William Kamkwamba: How I harnessed the wind

翻译人员: zhangb bin 校对人员: Chaoran Yu

Thank you.

谢谢大家

Two years ago, I stood on the TED stage in Arusha, Tanzania.

两年之前我站在坦桑尼亚阿鲁沙的TED讲台上

I spoke very briefly about one of my proudest creations.

我先简要的说明一下我这个产品的创意

It was a simple machine that changed my life.

这个简单的机器改变了我的生活

Before that time,

在我发明它之前

I had never been away from my home

我从来没有离开过

in Malawi.

我在马拉维的家

I had never used a computer.

那时,我即没有用过电脑

I had never seen an Internet.

也没有网络

On the stage that day, I was so nervous.

上次我站在讲台的时候很紧张

My English lost,

我英语说的很逊

I wanted to vomit.

逊到连我都想呕吐

(Laughter)

(笑声)

I had never been surrounded by so many azungu,

我从来没有被这么多

white people.

白人包围过

(Laughter)

(笑声)

There was a story I wouldn't tell you then.

本来这个故事我不是很想讲出来

But well, I'm feeling good right now.

但我现在感觉良好

I would like to share that story today.

于是决定将它给讲出来

We have seven children in my family.

我们家有七个孩子

All sisters, excepting me.

除了我之外都是女孩

This is me with my dad when I was a little boy.

这是我和我父亲小时候的相片

Before I discovered the wonders of science,

在我还没有发现奇妙的科学之前

I was just a simple farmer

我也是一个农民

in a country of poor farmers.

一个贫穷国家的农民

Like everyone else, we grew maize.

和其他家庭一样，我们也种玉米

One year our fortune turned very bad.

有一年我们的收成非常差

In 2001 we experienced an awful famine.

那是2001年，我们遭受了可怕的饥荒

Within five months all Malawians began to starve to death.

持续5个月的全国性饥荒导致很多人饿死

My family ate one meal per day, at night.

我家只在每晚吃一顿饭

Only three swallows of nsima for each one of us.

每人每天只能吃三口饭

The food passes through our bodies.

食物完全被身体吸收

We drop down to nothing.

以至于没有排泄物

In Malawi, the secondary school,

马拉维的中学

you have to pay school fees.

是需要缴费的

Because of the hunger, I was forced to drop out of school.

因为饥荒，我辍学了

I looked at my father

我看着父亲

and looked at those dry fields.

又看着干涸的土地

It was the future I couldn't accept.

我无法接受眼前这一切

I felt very happy to be at the secondary school,

我非常喜欢在学校学习的日子

so I was determined to do anything possible

所以我决定要尽我一切努力去学习

to receive education.

去接受知识

So I went to a library.

于是我去了图书馆

I read books, science books, especially physics.

看了各类科学方面的图书，尤其是和物理有关的

I couldn't read English that well.

我英语不是很好

I used diagrams and pictures

我利用书中的图表和图片

to learn the words around them.

来学习那些词汇的含义

Another book put that knowledge in my hands.

而其中的一本书改变了我

It said a windmill could pump water and generate electricity.

这本书上说风车可以抽水和发电

Pump water meant irrigation,

抽水意味着灌溉

a defense against hunger,

这就是抵御饥饿的方法

which we were experiencing by that time.

那段时间我们开始做实验

So I decided I would build one windmill for myself.

于是我决定为我们家建造一座风车

But I didn't have materials to use,

但巧妇难为无米之炊

so I went to a scrap yard

然而，幸运的是我在废品站找到了

where I found my materials.

所需的材料

Many people, including my mother,

很多人包括我母亲

said I was crazy.

都说我疯了

(Laughter)

(笑声)

I found a tractor fan,

我找到了一个拖拉机风扇

shock absorber, PVC pipes.

减震器还有PVC管

Using a bicycle frame

以及用一个自行车骨架

and an old bicycle dynamo,

和一个旧自行车发电机

I built my machine.

就这样，我造好了

It was one light at first.

起初只有一个点火器

And then four lights,

到后来发展到四个

with switches, and even a circuit breaker,

有开关还有断路器

modeled after an electric bell.

从而要付电费

Another machine pumps water

另一个机器作为抽水机

for irrigation.

用来灌溉

Queues of people start lining up at my house

人们在我家门前排着队

(Laughter)

(笑声)

to charge their mobile phone.

来为他们的手机充电

(Applause)

(鼓掌)

I could not get rid of them.

我赶不走他们

(Laughter)

(笑声)

And the reporters came too,

新闻记者来我这里报道

which lead to bloggers

然后在博客上传播

and which lead to a call from something called TED.

然后我就来到了这个叫TED的大会

I had never seen an airplane before.

以前我从没有见过飞机

I had never slept in a hotel.

也没有睡过宾馆

So, on stage that day in Arusha,

那天在阿鲁沙的讲台上

my English lost,

我的英语说不好

I said something like,

我这样说过：

"I tried. And I made it."

（很不流利的说）我试过,我成功了

So I would like to say something

我觉得我应为哪些像我一样的人

to all the people out there like me

以及贫苦的非洲人

to the Africans, and the poor

说些什么

who are struggling with your dreams.

那些为梦想奋斗的人们

God bless.

上帝保佑你

Maybe one day you will watch this on the Internet.

也许有天你会在网上看到这段视频

I say to you, trust yourself and believe.

我要告诉你，要相信自己

Whatever happens, don't give up.

永不放弃

Thank you.

谢谢大家

(Applause)

(鼓掌)