The strange story of the teddy bear and what it reveals | Jon Mooallem

翻译人员: Keke Gu 校对人员: Qiaochu Chen

So it was the fall of 1902,

1902年的秋天

and President Theodore Roosevelt

西奥多·罗斯福总统

needed a little break from the White House,

需要一个暂别白宫的小假期

so he took a train to Mississippi

于是他坐火车去了密西西比

to do a little black bear hunting outside of a town

在一个镇外狩猎黑熊

called Smedes.

这个镇叫斯密德思

The first day of the hunt, they didn't see a single bear,

在打猎的第一天他们没有看到熊

so it was a big bummer for everyone,

大家都觉得很无奈

but the second day, the dogs cornered one

然而第二天 猎犬在很长的追逐后把一只熊逼进角落

after a really long chase, but by that point,

但在那个时候

the president had given up

总统已经放弃了追逐

and gone back to camp for lunch,

并回到营帐吃午餐

so his hunting guide cracked the animal

于是他的狩猎指导敲昏了动物

on the top of the head with the butt of his rifle,

用他步枪的尾部去敲击熊头顶

and then tied it up to a tree

然后把它绑在一棵树上

and started tooting away on his bugle

随后吹着号角 嘟嘟地走了

to call Roosevelt back so he could have the honor

他想让罗斯福回来时

of shooting it.

享受射击的乐趣

The bear was a female.

这是一只母熊

It was dazed, injured,

它有些迷糊 也受了伤

severely underweight, a little mangy-looking,

体重严重不足 看起来脏脏的

and when Roosevelt saw this animal

当罗斯福看到这个动物

tied up to the tree,

被绑在树上时

he just couldn't bring himself to fire at it.

他实在不忍心朝它开枪

He felt like that would go against his code

他觉得这样做会违反他的行为准则

as a sportsman.

和运动员精神

A few days later, the scene was memorialized

几天后 这个情景被记录了下来

in a political cartoon back in Washington.

出现在华盛顿的一个政治卡通中

It was called "Drawing a Line in Mississippi,"

它叫做《在密西西比划清底线》

and it showed Roosevelt with his gun down and his arm out,

画面展现了罗斯福放下了他的枪

同时伸出他的手臂

sparing the bear's life,

给熊留了一条生路

and the bear was sitting on its hind legs

这只熊坐在它的后腿上

with these two big, frightened, wide eyes

两只大眼睛 睁得圆圆的 充满了恐惧

and little ears pricked up at the top of its head.

它的耳朵竖在头顶上

It looked really helpless, like you just wanted to

它看起来很无助 你恨不得

sweep it up into your arms

想把它拥入怀中

and reassure it.

让它不要担心

It wouldn't have looked familiar at the time,

在那时它看起来不太眼熟

but if you go looking for the cartoon now,

但如果你现在看这个卡通

you recognize the animal right away:

你能马上认出这个动物：

It's a teddy bear.

它就是泰迪熊

And this is how the teddy bear was born.

这就是泰迪熊诞生的故事

Essentially, toymakers took the bear from the cartoon,

简单说 玩具制造商将这个卡通中的熊

turned it into a plush toy, and then named it

做成了毛绒玩具 并用罗斯福总统的名字

after President Roosevelt -- Teddy's bear.

给它命了名：泰迪熊

And I do feel a little ridiculous

我觉得自己有点傻

that I'm up here on this stage

我站在这个舞台上

and I'm choosing to use my time

并决定用我的时间

to tell you about a 100-year-old story

来告诉你们一个一百年前的故事

about the invention of a squishy kid's toy,

关于一个软绵绵的儿童玩具的发明

but I'd argue that the invention of the teddy bear,

但我想说在泰迪熊的发明的故事里

inside that story is a more important story,

有个更重要的故事

a story about how dramatically our ideas

这个故事关系到我们对自然的想法

about nature can change,

可以如此戏剧化的变化

and also about how, on the planet right now,

这也关系到此时在这个星球上

the stories that we tell

我们所讲述的故事

are dramatically changing nature.

正戏剧化地改变自然

Because think about the teddy bear.

您想想泰迪熊

For us, in retrospect, it feels like an obvious fit,

对于我们来说它像一个自然的产物

because bears are so cute and cuddly,

因为熊那么可爱 让人忍不住想抱

and who wouldn't want to give one to their kids to play with,

谁不想自己的孩子跟其玩耍呢？

but the truth is that in 1902,

而在1902年

bears weren't cute and cuddly.

熊并不那么可爱 也不让人想拥抱

I mean, they looked the same,

我是说他们看起来一样

but no one thought of them that way.

可是当时没人这么看待他们

In 1902, bears were monsters.

在1902年熊是野兽

Bears were something that frickin' terrified kids.

熊当时是让孩子们异常害怕的动物

For generations at that point,

对几代人来说

the bear had been a shorthand for all the danger

熊一直象征着所有

that people were encountering on the frontier,

人们在前线遇到的危险

and the federal government was actually

联邦政府其实曾经

systematically exterminating bears

系统性地灭绝狗熊

and lots of other predators too,

以及其它捕食动物

like coyotes and wolves.

比如说小狼和野狼

These animals, they were being demonized.

这些动物当时被妖魔化

They were called murderers

它们被称为杀人犯

because they killed people's livestock.

因为它们杀害人们的家禽

One government biologist, he explained this

一个政府生物学家解释说

war on animals like the bear by saying

针对动物的战争 比如说熊

that they no longer had a place

是因为在我们日益发展的文明中

in our advancing civilization,

它们不再有一席之地

and so we were just clearing them out of the way.

所以我们将它们清除掉

In one 10-year period, close to half a million wolves

在十年之间 将近50万只狼被屠杀

had been slaughtered.

The grizzly would soon be wiped out

在95％的原本属于灰熊的领地上

from 95 percent of its original territory,

灰熊也濒临绝境

and whereas once there had been 30 million bison

在那些曾经一时有3千万野牛穿越的平原上

moving across the plains, and you would have

these stories of trains having to stop

你会听说这样的事儿：

一些火车必须停靠四到五个小时

for four or five hours so that these thick,

才能让这群黑压压、

living rivers of the animals could pour over the tracks,

活生生的动物如潮水一般穿过轨道

now, by 1902, there were maybe less than 100 left in the wild.

到1902年 这里只剩下不到100只野牛存活于野外

And so what I'm saying is, the teddy bear was born

所以我想说的是 泰迪熊诞生于

into the middle of this great spasm of extermination,

一个异常严峻的灭绝时代

and you can see it as a sign that

你可以把它看成一个征兆

maybe some people deep down

也许有些人从心底

were starting to feel conflicted about all that killing.

开始对这些屠杀感到矛盾

America still hated the bear and feared it,

美国始终痛恨熊 也害怕它

but all of a sudden, America also wanted

但突然间 美国也想要

to give the bear a great big hug.

给熊一个大拥抱

So this is something that I've been really curious about in the last few years.

这是我在过去几年来很好奇的事

How do we imagine animals,

我们如何想像动物

how do we think and feel about them,

我们如何思考和感受它们

and how do their reputations get written

它们的名声如何形成

and then rewritten in our minds?

又是如何在我们的头脑里被改写

We're here living in the eye of a great storm

我们生活在一个灭绝风暴迫在眉睫的时代

of extinction where half the species on the planet

这个星球上一半的生物种类

could be gone by the end of the century,

都可能在这个世纪末消失

and so why is it that we come to care about

那么为什么我们会关心

some of those species and not others?

其中一部分种类 而不是其它的呢

Well, there's a new field, a relatively new field

社会科学有一个新的领域

of social science that started looking at

一个相对新的领域 研究这些问题

these questions and trying to unpack the powerful

同时尝试解析人类与动物之间

and sometimes pretty schizophrenic relationships

具有神奇力量 却也令人费解的

that we have to animals,

这种关系

and I spent a lot of time looking through

我花了很多时间来阅读

their academic journals,

他们的学术期刊

and all I can really say is that their findings

我能说的是他们的发现

are astonishingly wide-ranging.

广泛得让人吃惊

So some of my favorites include that

我最喜欢的一些发现包括

the more television a person watches in Upstate New York,

一个人在纽约北部看越多的电视

the more he or she is afraid

他或她就越害怕

of being attacked by a black bear.

受到黑熊的攻击

If you show a tiger to an American,

如果你给一个美国人看一只老虎

they're much more likely to assume that it's female

他们更可能假设它是母的

and not male.

而不是公的

In a study where a fake snake

在一个研究中 一条假的蛇

and a fake turtle were put on the side of the road,

和一只假的乌龟被放在路边

drivers hit the snake much more often than the turtle,

驾驶者撞击蛇的比例远大于乌龟

and about three percent of drivers who hit the fake animals

而在撞击假动物的驾驶者中有3%

seemed to do it on purpose.

是故意这么做的

Women are more likely than men to get a

相对于男人 女人更有可能

"magical feeling" when they see dolphins in the surf.

在冲浪时看到海豚而有"美妙的感觉"

Sixty-eight percent of mothers with

68％具有"强烈的权利和自尊感"的母亲们

"high feelings of entitlement and self-esteem"

identified with the dancing cats

在观看Purina广告时 [猫粮品牌]

in a commercial for Purina. (Laughter)

能和跳舞的猫能产生同鸣（笑声）

Americans consider lobsters

美国人觉得龙虾

more important than pigeons

比鸽子更重要

but also much, much stupider.

但也更加愚蠢

Wild turkeys are seen as only slightly more dangerous than sea otters,

野生火鸡被认为比海獭更危险一点点

and pandas are twice as lovable as ladybugs.

熊猫比瓢虫可爱两倍

So some of this is physical, right?

这其中有些是因为外表的关系对吗？

We tend to sympathize more with animals that look like us,

我们更同情看起来像我们的动物

and especially that resemble human babies,

尤其是那些像人类婴儿的

so with big, forward-facing eyes

大而朝前的眼睛

and circular faces,

圆形脸

kind of a roly-poly posture.

类似不倒翁的姿势

This is why, if you get a Christmas card from, like,

这就是为什么如果你收到

your great aunt in Minnesota,

你在明尼苏达州的姑姑寄来的圣诞卡

there's usually a fuzzy penguin chick on it,

上面更可能有一只带绒毛的小企鹅

and not something like a Glacier Bay wolf spider.

而不是冰川湾狼蜘蛛 [笑声]

But it's not all physical, right?

但这也不完全是因为外表 对吧？

There's a cultural dimension to how we think about animals,

我们对动物的想法有文化的一面

and we're telling stories about these animals,

我们讲述关于这些动物的故事

and like all stories,

这些故事像所有故事一样

they are shaped by the times and the places

当我们讲故事的时候

in which we're telling them.

用时间和地点给故事塑形

So think about that moment

所以请想想那个时刻

back in 1902 again where a ferocious bear

回到1902年 一只凶猛的熊

became a teddy bear.

成为一只泰迪熊

What was the context? Well, America was urbanizing.

当时是什么环境？美国正经历城市化

For the first time, nearly a majority of people lived in cities,

历史上第一次 大部分人住到了城市

so there was a growing distance between us and nature.

我们与自然的距离日益剧增

There was a safe space where we could

我们有了一个安全的空间

reconsider the bear and romanticize it.

可以重新想象熊 并将其浪漫化

Nature could only start to seem this pure and adorable

于是自然开始显得这么纯粹和可爱

because we didn't have to be afraid of it anymore.

因为我们不再害怕

And you can see that cycle playing out

你可以看到这个循环不断上演

again and again with all kinds of animals.

一遍又一遍出现在所有动物身上

It seems like we're always stuck between

我们似乎总是这样

demonizing a species and wanting to wipe it out,

妖魔化然后灭绝一个物种

and then when we get very close to doing that,

而当我们快要成功时

empathizing with it as an underdog

又开始怜惜弱者

and wanting to show it compassion.

展现出无限的同情心

So we exert our power,

我们人类乐于运用自己的力量

but then we're unsettled

却又为这能量之大

by how powerful we are.

而惶惶不安起来

So for example, this is one of

举个例子 这是

probably thousands of letters and drawings

几千封信件和图画之一

这是孩子们寄给布什政府

that kids sent to the Bush administration,

begging it to protect the polar bear

请求政府遵循《濒危动物保护法案》

under the Endangered Species Act,

保护北极熊

and these were sent back in the mid-2000s,

这些信是在2000至2010年寄出的

when awareness of climate change was suddenly surging.

当时我们对气候变化的关注剧增

We kept seeing that image of a polar bear

我们一直看到这样一个画面

stranded on a little ice floe

一只北极熊被困在一小块冰上

looking really morose.

看起来非常惆怅

I spent days looking through these files.

我花了很多天看这些文件

I really love them. This one's my favorite.

我非常喜欢它们 这张是我的最爱

If you can see, it's a polar bear that's drowning

您可以看到这是只被淹没的北极熊

and then it's also being eaten simultaneously

与此同时它正被

by a lobster and a shark.

一只龙虾和鲨鱼吃掉

This one came from a kid named Fritz,

这个来自于叫一个叫弗利兹的孩子

and he's actually got a solution to climate change.

他实际上已经找到对付气候变化方法

He's got it all worked out to an ethanol-based solution.

在乙醇的基础上他研究出了方案

He says, "I feel bad about the polar bears.

他说 "我为北极熊感到难过

I like polar bears.

我喜欢北极熊

Everyone can use corn juice for cars. From Fritz."

大家可以用玉米汁来开车 -弗利兹"

So 200 years ago, you would have Arctic explorers

200年前 极地探险家

writing about polar bears leaping into their boats

会记载说北极熊跳到他们的船上

and trying to devour them,

尝试活吞他们

even if they lit the bear on fire,

即使他们在熊身上点火

but these kids don't see the polar bear that way,

然而这些孩子们不这么看北极熊

and actually they don't even see the polar bear

实际上他们看待北极熊的角度

the way that I did back in the '80s.

也不同于我在80年代的看法

I mean, we thought of these animals

我们认为这些动物

as mysterious and terrifying lords of the Arctic.

是北极神秘而恐怖的主人

But look now how quickly that climate change

然而你看现在气候快速地变化

has flipped the image of the animal in our minds.

这已经颠倒了我们对动物的看法

It's gone from that bloodthirsty man-killer

它们从嗜血的杀人犯

to this delicate, drowning victim,

变成了纤弱垂死的受害者

and when you think about it, that's kind of

如果你仔细想想

the conclusion to the story

这也算泰迪熊的故事的

that the teddy bear started telling back in 1902,

一个结论

because back then, America had more or less

因为在那时 美国或多或少

conquered its share of the continent.

征服了属于它的领地

We were just getting around to

我们当时正接近

polishing off these last wild predators.

消灭这些最后的野外捕食者

Now, society's reach has expanded

现在 社会的影响已经扩大

all the way to the top of the world,

一路通往世界的最顶端

and it's made even these, the most remote,

这使那些甚至最遥远

the most powerful bears on the planet,

世界上最凶猛的熊

seem like adorable and blameless victims.

看起来也像可爱的和无辜的受害者

But you know, there's also a postscript to the teddy bear story

其实 泰迪熊故事还有一个

that not a lot of people talk about.

不为人知的后记

We're going to talk about it,

我想讲给大家听

because even though it didn't really take long

因为即使没有过多久

after Roosevelt's hunt in 1902

在1902年罗斯福打猎之后

for the toy to become a full-blown craze,

这个玩具成为完全的热潮

most people figured it was a fad,

大多数人认为它只是一时流行

it was a sort of silly political novelty item

它只是一种无聊的政治新奇物品

and it would go away once the president left office,

在总统退职后就会消失

and so by 1909, when Roosevelt's successor,

所以在1909年 当罗斯福的后任

William Howard Taft,

威廉·霍华德·塔夫脱

was getting ready to be inaugurated,

准备任职

the toy industry was on the hunt

玩具界开始寻找

for the next big thing.

下一个流行产品

They didn't do too well.

他们没有成功

That January, Taft was the guest of honor

在那年一月份 塔夫脱作为嘉宾

at a banquet in Atlanta,

参加在亚特兰大的一个舞会

and for days in advance,

在这之前的几天来

the big news was the menu.

最大的新闻就是菜单

They were going to be serving him

他们打算为他准备

a Southern specialty, a delicacy, really,

一道特别而美味的南方菜肴

called possum and taters.

叫做红薯烤负鼠

So you would have a whole opossum

一整只负鼠

roasted on a bed of sweet potatoes,

放在一堆红薯上烤

and then sometimes they'd leave

有时候他们会把大尾巴留在上面

the big tail on it like a big, meaty noodle.

就好像一根宽面条

The one brought to Taft's table

放在塔夫特桌上的那只

weighed 18 pounds.

重达18磅

So after dinner, the orchestra started to play,

在晚宴结束后 乐团开始演奏

and the guests burst into song,

客人们开始唱歌

and all of a sudden, Taft was surprised

突然间塔夫特惊讶地

with the presentation of a gift

收到一份礼物

from a group of local supporters,

来自于一群当地的支持者

and this was a stuffed opossum toy,

那是一个填充的负鼠玩具

all beady-eyed and bald-eared,

珠状眼睛和光秃秃的耳朵

and it was a new product they were putting forward

这是他们推荐的新产品

to be the William Taft presidency's answer

作为威廉·塔夫特担任总统的答案

to Teddy Roosevelt's teddy bear.

呼应泰迪·罗斯福的泰迪熊

They were calling it the "billy possum."

他们称它为"比利负鼠"

Within 24 hours, the Georgia Billy Possum Company

24小时之内 乔治比利负鼠公司

was up and running, brokering deals

成立并开始运营

for these things nationwide,

在全国进行中介交易

and the Los Angeles Times announced,

当时洛杉矶时报

very confidently, "The teddy bear

非常自信地宣称 "泰迪熊

has been relegated to a seat in the rear,

已经退到后幕

and for four years, possibly eight,

在将来的四年 甚至八年

the children of the United States

美国的儿童

will play with billy possum."

将和比利负鼠一起玩耍”

So from that point, there was a fit of opossum fever.

从那时起 负鼠的流行具备了条件

There were billy possum postcards, billy possum pins,

有比利负鼠名信片、比利负鼠顶针、

billy possum pitchers for your cream at coffee time.

比利负鼠奶油罐 喝咖啡的时候用

There were smaller billy possums on a stick

还有更小的比利负鼠 攀在一根棍子上

that kids could wave around like flags.

小孩子们可以把它当旗子一样挥动

But even with all this marketing,

即使借助这些市场营销手段

the life of the billy possum

比利负鼠的生命

turned out to be just pathetically brief.

结果还是短暂得可怜

The toy was an absolute flop,

这个玩具彻底地失败了

and it was almost completely forgotten

到那年的年底

by the end of the year,

它几乎完全地被遗忘了

and what that means is that the billy possum

这意味着比利负鼠

didn't even make it to Christmastime,

甚至没有持久到圣诞节

which when you think about it is

你可以想像

a special sort of tragedy for a toy.

这对一个玩具来说是个悲催的灾难

So we can explain that failure two ways.

对于这个失败 我们有两种解释

The first, well, it's pretty obvious.

第一 很明显

I'm going to go ahead and say it out loud anyway:

我就明说吧：

Opossums are hideous. (Laughter)

负鼠太狰狞了

But maybe more importantly is that

但也许更重要的是

the story of the billy possum was all wrong,

比利负鼠的故事完全错了

especially compared

尤其是比起

to the backstory of the teddy bear.

泰迪熊的背景故事

Think about it: for most of human's evolutionary history,

大多数人类进化历史

what's made bears impressive to us

让我们觉得熊很厉害的是

has been their complete independence from us.

他们完全独立于我们

It's that they live these parallel lives

他们过着与我们平行的生活

as menaces and competitors.

如同威胁和竞争者

By the time Roosevelt went hunting in Mississippi,

当罗斯福在密西西比打猎时

that stature was being crushed,

这个印象完全被破灭了

and the animal that he had roped to a tree

那个被他绑在树上的动物

really was a symbol for all bears.

成为了所有熊的象征

Whether those animals lived or died now

这些动物现在是死是活

was entirely up to the compassion

完全取决于人们是给予同情心

or the indifference of people.

还是漠然无视

That said something really ominous

这预示了一种不详的

about the future of bears,

熊的未来

but it also said something very unsettling about who we'd become,

它也预示了发展中的人类

心中的不安

if the survival of even an animal like that

如果一个像熊那样的动物的生存

was up to us now.

现在完全取决于我们

So now, a century later, if you're at all

那现在 一个世纪以后

paying attention to what's happening in the environment,

如果你还关注环境的发展

you feel that discomfort so much more intensely.

你会感觉到更强烈的不适

We're living now in an age of what scientists

我们住在一个这样的时代

have started to call "conservation reliance,"

科学家称之为“保护依赖”

and what that term means is that we've disrupted

这意味着我们已经过度的破坏了自然

so much that nature can't possibly stand on its own anymore,

它不能再单纯依靠自我修复了

and most endangered species

大多数濒临灭绝的种类

are only going to survive

唯一能生存的条件是

if we stay out there in the landscape

人类必须置身野外

riggging the world around them in their favor.

监控着环境 并把环境改造得利于动物的生存

So we've gone hands-on

我们必须亲自参与

and we can't ever take our hands off,

我们永远不能放手不管

and that's a hell of a lot of work.

这个工作量太大了

Right now, we're training condors

现在我们正在训练秃鹰

not to perch on power lines.

不在电线上歇脚

We teach whooping cranes to migrate south for the winter

我们开着小型的超光波飞机

behind little ultra-light airplanes.

领着鹤在冬季移居南方

We're out there feeding plague vaccine to ferrets.

我们给鼬注射瘟疫疫苗

We monitor pygmy rabbits with drones.

我们用无人机器监视侏儒兔

So we've gone from annihilating species

我们从试图灭绝一些物种

to micromanaging the survival of a lot of species

到无限期地 微观地管理许多种类的生存

indefinitely, and which ones?

那么有哪些物种呢？

Well, the ones that we've told

那些我们已经说过的

compelling stories about,

在精彩的故事里出现的

the ones we've decided ought to stick around.

那些我们决定应该继续存活的

The line between conservation and domestication

保护和驯化之间的界限

is blurred.

变得模糊

So what I've been saying is that the stories

所以我一直在讲的是 这些故事

that we tell about wild animals are so subjective

这些关于野外动物的故事是很主观的

they can be irrational

它们可能是非理性的、

or romanticized or sensationalized.

浪漫化的、或情绪化的

Sometimes they just have nothing to do with the facts.

有时它们跟事实毫无相关

But in a world of conservation reliance,

在一个“保护依赖”的世界

those stories have very real consequences,

这些故事会有很真实的后果

because now, how we feel about an animal

因为现在 我们对一种动物的看法

affects its survival

对它生存的影响

more than anything that you read about

大于你在生态课本中

in ecology textbooks.

读到的任何信息

Storytelling matters now.

如今讲故事很关键

Emotion matters.

情绪很重要

Our imagination has become an ecological force.

我们的想象已经成为一股生态力量

And so maybe the teddy bear worked in part

也许泰迪熊营销的成功

because the legend of Roosevelt

一部分归功于 这个罗斯福的传说

and that bear in Mississippi

和那只密西西比的熊

was kind of like an allegory

就好像一个寓言

of this great responsibility that society

讲述了人类意识到

was just beginning to face up to back then.

自己对于社会的巨大责任的过程

It would be another 71 years

那时还要71年

before the Endangered Species Act was passed,

《濒危动物保护法案通过》才会通过

but really, here's its whole ethos

但事实上 这是整个社会思潮

boiled down into something like a scene

浓缩成的一个景象

you'd see in a stained glass window.

就像一副琉璃画

The bear is a helpless victim tied to a tree,

熊是个被绑在树上的无辜的受害者

and the president of the United States

而美国总统

decided to show it some mercy.

决定怜惜它

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（掌声）

[Illustrations by Wendy MacNaughton]

[插画：温迪 马克诺顿]