An ode to living on Earth | Oliver Jeffers

譯者: Regina Chu 審譯者: Yi-Ping Cho (Marssi)

[Oliver Jeffers]

［奧立佛．傑法］

[An ode to living on Earth]

［地球生活頌歌］

Hello.

哈囉。

I'm sure by the time I get to end of this sentence,

我敢保證，我還沒說完這句話，

given how I talk,

你們就會從我說話的方式，

you'll all have figured out that I'm from a place called

知道我來自一個稱為

planet Earth.

地球的地方。

Earth is pretty great.

地球很棒。

It's home to us.

它是我們的家。

And germs.

也是病菌的家。

Those [blip] take a back seat for the time being,

這些（消音聲）現在好像在幕後稱王，

because believe it or not, they're not the only thing going on.

不過信不信由你， 它們可不是唯一會惡搞的東西。

這個星球也是各種東西的家： 汽車、抱子甘藍；

This planet is also home to cars, brussels sprouts;

those weird fish things that have their own headlights;

有頭燈的怪魚；

藝術、火、

art, fire,

fire extinguishers,

滅火器、

laws, pigeons, bottles of beer,

法律、鴿子、一罐罐的啤酒、

lemons and light bulbs;

檸檬及燈泡；

Pinot noir and paracetamol;

黑皮諾和止痛藥；

ghosts, mosquitoes, flamingos, flowers,

鬼、蚊子、紅鶴、花、

the ukulele, elevators and cats,

烏克麗麗、電梯和貓、

cat videos, the internet;

貓影片、網路；

iron beams, buildings and batteries,

鋼樑、建築物和電池；

all ingenuity and bright ideas, all known life ...

所有的聰明才智及好主意； 所有已知的生命……

and a whole bunch of other stuff.

還有一大堆其他的東西。

Pretty much everything we know and ever heard of.

差不多是我們所知、所聞的一切。

It's my favorite place, actually.

這是我最喜歡的地方，真的。

This small orb,

這個小小的星球，

floating in a cold and lonely part of the cosmos.

在冷冷的宇宙一隅，孤獨的飄浮著。

Oh, the accent is from Belfast, by the way, which is ...

喔，這是貝爾法斯特口音，就是……

here.

這裡。

Roughly.

差不多。

You may think you know this planet Earth,

你大概認為你很了解這個地球，

as you're from here.

因為你就是這裡人。

But chances are,

但是很有可能

you probably haven't thought about the basics in a while.

你已經有好一陣子 沒有想過基本問題了。

I thought I knew it.

我以為我知道。

Thought I was an expert, even.

我甚至以為自己是個專家。

Until, that is, I had to explain the entire place,

直到，也就是，我得解釋這整個地方，

and how it's supposed to work,

及它是怎麼運作的，

to someone who had never been here before.

給從來沒造訪過此地的人聽。

Not what you might think,

不是你想的那樣，

although my dad always did say

雖然我老爸的確總是說，

the sure sign of intelligent life out there

外星人存在的確切證據，

is that they haven't bothered trying to contact us.

就是他們從來沒有費心 要跟我們聯絡。

It was actually my newborn son I was trying to explain things to.

其實是我的新生兒子， 我想解釋這一切給他聽。

We'd never been parents before,

我們從來沒當過父母，

my wife and I,

我的妻子和我，

and so treated him like most guests when he arrived home for the first time,

所以當他第一次回家， 我們就把他當客人般對待，

by giving him the tour.

帶他參觀房子。

This is where you live, son.

這是你住的地方，兒子。

This room is where we make food at.

這是我們煮飯的房間。

This is the room we keep our collection of chairs, and so on.

這是我們收集椅子的房間，諸如此類。

It's refreshing,

解釋我們的地球給零歲小孩聽 令人耳目一新。

explaining how our planet works to a zero-year-old.

But after the laughs,

但是歡笑之後，

and once the magnitude that new humans know absolutely nothing

一旦新生兒一無所知的重量 沉澱到你身上，

settles on you and how little you know either,

你發現自己所知甚少，

explaining the whole planet becomes quite intimidating.

要解釋這整個地球就變得很嚇人。

But I tried anyway.

但我還是嘗試了。

As I walked around those first few weeks,

在頭幾週帶他散步時，

narrating the world as I saw it,

我把我看到的世界陳述給他聽，

I began to take notes of the ridiculous things I was saying.

我開始記下我講過的荒謬事物。

The notes slowly morphed into a letter

這個筆記慢慢蛻變成一封信，

intended for my son once he learned to read.

要給我的兒子學會閱讀的時候看。

And that letter became a book

那封信變成一本書，

about the basic principles of what it is to be a human

寫著身為人類活在 21 世紀 地球的基本原則。

living on Earth in the 21st century.

Some things are really obvious.

有些事情實在很明顯。

Like, the planet is made of two parts:

像是，地球由兩個部分組成：

land and sea.

陸地及海洋。

Some less obvious until you think about them.

有些沒那麼明顯，直到你想到。

Like, time.

像是時間。

Things can sometimes move slowly here on Earth.

某些東西有時候在地球上移動緩慢。

But more often, they move quickly.

但是更多時候它們移動迅速。

So use your time well, it will be gone before you know it.

所以善用你的時間， 它會在你察覺之前就消失。

Or people.

或是人。

People come in all different shapes, sizes and colors.

人有不同的身形、尺寸及顏色。

We may all look different,

我們可能看起來不太一樣，

act different and sound different,

行為不太一樣，聽起來也不太一樣，

but don't be fooled.

但是不要被騙了。

We are all people.

我們都是人。

It doesn't skip me that of all the places in the universe,

我沒有忽略宇宙這麼廣大，

people only live on Earth,

人類只存在於地球上，

can only live on Earth.

只能存活在地球上這個事實。

And even then, only on some of the dry bits.

即使如此，也只能活在 幾塊乾燥的陸地上。

There's only a very small part of the surface of our planet

我們的星球上， 只有非常小部分的地表

that is actually habitable to human life,

可以讓人類居住，

and squeezed in here is where all of us live.

擠在這裡，是我們所有人生存的地方。

It's easy to forget when you're up close to the dirt,

我們很容易忘記， 當你這麼靠近塵土 、

the rocks, the foliage, the concrete of our lands,

岩石、樹葉、堅硬的水泥地，

just how limited the room for maneuvering is.

我們能操縱的空間有多小。

From a set of eyes close to the ground,

從一雙貼近地面的眼睛看來，

the horizon feels like it goes forever.

地平線似乎無限延伸。

After all, it's not an every-day ritual

畢竟，這不是我們每天的儀式，

to consider where we are on the ball of our planet

去想我們其實是住在地球這個球上，

and where that ball is in space.

還有這個球在宇宙的位置。

I didn't want to tell my son the same story of countries

我不想對我兒子說 一再重複的國家故事，

that we were told where I was growing up in Northern Ireland.

我在北愛爾蘭長大時 就不斷被告知的國家故事，

That we were from just a small parish,

我們是從一個很小的地區來的，

which ignores life outside its immediate concerns.

完全不管外面的世界。

I wanted to try to feel what it was like to see our planet

我想要試著去感受

把我們的地球當成一個系統，

as one system, as a single object,

一個單一物體，

hanging in space.

懸吊在宇宙中是什麼樣子。

To do this,

為了做到這個，

I would need to switch from flat drawings for books

我需要把街道從書面的圖像轉變成

to 3D sculpture for the street,

立體雕刻，

and I'd need almost 200 feet,

我也需要大約 60 公尺，

a New York City block,

紐約市的一個街區大小，

to build a large-scale model of the moon,

來建造一個大型的月亮、

the Earth and us.

地球和我們的模型。

This project managed to take place on New York City's High Line park

這個計畫成功在紐約高線公園展覽，

last winter,

就在去年冬天，

on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's mission around the Moon.

阿波羅 11 號 登陸月球的五十週年慶。

After its installation,

展覽裝置好之後，

I was able to put on a space helmet with my son

我跟我的兒子能戴上太空人頭罩

and launch, like Apollo 11 did half a century ago,

然後發射，

就像阿波羅 11 號半世紀前一樣，

towards the Moon.

朝月球前進。

We circled around

我們繞了一下，

and looked back at us.

然後回頭看看自己。

What I felt was

我感受到的

how lonely it was there in the dark.

是在黑暗中有多孤獨。

And I was just pretending.

我還只是假裝而已。

The Moon is the only object

月球是唯一的物件，

even remotely close to us.

遠遠地挨著我們。

And at the scale of this project,

而且這個計劃的比例，

where our planet was 10 feet in diameter,

地球的直徑只有三公尺，

Mars, the next planet, will be the size of a yoga ball

火星，下一個行星， 會是瑜珈球大小，

and a couple of miles away.

離我們數哩之遙。

Although borders are not visible from space,

雖然從太空看不到疆界，

on my sculpture,

我的雕塑上，

every single border was drawn in.

每一條疆界都畫在上面，

But rather than writing the country names on the carved-up land,

但是與其在劃分的土地上 寫出國家的名字，

I wrote over and over again,

我不斷地寫著

"people live here, people live here."

「有人住在這，有人住在這。」

"People live here."

「有人住在這。」

And off on the Moon, it was written,

而在遠遠的月球上，寫著

"No one lives here."

「沒有人住在這。」

Often, the obvious things

往往，顯而易見的事

aren't all that obvious until you think about them.

並不那麼顯而易見，直到你想起。

Seeing anything from a vast enough distance

從距離夠遠的地方看任何事

changes everything,

會改變一切，

as many astronauts have experienced.

就像許多太空人體驗過的。

And human eyes have only ever seen our Earth

人類的眼睛也只從月亮那麼遠的地方

from as far as the Moon, really.

看過地球。真的。

It's quite a ways further

這條路還很遠，

before we get to the edges of our own Solar System.

要走到我們太陽系的邊緣。

And even out to other stars, to the constellations.

到其他星星、到星座就更遠。

There is actually only one point in the entire cosmos

其實整個宇宙只有一個地方

that is present in all constellations of stars,

看得到所有的星座，

and that presence is

那個地方

here, planet Earth.

就是這裡，地球。

Those pictures we have made up for the clusters of stars

我們對一團團星星編造出來的圖像，

only make sense from this point of view down here.

只有從這裡看才看得懂。

Their stories only make sense here on Earth.

星座的故事要從地球看才有意義。

And only something to us.

也只對我們有意義。

To people.

對人類。

We are creatures of stories.

我們是故事的生物。

We are the stories we tell,

我們就是我們訴說的故事，

we're the stories we're told.

我們就是我們被告知的故事。

Consider briefly the story of human civilization on Earth.

稍微想想地球上人類文明的故事。

It tells of the ingenuity, elegance,

它訴說了一個物種匠心、優雅

generous and nurturing nature of a species

大方、養育的本質，

that is also self-focused, vulnerable

以及自我意識強大、脆弱

and defiantly protective.

及防禦心強的本質。

We, the people, shield the flame of our existence

我們人類將存在的火焰

from the raw, vast elements outside our control,

擋在我們無法掌控、 原始巨大的元素外，

the great beyond.

來世。

Yet it is always to the flame we look.

然而我們總是看著這火焰。

"For all we know,"

「就我們所知，」

when said as a statement,

把這句話當聲明來講，

it means the sum total of all knowledge.

意思是我們所知的總和。

But when said another way,

但用另一種語氣，

"for all we know,"

「就我們所知，」

it means that we do not know at all.

就變成我們根本不知道。

This is the beautiful, fragile drama of civilization.

這是一場美妙而脆弱的文明戲碼。

We are the actors and spectators of a cosmic play

我們是宇宙大戲的演員兼觀眾，

that means the world to us here,

這場戲對在這裡的我們就是全世界，

but means nothing anywhere else.

對其他地方卻沒有任何意義。

Possibly not even that much down here, either.

可能對這裡都沒有太多意義。

If we truly thought about our relationship with our boat,

但是如果我們真的好好思考 我們與這艘船的關係，

with our Earth,

與地球的關係，

it might be more of a story of ignorance and greed.

恐怕更像是一個無知與貪婪的故事。

As is the case with Fausto,

就像福斯多，

a man who believed he owned everything

一個相信自己擁有一切的人，

and set out to survey what was his.

開始視察他擁有的一切。

He easily claims ownership of a flower,

他很輕易地就宣稱自己是一朵花、

a sheep, a tree and a field.

一頭羊、一棵樹及一片田野的主人。

The lake and the mountain prove harder to conquer,

湖泊及山脈證明更難征服，

但是它們也投降了。

but they, too, surrender.

It is in trying to own the open sea

就他在試圖擁有大海時，

where his greed proves his undoing,

他的貪婪證明了他的無能，

when, in a fit of arrogance,

那時，出於傲慢，

he climbs overboard to show that sea who is boss.

他爬到船外向海洋證明誰才是主人。

But he does not understand,

但是他不明白，

slips beneath the waves, sinks to the bottom.

在海浪下失足，沉到海底。

The sea was sad for him

海洋為他悲傷，

but carried on being the sea.

但還是繼續下去，因為它是海。

As do all the other objects of his ownership,

他擁有的其他東西也一樣，

for the fate of Fausto does not matter to them.

它們不在乎福斯多的命運。

For all the importance in the cosmos we believe we hold,

我們以為擁有在宇宙中的重要性，

we'd have nothing

但要不是有這個地球， 我們什麼也沒有。

if not for this Earth.

While it would keep happily spinning,

然而地球還是會很開心的繼續轉動著，

obliviously without us.

即使沒有我們。

On this planet, there are people.

在這個地球上有著人類。

We have gone about our days,

我們忙碌度日，

sometimes we look up and out,

有時候我們抬頭往上看，

mostly we look down and in.

大部分時間我們低頭向下看。

Looking up and by drawing lines between the lights in the sky,

向上看，在天上的星星之間劃線，

we've attempted to make sense out of chaos.

我們試著在亂中找序。

Looking down, we've drawn lines across the land to know where we belong

向下看，我們在土地上劃線，

知道自己屬於哪裡，又不屬於哪裡。

and where we don't.

We do mostly forget that these lines that connect the stars

我們幾乎忘記了，這些連接星星的線

and those lines that divide the land

和分隔土地的線，

live only in our heads.

都只存在於我們的腦中。

They, too, are stories.

這些線，也是故事。

We carry out our everyday routines and rituals

我們遵照我們堅信不移的故事 實踐日常活動和儀式，

according to the stories we most believe in,

and these days, the story is changing as we write it.

而這些日子，我們在改寫故事。

There is a lot of fear in this current story,

目前的故事裡有很多恐懼，

and until recently,

直到最近，

the stories that seemed to have the most power

那些看似最有力量的故事，

are those of bitterness,

也是最痛苦的故事，

of how it had all gone wrong for us individually and collectively.

是我們個人和全體如何走錯路的故事。

It has been inspiring to watch how the best comes from the worst.

看到如何從最糟走到最好 一直很鼓勵人心。

How people are waking up in this time of global reckoning

人類如何從這個 全球大審判的日子清醒，

to the realization that our connections with each other

意識到我們彼此之間的關聯，

are some of the most important things we have.

是我們擁有最重要的事。

But stepping back.

但是退一步。

For all we've had to lament,

對於我們不得不哀嘆的一切，

we spend very little time relishing the single biggest thing

我們花太少時間品味

我們一直都做對的一件大事。

that has ever gone right for us.

That we are here in the first place,

就是我們一開始就在這裡了，

that we are alive at all.

就是我們終究是活下來了。

That we are still alive.

就是我們還活著。

A million and a half years after finding a box of matches,

在找到火柴後一百五十萬年，

we haven't totally burned the house down.

我們還沒有完全燒掉這座房子。

Yet.

還沒。

The chances of being here are infinitesimal.

在這裡的機會幾乎是無限小。

Yet here we are.

然而我們在這。

Perils and all.

冒著所有的風險。

There have never been more people living on Earth.

地球從來沒有住過這麼多人。

Using more stuff.

用過這麼多東西。

And it's become obvious that many of the old systems

太明顯我們有很多舊的系統

we invented for ourselves

——我們創造給自己用的——

are obsolete.

已經過時。

And we have to build new ones.

我們必須重建系統。

If it wasn't germs,

如果不是細菌，

our collective fire might suffocate us before long.

我們的集體之火可能不久 就會使我們窒息。

As we watch the wheels of industry grind to a halt,

就在我們看著工業的巨輪停止，

the machinery of progress become silent,

進步的機器靜止之時，

we have the wildest of opportunities

我們擁有最瘋狂的機會

to hit the reset button.

能按下重置按鈕。

To take a different path.

走另一條路。

Here we are on Earth.

我們在地球上。

And life on Earth is a wonderful thing.

在地球上生活是件美妙的事。

It looks big, this Earth,

這個地球看起來很大，

but there are lots of us on here.

但是上面有很多人。

Seven and a half billion at last count,

上次算的時候有七十五億，

with more showing up every day.

每天還有很多人出現。

Even so,

即使如此，

there is still enough for everyone,

還是很夠大家使用，

if we all share a little.

只要我們都願意分享一點點。

So please,

所以拜託，

be kind.

善待眾生。

When you think of it another way,

換個方向思考，

if Earth is the only place where people live,

如果地球是眾人唯一的住所，

it's actually the least lonely place in the universe.

那它就不是宇宙中那孤獨一隅。

There are plenty of people to be loved by

有很多人被愛，

and plenty of people to love.

也有很多人可以愛。

We need each other.

我們需要彼此。

We know that now, more than ever.

現在我們再清楚也不過。

Good night.

晚安。