TED演讲:性暴力的救赎之路(7)

Before sending the letter, I prepared myself for all kinds of negative responses,

发出信件之前，我设想着各种可能的消极回复，

or what I found likeliest: no response whatsoever¹.

或者我认为最后可能的是，没有回复。

The only outcome that I didn't prepare myself for was the one that I then got

我唯一没能预料到的，是我收到的这封，

a typed confession² from Tom, full of disarming³ regret.

表达忏悔的信，来自Tom，满是毫无防备的悔恨。

As it turns out, he, too, had been imprisoned⁴ by silence.

事实上，他同样，也一直被“囚禁”于沉默之中。

And this marked the start of an eight-year-long correspondence that God knows was never easy, but always honest.

这成了我们之间随后一段长达8年时间通信的起点，上帝知道，这并不容易，但我们一直是坦诚的。

I relieved myself of the burdens that I'd wrongfully shouldered,

我卸下了我本不应承担的重负，

and he, in turn, wholeheartedly owned up to what he'd done.

他，同样的，由衷地承认他的所作所为。

Our written exchanges became a platform to dissect⁵ the consequences of that night,

我们的书面交流成了一个平台，去剖析那个晚上对我们的影响，

and they were everything from gut-wrenching to healing beyond words.

这些交流有时令人感到极度痛苦，有时却也带来超越语言的治愈。

And yet, it didn't bring about closure for me.

但对我而言，一切并未终结。

Perhaps because the email format⁶ didn't feel personal enough,

也许，是因为电子邮件的形式并不够私人化，

perhaps because it's easy to be brave when you're hiding behind a computer screen on the other side of the planet.

也许，是因为躲藏在地球另一边的电脑屏幕前，勇敢变得容易一些。

But we'd begun a dialogue that I felt was necessary to explore to its fullest.

但我们开始了一个对话，我认为有必要由此来探索所有的可能性。

So, after eight years of writing, and nearly 16 years after that dire⁷ night,

所以，在通信8年之后，距离那个可怕的夜晚接近16年之后，

I mustered⁸ the courage to propose a wild idea: that we'd meet up in person and face our past once and for all.

我鼓起勇气提出了一个大胆的想法：我们应该见面，面对我们的过去，一次性解决。

1 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

2 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

3 disarming   

adj.消除敌意的，使人消气的v.裁军( disarm的现在分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• He flashed her a disarming smile. 他朝她笑了一下，让她消消气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We will agree to disarming troops and leaving their weapons at military positions. 我们将同意解除军队的武装并把武器留在军事阵地。 来自辞典例句

4 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

5 dissect   

v.分割；解剖

参考例句：

• In biology class we had to dissect a frog.上生物课时我们得解剖青蛙。
• Not everyone can dissect and digest the public information they receive.不是每个人都可以解析和消化他们得到的公共信息的。

6 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

7 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

8 mustered   

v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发

参考例句：

• We mustered what support we could for the plan. 我们极尽所能为这项计划寻求支持。
• The troops mustered on the square. 部队已在广场上集合。 来自《简明英汉词典》