PBS高端访谈:拿起你的笔, 放下你的手机

JUDY WOODRUFF: Texting and e-mailing technology have revolutionized the way we communicate. It has permitted us to be more efficient, to stay in touch easier, and has likely changed the dynamics¹ of some of our most important relationships. But within that revolution, have we also lost something? Tonight, poet Willie Perdomo urges us to take up pen and paper because, in his Humble² Opinion, a letter expresses more than just words.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：发送信息和邮件的科技一直在变革着我们沟通的方式。这种变革提高了我们的效率，让保持联系变得更加轻松，而且很有可能已经改变了最重要的一些关系的动态。但变革是否也让我们失去了什么东西呢？今晚，诗人威利·佩尔多莫敦促我们拿起纸笔，因为他今晚将向我们讲述手写的书信与电子传递的信息更有含金量。

WILLIE PERDOMO, Author, The Crazy Bunch: These days, humans are growing lonelier by the gigabyte. Hookup and social apps connect us before we actually meet. Bullies³ thrive anonymously⁴. Google completes our sentences. It takes only three emojis to say, let's have a martini and dance. It's going to be lit. Words have lost their intent, their impact. The role of writing letters has become an almost extinct practice in our daily lives. The envelope in the mail is just a bill. I used to be a passionate⁵ letter writer. I wrote my letters by hand, so my friends were able to see my redactions and second thoughts. They were privy⁶ to my flaws, celebrations, and conflicts. One friend told me she carried one of my letters from East Harlem to Paris like a charm. I wanted my letters to be a familiar voice in a new city, a blues⁷ song replayed in a strange village. On occasion, I sent and received letters from friends in prison. They liked to call letters kites. For them, ink and blank pages were at a high premium⁸. Their letters were usually full of promises, epiphanies, and requests for poetry. I would return their kites with shout-outs from the city. Here, I would say, fly the kite for a day, if not your full sentence. Letters are where we argue, say goodbye, dream, fail, forgive, and tell our secrets, and send regrets. We can't filter our lives or curate our feeds in letters.

威利·佩尔多莫，The Crazy Bunch作家：近来，科技让人们变得越来越孤独。各种联系和社交应用程序让我们在见面前就有了联系。人们可以匿名欺侮他人，谷歌可以猜到我们想打的下文。只需要发3个表情符号，就能表达咱们喝杯鸡尾酒，然后开始跳舞吧。话语已经失去了本来的目的和影响力。手写书信的作用在日常生活中已经消失。唯一收到的书信就是账单。我以前热衷于手写书信。我亲自手写，这样我的朋友们就能看出我措辞上的修改和雕琢词句的痕迹。他们能看出我的小毛病、我的欢欣鼓舞和我的矛盾挣扎。一位朋友告诉我：她从东哈莱姆区搬到巴黎的时候，一直带着我写给她的信，仿佛这封信有一种魔力。我希望我的书信能在新的城市给予他们熟悉的力量，就像异乡里反复奏响的蓝调歌曲。有时候，我和身陷囹圄的旧友会往来书信。他们希望称书信为风筝。对他们来说，笔墨纸砚的费用很高。他们的书信中通常充满了希望、顿悟和对诗歌的追求。我回信时会附以来自城市的声音。我会写，尽情地在信里抒发你的情感吧。通过书信，我们争吵、道别、做梦、体会失败和原谅、倾诉秘密、表达悔恨。书信无法过滤生活，也无法让我们自给自足。

Letters are where we attempt to tell the truth and wait. People tend to believe handwritten letters, or, as one friend suggested, you can't hide from a letter so easily. Recently, my wife wrote me from her childhood home in Puerto Rico. She could've easily sent emojis of sunshine and palm trees or a squared photo of her doing a mountain pose on a local beach. But, instead, she cried post-Hurricane Maria tears in her letter. She left splotches of coffee stains and smudges of ink on the margins⁹. I believed her. Some of us still write letters. It's our resistance against loneliness, where we witness. Write a letter to someone you love, and if you can't write, have someone write it for you. Surprise a friend, a classmate, a coach, a beloved, a mentor¹⁰. Tell them a story. Let them know you're paying attention. Letter writing is a pure act of devotion, a place where, if not storytellers, we all become human again.

但书信是可以说真话、可以满心等待的媒介。手心的书信，可信度更高，很多东西在书信中无法掩饰。最近，我的妻子从波多黎各长大的地方写了一封信给我。她可以简简单单地把阳光、棕榈树、海滩上摆山立式造型的照片发来。但她却选择在心中哭诉。信的边缘还有咖啡的溅渍和墨水的污点。我相信她，也相信还有很多人保留着写信的习惯。这是抵御孤独的方式，这是见证生活的方式。给你爱的人写信吧，如果你动不了笔，就让他人代劳吧。给朋友、同学、教练、爱人、导师一个惊喜，给他们讲个故事，让他们知道你还关心他们。写信只是一种倾注精力的方式，写信时的我们，不管是否在讲述故事，都再次体会了做人的感觉。

JUDY WOODRUFF: Great advice. Pick up a pen and paper.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：您的建议很好，我们真的应该重拾纸笔。

1 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

2 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

3 bullies   

n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负

参考例句：

• Standing up to bullies takes plenty of backbone. 勇敢地对付暴徒需有大无畏精神。
• Bullies can make your life hell. 恃强欺弱者能让你的日子像活地狱。

4 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

5 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

6 privy   

adj.私用的；隐密的

参考例句：

• Only three people,including a policeman,will be privy to the facts.只会允许3个人，其中包括一名警察，了解这些内情。
• Very few of them were privy to the details of the conspiracy.他们中很少有人知道这一阴谋的详情。

7 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

8 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

9 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

10 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。