Tania Luna: How a penny made me feel like a millionaire

翻译人员: Zheqing Fang 校对人员: William Choi

I'm five years old, and I am very proud.

我5岁那年，我非常自豪，

My father has just built the best outhouse

因为我父亲刚刚建好

in our little village in Ukraine.

我在乌克兰小村里最好的屋外厕所。

Inside, it's a smelly, gaping hole in the ground,

内部是臭哄哄的，在地上挖的一个大洞，

but outside, it's pearly white formica

但是外面，却是珍珠白胶木，

and it literally gleams in the sun.

在阳光下闪闪发光。

This makes me feel so proud, so important,

这让我感到那么的自豪且重要，

that I appoint myself the leader of my little group of friends

好让我可以自命为小伙伴们的领袖

and I devise missions for us.

去指挥我们的任务。

So we prowl from house to house

我们在屋舍之间玩耍

looking for flies captured in spider webs

看苍蝇黏在蜘蛛网上

and we set them free.

我们将它们放生。

Four years earlier, when I was one,

往前推4年，在我1岁的时候，

after the Chernobyl accident,

发生了切尔诺贝利（核泄漏）事故，

the rain came down black,

天空下著黑雨，

and my sister's hair fell out in clumps,

我姐姐的头发成簇地脱落，

and I spent nine months in the hospital.

我在医院待了9个月。

There were no visitors allowed,

期间不允许任何访客，

so my mother bribed a hospital worker.

我的母亲只好贿赂了一个医院工作者。

She acquired a nurse's uniform,

她拿到了一件护士制服，

and she snuck in every night to sit by my side.

每天晚上偷偷坐在我的身旁，

Five years later, an unexpected silver lining.

5年之后，出现了意想不到的希望，

Thanks to Chernobyl, we get asylum in the U.S.

由于这场灾难，我们得到了美国政府的庇护。

I am six years old, and I don't cry when we leave home

那时我6岁，离开家乡时并没有哭，

and we come to America,

然后我们来到了美国，

because I expect it to be a place filled with rare

因为我将要抵达的地方充满了，

and wonderful things like bananas and chocolate

稀奇珍宝，比如香蕉、巧克力

and Bazooka bubble gum,

以及火箭牌泡泡糖，

Bazooka bubble gum with the little cartoon wrappers inside,

火箭牌泡泡糖里面都装有小卡通画，

Bazooka that we'd get once a year in Ukraine

在乌克兰，我们每年只能有拿到一盒泡泡糖

and we'd have to chew one piece for an entire week.

然后一片要嚼上一整个星期。

So the first day we get to New York,

当我们来到纽约的第一天，

my grandmother and I find a penny

我的祖母和我发现了1美分硬币

in the floor of the homeless shelter that my family's staying in.

就在我们住下的收容所的地板上。

Only, we don't know that it's a homeless shelter.

只有我们认为那个不是收容所。

We think that it's a hotel, a hotel with lots of rats.

我们把它当成了宾馆，一个充满了老鼠的宾馆。

So we find this penny kind of fossilized in the floor,

所以当我们发现了这1美分，像化石般凝固在地板上，

and we think that a very wealthy man must have left it there

我们以为是哪个非常富有的人丢在了那里

because regular people don't just lose money.

因为普通人不会丢钱。

And I hold this penny in the palm of my hand,

我把这1美分牢牢地握在手里，

and it's sticky and rusty,

它又粘又生锈，

but it feels like I'm holding a fortune.

但是让我觉得，我握住了财宝。

I decide that I'm going to get my very own piece

我决定去用它来买属于自己的一片

火箭牌泡泡糖。

of Bazooka bubble gum.

And in that moment, I feel like a millionaire.

在那一瞬间，我觉得自己是百万富翁。

About a year later, I get to feel that way again

一年之后，我再次体验了这种感觉，

当我发现一个装满毛茸茸玩具的袋子丢在垃圾站，

when we find a bag full of stuffed animals in the trash,

and suddenly I have more toys

突然之间我有那么多的玩具，

than I've ever had in my whole life.

比我从小到大玩过的还要多。

And again, I get that feeling when we get a knock

还有一次，我又有了百万富翁的感觉，

on the door of our apartment in Brooklyn,

当有人敲响我们布鲁克林公寓的门，

and my sister and I find a deliveryman

我和姐姐发现是一位送货员，

with a box of pizza that we didn't order.

带来了一盒我们没有定过的匹萨，

So we take the pizza, our very first pizza,

然后我们就拿下了这匹萨，我们的第一块匹萨，

and we devour slice after slice

我们狼吞虎咽地吃了一片又一片

as the deliveryman stands there and stares at us from the doorway.

完全不顾送货员站在门口盯着我们看。

And he tells us to pay, but we don't speak English.

后来他要我们付钱，但我们不会说英语。

My mother comes out, and he asks her for money,

我的母亲闻声而来，他向她要钱，

but she doesn't have enough.

但是我们的钱根本不够。

She walks 50 blocks to and from work every day

母亲每天上下班徒步走50个街区

just to avoid spending money on bus fare.

只是为了省一些公交车的钱。

Then our neighbor pops her head in,

接着我们的邻居探出头来，

and she turns red with rage when she realizes

然后她变得怒不可遏，当她意识到

that those immigrants from downstairs

这些楼下的移民

have somehow gotten their hands on her pizza.

用他们的手碰了她的匹萨。

Everyone's upset.

所有人都很不愉快。

But the pizza is delicious.

但是匹萨却非常美味。

It doesn't hit me until years later just how little we had.

家庭的贫困并没有打击到我，直到多年以后

On our 10 year anniversary of being in the U.S.,

在我们来到美国的10周年纪念时，

we decided to celebrate by reserving a room

我们决定去定一个宾馆来庆祝

at the hotel that we first stayed in when we got to the U.S.

我们想去定刚来美国时住的“宾馆”，

The man at the front desk laughs, and he says,

可是前台服务员大笑着说，

"You can't reserve a room here. This is a homeless shelter."

“你可没法再定这里的房间，因为这里是流浪汉收容所。”

And we were shocked.

我们当时就惊呆了。

My husband Brian was also homeless as a kid.

我的丈夫布莱恩也是一个无家可归的孩子，

His family lost everything, and at age 11,

他的家庭失去了一切，在他11岁时，

he had to live in motels with his dad,

他不得不和父亲住在汽车旅店，

motels that would round up all of their food

汽车旅店的人扣下了他们所有的食物

and keep it hostage until they were able to pay the bill.

以此为要挟，直到他们付清了账单，

And one time, when he finally got his box

后来，当他们最终拿回了装玉米麦片的盒子

of Frosted Flakes back, it was crawling with roaches.

里面已经爬满了蟑螂。

But he did have one thing.

但他确实拥有了一件财富。

He had this shoebox that he carried with him everywhere

他把这个盒子留下来，随时带在身边

containing nine comic books,

里面装了9本漫画书，

two G.I. Joes painted to look like Spider-Man

2个玩具美国兵，涂得像个蜘蛛侠

and five Gobots. And this was his treasure.

以及5个机器人。这些是他的宝贝，

This was his own assembly of heroes

是他自己收藏的英雄们，

that kept him from drugs and gangs

保护他远离毒品和犯罪，

and from giving up on his dreams.

让他不放弃自己的梦想。

I'm going to tell you about one more

我想再多说一个例子，

formerly homeless member of our family.

曾经无家可归，现在是我的家庭成员，

This is Scarlett.

她是斯嘉丽。

Once upon a time, Scarlet was used as bait in dog fights.

之前，斯嘉丽被人用作斗狗的诱饵，

She was tied up and thrown into the ring

她被栓住扔在笼子里，

for other dogs to attack so they'd get more aggressive before the fight.

让其他的狗去攻击，这样它们会在比赛前更兴奋

And now, these days, she eats organic food

现在，她可以吃到有机食品

and she sleeps on an orthopedic bed with her name on it,

睡在骨骼矫正床上，写有她的名字，

but when we pour water for her in her bowl,

现在当我们往她的碗里倒水

she still looks up and she wags her tail in gratitude.

她还是会摇摇尾巴，用感激的眼神看着我们。

Sometimes Brian and I walk through the park with Scarlett,

有时我和布莱恩带着斯嘉丽在公园散步，

and she rolls through the grass,

她在草丛上打滚，

and we just look at her

我们就只是看着她嬉耍，

and then we look at each other

然后再看看对方，

and we feel gratitude.

我们就会心生感激。

We forget about all of our new middle-class frustrations

我们忘却那些新中产阶级曾经经历的痛苦

and disappointments,

以及失落，

and we feel like millionaires.

我们感觉自己就是百万富翁。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）