TED2007
Maira Kalman: The illustrated woman
Maira Kalman, 插图释我心
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作家及插图画家 Maira Kalman 讲述了她的人生和工作, 从为《纽约客》设计封面到她为儿童和成人设计的图书. 她是一名美丽,睿智,芬香跃然于纸上的女人.
Maira Kalman - Illustrator, author
Maira Kalman's wise, witty drawings have appeared on numberless New Yorker covers, in a dozen children's books, and throughout the pages of the Elements of Style. Her latest book, The Principles of Uncertainty, is the result of a year-long illustrated blog she kept for the New York Times. Full bio
Maira Kalman's wise, witty drawings have appeared on numberless New Yorker covers, in a dozen children's books, and throughout the pages of the Elements of Style. Her latest book, The Principles of Uncertainty, is the result of a year-long illustrated blog she kept for the New York Times. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:25
What I am always thinking about
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我一直在想
00:28
is what this session is about, which is called simplicity.
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这个演讲的主题应该叫什么,就叫简单吧.
00:32
And almost, I would almost call it being simple-minded,
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差不多是这样,我几乎叫它头脑简单,
00:36
but in the best sense of the word.
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但用更确切的词汇来形容.
00:38
I'm trying to figure out two very simple things:
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我试图弄清两个非常简单的事情:
00:42
how to live and how to die, period.
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如何去生活,如何去死,结束.
00:44
That's all I'm trying to do, all day long.
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这是我整日尝试去弄明白的事.
00:46
And I'm also trying to have some meals, and have some snacks,
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然而我也想想饭菜啊和零食啊什么的
00:49
and, you know, and yell at my children, and do all the normal things
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还有,你知道,对着我的孩子大声责骂并做日常的事情
00:53
that keep you grounded.
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这些让你活在现实里
00:56
So, I was fortunate enough to be born a very dreamy child.
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事实上,我有幸生来就是爱空想的孩子.
01:03
My older sister was busy torturing my parents,
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比我大的姐姐非常喜欢折腾我的父母,
01:07
and they were busy torturing her.
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他们也正忙着折腾她.
01:09
I was lucky enough to be completely ignored,
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我有幸被完全忽略了--
01:12
which is a fabulous thing, actually, I want to tell you.
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这是很微妙的东西,事实上,我想告诉你一件事.
01:14
So, I was able to completely daydream my way through my life.
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我可以完用通过白日梦的方式过着自己的生活.
01:20
And I finally daydreamed my way into NYU, at a very good time, in 1967,
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最终在一个很好的时期,我做着白日梦进了纽约大学. 那是1967年,
01:27
where I met a man who was trying to blow up the math building of NYU.
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在那里我遇到了一个人,他试图炸毁纽约大学的数学教学楼.
01:33
And I was writing terrible poetry and knitting sweaters for him.
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然而我写了糟糕的诗,还织毛衣给他.
01:37
And feminists hated us, and the whole thing was wretched
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女权主义者恨我们,并且整个事情是个杯具
01:42
from beginning to end.
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从头到尾.
01:44
But I kept writing bad poetry, and he didn't blow up the math building,
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但我仍然坚持写着糟糕的诗,他也没有炸毁教学楼,
01:48
but he went to Cuba.
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但他去了古巴.
01:49
But I gave him the money, because I was from Riverdale
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我给了他钱因为我从Riverdale区回来
01:51
so I had more money than he did.
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所以我比他有钱.
01:53
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
01:54
And that was a good thing to help, you know, the cause.
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去帮助别人的事业,你知道,是件好事.
01:58
But, then he came back, and things happened,
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但是, 之后他回来了, 然后出事了,
02:02
and I decided I really hated my writing,
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我真的恨透了我写的东西,
02:05
that it was awful, awful, purple prose.
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真是很糟很糟的空洞修辞.
02:09
And I decided that I wanted to tell --
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并且我决定我要去倾诉
02:11
but I still wanted to tell a narrative story
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但我仍然想讲故事
02:13
and I still wanted to tell my stories.
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我仍然想倒出我的故事.
02:15
So I decided that I would start to draw. How hard could that be?
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所以我决定开始画画. 这能有多难啊
02:18
And so what happened was that I started
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所以我开始
02:23
just becoming an editorial illustrator through, you know,
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慢慢变为一名编辑-插图画家, 这个你知道,
02:26
sheer whatever, sheer ignorance.
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十分无所谓,十分愚昧.
02:29
And we started a studio.
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我们开了一个工作室 --
02:31
Well, Tibor really started the studio, called M&Co.
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好吧, Tibor 开了一个工作室, 叫 M&公司.
02:33
And the premise of M&Co was, we don't know anything,
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M&公司的基本状况就是：我们什么都不懂.
02:37
but that's all right, we're going to do it anyway.
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但没有关系,我们照样做.
02:39
And as a matter of fact, it's better not to know anything,
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事实上, 一无所知其实更好,
02:41
because if you know too much, you're stymied.
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因为知道太多反而影响你的思路.
02:44
So, the premise in the studio was,
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所以,这个工作室的前提是,
02:47
there are no boundaries, there is no fear.
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无所不为,无所畏惧.
02:50
And I -- and my full-time job, I landed the best job on Earth,
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而我, 和我的全职工作, 我有了地球上最好的工作,
02:53
was to daydream, and to actually come up with absurd ideas
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就是做白日梦, 然后提出各种荒谬的创意
02:58
that -- fortunately, there were enough people there,
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幸运的是我们有足够多的人
03:00
and it was a team, it was a collective,
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形成一个团队, 一个集体,
03:02
it was not just me coming up with crazy ideas.
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不只是我提出疯狂的创意.
03:04
But the point was that I was there as myself, as a dreamer.
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那时的意义是,我可以做真正的自己 -- 一个梦想家.
03:09
And so some of the things -- I mean, it was a long history of M&Co,
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我的意思是说这是M&公司漫长历史的一部分,
03:12
and clearly we also needed to make some money,
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当然我们也需要赚钱,
03:16
so we decided we would create a series of products.
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所以我们决定我们要创造一系列的产品.
03:20
And some of the watches there,
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例如这些手表,
03:23
attempting to be beautiful and humorous --
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尝试设计的更美丽更幽默 --
03:25
maybe not attempting, hopefully succeeding.
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也许不是尝试,而是希望成功 --
03:28
That to be able to talk about content,
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才能去思索内容是什么,
03:31
to break apart what you normally expect, to use humor and surprise,
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跳出你的思维定势,幽默和惊喜,
03:35
elegance and humanity in your work was really important to us.
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高雅的美感和人文内涵对我们非常重要.
03:40
It was a very high, it was a very impersonal time in design
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设计的要求极高,完全摒除个人喜好
03:45
and we wanted to say, the content is what's important,
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内容的本身才是最重要的,
03:49
not the package, not the wrapping.
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不是周边配件,也不是包装材料.
03:51
You really have to be journalists, you have to be inventors,
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你必须成为记者,成为发明家
03:54
you have to use your imagination more importantly than anything.
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你的想像力胜于一切
03:58
So, the good news is that I have a dog
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所以, 好消息是我有一条狗
04:03
and, though I don't know if I believe in luck --
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虽然我知道我不并相信运气 --
04:05
I don't know what I believe in, it's a very complicated question,
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我也不知道自己信仰什么, 这个问题很复杂.
04:07
but I do know that before I go away, I crank his tail seven times.
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但我知道我每次离开之前,都要摇七次他的尾巴.
04:11
So, whenever he sees a suitcase in the house,
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所以无论什么时候他看到小提箱的时候
04:13
because everybody's always, you know, leaving,
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因为所有人离开的时候
04:16
they're always cranking this wonderful dog's tail,
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他总是摇狗尾巴
04:18
and he runs to the other room.
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然后跑进其它房间.
04:20
But I am able to make the transition from working for children and --
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但我可以从为儿童或成人工作之间
04:25
from working for adults to children, and back and forth,
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来来回回的转换角色,
04:28
because, you know, I can say that I'm immature,
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因为,我可以说我不成熟,
04:30
and in a way, that's true.
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从某种角度来说,这是真的
04:33
I don't really -- I mean, I could tell you that I didn't understand,
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我不懂, 我真不理解那些 --
04:38
I'm not proud of it, but I didn't understand
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我并不是以此为荣, 但我真的不懂.
04:40
let's say 95 percent of the talks at this conference.
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这个大会的95%的内容我都不懂.
04:43
But I have been taking beautiful notes of drawings
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但我曾经讲过美丽的画做笔记,
04:45
and I have a gorgeous onion from Murray Gell-Mann's talk.
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我在Murray Gell-Mann讲座里完成了一个很酷的洋葱插图.
04:48
And I have a beautiful page of doodles from Jonathan Woodham's talk.
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Jonathan Woodham的演讲里我也画了美丽的一页.
04:52
So, good things come out of, you know, incomprehension --
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于是, 美好的事情接连出现, 无法解释 --
04:55
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
04:57
-- which I will do a painting of, and then it will end up in my work.
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-- 我要画画的时候, 它会结束我的工作.
05:00
So, I'm open to the possibilities of not knowing
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所以,我打开思想,用无知无畏的心态
05:04
and finding out something new.
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来寻找一些创新的东西.
05:06
So, in writing for children, it seems simple, and it is.
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儿童创作, 看起来简单做起来也简单.
05:11
You have to condense a story into 32 pages, usually.
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你通常需要将一个故事简化到32页以内,
05:15
And what you have to do is, you really have to edit down to what you want to say.
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而你需要做的就是你要编辑故事的精华来呈现你想表达的东西,
05:18
And hopefully, you're not talking down to kids
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还好,你不是以居高临下的口气对着孩子说话
05:21
and you're not talking in such a way that you,
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你也不用自己的方式去表达
05:23
you know, couldn't stand reading it after one time.
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孩子们看完一次就再也无法忍受的东西.
05:26
So, I hopefully am writing, you know,
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所以,我满怀希望的写作
05:28
books that are good for children and for adults.
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书将有得于孩子和成人.
05:30
But the painting reflects --
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但绘画所反映的,
05:32
I don't think differently for children than I do for adults.
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我不认为孩子和成人的内容有所差别.
05:34
I try to use the same kind of imagination, the same kind of whimsy,
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我试图用相同的想像力,相同的古怪念头,
05:37
the same kind of love of language.
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相同的爱的语言.
05:40
So, you know, and I have lots of wonderful-looking friends.
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我有很多很漂亮的朋友们.
05:44
This is Andrew Gatz, and he walked in through the door and I said,
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这是Andrew Gatz, 他走进门.
05:46
"You! Sit down there." You know, I take lots of photos.
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"你,坐这儿" 你知道,我拍很多照片.
05:49
And the Bertoia chair in the background is my favorite chair.
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画面背景上的Bertoia椅子,是我最喜欢的椅子.
05:52
So, I get to put in all of the things that I love.
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我将喜欢的东西全部都放在一起,
05:55
Hopefully, a dialog between adults and children will happen on many different levels,
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还好成人与儿童之间的对话会发生在很多层面上.
05:59
and hopefully different kinds of humor will evolve.
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并且将有更多不同形式的各种乐趣出现其中.
06:03
And the books are really journals of my life.
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这些书是我的人生的日记.
06:05
I never -- I don't like plots.
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我不喜欢情节,
06:07
I don't know what a plot means.
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我不知道情节的意义.
06:09
I can't stand the idea of anything that starts in the beginning,
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我无法忍受任何事情都必须有开场,
06:12
you know, beginning, middle and end. It really scares me,
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开场, 中间和结局, 我真害怕.
06:14
because my life is too random and too confused,
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由于我的生活变数太多并且太迷茫,
06:17
and I enjoy it that way.
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但我很喜欢这样的生活.
06:18
But anyway, so we were in Venice,
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这是我们在威尼斯,
06:23
and this is our room. And I had this dream
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这是我们的房间,我有这样的一个梦想
06:25
that I was wearing this fantastic green gown,
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我装着无比漂亮的绿色礼服,
06:27
and I was looking out the window,
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我正在朝窗外看,
06:29
and it was really a beautiful thing.
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那感觉好极了.
06:31
And so, I was able to put that into this story, which is an alphabet,
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这样的故事,我才能把它放进文字中
06:34
and hopefully go on to something else.
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继续发展其它的东西.
06:37
The letter C had other things in it.
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字母C有其它的含义.
06:39
I was fortunate also, to meet the man who's sitting on the bed,
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我很幸运,遇到一个男人坐在床上,
06:42
though I gave him hair over here and he doesn't have hair.
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尽管我给他画了头发,实际上他是个秃子 --
06:45
Well, he has some hair but -- well, he used to have hair.
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好吧, 他有点头发, 或者, 他过去曾有头发.
06:48
And with him, I was able to do a project that was really fantastic.
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跟他一起我能做一些非常有趣的项目.
06:53
I work for the New Yorker, and I do covers, and 9/11 happened
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我为《纽约客》设计封面, 然后9/11发生了
06:58
and it was, you know, a complete and utter end of the world as we knew it.
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我们都知道, 这跟世界末日一样.
07:03
And Rick and I were on our way to a party in the Bronx,
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Rick和我在去参加晚会,在去布朗克斯区的路上,
07:07
and somebody said Bronxistan,
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有些人说是布朗克西斯坦
07:09
and somebody said Ferreristan,
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有些人说是法瑞里斯坦
07:10
and we came up with this New Yorker cover,
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我们拿起来《纽约客》的封面,
07:13
which we were able to -- we didn't know what we were doing.
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我们不知道我们正在做的是这样,
07:15
We weren't trying to be funny, we weren't trying to be --
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我们也没刻意这样有趣, 并不是这么设计的.
07:18
well, we were trying to be funny actually, that's not true.
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实际上我们希望设计变的有趣,这是真的.
07:20
We hoped we'd be funny, but we didn't know it would be a cover,
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我们希望我们变的更有乐趣,但我们没有预料到它会成为封面,
07:23
and we didn't know that that image, at the moment that it happened,
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我们不知道那个图像,在那个时刻, 居然发生了,
07:27
would be something that would be so wonderful for a lot of people.
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成为很多人喜欢浏览的插图.
07:31
And it really became the -- I don't know, you know,
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它真的变成了.... 我不知道.
07:33
it was one of those moments people started laughing at what was going on.
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从那时起, 人们开始笑正在发生的事情.
07:36
And from, you know, Fattushis, to Taxistan to, you know,
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从“肥油西斯”到“的士斯坦”，你知道的
07:41
for the Fashtoonks, Botoxia, Pashmina, Khlintunisia, you know,
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还有“发酵臭桶工业废墟区”，“肉毒素西亚”，“波斯羊毛区”，“克林顿尼西亚”等纽约客斯坦的地名
07:45
we were able to take the city
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我们拿这个城市
07:47
and make fun of this completely foreign, who are -- what's going on over here?
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胡乱的把它变的像那些友好或不友好的其它国家 -- 这儿发生过什么事?
07:51
Who are these people? What are these tribes?
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谁是这些人? 谁是这些部落?
07:54
And David Remnick, who was really wonderful about it,
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David Remnick, 一个真正喜欢它的人,
07:57
had one problem. He didn't like Al Zheimers,
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有一点反对意见: 他不喜欢阿尔•芝海默（Al Zheimer两个词每空格就是老年痴呆症的意思）
08:02
because he thought it would insult people with Alzheimer's.
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因为他认为这会侮辱老年痴呆症患者
08:05
But you know, we said, "David, who's going to know?
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但我们说:"David,你想想谁会晓得呢?"
08:07
They're not."
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没人知道.
08:09
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
08:11
So it stayed in, and it was, and, you know, it was a good thing.
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所以还保留着, 这是件好事.
08:19
You know, in the course of my life, I never know what's going to happen
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在我的生命里,我永远不知道接下来会发生什么
08:22
and that's kind of the beauty part.
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这也是生命的美好所在.
08:24
And we were on Cape Cod, a place, obviously, of great inspiration,
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我们在鳄鱼角,一个明显有很强的灵感的地方,
08:28
and I picked up this book, "The Elements of Style," at a yard sale.
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在一次二手书清仓甩卖中, 我挑选了这本书, 《风格元素》（一本知名写作参考书）
08:32
And I didn't -- and I'd never used it in school,
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我从来没在学校里用过它,
08:34
because I was too busy writing poems, and flunking out,
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因为我一直忙于写诗和补考
08:37
and I don't know what, sitting in cafes.
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坐在咖啡厅.
08:39
But I picked it up and I started reading it and I thought, this book is amazing.
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我开始读它,然后我发现,这本书真棒.
08:42
I said, people should know about this book.
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大家应该来读读这本书.
08:45
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
08:48
So I decided it needed a few -- it needed a lift, it needed a few illustrations.
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所以我想, 如果加一些点缀, 加点少许的插画
08:51
And basically, I called the, you know, I convinced the White Estate,
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然后, 我说服了White Estate,
08:55
and what an intersection of like, you know,
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然后还真是物以类聚啊
08:57
Polish Jew, you know, main WASP family. Here I am, saying,
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波兰裔犹太人, 白种盎格鲁撒克逊新教徒
09:03
I'd like to do something to this book.
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我想为这本书做点什么.
09:05
And they said yes, and they left me completely alone,
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他们说可以, 然后他们让我完全自主发挥,
09:07
which was a gorgeous, wonderful thing.
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这简直太棒了,无敌了.
09:10
And I took the examples that they gave,
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我完成了他们给我的例子
09:14
and just did 56 paintings, basically.
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基本上只需要画56张图.
09:16
So, this is, I don't know if you can read this.
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所以, 我不知道你能不能看到图上的字.
09:18
"Well, Susan, this is a fine mess you are in."
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"Susan, 这次你糟蹋得真棒"
09:20
And when you're dealing with grammar,
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当你关注语法的时候,
09:22
which is, you know, incredibly dry,
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你会发现超级干涩,
09:24
E.B. White wrote such wonderful, whimsical -- and actually, Strunk --
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E.B. White写的这么优美,异想天开,
09:28
and then you come to the rules and, you know,
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你会深深投入在角色里,
09:30
there are lots of grammar things. "Do you mind me asking a question?
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这里有很语法问题, 比如-- "Do you mind me asking a question?
09:33
Do you mind my asking a question?"
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Do you mind my asking a question?"
09:36
"Would, could, should, or would, should, could."
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"Would, could, should, 还是 would, should, could."
09:38
And "would" is Coco Chanel's lover, "should" is Edith Sitwell,
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would 是Coco Chanel最喜欢用的词, Should 是Edith Sitwell最爱用的词,
09:42
and "could" is an August Sander subject.
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而Could 是August Sander的专利.
09:45
And, "He noticed a large stain in the center of the rug."
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还有, "He noticed a large stain in the center of the rug."
09:47
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
09:49
So, there's a kind of British understatement, murder-mystery theme
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这样有点英国式轻描淡写,神秘谋杀案的主题
09:52
that I really love very much.
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我真的是非常喜欢.
09:54
And then, "Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand."
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要清楚, 要用人类能够理解的方式去表达.
09:58
E.B. White wrote us a number of rules,
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E.B. White 给我们定了一系列规则,
10:00
which can either paralyze you and make you loathe him
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这些规则让我们呆若木鸡并且在接下来的时间里恨他,
10:02
for the rest of time, or you can ignore them, which I do,
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或者你可以像我一样忽略它,
10:07
or you can, I don't know what, you know, eat a sandwich.
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或者,如果你能, 你可以选择吃一个三明志.
10:10
So, what I did when I was painting was I started singing,
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我做的是我会在画画的时候唱歌,
10:13
because I really adore singing,
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因为我真的喜欢唱歌,
10:15
and I think that music is the highest form of all art.
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我认为音乐在是艺术的最高表达形式.
10:18
So, I commissioned a wonderful composer, Nico Muhly,
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所以我找到了优秀的作曲家, Nico Muhly,
10:21
who wrote nine songs using the text,
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用文字写了九首歌,
10:25
and we performed this fantastic evening of --
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并且我们用他写的歌演奏了整个美妙的夜晚--
10:29
he wrote music for both amateurs and professionals.
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他的音乐真是雅俗共赏.
10:32
I played the clattering teacup and the slinky
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我用杯子和衣服在纽约公共图书馆的
10:34
in the main reading room of the New York Public Library,
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主阅览室也演奏了音乐,
10:37
where you're supposed to be very, very quiet,
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在这个本该非常安静的图书馆,
10:39
and it was a phenomenally wonderful event,
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这是一场非常美妙的活动.
10:41
which we hopefully will do some more.
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我喜欢希望有更多这样的活动.
10:45
Who knows? The New York TimesSelect, the op-ed page,
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猜猜下面发生什么? 纽约时报的特稿专页,
10:49
asked me to do a column, and they said, you can do whatever you want.
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邀请我去做一个专栏,他们说, 你想怎么做都可以.
10:52
So, once a month for the last year,
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所以,去年的一个月,
10:53
I've been doing a column called "The Principles of Uncertainty,"
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我都在做"不确定原则"的专栏.
10:57
which, you know, I don't know who Heisenberg is,
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我不知道谁是海森堡.
10:59
but I know I can throw that around now. You know,
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但我知道我现在也很迷惑,
11:01
it's the principles of uncertainty, so, you know.
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这就是不确定原则.
11:04
I'm going to read quickly -- and probably I'm going to edit some,
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我会读的很快 -- 大概我会编辑一些.
11:07
because I don't have that much time left -- a few of the columns.
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因为我没有太多时间了 -- 几个专栏.
11:10
And basically, I was so, you know, it was so amusing,
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但基本上, 我就是这样, 仍然很搞笑.
11:13
because I said, "Well, how much space do I have?"
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但我说:"好吧, 我们有多大的空间?"
11:14
And they said, "Well, you know, it's the Internet."
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他们说,"你知道,这是互联网."
11:16
And I said, "Yes, but how much space do I have?"
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然后我说,"我知道是互联网,但是我有多大的空间呀?"
11:18
And they said, "It's unlimited, it's unlimited."
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他们接着说."网络是无限的无限的呀."
11:20
OK. So, the first one I was very timid, and I'll begin.
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刚开始的话我非常的胆小, 但我开始了.
11:25
"How can I tell you everything that is in my heart?
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"我怎么能告诉你,所有事情都是在我心中?
11:27
Impossible to begin. Enough. No. Begin with the hapless dodo."
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不可能开始. 够了,我们从渡渡鸟开始."
11:30
And I talk about the dodo, and how the dodo became extinct,
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我开始讲渡渡鸟的故事, 渡渡鸟是如何绝种的,
11:34
and then I talk about Spinoza.
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之后我又讲哲学家斯宾诺莎.
11:36
"As the last dodo was dying, Spinoza was looking for a rational explanation
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在最后时刻,渡渡鸟死去的时候, 斯宾诺莎正在为所有的事情寻找一个合理的解释.
11:40
for everything, called eudaemonia.
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一个被称为eudemonia（亚里士多德的幸福说）的理论.
11:42
And then he breathed his last, with loved ones around him,
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然后他在爱人的怀抱里吐出最后一口气.
11:45
and I know that he had chicken soup also, as his last meal."
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我知道他最后一餐吃的是鸡汤.
11:47
I happen to know it for a fact.
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我是碰巧知道这件事的.
11:49
And then he died, and there was no more Spinoza. Extinct.
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然后他死了, 于是就再也没有斯宾诺莎大师了, 绝种了.
11:53
And then, we don't have a stuffed Spinoza,
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然后我们就失去自大的斯宾诺莎
11:55
but we do have a stuffed Pavlov's dog,
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但我们却有了一只被填充了的巴普洛夫的实验狗
11:57
and I visited him in the Museum of Hygiene in St. Petersburg, in Russia.
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我在俄国的卫生博物馆访问他.
12:01
And there he is, with this horrible electrical box on his rump
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他在那, 尾巴上带着可怕的电子方盒.
12:06
in this fantastic, decrepit palace.
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在一个雄伟的,古老的宫殿里.
12:10
"And I think it must have been a very, very dark day
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"我觉得,布尔什维克到达的那天,
12:12
when the Bolsheviks arrived.
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一定是非常黑暗的一天.
12:13
Maybe amongst themselves they had a few good laughs,
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因为他们之间曾闹过一些大笑话.
12:15
but Stalin was a paranoid man, even more than my father."
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但斯大林就是一偏执狂, 比我父亲还偏执."
12:19
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
12:20
You don't even know.
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你都不知道.
12:21
"And decided his top people had to be extinctified."
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"他决定他的顶尖人才必须被区别对待."
12:26
Which I think I made up, which is a good thing.
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这个我同意,是件好事.
12:28
And so, this is a chart of, you know, just a small chart,
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但这是只是一张图.
12:31
because the chart would go on forever of all the people that he killed.
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因为这张图会为那些被他杀害的人们永远的保存下来,.
12:33
So, shot dead, smacked over the head, you know, thrown away.
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枪杀, 爆头, 然后弃尸.
12:39
"Nabokov's family fled Russia. How could the young Nabokov,
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"纳博科夫全家逃亡俄国,
12:42
sitting innocently and elegantly in a red chair,
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年轻的纳博科夫怎么会天真文雅的坐在红沙发上,
12:44
leafing through a book and butterflies,
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翻着书和蝴蝶标本,
12:46
imagine such displacement, such loss?"
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想像一下如此的逃亡,如此的丧失."
12:50
And then I want to tell you that this is a map.
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我要告诉你,这是一张地图.
12:52
So, "My beautiful mother's family fled Russia as well.
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我的漂亮妈妈一家也是从俄国逃亡的,
12:56
Too many pogroms.
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那里有着太多的大屠杀.
12:58
Leaving the shack, the wild blueberry woods, the geese, the River Sluch,
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离开小木屋, 蓝莓森林,天鹅和斯卢奇河,
13:01
they went to Palestine and then America."
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他们逃到了巴勒斯坦,后来又到了美国."
13:04
And my mother drew this map for me of the United States of America,
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然后我妈妈画了这张美国地图给我,
13:06
and that is my DNA over here, because that person who I grew up with
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这就是我的DNA, 因为陪我长大的这位母亲
13:15
had no use for facts whatsoever.
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从来不需要任何真相.
13:17
Facts were actually banished from our home.
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真相就是我们是从家园被放逐.
13:20
And so, if you see that Texas -- you know, Texas and California
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你在图上,能看到得克萨斯和加利福尼亚
13:24
are under Canada, and that South Carolina is on top of North Carolina,
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是在加拿大的下面,然后南加利福尼亚是在北加的上面,
13:27
this is the home that I grew up in, OK?
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这就是我成长的家, 对吗?
13:29
So, it's a miracle that I'm here today.
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所以, 我今天能站在这里,真是个奇迹.
13:31
But actually, it's not. It's actually a wonderful thing.
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事实上,不算是奇迹,但确实是一件很发简单的事情.
13:35
But then she says Tel Aviv and Lenin,
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然后她给我讲特拉维夫和列宁,
13:37
which is the town they came from, and, "Sorry, the rest unknown, thank you."
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说他们来自于同一个镇子, 然后是抱歉, 无可奉告, 谢谢.
13:40
But in her lexicon, "sorry, the rest unknown, thank you" is
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在她的字典里,抱歉无可奉告是意味着
13:42
"sorry, the rest unknown, go to hell,"
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其他的我就不知道了,下地狱吧,
13:44
because she couldn't care less.
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但他没办法做到无所谓.
13:45
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
13:46
"The Impossibility of February"
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二月的不可能性
13:48
is that February's a really wretched month in New York
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是二月是纽约的最难过的一个月.
13:51
and the images for me conjure up these really awful things.
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这张图片对我来说真是一件可怕的事情.
13:54
Well, not so awful.
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嗯, 其实没那么可怕.
13:56
I received a box in the mail and it was wrapped with newspaper
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我收到了一封报纸包装的邮件.
13:59
and there was the picture of the man on the newspaper and he was dead.
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报纸上有张照片, 印着一个死去的男人.
14:03
And I say, "I hope he's not really dead,
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我说:"我希望他不是真的死了,
14:05
just enjoying a refreshing lie-down in the snow,
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只是喜欢躺在雪地上玩,
14:07
but the caption says he is dead."
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但文字解释说,他死了.""
14:09
And actually, he was. I think he's dead, though I don't know,
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但实际上, 我认为他死的,虽然我并不知道.
14:12
maybe he's not dead.
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也许他没有死.
14:14
"And this woman leans over in anguish, not about that man,
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"这个女人极度悲伤的靠在那里,并不是因为那个男人
14:16
but about all sad things. It happens quite often in February."
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而是二月中所有悲伤的事情."
14:21
There's consoling.
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这里有少许安慰.
14:23
This man is angry because somebody threw onions all over the staircase,
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画面上的男子很生气,因为有人把洋葱扔的满皮箱都是,
14:27
and basically -- you know, I guess onions are a theme here.
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基本上, 我猜这是以洋葱为主题的 --
14:30
And he says, "It is impossible not to lie.
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他说: 不撒谎是不可能的.
14:32
It is February and not lying is impossible."
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现在是二月份,不可能不撒谎."
14:34
And I really spend a lot of time wondering,
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我确实花很多时间去想,
14:36
how much truth do we tell?
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我们到底说过多少实话?
14:38
What is it that we're actually -- what story are we actually telling?
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我们到底在讲一些什么样的故事?
14:41
How do we know when we are ourselves?
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我们怎么知道什么时候是真正的自我?
14:43
How do we actually know that these sentences coming out of our mouths
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我们怎么知道自己口中讲述的故事是真实的?
14:46
are real stories, you know, are real sentences?
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这些都是真实的吗?
14:48
Or are they fake sentences that we think we ought to be saying?
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或者我们只是在说我们应该说的假话?
14:51
I'm going to quickly go through this.
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我带着你快速过一遍这个.
14:54
A quote by Bertrand Russell,
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引用勃特兰•罗素的话,
14:56
"All the labor of all the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration,
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"任何年龄的劳动者,任何忠诚,任何灵感,
15:00
all the noonday brightness of human genius
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所有天才的正午光明
15:03
are destined to extinction.
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都注定湮没.
15:05
So now, my friends, if that is true,
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现在,朋友们呐, 如果这是真的,
15:07
and it is true, what is the point?"
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都是真的, 这意味着什么?"
15:10
A complicated question.
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这个问题太复杂.
15:11
And so, you know, I talk to my friends
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我跟我的朋友说
15:14
and I go to plays where they're singing Russian songs.
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我要去看俄国话剧--
15:17
Oh my God, you know what?
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我的上帝呀,你猜怎么着?
15:19
Could we have -- no, we don't have time.
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我们有没有 -- 不,我们没时间.
15:21
I taped my aunt. I taped my aunt singing a song in Russian from the --
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我录了一首我阿姨唱的俄国歌曲 --
15:23
you know, could we have it for a second?
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能让我们听一会吗?
15:26
Do you have that?
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(向工作人员说)可以给我们播放一下吗?
15:28
(Music)
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(音乐)
15:47
OK. I taped my -- my aunt used to swim in the ocean
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好了, 我的阿姨曾经坚持每天在海中游泳
15:50
every day of the year until she was about 85.
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直到85岁.
15:57
So -- and that's a song about how everybody's miserable
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这是一首关于每个人都是一场杯具的歌,
15:59
because, you know, we're from Russia.
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因为,你知道,我们都来自俄国来的嘛.
16:01
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
16:02
I went to visit Kitty Carlisle Hart, and she is 96,
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我曾拜访过Carlisle Hart, 她有96岁了.
16:04
and when I brought her a copy of "The Elements of Style,"
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我带给她了一本《风格元素》
16:07
she said she would treasure it.
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她说她会珍藏起来.
16:09
And then I said -- oh, and she was talking about Moss Hart, and I said,
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然后她正在讲Moss Hart的故事,
16:11
"When you met him, you knew it was him."
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然后我说, 你见到他时你能认出他吧,
16:13
And she said, "I knew it was he."
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她说, 我知道就是他.
16:14
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
16:17
So, I was the one who should have kept the book, but it was a really wonderful moment.
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所以,我才是应该保存这本书的人,但这真的是不寻常的时刻.
16:20
And she dated George Gershwin, so, you know, get out.
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他跟乔治•格什温曾约会过, 一起出去.
16:23
Gershwin died at the age of 38.
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格什温 在38岁的时候就去世了.
16:26
He's buried in the same cemetery as my husband.
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他跟我的丈夫埋在了同一个公墓.
16:29
I don't want to talk about that now.
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我现在不打算说这个.
16:31
I do want to talk -- the absolute icing on this cemetery cake
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但我想说 -- 公墓所用蛋糕的糖衣部分
16:33
is the Barricini family mausoleum nearby.
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是在Barricini 家族的陵墓附近.
16:36
I think the Barricini family should open a store there and sell chocolate.
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我想Barricini家族应该在那儿开家商店卖巧克力.
16:39
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
16:40
And I would like to run it for them.
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我真想替他们打理生意.
16:41
And I went to visit Louise Bourgeoise,
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然后我去拜访了Louise Bourgeoise,
16:43
who's also still working, and I looked at her sink,
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看她的洗脸池,
16:45
which is really amazing, and left.
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真的很漂亮,
16:47
And then I photograph and do a painting of a sofa on the street.
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我拍了照片并且画了街边的一个沙发.
16:50
And a woman who lives on our street, Lolita.
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在街上住的一个女人, 叫洛丽塔(Lolita).
16:53
And then I go and have some tea.
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然后我去喝了一些茶.
16:55
And then my Aunt Frances dies, and before she died,
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然后我的阿姨弗朗西斯去世了, 在去世之前
16:58
she tried to pay with Sweet'N Low packets for her bagel.
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她试图用她放面包圈的小方盒子付钱.
17:01
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
17:03
And I wonder what the point is and then I know, and I see
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我很好奇她的意义是什么, 然后我明白了.
17:05
that Hy Meyerowitz, Rick Meyerowitz's father,
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Rick Meyerowitz（Kalman的合作伙伴，上文的Rick）的父亲叫HY
17:07
a dry-cleaning supply salesman from the Bronx,
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一个布朗克斯来的干洗店的销售员,
17:09
won the Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest in 1931.
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赢的了1931年的一个卓别林模仿秀大奖.
17:14
That's actually Hy.
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那确实是HY.
17:16
And I look at a beautiful bowl of fruit,
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我看了一下美丽的水果盘,
17:19
and I look at a dress that I sewed for friends of mine.
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我看我为朋友缝制的一件衣服.
17:22
And it says, "Ich habe genug," which is a Bach cantata,
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上面写着, Ich habe genug 其实是一个巴赫清唱剧,
17:24
which I once thought meant "I've had it, I can't take it anymore,
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我曾经认为不好听, 我已经听过了, 不想再听了.
17:27
give me a break," but I was wrong.
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让我歇歇吧, 但我错了.
17:30
It means "I have enough." And that is utterly true.
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我是说, 我已经够了 -- 是真的.
17:33
I happen to be alive, end of discussion. Thank you.
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我居然还活着, 结束. 谢谢你们.
17:35
(Applause)
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(掌声)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Maira Kalman - Illustrator, authorMaira Kalman's wise, witty drawings have appeared on numberless New Yorker covers, in a dozen children's books, and throughout the pages of the Elements of Style. Her latest book, The Principles of Uncertainty, is the result of a year-long illustrated blog she kept for the New York Times.
Why you should listen
Children know Maira Kalman for her series of Max storybooks, adults for her New Yorker covers and the gotta-have-it illustrated version of the Elements of Style -- simple proof that her sensibility blends a childlike delight with a grownup's wry take on the world.
With her husband, the legendary designer and art director Tibor Kalman, Maira spent several decades designing objets and assembling books like (un)FASHION. But after Tibor's untimely death in 1999, Maira herself became a cultural force. Her colorful, faux-naif illustrations -- and her very perspective -- tap a desire in all of us to look at the world the way she does.
Her latest book, The Principles of Uncertainty, is perhaps the most complete expression of Maira's worldview. Based on a monthly blog she kept for the New York Times website for one year, it is filled with carefully observed moments and briskly captured thoughts, an omnivore's view of life in the modern world.
Maira Kalman | Speaker | TED.com