Harry Baker: A love poem for lonely prime numbers
哈里.貝克: 寫給孤獨質數的情詩
2012 World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker has travelled the world off the strength of his way with words. He combines the nerdiness of being a math student with the hopefulness of being a human. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
Harry Baker is my name.
哈里•貝克是我的名字。
then our names would be the same.
那我們就是同名。
with a love poem about prime numbers.
念一首關於質數的情詩吧。
"Prime Time Loving."
「黃金檔之戀」。
我沒有這樣做。
side of the bed.
on one side of his head.
it’s because of the way that he slept.
這是因為他睡覺的方式造成的。
and be subtly impressed
心裡有股微妙的觸動,
and yet casually messed.
有時還無端地陷入狼狽的處境。
sees the sight that he gets blessed with
看到一個景象,那就是
dressed in something suitable.
more on cue than a snooker ball
比白球(撞球)還準時到達目地,
that he knew her favorite flower.
他知道她最喜歡的花。
every minute, every hour.
he’d never get the girl.
他永遠追不到她。
across the street
perfectly round figure,
那婀娜玲瓏的身姿時,
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
was "101 Dalmatians."
是「101忠狗」。
they were star-crossed lovers.
and evens because they had each other.
因為他們擁有彼此。
imposed on her by her mother
母親強加給她的舊觀念,
stupid and dumb
by her stupid mum,
而她卻被自己愚蠢的母親控制著。
by the simple sum.
and you’re left with the one.
就只剩下 1 了,那便是真命天子。
of moping around,
and his parents were out.
he went into a house
numbers on the door,
introduced himself before,
dropped in awe.
(Laughter)
只不過比他多了一點點。(笑聲)
and an approachable smile,
the edges, casual style,
風格很隨意。
was in disorganized piles,
物品雜亂無章地堆砌著。
if friends stayed a while.
朋友們是否多呆一會兒。
and he liked her.
if she knew he was like her,
如果她知道他們倆這麼像的話。
I mean, this girl was wicked,
我是說,這個女孩有魔力似的,
and asked for her digits.
He grinned, said, "I'm 59."
他咧嘴笑道:「我是59」。
you could come over to mine?
你能來我家玩嗎?
just as quirky,
ready one minute early,
一分鐘前才准備好,
she arrived one minute late.
在約定時間一分鐘後才到。
there was nonstop chatter,
how they had two factors,
因為他們都有兩個「因素」,
distinctiveness made them better,
讓他們更加美好。
they were meant together.
about stuck-up 60,
自己曾對 60 的迷戀:
because it led to us.”
因為那讓我們相遇。」
not prone to jealousy,
她沒有急著吃醋。
and told him quite tenderly,
to become twice what 60 could ever be."
就是 60 的兩倍。」
this one-of-a-kind girl in his life.
獨一無二的女孩而感到高興。
definition of being prime
and himself could his heart divide,
和他自己,
to give his heart to,
and now she knew the films were half true.
現在她知道電影都是半真半假的,
that love was just a sample,
電影裡的愛只是一個範例。
they were a prime example.
才是最佳質數愛侶
poetry night -- (Laughter) --
詩歌之夜寫的--(笑聲)--
a prime number-themed poetry competition.
poetry competition winner,
為主題的詩歌競賽,
a prime minister. (Laughter)
我成為了「首相」。(笑聲)
these things called poetry slams,
a poetry slam is,
in America 30 years ago
出現的一種形式,
into going to poetry events
like "slam" on the end.
「詼諧」之類的令人興奮的詞。
three minutes to perform
would hold up scorecards,
with a numerical score,
between performer and audience
of connection with the listener.
you can call yourself a slam champion
你就能自稱「詼諧詩冠軍」,
"Oh, what? Poetry's a subjective art form,
「那又怎樣?詩歌是主觀的藝術形式,
got involved in these slams,
我也參與了這些詩歌會,
the Poetry World Cup in Paris,
speaking in their native languages
to travel the world since doing it,
Maybe pop-up purple paper people.
或許是彈起式紫色紙人。
pop-up purple paper people?"
pop-up purple paper people
purple people paperclip,
adhesives as alternatives,
以作為替補,
just in case the paper slipped.
paper people politics.
paper-thin policies,
without appropriate apologies.
卻也從未適當地道歉過。
And a little paper you.
和一個小小的紙人版的你。
and it would all be pay-per-view.
電視都是紙(支)付觀看哦。
rap about their paper package
說唱著關於他們的紙盒包裝,
get stuck in paper traffic on the A4.
堵塞在 A4 紙的紙交通中。
but we’d all stare at paper Pippa,
但是我們都會盯著皮帕看,
killer Jack the Paper-Ripper,
對「開紙手傑克」的恐懼中,
propagates the people's prejudices,
散佈著人們的偏見,
photogenic terrorists.
And a little paper you.
和一個小小的紙質的你。
people’s problems pop up too.
人們的問題也不斷增長。
who remained out of touch,
about all the paper cuts,
統統都視而不見,
would get blown to paper pieces,
會演化為紙屑灰飛煙滅,
manned by pre-emptive police.
so there’d still be paper greed,
所以也會有紙(止)不住的貪婪,
pocketing more than they need,
to pepper their paper properties,
散佈到他們的紙質房產中,
and ain’t acknowledged properly.
並未受到恰當認可。
where so many are proper poor,
許多人都十分貧窮,
the money goes to big wars.
錢卻被投入戰爭中。
unfold plans for paper planes
展開了他們紙飛機的計劃,
in our own paper chains,
is that it always seems to stay the same,
choosing how to lay the blame,
他們選擇著如何推卸責任,
forgetting these are names of people,
忘了這些可都是人的名字,
it all comes down to people.
who are able to inspire,
it’s hard to see how we all cope.
there’s still hope,
'cause I believe in people.
to pray for me.
of someone checking I’m okay,
看看我是否安然無恙,
plays with prisoners.
和犯人一起演出話劇。
of genuine forgiveness.
to make your life better,
變得更加美好的人,
to be powerful.
tend to pretend to be victims
往往會假裝成受害者,
And a little paper you.
還有一個小小的紙質的你。
people's problems pop up too,
人們的問題也不斷增長。
then we’d still make it through.
I've just got time for one more.
我正好還有時間再念一首詩。
of ideas without frontiers.
傳遞思想的終極方法。
were the ones with the amazing stories,
with a happy life, it was too normal,
生活無憂無慮,太普通了,
where I could talk about my experiences
用它們來談論自己的經歷、
in front of you today.
實在令我驚嘆。
like the sound check yesterday.
"The Sunshine Kid."
to see his little boy run,
看著他盡情奔跑。
nor the problems overcome,
也不是因為跨越了困難,
remained a sunny one.
to hide his brightness,
他試著掩飾自己的光芒。
hits periods of hardship,
to inspire them through the darkness.
才能激勵它們渡過黑暗的日子。
he was born in a nebula,
還是一朵星雲的時候,
was thought of as regular,
從不被認為是正常的,
seemed to turn a little bronze,
by some more than others,
更愛這顆太陽,
and his dreamcoat and his brothers
和他的神奇彩衣以及他兄弟們的故事。
had its pros and its cons,
in those he outshone
耀眼的恒星視他為敵,
didn’t like the Sunshine Kid,
the Shadow People did,
曾做過的陰暗之事。
the places where the Shadow People hid,
陰影人的藏身之處,
an evil plan to get rid of him,
來除掉太陽小子。
their words were gunshots,
從空中向他的夢想射擊,
he wasn’t very cool
他並沒有那麼酷。
popular kids at school.
受歡迎的小孩都合不來。
and they would bring him down to Earth,
他們要把他拽下來,讓他腳踏實地。
and that is what he was worth,
to university to learn,
would be the first degree burns
是一級燒傷證明,
looked him in the eyes,
With evaporated tears
with a warm personality,
性格平易近人,
of the shadowy folk
and left cavities,
在他身上留下傷痕。
his spark darkened,
it cooled his flames,
if he kept his light dim
如果他韜光養晦一些。
she had terrible aim,
她瞄得太不准了,
with what they said,
by what they said,
受那流言蜚語的侵蝕。
in his solar plexus.
Little Miss Sunshine came along
about how we’re made to be strong,
關於我們如何變得堅強,
Just be true to who you are,
只需真誠地面對自己,
her image burned in his retina,
就深深地烙在他眼底。
and she accepted him,
whenever she was next to him,
每一次她在身邊時,
and he dared to dream,
他也就敢於夢想。
when she was there he beamed,
他愈發閃耀,
in ways that can’t be faked,
the razor-tipped words of hate,
消滅了如刀片般鋒利的惡言惡語。
they were "cool star" and "fun sun,"
「酷恒星」和「樂驕陽」。
damage became undone,
and she was brilliant,
reptilians vermillion,
變成一個熱心腸,
from Chileans to Brazilians,
從智利人到巴西人都熱愛她,
the meaning of resilience.
from a single candle
handle your light?
你的萬丈光芒呢?
and the sky is the limit,
而這片天就是極限,
then she drew back the curtains
那麼她拉開了窗簾,
through the hurting.
these stars stuck together,
這些恒星緊緊依靠在一起,
the memories would last forever,
said it or not, it would be fine,
天氣都會晴朗,一切安好,
the kid could still shine.
陽光小子依然耀眼。
with a warm personality,
性格平易近人,
inspired across galaxies
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Harry Baker - Poet physician2012 World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker has travelled the world off the strength of his way with words. He combines the nerdiness of being a math student with the hopefulness of being a human.
Why you should listen
Harry Baker has always loved words. He’s been blessed enough to travel round the world with them, winning the Poetry Slam World Cup in 2012 and currently using a maths degree as an excuse to live in Germany and find heaps more new words to play with. With two 5-star Edinburgh Fringe festival shows under his belt, his latest milestone is his 2014 book, The Sunshine Kid.
Harry Baker | Speaker | TED.com