学生聚在一起讨论,他到底想说什么? 我不知道,我觉得他在讲皆伐。对,就是皆伐。 不不不,他想讲的不是皆伐,他在示意使用手锯。 如果用一个,你不可能做到皆伐, 可以的,你可以皆伐, 不,我觉得他讲选择性林业。 这就是一堂讨论课,我们正在进行激烈讨论。 我不参与,让学生们讨论去,而我要做的基本上就是多做手势。 但我学到的是,有时候,我做一个手势, 他们会理解出我完全没有想到的意思, 但我原本应该想到这层意思。 因此我得出的结论是,如果你是个老师, 在教课,如果你没有同时在学的话, 你可能也教不好课。 我就这样一直坚持下去。
My dad came out to see me graduate and, you know, I did the deal, and my father said, "We’re really proud of you son, but ... " You know what went on, he said, "You’ve got to start riding and driving and start talking. What are you going to do with a master’s degree?" I hunched my shoulder, I got my backpack and I went on to the University of Wisconsin.
我爸爸过来参加我的毕业典礼, 在仪式结束后, 我爸爸对我说:“儿子我们真地为你感到骄傲, 但是” 你们也知道接下来他会说什么, 他说:“你真地应该开始开车和说话了。 要不你拿这个硕士学位干什么呢?” 我耸耸肩,拿起我的背包, 我继续走一路走到威斯康星大学。
I spent two years there writing on oil spills. No one was interested in oil spills. But something happened -- Exxon Valdez. And I was the only one in the United States writing on oil spills. My dad came out again. He said, "I don't know how you do this, son -- I mean, you don't ride in cars, you don’t talk. My sister said maybe I should leave you alone, because you seem to be doing a lot better when you’re not saying anything."
我在那里待了两年写关于原油泄露的论文。 当时没有人对原油泄露感兴趣。 但后来发生的事-- 埃克森瓦尔迪兹号油轮泄露事件。 当时我是全美国唯一一个写原油泄露的论文的人。 我爸爸又来找我了。 他说:“我不知道你是怎么做到的,儿子, 我是说,你不开车,你也不说话。 我姐姐劝我,也许我不该再管你, 因为你不说话的时候, 似乎能做得更好。”
(Laughter)
(笑声)
Well, I put on my backpack again. I put my banjo on and I walked all the way to the East Coast, put my foot in the Atlantic Ocean -- it was seven years and one day it took me to walk across the United States.
我再次背上背包, 带上我的班卓琴, 一路走到东海岸, 把脚伸进大西洋里, 我花了七年零一天横穿美国。
And on Earth Day, 1990 -- the 20th anniversary of Earth Day -- that’s when I began to speak. And that’s why I said, "Thank you for being here." Because it's sort of like that tree in the forest falling; and if there's no one there to hear, does it really make a sound? And I’m thanking you, and I'm thanking my family because they had come to hear me speak. And that’s communication. And they also taught me about listening -- that they listened to me. And it’s one of those things that came out of the silence, the listening to each other. Really, very important -- we need to listen to each other. Well, my journey kept going on. My dad said, "That’s one," and I still didn’t let that go.
在1990年的世界地球日, 在第20个世界地球日的那天,我开口说话了。 这就是我为什么要说,“感谢你们今天到场。” 因为这就像是森林里有棵树倒下来了, 如果没有人在那里聆听,它就根本没有发出声响? 因此我在这里感谢你们,感谢我的家人, 因为他们来听我说话, 而这才是真正意义上的交流。 他们也教会我如何聆听,他们也同样听我说。 一片寂静之中有件事正在发生, 那就是相互倾听。 这真的非常重要, 我们需要相互倾听。 那么,我的旅程继续下去。 我爸爸说:“总算了却了一件事。” 而我没有就此罢休。
I worked for the Coastguard, was made a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador. I wrote regulations for the United States -- I mean, I wrote oil spill regulations. 20 years ago, if someone had said to me, "John, do you really want to make a difference?" "Yeah, I want to make a difference." He said, "You just start walking east; get out of your car and just start walking east." And as I walked off a little bit, they'd say, "Yeah, and shut up, too."
我在海岸警卫队工作过,担任过联合国亲善大使。 我为美国政府起草法案。 我是说,起草控制原油泄露相关规定。 我的意思是,20年前如果有人跟我说: “约翰,你真想有所作为吗?” “是的,我想有所作为。” 那个人说:“那你就开始一路往东走, 不要开汽车,只要一直往东行走。” 而当我刚走了一小段之后,他们还会说 :“对了,还有 闭上你的嘴。
(Laughter)
(笑声)
"You’re going to make a difference, buddy." How could that be, how could that be? How could doing such a simple thing like walking and not talking make a difference?
这样你就能有所作为了,朋友。” 这怎么可能,这怎么可能呢? 怎么可能就是这么简单的两件事走路和不说话 竟带来如此巨大的改变?
Well, my time at the Coast Guard was a really good time. And after that -- I only worked one year -- I said, "That's enough. One year's enough for me to do that." I got on a sailboat and I sailed down to the Caribbean, and walked through all of the islands, and to Venezuela. And you know, I forgot the most important thing, which is why I started talking, which I have to tell you. I started talking because I had studied environment. I’d studied environment at this formal level, but there was this informal level. And the informal level -- I learned about people, and what we do and how we are. And environment changed from just being about trees and birds and endangered species to being about how we treated each other. Because if we are the environment, then all we need to do is look around us and see how we treat ourselves and how we treat each other. And so that’s the message that I had. And I said, "Well, I'm going to have to spread that message." And I got in my sailboat, sailed all the way through the Caribbean -- it wasn't really my sailboat, I kind of worked on that boat -- got to Venezuela and I started walking.
我在海岸警卫队的日子真地非常难忘。 但我只做了一年, 之后我说:“这就够了,做一年对我来说已经足够了。” 我乘上一艘帆船,航行到加勒比海, 走过所有的岛屿,来到委内瑞拉。 你知道么,我忘了说最重要的一件事, 就是我为什么要重新开口说话,这我必须得告诉你们。 我开始说话,因为我研究了环境问题, 我研究的是正式层面上的环境, 但还有非正式层面的环境问题。 这个非正式层面就是 我研究人类,我们做什么,我们是怎么样的。 这样一来,环境这个概念就从原先的树木,鸟类, 濒危动植物,转换成我们人类如何相互对待。 因为,如果我们自身就是环境, 那我们要做的就是环顾四周 看看我们是如何对待自己和他人的。 这就是我悟出的道理。 “我要把这个道理传播开来。” 我乘上我的帆船,一路航行到加勒比海, 那其实不是我的帆船,我在那艘船上打工, 到了委内瑞拉以后,我开始行走。
This is the last part of this story, because it’s how I got here, because I still didn't ride in motorized vehicles. I was walking through El Dorado -- it's a prison town, famous prison, or infamous prison -- in Venezuela, and I don’t know what possessed me, because this was not like me. There I am, walking past the guard gate and the guard stops and says, "Pasaporte, pasaporte," and with an M16 pointed at me. And I looked at him and I said, "Passport, huh? I don't need to show you my passport. It’s in the back of my pack. I'm Dr. Francis; I'm a U.N. Ambassador and I'm walking around the world." And I started walking off. What possessed me to say this thing? The road turned into the jungle. I didn’t get shot. And I got to -- I start saying, "Free at last -- thank God Almighty, I’m free at last." "What was that about," I’m saying. What was that about?
这也是故事的最后一段是关于我如何走到今天的, 我仍然不开机动车。 我走过委内瑞拉的埃尔多拉多,这是一个有名的或者不知名的监狱小镇 , 我不知道什么东西支配着我, 因为这不像是我干的事。 我就那样走到岗哨门前,看守的警卫拦住了我说: “护照, 护照,” 并且用一把M16步枪对着我。 我看了看他说:“护照 ,哼, 我不需要给你看我的护照, 虽然它就在我的背包里。 我是弗朗西斯博士,我是联合国亲善大使,我行走在世界各地,” 接着我就迈开步走过去。 到底是什么支配我说了这些话? 眼前的道路蜿蜒深入丛林。 我并没有挨枪子儿, 而且我终于自由了, 感谢上帝,我终于自由了。 这意味着什么,我问自己,这意味着什么?
It took me 100 miles to figure out that, in my heart, in me, I had become a prisoner. I was a prisoner and I needed to escape. The prison that I was in was the fact that I did not drive or use motorized vehicles. Now how could that be? Because when I started, it seemed very appropriate to me not to use motorized vehicles. But the thing that was different was that every birthday, I asked myself about silence, but I never asked myself about my decision to just use my feet. I had no idea I was going to become a U.N. Ambassador. I had no idea I would have a Ph.D.
又走了100英里之后,我终于悟出来之前在我心里, 我把自己囚禁起来了。 我成了一个囚犯,我需要逃跑。 囚禁我的监狱实际上就是我不能开车, 也不能使用任何机动车辆这个事实。 那么这怎么可能呢? 因为我刚开始这么做的时候,这一切看起来都是理所应当的, 不能使用机动车。 但有所不同的是 每年生日,我都决定让自己继续保持沉默, 但我从来没有问过自己,我为什么要决定只靠双脚步行。 我从没想过我会成为联合国亲善大使。 我从没想过我会拿到博士学位。
And so I realized that I had a responsibility to more than just me, and that I was going to have to change. You know, we can do it. I was going to have to change. And I was afraid to change, because I was so used to the guy who only just walked. I was so used to that person that I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t know who I would be if I changed. But I know I needed to. I know I needed to change, because it would be the only way that I could be here today. And I know that a lot of times we find ourselves in this wonderful place where we’ve gotten to, but there’s another place for us to go. And we kind of have to leave behind the security of who we’ve become, and go to the place of who we are becoming. And so, I want to encourage you to go to that next place, to let yourself out of any prison that you might find yourself in, as comfortable as it may be, because we have to do something now. We have to change now. As our former Vice President said, we have to become activists. So if my voice can touch you, if my actions can touch you, if my being here can touch you, please let it be. And I know that all of you have touched me while I’ve been here.
于是我意识到我有责任超越自我, 我必须做出改变。 要知道,我们都能做到。 我必须做出改变, 同时我又害怕改变, 因为我已经习惯了之前的自己 - 那个只走路的家伙。 我太习惯做那个人了以至于我不想停下来。 我不知道如果我改变以后我将成为怎样一个人。 但我知道 我需要改变。 我知道 我需要改变, 因为这是唯一的出路。 只有改变,我才有可能今天站在这里。 而且我知道很多时候 我们发现自己处在一个很棒的位置,一个我们已经到达的位置, 但是总会有另外一个位置需要我们走向那里。 我们或多或少不得不放弃已有的安全感,这安全感来自我们已经做到的事, 我们要做出改变,走向新的位置。 因此,我想鼓励你们每个人迈向下一个目标, 把你们自己从自我禁锢的监狱里释放出来。 即使这个监狱可能非常舒适,因为我们必须现在就行动起来。 我们必须现在就做出改变。 就像我们的前副总统说的那样, 我们必须成为积极分子。 所以说,如果我的声音能打动你, 如果我的行为能打动你, 如果我今天在这里的出现能打动你, 请由它去吧。 而我知道,你们所有人都打动了我, 当我在这里的时候。
So, let’s go out into the world and take this caring, this love, this respect that we’ve shown each other right here at TED, and take this out into the world. Because we are the environment, and how we treat each other is really how we’re going to treat the environment. So I want to thank you for being here and I want to end this in five seconds of silence.
那么,让我们走出去,走进世界吧, 带着这份关怀,爱和尊重, 这份在TED这里我们给与彼此的情感, 带着它走进世界吧。 因为我们自己就是环境, 我们如何对待彼此 实际上就是我们如何对待环境。 因此我想感谢你们今天到场, 而且我想最后以5秒钟的沉默来结尾。
Thank you.
谢谢大家。
(Applause)
(掌声)