Who am I? Think again | Hetain Patel

翻译人员: Zhiting Chen 校对人员: Peipei Xiang

Hetain Patel: (In Chinese)

赫顿 帕塔尔: (中文）

Yuyu Rau: Hi, I'm Hetain. I'm an artist.

饶宇玉: 你好！我叫赫顿，我是个艺术家。

And this is Yuyu,

这是宇玉，

who is a dancer I have been working with.

她是与我合作的舞蹈家

I have asked her to translate for me.

我请她来为我翻译

HP: (In Chinese)

赫顿: (中文）

YR: If I may, I would like to tell you

宇玉: 如果可以的话 我想向你们

a little bit about myself

简单介绍一下我自己

and my artwork.

和我的艺术作品

HP: (In Chinese)

赫顿: (中文）

YR: I was born and raised near Manchester,

宇玉: 我在英格兰城市曼彻斯特周边

in England,

出生长大

but I'm not going to say it in English to you,

但是我不会用英文告诉你这些

because I'm trying to avoid any assumptions

因为我要避免任何由于我的北方口音

that might be made from my northern accent.

而对我本人作出的任何设想

(Laughter)

（笑）

HP: (In Chinese)

赫顿: (中文）

YR: The only problem with masking it

宇玉：用中文（普通话）掩饰我来自哪里

with Chinese Mandarin

的唯一问题就是

is I can only speak this paragraph,

我只会说这一段话

which I have learned by heart

这是我在中国游历期间

when I was visiting in China. (Laughter)

通过背诵学到的。（笑）

So all I can do is keep repeating it in different tones

因此我所能做的就是用不同的语调来重复这段话

and hope you won't notice.

希望你们都不会察觉到

(Laughter)

（笑）

HP: (In Chinese)

赫顿：（中文）

(Laughter)

（笑）

YR: Needless to say, I would like to apologize

宇玉：毫无疑问，我想要对那些说中文的观众

to any Mandarin speakers in the audience.

表示歉意

As a child, I would hate being made

在我是孩子的时候，我讨厌

to wear the Indian kurta pajama,

穿着印度无领长袖睡衣

because I didn't think it was very cool.

因为我认为这一点儿也不酷

It felt a bit girly to me, like a dress,

我认为这服饰太女性化了，像一条裙子

and it had this baggy trouser part

裤子这块儿像个布兜

you had to tie really tight

你必须系得很紧

to avoid the embarrassment of them falling down.

以免它尴尬地滑落

My dad never wore it,

我爸爸从来不穿这种服饰

so I didn't see why I had to.

所以我找不到任何穿着它的理由

Also, it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable,

并且，这服装让我感到有些不舒服

that people assume I represent something

穿着它的时候人们会假设

genuinely Indian when I wear it,

我代表了某些印度的元素

because that's not how I feel.

但那不是我所感受到的

HP: (In Chinese)

赫顿：（中文）

YR: Actually, the only way I feel comfortable

宇玉：事实上，唯一能让我

wearing it is by pretending

自然地穿着它的时候，是假装

they are the robes of a kung fu warrior

它是功夫勇士里面的某种长袍

like Li Mu Bai from that film,

就像电影《卧虎藏龙》中的李慕白那样。

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

就像电影《卧虎藏龙》中的李慕白那样。

(Music)

（音乐）

Okay.

好的

So my artwork is about identity and language,

所以 我的艺术作品讨论的是身份认同以及语言，

challenging common assumptions

挑战常见的刻板印象

based on how we look like or where we come from,

这些假设 基于我们的外表和我们来自哪里

gender, race, class.

性别 种族 阶级

What makes us who we are anyway?

究竟什么让我们每个人显得独特？

HP: (In Chinese)

赫顿：（中文）

YR: I used to read Spider-Man comics,

我看蜘蛛侠漫画

watch kung fu movies,

看功夫电影

take philosophy lessons from Bruce Lee.

从李小龙那里学习哲学

He would say things like --

他会说这类的话

HP: Empty your mind.

赫顿：排除你的杂念

(Laughter)

（笑）

Be formless, shapeless, like water.

无形 似水

Now you put water into a cup.

现在你把水倒在一个杯子里

It becomes the cup.

水就是杯子的形状

You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle.

你把水倒在瓶子里，它就是瓶子的形状

Put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot.

把水倒在茶壶里，它就是茶壶的形状

Now, water can flow

水可以是流动的

or it can crash.

亦可以承受撞击

Be water, my friend. (Applause)

像水一样吧，我的朋友 （鼓掌）

YR: This year, I am 32 years old,

这一年，我32岁，

the same age Bruce Lee was when he died.

李小龙就是在他32岁那年去世的

I have been wondering recently,

我时常在想

if he were alive today,

如果他今天还活着

what advice he would give me

他会给我做这个TED演讲

about making this TED Talk.

提出怎样的建议

HP: Don't imitate my voice.

赫顿：不要学我的口音

It offends me.

这会冒犯到我

(Laughter)

（笑）

YR: Good advice,

宇玉：好建议

but I still think that we learn who we are

但我还是认为我们可以通过模仿他人

by copying others.

来了解我们自己是谁

Who here hasn't imitated their childhood hero

在场的人里 谁没模仿过他们的儿时偶像呢

in the playground, or mum or father?

或者他们的妈妈 爸爸

I have.

我模仿过

HP: A few years ago, in order to make this video

赫顿：几年前，为了制作这段影片

for my artwork, I shaved off all my hair

来展现我的艺术思考，我剃光了自己的头发

so that I could grow it back as my father had it

那样我就可以像我的父亲那样 等待它慢慢长出来

when he first emigrated from India

像我的父亲刚从印度移民来英国时那样

to the U.K. in the 1960s.

那是在1960年代

He had a side parting and a neat mustache.

他有着偏分的发型和利落的胡子

At first, it was going very well.

刚开始进展很顺利

I even started to get discounts in Indian shops.

我甚至可以在印度商店拿到折扣

(Laughter)

（笑）

But then very quickly,

但是很快

I started to underestimate

我发现自己低估了

my mustache growing ability,

胡子的生长速度

and it got way too big.

我的胡子长得太快了

It didn't look Indian anymore.

不再像印度人了

Instead, people from across the road,

路对面的人们

they would shout things like --

开始对我吼叫

HP and YR: Arriba! Arriba! Ándale! Ándale!

赫顿和宇玉：阿里巴 阿里巴 安德烈 安德烈

(Laughter)

（笑）

HP: Actually, I don't know why I am even talking like this.

赫顿：事实上我不知道为什么我要用这样的口音说话

My dad doesn't even have an Indian accent anymore.

我的父亲的印度口音早就消失了

He talks like this now.

他说话的口音就像现在这样

So it's not just my father that I've imitated.

我模仿的对象并不只有我父亲而已

A few years ago I went to China for a few months,

几年前 我去中国住了几个月

and I couldn't speak Chinese,

我不会说中文

and this frustrated me,

这让我有挫败感

so I wrote about this and had it translated

所以我写了这些话

into Chinese, and then I learned this by heart,

将它们翻译成中文，用心记住

like music, I guess.

我猜 就像学习音乐那样

YR: This phrase is now etched into my mind

宇玉：这句话现在深深地刻在我脑海里

clearer than the pin number to my bank card,

甚至比我的银行卡密码还清晰

so I can pretend I speak Chinese fluently.

所以我假装自己会说流利的中文

When I had learned this phrase,

当我学这段话的时候

I had an artist over there hear me out

我有个艺术家在那里听我说

to see how accurate it sounded.

然后看我对这段话的表达有多精确

I spoke the phrase, and then he laughed

我说了这段话，然后他笑了

and told me, "Oh yeah, that's great,

并告诉我 “太棒了，

only it kind of sounds like a woman."

只是听起来有些女性化”

I said, "What?"

我说 “什么？”

He said, "Yeah, you learned from a woman?"

他说 “你是不是从一位女士那里学来的这段话？”

I said, "Yes. So?"

我说 “是的。那又怎样？”

He then explained the tonal differences

他紧接着解释了

between male and female voices

男女之间语气的差异

are very different and distinct, and that I had learned it very well,

非常不同，有着很明显的区别，

but in a woman's voice.

我学得非常好，只是用了女性的语气

(Laughter)

（笑）

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

HP: Okay. So this imitation business

赫顿：好的 模仿他人

does come with risk.

是具有一定风险的事情

It doesn't always go as you plan it,

它并不总是像你计划的那样

even with a talented translator.

即使你有一个有才华的翻译

But I am going to stick with it,

但是我会坚持下去

because contrary to what we might usually assume,

因为这和我们常有的假设是相悖的

imitating somebody can reveal something unique.

模仿他人这个举动可以揭示某种特别的东西

So every time I fail

所以 每次

to become more like my father,

未能成功模仿我的父亲

I become more like myself.

使我越发地像我自己

Every time I fail to become Bruce Lee,

未能成功模仿李小龙

I become more authentically me.

令我成为更真实的自己

This is my art.

这就是我的艺术

I strive for authenticity,

我为了真实抗争

even if it comes in a shape

即使以一种

that we might not usually expect.

我们并不常期待的形式

It's only recently that I've started to understand

直至最近，我才开始懂得

that I didn't learn to sit like this

这样蹲着的姿势

through being Indian.

并不是印度人的特征

I learned this from Spider-Man.

这样的姿势 我是从蜘蛛侠那里学来的

(Laughter)

（笑）

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（鼓掌）