6: Christmas - 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 #6 | December 22, 1995 6: Christmas 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 6 集 | 1995 年 12 月 22 日 6：圣诞节 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。
Prologue Ira Glass From the WBEZ Chicago, it's Your Radio Playhouse.
序言 Ira Glass 来自 WBEZ 芝加哥，这是您的广播剧场。
Hi.
你好。
My name is Reverend Calvin Bridges.
我的名字是卡尔文·布里奇斯牧师。
And I'm the minister of music of at the Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church.
我是信仰帐幕浸信会教堂的音乐牧师。
And the music that you will hear tonight is being provided by the Faith Tabernacle Voices and the Faith Tabernacle Youth Voices.
今晚您将听到的音乐是由信仰帐幕之声和信仰帐幕青年之声提供的。
[CHOIR SINGING] Ira Glass Your Radio Playhouse .
[合唱团演唱] Ira Glass 你的广播剧场。
Well, it's a special treat tonight to bring you music, over the course of the hour, from the Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church down at 82nd and Stony on Chicago's South Side.
好吧，今晚在一个小时内为您带来来自芝加哥南区 82 街和斯托尼的信仰帐幕浸信会教堂 (Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church) 的音乐真是一种特别的享受。
Our thinking was that by this point in the Christmas season, people are pretty much tired of the regular Christmas records.
我们的想法是，到了圣诞节的这个时候，人们已经厌倦了常规的圣诞节记录。
So we thought that we would bring different music.
所以我们想带来不同的音乐。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Also this evening, we have amazing new stories by Reginald Gibbons, and Beau O'Reilly, and others.
今天晚上，我们还有雷金纳德·吉本斯、博·奥莱利等人的精彩新故事。
We have the debut of a new radio theater company.
我们有一家新的广播剧公司首次亮相。
How often do you really get to say those words in 1990?
在 1990 年，你真正能经常说这些话吗？
A new radio theater company created by writer David Sedaris, his sister Amy, a bunch of other people.
作家大卫·塞达里斯（David Sedaris）、他的妹妹艾米（Amy）和其他一些人创建了一家新的广播剧团。
They call themselves the Pine Tree Gang.
他们称自己为松树帮。
You know, the thing about Christmas is, that a Christmas, people are like themselves but more so.
你知道，关于圣诞节的事情是，在圣诞节，人们就像他们自己，但更是如此。
You know the saying that you can tell a lot about a person in a crisis?
您知道这样一句话吗：您可以了解一个处于危机中的人的很多情况？
You can tell a lot about a person at Christmas also.
在圣诞节你也可以讲述很多关于一个人的事情。
That is not because Christmas is a crisis.
这并不是因为圣诞节是一场危机。
As one of the producers on this program, Nancy Updike, has suggested this week, it's because Christmas is the one day in the American year when, more than any other, we are, all of us, handed exactly the same stage props with which to manufacture a day.
正如该节目的制作人之一南希·厄普代克（Nancy Updike）本周所建议的那样，这是因为圣诞节是美国一年中的一天，我们所有人都比其他任何一天都提供完全相同的舞台道具来制造一天。
The same expectations, the same presents, the same tree, the same idea of the meal, all that is handed to all of us.
相同的期望、相同的礼物、相同的树、相同的膳食创意，所有这些都交给了我们所有人。
And everybody is trying to fashion a day out of exactly the same materials.
每个人都试图用完全相同的材料来打造时尚的一天。
And when people do that, you could see exactly who chooses, what they choose, and why.
当人们这样做时，你可以准确地看到谁选择、他们选择什么以及为什么。
At Christmas, the kind hearted have an event on which they can exercise their kind heartedness.
圣诞节的时候，好心人有一个活动可以锻炼他们的善心。
The impatient have more reason to be impatient.
不耐烦的人更有理由不耐烦。
The manipulative and controlling have a set of meals and gifts with which to manipulate others.
操纵者和控制者有一套食物和礼物来操纵他人。
Everybody is themselves but more so.
每个人都是自己，但更重要的是。
Which brings us to our radio play.
这就引出了我们的广播剧。
Writer David Sedaris had an odd experience in his life.
作家大卫·塞达里斯（David Sedaris）的一生有一段奇怪的经历。
Namely, one of the first, big, public things that he did in his life is, he went on to National Public Radio and told the story of how he had worked as an elf at Santa Land at Macy's Department Store for two Christmases.
也就是说，他一生中所做的第一件重大的公开事情之一是，他在国家公共广播电台讲述了他如何在梅西百货商店的圣诞老人乐园工作了两个圣诞节的故事。
And pretty much for the course of the two years which followed, every Christmas he would get lots of calls from magazines, and newspapers, and TV, and radio.
几乎在接下来的两年里，每个圣诞节他都会接到很多来自杂志、报纸、电视和广播的电话。
People who wanted to hear yet another Christmas story, wanted him to unfold another Christmas story, bring one out.
人们想听另一个圣诞故事，希望他讲述另一个圣诞故事，拿出一个来。
Here's the Christmas guy.
这是圣诞节的家伙。
You know, here's the Christmas guy.
你知道，这是圣诞节的家伙。
And these requests, they inundated him and confounded him.
而这些要求，淹没了他，让他困惑。
No one wants to be considered, for the rest of their life, as an elf.
没有人愿意在余生中被视为精灵。
And so I think that was part of the inspiration for his radio play this evening.
所以我认为这是他今晚广播剧的灵感之一。
A premier radio play of our new radio group here at Your Radio Playhouse .
我们的新广播团体在您的广播剧场上演了首部广播剧。
The Pinetree Gang.
松树帮。
Last Christmas I decided to splurge and treat myself to a really extravagant present, something I'd always wanted, myself.
去年圣诞节，我决定挥霍一番，给自己买一件非常奢侈的礼物，这是我自己一直想要的东西。
Not who I wish I was, or what others wanted me to be.
不是我希望自己成为的人，也不是别人希望我成为的人。
No. Just plain old me.
不，只是普通的老我。
No fancy extras, no cash return, no exchange, just myself, Gene Larkin, wrapped up in a bright, brown ribbon of self acceptance.
没有花哨的额外费用，没有现金返还，没有兑换，只有我自己，吉恩·拉金，裹在一条明亮的棕色自我接受丝带中。
Take it or leave it.
要么接受，要么离开。
Leaving it, saying, no to myself was a pattern as old as the checkerboard plaid I used to cover my windows.
留下它，对自己说“不”，这是一种与我用来遮盖窗户的棋盘格子图案一样古老的图案。
I decided to break my old pattern and set fire to my curtains, allowing both myself and others to start dealing with the real me.
我决定打破我的旧模式，点燃我的窗帘，让自己和他人开始面对真正的我。
The me who asks, who says you can't drive to work in a go kart when you feel like it?
问我的我，谁说你不能开卡丁车去上班？
The me who says, let's start cooking with grapes for a change.
我说，让我们开始用葡萄做饭来改变一下吧。
I went through my life, removing all the barricades that said, no, you can't do that.
我经历了我的一生，清除了所有的障碍，告诉我不，你不能那样做。
Because me, I can do anything I want.
因为我，我可以做任何我想做的事。
One of the things I can do is type.
我能做的事情之一就是打字。
And another is to think about myself and my needs.
另一个是考虑我自己和我的需求。
I just never had the time or the opportunity to really knuckle down and practice my craft.
我只是从来没有时间或机会真正努力练习我的手艺。
After they had fired me for parking my go kart in the boss's handicapped space, I found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands.
当我因为把卡丁车停在老板的残疾人停车位而被他们解雇后，我发现自己有很多额外的时间。
And the opportunity, it came by way of the Center for Annex Learning, a former indoor skating facility the city fathers have turned into what they call a school without walls.
这个机会是通过附属学习中心获得的，该中心以前是一个室内滑冰设施，被城市之父们改造成他们所说的一所没有围墙的学校。
The classrooms are separated by curtains, but that's just for the sake of privacy.
教室之间用窗帘隔开，但这只是为了隐私。
The real walls are in our minds.
真正的墙在我们的脑海里。
And the center is devoted to helping us tear them down brick by brick.
该中心致力于帮助我们一砖一瓦地拆除它们。
I can't stand walls, not anymore.
我再也无法忍受墙壁了。
You should see what I've done with my house.
你应该看看我对我的房子做了什么。
I'm still working on it.
我还在努力。
But in the meantime, I dropped by the Center and signed up for a course called, "Writing for the Holidays." Because, as the teacher said,
但与此同时，我顺便去了中心并报名参加了一个名为“假期写作”的课程。因为正如老师所说，
Chances are, if you've got a story to tell, you've got a story to sell.
很可能，如果你有一个故事要讲，你就有一个故事要卖。
How many of you would like that [JINGLING BELLS] jingling sound to come from your pockets?
你们中有多少人希望从口袋里发出[JINGLING BELLS]叮当作响的声音？
Would you like that?
你愿意吗？
I sure would love it.
我肯定会喜欢它。
Playing Woman 1 Love it.
扮演女人 1 喜欢它。
If it sounds too good to be true, then think again.
如果这听起来好得令人难以置信，那么请再想一想。
Picture all the magazines and newspapers in this country lying side by side on a football field.
想象一下这个国家所有的杂志和报纸并排躺在足球场上。
That's a lot, right?
这已经很多了，对吧？
And every single one of them is searching for a Christmas story to run in that all-important holiday issue.
他们每个人都在寻找一个圣诞故事来刊登在最重要的节日特刊上。
Even the radio and TV are looking for things like that.
甚至广播和电视也在寻找类似的东西。
Newsletters, websites, town criers, you name it.
时事通讯、网站、城市公告，应有尽有。
It's a way of making yourself some real money.
这是一种让自己赚到真钱的方法。
A thought that united everyone in the class.
这个想法让班上的每个人都团结起来。
How much money are we talking about?
我们谈论的是多少钱？
Can I get an advance?
我可以获得预付款吗？
I want some boots.
我想要一些靴子。
The money can be spent on anything you want, lodging, boots, gas, even stamps.
这些钱可以用来买任何你想要的东西，住宿、靴子、汽油，甚至邮票。
That too.
那也是。
But first, you've got to sell your story.
但首先，你必须推销你的故事。
Which means you'll have to know your audience.
这意味着您必须了解您的受众。
People, listen, listen.
人们，听着，听着。
If you spent last Christmas, I don't know, coaching midget league basketball or designing a patio, chances are, the editors over at Cat Fancy or Chocolatier aren't going to be too interested.
我不知道，如果你去年圣诞节是在指导小型联赛篮球或设计庭院，那么 Cat Fancy 或 Chocolatier 的编辑很可能不会太感兴趣。
But can't you spend the holidays coaching midget league, and like cats, and chocolate?
但是你不能在假期里执教侏儒联赛，喜欢猫和巧克力吗？
I do.
我愿意。
No. Of course, you can do both.
不，当然，您可以两者都做。
But, the chances are, your one line, I like cats, won't be enough for an editor who's audience is made up of people who more than like cats.
但是，很可能，你的一句话“我喜欢猫”对于一位编辑来说是不够的，因为他的读者都是由非常喜欢猫的人组成的。
For these people, the cat or the chocolate, needs to be the focus of the whole, holiday story.
对于这些人来说，猫或巧克力需要成为整个节日故事的焦点。
What if the magazine is for people who love not liking anything?
如果这本杂志是为那些喜欢什么都不喜欢的人写的怎么办？
[LAUGHTER] Playing Teacher No, seriously, the question's a good one.
[笑声] 扮演老师 不，说真的，这个问题问得很好。
This young person seems to know what the magazine wants, and that's the first step.
这个年轻人似乎知道杂志想要什么，这是第一步。
If you want to be published, you have to find a magazine and really stake it out.
如果你想出版，你必须找到一本杂志并真正把它放出来。
Study it under a good, strong lamp.
在强光下研究它。
The fine print, even the advertisements will give you an indication of who these people are and how the editors try to reach them.
精美的印刷品，甚至是广告，都会让您了解这些人是谁，以及编辑如何试图联系他们。
Yes?
是的？
I once made a strong lamp out of a coconut husk my mother's brother's cousin Colonel Jeremy Hackford found on the beach at Topsoil Island.
我曾经用我舅舅的表弟杰里米·哈克福德上校在表土岛海滩上发现的椰子壳制作了一盏强光灯。
The husk was tattered and sunburnt, resembling the head of one of grandmother's servants.
外壳破烂不堪，被晒伤，很像祖母的一个仆人的头。
A moon-faced child by the name of--
一个长着月亮脸的孩子，名叫——
Great.
太棒了。
So, I want each and every one of you to do that.
所以，我希望你们每个人都这样做。
Take a magazine and make it your own personal project.
拿一本杂志，把它变成你自己的个人项目。
At the end of this course, I expect every single one of you to hold a contract in your hands.
在本课程结束时，我希望你们每个人手中都握有一份合同。
Let me rephrase that.
让我重新表述一下。
If any of you don't want to publish a holiday story, I'm afraid I can't help you.
如果你们中有人不想发表节日故事，恐怕我帮不了你们。
I'd really love to be published, especially around the holidays.
我真的很想出版，尤其是在假期期间。
I'd take that money, the paper clutched tight, like a prize, like a ticket.
我会拿着那笔钱，紧紧地抓着纸，就像奖品，就像一张门票。
And I'd use it to fly, like a soft prayer-carpet.
我会用它来飞行，就像柔软的祈祷毯一样。
I'd mount it and work our magic out of here, out of the window, and over the stained quilt of this life, this town, where every stitch is a fence, a barrier, a landscape, embroidered with no. A land sewn, not to comfort, but to smother.
我会把它装上，在窗外、在今生、这座小镇的被子上发挥我们的魔力，那里的每一针都是栅栏、屏障、风景，绣着“不”。一片被缝合的土地，不是为了安慰，而是为了窒息。
I'd take that carpet--
我会拿走那块地毯——
What if you'd really like to be published, but certain people think that your dead and it's better off to keep it that way?
如果你真的很想出版，但某些人认为你已经死了，最好保持这种状态怎么办？
What if someone found a stray kitten in the locker room while coaching midget league and eating chocolate?
如果有人在执教侏儒联赛并吃巧克力时在更衣室里发现了一只流浪小猫怎么办？
Can I send it to three magazines?
我可以把它寄给三个杂志吗？
Is it all right to turn in a manuscript written in blood or semen?
用血或精液写的稿子可以上交吗？
Typed, double spaced, unless it's written for one of the many handwriting analysis or calligraphy magazines.
打字，双倍行距，除非是为众多笔迹分析或书法杂志之一撰写的。
Do 'zines count?
杂志算不算？
Playing Irish Student Is justifiable political manslaughter acceptable in a Christmas story?
扮演爱尔兰学生在圣诞故事中可以接受正当的政治过失杀人吗？
It was a great class.
这是一堂很棒的课。
Everyone was really into it.
每个人都非常投入其中。
And the teacher, he had this way of firing us up and cracking the type of whip you knew wouldn't break the surface of your skin, no matter how close you got to the many barbed tips.
老师，他用这种方式让我们兴奋起来，用鞭子敲打你知道的那种鞭子，无论你距离许多带刺的尖端有多近，都不会打破你的皮肤表面。
Like a lot of us, I love to write but often have to wait for an office party or a rowdy Presbyterian funeral for the mood to hit me.
像我们很多人一样，我喜欢写作，但常常要等到办公室聚会或吵闹的长老会葬礼才能让我有心情写作。
The teacher though, he explained how those same feelings of jubilation or sorrow can be reproduced through drugs and alcohol or tossing a hard, cold body into a shallow grave.
不过，老师解释了如何通过毒品和酒精或将坚硬冰冷的尸体扔进浅坟墓来重现同样的喜悦或悲伤的感觉。
The grave part, it's like you reached in and pulled the thoughts out of my very heart.
最严重的部分，就像你伸手进去，把我内心的想法拉了出来。
Or the whiff of a sneaker yanked off the foot of a husky 13-year-old with a sprained ankle and a 39-point game average?
或者是从脚踝扭伤、场均得分 39 分、身材魁梧的 13 岁男孩脚上抽出运动鞋的味道？
People, people, what I'm trying to say, is that we're all people.
人，人，我想说的是，我们都是人。
He was so smart that way, always reminding us that we were all people, always taking us that one step further.
他在这方面非常聪明，总是提醒我们我们都是人，总是让我们更进一步。
All right people, you've got your magazines.
好了，各位，你们的杂志已经拿到了。
Now, let's start thinking about the stories.
现在，让我们开始思考这些故事。
Christmas people, what does that bring to mind.
圣诞节的人们，这会让人想起什么？
Yvonne?
伊冯娜？
Christmas.
圣诞节。
All right.
好的。
Christmas, the holidays.
圣诞节，假期。
A really small knapsack filled with nail polish.
一个很小的背包，里面装满了指甲油。
It's lying there on the futon.
它就躺在蒲团上。
I see something.
我看到一些东西。
It's something corduroy crumbled up and next to the TV.
电视旁边有一些灯芯绒碎了的东西。
And there's a hair brush, my hair brush, used to prop open the window.
还有一把毛刷，我的毛刷，用来撑开窗户。
It's cold outside and raining.
外面很冷，还下着雨。
And I can hear my roommate crying in the next room.
我可以听到我的室友在隔壁房间哭泣。
[LAUGHTER] Playing Coach So it's minus 12 degrees outside, and I'm at an out-of-town game coaching the Lady Diamondbacks.
[笑声] 担任教练 外面气温为零下 12 度，我正在外地观看响尾蛇女士队的比赛。
Can you believe it?
你能相信吗？
You couldn't find a sweeter, more talented group of girls.
你找不到比这更可爱、更有才华的女孩了。
And every one of them was 100% drug free.
而且他们每一位都 100% 不含毒品。
I made sure of that baby.
我确定了那个孩子。
She turned to me on last time saying, don't do it Jerry Maguire.
上次她转向我说，别这么做，杰瑞·马奎尔。
You were born for better things.
你生来就是为了更好的事情。
Drink up now son.
儿子，现在就喝吧。
It's Christmas time, and we've got an early morning's Mass tomorrow.
现在是圣诞节，明天我们有一场清晨弥撒。
[CHOKING BACK TEARS] That was the last time I saw her.
[强忍泪水] 那是我最后一次见到她。
I like that, corduroy and the Lady Diamondbacks.
我喜欢灯芯绒和响尾蛇女士。
What else?
还有什么？
The sky was cloudless, the color of a burnished silver platter on that day when daddy and I set out with our aging spaniel Curtis in search of, what we considered to be, the perfect Christmas tree.
那天，天空万里无云，颜色像闪闪发亮的银盘，当时我和爸爸带着年迈的西班牙猎犬柯蒂斯出发，寻找我们认为完美的圣诞树。
A magnificent--
一个宏伟的——
Conflict, good.
冲突，很好。
Every story needs it.
每个故事都需要它。
You can sit down now, sister.
你现在可以坐下了，姐姐。
The class started in early September, so as to allow us to finish our stories early enough to allow magazines, what they call, their lead-time.
该课程于九月初开始，以便我们能够尽早完成故事，以便给杂志（他们所说的）他们的准备时间。
Back-breaking unions force these publishers to be ready weeks, sometimes months in advance.
劳累不堪的工会迫使这些出版商必须提前几周甚至几个月做好准备。
To us, Christmas falls somewhere towards the end of December.
对我们来说，圣诞节是在十二月底的某个时候。
But to these editors, that holiday has already come and gone.
但对于这些编辑来说，这个假期已经过去了。
They're working on Valentine's Day or President's Day, or even Saint Patrick's by that time.
他们在情人节或总统日甚至圣帕特里克节都在工作。
It was hard to think about the holidays when, technically, it was late summer, and people were still dressed in shorts and halter tops.
很难想象假期，严格来说，当时已经是夏末了，人们还穿着短裤和吊带衫。
But the teacher, he did his best to get us into the spirit.
但老师，他尽力让我们进入精神状态。
All right people, I've got this fragrant, eight foot spruce.
好吧，大家，我有这棵芳香的八英尺云杉。
What do you say, we trim it?
你说怎么样，我们修剪一下吧？
Now, in the daylight?
现在，在白天吗？
Playing Teacher We can mask the window.
扮演老师 我们可以遮住窗户。
Then how will I know when my nephew's come to pick me up?
那我怎么知道我的侄子什么时候来接我呢？
You know I have to leave early on Thursdays.
你知道我周四必须早点离开。
If you don't mind, I think I'll wait outside in the student pub.
如果你不介意的话，我想我会在学生酒吧外面等。
There's something about trees inside that makes me nervous.
里面的树有些东西让我紧张。
They might, they very well might.
他们可能，他们很可能。
But I'm ready to face my demons.
但我已经准备好面对我的恶魔了。
How about you?
你呢？
It wasn't easy or fun, but we did it.
这并不容易或有趣，但我们做到了。
We did it to remind ourselves what we were writing about.
我们这样做是为了提醒自己我们在写什么。
Outside the building, the trees were green and leafy.
大楼外，绿树成荫，枝繁叶茂。
But in this room, it was Christmas, even to the several Jews and heretics.
但在这个房间里，即使对几个犹太人和异教徒来说，也是圣诞节。
A few people stepped outside to smoke or make phone calls.
有几个人走到外面抽烟或打电话。
And in a way, I think they really missed out.
在某种程度上，我认为他们真的错过了。
Maybe they could just hold Christmas inside their heads by re-reading old catalogs or paying bills.
也许他们可以通过重读旧目录或支付账单来将圣诞节留在脑海中。
But for most of us, these little exercises really helped.
但对于我们大多数人来说，这些小练习确实有帮助。
The teacher had us start each class with a carol.
老师让我们每堂课都以一首颂歌开始。
[HUMMING CHRISTMAS CAROLS] Playing Gene Larkin And we all shaved ice, wrapped empty boxes as gifts, and sent fake, funny checks to charities.
[哼唱圣诞颂歌] 扮演吉恩·拉金 我们都刨冰，包装空盒子作为礼物，并向慈善机构寄出虚假的、滑稽的支票。
One day, he even brought chestnuts into the class and roasted them, right there, on a small, charcoal grill.
有一天，他甚至把栗子带进教室，放在一个小木炭烤架上烤。
[COUGHING, CHOKING] Playing Gene Larkin He made a chart of what each magazine paid per word and read us a few examples of their previous holiday stories.
[咳嗽，窒息] 扮演吉恩·拉金（Gene Larkin） 他制作了一张图表，列出了每本杂志每字的费用，并向我们朗读了他们之前的假期故事的一些例子。
It was grueling work, but I did it.
这是一项艰苦的工作，但我做到了。
I'd received the doe late on Christmas Eve, and had her fully mounted by the next morning, just in time to make one little girl's dreams come true.
我在圣诞节前夕收到了这只母鹿，并在第二天早上将她装好，正好让一个小女孩的梦想成真。
That's "Doe for a Deer," from the December '94 issue of Mounted Game Monthly .
这是《Mounted Game Monthly》94 年 12 月号的“Doe for a Deer”。
That was very beautiful.
那是非常美丽的。
Playing Teacher Yes, it was.
扮演老师 是的，确实如此。
So how many words did we have there, word count, people?
那么我们有多少字，字数，人员？
According to my calculations, and I got a little bit bleary at the sad parts, I'd say that that story clocked in at about 945 words.
根据我的计算，加上悲伤的部分让我有点睡眼惺忪，我想说这个故事大约有 945 个字。
All right.
好的。
And this particular magazine pays how much per word?
这本杂志每个字的收费是多少？
$0.55 per word.
每个字 0.55 美元。
Playing Teacher So that amounts to what?
扮演老师 那么这意味着什么呢？
That's $472 and some change for our friend, Mr. Carlton Burke, from mounted game monthly.
这是 472 美元，还有我们的朋友 Carlton Burke 先生每月固定游戏的一些零钱。
Yes?
是的？
But this class cost me $600.
但这堂课花了我600美元。
Playing Irish Student Hey, that's right.
扮演爱尔兰学生嘿，没错。
This is a rip-off.
这是一个敲竹杠。
Playing Gene Larkin You just can't win.
扮演吉恩·拉金 (Gene Larkin) 你根本赢不了。
The whole system is rigged.
整个系统都被操纵了。
Isn't there a way this Carlton person could've made more money?
难道这个卡尔顿人就没有办法赚更多的钱吗？
Yes, there is.
是的，有。
He could've sold it to a better magazine or padded it with adjectives and adverbs.
他本可以把它卖给一本更好的杂志，或者用形容词和副词来填充它。
He went back through the story, demonstrating how the author might have made extra money by employing a more fragrant and descriptive vocabulary.
他回顾了这个故事，展示了作者如何通过使用更芬芳和更具描述性的词汇来赚更多的钱。
Take this one word, needle.
就拿这个词来说，针。
What else could he have called it?
他还能叫它什么？
Yes?
是的？
A sharp, pin-like device used for piercing holiday fabric or the flesh of a doe shot and mounted in order to serve as a gift for the holidays?
一种锋利的针状装置，用于刺穿节日布料或射杀母鹿的肉，并安装起来作为节日礼物？
That's terrific.
太棒了。
See class, he's taken one word and stretched it into a 29 word sentence, with the added value of $19.95.
看课堂，他把一个单词拉伸成一个 29 个单词的句子，增加了 19.95 美元的价值。
And he's related it all to the holidays.
他把这一切都与假期联系起来。
Yes?
是的？
I remember, one time, the fields behind granddaddy's smoke house were flooded.
我记得有一次，爷爷烟房后面的田地被洪水淹没了。
And the starlings circled and quested, crisscrossing like so many fleeting--
椋鸟盘旋着，探索着，像许多转瞬即逝的鸟一样纵横交错——
What do you know.
你知道什么。
Listen people, we've only got three weeks left until Halloween.
听着，距离万圣节只剩下三周了。
Let's do a little exercise.
让我们做一个小练习。
How many of you remember what it felt like to rise at 5:00 AM and shovel the driveway so that your visiting relatives would have a place to pitch their Christmas tent?
你们中有多少人记得早上 5:00 起床并铲掉车道以便来访的亲戚有地方搭圣诞帐篷的感觉？
I do.
我愿意。
It was dark then.
那时天已经黑了。
I had to use a lantern, and it smelled like gas.
我不得不使用灯笼，它闻起来像煤气味。
Huh, the O'Shaughnessys on my mother's side, they thought they were all too good for tents.
嗯，我母亲那边的奥肖内西一家，他们认为自己太适合帐篷了。
Talk about hard work.
谈论艰苦的工作。
I'd be up at 3:00 in the morning, digging their lean-tos and huts out of the cold ground, without even gloves to project me.
我会在凌晨 3:00 起床，在寒冷的地面上挖出他们的棚屋和小屋，甚至连手套都没有。
Everything the teacher said opened a door or triggered a memory of some kind.
老师所说的一切都打开了一扇门或触发了某种记忆。
How many of you have accidentally blinded a family member with a tree limb or an icicle?
你们中有多少人不小心用树枝或冰柱弄瞎了家人的眼睛？
I have.
我有。
Playing Southern Student I'd forgotten all about that.
玩《南方学生》时我已经忘记了这一切。
Guilty as charged.
被指控有罪。
Playing Woman 1 Talk about a Christmas.
扮演女人 1 谈论圣诞节。
Remember people, you're all just types.
记住人们，你们都只是类型。
Now, let's get out there and make some money.
现在，让我们出去赚钱吧。
He never asked what we were working on, never assigned us any homework, or shared any of the holiday stories he had written.
他从不问我们在做什么，从不给我们布置任何家庭作业，或者分享他写的任何假期故事。
He lead by example and taught on the sheer strength of his character.
他以身作则，并以其坚强的性格进行教学。
Over the weeks, I came to think of him and the other students as family.
几周以来，我开始把他和其他学生视为家人。
They started getting on my nerves in little ways.
他们开始在一些小方面让我心烦意乱。
But I couldn't hate them, because, as time passed, we grew to resemble one another, growing out our nails and wearing identical wind-breakers.
但我无法恨他们，因为随着时间的推移，我们变得越来越相似，留着同样的指甲，穿着一模一样的风衣。
The teacher noticed the change and discouraged us from talking about our stories, for fear of inciting the sort of jealousy that often results in bloodshed or small fires.
老师注意到了这种变化，不鼓励我们谈论自己的故事，以免激起嫉妒，从而导致流血或小火灾。
On the last day of class, we each arrived carrying our completed holiday story, ready for submission, each including a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
在课程的最后一天，我们每个人都带着已完成的假期故事到达，准备提交，每个故事都包括一个贴好邮票、写好自己地址的信封。
And then we celebrated with punch and carols, laughing and reminiscing until the sun set on that late October afternoon.
然后我们用潘趣酒和颂歌庆祝，笑着回忆，直到十月下旬的下午太阳落山。
Oh, there were the usual pledges to stay in touch.
哦，还有通常的保持联系的承诺。
Numbers were exchanged and casts were signed, but I think we knew in our hearts that this would be our last get together.
交换了号码，签了演员表，但我想我们心里都知道这将是我们最后一次聚在一起。
Having become professional holiday writers, we were no longer friends but rivals.
成为职业假期作家后，我们不再是朋友，而是竞争对手。
Wishing each other the best, while quietly hoping for the worse.
互相祝福对方最好，同时又默默地希望对方变得更糟。
I moved on with my new life.
我继续我的新生活。
I spent a few weeks getting re-acquainted with myself, and then I took a job at one of the several petting mangers my town sets up each year during the holiday season.
我花了几周时间重新认识自己，然后我在镇上每年假期期间设立的几个宠物经理之一找到了一份工作。
It was right after Thanksgiving.
那是感恩节过后。
And I had a bit to drink.
我还喝了一点。
Maybe I was showing off.
也许我是在炫耀。
Maybe I was just a little too happy to be me.
也许我只是太高兴了，无法成为我自己。
I drove my go-kart into the petting manger.
我把卡丁车开进宠物马槽。
And some of these animals, the camels and so forth, they spook a little too easy.
其中一些动物，如骆驼等，它们太容易被吓到了。
The next thing I knew, it was two weeks later.
我知道的下一件事是两周后的事了。
And I was flat on my back in the hospital, waking from a coma.
我在医院里平躺着，从昏迷中醒来。
Oh, doctor, the man in 26B just woke up from his coma.
哦，医生，26B的那个人刚刚从昏迷中醒来。
I was discharged and returned to my house without walls, with a few scratches, a significant headache, and a prescription for a couple of salves they thought might heal a few of my bed sores.
我出院了，回到了没有围墙的房子，身上有几处擦伤，头痛得很厉害，开了一些药膏，他们认为可以治愈我的一些褥疮。
It was December, and I was in the drug store having my prescription filled.
那是十二月，我在药店配药。
There was a stomach virus going around, and the pharmacist's line was 30, 40 people long.
胃病毒在流行，药剂师的队伍排了30、40人。
I was standing back near the magazine rack, thumbing through the current issue of Cotton Belt Lifestyles , when I read what sounded like a familiar voice.
当我站在杂志架附近，翻阅最新一期的《棉带生活方式》时，我听到了一个听起来熟悉的声音。
We'd gone to bed late that Christmas Eve.
那个平安夜我们睡得很晚。
Taka, Soil, Prescott, and I lay huddled in our beds, rowdy as newborn lambs vying for a swollen teat.
塔卡、索尔、普雷斯科特和我蜷缩在床上，吵吵闹闹，就像新生的羔羊争夺肿胀的乳头。
And while I have no recollection of the exact moment, sleep miraculously overcame us at some point during that long and restless night.
虽然我不记得具体的时刻，但在那个漫长而不安的夜晚的某个时刻，睡眠奇迹般地征服了我们。
The world spunt on it's frosty axis, and morning arrived.
世界在冰冷的轴上旋转，早晨到来了。
The brilliant sun trumpeting the arrival of this day when children celebrate the birth of a king.
灿烂的阳光宣告着孩子们庆祝国王诞生的这一天的到来。
I started skimming ahead.
我开始向前浏览。
Playing Southern Student That was the year each child received a slingshot.
扮演南方学生那一年，每个孩子都收到了弹弓。
Oh, it wasn't much, just a rubber band attached to a wishbone from one of old man Chesterton's tom turkeys.
哦，没什么，只是一根橡皮筋，系在切斯特顿老人的一只火鸡的叉骨上。
But oh how those bones were polished to a sheen.
但是哦，这些骨头是如何被打磨得闪闪发亮的。
The rubber band attached with pride and precision.
橡皮筋的连接方式自豪且精确。
Now, I can catch us a squirrel for supper, said Prescott, the youngest.
现在，我可以抓一只松鼠作为晚餐了，最小的普雷斯科特说。
And we all laughed, as children are wont to do.
我们都笑了，就像孩子们习惯的那样。
It's a sound that haunts me still, stops me in my tracks on this cold winter day, as Prescott, so young and eager to please, would not live to see another Christmas.
这种声音至今仍萦绕在我的心头，在这个寒冷的冬日让我停下脚步，因为普雷斯科特如此年轻、渴望取悦他人，却无法活着看到另一个圣诞节。
February is the coolest month.
二月是最凉爽的月份。
I picked up another magazine, then another, grabbing them randomly off the shelves.
我拿起一本又一本杂志，从书架上随意地抓起它们。
Basketball season had started early that year.
那年篮球赛季很早就开始了。
And with my starting forward out with a torn meniscus, it didn't seem my Christmas was going to merry.
由于我的首发前锋半月板撕裂，看来我的圣诞节不会快乐。
I laced up my street shoes and stared out the window into the parking lot.
我系好休闲鞋的鞋带，凝视着窗外的停车场。
We were expecting a minor dusting, but it was coming down hard, the flakes the size of those Styrofoam pellets they use to package trophies.
我们预计会有轻微的灰尘，但灰尘落得很厉害，灰尘的大小就像他们用来包装奖杯的聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料颗粒一样大。
Trophies, better put that thought out of your mind, baby, I said to myself.
奖杯，最好把这个想法从你的脑海中赶走，宝贝，我对自己说。
It's three hours before the playoff.
距离季后赛还有三个小时。
And I'm stuck in Manitoba, spoon feeding cranberry juice cocktail to my star point-guard Shanethra, who's got a stomach virus, and all the trimmings, and a fever of 102.
我被困在马尼托巴省，用勺子给我的明星控球后卫沙内特拉喂蔓越莓汁鸡尾酒，他感染了胃病毒，还有各种辅料，而且发烧到 102 度。
The bus has moved on, and I'm there with Shanethra, who's flat on her back and her best friend Stephanie Twospears, who's sweating many, many rivers.
巴士继续前行，我和 Shanethra 一起在那里，她平躺着，还有她最好的朋友 Stephanie Twospears，她在很多很多河流中流汗。
I'm in a Holiday Inn, and the room is hot and smells of powder, modeling glue, and teak.
我住在假日酒店，房间很热，散发着粉末、模型胶和柚木的味道。
There was a wreath on the door, and nothing good was on TV.
门上挂着花圈，电视上也没有什么好节目。
She wanted to shake it, not just the tree or the jagged ice daggers dripping from the roof, but the whole damn thing.
她想摇晃它，不仅仅是那棵树或从屋顶滴下的锯齿状冰匕首，而是整个该死的东西。
She wanted to shake it like Stolly shook his mane of dark hair, the color of night, the color of ravens, of crows calling out in their hoarse whispers.
她想摇晃它，就像斯托利摇晃他的黑发一样，那是夜晚的颜色，乌鸦的颜色，乌鸦嘶哑的低语声的颜色。
Stolly shaking his head while playing the bass, that night before Christmas, silent night, the holy night.
斯托利一边弹奏贝斯一边摇头，圣诞节前的那个夜晚，寂静的夜晚，神圣的夜晚。
They spiked two grams of horse and ran wild, ran like the wind that brings up from a fire.
他们在马身上钉了两克，然后狂奔，像火中的风一样奔跑。
She wanted to shake it.
她想摇晃它。
The wreath swayed as the police pounded on the other side of the door.
当警察敲门时，花环摇晃起来。
Go away and leave us in peace, my mother shouted.
走开，让我们安静点，妈妈喊道。
I don't know nothing about the disappearance of the O'Shaughnessy brothers.
我对奥肖内西兄弟的失踪一无所知。
No one here does.
这里没有人这样做。
No go away with ya.
不和你走开。
She motioned to me with her cane, and, I remember, she had a wee' bit o' tinsel on the slope of her shoulder.
她用拐杖向我示意，我记得她肩膀的斜面上有一小块金属丝。
High-tail it out the back door and get word to Paddy McShane, she whispered.
她低声说道，从后门快步跑出去，通知帕迪·麦克肖恩。
Go on now, go.
现在继续，走吧。
Which I did.
我做到了。
I sloped out the back way, and ran with all my might.
我从后门斜出去，用尽全身的力气跑。
I ran past O'Brians Pub and McNamara's Alehouse, past O'Malley's Tavern and Feeny's Roadhouse.
我跑过奥布莱恩酒吧和麦克纳马拉啤酒屋，又跑过奥马利酒馆和菲尼路屋。
I passed Father McGonegal coming out of the church, and I shouted, for the love of Christmas, who's seen Paddy McShane?
我经过从教堂出来的麦格尼格尔神父，我大声喊道，看在圣诞节的份上，谁看到了帕迪·麦克肖恩？
It made me smile to think of my friends and that wonderful preseason Christmas we'd spent getting to know one another.
想到我的朋友们以及我们度过的那个美好的季前圣诞节，我不禁微笑起来。
It seemed they had turned in their stories and had fulfilled their dreams.
看来他们已经交出了自己的故事并实现了自己的梦想。
Me, I had never gotten around to writing my story, much less mailing it.
我，从来没有抽出时间来写我的故事，更不用说邮寄它了。
My envelope had been blank.
我的信封是空白的。
I turned to the woman behind me and told he all about it.
我转向身后的女人，把这一切告诉了他。
Then she turned to the person behind her, and so forth, and so on, until it made its way to the radio producer with stomach cramps and a deadline for his last-minute Christmas story.
然后她转向身后的人，依此类推，直到广播制片人胃痉挛，最后一刻的圣诞故事已经到了最后期限。
So I guess I did find my audience after all, didn't I.
所以我想我毕竟找到了我的观众，不是吗？
Good night all, and God bless.
大家晚安，愿上帝保佑。
[SILENT NIGHT] Act One: Act One Ira Glass Little music from the Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church from Chicago's South Side.
[平安夜] 第一幕：第一幕 Ira Glass 来自芝加哥南区信仰帐幕浸信会教堂的小音乐。
We'll be hearing music from them throughout the hour, and we're going to have a visit with them at the end of the hour.
我们将在整个小时内听到他们的音乐，并且我们将在一个小时结束时拜访他们。
Our play by David Sedaris and the Pine Tree Gang, exclusively here on Your Radio Playhouse radio program.
我们由 David Sedaris 和 Pine Tree Gang 创作的戏剧，在 Your Radio Playhouse 广播节目中独家播出。
Coming up next, in our little cavalcade of Christmas stories, is a story from Beau O'Riley.
接下来，在我们的圣诞故事小行列中，是博·奥莱利的故事。
Beau's a local playwright and musician, longtime member of the band Maestro Subgum and the Whole.
博是当地剧作家和音乐家，也是 Maestro Subgum and the Whole 乐队的长期成员。
And Christmas brings up such different feelings and memories for each person.
圣诞节给每个人带来了不同的感受和回忆。
His story is a story from his childhood living outside Chicago.
他的故事是他住在芝加哥郊外的童年的故事。
I lost my entire thumbnail closing a classroom window.
我关闭教室窗户后丢失了整个缩略图。
I'm just going to start that again.
我要重新开始。
We're having a cuing problem here.
我们这里遇到了提示问题。
You can see that we are spooked by the Ghost of Christmas Present here in this program so far.
您可以看到，到目前为止，我们都被这个节目中的圣诞礼物幽灵吓到了。
It's been such a nerve wracking thing getting the program on the air, with everybody going away for the holidays, and us wanting to make the show extra special with all sorts of extra special new pieces.
播出这个节目真是一件令人伤脑筋的事情，每个人都出去度假，我们希望通过各种特别的新作品让节目变得特别特别。
So we're just going to move back.
所以我们要回去了。
You see, we're just going to have Ghost of Christmas Past here.
你看，我们将在这里举办《过去的圣诞节幽灵》。
We just going to move back into past about a minute ago and try that again.
我们将回到大约一分钟前，然后再试一次。
Two weeks before Christmas in 1966, I lost my entire thumbnail closing a classroom window as part of the Sister Edwardine seventh graders helped the school close their windows program.
1966 年圣诞节前两周，我在关闭教室窗户时丢失了整个缩略图，当时爱德华丁修女七年级学生帮助学校关闭了窗户项目。
I'd been assigned to close them all up every day.
我被指派每天把它们全部关闭。
And they were huge, swinging, picture-window type windows that demanded a seventh graders brooding aggressiveness to shut them firmly.
它们是巨大的、摆动的、画窗式的窗户，需要七年级学生沉思的侵略性才能将它们牢牢地关上。
It was warm that day, unseasonable, and all the windows were wide open.
那天天气很暖和，不合季节，所有的窗户都大开着。
And the other boy just let fly, really slamming it.
另一个男孩直接放手，狠狠地摔了一下。
I was dreaming out the window when the metal rim of it caught the top of my thumbnail, and the whole nail just sprang off.
当我在窗外做梦时，它的金属边缘碰到了我的拇指指甲顶部，整个指甲就弹了下来。
There was blood and nerve endings skit-scatting out of my thumb, hot pain.
血液和神经末梢从我的拇指中飞溅而出，火辣辣的疼痛。
A week later, I was back on the playground, my thumb bound in a plastic splint.
一周后，我回到操场，拇指绑在塑料夹板上。
Wrapped in so much gauze that it, the thumb, looked like an upside down bowling pin.
拇指被太多的纱布包裹着，看起来就像一个倒置的保龄球瓶。
I was five nine and a half in 1966 and built like a garden hose that had been used so many times that it has lost all sense of its rubbery toughness, its definition, and hangs like a limp spiral.
1966 年，我五岁九岁半，身体就像一根花园软管，使用了太多次，已经失去了橡胶般的韧性和清晰度，像一根柔软的螺旋一样悬挂着。
My body was like that, pale skin wrapped around awkward bones.
我的身体就是这样，苍白的皮肤包裹着笨拙的骨头。
And that body had reached its full man-height at the end of the six grade.
而那个身体在六年级结束时就已经达到了成人的高度。
It would never grow another inch.
它永远不会再长一英寸。
This growth spurt had prompted a new attention on the playground.
这种突飞猛进的增长引起了人们对游乐场的新关注。
Suddenly, I might be of some use.
突然间，我可能有点用处了。
Basketball was no joke on the playgrounds of my midwestern-boy-1966-hood.
对于我这个 1966 年中西部男孩来说，篮球在操场上可不是闹着玩的。
Basketball was the most excellent, athletically rational of games and, suddenly, I was eligible because of a quirk of genetics but still eligible.
篮球是最优秀、最符合运动理性的运动，突然间，我因为基因的怪异而符合资格，但仍然符合资格。
Previously, my childhood had laid itself out as one continuous torture chamber of belly clenching, flush producing fear, when it came to anything like running, jumping, or slamming.
以前，我的童年就像是一个持续不断的酷刑室，每当涉及到跑步、跳跃或猛击之类的事情时，我都会感到腹部紧缩、脸红，产生恐惧。
And now here I was, under the basket, pounding my dribble with my left hand, the bowling pin thumb riding the ball, a stiff little Napoleon rolling into battle.
现在我就在这里，在篮筐下，用左手猛击运球，保龄球瓶的拇指击球，就像一个僵硬的小拿破仑投入战斗。
John Crescent was six two.
约翰·克雷森特六岁二岁。
He was almost fifteen, old for our class, and the shadow of blue whiskers edged his face.
他快十五岁了，在我们班里算是年纪大的了，蓝色胡须的影子映在他的脸上。
He was on the other team.
他在另一支球队。
And I had never noticed him before, except once, when dreaming out of Sister Edwardine's classroom window.
我以前从未注意到过他，除了一次，当我在爱德华丁修女的教室窗外做梦时。
John Crescent leaving school early for some reason, stopping at the edge of the parking lot to light a cigarette while still on school property.
约翰·克雷森特（John Crescent）由于某种原因提前离开学校，在学校场地上停在停车场边缘点燃了一支香烟。
It was a bold enough move that I noted him and noted it.
这是一个足够大胆的举动，我注意到了他并注意到了这一点。
And white trash is what I noted.
我注意到的是白色垃圾。
Where I got that phrase, I don't know.
我不知道这句话是从哪里来的。
My parents, in 1966, were careful Kennedy liberals.
1966 年，我的父母是谨慎的肯尼迪自由主义者。
And white trash was way too denigrating a phrase for me to have heard at home.
“白色垃圾”这个词对我来说太贬低了，我在家里听不到。
But the phrase hung way back in my cultural awareness, shadows of trailer parks, and country music, and Brylcreem, and Twinkies three meals a day.
但这句话早已在我的文化意识中、拖车公园、乡村音乐、Brylcreem 和 Twinkies 的阴影中萦绕着。
John Crescent had all this about him.
约翰·克雷森特拥有这一切。
He spoke with a heavy, Tennessee, sweet-slur to his vowels.
他说话时元音带有浓重的、田纳西州式的甜蜜含混音。
His teeth were dark and mossy.
他的牙齿又黑又长满青苔。
And right now, he was coming straight at me under the basket, his eyes wide after the basketball that I was pounding.
而现在，他正从篮下直奔我而来，在我击打篮球后他睁大了眼睛。
I was an odd boy back then.
那时我是一个奇怪的男孩。
And the meaner kids all called me odd-head.
那些刻薄的孩子都说我是个怪人。
And, I think, in that moment, I was thinking about white trash culture.
而且，我想，在那一刻，我正在思考白色垃圾文化。
My odd head cocked at an angle as I considered all of white trash culture.
当我思考所有的白人垃圾文化时，我奇怪的头歪到了一个角度。
Its angles.
它的角度。
Did white trash families spend their Sundays like professional wrestlers, tearing up the living room?
白色垃圾家庭是否会像职业摔跤手一样在周日度过，把客厅撕成碎片？
Did they chew tobacco before they reached puberty?
他们在青春期之前咀嚼烟草吗？
I was thinking these thoughts and not at all protecting the basketball when John Crescent hit me with his whole body and the ball spurted away.
我正想着这些，并没有保护好篮球，这时约翰·克雷森特用他的整个身体击中了我，球飞走了。
And I hit the pavement.
我撞上了人行道。
Now, I have a tendency to go all odd-headed and get day-dreamy in the midst of violence.
现在，我有一种在暴力中变得头脑古怪、做白日梦的倾向。
And this dreamy quality has gotten me through more than my share of playground fights.
这种梦幻般的品质让我经历了比我在操场上打架更多的事情。
I float back up once I get knocked down.
一旦我被击倒，我就会浮起来。
And I floated back up this time, in time to take a return pass and to have John Crescent slam me with this whole body a second time.
这次我又飘了回来，及时接回传球，让约翰·克雷森特第二次用整个身体猛击我。
But this time I didn't fall.
但这一次我没有跌倒。
I floated to a new spot on the court, and I held onto the ball.
我漂浮到球场上的一个新位置，并抓住了球。
And John Crescent, just caught in surprise, and shoved me halfway across the lot.
约翰·克雷森特大吃一惊，把我推到了停车场的中间。
But when I rose up, still dreaming, and fired a shot over John Crescent's head, making the basket, he stopped.
但当我仍然在做梦时站起来，朝约翰·克雷森特的头顶开一枪，投进篮筐时，他停了下来。
And then John Crescent grabbed my thumb.
然后约翰·克雷森抓住了我的拇指。
He grabbed it hard.
他用力抓住了它。
It still waved like an imp with a baton above my hand.
它仍然像小恶魔一样在我手上挥舞着指挥棒。
And John Crescent grabbed that nailless thumb, and he squeezed it too.
约翰·克雷森抓住了那只没有指甲的拇指，也捏了捏。
And the pain went up my spine, and I popped my eyes open.
疼痛上升到我的脊椎，我睁开了眼睛。
John Crescent cawed, and he squeezed again.
约翰·克雷森特叫了一声，然后又用力挤压。
And now, I didn't know John Crescent before this.
而现在，在此之前我并不认识约翰·克雷森特。
I had never had a conversation with him.
我从未与他交谈过。
And here he was squeezing my poor nerve-exposed thumb, like it was the trigger and I was the gun.
他正在挤压我可怜的神经暴露的拇指，就像它是扳机而我是枪一样。
I hit him with my right hand.
我用右手打了他。
A clumsy punch that missed his chin and glanced his Adam's apple.
笨拙的一拳打中了他的下巴，扫过他的喉结。
John Crescent gulped and he stepped back.
约翰·克雷森特咽了口口水，向后退了一步。
And I hit him again, this time, somewhere near the chest, with my left hand.
我又用左手击中了他，这次是靠近胸部的地方。
The little Napoleon digit crying out with more pain that made my spine jump for revenge.
拿破仑的小手指更加痛苦地哭喊着，让我的脊椎骨跳了起来，想要报复。
I don't know how long I kept hitting him.
我不知道我一直打他多久。
Long enough for all the other playground boys to surround the two of us, to comment on my lack of boxing skills.
足够长的时间让所有其他操场男孩围住我们两个，评论我缺乏拳击技巧。
And even as I was hitting John Crescent, my odd-head cocked back for a better view of the scene.
就在我打约翰·克雷森特的时候，我奇怪的头向后仰，以便更好地观察场景。
I was watching the other boys watching me.
我看着其他男孩看着我。
I'd grown up with most of them.
我和他们中的大多数人一起长大。
I'd been beaten up by most of them.
我被他们中的大多数人殴打过。
I'd been mocked and teased without remorse by most of them.
他们中的大多数人都毫无悔意地嘲笑和戏弄我。
They weren't my friends.
他们不是我的朋友。
I happened to have a growth spurt in time for basketball season.
我碰巧在篮球赛季期间出现了突飞猛进的成长。
They didn't care about me.
他们不关心我。
And yet their faces all hoped and wanted, needed me, to beat on John Crescent, white trash John Crescent, who was more of an outsider than odd-headed me.
然而，他们的脸上都希望、想要、需要我打败约翰·克雷森特，白人垃圾约翰·克雷森特，他更像是一个局外人，而不是一个古怪的我。
I hit him again anyway.
反正我又打了他一次。
And Jon Crescent was reluctant to hit me back.
乔恩·克雷森特不愿意还击我。
He kept pushing me away with this long basketball arms and not throwing any punches of his own.
他一直用他那长长的篮球手臂把我推开，但他自己却没有出拳。
We were interrupted, finally, by Sister Edwardine.
最后，爱德华丁修女打断了我们的谈话。
Her sharp caws of Stop it, stop it now!" broke the boys apart.
她尖锐的叫声“停下来，现在就停下来！”把男孩们分开了。
I turned my head, so as to see her coming.
我转过头，看到她过来了。
She was short, full beaked in the nose, and bird-like.
她身材矮小，鼻子上有喙，像鸟一样。
And I pictured her cawing above our heads, in my own odd head.
我在自己奇怪的脑海里想象着她在我们头顶上方发出的叫声。
And then John Crescent, who'd avoided hitting me back as long as everyone was watching, hit me as hard as he could.
然后，约翰·克雷森特（John Crescent）在所有人都在注视下的时候一直避免反击我，但他却用尽全力打了我。
And I took the punch full in the face.
我一拳打在脸上。
It landed solidly on my left cheekbone.
它稳稳地落在我的左颧骨上。
And I saw the Aurora Borealis, my head ringing like a fire drill.
我看到了北极光，我的头像消防钻一样轰鸣。
And as I landed on the pavement, I thought in my odd-headed way, of all the primitive, prehistoric men who went gaga in wonder at the first sight of the Northern Lights in a full sky.
当我降落在人行道上时，我以一种奇怪的方式想到了所有原始的史前人类，他们在第一次看到满天的北极光时都惊叹不已。
And then I hit the pavement, and I passed out.
然后我摔倒在人行道上，然后就昏了过去。
The weather finally went hard cold the night before Christmas Eve.
平安夜的前一天晚上，天气终于变冷了。
The lake froze solid.
湖水结冰了。
And I woke up to the early quiet, intending to go out and pick up the family Christmas tree.
我在清晨的安静中醒来，打算出去捡起家里的圣诞树。
Our family having long ago figured out that a Christmas tree bought on the last day meant a substantial savings.
我们一家人很早就发现，在最后一天买一棵圣诞树意味着可以节省一大笔钱。
Why I went alone that year, I don't remember.
那年为什么我一个人去，我不记得了。
Usually, I would have gone with my multitude of brothers and sisters.
通常，我会和众多的兄弟姐妹一起去。
But I did go alone, crossing the frozen lake.
但我确实独自一人，穿过结冰的湖面。
It was very cold.
天气很冷。
The wind like a wraith sucked all the heat from my body, before I reached the lot where the almost perfect seven-foot, short-needled pine trees still could be found.
幽灵般的风吸走了我身上所有的热量，我才到达了仍然可以找到近乎完美的七英尺短针松树的空地。
It was early still.
时间还早。
And I had to knock and wake the trailer on the lot in order to buy the tree.
为了买下这棵树，我不得不敲响并唤醒停车场上的拖车。
The Christmas tree man may have been 40, but he looked 60, with three weeks of blue-black whiskers and a morning can of Budweiser.
圣诞树人可能已经 40 岁了，但他看起来像 60 岁，留着三周的蓝黑色胡须，早上喝一罐百威啤酒。
His eyes never looked at me as we negotiated the cost of the tree.
当我们协商这棵树的价格时，他的眼睛从未看着我。
But once we agreed, he yelled harshly to his still sleeping son to come out and trim the base of the tree to my specifications.
但我们一同意，他就对还在熟睡的儿子大声喊叫，让他出来按照我的要求修剪树的根部。
I was odd-heading and daydreaming about the amount of perfection in a seven-foot, short-needled pine tree, when the son came out, flinching as he walked past the Christmas tree guy.
我正胡思乱想，幻想着一棵七英尺高的短针松树有多完美，这时儿子出来了，在走过圣诞树人身边时退缩了。
My thumb jumped and ached.
我的拇指又跳又痛。
He was John Crescent.
他就是约翰·克雷森特。
And John Crescent was the son of the Christmas tree guy.
约翰·克雷森特是圣诞树人的儿子。
My tree of choice was frozen to the ground.
我选择的树被冻在了地上。
For a couple of minutes, the two of us had to struggle to work it free.
有几分钟的时间，我们两个人都费了好大的劲才能把它解放出来。
And once we had, we stood for a moment in the morning cold.
一旦我们有了，我们就在早晨的寒冷中站了一会儿。
And I looked at John Crescent, full in the face.
我看着约翰·克雷森特，脸上满是表情。
His left eye was swollen shut.
他的左眼肿得睁不开。
His lip puffy and still traced with blood.
他的嘴唇浮肿，还残留着血迹。
And I had never hit him in the face.
而且我从来没有打过他的脸。
He had successfully kept me at a distance.
他成功地与我保持了距离。
And then I saw him in my own odd head.
然后我在自己奇怪的头脑中看到了他。
John Crescent, the Christmas tree guy's son, having to tell the Christmas tree guy about Sister Edwardine throwing him out of school after he'd knocked me out on the playground.
约翰·克雷森特，圣诞树人的儿子，不得不告诉圣诞树人爱德华丁修女在操场上把我撞倒后把他赶出了学校。
And the Christmas tree guy, full of Budweiser, knocking John Crescent around some.
还有圣诞树上的家伙，里面装满了百威啤酒，把约翰·克雷森特(John Crescent)敲打了一些。
If John Crescent knew who I was, he had given no sign, staring out of his one good eye like I was a car wreck and him the insurance adjuster.
即使约翰·克雷森特知道我是谁，他也没有表现出任何迹象，用他那只完好的眼睛盯着我，就像我是一辆车祸，而他是保险理算员一样。
But as my head filled with pity for him and remorse over our recent playground battle, he reached out forcefully and grabbed my still-bandaged thumb in his fist.
但当我的脑子里充满了对他的怜悯和对我们最近在操场上的争斗的悔恨时，他用力伸出手，用拳头抓住了我仍然缠着绷带的拇指。
Merry Christmas, he cawed, and he squeezed it.
圣诞快乐，他叫道，然后他挤压了它。
Merry Christmas.
圣诞快乐。
I shivered all the way home.
回家的路上我一直瑟瑟发抖。
[SINGING WITH BAND] Act Two: Act Two Ira Glass Music from Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church on Chicago's South Side, 82nd and Cornell.
[与乐队合唱] 第二幕：第二幕 Ira Glass 音乐来自芝加哥南区的 Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church、第 82 街和康奈尔大学。
It's Your Radio Playhouse .
这是你的广播剧场。
I'm Ira Glass here in WBEZ.
我是 WBEZ 的 Ira Glass。
More of this very music as our program continues.
随着我们的节目的继续，更多这样的音乐。
And a visit to the church, and what they're celebrating this Christmas, later in our show.
参观教堂，以及他们今年圣诞节庆祝的活动，稍后将在我们的节目中介绍。
Just a couple weeks ago, one of the producers, Delores Wilber, and I went down to the Daniel J.
就在几周前，我和制片人之一德洛丽丝·威尔伯 (Delores Wilber) 去了 Daniel J.
Nellum Youth Services Incorporated.
内勒姆青年服务公司。
It's a place where teenage boys stay, mostly wards of the state, in fact, entirely wards of the state.
这是十几岁的男孩住的地方，大部分是国家的监护人，事实上，完全是国家的监护人。
And these are kids who can't be placed anywhere else, having trouble getting placed.
这些孩子无法被安置在其他地方，也很难被安置。
They all live there.
他们都住在那里。
And there are writing classes there.
那里有写作班。
And various arts classes.
以及各种艺术课程。
The writing classes, right now, are led by a local poet named Quraysh Ali.
目前，写作班由一位名叫古莱什·阿里（Quraysh Ali）的当地诗人主持。
And Delores Wilber and I went to see what the boys' writing was like, maybe have some of them read on the show.
德洛丽丝·威尔伯和我去看看男孩们的写作是什么样的，也许让他们中的一些人在节目中阅读。
And, in future weeks, we hope to have some of them read on the show.
并且，在未来几周内，我们希望能在节目中阅读其中的一些内容。
And one of these we were thinking about when we went down there is maybe they could write about Christmas.
当我们去那里时，我们想到的其中之一是也许他们可以写关于圣诞节的文章。
Maybe they'd have some experience to write about Christmas.
也许他们会有一些写圣诞节的经验。
And so when we were there and talking to them and seeing the writing, at one point we did a little writing exercise.
因此，当我们在那里与他们交谈并看到写作时，我们一度做了一些写作练习。
And asked, in this writing exercise, for each of the boys to write something about Christmas.
并要求在这次写作练习中，每个男孩写一些关于圣诞节的东西。
And this turned out to be a dreadful mistake.
事实证明这是一个可怕的错误。
Because most of them had nothing pleasant to say about Christmas.
因为他们中的大多数人对圣诞节没有什么好说的。
We went through the usual things that one might ask, just to give people ideas for what you're going to write about, presents you'd gotten, things you'd want to give to somebody else, people you'd want to give something to, things you wanted to tell someone.
我们讨论了人们可能会问的常见问题，只是为了让人们了解你要写的内容、你收到的礼物、你想送给别人的东西、你想给的人、你想告诉别人的事情。
And had them either write it as a little story or a letter to someone.
让他们要么写一个小故事，要么写一封给某人的信。
This on was typical.
这是典型的。
I'm just going to read this very short essay.
我只是要读这篇很短的文章。
This person's said.
这个人说的。
The thing I most wanted for Christmas was nothing, because I have nothing.
圣诞节我最想要的东西是什么都没有，因为我什么都没有。
That's why I'm here.
这就是我在这里的原因。
The person I like to give something to is no one.
我喜欢送东西的人是谁都没有。
I've always wanted to tell you that.
我一直想告诉你这一点。
I didn't want nothing.
我什么都不想要。
And that's OK.
没关系。
Well Reginald Gibbons is writing about a lot of things right now.
雷金纳德·吉本斯现在正在写很多东西。
But one of them, at least, concerns boys in pretty bad situations.
但至少其中之一涉及处境相当糟糕的男孩。
He's the author of Sweetbitter , his most recent novel and other works of poetry.
他是《甜苦》的作者，这是他最近的小说和其他诗歌作品。
He's the editor of Triquarterly Magazine .
他是《三季刊》杂志的编辑。
And for his most recent book, he is doing some research.
对于他最近的一本书，他正在做一些研究。
He is hanging around a lot at the Juvenile Court Building here in Chicago.
他经常在芝加哥少年法庭大楼闲逛。
And so when we asked him if he wanted to write about Christmas, he decided to set his story there.
因此，当我们问他是否想写有关圣诞节的文章时，他决定把他的故事设定在那里。
A typical hearing or trial is like a brief, highly organized dance.
典型的听证会或审判就像一场简短、组织严密的舞蹈。
The public defenders work from a table to one side of the small courtroom, the state's attorneys from another at the other side.
公设辩护人在小法庭的一侧的桌子上工作，州检察官则在另一侧的另一侧工作。
The clerk calls the next case.
职员呼叫下一个案例。
Someone steps out of the closed doors to the waiting area and calls out the name of the minor respondent.
有人走出紧闭的门，来到等候区，喊出未成年受访者的名字。
The child is brought in.
孩子被带进来了。
A long moment later, someone's approaching, judge, says an attorney, to placate the impatient man behind the bench.
法官称，过了很长一段时间，有人走过来安抚坐在长凳后面不耐烦的男子。
In come three women.
进来了三个女人。
The judge says, his mother here?
法官说，他妈妈在吗？
Yes, judge, the public defender says, indicating one of the women.
是的，法官，公设辩护人指着其中一名妇女说道。
And who is with mother, the judge asks.
法官问道，谁和母亲在一起。
Grandmother and aunt, says the attorney.
律师说，祖母和阿姨。
The judge says, aunt, please sit at the back of the courtroom.
法官说，阿姨，请坐在法庭后面。
And the woman goes there without saying a word.
那女人一言不发地去了那里。
The other two wait, also silent.
另外两人等待着，也沉默不语。
Like the women who are here to stand with him, the child is black this time.
就像在这里与他站在一起的妇女一样，这次的孩子是黑色的。
Everyone else in this courtroom is white.
法庭上的其他人都是白人。
Handcuffs have been removed from his wrists at the side door to the courtroom.
在法庭侧门处，他手腕上的手铐已被取下。
And, as instructed by the uniformed officer who accompanies him, he stands at the center of the bench before the judge, his hands clasped behind his back and holding, in this case, a jacket, a tube of toothpaste, and a toothbrush.
而且，按照陪同他的穿制服警官的指示，他站在法官面前的长凳中央，双手背在身后，手里拿着一件夹克、一管牙膏和一把牙刷。
This legal episode takes only three minutes.
这段法律情节只需要三分钟。
The state's attorney speaks.
州检察官发言。
The judge speaks.
法官发言。
The public defender speaks.
公设辩护人发言。
The person of whom they are speaking is not asked to speak and does not speak.
他们所谈论的人没有被要求发言，也没有发言。
Although they have had time in their service to learn somewhat the language that he speaks, they do not speak a language that's intelligible to him.
尽管他们在服务中花了一些时间学习他所说的语言，但他们说的语言不是他能听懂的。
The public defender meets his client in a small, bare, interview room.
公设辩护人在一间狭小、空荡荡的会见室里会见了他的当事人。
The client is 14 years old, and has been held for two weeks, so far, on a very serious charge of violent crime.
该当事人今年 14 岁，目前已因非常严重的暴力犯罪指控而被关押两周。
His hearing, which will take place in two more weeks, will determine whether he will be tried as a juvenile, in this building, and have some chance to straighten out and go free again eventually, or whether he'll be sent to the court at 26th street, to be tried as an adult.
他的听证会将在两周后举行，届时将决定他是否会在这栋大楼里作为青少年接受审判，并有机会改过自新并最终再次获得自由，或者是否会被送往第 26 街的法庭，作为成年人接受审判。
The boy is short, thin, he does not look directly at the public defender, his attorney, who is explaining to him what happened in the courtroom in those three minutes of the judge's time.
这个男孩又矮又瘦，他没有直视公设辩护人，他的律师，他的律师正在向他解释法官那三分钟内法庭上发生的事情。
It was decided that something will be decided.
决定要决定一些事了。
But this explanation too, is in the language of the courts.
但这种解释也是法庭的语言。
It does not make sense to the child.
这对孩子来说没有意义。
So in response to the explanation, which is that he is going to be given psychological tests, and he needs to be completely honest with the doctor, and then there will be another session before the judge to determine where he will be tried, he says, how long am I going to be in here?
因此，在回应解释时，即他将接受心理测试，他需要对医生完全诚实，然后法官将再次开庭，以确定他将在哪里受审，他说，我要在这里待多久？
For his crime, if he is convicted as an adult, he will probably remain in prison for the rest of his life.
对于他的罪行，如果他成年后被定罪，他很可能会在监狱里度过余生。
His attorney says, that depends, but it's going to be a while.
他的律师说，这要看情况，但这需要一段时间。
We have to convince the judge not to send you to 26th street, right?
我们得说服法官不要把你送到26街，对吧？
Right.
对。
You know how we do that?
你知道我们是怎么做到的吗？
Oh, man.
哦，伙计。
You know how we do that?
你知道我们是怎么做到的吗？
You have to do two things.
你必须做两件事。
You have to not get written up for anything while you're here.
当你在这里的时候，你不能因为任何事情而被记录下来。
And you have to do well in school upstairs.
而且你必须在楼上的学校表现出色。
Are you doing well in school here?
你在这里的学校表现还好吗？
The child is not doing well.
孩子的情况不太好。
And he has already been written up once.
而且他已经被写过一次了。
People get in his face, he says.
他说，人们会挡在他的面前。
He says, he has a temper.
他说，他有脾气。
All he really wants to know is how long will he be in here.
他真正想知道的是他要在这里待多久。
It could be a long time, his attorney says.
他的律师说，这可能会很长一段时间。
How long?
多长时间？
Am I going to get out for Christmas?
我要出去过圣诞节吗？
No. No?
不，不？
He doesn't believe this man is an attorney.
他不相信这个人是律师。
He says, he wants a good lawyer.
他说，他想要一个好律师。
He wants to pay $500 and have a good lawyer.
他想支付 500 美元并请一位好律师。
His sleeves are too long.
他的袖子太长了。
His pants are too big.
他的裤子太大了。
He shifts in his chair again and again.
他一次又一次地在椅子上移动。
The small, windowless, brick walled room doesn't fit him either.
那个没有窗户、砖墙的小房间也不适合他。
Is it more important to you, the attorney says, to react when someone is on you, so they know you won't tolerate that, or to not spend the rest of your life in jail?
律师说，对你来说，当有人攻击你时做出反应，让他们知道你不会容忍这一点更重要，还是不要在监狱里度过余生更重要？
If the judge hears you've got written up, he's going to think that you're not taking this seriously.
如果法官听说你已经被立案，他会认为你没有认真对待这件事。
And if that's what he thinks, then he'll decide you need to go to 26th street, right?
如果他是这么想的，那么他会决定你需要去 26 街，对吗？
The child looks at every corner of the room and not at his attorney.
孩子看着房间的每个角落，而不是看他的律师。
He fidgets violently in his chair and flings his arms to one side, then the other.
他在椅子上剧烈地坐立不安，双臂向一侧甩，然后又向另一侧。
His attorney says, someone gets in your face, you have to walk away from it, right?
他的律师说，有人挡住你的脸，你必须走开，对吧？
And in school, you need A's and B's, OK?
在学校里，你需要 A 和 B，好吗？
So we can ask one of the teachers to come down to the courtroom and tell the judge that you shouldn't be tried at 26th street as an adult, right?
所以我们可以请一位老师到法庭告诉法官你不应该作为成年人在 26 街受审，对吧？
The child is taken back into the part of the building that is behind locks.
孩子被带回大楼锁后面的部分。
After he is gone, his attorney says of him, he isn't going to make it.
他的律师谈到他时说，他离开后，他就活不下去了。
What he has to do is more than any adult could be reasonably expected to be able to do.
他要做的事情超出了任何成年人合理预期能够做的事情。
And he's only 14.
而他才14岁。
The day proceeds, more trials, more hearings, the courthouse empties.
这一天继续，更多的审判，更多的听证会，法院空无一人。
The worlds, here and everywhere around here, go dark early at this time of year.
每年的这个时候，这里和周围的世界都会提早黑暗。
After rush hour, whether at the known street corners where traffic goes steadily by slowly, or at the quiet corners, where nothing should be happening, the snow falling since late afternoon makes everything quiet.
高峰期过后，无论是在车流缓缓前行的熟悉街角，还是在不应该发生任何事情的安静角落，午后的雪花让一切变得安静。
And the street is bright in that strange, nighttime, snow lit way, from the light of a few street lamps, home lights, headlights reflected up off the soft whiteness.
街道以那种奇怪的、夜晚的、雪光照亮的方式明亮，从几盏路灯、家里的灯、车头灯的光反射出柔和的白色。
But inside the juvenile detention center, it's still noisy.
但少年看守所内，依然喧闹。
People are getting in other people's faces, taunting the weak, threatening, messing with their heads.
人们当着别人的面，嘲笑弱者，威胁别人，扰乱他们的头脑。
Outside the dirty unbreakable windows, the snow is falling in the night, falling freely, softly, steadily, slowly.
脏兮兮、打不破的窗外，雪在夜色中飘落，自由地、轻柔地、稳定地、缓慢地落着。
[SINGING WITH BAND] Act Three: Act Three Ira Glass So we wanted a Christmas story for this week that really was more religiously based.
[与乐队一起唱歌] 第三幕：第三幕 Ira Glass 因此，我们本周想要一个真正基于宗教的圣诞故事。
And we wanted some Christmas music.
我们想要一些圣诞音乐。
And to get both, we decided to visit a church that had something very specific to celebrate this year, and a great choir with which to celebrate it.
为了两者兼得，我们决定参观一座教堂，那里今年有一些非常特别的庆祝活动，还有一个很棒的唱诗班来庆祝。
One of our production staff, Peter Clowney, went to Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church.
我们的一位制作人员 Peter Clowney 去了 Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church。
The church meets in a smallish building on South Cornell, near 82nd and Stony Brook.
教会在南康奈尔大学的一栋小建筑内聚会，靠近 82 街和石溪街。
It's in a middle class neighborhood, but there's some tougher areas nearby.
它位于一个中产阶级社区，但附近有一些更困难的地区。
By about 11 o'clock on Sunday morning maybe 50 people are occupying the warm second-floor sanctuary.
到周日上午 11 点左右，二楼温暖的避难所里大约已有 50 人。
They sit in groups, talking about their lives with Christ this week, about other things.
他们三五成群地坐着，谈论本周与基督在一起的生活，以及其他事情。
And some people are praying.
还有一些人在祈祷。
By 11:30, about 100 people are gathered this way.
到11点30分，大约有100人聚集于此。
And when the praise and worship starts, music dissolves these little groups into one congregation.
当赞美和敬拜开始时，音乐将这些小团体溶解成一个会众。
[SINGING] Peter Clowney Reverend Donald Sharp begins the service at noon.
[歌唱] 彼得·克劳尼牧师唐纳德·夏普于中午开始仪式。
He tells people to greet each other in the pews, to meet their neighbors.
他告诉人们在长凳上互相打招呼，与邻居见面。
As a neighbor.
作为邻居。
If I want to be forgiven by God, I got to forgive you.
如果我想得到上帝的宽恕，我就必须宽恕你。
I'm struck by how people greet each other here.
我对这里人们互相打招呼的方式感到震惊。
My father was a minister in Georgia.
我父亲是格鲁吉亚的一名部长。
Our church was half black and half white, but we were all Presbyterian.
我们的教堂一半是黑人，一半是白人，但我们都是长老会教徒。
And, in service, when we greeted each other, we use to do it nervously.
而且，在服务中，当我们互相打招呼时，我们常常会紧张地打招呼。
We'd brush fingertips and mumble at each other.
我们会擦过指尖，互相嘀咕着。
A lot of us avoided eye contact.
我们很多人都避免目光接触。
Here at Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church, people clasp each other's hands.
在信仰帐幕浸信会教堂，人们互相紧握双手。
They look straight in each other's eyes.
他们直视对方的眼睛。
They say, neighbor.
他们说，邻居。
This is a church where no one sits alone.
这是一座没有人独坐的教堂。
Calvin Bridges is the choir director.
卡尔文·布里奇斯是合唱团的指挥。
He is an athletic looking man in his mid-30s.
他是一位 30 多岁、看上去很运动的男人。
He's got this sculpted beard.
他留着雕刻般的胡须。
On Wednesdays, at choir rehearsal, he is all motion.
每周三，在合唱团排练时，他总是动作不停。
He runs from organ over to the choir.
他从管风琴跑到合唱团。
He sings parts for them.
他为他们唱部分。
He's sweating in this orange t-shirt.
他穿着这件橙色T恤，满头大汗。
But during Sunday service, in his grey suit, he stands behind the organ and directs the choir from there, with his singing and by punching up the beat on the organ.
但在周日礼拜期间，他穿着灰色西装，站在风琴后面，指挥唱诗班，用他的歌声和节奏敲击风琴。
[SINGING] Peter Clowney And the choir this morning is about 20 people, maybe five teenage boys who don't seem to be into it, a few young women who are, a couple men over 30.
[唱歌]彼得·克劳尼 今天早上的唱诗班大约有 20 个人，也许有五个似乎不感兴趣的十几岁男孩，一些年轻女性，还有几个 30 岁以上的男性。
but mostly it's women in their 30s and 40s.
但主要是 30 多岁和 40 多岁的女性。
They seem really to get along.
他们看起来真的很合得来。
The closest I saw them come to disagreeing was after rehearsal Wednesday night.
我看到他们最接近的分歧是在周三晚上的排练之后。
Traci Kiraten, one of choir members, told the group about the dance school that she's starting with her mom and sister.
合唱团成员之一特雷西·基拉滕 (Traci Kiraten) 向大家介绍了她与妈妈和姐姐一起创办的舞蹈学校。
They're going to be teaching tap and jazz, maybe some aerobics, and there is also going to be martial arts.
他们将教授踢踏舞和爵士乐，也许还有一些健美操，还有武术。
Choir director Bridges is an ordained minister, he's a very devout man.
合唱团指挥布里奇斯是一位被任命为牧师的人，他是一个非常虔诚的人。
He puller her aside and told her, martial arts could be an instrument of Satan.
他把她拉到一边告诉她，武术可能是撒旦的工具。
They came to an understanding.
他们达成了谅解。
Martial arts does have a background with, I think, it's the Far East religions like Buddhism.
我认为武术确实有一个背景，那就是佛教等远东宗教。
I'm glad that he asked that question.
我很高兴他问了这个问题。
But my response to him was that the teacher, I'm not the teacher, but the teacher that does teach the martial art classes, he has a Christian background.
但我对他的回答是，老师，我不是老师，而是教武术课的老师，他有基督教背景。
And he is a ordained minister.
他是一位被任命的牧师。
[SINGING] Peter Clowney At this church they don't make a big deal out of Christmas.
[唱歌]彼得·克劳尼 在这座教堂里，他们并没有把圣诞节当作一件大事。
There are no real decorations around.
周围没有真正的装饰品。
Maybe two Christmas songs in their entire morning service.
也许他们整个早上的礼拜都会唱两首圣诞歌曲。
And when I asked people about it, they told me, they celebrate Christ year round.
当我向人们询问此事时，他们告诉我，他们全年庆祝基督。
So why should Christmas be any different.
那么为什么圣诞节应该有所不同呢？
I give God praise whether it be Christmas, Easter.
无论是圣诞节还是复活节，我都赞美上帝。
I just don't take one day out of the year to celebrate.
我只是一年中没有一天来庆祝。
I celebrate all the time.
我一直在庆祝。
Hallelujah, because God is good.
哈利路亚，因为神是良善的。
Yes he is.
是的，他是。
He's good.
他很好。
I'm getting excited.
我开始兴奋了。
That's Angela Cook, a member of the choir for 25 years.
那是安吉拉·库克 (Angela Cook)，她是合唱团成员 25 年。
She's one of the soloists.
她是独奏家之一。
[ANGELA COOK SINGING WITH BAND AND CHOIR]
[安吉拉·库克与乐队和合唱团一起唱歌]
4:30, we're back at the church for the mortgage burn.
4:30，我们回到教堂处理抵押贷款烧毁事件。
First, everyone takes battery powered candles and marches around the building.
首先，每个人都拿着电池供电的蜡烛，绕着大楼游行。
[SINGING ] We've come this far by faith.
[唱歌]我们凭着信心走到了这一步。
Leaning on the Lord.
倚靠主。
Trusting in his holy word.
相信他的圣言。
Reverend Sharp founded this church 31 years ago, with 12 people.
夏普牧师于31年前创建了这座教堂，当时有12人。
Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church now has 500 members, too many for this building.
信仰帐幕浸信会教堂现在有 500 名成员，对于这座建筑来说太多了。
And last year, Reverend Sharp made a decision.
去年，夏普牧师做出了一个决定。
He told his congregation, look, we're going to pay $90,000 left on our mortgage.
他告诉他的会众，看，我们将支付剩余的 90,000 美元抵押贷款。
Not by the year 2004, like we're supposed to, but now.
不是像我们预期的那样到 2004 年，而是现在。
Because once we've done that, we can start building.
因为一旦我们做到了这一点，我们就可以开始构建了。
We can build a place that can hold all of us.
我们可以建造一个可以容纳我们所有人的地方。
A year later, even Reverend Sharp is surprised that they did it.
一年后，就连夏普牧师也对他们做到了感到惊讶。
When we began last year to make a determination that we were going to engage in this campaign, I had to be very honest with you, I had some serious doubts.
当我们去年开始决定参与这项活动时，我必须对你们非常诚实，我有一些严重的怀疑。
Not about God, but about you.
不是关于上帝，而是关于你。
Amen.
阿门。
I'm might as well, might as well be honest with you.
我也可以，不妨对你诚实。
As of last Sunday, Faith Tabernacle has raised $101,000.
截至上周日，Faith Tabernacle 已筹集 101,000 美元。
That's an incredible amount given how many people they are, and what people there make.
考虑到他们的人数和收入，这是一个令人难以置信的数字。
It comes out to about $2,000 per person, on top of tithing, on top of the mission funds that they give.
除了什一奉献和他们所提供的宣教资金之外，每人的收入约为 2,000 美元。
And in a year's time, we didn't sell not one chicken, didn't sell not one banquet ticket, didn't sell anything.
一年的时间里，我们没有卖掉一只鸡，没有卖掉一张宴会票，没有卖掉任何东西。
I could stand here and tell you the story as how we used to believe in selling dinners, banquets.
我可以站在这里告诉你我们过去如何相信销售晚餐、宴会的故事。
And how folks would be mad at each other around here.
这里的人们会互相生气。
Because you didn't buy no ticket from me, I ain't going to buy no ticket from you.
因为你没有从我这里买票，所以我也不会从你这里买票。
All right.
好的。
And how we used to have banquets and used to have ticket selling.
以及我们过去如何举办宴会和如何售票。
And somehow the tickets and the money didn't come out right.
但不知何故，门票和钱都没有出来。
Anyone who's been part of a church, knows that no big moment in a church's life is going to pass without dozens of people speaking, and without a service that goes on perhaps a bit too long.
任何曾经参加过教会的人都知道，如果没有数十人的发言，或者没有持续时间太长的礼拜，教会生活中的任何重大时刻都不会过去。
By about 7:30 people are fidgeting.
到了7点30分左右，人们开始坐立不安。
Teenagers in the back slump in the pews.
后面的青少年瘫坐在长椅上。
But then, finally, the moment arrives.
但最终，这一刻到来了。
20 or so leaders of the church gather at the pulpit, their backs to the congregation.
大约 20 名教会领袖聚集在讲坛上，背对会众。
They lay the mortgage in an alter that appears to be covered with tinfoil.
他们将抵押贷款放在一个似乎覆盖着锡纸的祭坛上。
It burns surprisingly quickly with a tiny wisp of smoke, while some people sing, burn, out loud.
它的燃烧速度出人意料地快，伴随着一小缕烟雾，而有些人则大声唱歌、燃烧。
Christmas, in a certain sense, is about tomorrow.
圣诞节，从某种意义上说，是关于明天的。
It's about hope.
这是关于希望的。
The child was is just born in the darkness of winter.
孩子是在寒冷的冬日里刚刚出生的。
He is bringing light with him.
他带来了光明。
It's the perfect moment for a group of people who've stood with each other for 30 years to look to the future, to begin to build.
对于一群已经团结了 30 年的人来说，这是展望未来、开始建设的完美时刻。
[FUNDING CREDITS] Today's show was produced by Nancy Updike and myself, with Alix Spiegel, Peter Clowney, and Delores Wilber.
[资金来源] 今天的节目由南希·厄普代克和我本人以及阿利克斯·斯皮格尔、彼得·克劳尼和德洛丽丝·威尔伯共同制作。
Contributing editors Jack Hitt, Margie Rochlin and Paul Tough.
特约编辑 Jack Hitt、Margie Rochlin 和 Paul Tough。
We broadcast from WBEZ Chicago.
我们从 WBEZ 芝加哥进行广播。
[ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS] The choir director, Calvin Bridges does have a record coming out, a CD, of the Chicago Praise Ensemble, some people from the church and some other people, from their recent tours in Paris and Scandinavia.
[鸣谢] 合唱团指挥卡尔文·布里奇斯（Calvin Bridges）确实发行了一张芝加哥赞美乐团（Chicago Praise Ensemble）的唱片，一张CD，其中有来自教会的一些人和其他一些人最近在巴黎和斯堪的纳维亚半岛的巡演。
Look for that.
寻找那个。
[ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONT.] I'm Ira Glass.
[致谢（续）] 我是 Ira Glass。
See you next week.
下周见。
[SINGING] This American Life This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.
[SINGING] This American Life 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。