TED演讲：不要一悔再悔(12)

 　　The third way that I think we can help make our peace with regret is through the passage of time, which, as we know, heals all wounds-except for tattoos², which are permanent.  第三点我想就是通过时间的流逝来慢慢平和地面对遗憾，我想，时间抚平一切—除了纹身大概是永久性的。

　　So it's been several years since I got my own tattoo¹. And do you guys just want to see it? All right.   我纹身也有几年了。你们想看看吗？没问题。

　　Actually, you know what, I should warn you, you're going to be disappointed.  不过我得先声明一下，你们可能会失望。

　　Because it's actually not that hideous³. I didn't tattoo Marilyn Manson's face on some indiscreet part of myself or something.  因为这个纹身并不那么糟糕。我可没把玛莉莲·曼森的脸纹到什么隐私部位。

　　When other people see my tattoo, for the most part they like how it looks.  别人看到我的纹身基本上都还挺喜欢。

　　It's just that I don't like how it looks. And as I said earlier, I'm a perfectionist. But I'll let you see it anyway. 只是我不喜欢这个图案。正如我之前所说，我是个完美主义者。不过我还是会给你们看看。

　　This is my tattoo. I can guess what some of you are thinking.  我的纹身。我知道你们有些人会怎么想。

　　So let me reassure⁴ you about something. Some of your own regrets are also not as ugly as you think they are.  那么让我告诉你，有些你后悔的东西并不是你以为的那么糟糕。

　　I got this tattoo because I spent most of my 20s living outside the country and traveling.  我纹这个是因为我二十来岁的时候，基本都是在其他国家旅行。

　　And when I came and settled in New York afterward⁵, I was worried that I would forget some of the most important lessons that I learned during that time.  后来当我到纽约定居后，我怕自己会忘记在那期间我认识到一些重要的东西。

　　Specifically the two things I learned about myself that I most didn't want to forget was how important it felt to keep exploring,  特别有两点我最不想忘记，一是不要停止探索的脚步，

　　simultaneously⁶, how important it is to somehow keep an eye on your own true north.  二是不要忘记你心中的目标。

　　And what I loved about this image of the compass was that I felt like it encapsulated both of these ideas in one simple image.  我当初喜欢这个指南针图案，就是因为觉得这个图案将上述两点含括于内。

　　And I thought it might serve as a kind of permanent mnemonic device. 我想这个会变成我永久的记忆。

1 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

2 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

4 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

5 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

6 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。