AimeeMullins_逆境带来机遇【中英文对照】

1.I’d like to share with you a discovery that I made a few months ago while writing an article for Italian Wired.
我想把我几个月之前的一个大发现与大家分享一下 我当时正在为一家意大利杂志”Wired”写一篇文章
2.I always keep my thesaurus handy whenever I’m writing anything, but I’d already finished editing the piece, and I realized that I had never once in my life
我在写作的时候总是把同义词词典放在手边 我当时已经把文章编辑完了 才意识到我一生中还从来没有
3.looked up the word “disabled” to see what I’d find.
在字典中查找“残疾的”的具体意思
4.Let me read you the entry.
让我把这个词条念给大家听
5.”Disabled,” adjective: “crippled, helpless, useless, wrecked, stalled, maimed, wounded, mangled, lame, mutilated, rundown, worn-out, weakened, impotent, castrated, paralyzed, handicapped,
“残疾的”，形容词，意为：“残废的，无助的，无用的，残破的 停滞的，被破坏的，受伤的，被损毁的，跛脚的，被肢解的 破损的，累坏了的，虚弱的，无力的，丧失力量的，瘫痪的，身体功能存在障碍的
6.senile, decrepit, laid-up, done-up, done-for, done-in cracked-up, counted-out; see also hurt, useless and weak.
衰老的，破旧的，被闲置的，精疲力尽的，没用的，疲劳的 破烂的，不被考虑的” 另见：“受伤的，无用的，虚弱的”
7.Antonyms, healthy, strong, capable.”
反义词：“健康的，强壮的，有能力的”
8.I was reading this list out loud to a friend and at first was laughing, it was so ludicrous, but I just I’d just gotten past mangled, and my voice broke,
我当时把以上内容出声地读给我一个朋友听，一开始我笑了 这太荒唐了 当我念到“被损毁了”的时候，我哽咽了
9.and I had to stop and collect myself from the emotional shock and impact that the assault from these words unleashed.
我不得不停下来 让自己被这些词汇打击与侮辱后恢复情绪
10.You know, of course this is my raggedy old thesaurus.
是的，我的这本老同义词词典也很破旧了
11.I’m thinking this must be an ancient print date, right.
我想，这本词典也一定是很老的版本了
12.But, in fact, the print date was the early 1980’s, when I would have been starting primary school and forming an understanding of myself outside the family unit
但实际上，它的出版日期却是上世纪80年代 当时我应该刚上小学 在家庭之外的大环境下形成对自己的认知
13.and as related to the other kids and the world around me.
并且与我身边的孩子们和世界建立联系
14.And, needless to say, thank God I wasn’t using a thesaurus back then.
谢天谢地，我当年没用过同义词词典
15.I mean, from this entry, it would seem that I was born into a world that perceived someone like me to have nothing positive whatsoever going for them,
我的意思是，通过同义词词典上对“残疾的”这一词的解释 就能看出，我所生活的世界并不认可像我这样的残疾人 这个世界认为我们残疾人身上毫无积极向上的因素
16.when, in fact, today I’m celebrated for the opportunities and adventures my life has procured.
然而今天，我却在为我人生为我带来的一切历险与机会 庆幸不已
17.So, I immediately went to look up the 2009 online edition, expecting to find a revision worth noting.
所以，我立刻上网查“残疾的”这一词在2009年版本同义词词典中的解释 我当时期待着看到一些重要的修订
18.Here’s the updated version of this entry.
下面我给大家读“残疾的”这一词新版本的解释
19.Unfortunately, it’s not much better.
很不幸，词条的解释没比当年强多少
20.I find the last two words under “Near Antonyms” particularly unsettling, “whole” and “wholesome.”
这个词条中”接近反义词”中的两个词尤其让我很不好受 它们是：“完整的，健全的”
21.So, it’s not just about the words.
实际上，这不仅仅是几个单词的事
22.It’s what we believe about people when we name them with these words.
当人们用那种消极的词汇形容残疾人的时候，实际上反映出来的是人们对残疾人的看法
23.It’s about the values behind the words, and how we construct those values.
值得注意的是描述残疾人的那些词汇的背后所体现的人们内心的价值观，以及这种价值观形成的过程
24.Our language affects our thinking and how we view the world and how we view other people.
我们的语言影响着我们的思维 以及我们看待这个世界的方式、看待他人的方式
25.In fact, many ancient societies, including the Greeks and the Romans, believed that to utter a curse verbally was so powerful, because to say the thing out loud brought it into existence.
实际上，包括古希腊、古罗马等许多古代社会 都相信言语诅咒的巨大威力 因为话一旦被说了出来，便是真实地存在了
26.So, what reality do we want to call into existence, a person who is limited, or a person who’s empowered?
那么，我们究竟想让什么样的事物存在呢 是一个没有能力的人，还是一个有能力的人呢
27.By casually doing something as simple as naming a person, a child, we might be putting lids and casting shadows on their power.
有时候，我们只是随便地给一个成人或孩子命名 却有可能限制住了他们的发展，给他们蒙上阴影，让他们对自己的能力质疑
28.Wouldn’t we want to open doors for them instead?
难道我们不想为他们开启心灵之门么
29.One such person, who opened doors for me, was my childhood doctor at the A.I. Dupont Institute in Wilmington, Delaware.
我的生命中就有这样一个人，为我开启了心灵之门，他是在我小时候照顾我的一位医生 他在德拉华州威尔明顿的A.I. Dupont研究院工作
30.His name is Dr. Pizzutillo.
他的名字叫Pizzutillo
31.Italian American, whose name, apparently, was too difficult for most Americans to pronounce, so he went by Dr. P.
是一位意大利裔美国人 很显然，他的名字很多美国人念出来都很困难 下面不妨就叫他P医生好了
32.And Dr. P always wore really colorful bow ties and had the very perfect disposition to work with children.
P医生总是打着色彩鲜艳的领结 他为人的修养、气质使得他和孩子们相处得很好
33.I loved almost everything about my time spent at this hospital, with the exception of my physical therapy sessions.
除了身体训练课程之外 我在他的医院里面度过的时光都是很快乐的
34.I had to do what seemed like innumerable repetitions of exercises with these thick, elastic bands — different colors — you know, to help build up my leg muscles.
我要用那种很粗的、五颜六色的、富有弹性的带子 一遍又一遍地做着体能训练 锻炼腿部肌肉
35.And I hated these bands more than anything.
我简直恨透那些带子了
36.I hated them, had names for them. I hated them.
恨透了，我甚至还给它们都起了名字
37.And, you know, I was already bargaining, as a five year-old child, with Dr. P to try to get out of doing these exercises, unsuccessfully, of course.
当时我还是个五岁的孩子，便和P医生讨价还价 求他别再让我那些体能训练了 当然，我没有得逞
38.And, one day, he came in to my session — exhaustive and unforgiving, these sessions — and he said to me, “Wow. Aimee, you are such a strong, powerful little girl,
然而有一天，P医生在我做体能训练的时候来看我了 嗯，那些无情的、令人精疲力尽的体能训练 然后他对我说：“艾米，你真是个强壮的小姑娘啊
39.I think you’re going to break one of those bands.
我感觉有一天你能把这些带子弄断
40.When you do break it, I’m going to give you a hundred bucks.”
你弄断的时候，我就奖励你100美元“
41.Now, of course, this was a simple ploy on Dr. P’s part to get me to do the exercises I didn’t want to do before the prospect of being the richest five year-old in the second floor ward,
很显然，这是P医生的一个小把戏罢了 他只不过是想让我做这些我根本不爱做的体能训练 用“有一天变成所有二楼病房五岁病人中最富有的”来诱惑我
42.but what he effectively did for me was reshape an awful daily occurrence into a new and promising experience for me.
但是P医生确实成功做到了一件事情 那便是将一个我所痛恨的日程转化为一个全新的、充满了前景的经历
43.And I have to wonder today, to what extent his vision, and his declaration of me as a strong and powerful little girl, shaped my own view of myself
今天，我常常在思考，P医生当年的视野 以及他给我的“强壮的小姑娘”这一称谓 对我自我认知的影响有多么大
44.as an inherently strong, powerful and athletic person well into the future.
现如今，我已经能认识到我的内在是强壮有力的，我的未来一片光明
45.This is an example of how adults in positions of power can ignite the power of a child.
P医生的这个例子就很好的说明了 一位拥有力量的成年人能够点燃一个孩子的潜能
46.But, in the previous instances of those thesaurus entries, our language isn’t allowing us to evolve into the reality that we would all want,
但是，在更前面提到的那个同义词词典的例子中 我们的语言并没能让我们把我们所希望看到的事物变成现实
47.the possibility of an individual to see themselves as capable.
并没能让残疾人意识到他们自己实际上是有能力的
48.Our language hasn’t caught up with the changes in our society, many of which have been brought about by technology.
科技的发展带动社会的发展 而我们的语言并没有随着社会与时俱进
49.Certainly, from a medical standpoint, my legs, laser surgery for vision impairment, titanium knee and hip replacements for aging bodies
当然，从医学的角度来讲 我的假腿，修复我视力的激光手术 人工钛金膝盖，为老年人提供的股骨头替换手术
50.that are allowing people to more fully engage with their abilities, and move beyond the limits that nature has imposed on them, not to mention social networking platforms,
种种这些技术都能使得人们更充分地运用他们的能力 并且超越自然环境施加给他们的种种限制 并且为我们这些残疾人搭建社交平台
51.allow people to self-identify, to claim their own descriptions of themselves, so they can go align with global groups of their own choosing.
让我们这些人能自我认同 从而允许我们在全球范围内选择结交的对象
52.So, perhaps technology is revealing more clearly to us now what has always been a truth, that everyone has something rare and powerful to offer our society,
所以说，科技正更清楚地向我们展示着 一个永恒的真理 那就是，我们每一个人都是非常强大的，都是能为社会做贡献的
53.and that the human ability to adapt is our greatest asset.
以及适应环境的能力是人类最伟大的资本
54.The human ability to adapt, it’s an interesting thing, because people have continually wanted to talk to me about overcoming adversity,
谈起人类适应环境这一本领，我感觉很有意思 因为人们经常想让我就“克服逆境”这一话题讲一讲
55.and I’m going to make an admission.
今天我想做一点声明
56.This phrase never sat right with me, and I always felt uneasy trying to answer people’s questions about it, and I think I’m starting to figure out why.
“克服逆境”这一说对我来说根本不成立 别人让我就这一话题说几句的时候，我很不自在 我开始思考为什么会这样
57.Implicit in this phrase of overcoming adversity, is the idea that success, or happiness, is about emerging on the other side of a challenging experience
“克服逆境”这个词有一个隐含的意思 那就是成功，或者快乐 都在一段艰难的经历的另一端
58.unscathed or unmarked by the experience, as if my successes in life have come about from an ability to sidestep or circumnavigate the presumed pitfalls of a life with prosthetics,
而这段经历本身却与成功和快乐无关 就好像是说，我这一生之所以能成功 是因为我绕过了作为一个截肢人所要面临的一系列挑战
59.or what other people perceive as my disability.
绕过在别人看来制约我的一些因素
60.But, in fact, we are changed. We are marked, of course, by a challenge, whether physically, emotionally or both.
但实际上，这些挑战实实在在地改变了我们，在我们的人生旅程中烙下了印记 这种改变可能是身体上的，可能是精神上的，也可能两者兼具
61.And I am going to suggest that this is a good thing.
我想说的是，面临挑战不失为一件好事
62.Adversity isn’t an obstacle that we need to get around in order to resume living our life.
面对逆境，我们不应把它当成障碍绕过它 从而继续我们的生活
63.It’s part of our life.
其实，逆境是我们生活的一部分
64.And I tend to think of it like my shadow.
我把逆境想象成我自己的影子
65.Sometimes I see a lot of it, sometimes there’s very little, but it’s always with me.
有的时候它看起来很大，有的时候很小 但是它始终在我身边
66.And, certainly, I’m not trying to diminish the impact, the weight, of a person’s struggle.
当然，我不是试图贬低人们与逆境作斗争的价值和意义
67.There is adversity and challenge in life, and it’s all very real and relative to every single person, but the question isn’t whether or not you’re going to meet adversity,
我们在一生中注定要经历逆境与挑战 我们每个人都是 但是我们所关注的问题并不是你是否要去面对逆境
68.but how you’re going to meet it.
而是如何去面对它
69.So, our responsibility is not simply shielding those we care for from adversity, but preparing them to meet it well.
所以，我们的责任不是简简单单地让我们关心的人生活在温床里 而是让他们能够形成从容应对逆境的能力
70.And we do a disservice to our kids when we make them feel that they’re not equipped to adapt.
当我们让孩子们觉得自己没有适应环境的能力时 我们实际上伤害了他们
71.There’s an important difference and distinction between the objective medical fact of my being an amputee and the subjective societal opinion of whether or not I’m disabled.
从医学的角度客观地判断我是否是一个残疾人 从社会的角度主观地去考虑我是否是一个“残疾人” 此两者间有很大的差别
72.And, truthfully, the only real and consistent disability I’ve had to confront is the world ever thinking that I could be described by those definitions.
实际上，我自始至终所要面对的唯一的一个问题 是这个世界对我的种种不公的看法和描述
73.In our desire to protect those we care about by giving them the cold, hard truth about their medical prognosis, or, indeed, a prognosis on the expected quality of their life,
我们希望能够保护那些我们在意的人们 我们把冷冰冰的医师诊断报告告诉他们 或者有时候，为他们未来的生活状态做预测
74.we have to make sure that we don’t put the first brick in a wall that will actually disable someone.
但是我们一定要注意我们的所做所为 是否会摧毁这些人们
75.Perhaps the existing model of only looking at what is broken in you and how do we fix it, serves to be more disabling to the individual
也许，人们习惯了只专注于自己的种种缺陷 并想着如何修复这些缺陷
76.than the pathology itself.
这种思维定式对残疾人的伤害比残疾人本身的生理缺陷更严重
77.By not treating the wholeness of a person, by not acknowledging their potency, we are creating another ill on top of whatever natural struggle they might have.
我们不从一个整体的角度看待残疾人 不去承认他们的能力 这对他们本身就很艰难的处境无疑是雪上加霜
78.We are effectively grading someone’s worth to our community.
我们能有效地对一个人对其所在社会的的价值进行评估
79.So we need to see through the pathology and into the range of human capability.
因此，我们的目光不应该局限在残疾人生理上的缺陷 而是应该注意到他们作为人的价值
80.And, most importantly, there’s a partnership between those perceived deficiencies and our greatest creative ability.
另外，最重要的一点 残疾人的一些缺陷和人类的创造力之间 是存在着联系的
81.So it’s not about devaluing, or negating, these more trying times as something we want to avoid or sweep under the rug, but instead to find those opportunities wrapped in the adversity.
所以，艰辛的奋斗岁月是不该被贬低、否定的 这不是什么我们要避免或者掩盖的事 恰恰相反，我们应该在逆境中寻找机遇
82.So maybe the idea I want to put out there is, not so much overcoming adversity, as it is opening ourselves up to it, embracing it, grappling with it,
其实，我想说明的道理就是 逆境，不是用来”克服”的 我们应该坦然面对它 拥抱它 与它摔打
83.to use a wrestling term, maybe even dancing with it.
我刚才用了一个摔角的术语（摔打） 甚至，与它舞蹈
84.And, perhaps, if we see adversity as natural, consistent and useful, we’re less burdened by the presence of it.
也许，如果我们能把逆境看成是自然的、不间断的、对人有用的东西 它的存在对我们来说也不再是负担了
85.This year we celebrate 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, and it was 150 years ago, when writing about evolution, that Darwin illustrated, I think, a truth about the human character.
今年我们庆祝了达尔文的200周年诞辰 当达尔文在150年前写物种进化论的时候 他阐明了一个关于人类特征的真理
86.To paraphrase, it’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor is it the most intelligent that survives, it is the one that is most adaptable to change.
他说的那句话大概意思就是，能生存下来的物种 往往不是最强壮的，也不是最聪明的 而是最能适应外部环境变化的
87.Conflict is the genesis of creation.
矛盾冲突是创造之母
88.From Darwin’s work, amongst others, we can recognize that the human ability to survive and flourish is driven by the struggle of the human spirit through conflict
达尔文等诸位大师的著作都揭示了这一点 人类生存繁衍的能力 源自人类灵魂经历激烈斗争后的转变
89.into transformation.
就是这样
90.So, again, transformation, adaptation, is our greatest human skill.
我再重申一遍，人类最伟大的能力，是转变和适应
91.And, perhaps, until we’re tested, we don’t know what we’re made of.
也许，在我们接受考验之前，我们不知道自己会是什么样子
92.Maybe that’s what adversity gives us, a sense of self, a sense of our own power.
可能这就是逆境所能起到的作用 一种对自我以及个人能力的认识
93.So, we can give ourselves a gift.
所以，我们可以给自己一份礼物
94.We can re-imagine adversity as something more than just tough times.
我们可以把逆境想成一次改变的机遇
95.Maybe we can see it as change.
而不是艰辛的岁月
96.Adversity is just change that we haven’t adapted ourselves to yet.
逆境是一种改变，而我们只不过还没来得及对其适应
97.I think the greatest adversity that we’ve created for ourselves is this idea of normalcy.
我认为，我们给自己创造的最大的困境 是”正统”这一概念
98.Now, who’s normal?
好吧，究竟什么又是“正统”呢
99.There’s no normal.
“正统”并不存在
100.There’s common. There’s typical. There’s no normal.
我知道什么是“普通的”，什么是“典型的”，但我不知道什么是“正统的”
101.And would you want to meet that poor, beige person if they existed?
如果真的有那种贫困的、面黄肌瘦的所谓的“正统人”，你会对他们感兴趣么
102.(Laughter) I don’t think so.
（笑） 我想不会吧
103.If we can change this paradigm from one of achieving normalcy to one of possibility, or potency, to be even a little bit more dangerous,
如果我们不把精力投入到追求“正统”当中 而是投入到发现各种各样的可能性，发掘各种各样的能力，冒险一下
104.we can release the power of so many more children, and invite them to engage their rare and valuable abilities with the community.
很多孩子的潜能都会被更好的激发 他们将会充分运用他们独一无二的宝贵的能力，为他们的社区做贡献
105.Anthropologists tell us that the one thing we as humans have always required of our community members is to be of use, to be able to contribute.
人类学家告诉我们 我们作为人类总是希望我们所在群体中的人们是有用的 是有能力做贡献的
106.There’s evidence that Neanderthals, 60,000 years ago, carried their elderly and those with serious physical injury, and, perhaps, because the life experience of survival of these people
六万年前的尼安德特社会就是一个很好的证据 尼安德特人抚养他们社会中的老弱病残 因为他们坚信
107.proved of value to the community: they didn’t view these people as broken and useless; they were seen as rare and valuable.
老人们丰富的人生阅历是对他们整个社会是很有价值的 老人们从来不会被视作无用的 相反，他们被视为非常珍贵的
108.A few years ago, I was in a food market in the town where I grew up in that red zone in northeastern Pennsylvania, and I was standing over a bushel of tomatoes.
几年前的一天，我正在故乡的菜市场 就是宾州东北部的那片红区 我当时正站在一筐西红柿旁边
109.It was summer time. I had shorts on.
因为正值夏天，我穿的是短裤