Why Don’t Vampires Cast Reflections? | Eric Nuzum | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Ruan Xiu Ze 阮修泽

We're here today to hear compelling ideas,

我們今天來此是要聆聽 科學和醫學領域中

new innovations and thinking in science and medicine.

引人入勝的點子、創新，和思維，

And innovative solutions to our most vexing problems in society.

以及有什麼創新方法可以解決 社會上最棘手的問題。

So they said to me,

所以他們跟我說：

"Eric, do you have anything that you can add

「艾瑞克，你還有什麼可以納入

to this compelling list of stories and ideas?

這張引人入勝的故事和點子的清單？

Something you can talk about here on the TED stage?"

你可以在 TED 舞台上談的主題？」

And I said, "Of course I do."

我說：「當然有。」

And the question I want to explore with you today is:

我今天我想和各位 一起探討的問題是：

Why don’t vampires cast reflections in mirrors?

為什麼吸血鬼在鏡子裡沒有倒影？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So, you've probably seen this before in movies.

各位可能在電影中看過這個特性。

The humans are suspicious of the new dark stranger,

人類對一位新來的 黑暗陌生人抱持懷疑，

and they band together in this moment of confrontation,

在對峙的時刻，人類團結起來，

and they open up a mirror in front of them and bam --

他們拿出一面鏡子，突然——

there’s no reflection there.

鏡子上沒有倒影。

這讓人類肯定了這位新來的 黑暗陌生人實際上就是

Proving to the humans that the new dark stranger is, in fact,

a vampire.

吸血鬼。

That's right.

沒錯。

So where did this start?

那麼這是從哪裡開始的？ 這是怎麼發生的？

How did this happen?

This idea that you could hold a mirror up to an undead creature

用鏡子照一下不死生物就可以知道 它是吸血鬼的概念是打哪來的？

and learn that they are a vampire?

Well, we're going to find that out.

嗯，我們要來找出答案。

The thing you have to keep in mind is,

各位要記住一點，

as we look through the history of vampires,

在我們探討吸血鬼的歷史時， 別忘了它們會隨時間改變。

that they change over time.

Every culture in history has had a variation on a vampire.

歷史上的每個文化 都有不同版本的吸血鬼。

Every single one.

每個都有。

Very few of them use --

很少有吸血鬼會使用——

Are you laughing at some of these illustrations?

各位是在笑某張插圖嗎？也許是。

Maybe you are.

I did sneak one in there.

我確實偷偷放了一張進去。

So they don't always call them vampires.

吸血鬼不見得都被稱為吸血鬼。

But every culture has a version of a supernatural creature

但是，每個文化都有某種版本的超自然生物

who comes back from the dead and gains power

是死而復生的，

且靠過狩獵活人來獲得力量。

by preying on the living.

Our version of the vampire really came about in the 16th century.

我們這版本的吸血鬼 出現於十六世紀。

It was a way to conveniently explain

創造出來的目的是為了方便解釋

some misunderstandings about death and dying.

對於死亡和死去的一些誤解。

Some sketchy activity happens in the village.

村莊裡發生了一些可疑的活動。

Someone gets an idea, "Hey, let's dig up Wolfgang."

某人突然冒出一個想法： 「嘿，咱們把沃夫岡挖出來。」

And they opened his coffin,

他們打開他的棺材，

and they find that his hair and his fingernails and his teeth

他們發現他的頭髮、 他的指甲，和他的牙齒

have all seemed to grow since he died.

和他死時相比似乎都還在成長。

And they see some fluid around his mouth which they mistakenly think is blood.

他們在他的嘴角看到 一些液體，誤認為是血。

Proof that Wolfgang is a vampire.

這就是沃夫岡是吸血鬼的證據。

But this is actually what happens to a body when it's decomposing.

但屍體分解時本來就會 發生這種狀況。

Not that they're undead.

不是死者沒有死。

Our understanding of vampires really exploded,

在十八世紀，我們對吸血鬼的了解

or our lexicon for vampires really exploded in the 18th century

或是說我們形容 吸血鬼的語彙迅速擴展，

after a rabies outbreak in Hungary and Romania.

因為狂犬病在匈牙利 和羅馬尼亞爆發。

Now, the thing to remember is that when a human contracts rabies,

要知道，

當人感染到狂犬病時，要好幾週之後

it can take a couple weeks before symptoms start to manifest.

症狀才會開始出現。

So some really common vampire characteristics,

因此，一些很常見的吸血鬼特徵

like an avoidance of bright lights

比如避開亮光、

or strong smells like garlic,

強烈的氣味如大蒜味、

an aversion to water and suddenly aggressive behavior

對水的厭惡，

和突然的攻擊性行為，

are not signs of the undead.

並非不死生物的徵兆。

They are signs of rabies.

而是狂犬病的徵兆。

But back then, they couldn't put those things together.

但當時的人無法將這些 連結起來，他們不認為

They didn't think that the neighbor who's acting funny now,

鄰居現在出現奇怪的行為

是因為兩週前浣熊咬了他們，

it wasn't because of the raccoon that bit them two weeks ago.

有更合邏輯的解釋，那就是：

It's because now a much more logical explanation is that they are, in fact,

這些鄰居其實是吸血鬼。

a vampire.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So most of our ideas of vampires that we all think of

所以我們大家對吸血鬼的 想法多半來自電影。

came about in the movies.

Count Dracula and Sherlock Holmes

德古拉伯爵和夏洛克‧福爾摩斯

have been in a decades-long battle

數十年來一直在爭奪

to be the most depicted fictional character in film.

最多電影描繪的虛構角色， 每幾年輸贏就會輪轉一次。

It goes back and forth every couple of years.

But when we think of the vampire in film,

但談到電影中的吸血鬼時，

there are some things that are quite iconic to us,

有些東西對我們來說很有代表性， 比如《穆瑙之吸血鬼》，對吧？

like "Nosferatu," right?

Here's a fun fact for you about "Nosferatu."

說個《穆瑙之吸血鬼》的趣聞。

Outside of that, most people get something wrong,

題外話，大多數人都會弄錯一件事， 他們以為這是第一部吸血鬼電影。

they think it's the first vampire movie.

It wasn't, but it was the first one that was anything like approaching a hit.

並不是，但它是第一部 接近大成功的吸血鬼電影。

The fun fact I want to share with you

我想跟大家分享的趣聞

is that every copy of "Nosferatu" that any of us have ever seen

就是大家看過的《穆瑙之吸血鬼》

is an illegal bootleg.

通通都是非法盜版。

Bram Stoker’s widow,

布拉姆‧斯托克的寡婦

sued the filmmakers

控告製片方侵犯版權。

for copyright infringement.

She was worried that "Nosferatu"

她擔心《穆瑙之吸血鬼》 可能會對舞台劇《吸血鬼》

was going to cut into the quite lucrative royalties

from the stage version of "Dracula"

可觀版稅收入產生負面的影響，

that was being performed in the UK and the US.

該舞台劇當時正在英國和美國演出。

She won that lawsuit,

她贏了訴訟，

and in her settlement,

她的和解條件包括要銷毀 該電影的每一份拷貝。

she demanded that every copy of the film be destroyed.

Most people, when they think of vampires,

談到吸血鬼，大部分人會想到

think of the 1931 Tod Browning classic

陶德‧布朗寧的 1931 年經典作品，

starring Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula.

由貝拉‧盧戈西飾演德古拉伯爵。

You almost can't overstate how huge a movie this was.

這部電影可說是非常重大。

It not only really established vampire movies,

它不僅真正奠定了 吸血鬼電影的基礎，

it started a vampire movie trend that lasted for over two decades.

還促成了接下來二十年的 吸血鬼電影潮流。

It was the first mainstream hit that was a horror film.

這是第一次有恐怖片 能成為主流熱賣電影。

它為恐怖電影自成 一個類別奠定了基礎，

It really established horror as a genre in film

and set up expectations for, like, even “Frankenstein,”

甚至為比如同年後期推出的 《科學怪人》設下了期望。

that came later that same year.

Since this whole craze of vampires really started with Dracula,

從《吸血鬼》帶起了 吸血鬼狂熱之後，

we've had so many,

已經出現了多達 數百種版本的吸血鬼。

hundreds of variations on the vampire.

出現過武士吸血鬼，

We have had samurai vampire,

we have had plumber vampires,

出現過水電工吸血鬼，

we have had vampire babies, we have had stripper vampires.

出現過吸血鬼寶寶、脫衣舞吸血鬼。

We've had a vampire movie about every member of Dracula's extended family.

甚至還有電影在講 德古拉大家庭的各個成員：

Son of Dracula, daughter of Dracula, father of Dracula, bride of Dracula.

德古拉的兒子、德古拉的女兒、 德古拉的父親、德古拉的新娘。

We've even had Dracula's dog in "Zoltan, Hound of Dracula."

甚至在《德古拉的獵犬佐爾坦》 裡面還有德古拉的狗。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

There is one definitive thing I can tell you about vampire movies,

於吸血鬼電影，有一點 我可以很肯定地告訴各位，

and that is, vampire movies suck.

那就是：吸血鬼電影 很爛（和「吸」同字）。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And I'm not being metaphorical here.

我不是在隱喻。

Vampire movies are not good movies.

吸血鬼電影不是好電影。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So why is this?

為什麼？

Why is it that these movies don't really last very long?

為什麼這些電影通常不持久？

It's because we keep changing our idea of what terrifies us

那是因為我們不斷改變我們對於恐怖

and what scares us.

以及害怕的想法。

You know, speaking of things in common,

說到共同點，

there's one thing that vampire movies do not have in common.

有一個共同點， 是吸血鬼電影都沒有的。

Does anyone want to guess what vampire movies do not have in common?

有人想猜猜看吸血鬼電影 都沒有的共同點是什麼嗎？

Vampires.

是吸血鬼。

It became such a hot trend for vampire movies

吸血鬼電影成為一種熱潮，

that people would slip the word vampire into the title,

以致於片名會納入吸血鬼三個字，

even though there wasn't a vampire in the movie.

即使片中根本沒有吸血鬼。

這種例子就有好幾個。

There's multiple ones of these.

The the most notorious of these was the 1952 stinker

其中最惡名昭著的是 1952 年的爛片

called "My Son the Vampire,"

《我的兒子是吸血鬼》，

which did star a late-career Bela Lugosi.

演員的確包括晚年的貝拉‧盧戈西，

But he didn't play a vampire,

但他飾演的不是吸血鬼，

and no one else in the cast did either.

其他人飾演的也都不是吸血鬼。

But they figured it would be a big trend and get in on a big trend and did this.

但他們認為這是重大潮流， 想搭上順風車所以就這麼做了。

So not even this happened.

所以，連這也沒有發生過。

I often get asked,

我經常被問，

我看過最棒的吸血鬼電影是哪一部，

what is the best vampire movie I've ever seen

and the worst vampire movie I've ever seen?

最糟的又是哪一部？

And it may surprise you to learn

各位可能會很驚訝，

that the best vampire movie I've ever seen,

我看過最棒的吸血鬼電影

and the worst vampire movie I've ever seen

以及最糟的吸血鬼電影

are the same film.

是同一部片。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter."

《耶穌基督吸血鬼獵人》。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So we know a lot about Jesus, right?

我們對耶穌的了解不少，對吧？

But somehow history has forgotten

但不知道怎麼的歷史已經忘了

that Jesus of Nazareth is apparently also a kung fu master.

拿撒勒人耶穌顯然也是個功夫大師。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And in this movie,

在這部電影中，

Jesus comes back to Earth to save the world and humanity

耶穌回到地球來拯救世界和人類，

from a vampire cult who has taken over.

對抗已經接管地球的吸血鬼組織。

And he uses his kung fu skills to do this.

他用自己的功夫技巧來對抗。

And one more little tidbit,

還有一個小趣聞，

"Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter" is also a musical.

《耶穌基督吸血鬼獵人》 也有音樂劇版本。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So, just for your enjoyment,

純粹娛樂一下大家，

I did bring along the trailer to this great piece of cinema.

我有把這部偉大電影的 預告片帶過來。

(Video) In the new millennium, vampires no longer fear the sun.

（影片）在新的千禧年， 吸血鬼不再害怕太陽。

Now they're going to learn

現在它們將要明白

it's time to fear the Son of God.

該是害怕上帝的兒子的時候了。

(Music) Live to fight.

（音樂）為了戰鬥而活。

Right to live.

活著的權力。

Live to fight.

為了戰鬥而活。

Right to live.

生活的權利。

Phil Caracas is "Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter."

菲爾‧卡拉加斯飾演 《耶穌基督吸血鬼獵人》。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

I am assuming that you're all in some state of stun after seeing that.

我猜各位看完這支預告後 都受到某種程度的驚嚇。

So let me give you a real quick recap of what you saw.

所以讓我快速幫大家 回顧一下剛剛看了什麼。

You saw Jesus riding a Vespa,

你們看到耶穌騎著偉士牌機車，

then you saw Jesus getting his hair cut,

然後你們看到耶穌把頭髮剪了，

then you saw Jesus kicking some holy ass.

然後你們看到耶穌用「神」技扁人。

And you also saw El Santo,

你們看到知名墨西哥面具 摔角手 El Santo（聖人），

the famed Mexican masked wrestler,

who is in the film and plays Jesus's sidekick.

他也參與了電影的演出， 飾演耶穌的跟班。

So I think we've established over the last several minutes

我想，在過去幾分鐘， 我們已經確定了

that there are many colors in the vampire rainbow.

吸血鬼真的是千奇百怪都有。

So let's not get too far away from our original point.

咱們不要離題太遠。

Why don't vampires,

為什麼在這些爛電影、爛小說、 爛故事中的吸血鬼全部都

in all these bad films, bad novels, bad stories,

why do none of them ever cast reflections in mirrors?

在鏡子中沒有倒影？

I mean, there are not one but several vampire tales

畢竟，不只一個， 而是好幾個吸血鬼故事中

where the vampires are deathly scared of uncooked rice.

都有非常害怕生米的吸血鬼。

Yeah, true.

是真的。

Count von Count from "Sesame Street"

比如《芝麻街》的康納特伯爵，

is based off of the idea that vampires are obsessed with counting.

背後的概念是，吸血鬼有算數強迫症。

And if they see sand or rice on the ground,

如果它們看到地上的沙子或米， 它們就得停下來，

they're going to have to stop and count every grain,

一粒一粒數，等太陽升起了它們就掛了。

the sun comes up and they die.

There you go.

就這樣，即興給大家添加這一小段。

A little improvised little bit for you right there.

So now see if I can find my place back into what I'm talking about.

現在看看我能不能拉回 我在談的主題。

So if you want the answers to why they don't cast reflections in mirrors,

如果你想知道為什麼 吸血鬼在鏡子中沒有倒影，

the answer is that there really isn't a clear answer to this question.

答案就是這個問題沒有明確的答案。

The consensus thinking is that when you hold --

有共識的看法是

人會拿著——這來自習慣 或某些人的做法——

it comes from the habit or something people did

of holding a mirror up to a deceased person's face

拿著鏡子放在死者的臉前面，

to see if the warm breath would fog up the mirror.

看看是否有溫熱的氣息 會讓鏡子起霧。

And if you think about it,

想想看，如果有人面朝下俯臥著，

if someone's lying prone and you hold a mirror up to their face,

你把鏡子放在他的臉前面， 你在鏡子中只會看到牆壁，

what you're going to see in that mirror is the wall.

You're not going to see them.

不會看到他們。

Therefore no reflection in the mirror.

因此鏡子中沒有倒影。

But I think there's actually a far simpler answer than this.

但我認為還有比這 更簡單許多的答案。

想想看吸血鬼隨時間如何改變，

When you look at vampires and how they change over time,

what was once terrifying and evil becomes dull and campy.

恐怖和邪惡變成了乏味與浮誇。

We change the vampire to match our time.

我們會改變吸血鬼， 以符合我們的時代。

In the 1890s, Bram Stoker's "Dracula," the novel,

1890 年代，

布拉姆‧斯托克的小說《德古拉》

was thought to be an allegory for the end of Victorian morals.

被認為是象徵維多利亞 道德終結的寓言。

In 1931, when "The Dracula," starring Bela Lugosi, came out,

1931 年，貝拉‧盧戈西 主演的《德古拉》推出，

the idea was that that represented a fear of eastern European immigration.

代表的是對東歐移民的恐懼。

In the 1950s, vampire films represented a fear of communism.

1950 年代，吸血鬼電影 代表對共產主義的恐懼。

We morph the vampire to match our time.

我們會改變吸血鬼的形象 來符合我們的時代。

So with this,

那麼，

why don't vampires cast reflections in mirrors?

為什麼吸血鬼在鏡子裡沒有倒影？

I think it's because the vampire is the reflection.

我認為，

原因是因為吸血鬼就是倒影，

They are a reflection of us.

它們就是我們的倒影。

They are a reflection of what we fear.

它們反映出我們害怕的是什麼。

They are a reflection of what we consider to be unchecked power

反映出我們認為什麼是 不用負責不受約束的權力。

without accountability.

They are our idea of the ultimate villain

它們是我們心目中的終極壞蛋，

that lies almost undetectable,

幾乎無法察覺，

until someone holds a mirror up to them.

直到有人拿鏡子去照它們。

All our talks today are themed around unity,

今天所有的演說， 都圍繞著團結這個主題，

the idea that when we come together, we are stronger.

團結力量大的想法。

I would argue that it's not only about the things that we share in common

我主張，團結不只 和我們共同的部分有關，

as far as beliefs and things that we believe,

比如信念和我們所相信的事情，

but also the darker things that unite us.

也有更黑暗的部分讓我們團結起來。

When I know what you fear,

當我知道你害怕什麼，

when I know what goes bump in your night,

當我知道你在夜裡驚恐背後的原因，

perhaps I can help protect you.

也許我可以協助保護你。

Perhaps we can help protect each other.

也許我們可以協助保護彼此。

There are so many vampires in the world today.

現今世界上有好多吸血鬼。

Vampire.

吸血鬼。

Vampire.

吸血鬼。

Vampire.

吸血鬼。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Vampire.

吸血鬼。

Vampire.

吸血鬼。

Vampire.

吸血鬼。

Vampire.

吸血鬼。

Vampire.

吸血鬼。

Vampire.

吸血鬼。

So when I originally put this talk together,

所以我最初為這場演說整理資料時，

there was a picture here.

這裡有一張照片。

And the TEDx people said,

TEDx 的人說：

"Maybe you should take that picture of a politician out."

「也許你應該把那張 政治人物的照片拿掉。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And I will leave it to you to figure out what politician's picture

就留給各位自己去猜想我可能

I just might have put in there in a list of vampires.

會把哪位政治人物的照片放在那裡。

Maybe better yet, I could ask

也許更好的問題是：

what politician wouldn't be put in a list of vampires?

哪位政治人物不該列入 這張吸血鬼的清單？

But I want to leave you with this.

但我想留給各位的是：

One thing that I see in so many vampire stories

我在這麼多吸血鬼故事中看到一個

is the thing that brings about the monster's decline

導致這種怪物衰退的原因，

is when the humans,

那就是人類，

who are weak and powerless individually,

單獨每個人都是脆弱又無能的，

come together and unite,

但當他們結合起來聯手，

and they prevail.

就會獲得勝利。

It's a concept called unity.

這個概念就叫做團結。

(Applause)

（掌聲）