[Oliver Jeffers]
[奧立佛.傑法]
[An ode to living on Earth]
[地球生活頌歌]
Hello. I'm sure by the time I get to end of this sentence, given how I talk, you'll all have figured out that I'm from a place called planet Earth. Earth is pretty great. It's home to us. And germs. Those [blip] take a back seat for the time being, because believe it or not, they're not the only thing going on.
哈囉。 我敢保證,我還沒說完這句話, 你們就會從我說話的方式, 知道我來自一個稱為 地球的地方。 地球很棒。 它是我們的家。 也是病菌的家。 這些(消音聲)現在好像在幕後稱王, 不過信不信由你, 它們可不是唯一會惡搞的東西。
This planet is also home to cars, brussels sprouts; those weird fish things that have their own headlights; art, fire, fire extinguishers, laws, pigeons, bottles of beer, lemons and light bulbs; Pinot noir and paracetamol; ghosts, mosquitoes, flamingos, flowers, the ukulele, elevators and cats, cat videos, the internet; iron beams, buildings and batteries, all ingenuity and bright ideas, all known life ... and a whole bunch of other stuff. Pretty much everything we know and ever heard of. It's my favorite place, actually. This small orb, floating in a cold and lonely part of the cosmos. Oh, the accent is from Belfast, by the way, which is ... here. Roughly.
這個星球也是各種東西的家: 汽車、抱子甘藍; 有頭燈的怪魚; 藝術、火、 滅火器、 法律、鴿子、一罐罐的啤酒、 檸檬及燈泡; 黑皮諾和止痛藥; 鬼、蚊子、紅鶴、花、 烏克麗麗、電梯和貓、 貓影片、網路; 鋼樑、建築物和電池; 所有的聰明才智及好主意; 所有已知的生命…… 還有一大堆其他的東西。 差不多是我們所知、所聞的一切。 這是我最喜歡的地方,真的。 這個小小的星球, 在冷冷的宇宙一隅,孤獨的飄浮著。 喔,這是貝爾法斯特口音,就是…… 這裡。 差不多。
You may think you know this planet Earth, as you're from here. But chances are, you probably haven't thought about the basics in a while. I thought I knew it. Thought I was an expert, even. Until, that is, I had to explain the entire place, and how it's supposed to work, to someone who had never been here before. Not what you might think, although my dad always did say the sure sign of intelligent life out there is that they haven't bothered trying to contact us. It was actually my newborn son I was trying to explain things to. We'd never been parents before, my wife and I, and so treated him like most guests when he arrived home for the first time, by giving him the tour. This is where you live, son. This room is where we make food at. This is the room we keep our collection of chairs, and so on. It's refreshing, explaining how our planet works to a zero-year-old. But after the laughs, and once the magnitude that new humans know absolutely nothing settles on you and how little you know either, explaining the whole planet becomes quite intimidating. But I tried anyway.
你大概認為你很了解這個地球, 因為你就是這裡人。 但是很有可能 你已經有好一陣子 沒有想過基本問題了。 我以為我知道。 我甚至以為自己是個專家。 直到,也就是,我得解釋這整個地方, 及它是怎麼運作的, 給從來沒造訪過此地的人聽。 不是你想的那樣, 雖然我老爸的確總是說, 外星人存在的確切證據, 就是他們從來沒有費心 要跟我們聯絡。 其實是我的新生兒子, 我想解釋這一切給他聽。 我們從來沒當過父母, 我的妻子和我, 所以當他第一次回家, 我們就把他當客人般對待, 帶他參觀房子。 這是你住的地方,兒子。 這是我們煮飯的房間。 這是我們收集椅子的房間,諸如此類。 解釋我們的地球給零歲小孩聽 令人耳目一新。 但是歡笑之後, 一旦新生兒一無所知的重量 沉澱到你身上, 你發現自己所知甚少, 要解釋這整個地球就變得很嚇人。 但我還是嘗試了。
As I walked around those first few weeks, narrating the world as I saw it, I began to take notes of the ridiculous things I was saying. The notes slowly morphed into a letter intended for my son once he learned to read. And that letter became a book about the basic principles of what it is to be a human living on Earth in the 21st century. Some things are really obvious. Like, the planet is made of two parts: land and sea. Some less obvious until you think about them. Like, time. Things can sometimes move slowly here on Earth. But more often, they move quickly. So use your time well, it will be gone before you know it. Or people. People come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. We may all look different, act different and sound different, but don't be fooled. We are all people.
在頭幾週帶他散步時, 我把我看到的世界陳述給他聽, 我開始記下我講過的荒謬事物。 這個筆記慢慢蛻變成一封信, 要給我的兒子學會閱讀的時候看。 那封信變成一本書, 寫著身為人類活在 21 世紀 地球的基本原則。 有些事情實在很明顯。 像是,地球由兩個部分組成: 陸地及海洋。 有些沒那麼明顯,直到你想到。 像是時間。 某些東西有時候在地球上移動緩慢。 但是更多時候它們移動迅速。 所以善用你的時間, 它會在你察覺之前就消失。 或是人。 人有不同的身形、尺寸及顏色。 我們可能看起來不太一樣, 行為不太一樣,聽起來也不太一樣, 但是不要被騙了。 我們都是人。
It doesn't skip me that of all the places in the universe, people only live on Earth, can only live on Earth. And even then, only on some of the dry bits. There's only a very small part of the surface of our planet that is actually habitable to human life, and squeezed in here is where all of us live. It's easy to forget when you're up close to the dirt, the rocks, the foliage, the concrete of our lands, just how limited the room for maneuvering is. From a set of eyes close to the ground, the horizon feels like it goes forever. After all, it's not an every-day ritual to consider where we are on the ball of our planet and where that ball is in space.
我沒有忽略宇宙這麼廣大, 人類只存在於地球上, 只能存活在地球上這個事實。 即使如此,也只能活在 幾塊乾燥的陸地上。 我們的星球上, 只有非常小部分的地表 可以讓人類居住, 擠在這裡,是我們所有人生存的地方。 我們很容易忘記, 當你這麼靠近塵土 、 岩石、樹葉、堅硬的水泥地, 我們能操縱的空間有多小。 從一雙貼近地面的眼睛看來, 地平線似乎無限延伸。 畢竟,這不是我們每天的儀式, 去想我們其實是住在地球這個球上, 還有這個球在宇宙的位置。
I didn't want to tell my son the same story of countries that we were told where I was growing up in Northern Ireland. That we were from just a small parish, which ignores life outside its immediate concerns. I wanted to try to feel what it was like to see our planet as one system, as a single object, hanging in space. To do this, I would need to switch from flat drawings for books to 3D sculpture for the street, and I'd need almost 200 feet, a New York City block, to build a large-scale model of the moon, the Earth and us.
我不想對我兒子說 一再重複的國家故事, 我在北愛爾蘭長大時 就不斷被告知的國家故事, 我們是從一個很小的地區來的, 完全不管外面的世界。 我想要試著去感受 把我們的地球當成一個系統, 一個單一物體, 懸吊在宇宙中是什麼樣子。 為了做到這個, 我需要把街道從書面的圖像轉變成 立體雕刻, 我也需要大約 60 公尺, 紐約市的一個街區大小, 來建造一個大型的月亮、 地球和我們的模型。
This project managed to take place on New York City's High Line park last winter, on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's mission around the Moon. After its installation, I was able to put on a space helmet with my son and launch, like Apollo 11 did half a century ago, towards the Moon. We circled around and looked back at us. What I felt was how lonely it was there in the dark. And I was just pretending. The Moon is the only object even remotely close to us. And at the scale of this project, where our planet was 10 feet in diameter, Mars, the next planet, will be the size of a yoga ball and a couple of miles away.
這個計畫成功在紐約高線公園展覽, 就在去年冬天, 阿波羅 11 號 登陸月球的五十週年慶。 展覽裝置好之後, 我跟我的兒子能戴上太空人頭罩 然後發射, 就像阿波羅 11 號半世紀前一樣, 朝月球前進。 我們繞了一下, 然後回頭看看自己。 我感受到的 是在黑暗中有多孤獨。 我還只是假裝而已。 月球是唯一的物件, 遠遠地挨著我們。 而且這個計劃的比例, 地球的直徑只有三公尺, 火星,下一個行星, 會是瑜珈球大小, 離我們數哩之遙。
Although borders are not visible from space, on my sculpture, every single border was drawn in. But rather than writing the country names on the carved-up land, I wrote over and over again, "people live here, people live here." "People live here." And off on the Moon, it was written, "No one lives here." Often, the obvious things aren't all that obvious until you think about them.
雖然從太空看不到疆界, 我的雕塑上, 每一條疆界都畫在上面, 但是與其在劃分的土地上 寫出國家的名字, 我不斷地寫著 「有人住在這,有人住在這。」 「有人住在這。」 而在遠遠的月球上,寫著 「沒有人住在這。」 往往,顯而易見的事 並不那麼顯而易見,直到你想起。
Seeing anything from a vast enough distance changes everything, as many astronauts have experienced. And human eyes have only ever seen our Earth from as far as the Moon, really. It's quite a ways further before we get to the edges of our own Solar System. And even out to other stars, to the constellations. There is actually only one point in the entire cosmos that is present in all constellations of stars, and that presence is here, planet Earth. Those pictures we have made up for the clusters of stars only make sense from this point of view down here. Their stories only make sense here on Earth. And only something to us. To people. We are creatures of stories. We are the stories we tell, we're the stories we're told.
從距離夠遠的地方看任何事 會改變一切, 就像許多太空人體驗過的。 人類的眼睛也只從月亮那麼遠的地方 看過地球。真的。 這條路還很遠, 要走到我們太陽系的邊緣。 到其他星星、到星座就更遠。 其實整個宇宙只有一個地方 看得到所有的星座, 那個地方 就是這裡,地球。 我們對一團團星星編造出來的圖像, 只有從這裡看才看得懂。 星座的故事要從地球看才有意義。 也只對我們有意義。 對人類。 我們是故事的生物。 我們就是我們訴說的故事, 我們就是我們被告知的故事。
Consider briefly the story of human civilization on Earth. It tells of the ingenuity, elegance, generous and nurturing nature of a species that is also self-focused, vulnerable and defiantly protective. We, the people, shield the flame of our existence from the raw, vast elements outside our control, the great beyond. Yet it is always to the flame we look. "For all we know," when said as a statement, it means the sum total of all knowledge. But when said another way, "for all we know," it means that we do not know at all. This is the beautiful, fragile drama of civilization. We are the actors and spectators of a cosmic play that means the world to us here, but means nothing anywhere else. Possibly not even that much down here, either.
稍微想想地球上人類文明的故事。 它訴說了一個物種匠心、優雅 大方、養育的本質, 以及自我意識強大、脆弱 及防禦心強的本質。 我們人類將存在的火焰 擋在我們無法掌控、 原始巨大的元素外, 來世。 然而我們總是看著這火焰。 「就我們所知,」 把這句話當聲明來講, 意思是我們所知的總和。 但用另一種語氣, 「就我們所知,」 就變成我們根本不知道。 這是一場美妙而脆弱的文明戲碼。 我們是宇宙大戲的演員兼觀眾, 這場戲對在這裡的我們就是全世界, 對其他地方卻沒有任何意義。 可能對這裡都沒有太多意義。
If we truly thought about our relationship with our boat, with our Earth, it might be more of a story of ignorance and greed. As is the case with Fausto, a man who believed he owned everything and set out to survey what was his. He easily claims ownership of a flower, a sheep, a tree and a field. The lake and the mountain prove harder to conquer, but they, too, surrender. It is in trying to own the open sea where his greed proves his undoing, when, in a fit of arrogance, he climbs overboard to show that sea who is boss. But he does not understand, slips beneath the waves, sinks to the bottom. The sea was sad for him but carried on being the sea. As do all the other objects of his ownership, for the fate of Fausto does not matter to them.
但是如果我們真的好好思考 我們與這艘船的關係, 與地球的關係, 恐怕更像是一個無知與貪婪的故事。 就像福斯多, 一個相信自己擁有一切的人, 開始視察他擁有的一切。 他很輕易地就宣稱自己是一朵花、 一頭羊、一棵樹及一片田野的主人。 湖泊及山脈證明更難征服, 但是它們也投降了。 就他在試圖擁有大海時, 他的貪婪證明了他的無能, 那時,出於傲慢, 他爬到船外向海洋證明誰才是主人。 但是他不明白, 在海浪下失足,沉到海底。 海洋為他悲傷, 但還是繼續下去,因為它是海。 他擁有的其他東西也一樣, 它們不在乎福斯多的命運。
For all the importance in the cosmos we believe we hold, we'd have nothing if not for this Earth. While it would keep happily spinning, obliviously without us.
我們以為擁有在宇宙中的重要性, 但要不是有這個地球, 我們什麼也沒有。 然而地球還是會很開心的繼續轉動著, 即使沒有我們。
On this planet, there are people. We have gone about our days, sometimes we look up and out, mostly we look down and in. Looking up and by drawing lines between the lights in the sky, we've attempted to make sense out of chaos. Looking down, we've drawn lines across the land to know where we belong and where we don't. We do mostly forget that these lines that connect the stars and those lines that divide the land live only in our heads. They, too, are stories. We carry out our everyday routines and rituals according to the stories we most believe in, and these days, the story is changing as we write it.
在這個地球上有著人類。 我們忙碌度日, 有時候我們抬頭往上看, 大部分時間我們低頭向下看。 向上看,在天上的星星之間劃線, 我們試著在亂中找序。 向下看,我們在土地上劃線, 知道自己屬於哪裡,又不屬於哪裡。 我們幾乎忘記了,這些連接星星的線 和分隔土地的線, 都只存在於我們的腦中。 這些線,也是故事。 我們遵照我們堅信不移的故事 實踐日常活動和儀式, 而這些日子,我們在改寫故事。
There is a lot of fear in this current story, and until recently, the stories that seemed to have the most power are those of bitterness, of how it had all gone wrong for us individually and collectively. It has been inspiring to watch how the best comes from the worst. How people are waking up in this time of global reckoning to the realization that our connections with each other are some of the most important things we have.
目前的故事裡有很多恐懼, 直到最近, 那些看似最有力量的故事, 也是最痛苦的故事, 是我們個人和全體如何走錯路的故事。 看到如何從最糟走到最好 一直很鼓勵人心。 人類如何從這個 全球大審判的日子清醒, 意識到我們彼此之間的關聯, 是我們擁有最重要的事。
But stepping back. For all we've had to lament, we spend very little time relishing the single biggest thing that has ever gone right for us. That we are here in the first place, that we are alive at all. That we are still alive. A million and a half years after finding a box of matches, we haven't totally burned the house down. Yet. The chances of being here are infinitesimal. Yet here we are. Perils and all.
但是退一步。 對於我們不得不哀嘆的一切, 我們花太少時間品味 我們一直都做對的一件大事。 就是我們一開始就在這裡了, 就是我們終究是活下來了。 就是我們還活著。 在找到火柴後一百五十萬年, 我們還沒有完全燒掉這座房子。 還沒。 在這裡的機會幾乎是無限小。 然而我們在這。 冒著所有的風險。
There have never been more people living on Earth. Using more stuff. And it's become obvious that many of the old systems we invented for ourselves are obsolete. And we have to build new ones. If it wasn't germs, our collective fire might suffocate us before long. As we watch the wheels of industry grind to a halt, the machinery of progress become silent, we have the wildest of opportunities to hit the reset button. To take a different path.
地球從來沒有住過這麼多人。 用過這麼多東西。 太明顯我們有很多舊的系統 ——我們創造給自己用的—— 已經過時。 我們必須重建系統。 如果不是細菌, 我們的集體之火可能不久 就會使我們窒息。 就在我們看著工業的巨輪停止, 進步的機器靜止之時, 我們擁有最瘋狂的機會 能按下重置按鈕。 走另一條路。
Here we are on Earth. And life on Earth is a wonderful thing. It looks big, this Earth, but there are lots of us on here. Seven and a half billion at last count, with more showing up every day. Even so, there is still enough for everyone, if we all share a little. So please, be kind.
我們在地球上。 在地球上生活是件美妙的事。 這個地球看起來很大, 但是上面有很多人。 上次算的時候有七十五億, 每天還有很多人出現。 即使如此, 還是很夠大家使用, 只要我們都願意分享一點點。 所以拜託, 善待眾生。
When you think of it another way, if Earth is the only place where people live, it's actually the least lonely place in the universe. There are plenty of people to be loved by and plenty of people to love. We need each other. We know that now, more than ever.
換個方向思考, 如果地球是眾人唯一的住所, 那它就不是宇宙中那孤獨一隅。 有很多人被愛, 也有很多人可以愛。 我們需要彼此。 現在我們再清楚也不過。
Good night.
晚安。