A host of heroes - April Gudenrath

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

翻译人员: Minji Seo 校对人员: Jenny Yang

"我需要一个英雄!"

"I need a hero!"

So many people in distress have said this,

在危难中的人都这么说

but why?

但为什么呢？

What kind of hero do we need

我们需要什么样的英雄

and do we even really even need a hero at all?

我们真的需要一个英雄吗？

Well, if you look at any piece of literature

嗯，如果你看看任何文学作品

written for page,

在书上的

script,

剧本，

or stage,

或舞台

the answer is yes!

答案是“肯定的!”

But, heroes come in all shapes and sizes,

但英雄的形状和大小各自不同，

depending on what needs to be dealt with.

取决于面对的是什么问题

First, you have your epic heroes.

首先，你有你史诗般的英雄

Epic heroes usually come from a famous family,

史诗般的英雄通常来自于一个著名的家庭，

have super-human strength,

有超人的力量，

are unusually good-looking.

都异常地好看。

They take on challenges that no one else will

他们接受没有人会接受的挑战

and succeed.

并取得成功

They have great journeys and adventures,

他们经历过伟大的旅程和冒险

some supernatural

有些是超自然物

and some, right here on Earth.

有些，就在地球上

Beowulf does all of this.

贝奥武夫具备这一切

He travels across the sea with his band of warriors

他与他的战队穿越大海

to help another king defeat a supernatural monster

帮助另一位国王打败一个超自然的怪物

that has been terrorizing his kingdom.

它一直在恐吓他的王国

He defeats the monster

他击败怪物

and the monster's mother

和怪物的母亲

in an epic battle,

在史诗般的战争

and then goes back home

然后又回到家

and becomes king himself.

并成为自己的国王

In his old age, he has one more monster to face,

在他年老时，他还剩一个怪物要面对，

one more threat that he must keep from his people,

他必须要确保他的人民不受威胁

a dragon.

一条 ’龙‘

Now, being an epic hero,

现在，身为一个史诗般的英雄，

of course he wins,

当然他赢了，

but he is also human,

但他也是人，

and so he also dies.

于是他也死了

But he leaves behind stories

但他所留下的故事

to inspire others even today.

即使到今天在激励其他人

Next, we have our tragic heroes.

下一步，我们有我们的悲剧英雄

Tragic heroes are usually leaders or powerful characters,

悲剧英雄通常是领袖或强大的人物

but the tragic hero is also majorly flawed

但悲剧英雄也有缺陷

and that flaw usually leads him down the path

和那缺陷通常会导致

to a horrible and tragic death.

可怕和悲剧性的死亡

Take the story of Oedipus the King, for example.

例如，俄狄浦斯国王的故事

One day, a young man travels to a town called Thebes.

一天，一个年轻男子到一个小镇叫底比斯旅行

On the way, he kills a man

在途中，他杀了一个男人

for not yielding to him on the road

因为这个男人不给他让路

in the first documented case of road rage.

在第一次被记载的愤怒路霸的案例

He also defeats a magical creature

他还击败了神奇的生物

and is rewarded by becoming the King of Thebes,

而且得到了成为底比斯国王的奖励

and thus, marrying their queen.

因此，嫁给他们的女王

Well, that's not so tragic, right?

嗯，这不那么悲惨，对吧?

Wrong!

错了 ！

The queen he just married is actually his birth mother!

他刚娶的女王其实是他的亲生母亲 ！

Oedipus was supposed to have been killed

俄狄浦斯原本应该已被杀死

as a child by a servant,

作为一个仆人的孩子

but instead he was given to another family.

但是他却被送给了另一个家庭。

Oh, and the man he killed on the road,

哦，而那个被他在路上杀了的人

the previous King of Thebes

是以前的底比斯国王

and his dad.

和他爸爸。

So he killed his father and married his mother.

所以他杀了自己的父亲，娶了自己的母亲

Now that is quite tragic.

这很悲惨

Not tragic enough for you?

对你不够悲剧吗？

Try this one.

请尝试这一个

Romeo Montague is a guy born into a wealthy family

罗密欧蒙太古在一个富裕的家庭出生

and finds the love of his life at a party, Juliet.

在派对上发现了他一生的最爱，朱丽叶

But, Juliet is from a different family

但是，朱丽叶是一个不同家庭的人

that just so happens to hate his family.

而且这个家庭恨他的家人

Instead of being patient

他没有忍耐性

and working through the family feud,

解决家族仇恨关系

Romeo decides he must have his love now,

罗密欧决定他现在，一定要有他的爱

and his impatience leads to bloodshed and death,

他不耐烦导致流血和死亡，

including his own and Juliet's.

包括他自己和朱丽叶的

Moving on to romantic heroes.

谈到浪漫的英雄

Now these guys might sound like

现在这些人可能听起来

they might have a better love life and chance at happiness,

他们会有一个更好的爱情生活 和能幸福的机会

but that's not always the case.

但情况并非总是如此

These heroes are emotional

这些英雄很情感

and very human.

很有人味儿

But there is something magical about them.

但他们有神奇的地方

Some have a miraculous birth

一些有一个奇迹的诞生

and then are separated from their family.

然后是从他们的家人分离

Others use enchanted swords

其他人使用魔法的剑

or get help from magical beans.

或从魔豆得到帮助

They could also reject the expectations of society

他们也可能拒绝社会的期望

and adhere to their own code of morality.

并坚持自己的道德准则

And in the end,

并在结束时，

the hero triumphs over evil in an idyllic way,

英雄以诗般的方式战胜邪恶

but at great personal, emotional sacrifice.

但这需要巨大的个人、 情感上的牺牲

King Arthur is a good example of a romantic hero.

亚瑟王是浪漫英雄的一个好例子

Sure, he became king and married the love of his life,

当然，他成为了国王，娶了他一生的最爱

but he was also killed by his son,

但他也被他的儿子杀死，

who was born out of wedlock,

（他的儿子是非婚子）

and had his wife cheat on him with his best friend.

他的妻子跟他最好的朋友好上了背叛了他

So, although he, too, like Beowulf, was a great king,

所以，尽管他，像贝奥武夫，是一个伟大的国王，

he suffered much more

他受了更多罪

for the greater purpose of society,

为更大的社会目的

which makes him more human and relatable to us all.

这让他有更有人味，被我们所有人认同

There are different heroes for different situations.

对于不同的情况，有不同的英雄

Sometimes we need the strong warrior

有时我们需要强大的武士

to slay the evils of the world.

要铲除世界的罪恶

At other times,

在其他时候，

we need a common person who becomes great

我们需要可以共同成长的人

so that they can inspire us all to be better.

这样，他们可以激发我们所有人都变得更好

So do we need heroes?

所以我们需要英雄吗？

Absolutely!

绝对是的!

No matter what the time or place,

无论何时何地

we still need something to believe in.

我们仍然需要值得相信的东西

They remind us of the good in each of us,

他们提醒我们每个人内心拥有的善良

and the need for hope

和对希望的渴求

and the importance of knowledge.

和知识的重要性