45: Media Fringe - This American Life
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00:00 00:00 Transcript Share This American Life Life Partners How to Listen Episodes Recommended About Overview Staff Announcements Fellowships Jobs Music Make Radio On The Road FAQ Submissions Merch Contact Us Our Other Shows Merch Follow Us Life Partners Subscribe to our newsletter Full episode Toggle Audio and Transcript Sync Transcript | Episode #45 | July 4, 2003 45: Media Fringe Note: This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard.
00:00 00:00 文字记录 分享此 美国生活 生活伙伴 如何收听 剧集 推荐 关于 概述 员工公告 奖学金 工作 音乐 在路上制作电台 常见问题解答 提交 商品 联系我们 我们的其他节目 商品 关注我们 生活伙伴 订阅我们的时事通讯 整集 切换音频和文字记录同步 文字记录 | 内容第 45 集 | 2003 年 7 月 4 日 45：Media Fringe 注：《This American Life》是为耳朵而制作的，旨在让人们听到。
If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page.
如果可以的话，我们强烈建议您收听音频，其中包括页面上没有的情感和重点。
Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.
文字记录是使用语音识别软件和人工转录员结合生成的，可能包含错误。
Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
请在印刷版引用前检查相应的音频。
Act One: How To Get Famous Different Voices From PRI, Public Radio International.
第一幕：如何从国际公共广播电台 PRI 获得著名的不同声音。
So Sandra thought she knew how to beat the system.
所以桑德拉认为她知道如何击败这个系统。
She thought she knew how to get her name into the art magazines, and be respected, and be quoted, and be looked up to, just like Laurie Anderson.
她认为她知道如何让自己的名字出现在艺术杂志上，如何受到尊重，如何被引用，如何受到尊敬，就像劳里·安德森一样。
Here was her scheme.
这是她的计划。
She had her piano set up next to the Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles at rush hour.
她在高峰时段将钢琴架在洛杉矶海港高速公路旁。
And that is a super-congested part of the freeway, and it was on the afternoon of Labor Day weekend, on Friday.
那是高速公路上超级拥堵的路段，当时是周五劳动节周末的下午。
And you were on the median of the freeway there, right?
你当时就在高速公路的中间，对吗？
I wanted to be, but I ended up-- I couldn't get permission for that-- on a parking lot that just abutted the freeway with a third of the amplification they use in U2 concerts.
我想这么做，但最终——我无法获得许可——在一个毗邻高速公路的停车场上，扩音器的扩音器只有 U2 音乐会上使用的三分之一。
Marshall Stax next to me just booming out over eight lanes of freeway.
我旁边的马歇尔·斯塔克斯 (Marshall Stax) 刚刚冲过高速公路的八车道。
It got her attention, but not the right kind, not the Laurie Anderson, someday you will meet Lou Reed kind.
它引起了她的注意，但不是正确的那种，不是劳里·安德森，有一天你会遇到卢·里德那种。
I had come into this trying to just be a performance artist in the Italian futurist, Dadaist style.
我进入这个行业只是想成为一名意大利未来主义、达达主义风格的表演艺术家。
I was in my 20s and reading those kinds of materials about those types of artists, which always makes you want to run out and do guerrilla art.
我当时20多岁，阅读了关于这些类型艺术家的各种材料，这总是让你想跑出去做游击艺术。
And so that's what I thought I was doing, but in fact, after I did the first event, it became this huge media blitz with People magazine and all that kind of stuff.
这就是我以为我正在做的事情，但事实上，在我举办了第一次活动之后，它变成了《人物》杂志和诸如此类的巨大媒体闪电战。
There were jokes about you on The Tonight Show .
《今夜秀》上有关于你的笑话。
Exactly, and CNN, AP, Newswire, whatever.
没错，还有 CNN、美联社、新闻专线等等。
Now, this brings us to the theme of today's program.
现在，这就把我们带到了今天节目的主题。
From WBEZ in Chicago, it's This American Life .
来自芝加哥 WBEZ 的《This American Life》。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Each week on our show, we choose some topic, invite various writers, performers, and documentary producers to tackle that topic.
每周在我们的节目中，我们都会选择一些主题，邀请不同的作家、表演者和纪录片制片人来解决这个主题。
Today on our program, four stories about people struggling at the very margins, the very edges of our nation's media, music, infotainment, newsfotainment, industry complex.
今天在我们的节目中，有四个关于人们在我们国家媒体、音乐、信息娱乐、新闻娱乐、工业综合体的边缘挣扎的故事。
Act One, How to Get Famous.
第一幕，如何成名。
Act Two, Whoring in Commercial Radio News.
第二幕，商业广播新闻中的嫖娼行为。
It's a story by Scott Carrier.
这是斯科特·卡里尔的故事。
Act Three, Doing a Personal Act for Money.
第三幕，为了金钱而进行个人行为。
Act Four, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
第四幕，富人和名人的生活方式。
Stay with us.
留在我们身边。
Act One, How to Get Famous.
第一幕，如何成名。
So Sandra Tsing Loh is now a writer.
所以 Sandra Tsing Loh 现在是一名作家。
Now she's a regular contributor here on This American Life .
现在她是《美国生活》的定期撰稿人。
Now she's author of a new book.
现在她是一本新书的作者。
Now she was star of a one-woman show that got rave reviews this summer.
现在，她是一部今年夏天广受好评的独角戏的明星。
But back in the 1980s before she became the master of all media, she lived this little parable of fame in America.
但早在 20 世纪 80 年代，在她成为所有媒体大师之前，她在美国就经历了这个小小的名声寓言。
After her first media success, after she did the big thing by the highway and was featured in every media outlet, everybody who she knew became an expert and told her to hire a publicist.
在她第一次在媒体上取得成功之后，在她在高速公路上做了一件大事并出现在每个媒体上之后，她认识的每个人都成为了专家，并告诉她聘请一名公关人员。
A publicist would cost $1,000 a month.
公关人员每月的费用为 1,000 美元。
And Sandra thought about this and figured she could get just as much publicity, she thought, if she would just give away $1,000 in $1 bills as she played the piano.
桑德拉想到了这一点，她想，只要她在弹钢琴的同时赠送 1,000 美元的 1 美元钞票，她就能获得同样多的宣传。
And to test this scientific theory, she schemed out a second public event, which she called, self-promotion.
为了检验这一科学理论，她策划了第二项公共活动，她称之为自我推销。
She had intended this title ironically.
她本来想用这个标题来讽刺的。
The event was supposed to be a critique of self-promotion, but nobody took it that way.
这次活动本来是对自我推销的批评，但没有人这么认为。
So of course, in fact, a crowd did appear.
当然，事实上，确实出现了一群人。
All the news stations showed up, and did this actually very beautiful piece of videotape of me playing the piano.
所有的新闻台都出现了，并制作了一段非常漂亮的我弹钢琴的录像带。
And then, my assistant who was handcuffed to his briefcase, threw the $1,000 in $1 bills over me, and they floated in the air.
然后，我的助手被铐在公文包上，把那张1000美元的1美元钞票扔到我身上，它们就漂浮在空中。
And you saw all these hands in the air, reaching up, and then the wind shifted and carried the bills about two feet the other way.
你看到所有这些手都举在空中，向上伸出，然后风向改变，将钞票吹向另一个方向约两英尺。
And all the hands shifted after the bills, much like underwater sea creatures.
所有的手都在钞票后移动，就像水下的海洋生物一样。
It was really quite beautiful.
真的很漂亮。
And I got, in fact, a bit trampled, which was my point.
事实上，我有点被践踏，这就是我的观点。
I thought it was a morality tale in Los Angeles that if you pay people to come and see you, they've just come to see the money.
我认为这是洛杉矶的一个道德故事：如果你付钱让人来看你，他们只是来看钱的。
So when the money comes, they will grab for the money, and the artist is trampled underneath.
所以钱来了，他们就抢钱，艺术家就被踩在脚下。
Do you think that actually people got that message?
你认为人们真的得到了这个信息吗？
No, and I knew for sure that they didn't get it, because driving from that event, I heard a live KNX Newsradio broadcast that said, "We just got reports that performer Sandra Loh, an aspiring actress in Hollywood, did this publicity stunt so that she can try to get parts in movies." So in other words, no matter what you do as a performance artist, I had this naive notion that I was a cutting edge Dadaist or one of the yippies making happenings and living theater stuff happening.
不，我确信他们没有得到它，因为从那次活动后开车，我听到 KNX 新闻广播现场直播说：“我们刚刚收到报道，表演者 Sandra Loh，一位有抱负的好莱坞女演员，做了这个宣传噱头，以便她可以尝试在电影中获得角色。”换句话说，无论你作为一名表演艺术家做什么，我都有一个天真的想法，即我是一个前沿的达达主义者，或者是一个制造事件和现场戏剧的雅皮士之一。
When, in fact, the media story would always be reduced to struggling performer trying to get noticed in Hollywood.
事实上，媒体报道总是被简化为努力在好莱坞引起注意的苦苦挣扎的演员。
That's the only story that applies to any of this.
这是唯一适用于此的故事。
From her experience, years later, she actually wrote a little primer on how to get famous.
根据她的经验，几年后，她实际上写了一本关于如何成名的入门读本。
She says that there's something called the wacky news circuit, and the wacky news circuit will pick up your story if you stage an odd event that provides sensational video on a slow news day, at a time and location convenient to reporters and TV crews.
她说，有一种叫做古怪新闻循环的东西，如果你在慢新闻日举办一个奇怪的活动，在记者和电视工作人员方便的时间和地点提供耸人听闻的视频，古怪的新闻循环就会报道你的故事。
She says it helps if you do it in Hollywood, which is the capital of wacky news, or in front of a symbolic national monument.
她说，如果你在古怪新闻之都好莱坞，或者在具有象征意义的国家纪念碑前这样做，会有帮助。
The wacky news circuit is-- at the time that I was doing my freeway piano piece, there was a guy who could paint sunsets in five minutes and had a very funny rap about that.
奇怪的新闻循环是——当我在做我的高速公路钢琴曲时，有一个人可以在五分钟内画出日落，并对此进行了非常有趣的说唱。
There was a doctor who claimed that he knew what sounds dinosaurs made, which was a great radio story blurb.
有一位医生声称他知道恐龙发出的声音，这是一个很棒的广播故事简介。
And there were these racing pigs in Iowa.
爱荷华州也有这些赛猪。
They raced pigs in Iowa and fed them Oreo cookies to keep them going around the track.
他们在爱荷华州赛猪，并给它们喂奥利奥饼干，让它们在赛道上奔跑。
Now, these were the stories that were on the wacky news circuit the same week you were with that piece.
现在，这些故事就在你发表那篇文章的同一周出现在古怪的新闻节目中。
Exactly.
确切地。
Ira Glass That's that particular week.
艾拉·格拉斯（Ira Glass） 那是特别的一周。
Right.
正确的。
It's like an affable eccentric.
这就像一个和蔼可亲的怪人。
They're not actually dangerous or demented.
他们实际上并不危险或疯狂。
They just have a kooky little obsession that they can speak charmingly about in simple, straightforward language that either has some good audio or some good video along with it.
他们只是有一种奇怪的小痴迷，他们可以用简单、直接的语言迷人地谈论它，或者伴随一些好的音频或一些好的视频。
Can I ask you to read the paragraph in your manual about the ideal, wacky person?
我可以请你读一下你的手册中关于理想的、古怪的人的段落吗？
Yes.
是的。
"The ideal, wacky person is naively unselfconscious, very enthusiastic, and deeply sincere.
“理想的、古怪的人是天真、不自觉、非常热情、非常真诚的。
He or she provides a lot of unintentionally hilarious details and seems unaware that the reporter is making the best jokes.
他或她无意中提供了很多搞笑的细节，并且似乎没有意识到记者正在开最好的玩笑。
A lot of these people seem to flourish in places like the Midwest.
其中很多人似乎都在中西部这样的地方蓬勃发展。
A lot of them make it onto The Tonight Show."
他们中的很多人都登上了《今夜秀》。”
So let's say that you do achieve this level of fame.
假设您确实达到了这种程度的名气。
You grab for the cheap, easy fame.
你贪图便宜、容易成名。
Where's it get you?
到哪儿找你呢？
The only thing that happens to you career-wise, and "career" is in big quotes, is that colleges and places will start calling you to see if you can put on one of your stunts at their school.
在你的职业生涯中，发生在你身上的唯一一件事就是大学和地方会开始打电话给你，看看你是否可以在他们的学校表演你的特技。
There is no budget.
没有预算。
Do a stunt at your own expense to draw media people for their event.
自费表演特技，吸引媒体人士参加他们的活动。
So you become kind of a no-budget, publicity, wacky stunt director.
所以你就变成了一个无预算、宣传性的、古怪的特技导演。
I could just see that this was not proceeding in the right fashion.
我只能看到事情没有以正确的方式进行。
So I quit.
所以我退出了。
I was hoping that I would be profiled in art magazines and photographed in a black turtleneck, but that destiny never followed me when I did these pieces.
我希望自己能出现在艺术杂志上并穿着黑色高领毛衣拍照，但当我创作这些作品时，命运从未跟随我。
It was like more a morning radio host in Kansas City would call me and say, "Sandra, are you as wacky as people say?
这就像堪萨斯城的一位早间电台主持人打电话给我说：“桑德拉，你像人们说的那样古怪吗？
What makes you go?
是什么让你走？
Are you nutty?" So my dreams of becoming a hip, downtowny, guerrilla artist in these art books by doing these pieces faded rapidly.
你疯了吗？”因此，我通过创作这些作品成为这些艺术书籍中的时髦、市中心、游击艺术家的梦想很快就破灭了。
In fact, if you were to choose where you would end up, you couldn't actually arrive further from hip and downtown than a guy from Kansas City calling you up and saying, "Are you wacky?"
事实上，如果你要选择你最终要去的地方，你实际上不会比堪萨斯城的一个人打电话给你说：“你很古怪吗？”离时尚和市中心更远。
It's true, and I think when people start out, especially when you're younger, you think it's all going to come in one incredible ball.
这是真的，我认为当人们开始时，尤其是当你年轻的时候，你会认为这一切都会发生在一个令人难以置信的球中。
And then, you'll be famous, and you'll get a lot of people who want to sleep with you, and great book offers, and a house in Connecticut, and all those things together.
然后，你就会出名，会有很多人想和你一起睡觉，还有很棒的书籍优惠，在康涅狄格州有一栋房子，等等。
But in fact, it never comes in the right order.
但事实上，它的顺序从来都不是正确的。
It never comes at the right time, and it's never the right kind of fame.
它永远不会在正确的时间到来，也永远不会是正确的名声。
And pretty much by the time you get something, in a word, it's always five years too late.
总而言之，当你得到某样东西时，总是晚了五年。
And people who you don't respect have gotten it, so it cheapens it.
而你不尊重的人却得到了它，所以它就贬低了它。
And in fact, nothing ever feels like you think it will feel.
事实上，没有什么感觉像你想象的那样。
Well, thank you for these cheerful and uplifting words, Sandra Loh.
好吧，谢谢你这些令人愉快和振奋人心的话语，Sandra Loh。
Sandra Loh's book is called, Depth Takes a Holiday .
桑德拉·洛 (Sandra Loh) 的书名叫《深度休假》(Depth Takes a Holiday)。
No offense, please, to our listeners in Kansas.
请不要冒犯堪萨斯州的听众。
[MUSIC - "SHOW BUSINESS" BY A TRIBE CALLED QUEST]
[音乐 - 一个名为 QUEST 的部落的“演艺事业”]
Act Two, Whoring in Radio News.
第二幕，广播新闻中的嫖娼行为。
Now, this story from the fringes of the media industries.
现在，这个故事来自媒体行业的边缘。
Scott Carrier was a radio reporter in Salt Lake City who did not seek fame.
斯科特·卡里尔（Scott Carrier）是盐湖城的一名电台记者，他并不追求名誉。
He did not want to be on the cover of People magazine.
他不想成为《人物》杂志的封面人物。
He did not want to be on Johnny Carson or mentioned in the monologue.
他不想出现在约翰尼·卡森身上，也不想在独白中被提及。
He just wanted to have a steady job with bosses who he did not hate and who did not hate him.
他只是想找一份稳定的工作，和他不讨厌、不讨厌他的老板在一起。
And he found that job, for a short time, in commercial radio.
他在商业电台短暂找到了这份工作。
There are a lot of bad ways to wake up, but surely one of the worst is by looking into the floodlight from a police car.
有很多不好的叫醒方式，但最糟糕的方式无疑是从警车上看泛光灯。
I was in a field, some farmer's field next to a power plant just outside Lawrence, Kansas.
我当时在堪萨斯州劳伦斯郊外的一片田地里，靠近一座发电厂的农田。
I was sleeping there, next to my car, before driving into Kansas City in the morning.
在早上开车前往堪萨斯城之前，我就睡在那里，靠近我的车。
The policeman somehow saw my car from the road, and they pulled up right in front of it.
警察不知怎的从路上看到了我的车，他们就停在它前面。
And I didn't even wake up.
而我什至没有醒来。
I was lying on the ground on the passenger side of the car, and when I did wake up, one of the policeman was in the front seat, I guess looking for drugs.
我躺在汽车乘客侧的地上，当我醒来时，一名警察坐在前座，我猜是在寻找毒品。
And the other was 40 feet away in the hay field.
另一个则在 40 英尺外的干草田里。
And I don't know why he was out there, unless he had his gun pulled, covering his partner.
我不知道他为什么在外面，除非他拔出枪来掩护他的搭档。
He said I scared him when I woke up so suddenly.
他说我突然醒来吓到他了。
I sat straight up-- boom-- awake.
我坐直了——轰——醒了。
And I bet he nearly shot me dead.
我敢打赌他差点开枪打死我。
They wanted to know what I was doing sleeping in the field, and I told them that I didn't like motels, which was only partly true.
他们想知道我睡在田野里做什么，我告诉他们我不喜欢汽车旅馆，这只是部分事实。
So I decided to tell them that I was born here, in Lawrence, but that I don't live here anymore, which was completely true, but somehow didn't achieve the level of meaning I hoped it would.
所以我决定告诉他们我出生在劳伦斯这里，但我不再住在这里了，这是完全正确的，但不知何故没有达到我希望的意义程度。
They asked me what I was going to do in Kansas City, and I said I was going to interview the mayor at 11:00 in the morning.
他们问我去堪萨斯城做什么，我说上午 11:00 去采访市长。
I told them I was a producer for a radio program.
我告诉他们我是一个广播节目的制作人。
I told them the name of the program and the name of the host, and they'd heard of him.
我告诉他们节目的名称和主持人的名字，他们听说过他。
You'd know who he is as well if I were to say his name, but I've decided not to say his name and call him The Friendly Man, instead, because this is his persona.
如果我说出他的名字，你也会知道他是谁，但我决定不说出他的名字，而是称他为“友好的人”，因为这是他的角色。
I told the policemen that every weekday morning, The Friendly Man has a five-minute feed on one of the networks, and 12 million people listen.
我告诉警察，每个工作日早上，《TheFriendlyMan》都会在其中一个网络上播出五分钟的节目，有 1200 万人收听。
His stories are, as a rule, upbeat and positive.
他的故事通常是乐观和积极的。
Their general theme is people taking responsibility for their lives, their community, their country.
他们的总主题是人们对自己的生活、社区和国家负责。
The Friendly Man always has good news, and the good news is always that America just keeps getting better and better.
友好的人总是有好消息，好消息总是美国一直在变得越来越好。
Both policemen said they'd heard of the program and that they like The Friendly Man.
两名警察都表示他们听说过这个节目，并且喜欢《友善的人》。
And so they decided they liked me as well, and it was OK to sleep in the field.
所以他们决定也喜欢我，睡在田野里也没关系。
Sorry to have bothered you.
抱歉打扰您了。
I was hired by one of The Friendly Man's executive producers.
《友善的人》的一位执行制片人雇用了我。
Her job was to wrangle and corral radio producers, like myself, from around the country into conducting interviews and writing scripts for stories that had been found by her flock of computer researchers, also from around the country.
她的工作是说服和召集全国各地像我这样的广播制作人进行采访，并为她的计算机研究人员（也来自全国各地）发现的故事编写剧本。
Some people are surprised to hear that The Friendly Man doesn't actually produce the stories he tells, but in reality, he just doesn't have the time, what with the television show now, and the specials, and so on.
有些人听说《友好的人》实际上并没有制作他所讲的故事时感到惊讶，但实际上，他只是没有时间，现在有电视节目和特别节目等等。
It's not that he doesn't want to write his stories, not that he can't, it's just that he's really busy now being The Friendly Man.
并不是他不想写他的故事，也不是他不能，只是他现在真的很忙于成为“友善的人”。
And you shouldn't expect him to come up with all of his own material.
而且你不应该指望他能拿出他自己的所有材料。
The way it works is that The Friendly Man is in New York with maybe a couple of editors and an engineer.
它的运作方式是，《TheFriendlyMan》在纽约，可能有几个编辑和一名工程师。
And his executive producer is in San Francisco, with fax machines and email, and the researchers are all over the place looking for story ideas through computer searches.
他的执行制片人在旧金山，有传真机和电子邮件，研究人员则在各地通过计算机搜索寻找故事创意。
When the researcher finds what looks like an appropriate story, he calls the people in the story on the phone and talks to them for a while.
当研究人员找到看起来合适的故事时，他会给故事中的人物打电话并与他们交谈一会儿。
Then, he writes out a story synopsis, which is sent to The Friendly Man for approval.
然后，他写了一个故事梗概，并发送给友好的人批准。
Once approved, the story goes to a producer, and the producer is in charge of conducting, basically, the same interviews all over again, on tape this time, and then editing the tape, and writing the script, which is reviewed by the executive producer in San Francisco, and sent to The Friendly Man in New York City so he can read it on the air.
一旦获得批准，故事就会交给制片人，制片人负责再次进行基本上相同的采访，这次是在磁带上，然后编辑磁带，编写剧本，由旧金山的执行制片人审阅，然后发送给纽约市的《友好人》，以便他可以在广播中阅读。
The first story I produced for The Friendly Man was in Tucson, Arizona.
我为《友善的人》制作的第一个故事发生在亚利桑那州图森市。
It was about some people in Tucson who were helping to make America a better place.
这是关于图森的一些人正在帮助让美国变得更美好。
It doesn't really matter what the story was about.
故事讲的是什么并不重要。
What matters is that I had to do all the interviews over the phone.
重要的是我必须通过电话进行所有采访。
There wasn't enough money to send me to Tucson.
没有足够的钱送我去图森。
So I found an audio engineer in Tucson and had him go to the locations and hold a microphone up to the subjects while I talked to them on the phone.
因此，我在图森找到了一位音频工程师，让他前往拍摄地点，在我通过电话与他们交谈时将麦克风举到拍摄对象面前。
Then he sent me the tape, which I edited, and then wrote the script, without ever meeting the people I was writing about or the person I was writing for.
然后他把磁带发给我，我编辑了它，然后写了剧本，没有见过我所写的人或我所写的人。
When I made a suggestion for changing the story, a change that I thought would make it better, the executive producer said that she would try not to get upset with me because this was my first story, and maybe I didn't understand my role.
当我提出改变故事的建议时，我认为这样的改变会让故事变得更好，执行制片人说她会尽量不生我的气，因为这是我的第一个故事，也许我不理解我的角色。
The story had been approved as written in the synopsis.
这个故事已经按照概要中的内容获得批准。
There were to be no changes, no additional narratives or discoveries.
不会有任何改变，没有额外的叙述或发现。
I was but the writer/producer, one of many cogs in the wheel.
我只是编剧/制片人，是车轮上的众多齿轮之一。
I apologized and did the story as ordered.
我道歉并按照命令完成了这个故事。
After this first story, I asked the executive producer if I could go on the road, drive around, and collect interviews, actually meet the people and see what they were doing, and then come back and produce the stories.
在第一个故事之后，我问执行制片人是否可以上路，开车到处走走，收集采访，真正见到人们，看看他们在做什么，然后回来制作故事。
She gave me four stories at a distance of 3,000 miles.
她在 3000 英里之外给我讲了四个故事。
They'd pay the mileage, but would give me nothing up front.
他们会支付里程费，但不会预先给我任何东西。
The food and lodging were to be my expenses, and so I was sleeping out.
食物和住宿都是我的开支，所以我就在外面过夜。
It was the first week of July, and so warm at night you could sleep on the grass without a bag or a blanket.
那是七月的第一周，晚上很暖和，你可以睡在草地上，不带包或毯子。
At 11:00 AM on the morning after the incident with the police, I was standing in the mayor's office on the top floor of the Kansas City, Missouri, municipal building.
与警察发生事件的第二天上午 11:00，我站在密苏里州堪萨斯城市政大楼顶层的市长办公室。
It's a tall building, built on one of the highest hills in the area.
这是一栋高层建筑，建在该地区最高的山丘之一上。
So looking out of the window, I could see most of the city, buildings, and railroad tracks, and the river, the Missouri River, making a big oxbow right through town.
因此，向窗外看去，我可以看到城市的大部分、建筑物、铁轨，还有河流，密苏里河，形成一个巨大的牛弓形穿过城镇。
We sat at a long, wooden table, a conference table, in tall chairs.
我们坐在一张长木桌、一张会议桌和高高的椅子上。
Mayor Emanuel Cleaver, also a Methodist minister, a black mayor in a black town-- I'd come to ask him about a summertime midnight basketball program.
市长伊曼纽尔·克利弗（Emanuel Cleaver），也是一位卫理公会牧师，一个黑人小镇的黑人市长——我来向他询问夏季午夜篮球计划的情况。
The program, like all midnight basketball programs, was designed to reduce the crime rate by keeping juveniles off the street.
与所有午夜篮球项目一样，该项目旨在通过让青少年远离街头来降低犯罪率。
And like with some of the other programs, the crime rate hadn't gotten any better, except for the time that the kids were actually playing basketball.
与其他一些项目一样，除了孩子们真正打篮球的时间外，犯罪率并没有任何改善。
Whenever there was a game going on, the crime rate in the neighborhood was lower.
每当有比赛进行时，附近的犯罪率就会降低。
The mayor's opponents were saying that the program was pork, that the $100,000 a year could be better spent somewhere else.
市长的反对者称该计划是猪肉，每年 10 万美元最好花在其他地方。
I asked the mayor about this, and he was adamant, even passionate, about the value of teaching kids to play basketball or any team sport.
我向市长询问了这个问题，他对于教孩子们打篮球或任何团队运动的价值非常坚定，甚至充满热情。
He said that team sports teach kids the best values, that they learn to cooperate and play by the rules.
他说，团队运动教会孩子们最好的价值观，让他们学会合作和遵守规则。
They learn to problem-solve through cooperation.
他们学会通过合作解决问题。
And by playing, they learn to love the game.
通过玩，他们学会热爱游戏。
And through the love of the game, they learn to love themselves and each other.
通过对游戏的热爱，他们学会了爱自己和彼此。
He said that a few of the kids had gone to college on basketball scholarships, and this gave hope to everybody in the community, a community where hope was like a foreign language.
他说，有几个孩子靠篮球奖学金上了大学，这给社区里的每个人带来了希望，在这个社区里，希望就像一门外语。
And that, alone, was worth it, even a bargain at $100,000.
仅此一点就值得了，即使是 10 万美元的便宜货。
He said, you go to the games.
他说，你去看比赛吧。
It's mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, you'll see the whole community there.
这是母亲、父亲、姐妹、兄弟，你会在那里看到整个社区。
He was right.
他是对的。
Over on the east side, the poor side of town, there are games going on in a community center, and the place was packed.
在东边，城镇的贫困地区，一个社区中心正在举办比赛，那里挤满了人。
And the games were good.
比赛也很棒。
Little eight and nine-year-olds passing the ball, and making plays, and running hard the whole game.
八岁和九岁的小孩子在整个比赛中传球、打球、努力奔跑。
They love the game.
他们喜欢这个游戏。
I interviewed coaches, kids, and parents, and everything was going fine.
我采访了教练、孩子们和家长，一切都很顺利。
Things really were getting better and better in America.
美国的情况确实变得越来越好。
But then, just before I left, I was talking to a father about his son, and somebody-- I think probably a little kid-- took my three rechargeable batteries and a digital audiotape with the mayor's interview on it out of my bag and out of the building.
但就在我离开之前，我正在和一位父亲谈论他的儿子，有人——我想可能是个小孩子——从我的包里拿走了我的三块充电电池和一盘录有市长采访的数字录音带，并走出了大楼。
And they were gone.
然后他们就走了。
The batteries were worth $250 and could be replaced, but the interview with the mayor was lost for good.
电池价值 250 美元，可以更换，但对市长的采访却永远消失了。
Some little kid looked in my bag, and these things were like eggs in a basket.
一个小孩查看了我的包，这些东西就像篮子里的鸡蛋。
Anyone older would've just taken the bag.
任何年纪大的人都会直接拿走这个包。
I walked around the neighborhood for a while, trying to figure out what to do.
我在附近走了一会儿，试图弄清楚该怎么做。
The next day was a Saturday, and I doubted the mayor would be in his office, which would mean that I'd have to wait until Monday.
第二天是星期六，我怀疑市长是否会在办公室，这意味着我必须等到星期一。
But I had appointments for interviews Monday morning for another story in Saint Louis, 300 miles to the east.
但周一早上我预约了采访，采访地点为东边 300 英里的圣路易斯。
And then, there was the fact that I'd been robbed while doing a story about a program that reduces juvenile crime.
然后，我在做一个关于减少青少年犯罪的项目的故事时被抢劫了。
The story, as it was written by the researcher in the synopsis, was all about how black people were improving their lives and making things better by playing basketball.
正如研究人员在概要中所写的那样，这个故事讲述的是黑人如何通过打篮球来改善他们的生活并让事情变得更好。
But the reality of the situation, at least the way I saw it, was that these people were poor, that they'd been for a long time, and that they were probably going to stay poor for a long time.
但现实情况是，至少在我看来，这些人很穷，而且他们已经穷了很长一段时间，而且他们很可能会长期穷下去。
So I called the executive producer and left her a message saying that maybe she should consider scrapping the basketball story, and that I was going on to Saint Louis, and would call her from there.
所以我打电话给执行制片人，给她留言说也许她应该考虑放弃篮球故事，我要去圣路易斯，并会从那里给她打电话。
The story in Saint Louis was also about poor black people.
圣路易斯的故事也是关于贫穷的黑人的。
Only in Saint Louis, it was about old poor black people.
只有在圣路易斯，它是关于贫穷的老黑人的。
Old poor black people who lived in a nursing home and had started their own private economy, wherein they'd get paid for helping each other out by washing clothes or cooking meals, or even reading books and stories out loud at bedtime.
住在疗养院里的贫穷的老黑人开始了自己的私营经济，他们通过互相帮助洗衣服或做饭，甚至在睡前大声读书和故事来获得报酬。
But they didn't get paid in real money.
但他们并没有得到真金白银的报酬。
They got paid in what they called Time Dollars, which could only be exchanged between themselves or cashed in at a special community store for food, clothing, and other necessary items.
他们获得的报酬是所谓的“时间币”，这些钱只能在他们之间兑换，或者在特殊的社区商店兑换现金，购买食物、衣服和其他必需品。
The old people liked the Time Dollar Program.
老人们喜欢“时间美元计划”。
They were much happier than before they had the Time Dollar Program.
他们比参加“时间美元计划”之前快乐多了。
At least, this is what the researcher had written in the synopsis.
至少，研究人员在概要中是这样写的。
And this is how things seemed for most of the morning I was there doing interviews.
这就是我在那里接受采访的整个上午的情况。
My first interview was with a woman who'd set everything up.
我的第一次采访是一位女士，她安排了一切。
She was a well-educated, upper middle class white lady who worked for a large charitable organization as a local manager of its programs.
她是一位受过良好教育的中上层阶级白人女士，在一家大型慈善组织担任当地项目经理。
This woman was very nervous, and I couldn't tell if it was because she was just nervous being interviewed, or if she was nervous being surrounded by poor black people, or if she was just nervous by nature.
这个女人非常紧张，我不知道是因为她只是在接受采访时紧张，还是因为被可怜的黑人包围而紧张，或者她只是天生紧张。
I talked to her for a while, and then she introduced me to some women who actually participated in the Time Dollar Program.
我和她聊了一会儿，然后她向我介绍了一些实际参加过“时间美元计划”的女性。
And they told me that they do things like call up old people around town and ask them if they feel OK, if they're sick or something.
他们告诉我，他们会打电话给镇上的老人，询问他们是否感觉良好，是否生病了等等。
Or they clean and dry a neighbor's clothes before he goes into the hospital, or cook for someone who has bad asthma.
或者他们在邻居去医院之前清洗并烘干他的衣服，或者为患有严重哮喘的人做饭。
And then, they could use the Time Dollars to buy stuff they needed.
然后，他们可以使用时间美元购买他们需要的东西。
They were friendly ladies, and it was just like it said in the synopsis, neighbors helping neighbors and getting paid to do it.
她们都是友好的女士，就像剧情简介中所说的那样，邻居帮助邻居并获得报酬。
So I asked them if we could go over and see the store, the place where they actually buy everything.
所以我问他们是否可以去看看商店，他们实际上在那里购买所有东西。
And they sort of hemmed and hawed about it, said there was a key, and they'd have to get it.
他们支吾其词，说有一把钥匙，他们必须拿到它。
And then we were talking about grandchildren, arthritis, the weather in Mississippi.
然后我们谈论孙子、关节炎、密西西比州的天气。
I was wondering if maybe they didn't really want to go to the store.
我想知道他们是否真的不想去商店。
So I asked again, and they said it was a couple blocks away, and it was raining so hard.
于是我又问了一遍，他们说就在几个街区之外，而且雨下得很大。
I was a little worried at this point, because the store was in the synopsis.
此时我有点担心，因为这家商店在剧情简介中。
And so there had to be some tape of the store in the story.
所以故事中一定有商店的录像带。
And so I explained my predicament to the women and begged them, as best I could, if we could go there.
因此，我向妇女们解释了我的困境，并尽我所能恳求她们我们是否可以去那里。
We borrowed some umbrellas and walked over to the building that housed the store.
我们借了一些雨伞，走到商店所在的大楼。
It was a one-story warehouse, brick and concrete, a few windows.
这是一座单层仓库，砖混结构，有几扇窗户。
Inside, we went down a hallway that separated two large rooms, each packed with desks and office people, stacks of papers, stacks of folders, desk fans, lots of desk lights, people typing on real typewriters, old adding machines.
在里面，我们沿着一条走廊走下去，走廊分隔了两个大房间，每个房间都挤满了桌子和办公室人员、成堆的文件、成堆的文件夹、台扇、大量的台灯，人们在真正的打字机上打字，老式的加法机。
It was very suspicious.
这很可疑。
One side looked like the Bulgarian Foreign Trade Department, the other side like the Lithuanian Shipping Commission.
一侧看起来像保加利亚对外贸易部，另一侧像立陶宛航运委员会。
Down at the far, dark end of the hall was a large metal cabinet with two full-length doors closed by a padlock.
大厅最远、最黑暗的一端有一个大金属柜，柜子里有两扇全长的门，并用挂锁锁着。
One of the ladies opened the lock, and inside were four shelves.
一位女士打开锁，里面有四个架子。
The top held bottles of fabric softener.
顶部放着几瓶织物柔软剂。
The next was full of baby wipes.
接下来是满是婴儿湿巾。
Another had some paper plates and plastic silverware.
另一个有一些纸盘和塑料银器。
And the bottom was full of bathroom deodorizer.
底部全是浴室除臭剂。
That was it.
就是这样。
That was the store.
那是那家商店。
I'd imagined something between a 7-11 and a thrift store, and I didn't understand.
我想象过介于 7-11 和旧货店之间的东西，但我不明白。
I didn't understand how any of this was working.
我不明白这一切是如何运作的。
I stood there and looked at the cabinet, and the story disintegrated into baby wipes and picnic forks.
我站在那里看着柜子，故事分解成婴儿湿巾和野餐叉。
I thanked the ladies and left the building, and called the executive producer.
我感谢了两位女士，然后离开了大楼，给执行制片人打电话。
I didn't want to tell her about the baby wipes and the fabric softener.
我不想告诉她婴儿湿巾和织物柔软剂的事。
There was no use in telling her that something was wrong, that maybe the whole story was a sham.
告诉她出事了，也许整个故事都是骗局，这是没有用的。
But I did want to ask her if it would be OK if I left the store out of the story, that maybe the story should be that these people just like helping each other, and that the time money thing wasn't so important.
但我确实想问她，如果我把商店排除在故事之外是否可以，也许故事应该是这些人只是喜欢互相帮助，而时间和金钱的事情并不那么重要。
But she never let me get to it.
但她从来不让我接触到它。
She was upset, very upset, about the message I'd left on her machine Friday night.
她对我周五晚上在她的机器上留下的信息感到非常不安。
It had ruined her whole weekend.
这毁了她整个周末。
She was distraught and nearly hysterical.
她心烦意乱，几乎歇斯底里。
Everyone was distraught and nearly hysterical, and it was my fault.
每个人都心烦意乱，几乎歇斯底里，这是我的错。
My fault to have taken my eyes off the equipment.
我的错是我把目光从设备上移开了。
My fault to have been robbed.
被抢劫是我的错。
My fault to have left town without completing the story assignment.
我的错是没有完成故事任务就离开了城镇。
She said that I'd led her to believe that I was a professional, but no professional would ever behave in such a manner.
她说我让她相信我是专业人士，但没有专业人士会做出这样的行为。
She said this twice, the subtext being that The Friendly Man can only use professional producers, and that, therefore, I was fired, unless maybe I went back to Kansas City to re-interview the mayor.
她说了两遍，潜台词是《友好的人》只能使用专业制片人，因此，我被解雇了，除非我回到堪萨斯城重新采访市长。
My job was to do what I was told, just as their job was to do what they were told, just as The Friendly Man's job was to do what he was told.
我的工作就是按照我的指示去做，就像他们的工作就是按照他们的指示去做一样，就像友好的人的工作就是按照他的指示去做一样。
Because the audience, the 12 million listeners, had something they wanted to be told, that America is a good place with decent people.
因为观众，即 1200 万听众，他们想知道一些事情，即美国是一个拥有正派人民的好地方。
Never mind the screaming coming from the basement.
别介意从地下室传来的尖叫声。
So I got in my car and drove 300 miles west to Kansas City.
于是我开车向西行驶 300 英里到达堪萨斯城。
I could've told them to go [BLEEP] themselves, but I didn't.
我本可以告诉他们自己去[BLEEP]，但我没有。
I went back because I didn't want to be fired by The Friendly Man.
我回去是因为我不想被友善的人解雇。
I had been fired by other less well-known friendly men.
我被其他不太知名的友好人士解雇了。
That's always like being branded, scorned as the one who ran.
这总是像被烙上烙印，被蔑视为竞选者。
I was tired of that, tired of being broke and not having any work.
我厌倦了这样，厌倦了破产和没有任何工作。
My wife, my family, they were tired of it too.
我的妻子，我的家人，他们也厌倦了。
I decided that I wanted to be a professional.
我决定要成为一名专业人士。
I wanted to be a team player.
我想成为一名团队合作者。
I wanted to take responsibility for my life, my community, and my country.
我想对我的生活、我的社区和我的国家负责。
I wanted to get ahead and go someplace with my career, and be happy.
我想要出人头地，在事业上有所成就，并且感到快乐。
I drove back to Kansas City and got in late at night.
我开车回到堪萨斯城，并在深夜抵达。
I drove through the big buildings downtown, the streets lit yellow and vacant.
我开车穿过市中心的高楼大厦，街道亮着黄色灯光，空荡荡的。
I drove through the poor neighborhoods, the streets lit yellow and vacant.
我开车穿过贫穷的街区，街道亮着黄色，空荡荡的。
I drove along the parkways, past fountains and parks, and I drove past my grandmother's house and down to The Country Club Plaza, where I slept without a bag or a blanket on the lawn, on the long esplanade in front of the Nelson Art Museum.
我沿着公园大道行驶，经过喷泉和公园，经过祖母的房子，来到乡村俱乐部广场，我没有包包，也没有毯子，就睡在尼尔森艺术博物馆前长长的滨海大道上的草坪上。
If I was to be bothered by the police, I would tell them that I am a radio producer working for The Friendly Man and that I have a meeting with the mayor in the morning.
如果我被警察打扰，我会告诉他们我是一名为“友好人”工作的广播制作人，我早上要和市长开会。
Scott Carrier in Salt Lake City.
斯科特·开利在盐湖城。
Music by Tim Rutili and Red Red Meat.
蒂姆·鲁蒂利 (Tim Rutili) 和红红肉 (Red Red Meat) 创作的音乐。
[MUSIC - "WHO LISTENS TO RADIO?" BY SARAH VAUGHN]
[音乐-“谁听广播？”作者：莎拉·沃恩]
Well, coming up, the least likely get-rich-quick scheme in the world, and ever, ever, ever so much more.
好吧，接下来，世界上最不可能快速致富的计划，以及永远、永远、永远更多。
That's all in a minute, from Public Radio International, when our program continues.
当我们的节目继续时，这就是国际公共广播电台的全部内容。
It's This American Life .
这就是美国生活。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Each week on our program, of course, we choose a theme, bring you radio monologues, documentaries, found tapes, anything we can think of on that theme.
当然，每周我们的节目都会选择一个主题，为您带来广播独白、纪录片、找到的磁带以及我们能想到的有关该主题的任何内容。
Today's stories are all about people on the fringe, the very edge, of our nation's media, news, entertainment industry.
今天的故事都是关于我们国家媒体、新闻、娱乐行业的边缘人物的。
We've now arrived at Act Three, a small personal act.
我们现在到了第三幕，一个小小的个人表演。
Sarah Vowell is a columnist for Salon , the online magazine, author of the book Radio On , and a music writer.
莎拉·沃威尔 (Sarah Vowell) 是在线杂志《沙龙》的专栏作家、《Radio On》一书的作者，也是一位音乐作家。
And she has these thoughts about the uses of music by those who are not musicians.
她对那些非音乐家的人如何使用音乐有这些想法。
Long distance love affair by cassette tape.
盒式磁带的远距离恋爱。
It happened to me.
这发生在我身上。
While digital romance is growing increasingly common, our strange fling was quaintly analog.
虽然数字浪漫变得越来越普遍，但我们奇怪的风流韵事却是奇特的模拟。
Oh, we talked on the phone for hours and enjoyed the occasional mushy rendezvous in the flesh at airports and bookstores and bars.
哦，我们在电话里聊了好几个小时，还享受了偶尔在机场、书店和酒吧的肉身约会。
But mostly, we wore out the heads on our respective tape decks compiling Memorex mash notes.
但最重要的是，我们在各自的录音机上编写 Memorex 混搭笔记时耗尽了磁头。
I'm not really the scented envelope kind of girl, preferring instead to send yellow Jiffylite Mailers packed with whatever songs on my mind.
我并不是那种喜欢用香味信封的女孩，我更喜欢寄黄色的 Jiffylite 邮件，里面装满了我想到的任何歌曲。
The most interesting thing about the correspondence was that we rarely, if ever, agreed.
关于通信的最有趣的事情是我们很少（如果有的话）达成一致。
He sent me this.
他发给我这个。
[MUSIC - "IN THE FLESH" BY BLONDIE]
[音乐 - BLONDIE 的“IN THE FLESH”]
Perhaps you're anticipating what I'm about to say.
也许你正在期待我要说的话。
I think my scrappy little pop songs got on his nerves, and his ambient soundscapes left me impatient for something, anything, to happen.
我认为我的好斗的小流行歌曲让他心烦意乱，而他周围的音景让我对发生的事情、任何事情都感到不耐烦。
But I gritted my teeth through them all, groaning over every last spacey sense jam as if I was doing him some kind of personal favor.
但我咬紧牙关，把所有这些都咬紧牙关，为每一次空间感堵塞而呻吟，好像我在帮他某种个人恩惠。
Since he went to the trouble of making the tape, the least I could do was sit there and take it.
既然他费尽心思制作了这盘磁带，我至少能做的就是坐在那里接受它。
Not that I miss those songs of his-- and I use the word "songs" loosely-- since we parted ways, not by a long shot, but what I did get out of the entire, sad situation, besides big phone bills and a box of cassettes I'll never touch again, was a lingering sentimentality about the act of taping itself.
并不是说我怀念他的那些歌曲——我宽泛地使用了“歌曲”这个词——因为我们分道扬镳，距离不远，但我从整个悲伤的处境中得到的，除了大笔的电话费和一盒我再也不会碰的磁带之外，是对录音本身挥之不去的感伤。
A homemade tape is a work of friendship.
自制磁带是友谊之作。
I was reminded of that when I was reading English writer Nick Hornby's novel, High Fidelity.
当我读英国作家尼克·霍恩比的小说《高保真度》时，我想起了这一点。
One of the subtexts of his story is the emotional complexities of the taping ritual.
他的故事的潜台词之一是录音仪式的情感复杂性。
Much of the story takes place in a London record store.
故事的大部分发生在伦敦的一家唱片店。
Clerks Barry and Dick are emotional cripples stuck in that male pop culture circle of hell, in which having seen a film, the right kind of film, or owning a record, the right kind of record, act as substitutes for being able to express what these things mean to them.
店员巴里和迪克是情感上的残疾人，陷入了男性流行文化的地狱圈子里，在这个圈子里，看过一部电影，正确的类型的电影，或者拥有一张唱片，正确的类型，充当了能够表达这些东西对他们意味着什么的替代品。
Since they are incapable of really talking about human feelings, they get by on standing next to each other at rock shows and making each other complicated tapes of obscure songs.
由于他们无法真正谈论人类的感情，所以他们只能在摇滚演出中并排站着，互相制作复杂的晦涩歌曲磁带。
In the book, Rob, their boss at the record store, met his girlfriend, Laura, when he was a deejay at a dance club.
在书中，罗布是唱片店的老板，他在一家舞蹈俱乐部做节目主持人时认识了他的女朋友劳拉。
She first approached him because she liked a song he was playing called "Got to Get You Off My Mind." Rob woos Laura by making her a compilation tape.
她第一次接近他是因为她喜欢他演奏的一首名为“Got to Get You Off My Mind”的歌曲。罗布为劳拉制作了一盘合辑磁带来追求她。
I asked Nick Hornby to read the passage in which Rob slaves over his audio valentine.
我请尼克·霍恩比读一下罗布为他的音频情人节而苦苦挣扎的段落。
I spent hours putting that cassette together.
我花了几个小时把那盒磁带组装起来。
To me, making a tape is like writing a letter.
对我来说，制作磁带就像写信一样。
There's a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again.
有很多擦除、重新思考和重新开始。
A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do.
一张好的合辑磁带，就像分手一样，很难做。
You've got to kick off with a corker to hold the attention.
你必须先用软木塞来吸引注意力。
I started with "Got to Get You Off My Mind," but then realized she might not get any further than track one, side one if I delivered what she wanted straightaway.
我以“Got to Get You Off My Mind”开始，但后来意识到，如果我立即交付她想要的东西，她可能不会比第一首歌、第一面更进一步。
So I buried it in the middle of side two.
所以我把它埋在第二边的中间。
And then you've got to up it a notch or cool it a notch.
然后你必须将其提升一个档次或将其冷却一个档次。
And you can't have white music and black music together, unless the white music sounds like black music.
而且你不能将白人音乐和黑人音乐放在一起，除非白人音乐听起来像黑人音乐。
And you can't have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you've done the whole thing in pairs.
而且你不能并排播放同一位艺术家的两首曲目，除非你是成对完成整个过程。
And there are loads of rules.
并且有很多规则。
While I was reading Hornby's book, I happened to glance at an ad in the San Francisco Weekly that read, "I'll tape record albums for you.
当我读霍恩比的书时，我偶然看到《旧金山周刊》上的一则广告，上面写着：“我将为你录制专辑。
Reasonable rates, excellent service, pick up available.
价格合理，服务优良，可接送。
Bob." And it gave a phone number.
鲍勃。”并且还给出了一个电话号码。
Prostitution, that's what I thought anyway.
卖淫，我就是这么想的。
Paying someone to make a tape for you seems a whole lot like paying someone for a kiss.
花钱请人为你制作一盘磁带，就像花钱请人接吻一样。
I asked Nick Hornby what his music-mad, record clerks would think if they saw Bob's ad in the paper.
我问尼克·霍恩比（Nick Hornby），他那些对音乐痴迷的唱片店员如果在报纸上看到鲍勃的广告，会怎么想。
Their public view would be that it's a terrible, awful job for a grown man to do, and why haven't all these people got their own turntables and stuff.
他们的公众观点是，对于一个成年人来说，这是一项非常非常糟糕的工作，为什么这些人没有拥有自己的转盘之类的东西。
But I think maybe they'd think secretly it was kind of a neat job, and that they'd like to sit at home all day taping other people's records.
但我想也许他们会暗自认为这是一份很棒的工作，他们喜欢整天坐在家里录制别人的唱片。
I called the number in the ad and talked to Bob, a very nice, sane person, actually.
我拨打了广告中的号码并与鲍勃交谈，实际上，他是一个非常友善、理智的人。
I expressed my reservations about his work, using subtle, professional phrases such as, "What a weird job."
我表达了我对他的工作的保留意见，使用了微妙而专业的短语，例如“多么奇怪的工作啊”。
In my business, what I'm doing is I'm taking music that people already own and taping it for them.
在我的生意中，我所做的就是将人们已经拥有的音乐并为他们录制。
I see it as providing a service that people are happy to pay for.
我认为它提供了一种人们乐意付费的服务。
They think it's worth the money.
他们认为这钱花得值。
So I feel great and make a little money on the side, and no problem.
所以我感觉很好，还能赚点小钱，没问题。
So Bob's business is much more, well, businesslike than I imagined.
所以鲍勃的生意比我想象的要务实得多。
He doesn't make the kind of painstaking compilation tapes you make for someone you have a crush on.
他不会为你暗恋的人制作那种煞费苦心的合辑磁带。
Actually, people call me, and they're so delighted to find out that this service exists.
事实上，人们打电话给我，他们很高兴发现这项服务的存在。
They're super happy and almost not even that price sensitive.
他们非常高兴，甚至对价格也不那么敏感。
Bob's rates vary depending on the quantity of taping his clients demand, but he says each tape costs, on average, about $10.
鲍勃的费率根据客户需求的录音数量而有所不同，但他说每盘磁带的平均成本约为 10 美元。
I thought this sounded sort of steep, myself, but the producers of This American Life found the price quite reasonable, considering it's what they charge for their tapes, which they'd like me to remind you may be ordered by calling 312-832-3380.
我本人认为这听起来有些陡峭，但《This American Life》的制作人发现这个价格相当合理，考虑到这是他们的磁带收费，他们希望我提醒您可以致电 312-832-3380 订购。
So after mulling over the unsavory idea that someone might be willing to pay someone else good money to make a compilation tape for his or her loved one, I decided I wanted the job.
因此，在仔细考虑了一个令人讨厌的想法后，我决定我想要这份工作。
I had heard that my friend, Dave, has a new lady in his life.
我听说我的朋友戴夫的生活中有一位新女士。
So I roped him into hiring me to make a tape for her.
所以我说服他雇用我为她制作一盘磁带。
Honestly, it would be a good idea.
老实说，这将是一个好主意。
Our relationship could use--
我们的关系可以使用——
You're at the tape stage?
你正处于录音阶段吗？
Dave Well, it could use a spark, I guess.
戴夫 好吧，我想这可能需要火花。
So tell me about her.
那么请告诉我关于她的事。
Let's try and get at who she is.
让我们试着了解一下她是谁。
Is she a femme fatale kind of girl, or is she more of a My Funny Valentine?
她是蛇蝎美人类型的女孩，还是更像我有趣的情人节女孩？
She's really, in a sort of a scary way, maybe too much of a carbon copy of me.
从某种程度上来说，她确实是我的翻版。
No. I wouldn't say either one of those.
不，我不会说其中任何一个。
It's not like a saccharine sweet kind of thing.
它不像糖精之类的甜食。
It's kind of low key.
有点低调。
So I want to know how intense you feel about her, and I need to run some songs by you.
所以我想知道你对她的感觉有多强烈，我需要播放一些你创作的歌曲。
And you tell me whether some of these songs are kind of going too far-- how ready you are to say some of this stuff.
你告诉我其中一些歌曲是否有点太过分了——你是否准备好说出这些内容了。
"I Want to Hold Your Hand." Are you OK with that kind of feeling?
“我想牵你的手。”你能接受这种感觉吗？
Sure.
当然。
Sarah Vowell OK.
莎拉·沃威尔 好的。
Let's say the Stones, "Let's Spend the Night Together."
让我们对滚石来说，“让我们一起过夜吧。”
Yeah, that's nice.
是的，那很好。
Sarah Vowell Frank Sinatra singing, "Love and Marriage."
莎拉·沃威尔弗兰克·辛纳屈演唱《爱情与婚姻》。
Nah, well, yeah, no. It's not like-- I guess if we're trying to reflect the spirit of our little relationship so far, it's not like sentimental, I guess, if that makes any sense.
不，好吧，是的，不。我想，如果我们试图反映迄今为止我们之间的小关系的精神，我想，这不像是感伤的，如果这有任何意义的话。
The "I love you, I need you" kind of genre would be out, I think.
我认为“我爱你，我需要你”这种类型将会过时。
I think it would be more of the upbeat, fun stuff than "Love Me Tender" kind of stuff, at this point.
我认为在这一点上，它会比“温柔地爱我”之类的东西更乐观、有趣。
Once I started making Dave's tape, I discovered something I had never suspected.
当我开始制作戴夫的磁带时，我发现了一些我从未怀疑过的事情。
Choosing the songs and their order was sweaty, arduous toil.
选择歌曲及其顺序是一项艰巨的工作。
Making a mix tape isn't like writing a letter.
制作混音带不像写信。
It's like having a job.
这就像有一份工作。
Without love as the engine of my labor, it was not fun.
如果没有爱作为我劳动的引擎，那就没有乐趣了。
And I discovered something else.
我还发现了一些别的东西。
I did not want to follow Dave's instructions.
我不想听从戴夫的指示。
Sure, I had worked in the service industry before, and I understood its abiding principle, "the customer is always right." At first, I was committed to following Dave's wish not to get too sentimental.
当然，我以前在服务行业工作过，我明白“顾客永远是对的”这一永恒的原则。起初，我致力于遵循戴夫的愿望，不要过于感伤。
But I don't know if you've listened to much popular music recorded in the last, oh half century, but it's pretty gushy stuff.
但我不知道你是否听过过去半个世纪录制的流行音乐，但它们都是非常热情的东西。
Even though Dave hired me to choose love songs that didn't say, "I love you," there aren't that many out there.
尽管戴夫雇佣我来选择没有说“我爱你”的情歌，但那里的情歌并不多。
And even if there were, I'm fully confident that his desire for them is dead wrong.
即使有，我也完全相信他对它们的渴望是完全错误的。
My reasoning-- he's a boy, I'm a girl, I know better.
我的理由是——他是男孩，我是女孩，我更了解。
Certainly, in making the tape, I exercised restraint.
当然，在制作磁带的过程中，我保持了克制。
After all, they've only been together for two months.
毕竟他们才在一起两个月。
We want to reassure her, not scare her off.
我们想让她放心，而不是吓跑她。
I steered clear of the heavies, avoiding the serious courtship crooner, Al Green, and vetoing Elvis, who should, in my opinion, only be employed when you really mean it.
我避开了重量级人物，避开了严肃的求爱歌手艾尔·格林，并否决了埃尔维斯，在我看来，只有当你真正愿意的时候才应该雇用他。
And when I did invoke Sinatra, I played it safe, not "Taking a Chance on Love," or even "I've Got a Crush on You," picking, instead, cheerful, subtle "Let's Get Away From It All" as a low-key, "you and me baby, just the two of us out of town" sort of thing.
当我引用辛纳屈的时候，我很谨慎，没有选择“抓住爱情的机会”，甚至没有选择“我迷恋你”，而是选择了欢快、微妙的“让我们远离这一切”，低调地表达“你和我，宝贝，只有我们两个出城”之类的东西。
[SINGING] Let's grab a kayak to Quincy or Nyack.
[唱歌] 让我们划一艘皮划艇去昆西或尼亚克。
Let's get away from it all.
让我们远离这一切吧。
Cole Porter's "Let's Do It" found a place too, but I went with urbane jokester Noel Coward's Live in Las Vegas rendition in which he moons, "Each man out there shooting craps does it.
科尔·波特 (Cole Porter) 的《Let's Do It》也占有一席之地，但我选择了温文尔雅的笑话家诺尔·科沃德 (Noel Coward) 的《拉斯维加斯现场》(Live in Las Vegas) 表演，他在其中感叹道：“每个掷骰子的人都会这么做。
Davy Crockett in that dreadful cap does it." Still, despite Dave's "hold the sugar" request, the word "love" does pop up something like 98 times over the course of the tape.
戴着那顶可怕帽子的戴维·克罗克特做到了。”尽管如此，尽管戴夫提出了“不要吃糖”的要求，“爱”这个词在整个录音带中确实出现了大约 98 次。
So I dropped off the tape at his house, and the next day, we got together to talk about it.
所以我把磁带放在他家，第二天，我们聚在一起讨论这件事。
So Dave, you have the tape.
戴夫，你有磁带。
What do you think?
你怎么认为？
I do.
我愿意。
I like the tape a lot, personally.
我个人非常喜欢这盘磁带。
Really?
真的吗？
Dave Yeah, I like it a lot.
戴夫 是的，我非常喜欢。
There isn't really anything that I don't really like.
真的没有什么是我不喜欢的。
I don't know if you noticed or not, but I sort of ditched your instructions.
我不知道你是否注意到，但我有点放弃了你的指示。
Because you told me not to be too sentimental, and to keep it light and upbeat.
因为你告诉我不要太感伤，要保持轻松乐观。
I thought it was light.
我以为很轻。
Sarah Vowell The word "love" is used a lot.
莎拉·沃威尔“爱”这个词用得很多。
It's bandied about, let's say.
可以说，它被广泛传播。
Yesterday, you said quote, "'The I love you, I need you' genre would be out."
昨天，你说过，“‘我爱你，我需要你’类型将会过时。”
I did, and I don't know where they say that in this--
我做到了，但我不知道他们在哪里这么说——
In the song?
歌里？
Dave --tape.
戴夫——磁带。
Do they?
他们有吗？
It's still all kind of light.
一切仍然是光明。
"I love you" is certainly in there.
“我爱你”肯定就在里面。
Really?
真的吗？
I don't think it is.
我不认为是这样。
Sarah Vowell I think it is.
莎拉·沃威尔 我认为是的。
I don't think it is.
我不认为是这样。
The Raspberries [SINGING] I need you.
覆盆子[唱歌]我需要你。
Come on.
快点。
I love you.
我爱你。
Come on.
快点。
I need you.
我需要你。
This song is on the tape, along with Chic's "Give Me the Lovin'" and James Brown's "Hot- I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved." I don't know what he's talking about.
这首歌与 Chic 的“Give Me the Lovin'”和 James Brown 的“Hot-I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved”一起收录在磁带中。我不知道他在说什么。
Anyway, the argument might be moot.
无论如何，这个争论可能没有实际意义。
We got in some kind of fight this morning.
今天早上我们发生了某种争吵。
So I haven't--
所以我没有——
You got into a fight this morning about another issue?
今天早上你们因为另一个问题吵架了？
Yeah, a different thing.
是的，不同的事情。
So she hasn't seen this.
所以她没有看到这个。
So now you need a tape.
所以现在你需要一盘磁带。
Dave Yeah, maybe.
戴夫 是的，也许吧。
I don't know what's up actually.
我不知道到底是怎么回事。
Don't spoil my narrative here Dave.
别破坏我的叙述，戴夫。
See what happens is you give her the tape.
如果你把磁带给她，看看会发生什么。
She falls for you even more, and she forgives you for all of your trespasses, past and future, knowing you.
她更加爱上你，她了解你，原谅你过去和未来的所有过错。
And this kind of saves your relationship, and you live happy ever after.
这可以挽救你们的关系，让你们从此过上幸福的生活。
I like it.
我喜欢它。
OK.
好的。
Sarah Vowell That's what happens.
莎拉·沃威尔 这就是发生的事情。
That would have happened if he had made the tape himself.
如果他自己制作磁带，就会发生这种情况。
Unfortunately, he's just enough of a bad boyfriend to pay someone to make a tape, but not enough of a bad boyfriend to lie about it.
不幸的是，他只是一个坏男朋友，付钱请人制作一盘磁带，但还不够坏男朋友在这件事上撒谎。
She already knows where that tainted cassette comes from, and it's not going to save their romance.
她已经知道那盘被污染的磁带来自哪里，但这并不能挽救他们的浪漫。
As for me, I'm getting out of this dirty business.
至于我，我要摆脱这个肮脏的行业了。
Don't call the radio station inquiring about my services.
不要打电话给广播电台询问我的服务。
Save your $10.
节省 10 美元。
Consider me reformed.
考虑一下我已经改过自新了。
You're not going to give it to her, Dave?
你不打算把它给她吗，戴夫？
I will.
我会。
I will, I guess.
我想我会的。
I'll give it to her.
我会把它给她。
It's actually a really good tape.
这实际上是一个非常好的磁带。
If I had made it, it probably would mean a lot.
如果我成功了，那可能意义重大。
Does that make sense?
这有道理吗？
Right.
正确的。
You can be the buffer.
你可以成为缓冲者。
Sarah Vowell Because I have the guts to tell her what you feel--
莎拉·沃威尔 因为我有勇气告诉她你的感受——
That's exactly it.
就是这样。
Sarah Vowell --even if you don't.
莎拉·沃威尔——即使你不这样做。
[MUSIC - "MIX TAPE" BY THE NONCE]
[音乐 - NONCE 的“MIX TAPE”]
Act Four.
第四幕。
This story of near proximity to the news, media, entertainment, megalith industry comes from Chicago writer and performer Cheryl Trykv.
这个与新闻、媒体、娱乐、巨石行业密切相关的故事来自芝加哥作家兼表演者谢丽尔·特里克夫 (Cheryl Trykv)。
It's just a week or two before sixth grade graduation.
距离六年级毕业只有一两周了。
My parents decide to celebrate early with a weekend family trip, just the three of us.
我的父母决定提前庆祝周末家庭旅行，只有我们三个人。
I tell them to save their money.
我告诉他们要省钱。
I'm not interested.
我对此不感兴趣。
They insist that all my hard work should be rewarded.
他们坚持认为我所有的努力都应该得到回报。
"Yeah?" I say.
“是的？”我说。
"Then buy me a horse."
“那就给我买一匹马吧。”
My mother smiles, sips her martini and tells me, "Spoilsports are unattractive." I tell her I'm not a spoilsport.
我母亲微笑着，抿了一口马提尼酒，告诉我：“破坏性的运动没有吸引力。”我告诉她我不是一个扫兴的人。
I just don't feel like spending the weekend trapped with the same old parents I live with every day.
我只是不想和每天住在一起的老父母一起度过周末。
I tell them it doesn't sound like much of a reward at all.
我告诉他们，这听起来根本不是什么奖励。
As a matter of fact, it sounds more like punishment.
事实上，这听起来更像是惩罚。
I say if they really want to reward me, they'd go away themselves and leave me at home, where I could stay up late and watch Dick Cavett if I wanted.
我说，如果他们真的想奖励我，他们会自己走开，把我留在家里，如果我愿意的话，我可以熬夜看迪克·卡维特。
My father becomes irritated.
我父亲变得很恼火。
He tells me to go to my room and not come out until I decided on a place the three of us could go and all have a good time.
他让我回到我的房间，直到我决定我们三个人可以去的地方并且大家都玩得很开心之前不要出来。
In my room, I draw on my sketchbook pictures of a beautiful me riding a flying horse up and away from my parents who had shackled themselves to a wet bar.
在我的房间里，我在速写本上画出美丽的我骑着一匹飞马，远离把自己锁在酒吧里的父母。
My mother's face is tired and pleading, as my father teases her empty glass with a bottle of Wild Turkey.
当我父亲用一瓶野火鸡逗弄她的空杯子时，我母亲的脸上充满了疲倦和恳求。
I listen to the radio, rearrange my closet.
我听广播，重新整理我的衣柜。
At dinner time, I return to my parents and tell them I decided, very carefully, that San Francisco seems a reasonable choice.
晚餐时，我回到父母身边，告诉他们我非常仔细地决定，旧金山似乎是一个合理的选择。
We could drive there from our little home in Los Angeles in just under a day, if they were careful not to lollygag.
如果他们小心不要胡言乱语的话，我们可以在不到一天的时间内从洛杉矶的小家开车到那里。
The route is scenic, and they could visit Alcatraz while I took in the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.
这条路线风景优美，他们可以参观恶魔岛，而我则参观里普利信不信由你博物馆。
Later, we could all meet for lunch on the wharf.
后来，我们可以在码头见面共进午餐。
My mother looks at my father.
我妈妈看着我爸爸。
She looks down at her hands and smiles at them.
她低头看着自己的双手，并对它们微笑。
My father says he's sorry, but that I'd taken too long to decide and that arrangements have already been made.
我父亲说他很抱歉，但我花了太长时间才做出决定，而且已经做好了安排。
We'd be staying for the weekend at Aunt Rita's place in Palm Springs while she was away in Hawaii.
当丽塔阿姨去夏威夷时，我们会在她位于棕榈泉的住所过周末。
Palm Springs?
棕榈泉？
I tell them I'm not going to Palm Springs.
我告诉他们我不会去棕榈泉。
The place is a cemetery, and I'd rather go to Hell.
这个地方是墓地，我宁愿去地狱。
My father tells me to watch my mouth.
我父亲告诉我要管住自己的嘴。
My mother looks up from her hand and stares off into the space just over my head.
我母亲从她的手上抬起头，凝视着我头顶上方的空间。
"Aunt Rita has a pool, dear." "We have a pool here, Mommy." I tell them I'm not going to Palm Springs.
“丽塔阿姨有一个游泳池，亲爱的。” “妈妈，我们这里有一个游泳池。”我告诉他们我不会去棕榈泉。
I'm going to San Francisco.
我要去旧金山。
End of story.
故事结束。
When we get to Palm Springs, we take the tram ride up into the San Jacinto Mountains where there is still snow on the ground.
当我们到达棕榈泉时，我们乘坐电车前往圣哈辛托山脉，那里的地面仍然有积雪。
My mother calls it "a miracle of nature that one minute we'd be in the middle of a blazing desert, and the next minute, up high in the mountains where gentle beds of snow lingered bravely under God's mighty sun." I call the place "a waste of time."
我母亲称之为“大自然的奇迹，前一分钟我们还在炽热的沙漠中，下一分钟就到了高山上，在上帝强大的阳光下，柔软的雪床勇敢地徘徊。”我称这个地方“浪费时间”。
For lunch, we eat at Trader Vic's.
午餐时，我们在 Trader Vic's 餐厅用餐。
At Aunt Rita's, Dad takes a nap on the living room couch while Mother and I change into our bathing suits.
在丽塔阿姨家，爸爸在客厅的沙发上小睡，而我和妈妈则换上泳衣。
I swim for a bit in the pool, then rest on a patio lounge next to my mother who is groggy and only half awake.
我在游泳池里游了一会儿，然后在露台休息室里休息，旁边是我母亲，她昏昏沉沉，半梦半醒。
"Oh, my," she says.
“哦，天哪，”她说。
"It certainly is an oven out here." "What did you expect?" She leans over and asks me in a throaty whisper if I know who lives on the other side of the hedge that runs along the far side of the yard.
“这里肯定是一个烤箱。” “你期待什么？”她倾身过来，用嘶哑的声音低声问我是否知道谁住在院子另一边的树篱的另一边。
"How should I know?" I say.
“我怎么知道？”我说。
"Shirley Booth," she says.
“雪莉·布斯，”她说。
"Shirley Booth?
“雪莉·布斯？
Who's that supposed to be?" She tells me Shirley Booth is a famous actress.
那应该是谁？”她告诉我雪莉·布斯是一位著名女演员。
"If she's so famous, how come I've never heard of her?"
“她这么有名，我怎么没听说过？”
"Shirley Booth is the actress who played Hazel on TV, dear." "Oh, her.
“亲爱的，雪莉·布斯是在电视上扮演黑兹尔的女演员。” “哦，她。
I know her.
我认识她。
She's not so famous.
她没那么出名。
Vivian Vance is more famous than her."
维维安·万斯比她更有名。”
My mother leans back down into her chaise and places her tall bourbon and water between her legs and closes her eyes.
我母亲靠在躺椅上，把高高的波本威士忌和水放在两腿之间，然后闭上眼睛。
I go inside for a ginger ale.
我进去喝一杯姜汁汽水。
Off the kitchen at Aunt Rita's is a service porch with a door leading into the garage.
丽塔阿姨家的厨房旁边有一个服务门廊，门廊通向车库。
I open the door and peek around.
我打开门，四处张望。
I find a three-speed Schwinn bicycle with large metal cargo baskets over each side of the back wheel.
我发现一辆三速 Schwinn 自行车，后轮两侧都有大型金属货篮。
It's an old lady's bike, but I check it for flats and take it out for a spin.
这是一辆老太太的自行车，但我检查了它是否漏气，然后把它拿出来骑了一圈。
The neighborhood is quiet.
附近很安静。
It sizzles with quiet, like the quiet baking soda makes on a grease fire.
它发出安静的嘶嘶声，就像小苏打在油脂火上产生的安静一样。
It's hot, maybe 110, but I don't care.
天气很热，大概110度，但我不在乎。
I'm devil-may-care in the belly of Hell.
我在地狱的腹地里，不管怎样。
I'm free.
我有空了。
I turn up a street named Vista Mirage and imagine myself starring in a made-for-TV movie called "Teen Getaway." As I ride, I look back over my shoulder as if someone were chasing me.
我来到一条名为 Vista Mirage 的街道，想象自己正在出演一部名为《青少年逍遥游》的电视电影。当我骑行时，我回头望去，好像有人在追我。
"Where you going to run to," I ask myself.
“你要跑到哪里去？”我问自己。
"Lost in a ghost town or a town of fools, why is she running?
“迷失在鬼城或愚人城里，她为什么要逃跑？
Nobody knows.
没有人知道。
'Teen Getaway'."
《青少年逍遥游》。”
Somebody's front yard is a rock garden with red and green yard elves peeping through clusters of poinsettia, their faces curly and prankish.
某人的前院是一个岩石花园，红色和绿色的庭院精灵从一簇簇一品红中窥视，他们的脸卷曲而恶作剧。
The wind is at my back, and I coast around another corner and down another street.
风在我背后吹来，我绕过另一个拐角，沿着另一条街道滑行。
I'm on the run.
我正在逃跑。
I pass new housing under construction and imagine, "This may be where I will need to camp for the night."
我经过正在建设中的新住房，想象着：“这可能是我需要露营过夜的地方。”
After a bit, it occurs to me as I ride that I should've checked the time before leaving Aunt Rita's or changed into a tee shirt or shorts, or at least put on a pair of shoes.
过了一会儿，当我骑车的时候，我突然想到，在离开丽塔阿姨家之前我应该检查一下时间，或者换上T恤或短裤，或者至少穿上一双鞋子。
I feel naked riding a bike in public wearing only my swimsuit, no one around in their swimsuit to make me feel less nude.
我感觉自己在公共场合裸体骑自行车，只穿着泳衣，周围没有人穿泳衣让我感觉不那么裸体。
The sun bakes the top of my head, burns my lips and I'm thirsty.
太阳炙烤着我的头顶，灼伤了我的嘴唇，我感到口渴。
So I circle back.
于是我绕了回来。
I'm not sure what street I'm on.
我不确定我在哪条街上。
I circle left and cut through the construction site.
我向左转，穿过建筑工地。
The path I take leads out into an open stretch of desert highway.
我走的路通向一片开阔的沙漠公路。
A station wagon filled with boys wearing baseball uniforms drives by and honks.
一辆满载穿着棒球服的男孩的旅行车开过，按着喇叭。
One of the boys leans out the window and howls like a wild coyote.
其中一个男孩探出窗外，像野狼一样嚎叫。
"Stupid little coyote boy, go ahead.
“愚蠢的小土狼男孩，继续吧。
Laugh." Out in the heat of the day, riding a goofy old lady's bike, nude, not even wearing a hat, I feel like an idiot and circle back.
笑吧。”大热天，骑着傻乎乎的老太太的自行车，赤身裸体，连帽子都没戴，我感觉自己像个白痴，然后又转了回来。
My head hurts from the sun, and I'm tired and thirsty.
太阳晒得我头疼，又累又渴。
And now, I have to go to the bathroom also.
现在，我也要去趟洗手间。
A terrible, hot wind blows against me, and the gears on the bike seem to be stuck in third.
一股可怕的热风向我吹来，自行车上的齿轮似乎卡在了第三档。
Each street winds, and bends, and twists, and it seems that every other one of them is a cul-de-sac with a sign posted reading, "No way out."
每条街道都蜿蜒曲折，似乎每条街道都是一条死胡同，上面贴着一块牌子，上面写着“没有出路”。
I feel weak, like I might collapse in the heat and blister to death.
我感觉很虚弱，好像我可能会在高温中崩溃并起水泡而死。
My mouth is dry.
我的嘴很干。
"Can't get no spit." I remember Mr. [?
“不能不吐口水。”我记得[？
Pallone ?] at school telling the class that if we were ever lost at sea and dying of thirst, the only chance we'd have of surviving was to drink our own blood or urine.
帕隆？]在学校告诉全班同学，如果我们在海上迷路并渴死，我们唯一的生存机会就是喝自己的血或尿液。
The class booed the choices, and Mr. [?
全班对这个选择发出了嘘声，[？
Pallone ?] threw his head back and laughed and said, "Take your pick."
帕隆？] 仰起头笑道：“你选吧。”
I passed the yard elves again and can hear them laughing and chanting, "Drink your pee.
我再次经过院子里的小精灵，听到他们大笑并高喊着：“喝你的尿。
Drink your pee." I keep riding and wonder if I should try it, seeing as it would serve a dual purpose, but can't quite picture in my mind how it would happen.
喝你的尿。”我继续骑行，想知道是否应该尝试一下，因为它有双重目的，但我无法完全想象它会如何发生。
I imagine how embarrassed I'd be when they find me, heaped over on the side of the road in some whacked out, hooey guru, yoga position, dead and wet in a puddle of pee.
我想象着当他们发现我时，我会多么尴尬，我躺在路边，摆出一副胡言乱语的瑜伽姿势，死在一滩尿里，浑身湿透。
A tarantula would be crawling out of my mouth also when they found me.
当他们发现我时，一只狼蛛也会从我嘴里爬出来。
And I imagine they'd bury me right here in Palm Springs on a lonely plot of desert.
我想他们会把我埋在棕榈泉的一片偏僻的沙漠里。
And what a mystery it would be when my grave was covered all year round with a gentle bed of snow.
当我的坟墓终年被一层薄薄的雪覆盖时，那将是多么神秘啊。
I see my parents crying as the camera pans out from my grave.
当镜头从我的坟墓中移出时，我看到我的父母在哭泣。
The TV credits for "Teen Getaway" roll up the screen in my mind, and I see that Linda Purl has played me.
《青少年逍遥游》的电视片尾在我脑海中滚动，我看到琳达·普尔扮演了我。
Someone named Hitch was a gaffer, and soft and handsome, I hear the voice of Glen Campbell sing the theme song to the story of me.
一个叫希奇的人是个灯光师，又温柔又帅气，我听到格伦·坎贝尔的声音唱着《我的故事》的主题曲。
In a panic, I ride up somebody's lawn and can't stop without falling off the bike, my legs are so trembly and weak.
慌乱中，我骑上某人的草坪，一停下就从自行车上摔下来，我的腿颤抖无力。
I run to the door, ring the bell.
我跑到门口，按响门铃。
No answer.
没有答案。
I run to the next house, ring the bell, knock on the door.
我跑到隔壁房子，按响门铃，敲门。
"Dammit!
“该死！
Answer, somebody!"
来人回答一下吧！”
An old woman comes to the door.
一位老妇人来到门口。
It's Hazel.
是榛树。
[LAUGHTER] I'm delirious, laughing and crying at the same time, so happy to see the face of a woman who looks so kind.
[笑声] 我神志不清，又笑又哭，很高兴看到一个看起来如此善良的女人的脸。
I've never seen a kinder face.
我从未见过比这更友善的面孔。
I tell her I've gotten lost on my bike, and I'm thirsty and need to use her bathroom.
我告诉她我骑自行车迷路了，我渴了，需要去一下她的浴室。
"Oh, my," she says, "come in."
“哦，天哪，”她说，“进来吧。”
"Come in." The words so carefully chosen, so simple, so meaningful, so correct.
“进来。”这些词是那么精心挑选的，那么简单，那么有意义，那么正确。
"Come in," as if to say, "Hello, little friend, brave bird of passage, welcome.
“请进来”，仿佛在说：“你好，小朋友，勇敢的候鸟，欢迎光临。
You have landed.
你已经着陆了。
Come, let me foster your repair."
来吧，我来培养你的修为。”
She takes me and leads me down a cool hall to a small guest bathroom with little shell soaps and tells me to take my time.
她带我穿过一个凉爽的大厅，来到一间配有小贝壳肥皂的小客用浴室，并告诉我慢慢来。
And I cry and pray as I wash my hands and feet, and splash water on my face.
当我洗手、洗脚、往脸上泼水时，我一边哭泣一边祈祷。
"Thank God for her," I say to myself.
“感谢上帝赐予她，”我对自己说。
"God bless Hazel."
“上帝保佑黑兹尔。”
When I come out of the bathroom, I find Shirley Booth in the kitchen slicing lemons.
当我从浴室出来时，我发现雪莉·布斯正在厨房里切柠檬。
"Do you take lemon in your water," she asks me.
“你在水里加柠檬吗？”她问我。
"Yes, I do," I say, never having tried it before.
“是的，我愿意，”我说，但我以前从未尝试过。
"Are you Shirley Booth?" "That's me," she says, and invites me into her living room where we sit and drink our waters next to a large aquarium filled with tropical fish.
“你是雪莉·布斯吗？” “那就是我，”她说，并邀请我进入她的客厅，我们坐在一个充满热带鱼的大水族馆旁边喝水。
I tell her about my idea for "Teen Getaway." "That's a snappy idea for a TV film." Snappy idea, how playful.
我告诉她我对“青少年逍遥游”的想法。 “对于电视电影来说，这是一个聪明的想法。”创意十足，多么有趣啊。
Coming from my mother, "snappy idea" would only sound spastic, but coming from Hazel, the words are fresh and reinforcing.
“活泼的想法”如果出自我母亲之口，听起来只会让人感到痉挛，但如果出自黑兹尔之口，这句话就显得新鲜而有力。
"That's a snappy idea for a TV film," as if to say, "Teen Getaway, yes!
“这对电视电影来说是一个聪明的主意，”仿佛在说，“《青少年逍遥游》，是的！
You should go with that!"
你应该随它去！”
We sit and talk about New York City and American theater.
我们坐下来谈论纽约市和美国戏剧。
We talk about Hollywood, and movies, and the whole business.
我们谈论好莱坞、电影和整个行业。
I ask her if the rumors I'd heard about Joan Crawford and Lucille Ball being lezzie lovers were true.
我问她我听到的关于琼·克劳馥和露西尔·鲍尔是女同性恋者的传言是否属实。
She says she hadn't heard that, but that once, at a party for then Governor Reagan, Lucille Ball was drunk and tossed a grape down Shirley Booth's bosom.
她说她没有听说过，但有一次，在时任州长里根的一次聚会上，露西尔·鲍尔喝醉了，把一颗葡萄扔进了雪莉·布斯的怀里。
[LAUGHTER] We laugh.
[笑声]我们笑了。
"That's a good one," I say.
“这很好，”我说。
On my way out, I thank Shirley Booth for letting me in.
在出去的路上，我感谢雪莉·布斯让我进去。
She says it was all her pleasure and thanked me for stopping by.
她说这是她的荣幸，并感谢我过来。
What luck, knocking on Hazel's door like that.
真幸运，能这样敲黑兹尔的门。
If the first door I'd knocked on had answered, it would have been some anonymous old man who would have told me there was a hose on the side.
如果我敲的第一扇门答应了，那一定是某个匿名的老人告诉我旁边有一根软管。
His wife would've let me in, but their house would have smelled like a cat box.
他的妻子会让我进去，但他们的房子闻起来像猫窝。
And while I was in the bathroom, she would have peeked her little head in and asked if everything was all right.
当我在浴室里时，她会探头探脑地问是否一切都好。
Her lips would be covered with frosted pink lipstick and white sugar from a powdered doughnut.
她的嘴唇上会涂上磨砂粉色口红和甜甜圈粉中的白糖。
But Shirley's lips are pretty, like the cherry lips of a friendly elf.
但雪莉的嘴唇很漂亮，就像友善精灵的樱桃唇。
I bike around the block to Aunt Rita's.
我骑自行车绕着街区去丽塔阿姨家。
The car out front is gone, but a note from my father says he's left to play golf.
前面的车已经开走了，但我父亲的一张纸条上写着他要去打高尔夫球了。
My mother is passed out in the den.
我妈妈在书房里昏倒了。
[APPLAUSE] Ira Glass The fabulous Cheryl Trykv.
[掌声] Ira Glass 出色的 Cheryl Trykv。
Well, our program was produced today by Alix Spiegel and myself with Peter Clowney and Nancy Updike.
嗯，我们今天的节目是由阿利克斯·斯皮格尔和我、彼得·克劳尼和南希·厄普代克共同制作的。
Contributing editors Paul Tough, Jack Hitt, and Margy Rochlin.
特约编辑 Paul Tough、Jack Hitt 和 Margy Rochlin。
Other production help from Julie Snyder, Jorge Just, Todd Bachmann, and Sylvia Lemus.
朱莉·斯奈德、豪尔赫·贾斯特、托德·巴赫曼和西尔维娅·莱穆斯为制作提供了其他帮助。
[ACKNOWEDGEMENTS] To buy a cassette of this program, call us here at WBEZ in Chicago, 312-832-3380.
[致谢] 要购买该节目的磁带，请致电我们芝加哥的 WBEZ，电话：312-832-3380。
You know you can listen to most of our programs for free on the internet at our website at www.thislife.org.
您知道，您可以在我们的网站 www.thislife.org 上免费收听我们的大部分节目。
Thanks to Elizabeth Meister who runs the site.
感谢运营该网站的伊丽莎白·梅斯特 (Elizabeth Meister)。
This American Life is distributed by Public Radio International.
《美国生活》由国际公共广播电台发行。
[FUNDING CREDITS] WBEZ management oversight by Torey Malatia, who reminds you please do not--
[资金来源] WBEZ 管理由 Torey Malatia 监督，他提醒您不要——
I'm Ira Glass, back next week with more stories from This American Life.
我是艾拉·格拉斯，下周回来，带来更多《美国生活》的故事。
This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.
《This American Life》与 WBEZ Chicago 合作制作，并由 PRX 公共广播电台传送到各电台。