美国国家公共电台 NPR Her Violin Stolen, A Prodigy's World Became 'Unstrung'

 

LAKSHMI SINGH, HOST:

For professional musicians, the instrument on which they play is more than just a tool of the trade. It can also be a muse¹, a partner and a voice. A new book titled "Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life Unstrung" shares one artist's story of finding her inspiration² only to have it stolen away. We'll let the author take it from here.

MIN KYM: My name's Min Kym, and I play the violin.

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KYM: I started playing at the age of 6 and a half. I won my first competition when I was 11. And, yeah, I'll start it from there.

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KYM: It took me until adulthood³ to be able to say the word child prodigy⁴. Like, when I was a child and people used to sort of, you know, talk about me in that way, I was so mortified⁵. I mean, it was just, you know, you just don't want to be. I just wanted to have fun.

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KYM: From a very young age, I was aware that the most important thing as a violinist and as a musician is to find your voice through the right instrument.

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SINGH: And for a professional soloist⁶, that means a top shelf violin worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And for Kym, that meant a Stradivarius. She had saved all of her competition winnings for this purpose. Now she just needed to find the right one.

KYM: The dealer⁷ who I was talking to came to my parents' house. I was 21. And he had a double case with him and two violins. And everybody was sort of pointing towards one of the violins which had a incredibly sonorous⁸ and powerful sound, everything that as a soloist you would be looking for. So I picked it up and I drew my bow across it, and, yeah, of course, it sounded magnificent.

But it was like I was wearing an incredibly beautiful gown that didn't suit me. And so I put it down, and I picked up the other one. And it was smaller. It had been repaired. It got through the walls, and I could see that. However, when I played that first note - just, oh, my goodness - the vibrations⁹ of it. I knew this was my voice.

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KYM: It had an incredible¹⁰ soprano. It was very bell-like. It had this what I like to call space around the notes.

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KYM: You could almost hear (laughter) - this is really going to make me sound like a fruitcake actually, but you could hear an orbit around the note.

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KYM: The real true partnership¹¹ I felt was with this Strad. And I had my violin for 10 years, and I was still getting to know it. Even after 10 years, it was still showing me new things. It was teaching me new ways of playing.

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KYM: But that was short lived. Unfortunately, it's real life. It isn't a fairytale.

SINGH: What happened next made headlines.

KYM: I remember it like it was just, you know, moments ago. It was a cold November evening. I'd had an asthma¹² attack earlier. So I wasn't feeling very well, and I had a argument with my boyfriend at the time who was going to look after my violin. And there were only two other people in my life that I've ever entrusted¹³ my violin. So I was very reluctant not to have it in my possession, but I did agree to let him look after the violin. And one minute it was there, and the next minute it was gone.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SINGH: While Kym and her boyfriend sat in a train station cafe, three thieves snagged her Stradivarius out from under the table.

KYM: I've relived that moment - I sort of think if this hadn't happened, then that wouldn't have happened. You know, if we hadn't made this decision, if I hadn't made that decision, you know, and I went through it, I went through it with such a fine-toothed comb with the detectives. And he just reminded me that he's a professional. I'm a professional. And they were professional thieves. It's one of those things that I still find so horribly painful to talk about.

I didn't know who I was anymore, and I didn't know what to do with myself. I felt as though I was just sort of a shell of a person. You know, when it's a human relationship, it's something that everybody can relate to and understand. But I think as a violinist, as a musician, as an artist when, you know, the relationship you have with your particular art, it's something that lives inside you. And it's - it has a life of its own. And that's very difficult to explain or describe. And so, you know, after three years, it was recovered. I was on the train, and I - and the phone rang. And it was Detective Rose (ph), and he said, Min, I have good news for you. So I thought, well, he's never said that before.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KYM: For three years, my spirits were just on the floor. And in that nanosecond, they just completely lifted again, and I felt human again. I felt like me.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SINGH: Kym wishes her story would have ended with her being reunited with her violin, but unfortunately it didn't. By the time the Stradivarius was found, Kym had already spent the money she received from the insurance claim on a new violin, so she could continue with her career.

KYM: Too much time had passed, so for financial reasons, I wasn't able to buy my violin back. One of the most important things that I learned throughout this whole process is that we have such little control over anything, but one thing that we do have control is how you deal with the next steps forward. Writing actually finding this new voice, it helped unblock my musical life. And, you know, for the first time in seven years or so, I felt hopeful again.

SINGH: That was violinist and author Min Kym. Her book "Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life Unstrung" is out now.

1 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

2 inspiration   

n.灵感，鼓励者，吸气

参考例句：

• These events provided the inspiration for his first novel.这些事件给了他创作第一部小说的灵感。
• What an inspiration she was to all around her!她对于她周围所有的人是一种多么大的鼓舞！

3 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

4 prodigy   

n.惊人的事物，奇迹，神童，天才，预兆

参考例句：

• She was a child prodigy on the violin.她是神童小提琴手。
• He was always a Negro prodigy who played barbarously and wonderfully.他始终是一个黑人的奇才，这种奇才弹奏起来粗野而惊人。

5 mortified   

v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等）

参考例句：

• She was mortified to realize he had heard every word she said. 她意识到自己的每句话都被他听到了，直羞得无地自容。
• The knowledge of future evils mortified the present felicities. 对未来苦难的了解压抑了目前的喜悦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 soloist   

n.独奏者，独唱者

参考例句：

• The soloist brought the house down with encore for his impressive voice.这位独唱家以他那感人的歌声博得全场喝彩。
• The soloist had never performed in London before.那位独唱者过去从未在伦敦演出过。

7 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

8 sonorous   

adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇

参考例句：

• The sonorous voice of the speaker echoed round the room.那位演讲人洪亮的声音在室内回荡。
• He has a deep sonorous voice.他的声音深沉而洪亮。

9 vibrations   

n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动

参考例句：

• We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
• I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了，她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

11 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

12 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

13 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》