73: Blame It on Art - 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 #73 | August 3, 2007 73: Blame It on Art 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 73 集 | 2007 年 8 月 3 日 73：归咎于艺术 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 So, Jim, say who you are and say where you are.
序言 Ira Glass 那么，吉姆，请说出你是谁，并说出你在哪里。
Well, I'm Jim Biederman, and I'm standing in the Hall of the States in the Louvre museum.
好吧，我是吉姆·比德曼，我站在卢浮宫博物馆的美国大厅里。
It's a hall of Italian masters where many of the Italian masters, the Carvaggios and Raphaels and many of the Italian painters from the Venetian period are hung, including Leonardo da Vinci and the Mona Lisa.
这是一个意大利大师的殿堂，里面挂着许多意大利大师的作品，卡瓦乔和拉斐尔以及威尼斯时期的许多意大利画家，包括达芬奇和蒙娜丽莎。
I'm standing right across the way from the Mona Lisa, as a matter of fact.
事实上，我就站在蒙娜丽莎的对面。
And you're speaking to us on a cell phone from there in Paris.
您正在巴黎用手机与我们通话。
I was in Italy once, in Florence.
我曾经去过意大利，在佛罗伦萨。
And I went to the museum where they have Michelangelo's statue of David.
我去了博物馆，那里有米开朗基罗的大卫雕像。
He holds a slingshot in one hand.
他一只手拿着一根弹弓。
You've see pictures of this.
你已经看过这方面的照片了。
And as I stood there, all around the statue were people talking about what restaurant they were going to go to later, when they were going to meet their friends.
当我站在那里时，雕像周围的人们都在谈论他们稍后要去哪家餐厅，当他们要见他们的朋友时。
You know, you stand there and you just think, how good would this statue have to be to actually get their undivided attention?
你知道，你站在那里，你只是想，这座雕像必须有多好才能真正引起他们的全神贯注？
What has an artist got to do?
艺术家必须做什么？
And this is not just Michelangelo's problem.
这不仅仅是米开朗基罗的问题。
We sent out an actual foreign correspondent, Jim Biederman, to the Louvre, and he discovered that Leonardo da Vinci is also having trouble touching people's hearts in the museum setting.
我们派出了一位真正的外国记者吉姆·比德曼（Jim Biederman）前往卢浮宫，他发现达芬奇在博物馆环境中也很难触动人们的心。
Well, one of the great debates that's taking place here around the Mona Lisa is exactly how expensive it is and why it's valued at so much.
嗯，围绕《蒙娜丽莎》发生的最大争论之一就是它的价格到底有多贵，以及为什么它的价值如此之高。
The people are talking about what it is exactly that makes this painting so special.
人们正在谈论到底是什么让这幅画如此特别。
And I heard one woman say, well, I hear it's her smile.
我听到一位女士说，好吧，我听说这是她的微笑。
Another woman said, no, no, no. It's her eyes.
另一个女人说，不，不，不。这是她的眼睛。
And she says, her eyes follow you anywhere in the room.
她说，她的目光会跟随你在房间的任何地方。
And then she says to her friend, go over there in the corner and see if she's looking at you.
然后她对她的朋友说，到角落里去看看她是否在看着你。
And she stomps across the room.
她跺脚穿过房间。
Is she looking at you over there?
她在那边看着你吗？
Can you see her looking at you over there?
你能看到她在那边看着你吗？
So, Jim, do people stand next to the Mona Lisa and talk about things that have nothing to do with the painting at all?
那么，吉姆，人们会站在《蒙娜丽莎》旁边谈论与这幅画完全无关的事情吗？
Oh, absolutely.
哦，绝对是。
Yeah.
是的。
And also you get a lot of people sort of pressed to get other places.
而且很多人都被迫去其他地方。
"I'm tired, Dad.
“我累了，爸爸。
You said you were going to take us somewhere else." And "Oh, we've seen this.
你说过要带我们去别的地方。” “哦，我们已经看到了这个。
Let's go." And yeah, there's a lot of that.
我们走吧。”是的，这样的事情有很多。
It actually makes you feel bad for artists, you know?
这实际上会让你对艺术家感到难过，你知道吗？
A group most of us feel no sympathy for whatsoever.
我们大多数人对这个群体没有任何同情心。
I mean, imagine an artist's life.
我的意思是，想象一个艺术家的生活。
It takes years to develop any skills.
培养任何技能都需要数年时间。
It's intensely difficult to learn.
学习起来非常困难。
It's very, very competitive.
竞争非常非常激烈。
Almost nobody makes any money doing it.
几乎没有人这样做能赚钱。
There are jealousies and unfair treatment.
存在嫉妒和不公平待遇。
And then, if somehow, somehow, your work is recognized and you end up in a museum, perhaps, incredibly, you end up in a world-class museum like the Louvre, this is how you're treated, even here.
然后，如果不知何故，不知何故，你的作品得到认可，你最终会进入博物馆，也许，令人难以置信的是，你最终会进入像卢浮宫这样的世界级博物馆，这就是你受到的待遇，即使在这里也是如此。
One woman stood in front.
一名女子站在前面。
And she said, I saw in a film once that if you go really close to the painting, she doesn't look that good at all.
她说，我曾经在一部电影中看到，如果你离这幅画很近的话，她看起来一点也不好看。
[LAUGHS] What do people want out of art?
[笑]人们想从艺术中得到什么？
What are they looking for anyway?
他们到底在寻找什么？
Imagine da Vinci's horror if he heard the banality of the following exchange between Jim and I?
想象一下，如果达·芬奇听到我和吉姆之间接下来的平庸对话，他会感到多么恐惧？
Jim, is it possible for you to walk over to the Mona Lisa right now?
吉姆，你现在可以走到蒙娜丽莎那里吗？
You are?
你是？
Jim Biederman I'm standing right at the rail.
吉姆·比德曼（Jim Biederman） 我就站在栏杆旁。
There's bulletproof glass in front and a rail that stands out about five feet here that keeps people away.
前面有防弹玻璃，还有一根突出约五英尺的栏杆，可以让人们远离。
It's quite a lovely painting.
这是一幅非常可爱的画。
And it's true.
这是真的。
Her eyes do follow you everywhere.
她的眼睛总是追随着你。
They do?
他们这样做吗？
Jim Biederman Yes, I'm off to the side right now, but if I go across-- and I'll just do this for you, Ira, because I know that this is real radio here.
吉姆·比德曼（Jim Biederman）是的，我现在就在一边，但如果我过去——我会为你做这件事，艾拉，因为我知道这里是真正的广播。
So I'm going to go over to the other side here.
所以我要去这里的另一边。
And I'm in the center now, and she's looking straight at me.
我现在在中心，她直视着我。
She's got that enigmatic smile.
她的笑容很神秘。
She looks like she might be smirking a bit at these tourists.
她看起来可能正在对这些游客傻笑。
I could be wrong.
我可能是错的。
And now I'm over on the left side, and she's still staring at me over here.
现在我在左边，而她仍然在这里盯着我。
Well, today on our program, people who thought that they actually knew better about art, better than me, better than Jim.
好吧，今天在我们的节目中，人们认为自己实际上更了解艺术，比我更好，比吉姆更好。
And they actually became artists.
他们实际上成为了艺术家。
And what happened to them.
他们发生了什么事。
From WBEZ Chicago and Public Radio International, it's This American Life .
来自芝加哥 WBEZ 和国际公共广播电台的《This American Life》。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Our program today, Blame It on Art.
我们今天的节目，归咎于艺术。
Act One, the cutthroat world of balloon animal artists.
第一幕，气球动物艺术家的残酷世界。
No kidding, balloon animal artists.
不开玩笑，气球动物艺术家。
Act Two, writer David Sedaris recounts his own shameful career as a performance artist and how his toenail clippings ended up in a museum.
第二幕，作家大卫·塞达里斯讲述了他作为表演艺术家的可耻职业生涯，以及他的剪下的脚趾甲如何最终进入博物馆。
Act Three, Reverb, how a hard core jazz snob learned to love what some would consider the worst music in the world, the music his father played.
第三幕，混响，一个顽固的爵士乐势利小人如何学会喜欢一些人认为世界上最糟糕的音乐，他父亲演奏的音乐。
Act Four, Grace Note, a story from New York locksmith Joel Kostman.
第四幕，恩典音符，纽约锁匠乔尔·科斯特曼的故事。
Stay with us.
留在我们身边。
Act One, Life in a Bubble.
第一幕，泡沫中的生活。
In the world of the artist, successes and failures are all carefully measured, people hold grudges, people are accused of selling out.
在艺术家的世界里，成功与失败都是经过仔细衡量的，人们怀恨在心，人们指责出卖。
You find these stories everywhere, the independent rock scene in Chicago or Seattle, the galleries in SoHo, the theater scene pretty much anywhere that theater is made anywhere on this planet.
这些故事随处可见：芝加哥或西雅图的独立摇滚乐场景、SoHo 区的画廊、地球上几乎任何地方的剧院场景。
But you might not expect to find these kinds of stories at the Toy Fair.
但你可能没想到会在玩具展上找到这类故事。
The Toy Fair is the big trade show for the toy world.
玩具展是玩具界的大型贸易展。
Thousands of manufacturers and buyers descend on New York City for the event every year.
每年都有成千上万的制造商和买家来到纽约参加这一活动。
Our contributing editor Paul Tough went with Aaron Hsu-Flanders, a toy entrepreneur.
我们的特约编辑 Paul Tough 和玩具企业家 Aaron Hsu-Flanders 一起去了。
Aaron and I are walking through the entrance hall of the Jacob Javits Center, just hanging out, talking when suddenly we see Amazing [?
亚伦和我正穿过雅各布·贾维茨中心的入口大厅，只是闲逛、聊天，突然我们看到了令人惊叹的[？
Shoney.
肖尼。
?] He's got the whole outfit on, painted face, polka-dotted shirt, baggy pants, really, really big shoes.
？]他穿上了整套衣服，画着脸，圆点衬衫，宽松的裤子，非常非常大的鞋子。
He's a clown all right.
他是个小丑，没错。
And he's doing what clowns do.
他正在做小丑所做的事。
He's making balloon animals.
他正在制作气球动物。
You have a magical day now.
你现在度过了神奇的一天。
Paul Tough Shoney hands Aaron a lopsided pink inflated giraffe.
保罗·托夫·肖尼 (Paul Tough Shoney) 递给亚伦一只不平衡的粉红色充气长颈鹿。
He's just made a balloon animal for one of the acknowledged masters of the art, Aaron Hsu-Flanders, author of Balloon Animals , More Balloon Animals , Balloon Hats and Accessories , and Balloon Cartoons and Other Favorites.
他刚刚为一位公认的艺术大师 Aaron Hsu-Flanders 制作了一只气球动物，Aaron Hsu-Flanders 是《气球动物》、《更多气球动物》、《气球帽子和配饰》以及《气球卡通和其他最爱》的作者。
It's a weird moment.
这是一个奇怪的时刻。
It's as if Michael Jordan stopped by a schoolyard and played a little one-on-one with an unsuspecting teenager.
这就好像迈克尔·乔丹在一个校园停下来，与一个毫无戒心的青少年进行了一场一对一的比赛。
Aaron doesn't let on who he is.
亚伦没有透露他是谁。
And the two of them just chat for a few minutes about some of the current issues in balloon sculpting.
他们两人只是聊了几分钟，讨论了气球雕刻中当前的一些问题。
I haven't been able to make a good Barney.
我没能成为一个好的巴尼。
Can you make Barney?
你能做巴尼吗？
I make him a tyrannosaurus rex that's purple.
我给他做了一只紫色的霸王龙。
It doesn't quite look like it.
看起来不太像。
But it's enough to pass.
但能通过就够了。
We take our giraffe and walk away.
我们带着长颈鹿走开了。
Aaron tells me what he thinks.
亚伦告诉我他的想法。
I wasn't blown away.
我并没有被震撼。
He made a sort of generic-looking combination dog giraffe kind of thing that you couldn't-- it was more the power of suggestion.
他制作了一种看起来很普通的组合狗长颈鹿之类的东西，这是你做不到的——这更多的是暗示的力量。
He was sort of a follower of the theory that all balloon animals are essentially dogs with a little variation here and there.
他是这样一种理论的追随者，即所有气球动物本质上都是狗，只是到处都有一点变化。
Lacked a little of the finesse that I admit I have to sort of insist upon in order to be impressed with someone.
缺乏一点技巧，我承认我必须坚持才能给某人留下深刻的印象。
Aaron's been making animals out of balloons for more than 20 years.
亚伦用气球制作动物已经有 20 多年了。
And if anyone in the world of balloon animals is an artist, Aaron is.
如果气球动物世界里有人是艺术家，那么亚伦就是。
He invented quite a few designs.
他发明了很多设计。
It was Aaron, for instance, who made the first balloon camel ever.
例如，亚伦制造了第一只气球骆驼。
Amazing [?
惊人的 [？
Shoney ?] may not have recognized him.
肖尼？]可能没有认出他。
But here at Toy Fair, especially where balloon people gather, he's constantly being noticed.
但在玩具展上，尤其是在气球人聚集的地方，他不断受到关注。
The memory.
记忆。
You got it.
你明白了。
Paul Tough It's not a total surprise that this guy recognized Aaron.
Paul Tough 这家伙认出了Aaron，这并不完全令人惊讶。
He's in the balloon animal business too.
他也从事气球动物生意。
The product that Aaron, sells that he's here at Toy Fair to market, is an instruction book on how to make balloon animals packaged together with 40 balloons and an inflating pump.
亚伦在玩具展上销售的产品是一本关于如何制作气球动物的说明书，与 40 个气球和一个充气泵包装在一起。
And the package that this guy sells is suspiciously similar.
而且这家伙卖的包装也疑似相似。
We walk away from the booth, and Aaron tells me he's used to this sort of thing.
我们离开展位，亚伦告诉我他已经习惯了这种事情。
There have been eight knockoffs of his product before this one.
在此之前，他的产品已经出现过八次仿制品。
Clearly he came out with quite a few direct yes knockoff products.
显然他推出了很多直接的山寨产品。
His whole line virtually is a knockoff product.
他的整个系列实际上都是山寨产品。
I think he felt like he had to pal up to me a little bit.
我想他觉得他必须和我交朋友一点。
I am, in a somewhat obscure field, perhaps the acknowledged master at this point.
在这个有点晦涩的领域，我也许是目前公认的大师。
He's got no boss, no set hours.
他没有老板，也没有固定的工作时间。
He makes little kids happy.
他让小孩子们开心。
It seems like a dream job, but it's not his dream.
这似乎是一个梦想的工作，但这不是他的梦想。
His dream is to be an artist, a real artist.
他的梦想是成为一名艺术家，一名真正的艺术家。
What he really wants to be doing is this.
他真正想做的就是这个。
[GUITAR MUSIC PLAYING] Aaron Hsu-flanders I mean, for a long time I did have a love-hate relationship with balloons.
[吉他音乐演奏] Aaron Hsu-flanders 我的意思是，很长一段时间我对气球确实是又爱又恨。
And it took me a while to get over that.
我花了一段时间才克服这个问题。
There is a sort of darker side.
有一种更黑暗的一面。
This isn't something that I always thought I would do my whole life.
这不是我一直以为我会做一辈子的事情。
It's not the mark that I had ever intended for my whole life to make on the world.
这不是我一生想要在世界上留下的印记。
And I am a musician, and I actually have always hoped and continue to hope to make a musical mark in some way on the world also.
我是一名音乐家，实际上我一直希望并将继续希望以某种方式在世界上留下音乐印记。
I consider balloons more a craft and music more an art.
我认为气球更像是一种工艺，而音乐更像是一种艺术。
And I've always considered myself first and foremost a musician.
我一直认为自己首先是一名音乐家。
[GUITAR MUSIC PLAYING] Paul Tough This is from a CD called The Blue Jester that Aaron and his friend David recorded a few years ago.
[吉他音乐演奏] Paul Tough 这是来自 Aaron 和他的朋友 David 几年前录制的一张名为 The Blue Jester 的 CD。
Aaron produced it himself, and he distributes it out of his home.
亚伦自己制作了它，并在家里分发。
When Aaron was in his twenties his life revolved around music.
当亚伦二十多岁的时候，他的生活围绕着音乐。
And balloons were just something he did for money, making animals at parties to help pay the rent.
气球只是他为了钱而做的事情，在聚会上制作动物来帮助支付房租。
Most of his friends were in the same boat, concentrating on their art or their music and working odd jobs for money.
他的大多数朋友都在同一条船上，专注于他们的艺术或音乐，并打零工赚钱。
It was one of those tightly knit artistic communities where everyone's more or less at the same level of success, everyone has the same values, everyone's supporting one another.
这是一个紧密结合的艺术社区，每个人都或多或少地取得了相同的成功，每个人都有相同的价值观，每个人都互相支持。
And then things changed.
然后事情发生了变化。
In 1989, when he was 29, Aaron published his first book, an 80-page paperback with black and white photos that explained how to make 20 of the most common balloon animals-- giraffes, poodles, dachshunds, elephants.
1989 年，29 岁的亚伦出版了他的第一本书，这是一本 80 页的平装本，附有黑白照片，解释了如何制作 20 种最常见的气球动物——长颈鹿、贵宾犬、腊肠犬、大象。
It did pretty well.
效果还不错。
When the moniker best-seller was added to my book, suddenly I had some serious issues of jealousy and envy from almost all of my particularly male friends at that point in my life.
当畅销书这个绰号被添加到我的书中时，我突然遇到了一些严重的嫉妒和嫉妒问题，几乎所有当时我生命中特别是男性的朋友都对我产生了嫉妒和羡慕的情绪。
I noticed that questions of success and failure and contentment with their own lives were brought to the fore, that this sort of forced the question.
我注意到成功与失败以及对自己生活的满足感的问题被提到了前台，这有点迫使他们提出这个问题。
Like, oh, Aaron had a best-seller.
就像，哦，亚伦有一本畅销书。
So that still is an issue.
所以这仍然是一个问题。
Did balloons actually sort of come between you and certain friends permanently?
气球真的永久地挡在了你和某些朋友之间吗？
Yeah, that's actually sad.
是的，这确实很悲伤。
I had to end very long-term, meaningful friendships for me.
我不得不结束对我来说非常长期、有意义的友谊。
As the business got more successful, Aaron's friends, especially his male friends, became more and more critical.
随着生意越来越成功，阿龙的朋友，尤其是他的男性朋友，也变得越来越挑剔。
He bought a house.
他买了房子。
He bought a car.
他买了一辆车。
He got married.
他结婚了。
He had kids.
他有孩子。
All paid for by balloon animals.
全部由气球动物支付。
In his eyes, he was still part of that same creative community.
在他眼中，他仍然是同一个创意社区的一部分。
In their eyes, he'd gone corporate.
在他们眼里，他已经变成了企业。
I bemoan the loss of my male friends.
我为失去男性朋友而哀伤。
That's the irony that my wife and I share all the time is that I'm a person who-- very friendly, amiable person who has thousands of acquaintances, but I have virtually no friends, really close friends.
这是我和我妻子一直分享的讽刺之处，那就是我是一个非常友好、和蔼可亲的人，有成千上万的熟人，但我几乎没有朋友，真正亲密的朋友。
It's an old story, a group of struggling artists.
这是一个古老的故事，一群苦苦挣扎的艺术家。
One of them makes it big.
其中之一让它变得很大。
The rest feel threatened and bitter.
其余的人则感到受到威胁和痛苦。
The thing that's incredible, though, about Aaron's story, is that true, he's on top, but he's on top of the world of balloon animals.
然而，关于亚伦的故事，令人难以置信的是，他确实处于巅峰，而且他处于气球动物世界的巅峰。
He takes out a couple of long, thin balloons, the tools of his trade, and starts to demonstrate his craft.
他拿出几个又长又细的气球，这是他的职业工具，并开始展示他的手艺。
[BALLOONS SQUEAKING] Aaron Hsu-flanders That's it.
[气球吱吱作响] Aaron Hsu-flanders 就是这样。
Very nice.
很不错。
A few squeaks later.
几声吱吱声过后。
Hard to convey, I think, over the radio, but what was just created during that little squeaky period was a teddy bear.
我认为很难通过广播来传达，但在那个吱吱作响的小时期刚刚创造出来的是一只泰迪熊。
It says something about human nature that even in this world of teddy bears and giraffes, success is so threatening that becoming king of the balloon animals can destroy a community, turn lifelong friends against one another.
它说明了人性，即使在这个充满泰迪熊和长颈鹿的世界里，成功也具有如此大的威胁，成为气球动物之王可能会摧毁一个社区，让终生的朋友互相反目。
One of my closest friends just recently, after all these years, although there had been a significant period of estrangement, I had to-- we virtually are not in touch at all anymore.
我最近最亲密的朋友之一，这么多年过去了，虽然已经有一段很长的疏远时期，但我不得不——我们几乎不再联系了。
Aaron tells me about this one friend of his, a friend since childhood, who composes contemporary classical music.
亚伦向我讲述了他的一位朋友，一位从小就认识的朋友，创作当代古典音乐。
Not too many people in that world make it big.
在那个世界上，没有太多人能做到大事。
And his friend apparently wasn't one of the lucky few.
而他的朋友显然不是少数幸运者之一。
He ended up in a job he hated, teaching music at a small New England college.
他最终找到了一份他讨厌的工作，在新英格兰的一所小型学院教音乐。
Not enough time to compose.
没有足够的时间来作曲。
Not enough respect from the New York musical world.
纽约音乐界没有给予足够的尊重。
As their fortunes went in opposite directions, things between Aaron and his friend became tense.
随着他们的命运走向相反，亚伦和他的朋友之间的关系变得紧张。
But it just turned into-- it was amazing, actually.
但它只是变成了——实际上，这太神奇了。
He very much personalized his bitterness and attacks on what he perceived as the commercial world.
他非常个性化地表达了他对商业世界的不满和攻击。
But he focused it through the tiny lens of me and the world of commerce but included attacks on the frivolousness of the toy world with lines like, glad to see such creative minds are being dedicated to the world of commerce.
但他通过我和商业世界的微小镜头来聚焦它，但也包括对玩具世界的轻浮行为的攻击，比如，很高兴看到这样的创造性思维致力于商业世界。
It's not like I started manufacturing guns or weaponry or pesticides.
我并不是开始制造枪支、武器或杀虫剂。
He very much gave me the impression that he felt that I was no different than any other businessman who sells [BLEEP] to whatever.
他给我的印象非常深刻，他觉得我和其他把[BLEEP]卖给任何东西的商人没有什么不同。
Aaron says that he's tired of defending himself from that sort of attack.
亚伦说他厌倦了保护自己免受此类攻击。
But the fact is, those are the very questions he asks himself when he's alone.
但事实是，这些正是他独处时问自己的问题。
Is he an artist, or is he a salesman?
他是艺术家，还是推销员？
These days he finds himself hanging out less and less with creative people and more and more with store owners and distributors and latex manufacturers.
如今，他发现自己越来越少地与创意人士交往，而越来越多地与商店老板、分销商和乳胶制造商交往。
There are some people he meets in the toy world that he likes, people he feels a real connection with, but he says it doesn't happen all that often.
他在玩具世界里遇到了一些他喜欢的人，他觉得与这些人有真正的联系，但他说这种情况并不经常发生。
There is a certain part of me that gets really alienated when I walk around here.
当我在这里走来走去时，我内心的某个部分变得非常疏远。
I hate to say this, but I look around, and it just doesn't seem like there's anyone that I really care too much about.
我不想这么说，但我环顾四周，似乎没有一个我真正太在乎的人。
What's happened to Aaron is what happens to a lot of creative people who find some measure of success.
发生在亚伦身上的事情也发生在许多找到了成功标准的有创造力的人身上。
Without meaning to, he has become a businessman.
不知不觉中，他成了一名商人。
He's really good at it.
他真的很擅长。
But he says sometimes he loses track of how he ended up here.
但他说有时他会忘记自己是如何来到这里的。
[MUSIC - "TEARS OF A CLOWN" BY THE ENGLISH BEAT]
[音乐 - 英语节拍的“小丑的眼泪”]
Act Two, Still Life.
第二幕，静物。
After high school, writer David Sedaris attended an unusual number of colleges for very brief periods of time, hoping somehow that one of them would turn him into an artist, even though he had no skill at all at painting, drawing, sculpting, printmaking, or any of the known visual media.
高中毕业后，作家大卫·塞达里斯在很短的时间内就读了多所大学，希望其中一所大学能让他成为一名艺术家，尽管他在绘画、素描、雕塑、版画或任何已知的视觉媒体方面毫无技能。
For instance, he enrolled in the art program at a school that was mainly known for its animal husbandry program, where he fell in with an arty crowd of filmmakers, lazy filmmakers.
例如，他在一所主要以畜牧业项目闻名的学校就读了艺术项目，在那里他结识了一群充满艺术气息的电影制作人，懒惰的电影制作人。
In their company, I attended grainy black and white movies in which ponderous, turtlenecked men walked the stony beaches, cursing the gulls for their ability to fly.
在他们的陪伴下，我观看了颗粒状的黑白电影，电影中笨重的高领男人在石质海滩上行走，咒骂海鸥的飞行能力。
Art was based upon despair, and the important thing was to make yourself and those around you as miserable as possible.
艺术是建立在绝望之上的，重要的是让自己和周围的人尽可能痛苦。
Maybe I couldn't paint or sculpt, but I could work a mood better than anyone I knew.
也许我不会绘画或雕刻，但我比我认识的任何人都能更好地调节情绪。
Unfortunately, the school had no accredited sulking program.
不幸的是，学校没有经过认可的生闷气项目。
And I dropped out more despondent than ever.
我比以往更加沮丧地退学了。
This was recorded in front of a live audience in Seattle by public radio station KUOW.
这是公共广播电台 KUOW 在西雅图在现场观众面前录制的。
A warning to listeners before we begin, in this story David Sedaris mentions the fact that sex exists, and he talks about drug use with a level of detail and familiarity you do not usually hear from other public radio commentators like, say, Daniel Schorr.
在我们开始之前向听众发出警告，在这个故事中，大卫·塞达里斯（David Sedaris）提到了性存在的事实，他以一种你通常不会从其他公共广播评论员（例如丹尼尔·肖尔）那里听到的细节和熟悉程度谈论吸毒问题。
After a few months in my parents' basement, I took an apartment near the state university where I discovered both crystal methamphetamine and conceptual art.
在父母的地下室住了几个月后，我在州立大学附近租了一套公寓，在那里我发现了冰毒和概念艺术。
Either one of these things is dangerous enough, but the combination has the potential to destroy entire civilizations.
这些事情中的任何一个都足够危险，但组合起来就有可能摧毁整个文明。
The moment I took my first burning snootful, I understood that this was the drug for me.
当我第一次服用燃烧鼻涕的那一刻，我就明白这就是适合我的药物。
Speed eliminates all doubt.
速度消除了所有疑虑。
Am I smart enough?
我够聪明吗？
Will people like me?
人们会喜欢我吗？
Do I really look all right in this plastic jumpsuit?
我穿这件塑料连衣裤真的好看吗？
These are questions for insecure potheads.
这些都是缺乏安全感的瘾君子要问的问题。
A speed enthusiast knows that everything he says or does is brilliant, the upswing being that, having eliminated the need for both eating and sleeping, you have a full 24 hours a day to spread your charm and talent.
一个速度爱好者知道他所说或所做的一切都是精彩的，好处是，在消除了吃饭和睡觉的需要后，你每天有整整 24 小时来传播你的魅力和才华。
"For god's sake," my father would say, "it's 4 o'clock in the morning.
“看在上帝的份上，”我父亲会说，“现在是凌晨 4 点。
What are you calling for?" I was calling because the rest of my friends had taken to unplugging their phones after 10:00 PM.
你打电话来干什么？”我打电话是因为我的其他朋友在晚上 10:00 后就开始拔掉手机。
These were people I had known in high school, and it disappointed me to see how little we now had in common.
这些都是我在高中时认识的人，令我失望的是我们现在的共同点如此之少。
These people were all stuck in the past, setting up their booths at the art fair and thinking themselves successful because they'd sold a silk screen picturing a footprint in the sand.
这些人都停留在过去，在艺术博览会上设立摊位，并认为自己成功了，因为他们售出了一幅描绘沙子上脚印的丝网印刷品。
Didn't they read any of the magazines?
他们没有读过任何杂志吗？
The new breed of artists wanted nothing to do with beauty.
新一代艺术家不想与美有任何关系。
Here were people who made a living pitching tents or lying in a fetal position before our national monuments.
这些人以搭帐篷或在我们的国家纪念碑前以胎儿的姿势躺着为生。
One fellow had made a name for himself by allowing a friend to shoot him in the shoulder.
有一个人因允许朋友朝他的肩膀开枪而出名。
This was the art world I'd been dreaming of, where god-given talent was considered a hindrance.
这是我一直梦想的艺术世界，天赐的天赋被认为是一种障碍。
"Let me put your mother on," my father would say.
“让我给你妈妈穿上，”我父亲会说。
"She's had a few drinks, and maybe she can understand whatever the hell it is you're talking about."
“她喝了几杯，也许她能明白你在说什么。”
I bought my drugs from a wiry, pop-eyed short-order cook whose brittle, prematurely white hair was teased in such a way that I couldn't look at her without thinking of a dandelion.
我从一位身材瘦长、眼睛突出的快餐厨师那里买了药，她那脆弱的、过早变白的头发被梳理得很整齐，让我每次看到她都会想到蒲公英。
The drug had a way of turning people into either really good sex partners or very bad artists.
这种药物可以使人要么变成非常好的性伴侣，要么变成非常糟糕的艺术家。
And she seemed to know exactly which group I might fit into.
她似乎很清楚我可能属于哪一组。
She introduced me to a handful of jittery motormouths who shared my love of the word manifesto.
她向我介绍了一些神经兮兮的汽车迷，他们和我一样热爱“宣言”这个词。
The first meeting was tense, but I broke the ice by laying out a few lines of crystal and commenting on my host's refreshing lack of furniture.
第一次会议很紧张，但我通过布置几行水晶打破了僵局，并评论了主人缺乏家具的令人耳目一新的情况。
This was an understatement, as his living room contained nothing but an enormous nest made from human hair.
这是一个轻描淡写的说法，因为他的客厅里除了一个由人类头发制成的巨大巢穴外什么也没有。
It seemed the man drove twice a week to all the local salons and barber shops, collecting their sweepings and arranging them strand by strand, as carefully as a wren.
这名男子似乎每周两次开车去当地所有的沙龙和理发店，收集他们的扫帚，并像鹪鹩一样小心翼翼地将它们一缕一缕地排列起来。
"I've been building this nest for, oh, about six months now," he said.
“我建造这个巢已经，哦，大约六个月了，”他说。
"Go ahead.
“继续吧。
Have a seat."
坐吧。”
Inspired by my friends, I started on a few pieces of my own.
受到朋友的启发，我开始自己创作一些作品。
My first project was a series of wooden vegetable crates I filled with my garbage.
我的第一个项目是一系列装满垃圾的木制蔬菜箱。
Seeing as I no longer ate anything, there were no rotting food scraps to worry about, just cigarette butts, aspirin tins, wads of hair, and bloody Kleenex.
由于我不再吃任何东西，所以不用担心腐烂的食物残渣，只有烟头、阿司匹林罐、一团头发和血淋淋的纸巾。
Because this was art, I meticulously recorded each entry using an ink I'd made from the crushed bodies of ticks and mosquitoes.
因为这是艺术，所以我用用蜱虫和蚊子的压碎尸体制成的墨水仔细记录了每个条目。
2:17 AM.
凌晨 2:17。
Four toe nail clippings, dust from window sill, moth.
四个脚趾甲屑、窗台上的灰尘、飞蛾。
I was a busy man.
我是一个忙碌的人。
When two of my crates were completed, I carried them down to the art museum for consideration in the upcoming juried biennial.
当我的两个箱子完成后，我把它们带到了艺术博物馆，以供即将到来的双年展评审考虑。
The next few weeks were spent basically camping out beside my mailbox waiting to hear what the state of North Carolina had to say about the artistic merits of my toenail clippings.
接下来的几周我基本上都在我的邮箱旁边露营，等待北卡罗来纳州对我剪下的脚趾甲的艺术价值的评价。
When the news arrived that I had been accepted, I should have kept the information to myself.
当我被录取的消息传来时，我应该把这个信息保密。
My friends' proposals to set fire to the grand staircase and sculpt the governor's head out of human feces had all been rejected.
我的朋友们提议放火烧掉大楼梯，用人的粪便雕刻出州长的头像，但都被拒绝了。
This confirmed their outsider status and made me suspect.
这证实了他们的局外人身份，让我产生了怀疑。
At the next group meeting, it was suggested that the museum had accepted my work only because it was decorative and easy to swallow.
在下次小组会议上，有人建议博物馆接受我的作品只是因为它具有装饰性且易于吞咽。
My friends could have gotten in if they'd compromised themselves, but unlike me, that was not their style.
如果我的朋友们妥协的话，他们本来可以加入，但与我不同的是，那不是他们的风格。
After the exhibit had ended, I burned my crates, storing the ashes in a Tupperware bowl I kept in the back of my closet.
展览结束后，我烧掉了板条箱，将骨灰存放在我放在衣柜后面的特百惠碗中。
I told my friends that I hated every moment of the museum reception.
我告诉我的朋友，我讨厌博物馆招待会的每一刻。
Only then did I find myself back in the group's good graces.
直到那时我才发现自己又重新受到了团队的青睐。
I had paid for my folly and as a reward was invited to take part in the nest builder's performance piece.
我为自己的愚蠢付出了代价，作为奖励，我被邀请参加筑巢者的表演。
He held a meeting where seven of us chirped and bleated what amounted to the script.
他召开了一次会议，我们七个人叽叽喳喳、咩咩叫着，内容相当于剧本。
I wanted to point out that I'd had a bit of acting experience in the past, but covered to the waste in human hair, it seemed best not to mention it.
我想指出的是，我以前也有过一些表演经验，但由于头发的浪费，似乎最好不要提及。
One of the cast members stormed out in tears after being told she wasn't moaning properly, and the rest of us suffered a continuing plague of splinters and heat rashes.
一名演员在被告知她没有正常呻吟后，泪流满面，而我们其他人则持续遭受着皮肤碎片和痱子的困扰。
I never understood what the piece was about and never asked because I didn't want to appear stupid.
我从来不明白这篇文章是关于什么的，也从来没有问过，因为我不想显得愚蠢。
My parents attended the premiere, sitting cross-legged on one of the mats spread like islands across the filthy concrete floor.
我的父母参加了首映式，盘腿坐在一张垫子上，垫子像岛屿一样铺在肮脏的混凝土地板上。
The local newspaper ran a review headlined, "Local Group Pitches in, Cleans up Warehouse." This did nothing to encourage ticket buyers whose numbers dwindled to the single digits by the second night of our weeklong run.
当地报纸发表了一篇评论，标题为“当地团体介入，清理仓库”。这并没有鼓励购票者，他们的人数在我们为期一周的比赛的第二天晚上就减少到了个位数。
Luckily we found it easy to blame not ourselves but a public so brainwashed by television that they found it impossible to sit through a two and a half hour performance piece without complaining of boredom and leg cramps.
幸运的是，我们发现很容易责怪公众，而不是我们自己，而是被电视洗脑的公众，他们发现不可能坐下来观看两个半小时的表演而不抱怨无聊和腿抽筋。
When the nest builder announced his plans for the next piece, the group fell apart.
当筑巢者宣布他的下一件作品的计划时，这个团队就分崩离析了。
"Why is it always your piece?" We asked.
“为什么总是你的作品？”我们问。
When he offered us the opportunity to create our own parts, we became even angrier.
当他给我们提供制作自己零件的机会时，我们变得更加愤怒。
Who was he to give assignments and set deadlines?
他是谁来布置作业和设定最后期限的？
The truth was that we lacked the ability to invent our own roles.
事实是，我们缺乏创造自己角色的能力。
This led to a climactic shouting match wherein we exhausted all our analogies, and started all over again from the top.
这导致了一场高潮的喊叫比赛，我们用尽了所有的类比，然后从头开始。
"We're not your puppets or your little trained dogs willing to jump through some hoop.
“我们不是你们的木偶，也不是你们训练有素的小狗，愿意跳过去。
What, do you think we're puppets?
怎么，你以为我们是傀儡吗？
Is that what you think?
你是这么想的吗？
Do I look like a puppet to you?
在你眼里我像个木偶吗？
I'm not a puppet or a little dog either.
我也不是木偶，也不是小狗。
I'm not going to jump through any of your hoops, puppet master, because I'm not a dog or a puppet.
我不会跳过你的任何圈套，傀儡师，因为我不是狗或傀儡。
You can train a dog to jump through a hoop.
你可以训练狗跳过铁环。
Buy yourself a dog, why don't you?
给自己买一只狗，为什么不呢？
Better yet, get a puppet, because you've pulled these strings for the last time." I had hoped the group might stick together for years, but within 10 minutes, it was all over, finished, each of us pledging to perform on our own.
更好的是，买一个木偶，因为这是你最后一次操纵这些线了。”我原本希望这个乐队能团结在一起很多年，但十分钟之内，一切都结束了，结束了，我们每个人都承诺自己表演。
I spent the next few weeks running the argument over and over in my mind, picturing a small dog chasing a puppet across the floor of an abandoned warehouse.
接下来的几周里，我在脑海中一遍又一遍地思考这个争论，想象着一只小狗在一个废弃仓库的地板上追逐一个木偶。
I was stuffing a pillow with my cigarette butts when the museum called inviting me to participate in their month of Sundays performance festival.
当博物馆打电话邀请我参加他们的周日表演节时，我正在用烟头塞满枕头。
Watching the performances of my former colleagues, I got the idea that once you'd assembled the requisite props, the piece would come together on its own.
观看我以前同事的表演，我得到了这样的想法：一旦你组装了必要的道具，这件作品就会自行组合起来。
The inflatable shark led naturally to the puddle of heavy cream, which, if lapped from the floor with a slow, steady precision, could amount to up to 20 minutes of valuable stage time.
充气鲨鱼很自然地通向一滩浓奶油，如果以缓慢而稳定的精度从地板上拍打奶油，可能会占用长达 20 分钟的宝贵舞台时间。
This revelation led me to a secondhand store where I searched the aisles with the cold eye of a prospector.
这一发现让我来到了一家二手店，以探矿者般的冷酷目光搜寻着过道。
Standing at the checkout counter with an armload of sock monkeys, I told the cashier, "These are for a piece I'm working on.
我抱着一大堆袜子猴子站在收银台前，告诉收银员：“这些是我正在制作的一件作品。
It's a performance commissioned by the art museum.
这是受美术馆委托的演出。
I'm an artist." "So is my niece." The woman stabbed her cigarette into a bucket full of sand.
我是一名艺术家。” “我侄女也是。”女人把香烟插进装满沙子的桶里。
"She's the one who made those monkeys."
“她是那些猴子的创造者。”
It disturbed me to hear the word artist used so loosely.
听到艺术家这个词如此随意地使用，我感到很不安。
The man who sketched portraits at the mall called himself an artist, as did the woman who forged wreaths out of used Styrofoam cups.
那个在商场画肖像的男人自称艺术家，那个用用过的聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料杯锻造花圈的女人也是如此。
"Yes," I said, "but I'm a real artist." The woman was not offended, only puzzled.
“是的，”我说，“但我是一个真正的艺术家。”女人并没有生气，只是感到困惑。
"But my niece lives over near Winston-Salem." She said it as though she were referring to a well-known art capital where the streets were lined with galleries and pastry shops.
“但我侄女住在温斯顿塞勒姆附近。”她说得好像她指的是一个著名的艺术之都，那里的街道两旁都是画廊和糕点店。
"She's a big blond-headed girl with twin babies.
“她是一个有着双胞胎婴儿的金发大女孩。
Maybe you know of her.
也许你认识她。
Her name's Lucille, but everybody calls her Sock Lady on account of she's always making those monkeys.
她的名字叫露西尔，但每个人都叫她“袜子女士”，因为她总是做那些猴子。
Pretty girl.
漂亮的女孩。
Fat in the rear, but just as pretty and talented as she can be." I looked into this woman's face.
虽然后面很胖，但她还是很漂亮，很有才华。”我看着这个女人的脸。
Maybe one day I'd do a piece about stupidity, but right now I'd just pay for these sock monkeys, snort a few lines of speed, and finish constructing a bulletproof vest out of used flashlight batteries.
也许有一天我会写一篇关于愚蠢的文章，但现在我只需为这些袜子猴付钱，吸几行速度，然后用废旧手电筒电池制作一件防弹背心。
There was a good-sized crowd gathered at the art museum, and I stood before them, wishing they were half as high as I was.
艺术博物馆里聚集了一大群人，我站在他们面前，希望他们有我一半高。
I'd been up for three days and nights and had taken so much speed that I could see the individual atoms pitching in to make up every folding chair.
我已经三天三夜没睡，速度如此之快，以至于我可以看到单个原子拼凑起来组成每张折叠椅。
For the first few minutes, I thought it was my paranoia until I remembered that these people were staring at me for a reason.
最初几分钟，我以为这是我的偏执，直到我想起这些人盯着我看是有原因的。
I was here to perform.
我是来表演的。
The show wasn't over yet.
演出还没有结束。
It hadn't even started.
事情还没有开始。
I tried reminding myself that I was in control.
我试着提醒自己，一切都在我的掌控之中。
All I had to do was open my prop bag, and the rest of the piece would take care of itself.
我所要做的就是打开我的道具袋，剩下的部分就会自行处理。
I'm slicing the pineapple now, I thought.
我想，我现在正在切菠萝。
Next I'll rip apart these sock monkeys and pour the stuffing into this tall rubber boot.
接下来我会把这些袜子猴撕开，然后把填充物倒进这只高高的橡胶靴里。
Good.
好的。
That's good.
那挺好的。
Now I'll snip off some of my hair with these garden shears, stare at my hands for a while, and then we're almost home.
现在我会用这些花园剪刀剪掉一些头发，盯着我的手看一会儿，然后我们就快到家了。
I moved towards the audience and was kneeling in the aisle, the shears is to my head when I heard, "I can't get him to touch the damn things at home." It was my father, speaking in a loud voice to the woman seated beside him.
我走向观众席，跪在过道上，剪刀抵着我的头，这时我听到：“我不能让他碰家里那些该死的东西。”那是我的父亲，正在大声对坐在他旁边的女人说话。
"I could never get him to cut his hair either.
“我也无法让他剪掉头发。
I guess the barber shop isn't artsy enough for him." The audience begin to laugh.
我猜理发店对他来说不够艺术。”观众开始大笑。
For the first time since I'd started, they perked up and began enjoying themselves.
自从我开始工作以来，他们第一次精神抖擞，开始享受生活。
"Hey, sport, what do you charge for a shave?" It was him again, and once again, the crowd responded.
“嘿，运动，你们刮胡子要多少钱？”又是他，人群再次响应。
Their laughter egged him on, and he proceeded to deliver a running commentary.
他们的笑声激励了他，他开始发表连续的评论。
Drunk with attention, he ruined my piece with his snide little comments.
他沉浸在关注中，用他的讽刺小评论毁了我的作品。
I was literally spitting tacks, trying my hardest to concentrate.
我确实在吐口水，尽力集中注意力。
Immediately following the performance, a sizable crowd gathered around my father, congratulating him on his delivery and comic timing.
演出结束后，一大群人立即聚集在我父亲周围，祝贺他的表演和喜剧的时机。
"Including your father was an excellent idea," the curator said, handing me my check.
“包括你父亲在内是个好主意，”馆长一边说，一边把支票递给我。
"The piece really picked up once you relaxed and started making fun of yourself."
“一旦你放松并开始取笑自己，这首曲子就真的开始流行了。”
Not only did my father ask for a cut of the money, but he also started calling with suggestions for future pieces.
我父亲不仅要求分一杯羹，还开始打电话提出对未来作品的建议。
"What if you were to symbolize man's inhumanity to man by heating up a skillet of plastic soldiers?
“如果你通过加热一锅塑料士兵来象征人类对人类的不人道呢？
I told him it was the lamest idea I'd ever heard in my life and to stop calling me with his pissy little ideas.
我告诉他这是我一生中听过的最蹩脚的想法，不要再给我打电话说他那些肮脏的小想法了。
"I'm an artist," I yelled.
“我是一名艺术家，”我喊道。
"I come up with the ideas.
“我提出了这些想法。
Not you, me.
不是你，是我。
This isn't a party game.
这不是派对游戏。
It's serious work, and I'd rather chew on blasting caps than listen to any more of your suggestions." There was a brief pause before he said, "The bit with the blasting caps just might work.
这是一项严肃的工作，我宁愿咀嚼雷管，也不愿再听你的任何建议。” 停顿了一下，他说道，“带雷管的钻头可能会起作用。
Let me think about it and get back to you."
让我考虑一下然后再回复你。”
My performing career effectively ended the day my drug dealer moved to Florida to enter a treatment center.
当我的毒贩搬到佛罗里达州进入治疗中心的那一天，我的表演生涯实际上结束了。
"How can you do this to me?" I asked her.
“你怎么可以这样对我？”我问她。
"I have a piece to finish, damn it.
“我还有一件事要完成，该死。
I'm an artist, and I need to know where my drugs are coming from." I cashed in a savings bond left to me by my grandmother and used the money to buy what I hoped would be enough speed to last me through the month.
我是一名艺术家，我需要知道我的毒品是从哪里来的。”我兑现了祖母留给我的储蓄债券，并用这笔钱购买了我希望足够快地度过这个月的东西。
It was gone in 10 days, and with it went my ability to do anything but roll on the floor and cry.
十天后它就消失了，随之而来的是我除了在地板上打滚哭泣之外什么都做不了。
Speed's breathtaking high is followed by a crushing, suicidal low.
速度令人惊叹的高潮之后是令人窒息的、自杀般的低谷。
Thinking I surely must've dropped a grain or two, I vacuumed the entire apartment with a straw up my nose, sucking up dead skin cells, Comet residue, and pulverized cat litter.
我想我一定是掉了一两粒谷物，于是我用吸管吸住鼻子，用吸尘器清扫了整个公寓，吸走了死皮细胞、彗星残留物和磨碎的猫砂。
Anything that traveled on the bottom of a shoe went up my nose.
任何在鞋底上移动的东西都会进入我的鼻子。
After a week, I left my bed to perform at the college, deciding at the last minute to skip both the Twister game and the march of the chocolate bunnies.
一周后，我离开床去大学表演，在最后一刻决定跳过龙卷风游戏和巧克力兔子游行。
I just heated up a skillet of plastic soldiers, poured a milkshake over my head, and called it a night.
我只是加热了一锅塑料士兵，把奶昔倒在头上，然后就到此为止了。
Thank you.
谢谢你。
David Sedaris recorded in Seattle.
大卫·塞达里斯 (David Sedaris) 在西雅图录制。
He's the author of many books, including most recently, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.
他是多本书的作者，包括最近出版的《用灯芯绒和牛仔布装扮你的家人》。
[MUSIC - "THE COLLECTOR (AND THE ART MOB)" BY TERRY ALLEN]
[音乐 - 特里·艾伦的《收藏家（和艺术暴民）》]
Coming up, views of artists in the art world that I swear are not quite so bleak.
接下来，我发誓艺术界艺术家的看法并没有那么黯淡。
Also, what to think about the odd music Dad used to play and more.
另外，想想爸爸过去常演奏的奇怪音乐等等。
That's in a minute, from Public Radio International, when our program continues.
稍后，国际公共广播电台将继续我们的节目。
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, invite a variety of writers and reporters and performers to tackle that theme.
当然，每周我们的节目都会选择一个主题，邀请各种作家、记者和表演者来解决这个主题。
Today's program, Blame It on Art, stories about the difficulties and pettiness in artists' lives.
今天的节目《怪罪艺术》讲述了艺术家生活中的艰难和琐碎的故事。
We have arrived at Act Three of our program, Reverb.
我们已经到了节目《混响》的第三幕。
Ellery Eskelin never met his father, never even talked to him, but he always heard that he was a genius all during his childhood, and especially after he started playing sax when he was 10 years old, he heard stories about his dad.
埃勒里·埃斯凯林（Ellery Eskelin）从未见过他的父亲，甚至从未和他说过话，但他在童年时期一直听说他是个天才，尤其是在他10岁开始演奏萨克斯之后，他听到了有关他父亲的故事。
He said he heard that his dad could play any instrument he picked up, that he wrote music fast, like it was nothing, that he could never understand why other musicians got frustrated when he handed out brand-new arrangements right before a gig.
他说他听说他的父亲可以演奏他学会的任何乐器，他写音乐的速度很快，就像什么都没有一样，他永远无法理解为什么当他在演出前分发全新的安排时其他音乐家会感到沮丧。
He could always play it right off the page.
他总是可以直接从页面上播放它。
Why couldn't they?
为什么他们不能？
Finally Ellery got to hear his father's music for the first time.
最后，埃勒里第一次听到了他父亲的音乐。
What's happened since is a story about what it means to be a nobody artist and what it means to be called a genius.
此后发生的故事讲述了成为一名无名艺术家意味着什么以及被称为天才意味着什么。
This American Life producer Nancy Updike tells the story.
《美国生活》制片人南希·厄普代克讲述了这个故事。
When Ellery first heard his father's music, it was 1976, two years after his dad was killed.
当埃勒里第一次听到他父亲的音乐时，是 1976 年，也就是他父亲被杀两年后。
His father, Rodd Keith, fell, or jumped, from an overpass onto a California highway at 5:00 in the morning.
他的父亲 Rodd Keith 于凌晨 5:00 从立交桥跌落或跳入加州高速公路。
Ellery was 17 when he first heard the tape, a talented and earnest jazz saxophone player living with his mother, who was also a musician.
埃勒里 (Ellery) 第一次听到这盘磁带时年仅 17 岁，他是一位才华横溢、认真的爵士萨克斯管演奏家，与他的母亲（也是一名音乐家）住在一起。
I think we were just sitting in the living room of my mother's house in Baltimore.
我想我们只是坐在我母亲位于巴尔的摩的房子的客厅里。
And, you know, we pop this cassette in.
而且，你知道，我们把这盘磁带放进去。
Now, perhaps not surprisingly, when Ellery first heard this recording, he was really disappointed.
现在，也许并不奇怪，当埃勒里第一次听到这段录音时，他真的很失望。
He hadn't known what to expect when his grandparents sent the tape.
当他的祖父母寄来录音带时，他不知道会发生什么。
But after all the buildup, he just couldn't believe that this was going to be it from his father, the genius, one crappy tape he couldn't stand listening to.
但在经历了这么多的积累之后，他简直不敢相信这会是来自他的天才父亲，一盘他无法忍受听的蹩脚磁带。
And that was the last of his father's music he heard for the next 15 years.
这是他在接下来的 15 年里最后听到的父亲的音乐。
Let's play-- I'll just play this, and we'll talk about it.
我们来玩吧——我就玩这个，然后我们来讨论它。
This is called "Hippy Happy Land."
这就是所谓的“嬉皮快乐之地”。
[MUSIC - "HIPPY HAPPY LAND" BY RODD KEITH]
[音乐 - 罗德·基思的《嬉皮快乐之地》]
Is this your dad singing?
这是你爸爸唱歌吗？
Ellery Eskelin Yeah.
埃勒里·埃斯凯林 是的。
This is a song poem.
这是一首歌诗。
Song poems are songs built around lyrics that people send in to companies that advertise in the back of some magazines.
歌曲是根据歌词创作的歌曲，人们将其发送给在某些杂志背面做广告的公司。
You're supposed to send in your lyrics, and then they'll write a song for you, record it, and send it out to record companies so you can break into the biz.
你应该发送你的歌词，然后他们会为你写一首歌，录制它，并将其发送给唱片公司，这样你就可以进入这个行业。
Needles to say, the song poem industry is about half a promise short of a swindle and not a form that has launched any musicians you or I could name, except, interestingly enough, Hootie of Hootie & the Blowfish.
不用说，歌曲诗行业大约是半个承诺，而不是一个骗局，并且没有一种形式催生了任何你我能说出名字的音乐家，除了有趣的是，Hootie of Hootie & the Blowfish。
Just kidding.
开玩笑。
So it's 15 years since Ellery's first heard that tape of his dad, and he's thumbing through this music catalog.
距离埃勒里第一次听到他父亲的磁带已有 15 年了，他正在翻阅这份音乐目录。
And he sees a CD compilation of song poems, including ones by Rodd Keith, his father.
他还看到了一张歌曲诗集 CD，其中包括他父亲罗德·基思 (Rodd Keith) 的歌曲。
He was stunned.
他惊呆了。
He immediately got the CD and started finding out everything he could about other song poems his dad wrote.
他立即拿到了 CD，并开始尽其所能地查找有关他父亲写的其他歌曲的一切信息。
It turns out he wrote hundreds and hundreds of them.
事实证明，他写了成百上千篇这样的文章。
Now Ellery has a whole shelf of 45s with song poems by his dad.
现在，埃勒里有一整架 45 首诗，里面装满了他父亲的歌曲。
This music has everything in the world going against it.
这种音乐让世界上的一切都与它作对。
It's completely artificial.
这完全是人工的。
It's a scam.
这是一个骗局。
I could probably list 15 different reasons why it shouldn't work.
我大概可以列出 15 个它不起作用的不同原因。
But for some reason, something comes through all this stuff.
但出于某种原因，所有这些东西都会产生一些东西。
And I think that's part of the charm and attractiveness that it has.
我认为这就是它的魅力和吸引力的一部分。
The combination of the sentiment of the lyrics and the tune being so absurd, coupled with Rodd's delivery, which is actually like he's going for it.
歌词的情感和曲调的结合是如此荒唐，再加上Rodd的表达方式，实际上就像他正在努力一样。
I mean, it's like a fine line between the fact that he knows that this is kind of a joke, but he's really trying to put something in it.
我的意思是，这就像他知道这是一个玩笑，但他真的想在其中加入一些东西之间的微妙界限。
And a lot of this stuff is right on that line.
很多东西都在这条线上。
And I think that's almost an uncomfortable place to be, but it's really fascinating and attractive.
我认为这几乎是一个不舒服的地方，但它确实令人着迷和有吸引力。
It's like you want to cringe, but you're laughing, but you're really attracted to it all at the same time.
就像你想畏缩，但你在笑，但你同时被这一切所吸引。
Ellery loves that rawness and confusion of song poems and not in a theoretical, oh, isn't that kitschy way.
埃勒里喜欢歌曲的原始和混乱，而不是理论上的，哦，不是那种庸俗的方式。
He likes listening to them.
他喜欢听他们说话。
He says he'll put on a song poem CD just to listen to around the apartment, the same as any other CD, which may sound unimaginable and breathtaking.
他说他会放一张歌曲CD，只是为了在公寓里听，就像任何其他CD一样，这听起来可能难以想象，令人惊叹。
But here's the thing, when you listen to one song poem after another, you realize song poems are like a blind date you start out thinking you're going to hate.
但事情是这样的，当你听一首又一首歌曲时，你会意识到歌曲就像一场相亲，你开始认为你会讨厌。
And then by the end of dinner and a movie, you've found several things you really dig about this person.
然后，在晚餐和电影结束时，你会发现这个人的一些真正值得你挖掘的地方。
And even if you're not going to marry them, they're definitely not like anyone you've ever dated before.
即使你不打算嫁给他们，他们也绝对不像你以前约会过的任何人。
[MUSIC - "THE FLITTING FIREFLY" BY RODD KEITH]
[音乐 - 罗德·基思的《飞舞的萤火虫》]
And so it is with fleeting loves, they sparkle for a while.
转瞬即逝的爱情也是如此，它们会闪闪发光一段时间。
But all too soon, they leave you on your senses to beguile.
但很快，它们就会让你失去理智，被欺骗。
As we listened, it occurred to me that I had never heard a firefly used as a metaphor for love before.
当我们听的时候，我突然想到我以前从未听过萤火虫被用来比喻爱情。
That's the great thing about the song poem.
这就是这首诗的伟大之处。
Every metaphor, every mixed metaphor that you could imagine is in there.
你能想象到的每一个隐喻，每一个混合的隐喻都在那里。
And the topics are great.
而且话题都很棒。
There's politics, love songs, hippies, dance crazes.
有政治、情歌、嬉皮士、舞蹈热潮。
Do the pig.
做猪吧
Do the turkey.
做火鸡吧
Space travel.
太空旅行。
The pig is not a dance that really made it big.
猪猪并不是真正发大的舞蹈。
It should have, though.
但它应该有。
I mean, check it out.
我的意思是，检查一下。
It would have if this had gotten an air play.
如果这能播出的话那就会了。
[MUSIC - "DO THE PIG" BY RODD KEITH]
[音乐 - 罗德·基思的《做猪》]
The stylistic range of the songs Ellery's father wrote is dizzying.
埃勒里父亲所写歌曲的风格范围令人眼花缭乱。
It's 10 years of work from someone who was very, very productive.
这是一个非常非常有成效的人花了 10 年的时间所做的工作。
Of course, he wasn't always working because sometimes he was busy doing things like taking LSD and going out on Sunset Boulevard wearing only a rain coat, and then accidentally catching the rain coat on fire when he tried to light a cigarette, and then taking the raincoat off and being arrested for public nudity.
当然，他并不总是在工作，因为有时他忙着做一些事情，比如服用LSD，只穿着雨衣在日落大道上散步，然后在试图点燃香烟时不小心将雨衣着火，然后脱下雨衣，因公共裸体而被捕。
But when he was working, he would record, say, 30 songs a day, one right after another, no rehearsals, no second takes.
但当他工作时，他每天会录制 30 首歌曲，一首接一首，没有排练，没有第二次录制。
So Rodd would record maybe some James Bond theme sounding song.
所以罗德可能会录制一些詹姆斯·邦德主题曲。
Then a dance song.
然后是一首舞曲。
Then some psychedelic number.
然后是一些迷幻的数字。
And then something that sounds like the early Beatles or Ray Davies.
然后是一些听起来像早期披头士乐队或雷·戴维斯的音乐。
At first, when I was first listening to these records, I would hear things and not be sure it was him, even if it had his name on the label.
起初，当我第一次听这些唱片时，我会听到一些东西，但不确定是他，即使标签上有他的名字。
It took me a while.
我花了一段时间。
Now I can tell it's him, no matter what he's doing.
现在我可以看出是他，无论他在做什么。
I can tell whatever that grain of-- whatever that is in his voice that makes it him, I can tell.
我可以分辨出他声音中的任何一点——无论他的声音中是什么，我可以分辨出来。
What an amazing way to know your father, that you have this sort of musical intimacy with him, that-- I mean, you never saw him face to face.
认识你的父亲是多么令人惊奇的方式，你和他有这种音乐上的亲密感，我的意思是，你从未面对面见过他。
Yeah, that's true.
是的，确实如此。
I can almost tell the songs that he wrote too, just by the devices that he used and the chord changes.
我几乎可以通过他使用的设备和和弦变化来辨别他写的歌曲。
Small, little things.
小事，小事。
[MUSIC PLAYING] Nancy Updike That's Ellery on the sax.
[音乐播放] 南希·厄普代克 这是吹萨克斯的埃勒里。
It's from his first album, which is a collection of jazz standards.
这是他的第一张专辑，该专辑是爵士乐标准的集合。
With his father on the other side of the country, that's the music Ellery grew up listening to and liking.
由于他的父亲在国家的另一边，埃勒里从小就听着并喜欢这种音乐。
I used to be not a snob about it, because I've always had very broad tastes in music, but I definitely was brought up feeling that there was good music and that there was bad music.
我过去对此并不势利，因为我对音乐的品味一直很广泛，但我从小就感觉音乐有好有坏。
I mean, I grew up not liking rock and roll, which was really strange for somebody my age.
我的意思是，我从小就不喜欢摇滚乐，这对于我这个年纪的人来说真的很奇怪。
Every kid in the first grade was talking about the Beatles and trying to get their hair to grow long.
一年级的每个孩子都在谈论披头士乐队，并试图让自己的头发留长。
And I'm thinking about Stan Getz or John Coltrane or something like that.
我正在考虑 Stan Getz 或 John Coltrane 或类似的人。
By the time Ellery heard his father's music the second time, when he was in his early thirties, his musical taste had already changed and broadened.
当埃勒里第二次听到父亲的音乐时，也就是三十出头的时候，他的音乐品味已经发生了变化和拓宽。
But the song poems were just a different world altogether.
但歌曲却完全是另一个世界。
They were so unfettered by any pretensions of the art world or the world of serious music.
他们不受任何艺术世界或严肃音乐世界的束缚。
It was inspiring.
这很鼓舞人心。
Ellery says in the last few years since finding his father's music and discovering song poems, he's been having a ball buying music he never liked or never heard as a kid and discovering he loves it.
埃勒里说，自从发现父亲的音乐和歌曲诗以来，过去几年里，他一直在疯狂购买他小时候不喜欢或从未听过的音乐，并发现自己喜欢它。
Iggy Pop, Yoko Ono, The White Album .
伊基·波普、小野洋子、白色相簿。
And Ellery's own music is changing.
埃勒里自己的音乐正在发生变化。
Frankly, it's getting weirder, much less like jazz standards and much more like song poems.
坦率地说，它变得越来越奇怪，不太像爵士乐标准，而更像歌曲。
They have this experimental, "hey, let's see how this sounds" feel.
他们有一种实验性的感觉，“嘿，让我们看看这听起来怎么样”。
It's making him a jazz outcast these days, which is fine with him.
这些天这让他成为了爵士乐的弃儿，这对他来说很好。
When a reviewer sniffed that a section of one of his albums sounded like, quote, "the buzzing of a thousand demented insects," his reaction was, "Yeah.
当一位评论家嗅到他的一张专辑的一部分听起来像“一千只疯狂昆虫的嗡嗡声”时，他的反应是，“是的。
And?"
还有？”
Was it a disappointment, something that you had to sort of go through and get over to think, OK, my father isn't the Mozart of jazz.
这是一种失望，是一种你必须经历的事情，然后才能思考，好吧，我的父亲不是爵士乐界的莫扎特。
Damn it, I'm not related to a Coltrane.
该死，我和 Coltrane 没有血缘关系。
I'm related to--
我与——
But I think I am related to one.
但我想我和其中一个有血缘关系。
I mean, the music didn't change that.
我的意思是，音乐并没有改变这一点。
Really?
真的吗？
Ellery Eskelin No, people have told me.
埃勒里·埃斯凯林 不，人们告诉我的。
I mean, they use exactly those words.
我的意思是，他们正是使用这些词。
It's like, he was like a Mozart.
就像，他就像莫扎特。
He could write this.
他可以写这个。
He could do that.
他可以做到这一点。
All the cliches.
所有的陈词滥调。
But when people tell them, I can tell that they're really heartfelt.
但当人们告诉他们时，我可以看出他们是真心实意的。
So my estimation of my father has never wavered, and I've never been disappointed in him.
所以我对父亲的评价从来没有动摇过，也从来没有对他失望过。
I've only been disappointed in the fact that I've never been able to find more of what he was able to do.
我只是感到失望，因为我再也无法找到他能做的更多事情。
Not that I'm dissatisfied with song poem music at all.
并不是说我对歌诗音乐完全不满意。
I'm thrilled to have it.
我很高兴拥有它。
It's just that I know that there was more to his personality, and there was more to his life.
只是我知道他的个性还有更多，他的生活也有更多。
And the fact that I never met him, I'm hungry for anything I can get.
事实上，我从未见过他，我渴望得到任何我能得到的东西。
I started out with almost nothing to go on except for that one cassette and two pictures.
一开始，除了一盘磁带和两张照片之外，我几乎没有什么可继续的。
That was all.
仅此而已。
If you could have a conversation with him now, what would you say?
如果你现在可以和他对话，你会说什么？
Wow.
哇。
Obviously, there are a million things I'd want to know.
显然，我想知道一百万件事。
I just think it would be being with him that would be the whole thing.
我只是觉得和他在一起才是全部。
Not unlike these dreams in which, OK, he's here.
就像这些梦一样，好吧，他就在这里。
We are together.
我们在一起。
And we're doing normal kind of stuff, like we're going to go out and hang out.
我们正在做一些正常的事情，比如我们要出去玩。
W'ere going to do this.
我们打算这样做。
We're going to do that.
我们将这样做。
And we're not going to call a huge amount of attention to the fact that there's this profound, enormous thing going on.
我们不会引起人们对正在发生的这种深刻而巨大的事情这一事实的大量关注。
We're not really going to address that so much as we're just going to live.
我们并不真的要解决这个问题，我们只是要生活。
We're just going to-- do you know what I mean?
我们只是要——你明白我的意思吗？
Sure.
当然。
Nancy Updike This is the one time in the interview you've cried.
南希·厄普代克：这是您在采访中哭过的一次。
Why?
为什么？
Because I guess up to now, we've just sort of talked in terms of secondhand stories and things that I've thought a lot of that I'm able to recite, that I've said many times before, that I've thought about a lot, that I'm familiar with.
因为我想到目前为止，我们只是谈论一些二手故事和一些我想了很多的，我能背诵的，我以前说过很多次的，我想了很多的，我熟悉的事情。
I've been able to regulate my degree of emotion to that.
我已经能够调节自己的情绪程度。
But when you ask me to indulge in a fantasy or something like that, that's very direct.
但当你让我沉迷于幻想或类似的事情时，那就非常直接了。
He never met his father.
他从未见过他的父亲。
It's not just that he died.
不仅仅是他死了。
Ellery never met him.
埃勒里从未见过他。
Ellery says losing his father has only gotten harder as he's gotten older.
埃勒里说，随着年龄的增长，失去父亲只会变得更加困难。
When we talked, he'd just passed the age his father was when he died, 37.
当我们交谈时，他刚刚过了他父亲去世时的年龄，37 岁。
Ellery's father appears on Ellery's new album, Green Bermudas.
埃勒里的父亲出现在埃勒里的新专辑《绿色百慕大》中。
About half the songs sample song poems written by his father and some other song poems too.
大约一半的歌曲采样了他父亲写的歌曲和其他一些歌曲。
[MUSIC - "GREEN BERMUDAS"BY ELLERY ESKELIN WITH ANDREA PARKINS]
[音乐 - 埃勒里·埃斯凯林与安德烈·帕金斯创作的《绿色百慕大》]
Ellery's father reminded me of this writer Philip K.
埃勒里的父亲让我想起了作家菲利普·K·埃勒里 (Philip K.
Dick, who spent his life doing this intricate science fiction writing, all the while dreaming of writing something entirely different, something that would be considered great literature, huge and influential, a classic, not just a cult sci-fi hit.
迪克一生致力于复杂的科幻小说写作，同时梦想着写出一些完全不同的东西，一些被认为是伟大的文学作品，巨大而有影响力的作品，一部经典作品，而不仅仅是一部狂热的科幻作品。
He died young and obscure.
他英年早逝，默默无闻。
But now, 25 years after his death, you've probably seen some of his work without even realizing it.
但现在，在他去世 25 年后，你可能已经在不知不觉中看过他的一些作品。
His sci-fi stories and novels have spawned or influenced an astonishing number of films, Blade Runner, Total Recall , The Matrix , Minority Report , The Truman Show , A Scanner Darkly.
他的科幻故事和小说催生或影响了数量惊人的电影，包括《银翼杀手》、《全面回忆》、《黑客帝国》、《少数派报告》、《杜鲁门的世界》、《黑暗扫描仪》。
A collection of his writing is now in the Library of America in the company of Twain, Whitman, Roth.
他的作品集现在与吐温、惠特曼、罗斯一起收藏于美国图书馆。
I think most of us are like that, like Philip Dick or Ellery's father.
我想我们大多数人都是这样的，就像菲利普·迪克或埃勒里的父亲一样。
Most of us are toiling away at daily work that doesn't seem as important to us as the ambitious dreams we have for ourselves.
我们大多数人都在埋头苦干，每天的工作对我们来说似乎并不像我们自己的雄心勃勃的梦想那么重要。
We're convinced that we're not living up to our potential, that there's a better part of ourselves that just hasn't expressed itself yet.
我们确信我们没有发挥我们的潜力，我们自己更好的部分还没有表达出来。
Until the day our lives are over and what's left is that daily work, whatever it is, whatever we gave it.
直到我们的生命结束的那一天，剩下的就是日常工作，无论它是什么，无论我们付出什么。
Act Four, Grace Note.
第四幕，装饰音。
To end our program on a more hopeful note, we have this story from Joel Kostman.
为了以更充满希望的方式结束我们的节目，我们听听乔尔·科斯特曼的故事。
It details some of the bitterness that we've heard from others so far this hour about the life of artists, plus something else we haven't.
它详细介绍了我们迄今为止从其他人那里听到的关于艺术家生活的一些痛苦，以及我们还没有听到的其他内容。
Joel Kostman is a locksmith in New York city.
乔尔·科斯特曼 (Joel Kostman) 是纽约市的一名锁匠。
This is from a book of stories he's written about his experiences on the job.
这是他写的一本关于他工作经历的故事书。
"A musician is a peanut," he says.
“音乐家就是一颗花生，”他说。
The musician sits on a chair and talks to me while I work.
当我工作时，音乐家坐在椅子上和我说话。
He's wearing a nicely ironed white, short-sleeve shirt and a pair of green chinos.
他穿着一件熨烫得很好的白色短袖衬衫和一条绿色斜纹棉布裤。
His hair is black, flecked with gray.
他的头发是黑色的，夹杂着灰色的斑点。
It's short and neatly combed.
它很短，梳理得很整齐。
"Yeah," he says.
“是的，”他说。
"Nothing but a damn peanut."
“除了一颗该死的花生，什么也没有。”
He lives in a tiny, one-room apartment underneath the Manhattan Bridge.
他住在曼哈顿大桥下的一间狭小的单室公寓里。
Trains roar by overhead.
火车从头顶呼啸而过。
Sometimes the noise is so loud, it is difficult to hear what he is saying.
有时噪音太大，很难听清他在说什么。
"I never should have gone to Juilliard," he says.
“我根本不应该去茱莉亚学院，”他说。
"It really messed up my perspective."
“这真的打乱了我的观点。”
He stands and walks over to the kitchen, which is a sink and a half refrigerator.
他站起来走向厨房，厨房里有一个水槽和一个半冰箱。
There is a hot plate sitting on the counter beneath a homemade shelf on which some cups are stacked next to a few plates.
柜台上的自制架子下面放着一个热盘子，上面放着一些杯子，旁边还有几个盘子。
Two sauce pans hang from hooks from the shelf.
架子上的挂钩上挂着两个酱汁锅。
"You're in your own special little classical world there.
“你正处于自己独特的古典小世界中。
It's not the real world.
这不是真实的世界。
Musicians don't rate in the real world.
音乐家不会在现实世界中进行评价。
Took me years to get that straight." He opens the refrigerator and removes a pitcher.
我花了很多年才弄清楚这一点。”他打开冰箱，取出一个水罐。
"You want some iced tea?" "No, thanks," I say.
“你想喝点冰茶吗？” “不用了，谢谢，”我说。
He pours a glass for himself.
他给自己倒了一杯。
"All I ever really wanted to do was play popular music," he says.
“我真正想做的就是演奏流行音乐，”他说。
"But I was just a kid.
“但我只是个孩子。
What did I know?
我知道什么？
Juilliard was my parents' idea.
茱莉亚学院是我父母的主意。
I came all the way from Hawaii.
我从夏威夷千里迢迢赶来。
Luckily, I was smart enough to drop out." "What instrument do you play?" I asked.
幸运的是，我足够聪明，选择了退学。” “你弹什么乐器？”我问。
"Guitar.
“吉他。
You know what really bugs me?" "What?" "Americans can't play Hawaiian guitar.
你知道什么真正让我烦恼吗？” “什么？” “美国人不会弹夏威夷吉他。
They only copy."
他们只会复制。”
I have already figured out what's wrong with his lock.
我已经弄清楚他的锁出了什么问题。
It'll be an easy repair, so I allow myself the opportunity to continue the conversation.
这将是一个简单的修复，所以我让自己有机会继续谈话。
"You know, there was a hit song when I was a kid," I say, "came out in the '50s.
“你知道，我小时候有一首热门歌曲，”我说，“在 50 年代发行。
It was called 'Hawaiian Love Song' or something like that.
它被称为“夏威夷情歌”或类似的名称。
It was an instrumental with the Hawaiian guitar." I sing a little of what I think was the melody.
这是一种用夏威夷吉他演奏的乐器。”我唱了一点我认为的旋律。
"Right," the musician says.
“好吧，”音乐家说。
"Americans.
“美国人。
That was typical.
这是典型的。
The big hit Hawaiian guitar song was done by Americans.
这首大受欢迎的夏威夷吉他歌曲是由美国人创作的。
Junk."
垃圾。”
"When that song came out, though, there was a lot of work for us.
“不过，当那首歌问世时，我们还有很多工作要做。
I spent years on the road playing Hawaiian music.
我花了很多年的时间在路上演奏夏威夷音乐。
Spent some great days in Kansas City.
在堪萨斯城度过了一些美好的日子。
Ever been there?" "No," I say.
去过那里吗？” “不，”我说。
"Great town.
“伟大的城镇。
I played with some fine musicians.
我和一些优秀的音乐家一起演奏。
First-class gig all the way.
一路上都是一流的演出。
Didn't last long, though.
不过，并没有持续多久。
Harder times after that."
此后的日子更加艰难。”
We hear the sound of an instrument coming from outside.
我们听到外面传来乐器的声音。
The musician frowns and walks to the window.
音乐家皱着眉头走到窗前。
He's stirring the sugar around in his glass.
他正在搅拌杯子里的糖。
I look too.
我也看看
There's a guy leaning up against a car playing a saxophone.
有一个人靠在车上吹萨克斯管。
"He thinks he can play," he says.
“他认为他可以打球，”他说。
"You know him?" The musician sips his tea.
“你认识他？”音乐家喝了一口茶。
"Unfortunately," he says.
“不幸的是，”他说。
"He wouldn't know good music if he tripped over it."
“如果他被音乐绊倒，他就不会懂得好音乐。”
The sax player looks up and waves.
萨克斯演奏者抬起头并挥手。
"You almost ready?" he calls.
“你快准备好了？”他打电话来。
The musician yells, "B flat." Then he steps back into the room, and he says, "What an idiot.
音乐家喊道：“降B。”然后他走回房间，说道：“真是个白痴。
He makes the same mistake every time."
他每次都会犯同样的错误。”
"I'm almost finished here," I say.
“我已经快完成这里了，”我说。
"Take your time," he says.
“慢慢来，”他说。
"We're only going to Staten Island.
“我们只去史泰登岛。
The wedding's not till 3:00.
婚礼要到下午 3:00 才举行。
He's not paying me enough to get there early."
他付给我的钱不够让我提前到达那里。”
I am engaged to be married in two months.
我订婚了，两个月后就要结婚了。
My fiancee, Rebecca, and I have hired a classical trio to play at our wedding.
我和未婚妻丽贝卡雇了一个古典三重奏组在我们的婚礼上演奏。
"So are you in a band?
“那你是乐队的吗？
I ask.
我问。
The musician laughs to himself.
音乐家自己笑了起来。
"Not a chance.
“没有机会。
His guitar player's sick.
他的吉他手病了。
Every time his guitar player gets sick, he calls me to bail him out." A train rattles by.
每当他的吉他手生病时，他都会打电话给我来保释他。”火车嘎嘎作响地驶过。
The cups and plates shake.
杯子和盘子都在摇晃。
"I'm a bartender," I think he says.
“我是一名调酒师，”我想他是这样说的。
"So are you finally ready?" the sax player asks.
“那你终于准备好了吗？”萨克斯演奏者问道。
He's sitting on the hood of the car, holding his instrument between his legs.
他坐在汽车引擎盖上，两腿之间夹着仪器。
"No," the musician growls.
“不，”音乐家咆哮道。
"I just came down with my guitars to tell you I'm going to be another 20 minutes."
“我只是拿着吉他下来告诉你我还要再坚持 20 分钟。”
A group of six kids is standing a few feet away, watching.
六个孩子站在几英尺外观看。
Two Chinese girls, three early adolescent black boys, and a little white boy who couldn't be more than five with a marine-type brush cut.
两个中国女孩，三个正值青春期的黑人男孩，还有一个五岁以下、留着海洋型剪发的白人小男孩。
They look like they are posing for a family portrait, tallest in the rear, the little one in the middle, everyone waiting to say, "Cheese." "Friendly guy, huh?" the sax player says to me.
他们看起来就像是在摆全家福，最高的在后面，小的在中间，每个人都等着说“奶酪”。 “友善的家伙，嗯？”萨克斯演奏者对我说。
"That's the only reason I give him a chance to go on these gigs, because he's such a nice guy.
“这是我给他机会参加这些演出的唯一原因，因为他是一个很好的人。
He can't play a lick." "Right," the musician says.
他根本不会弹奏。” “是的，”音乐家说。
The sax player is middle-aged with a salt-and-pepper goatee.
萨克斯手是个中年人，留着花白的山羊胡子。
He's wearing a small black cap, the kind Pete Seeger wears, with a snap in the front over the brim.
他戴着一顶黑色小帽子，就是皮特·西格戴的那种，帽檐前面有一个按扣。
"Get the lock fixed?" he asks.
“把锁修好吗？”他问道。
"Yes," I say.
“是的，”我说。
He lifts the horn to his lips and begins to play.
他把喇叭举到唇边，开始演奏。
I recognize the melody.
我认得旋律。
"Going to the Chapel and We're Going to Get Married." I wonder if we can get the classical trio to work up this tune.
“去教堂，我们要结婚了。”我想知道我们是否可以让古典三重奏来演奏这首曲子。
[MUSIC - "GOING TO THE CHAPEL" BY BARRY WINOGRAD AND JOHN SIEGLE]
[音乐 - 巴里·温诺格拉德和约翰·西格尔的《去教堂》]
One of the Chinese girls, who's about 9 or 10, starts clapping.
一名大约九十岁的中国女孩开始鼓掌。
She holds the palms of her hands straight up like cymbals and alternately brings one down onto the other.
她像铙钹一样将手掌伸直，然后交替地将一只手掌放在另一只手上。
The rest of the group joins in.
小组的其余成员也加入进来。
Each one moves differently, one swaying, one lifting and dropping his shoulders to the beat.
每个人的动作都不同，一个摇摆，一个随着节拍抬起或放下肩膀。
The sax player slides off the car and holds the instrument out toward them while he plays.
萨克斯演奏者从车上滑下来，在演奏时将乐器向他们伸出。
They start to dance around him.
他们开始围着他跳舞。
He hops up onto the sidewalk, and the kids follow.
他跳上人行道，孩子们跟在后面。
He circles the car with the kids in tow.
他带着孩子们围着车转了一圈。
"Gee, I really love you, and we're going to get ma-a-arried." A young black woman appears out of nowhere and is standing next to the car singing.
“哎呀，我真的很爱你，我们就要结婚了。”一名年轻的黑人女子突然出现，站在车旁唱歌。
She has what sounds to me like a professional voice.
在我看来，她的声音听起来很专业。
The musician nods and smiles at her.
音乐家向她点点头并微笑。
"Going to the chapel of love," she croons.
“去爱的教堂，”她低声说道。
People on the sidewalk across the street stop and begin clapping too.
街对面人行道上的人们也停下来鼓掌。
A train goes by on the Manhattan Bridge directly above us.
一列火车从我们正上方的曼哈顿大桥上驶过。
The kids are still dancing.
孩子们还在跳舞。
The people are clapping.
人们在鼓掌。
And the sax man is playing.
萨克斯手正在演奏。
But all I can hear is the train.
但我只能听到火车的声音。
After about 15 seconds, the noise subsides, and I hear the sound of a guitar.
大约 15 秒后，噪音平息，我听到吉他声。
The musician, with one foot up on the fender of the car, is playing a rhythmic accompaniment.
音乐家将一只脚放在汽车的挡泥板上，正在演奏有节奏的伴奏。
He smiles at me.
他对我微笑。
The sax player comes up and stands next to him.
萨克斯演奏者走过来站在他旁边。
They pick up the pace, and the people clap faster and faster.
他们加快了步伐，人们的掌声也越来越快。
Finally, while the sax man is playing a string of cascading notes, the musician, strumming furiously, lifts his guitar handle into the air and brings it down with a chop.
最后，当萨克斯手演奏一串层叠的音符时，音乐家猛烈地弹奏，将吉他手柄举到空中，然后用力击落。
They end at precisely the same moment.
它们在同一时刻结束。
We all applaud enthusiastically.
我们都热烈鼓掌。
"OK, let's go to a wedding," the musician says.
“好吧，我们去参加婚礼吧，”音乐家说。
Joel Kostman's book is Keys to the City: True Tales of a New York City Locksmith.
乔尔·科斯特曼的书是《城市的钥匙：纽约市锁匠的真实故事》。
Our program was produced today by Julie Snyder and myself with Alix Spiegel and Nancy Updike.
今天我们的节目由朱莉·斯奈德和我、阿利克斯·斯皮格尔和南希·厄普代克共同制作。
Contributing editors Sarah Vowell, Jack Hitt, and Margy Rochlin.
特约编辑莎拉·沃威尔、杰克·希特和玛吉·罗克林。
Our senior editor for this show was Paul Tough.
我们这个节目的高级编辑是保罗·托夫（Paul Tough）。
Production help from Alex Blumberg, Laura Doggett, Emi Takahara, [?
Alex Blumberg、Laura Doggett、Emi Takahara 的制作帮助，[？
Sahini ?] [?
萨希尼？] [？
Davenport ?], and [?
达文波特？]，和[？
Vija ?] [?
维贾？] [？
Navarro ?].
纳瓦罗？]。
[?
[？
Shojow ?] [?
萧条？] [？
Young ?] runs our website.
年轻？] 运营我们的网站。
Barry Winograd played sax, and John Siegle played guitar in our rendition of "Going to the Chapel."
在我们演绎的“Going to the Chapel”中，巴里·维诺格拉德（Barry Winograd）演奏萨克斯管，约翰·西格尔（John Siegle）演奏吉他。
[ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS] This American Life is distributed by Public Radio International.
[致谢]《美国生活》由国际公共广播电台发行。
Our website, www.thisamericanlife.org, where you can get our free weekly podcast or listen to old shows online.
我们的网站 www.thisamericanlife.org，您可以在其中获取我们的免费每周播客或在线收听老节目。
[FUNDING CREDITS] WBEZ management oversight by Torey Malatia, who meets with his music staff every single week, looks at their playlists, and declares--
[资金来源] WBEZ 管理由 Torey Malatia 负责监督，他每周都会与他的音乐员工会面，查看他们的播放列表，并宣布——
This music has everything in the world going against it.
这种音乐让世界上的一切都与它作对。
It's completely artificial.
这完全是人工的。
It's a scam.
这是一个骗局。
And we started today's program with Leonardo da Vinci.
我们从达芬奇开始了今天的节目。
Let's end with Leonardo as well.
让我们也以莱昂纳多结束吧。
This is a quote from one of his notebooks.
这是他的一本笔记本上的一句话。
"To the ambitious, for whom neither the bounty of life nor the beauty of the world suffice to content, it comes as penance that life for them is squandered and that they possess neither the benefits nor the beauty of the world.
“对于那些雄心勃勃的人来说，生命的丰富和世界的美丽都不足以满足他们，生命被浪费了，他们既不拥有世界的好处，也不拥有世界的美丽，这就是一种忏悔。
And if they are unable to perceive what is divine in nature, which is all around them, how will they be able to see their own divinity, which is sometimes hidden?" I'm Ira Glass, back next week with more stories of This American Life.
如果他们无法感知周围的自然界的神圣本质，他们如何能够看到自己有时隐藏的神性？”我是艾拉·格拉斯，下周带着更多《美国生活》的故事回来。
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。