TED演讲: 献给欺凌的受害者

 　　There's so many of you.  好多人呀。

　　When I was a kid, I hid my heart under the bed, because my mother said, 当我还是小孩子的时候，我把自己的心藏在床底下，因为我的妈妈告诉我，

　　"If you're not careful, someday someone's going to break it." “你要是不小心保管，终有一天有人会摧毁它。”

　　Take it from me. Under the bed is not a good hiding spot.  听我说，床底下并不是藏东西的好地方，

　　I know because I've been shot down so many times I get altitude sickness just from standing¹ up for myself. 我很清楚因为每当我想要站起来，自强不息的时候，都会因为“高原反应”而被一次次打倒在地。

　　But that's what we were told. Stand up for yourself. 但这就是别人教我们的。自强不息。

　　And that's hard to do if you don't know who you are.  如果你没有明确的定位，你很难做到自强不息。

　　We were expected to define² ourselves at such an early age, and if we didn't do it, others did it for us. 我们还很小的时候就被要求明确自己的定位，如果我们做不到，别人就会代劳。

　　Geek. Fatty. Slut. Fag. “呆子”。“胖子”。“荡妇”。“苦力”。

　　And at the same time we were being told what we were, we were being asked, 在我们被赋予身份定位的同时，我们总是被人问到，

　　"What do you want to be when you grow up?" “长大后你想做什么？”

　　I always thought that was an unfair question.  我一直觉得这个问题问得很不公平。

　　It presupposes that we can't be what we already are. We were kids. 它预先假设了我们不能维持现在的样子。我们是小孩子。

　　When I was a kid, I wanted to be a man.  当我是小孩子的时候，我想变成一个男人。

　　I wanted a registered retirement³ savings⁴ plan that would keep me in candy long enough to make old age sweet. 我想要有自己的养老金账户，钱足够我把余下的一辈子时间都只花在制作老式糖果上

　　When I was a kid, I wanted to shave. Now, not so much. 当我是小孩子的时候，我希望可以刮胡子。现在？不想了。

　　When I was eight, I wanted to be a marine⁵ biologist.  八岁的时候，我想当海洋生物学家。

　　When I was nine, I saw the movie "Jaws," and thought to myself, "No, thank you." 九岁的时候，我看了《大白鲨》。然后我对自己说，“还是算了吧。”

　　And when I was 10, I was told that my parents left because they didn't want me.  十岁的时候，我的生父母离开了我，他们不要我了。

　　When I was 11, I wanted to be left alone. 11岁的时候，我希望自己一个人生活。

　　When I was 12, I wanted to die. When I was 13, I wanted to kill a kid. 12岁的时候我不想活了。13岁的时候我想杀掉一个小孩。

　　When I was 14, I was asked to seriously consider a career path. 14岁的时候我被要求严肃的考虑以后的职业生涯。

　　I said, "I'd like to be a writer." And they said, "Choose something realistic." 我说，“我想做一个作家。”他们说：“说个现实点的工作。”

　　So I said, "Professional wrestler⁶." And they said, "Don't be stupid." 于是我说，“职业摔跤运动员。”他们说，“别傻了。”

　　See, they asked me what I wanted to be, then told me what not to be. 你看，他们问我想做什么，然后又告诉我统统不能做。

　　And I wasn't the only one.  而且不止是我一个人

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

3 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

4 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

5 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 wrestler   

n.摔角选手，扭

参考例句：

• The wrestler tripped up his opponent.那个摔跤运动员把对手绊倒在地。
• The stronger wrestler won the first throw.较壮的那个摔跤手第一跤就赢了。