A glimpse of life on the road | Kitra Cahana

翻译人员: Linmin Shi 校对人员: Xiaoou Chen

As a little girl, I always imagined

当我还是个小女孩时，我就一直幻想着

I would one day run away.

有一天我能逃走。

From the age of six on,

从六岁那年起，

I kept a packed bag with some clothes

我藏在衣柜的背包里

and cans of food tucked away

一直装着些衣服

in the back of a closet.

和罐头食品。

There was a deep restlessness in me,

我的内心深处有着躁动与不安

a primal fear that I would fall prey

惧怕自己会被生活的琐事烦事

to a life of routine and boredom.

所侵蚀吞灭

And so, many of my early memories involved

因此，我的大部分童年记忆

intricate daydreams where I would walk across borders,

都和复杂的白日梦有关

幻想自己会越过边境，采寻野果，

forage for berries,

and meet all kinds of strange people

与路上各种陌生人邂逅，

living unconventional lives on the road.

他们都过着自由的生活。

Years have passed, but many of the adventures

岁月流去，但我童年幻想的

I fantasized about as a child --

许多冒险历程——

traveling and weaving my way

一边旅行，

between worlds other than my own —

一边把自己和别人的世界编织起来——

have become realities through my work

这一切已经在我的工作中变成了现实，

as a documentary photographer.

因为我成了一名纪实摄影师。

But no other experience has felt as true

但没有什么经历，比我童年的梦

to my childhood dreams

更显真实

as living amongst and documenting the lives

生活在美国各地的流浪汉之间，看着他们生活，

of fellow wanderers across the United States.

This is the nomadic dream,

这就是流浪梦，

a different kind of American dream

另一种不同的美国梦

lived by young hobos, travelers,

造梦者们都是年轻的流浪汉，旅人，

hitchhikers, vagrants and tramps.

旅途上搭便车的人，浪子，和无业游民。

In most of our minds,

在我们大多数人的观念中，

the vagabond is a creature from the past.

流浪是已经消逝的一种生活。

The word "hobo" conjures up an old

“流浪汉”这个词映射出

black and white image

一幅黑白的画面

of a weathered old man covered in coal,

画面里有一个饱经风霜的，脸上涂着黑炭的老男人

legs dangling out of a boxcar,

双腿在货车车厢外晃荡，

but these photographs are in color,

但这些图片都是彩色的，

and they portray a community

它们描绘出一个周旋在这个国家

swirling across the country,

的一个群体，

fiercely alive and creatively free,

生命力顽强，奔放不羁

seeing sides of America that no one else

他们能看到常人所看不到的

gets to see.

美国的另一面。

Like their predecessors, today's nomads

和以前的人一样，今天的流浪者

travel the steel and asphalt arteries

走遍了美国大地的

of the United States.

铁路和柏油马路。

By day, they hop freight trains, stick out their thumbs,

白天，他们跳上运货火车，伸出大拇指，

and ride the highways with anyone

在高速路上随便找人搭便车

from truckers to soccer moms.

不管他们是货车司机还是足球妈妈（开车载孩子去踢足球并在一旁观看的妈妈们）。

By night, they sleep beneath the stars,

晚上，他们就在星空下过夜，

huddled together with their packs of dogs,

和许多猫猫狗狗，还有宠物老鼠

cats and pet rats between their bodies.

抱在一起入眠。

Some travelers take to the road by choice,

一些旅人去流浪是出于选择的，

renouncing materialism, traditional jobs

他们抛弃物质主义，传统的工作，

and university degrees in exchange for a glimmer of adventure.

和大学证书，以此换来冒险的希望。

Others come from the underbelly of society,

其他人则是来自社会的底层，

never given a chance to mobilize upwards:

他们从未有机会往上爬：

foster care dropouts, teenage runaways escaping

他们都是从监护所里逃离出来，

abuse and unforgiving homes.

和从无情暴力的家庭里离家出走的青少年。

Where others see stories of privation

当别人看待贫困

and economic failure,

和经济萧条的事情时，

travelers view their own existence

旅人们则透过了整个解放和自由的菱镜，

through the prism of liberation and freedom.

看到了他们自己的存在。

They'd rather live off of the excess

他们宁愿生活在无节制中，

of what they view as a wasteful consumer society

哪怕是他们认为这是个浪费的消费时代，

than slave away at an unrealistic chance

也不愿依靠不真实的希望而埋头苦干，

at the traditional American dream.

不愿依靠传统的美国梦。

They take advantage of the fact

他们了解到，

that in the United States,

在美国，

up to 40 percent of all food ends up in the garbage

接近40%的食物最终都到了垃圾桶里

by scavenging for perfectly good produce

所以他们在大垃圾箱里和垃圾桶里

in dumpsters and trash cans.

觅寻完好无损的食物。

They sacrifice material comforts in exchange

他们放弃了物质享受

for the space and the time to explore

为的是换取时间和空间去发掘

a creative interior,

一个创意的自我，

to dream, to read, to work on music, art and writing.

去想像，去阅读，去创造音乐，艺术，和写作。

But there are many aspects to this life

但这种生活的很多方面

that are far from idyllic.

根本谈不上田园风味。

No one loses their inner demons

选择了这条路

by taking to the road.

不代表他们遗弃了内心的恶魔。

Addiction is real, the elements are real,

吸毒是真实的，大自然的风吹雨打也是真实的，

freight trains maim and kill,

运货火车让人伤残也让人死亡，

and anyone who has lived on the streets can attest

另外，住在街上的任何人都可以证明

to the exhaustive list of laws

有数不清的法律条例

that criminalize homeless existence.

把无家可归的生命个体视为非法的。

Who here knows that in many cities

在这里，有谁知道

across the United States it is now illegal

在美国的许多城市

坐在人行道已经是不合法的

to sit on the sidewalk,

to wrap oneself in a blanket,

裹着摊子睡是不合法的

to sleep in your own car,

在自己车里睡是不合法的

to offer food to a stranger?

给陌生人提供食物也是不合法的呢？

我知道这些法律规定是因为

I know about these laws because I've watched

as friends and other travelers

我目睹过朋友或其他旅者

were hauled off to jail or received citations

被关进监狱，或收到传票

for committing these so-called crimes.

就因为他们“犯了这些罪”。

Many of you might be wondering why anyone

你们或许会好奇，为什么

会有人选择这样的生活，

would choose a life like this,

under the thumb of discriminatory laws,

受制于这种有着差别待遇的法律，

吃的是垃圾堆里的食物，

eating out of trash cans,

sleeping under bridges,

睡的是天桥地下，

到处打散工。

picking up seasonal jobs here and there.

The answer to such a question is as varied

和人们会选择流浪这条路一样，

以上问题的答案也相差无几，

as the people that take to the road,

but travelers often respond with a single word:

但旅者们经常会用这样一个词来回应：

freedom.

自由。

Until we live in a society where every human

除非在我们生活的这个社会里

每个人在工作中都确保有尊严

is assured dignity in their labor

so that they can work to live well,

这样他们才能用工作换取美好生活，

not only work to survive,

而不仅仅是为了生存而工作，

there will always be an element of those

对于那些想要寻找马路

who seek the open road as a means of escape,

来当作一种逃脱，自由，当然，也是反抗的人来说，

of liberation and, of course, of rebellion.

他们永远有自己的原则。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）