David Holt: The stories and song of Appalachia

譯者: Pin-hsien Kuo 審譯者: Ariel Hsu

This is Aunt Zip from Sodom, North Carolina.

這是北卡羅萊納州，所多瑪鎮的Zip阿姨。

She was 105 years old when I took this picture.

我照這照片時她已經105歲了。

She was always saying things that made me stop and think, like,

她總說些讓我駐足深思的話，比如

"Time may be a great healer, but it ain't no beauty specialist."

「時間或許是很好的治療者，但在美容方面它可就不怎麼行了。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

She said, "Be good to your friends.

她說：「善待你的朋友。

Why, without them, you'd be a total stranger."

為什麼呢？因為沒了他們，你會是個全然的陌生人。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

This is one of her songs.

這是她的一首歌。

Let's see if we can get into the flow here and all do this one together.

我們來試試能不能跟著這首歌的韻律一起來個大合唱。

And I'm going to have Michael Manring play bass with me.

我請了麥可-曼凌幫我彈貝斯。

Give him a big old hand.

給他來點掌聲。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

One, two, three, four.

1、2、3、4

(Music)

（音樂）

Well, my true love's a black-eyed daisy;

喔，我的真愛是那黑眼珠的雛菊；

if I don't see her, I go crazy.

如果我見不到她，我會瘋狂。

My true love lives up the river;

我的真愛就住在河的上游；

a few more jumps and I'll be with her.

只要再跳躍幾下我便可以在她身旁。

Hey, hey, black-eyed Susie! Hey, hey, black-eyed Susie!

嘿、嘿、黑眼珠的蘇西！嘿、嘿、黑眼珠的蘇西！

Hey, hey black-eyed Susie, hey.

嘿、嘿、黑眼珠的蘇西！嘿！

Now you've got to picture Aunt Zip at 105 years old in Sodom, North Carolina.

現在你們看到的是Zip阿姨105歲的照片，在北卡羅萊納州的索多瑪。

I'd go up and learn these old songs from her.

我從她那裡學到這些老歌

She couldn't sing much, couldn't play anymore.

她不太能唱，也不能再演奏了。

And I'd pull her out on the front porch.

我會拉她去門廊。

Down below, there was her grandson plowing the tobacco field with a mule.

下面可以看見她的孫子，拉著騾，耕著菸草農田。

A double outhouse over here on the side.

邊邊可以看見兩棟庫房。

And we'd sing this old song. She didn't have a whole lot of energy,

而我們會唱這首老歌。她已經沒多少力氣了，

so I'd sing, "Hey, hey!" and she'd just answer back with, "Black-eyed Susie."

所以我唱「嘿、嘿」後，她應和：「黑眼珠的蘇西」

Oh, hey, hey, black-eyed Susie! Hey, hey, black-eyed Susie!

嘿、嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！嘿、嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！

Hey, hey, black-eyed Susie, hey.

嘿、嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！嘿

Well, she and I went blackberry picking.

喔，我和她一起去摘黑莓

She got mad; I took a licking.

她生氣了，我舔了一下。

Ducks on the millpond, geese in the ocean,

鴨子在貯水池中，鵝在海洋中，

Devil in the pretty girl when she takes a notion.

漂亮的姑娘冒出個奇怪的念頭萌生小小的邪惡。

Hey, hey, black-eyed Susie! Hey, hey, black-eyed Susie!

嘿、嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！嘿、嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！

Hey, hey black-eyed Susie, hey.

嘿、嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！嘿

Let's have the banjo.

讓我們來段班鳩琴吧。

Well, we'll get married next Thanksgiving.

噢，我們就要結婚了，就在下一個感恩節。

I'll lay around; she'll make a living.

我將享清閒，她去顧生計。

She'll cook blackjacks, I'll cook gravy;

她調雞尾酒，我煮肉醬；

we'll have chicken someday, maybe.

說不定那天還會吃頓雞肉大餐。

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, black-eyed Susie, hey!

嘿、嘿、嘿、嘿。嘿、嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！嘿！

One more time now.

再來一次。

Oh, hey, hey, black-eyed Susie! Hey, hey, black-eyed Susie!

喔，嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！嘿、嘿、嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！

Hey, hey, black-eyed Susie, hey.

嘿、嘿，黑眼珠的蘇西！嘿！

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you, Michael.

謝謝你，麥可。

This is Ralph Stanley.

這是拉爾夫-史坦利。

When I was going to college at University of California

我讀的是聖芭芭拉的加州大學

at Santa Barbara in the College of Creative Studies,

他們的創意研究學院，

taking majors in biology and art, he came to the campus.

我主修生物和藝術，他那時來到校園。

This was in 1968, I guess it was.

是1968年的事了，我想應該是

And he played his bluegrass style of music,

他演奏了藍草風格的音樂

but near the end of the concert, he played the old timing style of banjo picking

但是到音樂會快結束時，他演奏了一首風格古老的班鳩琴樂曲

that came from Africa, along with the banjo.

那首歌伴隨著班鳩琴，一同從非洲來

It's called claw-hammer style, that he had learned from his mother and grandmother.

那首歌可以被稱作羊角錘風格，是他從他母親和外婆那裡學來的。

I fell in love with that.

我一聽就愛上了。

I went up to him and said, how can I learn that?

我去問他，要怎樣才能學到？

He said, well, you can go back to Clinch Mountain, where I'm from,

他說，你可以去克林齊山，我就是來自那裡的，

or Asheville or Mount Airy, North Carolina --

或者去北卡羅萊納州的艾西維爾市或芒特艾里

some place that has a lot of music.

那些有很多音樂的地方

Because there's a lot of old people still living that play that old style.

因為那裡還有很多老人在以過去的生活方式生活。

So I went back that very summer.

於是緊接著的那個夏天我就去了那裡。

I just fell in love with the culture and the people.

我馬上愛上了那裡的人和文化。

And you know, I came back to school, I finished my degrees

你知道，我回到學校，完成了我的學業

and told my parents I wanted to be a banjo player.

然後我和我父母說我要當班鳩琴演奏家

You can imagine how excited they were.

你可以想像我父母有多激動。

So I thought I would just like to show you some of the pictures

我想讓你們看些照片

I've taken of some of my mentors.

拍的都是開導我的老師。

Just a few of them, but maybe you'll get just a little hint of some of these folks.

只是其中一些而已，但可能你會從民謠中得到些許的暗示。

And play a little banjo. Let's do a little medley.

再讓我彈一段班鳩琴。把它集成一段曲子。

(Music)

（音樂）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Those last few pictures were of Ray Hicks, who just passed away last year.

最後幾張照片是去年剛去世的雷-西克斯

He was one of the great American folk tale-tellers.

他曾是美國一位數一數二的民間故事講述者。

The Old Jack tales that he had learned -- he talked like this,

他在講老傑克的故事時，是這樣講的，

you could hardly understand him. But it was really wonderful.

你很難聽懂他在說什麼。但其實那真的很棒。

And he lived in that house that his great-grandfather had built.

他住的房子是他曾祖父建造的

No running water, no electricity. A wonderful, wonderful guy.

沒有自來水，沒有電。他人非常好。

And you can look at more pictures.

你們可以看到更多的圖片

I've actually got a website that's got a bunch of photos that I've done

實際上我有一個網站，上面貼了很多我拍的照片

of some of the other folks I didn't get a chance to show you.

其中有一些是我沒機會讓你們看到的人。

This instrument came up in those pictures. It's called the mouth bow.

你看到的這個樂器叫做口弓。

It is definitely the first stringed instrument ever in the world,

它絕對是世界上第一件弦樂。

and still played in the Southern mountains.

南部山上的人依然用它來演奏。

Now, the old timers didn't take a fancy guitar string and make anything like this.

現在，老前輩們不彈奏酷炫的吉他，而是做一些這樣的事。

They would just take a stick and a catgut and string it up.

他們只是用一根樹枝，用貓腸線把它們拴在一起拉緊。

It was hard on the cats, but it made a great little instrument.

這可能對貓來說不是好事，但卻製造出了一件不錯的小樂器。

It sounds something like this.

它聽起來是這樣的。

(Music)

（音樂）

Well, have you heard the many stories told by young and old with joy

你是否聽過讓很多全家老小都喜歡的故事

about the many deeds of daring that were done by the Johnson boys?

關於約翰森男孩的冒險故事？

You take Kate, I'll take Sal; we'll both have a Johnson gal.

你找凱特，我找山姆；我們都將有個約翰森女孩相伴。

You take Kate, I'll take Sal; we'll both have a Johnson gal.

你找凱特，我找山姆；我們都將有個約翰森女孩相伴。

Now, they were scouts in the rebels' army,

現在他們是反叛軍中的童子軍，

they were known both far and wide.

走到哪裡都有人知道他們

When the Yankees saw them coming, they'd lay down their guns and hide.

當人們看見他們走來，都要放下並藏起槍

You take Kate, I'll take Sal; we'll both have a Johnson gal.

你找凱特，我找山姆；我們都將有個約翰森女孩相伴。

You take Kate, I'll take Sal; we'll both have a Johnson gal.

你找凱特，我找山姆；我們都將有個約翰森女孩相伴。

Ain't that a sound?

不賴吧？

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Well, it was 1954, I guess it was.

我想大概是1954年吧

We were driving in the car outside of Gatesville, Texas,

我們在德州的凱茲韋爾郊外開著車，

where I grew up in the early part of my life.

我在那裡度過了我的童年。

Outside of Gatesville we were coming back from the grocery store.

在蓋茲韋爾的郊外之前，我們去了一家雜貨店。

My mom was driving; my brother and I were in the back seat.

我媽媽在開車；我和我哥哥做在後座。

We were really mad at my mom. We looked out the window.

我們當時都在生媽媽的氣。我們向窗外張望。

We were surrounded by thousands of acres of cotton fields.

周圍是數千英畝的棉花田。

You see, we'd just been to the grocery store,

我們剛剛才去過雜貨店，

and my mom refused to buy us the jar of Ovaltine

而我媽媽拒絕給我們買一罐

that had the coupon for the Captain Midnight decoder ring in it.

內附午夜船長解碼戒指的阿華田。

And, buddy, that made us mad.

各位，這氣壞了我們。

Well, my mom didn't put up with much either, and she was driving, and she said,

而媽媽也在生我們的氣，她一邊開車一邊說，

"You boys! You think you can have anything you want.

「你們！你們以為你們想要什麼就有什麼。

You don't know how hard it is to earn money. Your dad works so hard.

你們不知道賺錢有多難，你們爸爸工作那麼辛苦。

You think money grows on trees. You've never worked a day in your lives.

你以為錢是從樹上長出來的嗎？你們活到今天還沒工作過。

You boys make me so mad. You're going to get a job this summer."

你們實在是太讓我生氣了，你們這個夏天一定要有份工作。」

She pulled the car over; she said, "Get out of the car."

她把車靠邊一停，說：「都給我下車。」

My brother and I stepped out of the car.

我和哥哥下了車。

We were standing on the edge of thousands of acres of cotton.

我們站在幾千英畝的棉花田邊。

There were about a hundred black folks out there picking.

大概有一百個黑人農民在採棉花。

My mom grabbed us by the shoulders. She marched us out in the field.

我媽媽抓著我們的肩膀，把我們拉進棉花田裡。

She went up to the foreman; she said,

她走到一個工頭面前，說

"I've got these two little boys never worked a day in their lives."

「我這裡有兩個從來沒工作過的小子。」

Of course, we were just eight and 10.

那還用說，當時我們一個才八歲，一個十歲。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

She said, "Would you put them to work?"

她說：「你可以給他們點工作嗎？」

Well, that must have seemed like a funny idea to that foreman:

嗯，這想必對那工頭來說是個好笑的點子：

put these two middle-class little white boys out in a cotton field

把這兩個中產階級的白人小孩丟進棉花田裡工作。

in August in Texas -- it's hot.

那是八月的德州--天氣酷熱。

So he gave us each a cotton sack,

於是他給了我們一人一個空麻袋，

about 10 feet long, about that big around, and we started picking.

大概有10英呎長，那麼大一個袋子，然後我們就開始摘棉花。

Now, cotton is soft but the outside of the plant is just full of stickers.

要知道，棉花雖然是很軟，但是它的外部長滿了尖刺

And if you don't know what you're doing,

如果你不知道自己在做什麼

your hands are bleeding in no time.

你的手會馬上流血。

And my brother and I started to pick it,

我和哥哥開始採棉花

and our hands were startin' to bleed, and then -- "Mom!"

我們的手開始流血，接著就是--「媽媽！」

And Mom was just sitting by the car like this.

而媽媽就坐在車子旁邊，像這樣

She wasn't going to give up.

她可沒打算就此饒了我們。

Well, the foreman could see he was in over his head, I guess.

我猜，工頭可以看到他是在他的頭上

He kind of just snuck up behind us and he sang out in a low voice.

他悄悄的走到我們身後開始用低沈的嗓音唱，

He just sang: "Well, there's a long white robe in heaven, I know.

「喔！有一條又寬又長的袍子在天上，我知道的。

Don't want it to leave me behind.

不要離我而去。

Well, there's a long white robe in heaven, I know.

「喔！有一條又寬又長的袍子在天上，我知道的。

Don't want it to leave me behind."

不要離我而去。」

And from all around as people started singing and answering back, he sang:

這時周圍的人也開始唱了起來，回應著他，他唱：

"Good news, good news: Chariot's coming.

「好消息，好消息，馬車要來了」

Good news: Chariot's coming.

「好消息，馬車要來了」

Good news: Chariot's coming.

「好消息，馬車要來了」

And I don't want it to leave me behind."

而我不想被它落在後面

Now, my brother and I had never heard anything like that

我和哥哥的一生中從來沒聽過這樣的音樂

in our whole lives. It was so beautiful.

太美了。

We sat there all day picking cotton, without complaining,

我們在那裡摘了一天的棉花，沒有抱怨，

without crying, while they sang things like:

也沒哭。一邊聽著他們唱一些：

"Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you moan" and "Wade in the water,"

「噢，瑪麗，你別哭，別呻吟」和「跟誰涉水」

and "I done done," "This little light of mine."

和「我做完了」、「這是我的一點光」

Finally, by the end of the day,

最後，一天結束時，

we'd each picked about a quarter of a bag of cotton.

我們每個人摘了大概四分之一個麻袋的棉花。

But the foreman was kind enough to give us each a check for a dollar,

但是工頭人很好，給了我們一人一張一美元的支票，

but my mother would never let us cash it.

但我媽媽一直都不讓我們兌現。

I'm 57; still have the check.

我57歲了，還是拿著那支票。

Now, my mother hoped that we learned from that the value of hard work.

我媽媽那時希望我們能從中學到辛苦勞動的價值。

But if you have children, you know it doesn't often work that way.

但如果你有孩子的話，你就知道這方法不一定管用。

No, we learned something else.

沒錯，我們就學到了其他事情。

The first thing I learned that day

我那天學到的第一件事就是

was that I never ever wanted to work that hard again.

我再也不要做那麼辛苦的工作了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And pretty much never did.

的確也真的沒有。

But I also learned that some people in this world

但我同時也學到了，在這世上，有些人

do have to work that hard every day, and that was an eye-opener.

確實需要每天這麼辛苦的工作，這真的是讓我大開眼界。

And I also learned that a great song can make hard work go a little easier.

同時我也學到了，一首好聽的歌，可以讓艱難的工作變得容易許多。

And it also can bring the group together in a way that nothing else can.

而且它還可以聚合人心，是其他管道無法達成的。

Now, I was just a little eight-year-old boy that day

我當時只不過是個八歲大的小男孩，

when my mama put me out of the car in that hot Texas cotton field.

我媽媽把我們扔在德州炎熱的棉花田裡那天，

I wasn't even aware of music -- not even aware of it.

我甚至沒注意過音樂這東西--根本毫無頭緒。

But that day in the cotton field out there picking,

但那天在棉花田中採棉花時

when those people started singing,

人們開始唱歌後

I realized I was in the very heart of real music,

我發現我的心與真正的音樂相通

and that's where I've wanted to be ever since.

而我想那就是我從此嚮往的

Try this old song with me. I sing:

跟我一起唱這首老歌。我唱：

Well, there's a long white robe in heaven, I know.

喔，有一條又寬又長的袍子在天上，我知道的

You sing: Don't want it to leave me behind.

換你們：不要離我而去。

Well, there's a long white robe in heaven, I know.

喔，有一條又寬又長的袍子在天上，我知道的

Don't want it to leave me behind.

不要離我而去。

Good news, good news: Chariot's coming.

好消息，好消息：馬車要來了。

Good news: Chariot's coming.

好消息：馬車要來了

Good news: Chariot's coming.

好消息：馬車要來了

And I don't want it to leave me --

不要離我而去。

It's been a while since you guys have been picking your last bale of cotton, isn't it?

你們也好久沒有摘棉花了，不是嗎？

Let's try it one more time.

讓我們再來一次。

There's a starry crown in heaven, I know.

喔，有一條又寬又長的袍子在天上，我知道的

Don't want it to leave me behind.

不要離我而去。

There's a starry crown in heaven, I know.

喔，有一條又寬又長的袍子在天上，我知道的

Don't want it to leave me behind.

不要離我而去。

Good news: Chariot's coming.

好消息：馬車要來了

Good news: Chariot's coming.

好消息：馬車要來了

Good news: Chariot's coming.

好消息：馬車要來了

And I don't want it to leave me behind.

不要離我而去。

It was a few years ago, but I sort of remembered this story,

就在這幾年，我回想起了這件事，

and I told it at a concert.

我在演奏會上也說過。

My mom was in the audience.

我媽媽當時在觀眾席中，

After the -- she was glad to have a story about herself, of course,

在結束後--她當然很高興有一個故事是關於她的，

but after the concert she came up and she said,

但是演奏會結束後，她過來跟我說，

"David, I've got to tell you something.

大衛，我得告訴你一件事，

I set that whole thing up.

那整件事是我一手安排的。

I set it up with the foreman. I set it up with the owner of the land.

我跟工頭說好，跟地主講好。

I just wanted you boys to learn the value of hard work.

我只是想讓你們這兩個孩子學到辛苦工作的價值。

I didn't know it was going to make you fall in love with music though."

我不知道這會讓你從此愛上音樂。

Let's try. Good news: Chariot's coming.

我們再試一次。好消息：馬車要來了

Good news: Chariot's coming.

好消息：馬車要來了

Good news: Chariot's coming.

好消息：馬車要來了

And I don't want it to leave me behind.

不要離我而去。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Well, this is the steel guitar. It's an American-made instrument.

好，這是鋼吉他。美國製造的樂器。

It was originally made by the Dopyera Brothers,

這最初是由多普耶拉兄弟製造的，

who later on made the Dobro, which is a wood-bodied instrument

他們之後製作了多不羅，一種木製的樂器

with a metal cone for -- where the sound comes from.

有一個金屬錐，聲音就是從那裡發出的。

It's usually played flat on your lap.

通常是把它平放在腿上彈奏。

It was made to play Hawaiian music back in the 1920s,

它是1920年代發明的，專門用來彈奏夏威夷音樂。

before they had electric guitars, trying to make a loud guitar.

當時還沒有電吉他，為了製作更響亮的吉他，所以有了這發明。

And then African-American folks figured out you could take a broken bottle neck,

非洲裔美國人發現你可以用破了的玻璃瓶瓶頸，

just like that -- a nice Merlot works very well.

就像這樣，一個不錯的墨爾樂紅酒瓶也很好用。

That wine we had yesterday would have been perfect.

要是有我們昨天喝的那瓶葡萄酒就完美了。

Break it off, put it on your finger, and slide into the notes.

把酒瓶打破，放在手指上，然後滑動出各個音符。

This instrument pretty much saved my life.

這個樂器可以說救了我一命。

Fifteen years ago, 14 years ago, I guess, this year,

15年前，還是14年前，

my wife and I lost our daughter, Sarah Jane, in a car accident,

我和妻子因為車禍，失去了我們的女兒，莎拉珍，

and it was the most -- it almost took me out -- it almost took me out of this world.

那件事讓我幾乎要終結自己的生命。

And I think I learned a lot about what happiness was

我想，我之所以知道幸福是什麼

by going through such unbelievable grief,

是因為我經歷了這些難以置信的悲痛，

just standing on the edge of that abyss and just wanting to jump in.

就站在懸崖邊，只想跳下去。

I had to make lists of reasons to stay alive.

我必須列出活下去的理由。

I had to sit down and make lists, because I was ready to go;

我必須坐下來，把理由都寫下來，因為我真的想要離開；

I was ready to check out of this world.

我已經準備好要辭別這個世界了。

And you know, at the top of the list, of course,

當然，列出來的第一個是

were Jenny, and my son, Zeb, my parents -- I didn't want to hurt them.

珍妮，和我兒子瑟卜，還有我的父母，我不想傷害他們。

But then, when I thought about it beyond that,

之後，我想到別的，

it was very simple things.

都是一些非常小的事情。

I didn't care about -- I had a radio show,

我不在乎我的廣播，

I have a radio show on public radio, "Riverwalk,"

我在公共頻道裡有個廣播節目，「河邊漫步」，

I didn't care about that. I didn't care about awards or money or anything.

那時我已經不在乎這個了。我不在乎錢、獎勵或其他東西。

Nothing. Nothing.

對什麼都不關心了。什麼都不關心。

On the list it would be stuff like,

單子上列的是這些，

seeing the daffodils bloom in the spring, the smell of new-mown hay,

看春天盛開的水仙花，剛割完的稻草味道，

catching a wave and bodysurfing, the touch of a baby's hand,

在浪潮上衝個浪，摸摸嬰兒雙手，

the sound of Doc Watson playing the guitar,

聽聽杜沃森彈的吉他，

listening to old records of Muddy Waters and Uncle Dave Macon.

聽馬蒂沃特斯和戴夫梅肯大叔的舊唱片。

And for me, the sound of a steel guitar,

對我來說，鋼吉他的聲音，

because one of my parents' neighbors just gave me one of these things.

因為我父母的鄰居給了我一台這樣的吉他。

And I would sit around with it, and I didn't know how to play it,

我坐在吉他旁邊，但是不會彈，

but I would just play stuff as sad as I could play.

我只是盡可能的彈出最悲傷的調子。

And it was the only instrument that, of all the ones that I play,

那是唯一一件，在我彈的所有樂器中，

that would really make that connection.

能夠讓我找到共鳴的。

This is a song that came out of that.

這首歌就是那時候創造的。

(Music)

（音樂）

Well, I hear you're having trouble.

我聽說你遇到了麻煩。

Lord, I hate to hear that news.

上帝阿，我討厭聽到那樣的消息。

If you want to talk about it, you know, I will listen to you through.

如果你想跟我聊聊，你知道，我會一直聽你講。

Words no longer say it; let me tell you what I always do.

語言已經無法表達了；我來告訴你我都怎麼做的。

I just break off another bottleneck and play these steel guitar blues.

我會打破另一個瓶頸，並彈些鋼吉他藍調。

People say, "Oh, snap out of it!"

人們都說：「喔！振作起來吧！」

Oh yeah, that's easier said than done.

是阿，說的比做的簡單。

While you can hardly move, they're running around having all kinds of fun.

你寸步難行時，他們卻到處享受快樂時光。

Sometimes I think it's better just to sink way down in your funky mood

有時我想，或許沉浸在自己的悲傷中更好

'til you can rise up humming these steel guitar blues.

直到你能夠振作起來，唱唱這些鋼吉他藍調。

Now, you can try to keep it all inside

你可以什麼都藏心裡

with drink and drugs and cigarettes,

吸菸、喝酒、吸毒，

but you know that's not going to get you where you want to get.

但是你知道這些並不會讓你到達你想要的目的地。

But I got some medicine here that just might shake things loose.

我得到了一些解藥可以讓事情變得不一樣。

Call me in the morning after a dose of these steel guitar blues.

早起來拜訪我吧，我剛剛彈奏了一曲鋼吉他藍調。

Open up now.

敞開心扉吧。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Oh, I think I've got time to tell you about this. My dad was an inventor.

我想我可以告訴你們，我爸爸是個發明家。

We moved to California when Sputnik went up, in 1957.

在1957年為衛星剛剛發射的時候，我們搬到了加州。

And he was working on gyroscopes;

他那時正在研究迴轉儀；

he has a number of patents for that kind of thing.

他在那方面有很多專利。

And we moved across the street from Michael and John Whitney.

我們搬到麥可和約翰‧惠尼的對面。

They were about my age.

他們和我年紀相仿。

John went on, and Michael did too,

約翰和麥可都成了

to become some of the inventors of computer animation.

電腦動畫的發明家之一。

Michael's dad was working on something called the computer.

麥可的父親那時在做一種叫電腦的東西。

This was 1957, I was a little 10-year-old kid;

那是1957年，我還是個10歲小男孩；

I didn't know what that was. But he took me down to see one,

我不知道那是什麼東西。他把我帶過去看，

you know, what they were making. It was like a library,

你知道，他們在做的東西就像一個圖書館，

just full of vacuum tubes as far as you could see,

所見之處都填滿了真空管。

just floors and floors of these things,

一層接著一層都是這些東西，

and one of the engineers said,

一個工程師說，

some day you're going to be able to put this thing in your pocket.

總有一天你能把這些龐然大物裝到你的口袋裡。

I thought, damn, those are going to be some big pants!

我暗自想，天啊，那褲子鐵定要很大才行！

(Laughter)

（笑）

So that Christmas -- maybe I've got time for this --

那年聖誕節，我應該有時間講這些，

that Christmas I got the Mister Wizard Fun-o-Rama chemistry set.

那個聖誕節我得到了巫師的找樂子化學實驗組。

Well, I wanted to be an inventor just like my dad; so did Michael.

我想成為像我父親和邊克爾那樣的發明家。

His great-granddad had been Eli Whitney,

他的曾祖父是伊利‧惠尼，

the inventor of the cotton gin.

是扎棉機的發明者。

So we looked in that --

所以我們認為，

this was a commercial chemistry set.

這是一個商業化的化學實驗組。

It had three chemicals we were really surprised to see:

我們看到三種化學物質，感到詫異：

sulfur, potassium nitrate and charcoal.

硫磺、硝酸鉀和木炭。

Man, we were only 10, but we knew that made gunpowder.

老天，我們才10歲，但我們知道那能製造火藥。

We made up a little batch and we put it on the driveway

我們做出了一小批，把它放到車道上

and we threw a match and phew, it flared up. Ah, it was great.

我們摩擦火柴，點燃，一下子就爆炸了，酷極了。

Well, obviously the next thing to do was build a cannon.

顯然，接下來要做的事就是製作大砲。

So we went over into Michael's garage --

所以我們到了麥可家的車庫

his dad had all kinds of stuff, and we put a pipe in the vice there,

他爸爸有各種東西，我們放了一個管子在裡面，

and screwed a cap on the end of the pipe,

在管子的一端拴上蓋子，

drilled a hole in the back of the pipe, took some of our firecrackers,

在管子後端鑽個小洞，拿來我們的炮竹，

pulled out the fuses, tied them together, put them in the back there,

扯出裡面的導火線，把這些導火線扎在一起，放在管子的後部，

and -- down in that hole -- and then stuffed some of our gunpowder

插到管子裡，然後填一些我們做的火藥

down that pipe and put three ball bearings on the top, in the garage.

到管子裡，在上面放上三個球軸承，在車庫裡。

(Laughter)

（笑）

We weren't stupid: we put up a sheet of plywood about five feet in front of it.

我們不傻：我們再他前面五英呎的地方放了張膠合板。

We stood back, we lit that thing,

我們退後，點燃了那個東西，

and they flew out of there -- they went through that plywood like it was paper.

軸承衝出來了，衝過那些膠合版就跟衝破紙張一樣。

Through the garage.

衝出了車庫。

Two of them landed in the side door of his new Citroen.

有兩個衝進了麥可爸爸新雪鐵龍的側門。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

We tore everything down and buried it in his backyard.

我們拆除整個東西，通通埋在後院裡。

That was Pacific Palisades; it probably is still there, back there.

那是質地溫和的花崗岩；可能東西都還在那裡，後院裡。

Well, my brother heard that we had made gunpowder.

我哥哥聽說我們做了火藥。

He and his buddies, they were older, and they were pretty mean.

他和他的夥伴，他們年齡都比較大，都很對我們很壞。

They said they were going to beat us up

說要教訓我們。

if we didn't make some gunpowder for them.

如果我們不給他們製作火藥的話。

We said, well, what are you going to do with it?

我們就說，好哇，你們要火藥幹嘛？

They said, we're going to melt it down and make rocket fuel.

他們說，我們要把火藥融化了做成火箭燃料。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Sure. We'll make you a big batch.

沒問題，我們會給你們做一大批。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So we made them a big batch, and it was in my --

所以我們真的給他們做了很多，那時

now, we'd just moved here. We'd just moved to California.

我們剛搬到那裡，加州。

Mom had redone the kitchen; Mom was gone that day. We had a pie tin.

媽媽剛重新裝修了廚房；那天媽媽不再家。我們有個做派的烤盤。

It became Chris Berquist's job to do the melting down.

克里斯‧貝基 負責熔東西。

Michael and I were standing way at the side of the kitchen.

我和麥可遠遠站在廚房邊。

He said, "Yeah, hey, it's melting. Yeah, the sulfur's melting.

克里斯‧貝基說，「好耶，看，它在融化。好耶，硫磺在融化。

No problem. Yeah, you know."

搞定了，好耶！」

It just flared up, and he turned around, and he looked like this.

它忽然爆炸了，克里斯轉過來，他看起來就像這樣。

No hair, no eyelashes, no nothing.

沒頭髮，沒睫毛，什麼都沒了。

There were big welts all over my mom's kitchen cabinet;

媽媽的櫥櫃上到處都是噴濺的痕跡；♫

the air was the just full of black smoke.

空氣充滿了黑煙。

She came home, she took that chemistry set away, and we never saw it again.

她回到家，沒收了化學實驗組，我們再也沒見過它了。

But we thought of it often, because every time she'd cook tuna surprise

但我們經常想到它，因為每次媽媽煮鮪魚

it made -- tasted faintly of gunpowder.

很奇怪，吃起來總有股淡淡的火藥味。

So I like to invent things too,

所以我也愛發明東西。

and I think I'll close out my set with something I invented a good while back.

我想，作為結尾我要穿上我前一陣子發明的衣服。

When drum machines were new, I got to thinking,

鼓還很新奇時，我就在想，

why couldn't you take the oldest form of music, the hambone rhythms,

為什麼我們不能用最古老的音樂形式，說唱樂的旋律，

and combine it with the newest technology?

和最現代的技術結合起來？

I call this Thunderwear.

我稱它為雷裝。

At that time, drum triggers were new.

那時，鼓觸發器還很新奇。

And so I put them all together and sewed 12 of them in this suit.

而我把它們放在一起，縫進衣服裡面，總共12件。

I showed you some of the hambone rhythms yesterday;

我昨天給你們表演了一些說唱節奏的音樂；

I'm going to be doing some of the same ones.

我現在要來點同樣的。

I have a trigger here, trigger here, here, here. Right there.

我這裡有個觸發器，這裡也有，這裡，這裡，那裡。

It's going to really hurt if I don't take that off. Okay.

這個我要是沒拿起來會痛死，好了。

Now, the drum triggers go out my tail here, into the drum machine,

現在我把鼓觸發器像尾巴一樣穿出去，放進鼓機器裡，

and they can make various sounds, like drums.

它們能發出各種聲音，譬如鼓聲。

So let me put them all together. And also, I can change the sounds

讓我把它們放在一起。同樣，我也能

by stepping on this pedal right here, and --

藉由踩這邊的踏板改變聲音，並且

let me just close out here by doing you a little

讓我把那邊關上，給你們演奏

hambone solo or something like this.

一些說唱獨奏之類的曲子。

Thank you, folks.

謝謝你們。

(Applause)

（掌聲）