How the worst moments in our lives make us who we are | Andrew Solomon

譯者: Adrienne Lin 審譯者: Marssi Draw

As a student of adversity,

總在逆境中學習的我，

I've been struck over the years by how some people with major challenges

過去幾年來

看到有些人

在面對極大的挑戰時

seem to draw strength from them.

卻能越挫越勇而感到很訝異。

And I've heard the popular wisdom that that has to do with finding meaning.

我也常聽到有人說

這跟找尋意義有關。

And for a long time,

很久以來，

I thought the meaning was out there,

我以為「意義」存在著，

some great truth waiting to be found.

就像某個待人尋找的真相。

But over time,

但經過一段時間，

I've come to feel that the truth is irrelevant.

我開始覺得真相並不重要。

We call it "finding meaning,"

我們稱之為找尋意義，

but we might better call it "forging meaning."

或許應該說是鑄造意義才對。

My last book was about how families manage to deal

我的新書是關於

家庭如何應對各種挑戰

with various kinds of challenging or unusual offspring.

或是子女異於常人。

我訪談的其中一位母親，

And one of the mothers I interviewed,

who had two children with multiple severe disabilities,

兩個孩子都有多重嚴重身障，

said to me, "People always give us these little sayings like,

她告訴我：「很多人都會告訴我們

一些俗語像是

『上帝絕不會給你超過你能負荷的試煉。』

'God doesn't give you any more than you can handle.'

But children like ours are not preordained as a gift.

但像我們家的孩子，

卻不註定是禮物。

They're a gift

他們之所以為禮物， 只因是我們所選擇的。」

because that's what we have chosen."

We make those choices all our lives.

我們一生都在做這種決定。

當我國小二年級時，

When I was in second grade,

Bobby Finkel had a birthday party

巴比．芬可辦了個慶生會，

並邀請全班參加，除了我以外。

and invited everyone in our class but me.

My mother assumed there had been some sort of error,

我媽以為或許是哪裡弄錯，

所以打給芬可的媽媽。

and she called Mrs. Finkel,

who said that Bobby didn't like me and didn't want me at his party.

她卻告訴我母親，巴比不喜歡我，

所以不要我參加他的慶生會。

當天，我媽帶我到動物園，

And that day, my mom took me to the zoo

還買了個熔岩巧克力聖代給我。

and out for a hot fudge sundae.

我國一時，

When I was in seventh grade,

one of the kids on my school bus nicknamed me "Percy,"

校車上有位同學

替我取了綽號「波西」

來取笑我的言行舉止。

as a shorthand for my demeanor.

有時候，他和同夥

And sometimes, he and his cohort would chant that provocation

會不斷覆頌這詞。

整段來回學校的公車上，

the entire school bus ride,

45 分鐘上學、45 分鐘放學的路上，

45 minutes up, 45 minutes back:

"Percy! Percy! Percy! Percy!"

不斷喊：「波西！波西！波西！」

When I was in eighth grade, our science teacher told us

我國二時，

科學課的老師說

that all male homosexuals develop fecal incontinence

所有男同性戀

都會大便失禁，

because of the trauma to their anal sphincter.

因為肛門括約肌的損傷。

我高中畢業以前

And I graduated high school without ever going to the cafeteria,

從沒去過學校餐廳，

where I would have sat with the girls and been laughed at for doing so,

因為如果去了， 我也會跟女生坐在一起，

然後因此被取笑；

or sat with the boys,

或是與男生坐一起，

and been laughed at for being a boy who should be sitting with the girls.

然後被取笑

我是個該跟女生坐一塊的男孩子。

我之所以安然度過童年，

I survived that childhood through a mix of avoidance and endurance.

都是透過逃避跟忍受。

What I didn't know then

我當時並不知道，

and do know now,

而現在已經知道的是，

逃避和忍受

is that avoidance and endurance can be the entryway to forging meaning.

會是鑄造意義的起點。

在你鑄造意義之後，

After you've forged meaning,

you need to incorporate that meaning into a new identity.

需要將這意義

融入到新的身分中。

You need to take the traumas

你需要讓經歷過的創傷

and make them part of who you've come to be,

成為自己的一部分，

and you need to fold the worst events of your life

並將人生中經歷過的最糟事件

化為勝利的故事，

into a narrative of triumph,

evincing a better self in response to things that hurt.

成為更好的自己，

以回應那些曾傷害你的事。

One of the other mothers I interviewed when I was working on my book

我寫書時所訪談過的

其中一位母親

had been raped as an adolescent,

在青少年時期曾被強暴，

還因此懷孕生子，

and had a child following that rape,

讓她必須從此拋棄原有的事業計劃，

which had thrown away her career plans

且重創了她所有的感情關係。

and damaged all of her emotional relationships.

當我認識她時，她 50 歲，

But when I met her, she was 50,

and I said to her,

我告訴她：

"Do you often think about the man who raped you?"

「妳會時常想起強暴妳的那個人嗎？」

她回答：「我以前想到他會滿腔怒火，

And she said, "I used to think about him with anger,

but now only with pity."

但現在只會可憐他。」

我本想，她說的可憐是覺得

And I thought she meant pity because he was so unevolved

強暴犯野蠻到會做出這種事。

as to have done this terrible thing.

And I said, "Pity?"

我問：「可憐？」

And she said, "Yes,

她說：「是啊，

因為他有這麼漂亮的女兒，

because he has a beautiful daughter and two beautiful grandchildren,

以及兩位可愛的小孫子，

卻一點都不知道，而我知道。

and he doesn't know that,

and I do.

So as it turns out,

所以我其實才是幸運的那一個。」

I'm the lucky one."

Some of our struggles are things we're born to:

我們面臨到的有些掙扎是天生的：

our gender, our sexuality, our race, our disability.

性別、性向、種族、殘疾。

And some are things that happen to us:

有些則是後天的：

being a political prisoner, being a rape victim,

政治犯、性侵被害者、

being a Katrina survivor.

卡崔娜颶風生還者。

Identity involves entering a community

建立身分需要進到一個社群，

to draw strength from that community,

從那社群中找尋力量，

and to give strength there, too.

並給予社群力量。

It involves substituting "and" for "but" --

需要用「而且」代替「但是」，

不要說：「我還活著，但我患有癌症。」

not "I am here but I have cancer,"

but rather, "I have cancer and I am here."

而是說：「我患有癌症，而我還活著。」

When we're ashamed, we can't tell our stories,

當我們羞愧的時候，

我們就無法述說自己的故事，

and stories are the foundation

而這些故事正是身分的基礎。

of identity.

Forge meaning,

鑄造意義、建立身分；

build identity.

鑄造意義、建立身分。

Forge meaning and build identity.

這變成了我的咒語。

That became my mantra.

鑄造意義是關於改變自己；

Forging meaning is about changing yourself.

Building identity is about changing the world.

建立身分是關於改變世界。

All of us with stigmatized identities face this question daily:

身分被汙名化的所有人

每天都面對這個問題：

為了融入社會

How much to accommodate society by constraining ourselves,

要限制自己多少？

and how much to break the limits

要打破多少限制

of what constitutes a valid life?

才能活出一個真正的人生？

鑄造意義和建立身分

Forging meaning and building identity

does not make what was wrong right.

並不會顛倒是非，

It only makes what was wrong precious.

只會讓錯變得更寶貴。

今年一月

In January of this year,

I went to Myanmar to interview political prisoners,

我到緬甸訪問政治犯。

and I was surprised to find them less bitter than I'd anticipated.

我感到意外的是，

他們比我想像中的還怡然自得。

Most of them had knowingly committed the offenses

大部分的政治犯 明知道他們所犯下的罪

that landed them in prison,

會讓他們進監獄，

and they had walked in with their heads held high,

但仍昂首地走進獄中，

and they walked out with their heads still held high,

多年後同樣

昂首地走出來。

many years later.

Dr. Ma Thida, a leading human rights activist

馬蒂妲醫生是人權積極分子，

她差點死在監獄中，

who had nearly died in prison

and had spent many years in solitary confinement,

且有好幾年都在單獨監禁中度過。

told me she was grateful to her jailers for the time she had had to think,

她告訴我，她很感激那些獄吏

讓她有時間思考、

for the wisdom she had gained,

讓她更有智慧、

for the chance to hone her meditation skills.

讓她有機會增進冥想技巧。

She had sought meaning

她也尋求這其中的意義，

and made her travail into a crucial identity.

並將痛苦轉為很重要的一種身分。

But if the people I met were less bitter than I'd anticipated

但如果我遇見的這些人

對於身在監獄

about being in prison,

比我想像中的更加泰然，

they were also less thrilled than I'd expected

那他們也比我預料中的更不期待

about the reform process going on in their country.

他們國家所經歷的改革過程。

Ma Thida said,

馬蒂妲說：

"We Burmese are noted for our tremendous grace under pressure,

「我們緬甸人很著名的是

面對壓力時所展現的無比優雅，

but we also have grievance under glamour."

但在我們的光環底下也有委屈。」

She said, "And the fact that there have been these shifts and changes

她說：「而事實是，

這些轉換和改變

doesn't erase the continuing problems in our society

並不會消弭我們社會中

一直存在的問題，

我們在監獄中的時候，

that we learned to see so well while we were in prison."

把這些問題都看清了。」

I understood her to be saying

我認為她的意思是

that concessions confer only a little humanity

在人性需要真正能顯現的地方，

妥協只賦予一丁點人性，

where full humanity is due;

that crumbs are not the same as a place at the table.

就像給人麵包屑，

不等於可以坐上桌一樣。

Which is to say,

也就是說，你可以鑄造意義

you can forge meaning and build identity

並建立身分，

and still be mad as hell.

同時還是滿腔怒火。

我沒有被強暴過，

I've never been raped,

and I've never been in anything remotely approaching a Burmese prison.

也從來沒有做過任何

會被關進緬甸監獄的事。

但身為同性戀的美國人，

But as a gay American,

我經歷過偏見甚至仇恨，

I've experienced prejudice and even hatred,

我鑄造過意義也建立過身分，

and I've forged meaning

and I've built identity,

which is a move I learned from people

這是我從那些

who had experienced far worse privation than I've ever known.

比我經歷過更糟糕處境的人身上 學到的對策。

我自己的青少年時期，

In my own adolescence,

I went to extreme lengths to try to be straight.

也曾為了改變性向而做出極端之舉。

我參與了一種

I enrolled myself in something called "sexual surrogacy therapy,"

性向替代療法。

in which people I was encouraged to call doctors

裡面有所謂的醫生，

需要做所謂的療法，

prescribed what I was encouraged to call exercises

對象是所謂的女性代理人，

with women I was encouraged to call surrogates,

who were not exactly prostitutes

這些代理人不算妓女，

但也不算是其他別的。

but who were also not exactly anything else.

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

My particular favorite was a blonde woman from the Deep South

我最喜歡的代理人

是一位來自南方腹地的金髮女人，

who eventually admitted to me that she was really a necrophiliac,

後來終於跟我承認

她有戀屍癖，

and had taken this job after she got in trouble

她之所以會做這份工作，

是因為她在停屍間遇到了點麻煩。

down at the morgue.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

These experiences eventually allowed me to have

這種經驗終究讓我

some happy physical relationships with women,

跟女性有種蠻愉悅的肢體關係，

for which I'm grateful.

對此我很感激，

但我陷入與自己的戰爭中，

But I was at war with myself,

and I dug terrible wounds into my own psyche.

也在我心底埋下很深的創傷。

We don't seek the painful experiences

我們並不找尋

會鑿開身分的痛苦經驗，

that hew our identities,

but we seek our identities

但我們尋找的身分

是尾隨痛苦經驗而來的。

in the wake of painful experiences.

We cannot bear a pointless torment,

我們無法承受無意義的折磨，

but we can endure great pain

但我們可以忍受極大的痛苦，

只要我們相信這是有意義的。

if we believe that it's purposeful.

Ease makes less of an impression on us

泰然在我們身上留下的印記

than struggle.

比掙扎更淺。

We could have been ourselves without our delights,

沒有喜樂我們還是可以做自己，

but not without the misfortunes that drive our search for meaning.

但沒了驅使我們

找尋意義的厄運那就做不到。

"Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities,"

「因此，我以軟弱為歡喜，」

聖保羅在哥林多後書裡寫道，

St. Paul wrote in Second Corinthians,

"for when I am weak, then I am strong."

「因為當我軟弱時，我就能變得剛強。」

1988 年，我去了莫斯科

In 1988, I went to Moscow to interview artists

訪問蘇聯地鐵的藝術家，

of the Soviet underground.

我期望他們的作品是

I expected their work to be dissident and political.

充滿異議及政治的。

But the radicalism in their work

但他們作品中的激進

actually lay in reinserting humanity into a society

其實是為了將人性重放回社會中，

that was annihilating humanity itself,

因為這個社會正在泯滅人性，

as, in some senses, Russian society is now doing again.

某些方面看來，

這樣的事在俄羅斯社會正在重演。

其中一位藝術家告訴我：

One of the artists I met said to me,

"We were in training to be not artists but angels."

「我們被訓練做天使，而非藝術家」。

1991 年，我又回去

In 1991, I went back to see the artists I'd been writing about,

見了這些我筆下的藝術家，

and I was with them during the putsch that ended the Soviet Union.

當推翻蘇聯的政變發生時，

我正與他們在一起，

And they were among the chief organizers of the resistance to that putsch.

他們也與推動政變的主要發起人一起。

And on the third day of the putsch,

政變第三天，

one of them suggested we walk up to Smolenskaya.

有人建議我們走到斯摩棱斯克。

And we went there,

我們到那時，

在路障前面找個位置待著。

and we arranged ourselves in front of one of the barricades,

一會兒過後，

and a little while later,

a column of tanks rolled up.

一排坦克車過來，

And the soldier on the front tank said,

第一輛坦克車上的士兵說：

「我們有令，

"We have unconditional orders to destroy this barricade.

不論如何都要破壞這些柵欄。

If you get out of the way, we don't need to hurt you.

如果你們現在讓開，

那我們就不會傷害你們。

但如果你們不走，

But if you won't move, we'll have no choice but to run you down."

我們只能將你們輾過去，別無他擇。」

The artist I was with said, "Give us just a minute.

我身邊的藝術家就說：

「給我們一分鐘，

就一分鐘，述說我們來此的原因。」

Give us just a minute to tell you why we're here."

And the soldier folded his arms,

那位士兵雙手在胸前交叉，

and the artist launched into a Jeffersonian panegyric to democracy

然後藝術家唸了傑佛遜的民主頌詞，

我們這些

such as those of us who live in a Jeffersonian democracy

住在傑佛遜式民主國家的人

would be hard-pressed to present.

都還唸不出來的頌詞。

And they went on and on,

他們一直說下去，

and the soldier watched.

而士兵也看著，

And then he sat there for a full minute after they were finished

他聽完後，

在那裡坐滿一分鐘，

就在雨中看著滿是泥濘的我們，

and looked at us, so bedraggled in the rain,

and said, "What you have said is true,

說道：

「你們說的是事實，

and we must bow to the will of the people.

而我們必須遵從人民的意志。

如果你們願意讓路讓我們掉頭，

If you'll clear enough space for us to turn around,

we'll go back the way we came."

那我們會照原路回去。」

他們也確實這麼做了。

And that's what they did.

Sometimes, forging meaning can give you the vocabulary you need

有時候，鑄造意義

可以給你所需的詞彙，

讓你爭取最終的自由。

to fight for your ultimate freedom.

Russia awakened me to the lemonade notion

俄羅斯讓我想到檸檬汁的概念，

that oppression breeds the power to oppose it.

壓榨只會助長反對勢力，

And I gradually understood that as the cornerstone of identity.

而我漸漸了解

這就是身分的基石。

身分將我從悲傷中拯救出來。

It took identity to rescue me from sadness.

The gay rights movement posits a world

在同志權運動所設想的世界裡，

in which my aberrances are a victory.

我的缺陷是種勝利。

Identity politics always works on two fronts:

身分政治總有兩個目標：

to give pride to people who have a given condition or characteristic,

讓有特殊情況或特徵的人自豪，

and to cause the outside world to treat such people

以及讓外面的世界

以更溫和的方式善待那些人。

more gently and more kindly.

這是兩種很不同的目標，

Those are two totally separate enterprises,

but progress in each sphere reverberates in the other.

但不管是哪一邊的進展，

都能在另一邊得到回響。

Identity politics can be narcissistic.

身分政治也可以是很自戀的。

People extol a difference only because it's theirs.

人們吹捧與眾不同， 只因為他們就是如此。

People narrow the world and function in discrete groups

人們窄化個別群體的世界及功能，

without empathy for one another.

對他人沒有同理心。

But properly understood and wisely practiced,

但只要充分理解

並聰明執行，

identity politics should expand our idea of what it is to be human.

身分政治應該可以

擴展我們對於人性的想法。

身分本身

Identity itself should be not a smug label or a gold medal,

不應該是沾沾自喜的標籤，

也不該是金牌，

but a revolution.

而是革命。

I would have had an easier life if I were straight,

如果我是異性戀，那我的生活會輕鬆些，

but I would not be me.

但那就不會是我了。

And I now like being myself better

現在，我更喜歡做自己，

than the idea of being someone else,

而非成為其他人的想法，

老實說那樣的人，

someone who, to be honest,

I have neither the option of being nor the ability fully to imagine.

我不只根本當不成，

也無法想像他們的生活。

But if you banish the dragons, you banish the heroes,

但如果你驅除惡龍，

你也驅逐了英雄，

and we become attached to the heroic strain in our own lives.

我們也會變得依賴

自己生命中英雄特質。

I've sometimes wondered

我有時候會想

whether I could have ceased to hate that part of myself

我有沒有辦法停止憎恨那部分的自己，

without gay pride's technicolor fiesta,

不需藉由同志自豪日的豔麗慶典，

of which this speech is one manifestation.

而這場演講就是其中一種表現方式。

(Laughter)

I used to think I would know myself to be mature

我之前認為自己真正成長的時候，

when I could simply be gay without emphasis.

就是我能不多強調 自己同志身分地當同志，

But the self-loathing of that period left a void,

但那時期的自我厭惡

留下了一塊空白，

and celebration needs to fill and overflow it,

需要歡樂的事來填滿它，

and even if I repay my private debt of melancholy,

但即使我還清自己的悲傷債，

there's still an outer world of homophobia

外面還是有恐懼同志的世界，

that it will take decades to address.

這需要幾十年的時間解決。

Someday, being gay will be a simple fact,

有一天，

當同性戀只會是個簡單的事實，

free of party hats and blame.

沒有區分與指責。

But not yet.

但這天還沒到。

我有個朋友覺得

A friend of mine who thought gay pride was getting very carried away with itself,

同志自豪日好像辦得越來越過火，

once suggested that we organize Gay Humility Week.

然後建議我們舉辦

同志謙遜週。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）（掌聲）

(Applause)

It's a great idea.

這想法很好，

(Laughter)

但時候未到。

But its time has not yet come.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And neutrality, which seems to lie halfway between despair and celebration,

還有中立性，

看似就位在絕望與慶祝中間，

is actually the endgame.

其實就是終局。

In 29 states in the US,

在美國的 29 州裡，

我可以被合法開除或拒絕居住，

I could legally be fired or denied housing

for being gay.

就因為我是同性戀。

In Russia, the anti-propaganda law

在俄羅斯，反宣傳法

導致有人在街頭被打死。

has led to people being beaten in the streets.

27 個非洲國家

Twenty-seven African countries have passed laws against sodomy.

通過了禁止肛交的法律。

而在奈及利亞，

And in Nigeria, gay people can legally be stoned to death,

同志可以合法地被投石致死，

and lynchings have become common.

私刑也越來越常見。

In Saudi Arabia recently,

最近在沙烏地阿拉伯，

two men who had been caught in carnal acts

兩名男子發生性行為被抓個正著，

were sentenced to 7,000 lashes each,

因此各被判七千下鞭刑，

導致他們現在終身殘廢。

and are now permanently disabled as a result.

So who can forge meaning

所以誰可以鑄造意義，

and build identity?

並建立身分？

同志權不只有婚姻權，

Gay rights are not primarily marriage rights,

and for the millions who live in unaccepting places

對於在其他不接受同性戀國家的上百萬人，

with no resources,

他們沒有資源，

dignity remains elusive.

也毫無尊嚴。

我很幸運可以鑄造意義

I am lucky to have forged meaning

並建立身分，

and built identity,

但這是很罕見的特權，

but that's still a rare privilege.

And gay people deserve more, collectively,

同性戀值得更多的公平正義，

than the crumbs of justice.

而不是那一丁點。

And yet,

但是這過程的每一步

every step forward is so sweet.

都很甜蜜。

In 2007, six years after we met,

2007 年，我們相識六年後，

my partner and I decided to get married.

我的伴侶和我

決定結婚。

Meeting John had been the discovery of great happiness

認識約翰，我找到了

幸福喜樂，

and also the elimination of great unhappiness.

也消除了很多過去的不幸福。

And sometimes, I was so occupied with the disappearance of all that pain,

有時候我腦子甚至會一直想著

那些痛苦的消失，

that I forgot about the joy,

而忘記那些喜樂，

因為那起初對我來說 並沒有那麼有印象。

which was at first the less remarkable part of it to me.

Marrying was a way to declare our love

結婚是種宣誓我們愛的方式，

as more a presence than an absence.

是證明其存在而非不存在。

Marriage soon led us to children,

婚姻很也快地帶來小孩子，

and that meant new meanings

這也就表示新的意義

and new identities -- ours and theirs.

與新的身分，我們和他們的身分。

I want my children to be happy,

我要我的孩子快快樂樂，

and I love them most achingly when they are sad.

他們難過時， 我對他們的愛也感受得到痛。

As a gay father, I can teach them to own what is wrong in their lives,

身為同性戀父親，我可以教他們

面對人生中出錯的部分，

but I believe that if I succeed in sheltering them from adversity,

但我相信，如果我成功地

保護他們免受逆境之苦，

I will have failed as a parent.

那我反而是個失敗的父親。

A Buddhist scholar I know once explained to me

我認識的一位佛教學者告訴我，

that Westerners mistakenly think

西方人錯誤地認為

極樂世界只會在

that nirvana is what arrives when all your woe is behind you,

你所有的悲傷都被拋在腦後時出現，

and you have only bliss to look forward to.

所以你只要期盼喜樂就好。

但他說那樣就不是極樂世界了，

But he said that would not be nirvana,

because your bliss in the present

因為你當下的喜樂

would always be shadowed by the joy from the past.

總會被過去喜樂的陰影所蒙蔽。

Nirvana, he said, is what you arrive at

他說，極樂世界是

when you have only bliss to look forward to

當你以找尋喜樂為目標，

且從看似悲傷的情況中

and find in what looked like sorrows the seedlings of your joy.

找到喜樂的種子。

And I sometimes wonder

我有時候會想

我能否在婚姻與兒女中找到滿足，

whether I could have found such fulfillment in marriage and children

if they'd come more readily,

如果他們能來得更加簡單，

如果我年輕時變成異性戀，

if I'd been straight in my youth or were young now,

或是現在還年輕，

in either of which cases this might be easier.

不管哪種情況，會不會變得更容易。

Perhaps I could.

或許會吧。

或許我所想像的那些複雜內容

Perhaps all the complex imagining I've done

could have been applied to other topics.

可以適用在其他話題上。

But if seeking meaning matters more than finding meaning,

但如果尋求意義

比找尋意義重要，

那問題不會是

the question is not whether I'd be happier for having been bullied,

我被欺負時會不會快樂一點，

but whether assigning meaning to those experiences

而是賦予意義

給那些經驗

has made me a better father.

能不能讓我成為更好的父親。

I tend to find the ecstasy hidden in ordinary joys,

我常在平凡的喜樂中 找到令人狂喜的事，

because I did not expect those joys to be ordinary to me.

因為我並沒有想到那些喜樂

對我來說是平凡的。

我知道很多異性戀的人

I know many heterosexuals who have equally happy marriages and families,

有很快樂的婚姻與家庭，

but gay marriage is so breathtakingly fresh,

但同性戀婚姻有如一股清流，

同性戀家庭也很新穎，

and gay families so exhilaratingly new,

and I found meaning in that surprise.

在這樣的驚喜中，我也找到意義。

In October, it was my 50th birthday,

我十月時度過 50 歲生日，

家人替我辦了慶生會。

and my family organized a party for me.

And in the middle of it, my son said to my husband

到一半的時候，

我兒子告訴我丈夫，

that he wanted to make a speech.

他想要發表演講，

約翰告訴他：

And John said,

"George, you can't make a speech. You're four."

「喬治，你不會演講啦，你才四歲。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"Only Grandpa and Uncle David and I are going to make speeches tonight."

「只有爺爺、大衛叔叔和我

今晚可以演講。」

But George insisted and insisted,

但喬治不斷堅持，

and finally, John took him up to the microphone,

約翰才終於把麥克風交給他，

and George said very loudly,

然後喬治很大聲地說：

"Ladies and gentlemen!

「各位先生女士，

May I have your attention, please?"

請大家注意我這邊。」

And everyone turned around, startled.

大家嚇了一跳，轉頭看他。

然後喬治說：

And George said,

"I'm glad it's daddy's birthday.

「我很高興今天是爸爸生日。

I'm glad we all get cake.

我很高興大家都有蛋糕。

爸爸，如果你現在還是小朋友，

And Daddy, if you were little,

那我願意當你的朋友。」

I'd be your friend."

(Gasp)

And I thought -- (Applause)

我想──謝謝。

Thank you.

我想我也要感謝

I thought that I was indebted even to Bobby Finkel,

巴比．芬可，

because all those earlier experiences

因為過去的那些經驗

were what had propelled me to this moment,

才讓我有現在這一刻，

and I was finally unconditionally grateful

我終於能夠無條件地感激現在的生活，

for a life I'd once have done anything to change.

這個我曾經願意不顧一切改變的人生。

The gay activist Harvey Milk was once asked by a younger gay man

同性戀積極分子哈維．米爾克

曾經被年輕的同性戀男子問，

what he could do to help the movement,

他能做什麼幫忙同性戀活動。

哈維．米爾克回答：

and Harvey Milk said,

"Go out and tell someone."

「走出去告訴別人吧。」

總是會有人

There's always somebody who wants to confiscate our humanity.

想要奪走我們的人性，

但也總是有重建人性的故事。

And there are always stories that restore it.

If we live out loud,

如果我們活得精彩，

we can trounce the hatred,

我們就能擊敗怨恨

並充實每個人的生活。

and expand everyone's lives.

Forge meaning.

鑄造意義；建立身分。

Build identity.

Forge meaning.

鑄造意義；

Build identity.

建立身分。

然後邀請全世界

And then invite the world to share your joy.

來分享你的喜悅。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

謝謝。（掌聲）

(Applause)

Thank you.

謝謝。（掌聲）

(Applause)

Thank you.

謝謝。（掌聲）

(Applause)