The strange story of the teddy bear and what it reveals | Jon Mooallem

譯者: Marssi Draw 審譯者: Geoff Chen

So it was the fall of 1902,

1902 年秋天時，

and President Theodore Roosevelt

狄奧多．羅斯福總統

needed a little break from the White House,

想離開白宮去渡假，

so he took a train to Mississippi

因此他搭上火車前往密西西比州，

to do a little black bear hunting outside of a town

到城外去獵黑熊，

called Smedes.

就在史密德鎮。

The first day of the hunt, they didn't see a single bear,

打獵的第一天，他們一隻熊也沒看到，

so it was a big bummer for everyone,

大家都覺得很掃興，

but the second day, the dogs cornered one

但是第二天，

追逐好久之後，狗群圍住了一隻熊，

after a really long chase, but by that point,

the president had given up

但是那時總統已經放棄，

and gone back to camp for lunch,

回到帳篷去吃午餐了。

so his hunting guide cracked the animal

因此狩獵長用來福槍托

on the top of the head with the butt of his rifle,

往那隻熊的頭上猛力一擊，

and then tied it up to a tree

接著將牠綁在樹上，並開始吹號角，

and started tooting away on his bugle

to call Roosevelt back so he could have the honor

請羅斯福回來，

of shooting it.

享有槍殺牠的特權。

The bear was a female.

那是隻母熊。

It was dazed, injured,

牠頭暈眼花，遍體鱗傷，

severely underweight, a little mangy-looking,

十分瘦弱，看起來有點骯髒，

and when Roosevelt saw this animal

羅斯福一看到牠被綁在樹上，

tied up to the tree,

he just couldn't bring himself to fire at it.

就是無法鼓起勇氣對牠開槍。

He felt like that would go against his code

他覺得這麼做有違運動家精神。

as a sportsman.

A few days later, the scene was memorialized

幾天後，這個場景被畫在

in a political cartoon back in Washington.

華府的政治漫畫裡留念。

It was called "Drawing a Line in Mississippi,"

稱為「在密西西比州劃界」，

and it showed Roosevelt with his gun down and his arm out,

這幅畫展現了羅斯福 放下槍並伸出手的樣子，

sparing the bear's life,

留給熊一條活命。

and the bear was sitting on its hind legs

那隻熊坐在後腳上，

with these two big, frightened, wide eyes

有著圓滾滾的雙眼

and little ears pricked up at the top of its head.

和頭頂上小巧、豎立的雙耳。

It looked really helpless, like you just wanted to

看起來非常無助，

sweep it up into your arms

讓你想將牠抱在懷裡安慰牠。

and reassure it.

It wouldn't have looked familiar at the time,

當時那隻熊不太常見，

but if you go looking for the cartoon now,

但現在若是在漫畫裡找，

you recognize the animal right away:

你馬上就能認出這隻動物：

It's a teddy bear.

泰迪熊。

And this is how the teddy bear was born.

而這就是泰迪熊誕生的方式。

Essentially, toymakers took the bear from the cartoon,

基本上，玩具商從漫畫採用這隻熊，

turned it into a plush toy, and then named it

讓牠變成毛絨絨的玩具，

after President Roosevelt -- Teddy's bear.

並以羅斯福總統之名，稱它為「泰迪熊」。

And I do feel a little ridiculous

我覺得有點可笑，

that I'm up here on this stage

因為我站在這舞台上

and I'm choosing to use my time

把我的時間花在

to tell you about a 100-year-old story

告訴大家一個百年前的老故事，

about the invention of a squishy kid's toy,

關於一個軟綿綿童玩的誕生。

but I'd argue that the invention of the teddy bear,

但我認為泰迪熊發明的故事裡頭

inside that story is a more important story,

還有一個更重要的故事，

a story about how dramatically our ideas

一個我們的想法 能讓自然大幅改變的故事，

about nature can change,

and also about how, on the planet right now,

同樣地，如今在地球上

the stories that we tell

我們述說的故事也大幅改變了自然。

are dramatically changing nature.

Because think about the teddy bear.

因為你想想泰迪熊。

For us, in retrospect, it feels like an obvious fit,

試著回想，對我們來說 那是再自然不過的事了，

because bears are so cute and cuddly,

因為熊那麼可愛又討人喜歡，

and who wouldn't want to give one to their kids to play with,

誰不會想拿隻熊給孩子玩？

but the truth is that in 1902,

但事實是 1902 年時，

bears weren't cute and cuddly.

熊並不可愛也不討喜。

I mean, they looked the same,

牠們雖然長得一樣，

but no one thought of them that way.

但沒人會有那種感覺。

In 1902, bears were monsters.

1902 年時，熊是怪物。

Bears were something that frickin' terrified kids.

熊是會嚇死小孩的東西。

For generations at that point,

幾個世代以來，

the bear had been a shorthand for all the danger

熊一直是危險的象徵，

that people were encountering on the frontier,

大家會在荒郊野外碰到的那種，

and the federal government was actually

聯邦政府其實有計畫地消滅熊，

systematically exterminating bears

and lots of other predators too,

以及其他食肉動物，

like coyotes and wolves.

像是土狼和野狼。

These animals, they were being demonized.

這些動物都被妖魔化了。

They were called murderers

牠們被稱為兇手，

because they killed people's livestock.

因為牠們會殺害人類的牲畜。

One government biologist, he explained this

有位官方的生物學家說道，

war on animals like the bear by saying

這場對動物，像是對熊的戰爭，

that they no longer had a place

只需要透過說牠們在文明社會之中

in our advancing civilization,

已無容身之地，

and so we were just clearing them out of the way.

我們就能清光牠們。

In one 10-year period, close to half a million wolves

在十年之間，將近五十萬隻野狼被屠殺。

had been slaughtered.

The grizzly would soon be wiped out

95% 原生地的灰熊

from 95 percent of its original territory,

即將被一掃而空，

and whereas once there had been 30 million bison

然而，當地曾有 三千萬隻犎牛橫跨平原，

moving across the plains, and you would have

these stories of trains having to stop

因此你聽過一些故事

提到火車需暫停四、五個小時，

for four or five hours so that these thick,

讓這些洪流般的大批動物通過軌道，

living rivers of the animals could pour over the tracks,

now, by 1902, there were maybe less than 100 left in the wild.

到了 1902 年，留在原野上的 也許不到一百隻。

And so what I'm saying is, the teddy bear was born

我想表達的是，

泰迪熊在大滅絕時期誕生了，

into the middle of this great spasm of extermination,

and you can see it as a sign that

你可以將它視為徵兆，

maybe some people deep down

也許有些人的內心深處

were starting to feel conflicted about all that killing.

對那些殺戮行為已開始感到衝突。

America still hated the bear and feared it,

當時美國還是討厭熊、害怕熊，

but all of a sudden, America also wanted

但是一瞬間，

to give the bear a great big hug.

美國也想給熊一個大大的擁抱。

So this is something that I've been really curious about in the last few years.

近年來，我對這件事深感好奇。

How do we imagine animals,

我們對如何想像動物，

how do we think and feel about them,

我們如何看待、感受牠們，

and how do their reputations get written

以及牠們的名聲如何在我們的心中

and then rewritten in our minds?

被寫下，然後改寫？

We're here living in the eye of a great storm

我們正生活在滅絕的颱風眼之中，

of extinction where half the species on the planet

地球上，超過半數的物種

could be gone by the end of the century,

有可能在本世紀末就會消失，

and so why is it that we come to care about

為什麼我們在乎的是某些物種，

some of those species and not others?

而非其他的物種？

Well, there's a new field, a relatively new field

有一個在社會科學界較新的領域

of social science that started looking at

開始研究這些問題，

these questions and trying to unpack the powerful

並試著卸下我們對動物那強大

and sometimes pretty schizophrenic relationships

that we have to animals,

且時常頗為反覆無常的關係，

and I spent a lot of time looking through

我花很多時間翻閱他們的學術期刊，

their academic journals,

and all I can really say is that their findings

我能說的只有

are astonishingly wide-ranging.

他們的發現還真是廣泛的嚇人。

So some of my favorites include that

當中我最喜歡的包括

the more television a person watches in Upstate New York,

紐約上州的居民如果越常看電視，

the more he or she is afraid

就會越害怕被黑熊攻擊。

of being attacked by a black bear.

If you show a tiger to an American,

如果你讓美國人看老虎，

they're much more likely to assume that it's female

他們多半會認為那是母的，而非公的。

and not male.

In a study where a fake snake

一份研究指出，

如果路邊有假蛇和假烏龜，

and a fake turtle were put on the side of the road,

drivers hit the snake much more often than the turtle,

駕駛輾過蛇的機率大於烏龜，

and about three percent of drivers who hit the fake animals

大約有 3% 的駕駛

似乎是故意輾過假動物。

seemed to do it on purpose.

Women are more likely than men to get a

女性在浪上看到海豚時，

"magical feeling" when they see dolphins in the surf.

比男性更可能有「神奇的感覺」。

Sixty-eight percent of mothers with

68% 的媽媽

"high feelings of entitlement and self-esteem"

在買飼料時看到跳舞的貓咪，

identified with the dancing cats

會有「強烈自尊心和權利的感受」。

in a commercial for Purina. (Laughter)

Americans consider lobsters

美國人認為龍蝦比企鵝還重要，

more important than pigeons

but also much, much stupider.

但也認為龍蝦較遲鈍。

Wild turkeys are seen as only slightly more dangerous than sea otters,

野生火雞只比海獺還危險一點而已；

and pandas are twice as lovable as ladybugs.

熊貓可愛的程度比瓢蟲高兩倍。

So some of this is physical, right?

這和外表有點關係吧？

We tend to sympathize more with animals that look like us,

我們傾向較同情長得像人的動物，

and especially that resemble human babies,

尤其是長得像小嬰兒的動物，

so with big, forward-facing eyes

有較大的前視眼睛

and circular faces,

和圓圓的臉，

kind of a roly-poly posture.

圓滾滾的樣子。

This is why, if you get a Christmas card from, like,

這就是為什麼，如果你收到聖誕卡，

your great aunt in Minnesota,

像明尼蘇達州姨媽寄的，

there's usually a fuzzy penguin chick on it,

上面常會有毛絨絨的企鵝寶寶，

and not something like a Glacier Bay wolf spider.

而不是冰河灣的狼蛛在上面。

But it's not all physical, right?

但也不全是外表吧？

There's a cultural dimension to how we think about animals,

文化層面也影響我們怎麼看待動物，

and we're telling stories about these animals,

以及如何說這些動物的故事，

and like all stories,

像所有故事一樣，

they are shaped by the times and the places

我們述說動物的時間和地點

in which we're telling them.

也會改變牠們的形象。

So think about that moment

回想 1902 年的那一刻，

back in 1902 again where a ferocious bear

一隻兇猛的熊

became a teddy bear.

變成泰迪熊。

What was the context? Well, America was urbanizing.

背景是什麼？美國正在都市化階段。

For the first time, nearly a majority of people lived in cities,

首次，超過半數的人住在城市，

so there was a growing distance between us and nature.

因此我們和自然的距離越來越遠。

There was a safe space where we could

有個安全地帶讓我們能重新思考熊，

reconsider the bear and romanticize it.

並讓牠的形象變得浪漫。

Nature could only start to seem this pure and adorable

自然要開始變得如此純淨、討喜，

because we didn't have to be afraid of it anymore.

得要我們不再害怕自然才行。

And you can see that cycle playing out

你會看到這種循環不斷重覆上演，

again and again with all kinds of animals.

發生在各種動物身上。

It seems like we're always stuck between

似乎我們總是陷在

demonizing a species and wanting to wipe it out,

妖魔化物種、想要毀滅牠們，

and then when we get very close to doing that,

然後在我們快這麼做的時候，

empathizing with it as an underdog

就會同情牠們像隻敗犬，

and wanting to show it compassion.

想對牠們展現憐憫之情。

So we exert our power,

因此我們運用權力，

but then we're unsettled

但我們又因擁有 強大的力量而感到不安。

by how powerful we are.

So for example, this is one of

例如，這是小朋友寄給布希政府

probably thousands of letters and drawings

數千封信和畫之中的一件，

that kids sent to the Bush administration,

begging it to protect the polar bear

請求政府能依據 瀕危物種法案保護北極熊，

under the Endangered Species Act,

and these were sent back in the mid-2000s,

這些信在 2005 年左右被寄出，

when awareness of climate change was suddenly surging.

當時氣候變遷的意識突然高漲。

We kept seeing that image of a polar bear

我們不斷看到北極熊 被困在小浮冰上的圖像，

stranded on a little ice floe

looking really morose.

看起來鬱鬱寡歡。

I spent days looking through these files.

我花了幾天查閱這些資料，

I really love them. This one's my favorite.

非常喜愛，這是我最喜歡的一張。

If you can see, it's a polar bear that's drowning

你可以看到北極熊快淹死了，

and then it's also being eaten simultaneously

同時龍蝦和鯊魚正要將牠吃下肚。

by a lobster and a shark.

This one came from a kid named Fritz,

這張是法瑞茲小朋友寫的，

and he's actually got a solution to climate change.

他真的找到氣候變遷的解方。

He's got it all worked out to an ethanol-based solution.

他運用乙醇方案來解決一切。

He says, "I feel bad about the polar bears.

他說：「我覺得北極熊好可憐。

I like polar bears.

我喜歡北極熊。

Everyone can use corn juice for cars. From Fritz."

每個人都可以用玉米汁幫汽車加油。 法蘭茲敬上。」

So 200 years ago, you would have Arctic explorers

200 年前，我們有北極探險家

writing about polar bears leaping into their boats

會寫下北極熊跳到船上，

and trying to devour them,

試圖活吞他們的故事，

even if they lit the bear on fire,

即使放火燒熊也難保命，

but these kids don't see the polar bear that way,

但這些孩子不這樣看北極熊，

and actually they don't even see the polar bear

其實他們看待北極熊的方式

the way that I did back in the '80s.

甚至和我在 80 年代還小的時候不同。

I mean, we thought of these animals

我們認為這些動物

as mysterious and terrifying lords of the Arctic.

就像是北極圈裡謎樣又嚇人的領主。

But look now how quickly that climate change

但是現在氣候變遷

已飛快轉變這種動物 在我們心目中的形象。

has flipped the image of the animal in our minds.

It's gone from that bloodthirsty man-killer

北極熊從嗜血的殺人兇手

to this delicate, drowning victim,

到變成這種脆弱、快溺死的被害者，

and when you think about it, that's kind of

而當你認真思考那個故事的結局，

the conclusion to the story

that the teddy bear started telling back in 1902,

那個 1902 年開始傳說的泰迪熊故事，

because back then, America had more or less

那時候，美國已或多或少征服了那塊大陸。

conquered its share of the continent.

We were just getting around to

我們只是找時間去

polishing off these last wild predators.

快速處理最後一批野生食肉動物。

Now, society's reach has expanded

現在，社會已一路擴展到世界之巔，

all the way to the top of the world,

and it's made even these, the most remote,

甚至讓這些遠在天邊、

the most powerful bears on the planet,

世上最強壯的熊

seem like adorable and blameless victims.

都變成可愛又無辜的受害者。

But you know, there's also a postscript to the teddy bear story

其實泰迪熊故事還有後續發展，

that not a lot of people talk about.

但卻沒什麼人討論。

We're going to talk about it,

我們可以稍做討論，

because even though it didn't really take long

因為即使在 1902 年羅斯福打獵後不久，

after Roosevelt's hunt in 1902

for the toy to become a full-blown craze,

這玩具開始蔚為風潮，

most people figured it was a fad,

大多數人都把它看做是一時的流行，

it was a sort of silly political novelty item

只是某種愚蠢的政治噱頭，

and it would go away once the president left office,

總統卸任就會煙消雲散。

and so by 1909, when Roosevelt's successor,

因此羅斯福在 1909 年的接班人

William Howard Taft,

威廉．霍華德．塔虎脫

was getting ready to be inaugurated,

準備好要就職時，

the toy industry was on the hunt

玩具業等著搜尋

for the next big thing.

下一個大事件。

They didn't do too well.

結果成效不彰。

That January, Taft was the guest of honor

那年一月，塔虎脫是 亞特蘭大一場宴會的座上佳賓，

at a banquet in Atlanta,

and for days in advance,

在會前幾天，

the big news was the menu.

菜單是新聞重點。

They were going to be serving him

他們打算招待塔虎脫

a Southern specialty, a delicacy, really,

一道南方菜，非常美味，

called possum and taters.

稱為「負鼠佐香薯」。

So you would have a whole opossum

所以他會拿到一隻完整的烤負鼠，

roasted on a bed of sweet potatoes,

躺在蕃薯上，

and then sometimes they'd leave

有時會留著負鼠的大尾巴，

the big tail on it like a big, meaty noodle.

就像是很粗的肉麵條。

The one brought to Taft's table

送到塔虎脫桌上的那隻大約 18 磅。

weighed 18 pounds.

So after dinner, the orchestra started to play,

晚餐後，管弦樂團開始演奏，

and the guests burst into song,

賓客被音樂環繞，

and all of a sudden, Taft was surprised

突然間，塔虎脫收到驚喜，

with the presentation of a gift

當地支持群眾送上一份禮物，

from a group of local supporters,

and this was a stuffed opossum toy,

是個負鼠填充玩具，

all beady-eyed and bald-eared,

有著圓滾的雙眼和光禿的耳朵，

and it was a new product they were putting forward

他們把這項新產品拿來做為

to be the William Taft presidency's answer

威廉．塔虎脫總統的象徵，

to Teddy Roosevelt's teddy bear.

就像是羅斯福的泰迪熊。

They were calling it the "billy possum."

大家把它叫做「比利鼠」。

Within 24 hours, the Georgia Billy Possum Company

不到 24 小時，喬治亞的比利鼠公司

was up and running, brokering deals

火速成立、開工、在全國舖貨，

for these things nationwide,

and the Los Angeles Times announced,

《洛杉磯時報》十分篤定地報導：

very confidently, "The teddy bear

「泰迪熊已被拋在腦後，

has been relegated to a seat in the rear,

and for four years, possibly eight,

未來四年或八年，

the children of the United States

美國孩童

will play with billy possum."

都玩比利鼠了。」

So from that point, there was a fit of opossum fever.

從那時起，開始掀起一鼓負鼠狂潮。

There were billy possum postcards, billy possum pins,

市面上有比利鼠明信片、比利鼠胸針、

billy possum pitchers for your cream at coffee time.

喝咖啡時用的奶油比利鼠罐。

There were smaller billy possums on a stick

還有在棒子上的小比利鼠，

that kids could wave around like flags.

讓孩子能夠像旗子般揮舞。

But even with all this marketing,

但即使有這一大堆銷售方式，

the life of the billy possum

比利鼠的壽命卻短得可憐。

turned out to be just pathetically brief.

The toy was an absolute flop,

這個玩具大慘敗，

and it was almost completely forgotten

年底時幾乎就被世人徹底遺忘，

by the end of the year,

and what that means is that the billy possum

也就是說比利鼠根本沒有活到聖誕假期，

didn't even make it to Christmastime,

which when you think about it is

可以算是玩具界的特殊慘案。

a special sort of tragedy for a toy.

So we can explain that failure two ways.

我們可以用兩種方式解釋這場失敗。

The first, well, it's pretty obvious.

第一，顯而易見，

I'm going to go ahead and say it out loud anyway:

我打算在這裡大聲說出來：

Opossums are hideous. (Laughter)

負鼠超醜。（笑聲）

But maybe more importantly is that

但也許更重要的是

the story of the billy possum was all wrong,

比利鼠的故事錯得一塌糊塗，

especially compared

尤其是把它拿來和泰迪熊的故事相比。

to the backstory of the teddy bear.

Think about it: for most of human's evolutionary history,

你想想：人類演化歷史中，

what's made bears impressive to us

大多數讓我們對熊留下深刻印象的原因，

has been their complete independence from us.

早已完全與我們無關。

It's that they live these parallel lives

牠們以威脅和敵手的樣貌

as menaces and competitors.

和我們同時存活在世上。

By the time Roosevelt went hunting in Mississippi,

羅斯福在密西西比打獵時，

that stature was being crushed,

那形象已破滅，

and the animal that he had roped to a tree

那隻被他綁在樹上的動物

really was a symbol for all bears.

其實就是所有熊的象徵。

Whether those animals lived or died now

現在那些動物是死是活，

was entirely up to the compassion

全看人類要用 同情心或是冷漠感來決定。

or the indifference of people.

That said something really ominous

那說明了熊的未來其實不太樂觀，

about the future of bears,

but it also said something very unsettling about who we'd become,

但也說明了我們變得多麼讓人不安，

if the survival of even an animal like that

即使是那種動物的生死

was up to us now.

都操在我們的手中。

So now, a century later, if you're at all

一個世紀之後的今天，

如果你非常注意環境中發生的事，

paying attention to what's happening in the environment,

you feel that discomfort so much more intensely.

那種讓人不安的感受會更加強烈。

We're living now in an age of what scientists

我們當前住的這個世代，

have started to call "conservation reliance,"

是科學家稱為「依賴保護」的時代，

and what that term means is that we've disrupted

這個詞代表了我們已太過破壞自然，

so much that nature can't possibly stand on its own anymore,

以致於自然無法再自立更生，

and most endangered species

最瀕危的物種若要生存，

are only going to survive

if we stay out there in the landscape

人類就得離開這塊土地，

riggging the world around them in their favor.

以對自然有利的方式來安頓世界。

So we've gone hands-on

而我們已著手實踐，

and we can't ever take our hands off,

不能再袖手旁觀、置之不理，

and that's a hell of a lot of work.

那可是一大堆棘手的工作。

Right now, we're training condors

目前，我們正在訓練兀鷹

not to perch on power lines.

不要棲息在電線上。

We teach whooping cranes to migrate south for the winter

我們訓練鶴跟在輕型飛機後面

behind little ultra-light airplanes.

遷徒到南方過冬。

We're out there feeding plague vaccine to ferrets.

我們為雪貂施打鼠疫疫苗。

We monitor pygmy rabbits with drones.

我們用無人機監控侏兔。

So we've gone from annihilating species

如此一來，我們就從毀滅物種

to micromanaging the survival of a lot of species

到無限期管理眾多物種生存的大小事，

indefinitely, and which ones?

那是哪些物種呢？

Well, the ones that we've told

是那些我們曾述說動人故事的物種，

compelling stories about,

the ones we've decided ought to stick around.

是那些我們決定要在身邊守護的物種。

The line between conservation and domestication

保護與馴養之間的界線

is blurred.

已變得模糊。

So what I've been saying is that the stories

我不斷提到的是

that we tell about wild animals are so subjective

我們述說關於野生動物的故事都很主觀，

they can be irrational

故事可能很不合理、

or romanticized or sensationalized.

變得浪漫或聳動。

Sometimes they just have nothing to do with the facts.

有時候他們對事實無能為力。

But in a world of conservation reliance,

但是在依賴保護的世界裡，

those stories have very real consequences,

那些故事有非常真實的結局，

because now, how we feel about an animal

因為現在，我們對動物的感受 會影響牠是否能生存，

affects its survival

more than anything that you read about

影響甚至大於任何你在 生態學課本裡讀過的東西。

in ecology textbooks.

Storytelling matters now.

現在說故事很重要。

Emotion matters.

情感很重要。

Our imagination has become an ecological force.

我們的想像變成一種生態力量。

And so maybe the teddy bear worked in part

也許泰迪熊起了點作用，

because the legend of Roosevelt

因為羅斯福和那隻熊

and that bear in Mississippi

在密西西比的傳奇故事

was kind of like an allegory

就像是種寓意，

of this great responsibility that society

象徵當時社會正要開始肩負重任。

was just beginning to face up to back then.

It would be another 71 years

在《瀕危物種法案》通過之前，

before the Endangered Species Act was passed,

也許還要再過 71 年，

but really, here's its whole ethos

但事實上，整個社會的氛圍

boiled down into something like a scene

已轉變成某種像是

you'd see in a stained glass window.

你從彩色玻璃窗看進去的景象。

The bear is a helpless victim tied to a tree,

熊是被綁在樹上的無辜受害者，

and the president of the United States

而美國總統

decided to show it some mercy.

決定要表現憐憫之心。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

[Illustrations by Wendy MacNaughton]

【插畫：溫蒂．麥克諾頓 (Wendy Macnaughton) 】