What gardening taught me about life | tobacco brown

翻译人员: Carol Wang 校对人员: Yinchun Rui

At age four, I found a garden,

四岁的时候，我发现了一个花园

living underneath the kitchen floor.

就在厨房的地板底下的一个花园。

It was hiding behind leftover patches of linoleum

它藏在破地板上的几块残留的油毡布后面，

on the worn-out floor my mother was having removed.

我妈妈正在让人撕掉这些油毡布。

The workman was busy when the garden caught my attention.

工人正忙活着的时候，花园立刻吸引了我。

My eyes became glued to the patterns of embroidered roses

我的眼睛出神地盯着那些刺绣玫瑰图案，

blooming across my childhood landscape.

它们在我童年的原野上恣意绽放。

I saw them and felt a sense of joy and adventure.

看到这些玫瑰，我感到一丝快乐和新奇。

This excitement felt like a feeling to go forward

这种激动的感觉

into something I knew nothing about.

好像在敦促我去探索未知的事情。

My passion and connection to garden started at that exact moment.

我对花园的热情和连通就在那一刻开启了！

When spring arrived, I ran so fast through the house,

春天终于来临，我在家里快速跑过，

speeding ahead of my mother's voice.

把妈妈喊我的声音远远抛在身后。

I pulled on my red corduroy jumper and my grey plaid wool hat

妈还没来得及穿外衣，我已穿好灯芯绒连衫裤，

before my mother could get her jacket on.

戴好了灰格羊毛帽子。

I catapulted out of the front screen door

我箭一样地跑出前纱门，

and threw myself on a fresh carpet of grass.

一下子冲到像新毯子一样的草坪上。

Excited, I bounced to my feet and flipped three more cartwheels

激动难耐的我又跳起来，连做3个侧手翻，

before landing by her side.

正好落在妈妈身旁。

Mother dear was in the garden

我亲爱的妈妈在花园里

busy breaking up the soil,

忙着翻土，

and I sat beside her,

我坐在妈妈身旁，

playing with mud pies in the flower bed.

在花坛里的玩起了泥巴。

When her work was done,

妈妈干完活后，

she rewarded me with an ice-cold glass of bittersweet lemonade

她先奖了我一杯又苦又甜的冰镇柠檬水，

and then lined my shoes with sprigs of mint

然后把我的鞋和薄荷枝排放在一起，

to cool off my feet.

让我的脚凉下来.

My mother cooked with the colors and textures of her garden.

妈就用花园里不同颜色和口感的蔬菜煮菜，

She baked yams and squash

烤芋头、南瓜，

and heirloom tomatoes and carrots.

还烤传统西红柿和胡萝卜。

She fed love to a generation of people

她用紫芸豆和青菜，

with purple hull peas and greens.

把爱喂养给一代人。

It seems that during my childhood,

似乎在我的童年里，

the blooms from my mother's gardens have healed all the way from her halo

妈妈花园里的那些花儿

愈合了从她的头一直到我们脚底根部。

to the roots on the soles of our feet.

In our last conversation before her death,

在她去世前我们最后一次的谈话中，

she encouraged me to go anywhere in the world

她鼓励我

去世界上任何能让我快乐的地方。

that would make me happy.

Since then, I have planted her gardens

从那时起，

我就在所结识的世界各地朋友的国家，

through art installations throughout the world,

in countries of the people that I meet.

通过艺术装扮的方式种植妈妈的花园。

Now they are lining parks and courtyards,

现在，它们正装点着公园和庭院、

painted on walls and even in blighted lots off the street.

画在墙上甚至画在街边破旧不堪的地段。

If you were in Berlin, Germany,

如果你在德国柏林的话，

you would have seen my garden at Stilwerk Design Center,

可以在 Stilwerk 设计中心看到我的花园，

where rosemary and lavender, hydrangea and lemon balm

我用迷迭香和薰衣草、绣球和柠檬香薄荷

trailed up the glass elevators to all six floors.

装扮了从一楼到六楼去往玻璃电梯的通道。

In 2009, I planted "Philosophers Garden,"

在 2009年，我种植了 "哲学家花园"，

a garden mural,

这是一个花园壁画，

blooming at the historic Frederick Douglass High School

盛开在田纳西州孟菲斯市里

in Memphis, Tennessee.

历史悠久的弗雷德里·克道格拉斯高中。

This school’s garden fed an entire community

大萧条时期，这所学校的花园抚慰了整个社区，

and was honored by Eleanor Roosevelt during the Great Depression.

还得到了总统夫人埃莉诺·罗斯福的赞扬。

Again, in 2011, I planted at Court Square Park --

还有，2011年 在法院广场公园，

six entry gardens

我种植了6个公园入口处花园，

with 80 varieties of deliciously fragrant floribunda

用了80种美味芬芳的丰花月季

and hybrid tea roses.

和各种各样的茶玫瑰进行装扮。

Gardening has taught me that planting and growing a garden

园艺教会了我一个道理——

is the same process as creating our lives.

种植打理花园与我们创造生活的过程一样。

This process of creation begins in the spring,

创造的过程始于春天，

when you break up the soil and start anew.

从你翻土的那一刻，就开启了新的过程。

Then it's time to clear out the dead leaves,

接下来需要清除枯叶，

debris and roots of the winter.

清理冬天过后的植物残枝和根。

The gardener must then make sure

园丁必须要确保

that a good disposition and the proper nutrients

对土壤进行良好处理，

are correctly mixed in the soil.

并在土壤中均衡配置养分。

Then it's important to aerate the topsoil

接下来，表层土壤的通气也很重要，

and leave it loosely packed on the surface.

要保持表层土壤的松软。

You won't get those beautiful blooms in life

你首先做好所有该做的事情，

until you first do the work just right.

才会收获生活中那些美丽的花朵。

When our gardens are balanced with care,

只有精心照料好我们的花园，

we can harvest the beauty of living a life of grace.

才会收获优雅生活的美丽。

In the forests,

在森林里，

when trees realize through their roots that another tree is sick,

当树木通过根部发现另一棵树生病时，

they will send a portion of their nutrients to that tree

它们会将一部分养料送给那棵树，

to help them to heal.

以帮助其康复。

They never think about what will happen to them

它们从没想过这么做的后果，

or feel vulnerable when they do.

或者这样做会不会受伤害自己。

When a tree is dying,

当一棵树快死的时候，

it releases all of its nutrients to other trees that need it the most.

它把所有的养分释放给最需要营养的其它树。

Below the surface, we are all connected by our roots

表层下面, 我们通过根连接彼此，

and sharing nutrients with each other.

并分享养分。

It's only when we come together that we can honestly grow.

只有当我们走到一起，才会实实在在地成长。

It's the same for humans in the garden of hardship.

在艰苦花园里，人类也是一样。

In this garden,

在这个花园里,

when the caterpillar transforms into a chrysalis,

当毛毛虫变成蛹时,

this involves some struggle.

必须要经历一番挣扎。

But it's a challenge with a purpose.

然而，这是一项有目的之挑战。

Without this painful fight

不经历这场痛苦之战

to break free from the confines of the cocoon,

去挣脱茧的束缚,

the newly formed butterfly can't strengthen its wings.

新成型的蝴蝶就无法强壮其翅膀；

Without the battle, the butterfly dies without ever taking flight.

不经历战斗，蝴蝶就会未曾飞翔而直接死亡。

My life's work

我一生的工作——

is to illustrate how to integrate human connectivity into the garden.

就是为了展示如何将人类连通融入到花园里。

Gardens are full of magical wisdom for this transformation.

花园里充满了适应这种转变的神奇智慧，

Mother Nature is creative energy waiting to be born.

大自然母亲就是即将出生的创新能量；

Gardens are a mirror

花园就是一面镜子，

that cast their own reflection into our waking lives.

把自己的倒影投射到我们觉醒的生活中。

So nurture your talents and strengths

因此，在感激被赋予的一切的同时，

while you appreciate all you've been given.

你要培养你的才华和长处；

Remain humble to healing.

在愈合面前，保持谦卑，

And maintain compassion for others.

并对他人的抱有同情之心。

Cultivate your garden for giving

培育花园是为了给予，

and plant those seeds for the future.

并为将来提前播种。

The garden is the world living deep inside of you.

这花园就是生活在你内心深处的世界。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

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(Cheers)

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(Applause)

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