I was just, uh, just being polite.
就是 客气一下
Mm.
好吗
Now, your book, as we heard,
我们听说你的书
starts with a warning that readers might be better off
是以教导读者读点更能
with a more cheerful book.
激励人的书而开头的
Why did you decide to start your book that way?
为什么这么写
Well, it seemed only fair,
这很合理
um, to warn anyone who was, uh, who was seeking cheerfulness.
告诫一下那些需要被激励的读者们
Troy? And, um, also,
特洛伊
when I sat down to start writing…
当我坐好开始写的时候
Troy, you awake?
儿子 你睡了没
Hey. Hi. Uh, I think I’ll just, uh, close out my tab.
你好 把我这里账单算一下
Uh, just the whiskey? Yeah.
一杯威士忌
Eight dollars.
八块
Hey!
嗨
Hey! Yeah. You made it.
你还是来了
Yeah. I just, uh, had a little insomnia, so I, uh, got a whiskey.
稍微有点睡不着 来这喝一盅
Well, we’re over in the corner. Come join us.
我们在对面 过去一起吗
Oh. Uh, nah. You guys are having a good time.
啊 算了 你们好好玩吧
I… I just couldn’t sleep.
我就是失眠
Oh, come on.
得了吧
We’re not having fun, we’re organizing a protest.
我们没在嗨 我们在策划一场抗♥议♥
Yeah? That’s cool. Mm-hmm.
真的 不错啊
I’m very impressed by you.
我真的很欣赏你
Yeah? Yeah. I think it’s, uh, really cool,
是吗 没错 我觉得
a person your age who’s so aware of what’s going on,
你这个岁数能这么关心外界
but you’re hopeful and, uh,
前途无量啊
you seem to have your values in the right place.
而且你很清楚自己要做什么
Thank you.
谢谢你
Yeah. Reminds me of when I was your age and going to school.
哎 让我想起我上学那时候
So, what’s your advice to me?
有什么人生建议吗
My advice? Yeah.
你问我啊 对啊
If you were to go back in time
要是你能穿越回去
and give yourself advice, what would you say?
给当年的自己一些忠告 你怎么说
Oh.
这个
Seriously?
当真
Yeah. Honestly, I’d love to know.
当然 我很好奇
Honestly, I would probably say,
说老实话 我可能会说
“Forget nonprofits, Brad. Just go make a lot of money.”
“小布 别搞什么非营利了 好好挣点钱”
Shut up. You aren’t serious.
别闹了 说了不开玩笑的
No, I’m totally serious.
没有 我还真没在开玩笑
If you want to make an impact in the world
你要是真想对这个世界有点影响
and have respect, go be Bill Gates.
有点地位 只能去做比尔盖茨
Go make a lot of money,
去挣数不完的钱
and then you can do whatever you want with it.
然后你才能做你想做的事
That’s what you would say? Yeah.
你就想说这个 对啊
Look, I go to a dinner party and I tell people
知道吗 我在饭桌上跟人说
what I do for a living, and for about three minutes,
我是干什么的 别人会用三分钟的时间
they act like they admire me and they’re interested,
表示他们很敬重我 很感兴趣
and then, uh, after three minutes, I’m invisible.
然后呢 三分钟之后 我就不存在了
They do not admire me.
没有人真的敬重我
And what’s worse, they think I’m gonna ask them for a donation…
更惨的是 人们都觉得我会向他们要捐款
which I usually do.
我也确实会要
Mm-hmm.
嗯
What?
怎么了
Do I sound jaded, or…
是不是很负能量
Just know, I started out as idealistic as you
就是说 我当年也是个理想主义者
or any of your friends over there.
跟你和你的小伙伴一样
And I’m not saying what, you know, what you do…
而且我也不是想 怎么说呢 让你怎么样…
I could tell I’d lost her.
我感觉我要失去她了
Lost her respect.
失去她的敬意
And I wanted it back.
我想努力夺回来
I thought if I could summarize the trajectory of my life,
我想着要是我总结一下我过往的岁月
she would understand me,
她就会理解我的
see me as someone who’d lost the good fight,
会觉得我是经历过奋斗与挣扎
but had fought it nonetheless.
只不过无力再战而已
I mean, when I was in journalism school, that’s…
我当初在新闻学院的时候
that was the ideal, you know?
真的是充满了理想
Everybody wanted to be Woodward and Bernstein.
人人都想当沃德伍德和伯恩斯坦
You know what I mean? You know… Mm. Mm-hmm.
变得富有影响力 嗯
You know who they are, right? Yeah, yeah, of course.
你知道他们吧 知道
I told her about my career mistakes,
我和她说了我生涯里所犯的错误
my years in journalism just as the newspaper business was folding.
我搞新闻的日子就和报纸产业本身一样日渐萧条
My attempt to start a digital magazine in San Francisco,
然后我尝试在旧金山做电子杂♥志♥
but how no one wanted to read long-form pieces anymore.
但是人们已经不再适应长篇幅阅读了
And how I’d won a few prestigious prizes, but my magazine had still gone bust.
尽管我拿了一些有分量的奖 杂♥志♥还是办不下去
Yeah, we won a Peabody.
我得了皮博迪奖
I mean, you know, not that that matters, but…
没有那么重要 不过多少还是…
I talked about my friends from college,
我又讲了我的大学同学
and how they’d sold out and gotten rich,
是如何推销自己 然后富甲一方
and didn’t invite me to their milestone events,
最后办喜事都不带叫我的
even though I’d been the heart and soul of our group.
尽管我当年还是他们团队的核心
I may have failed in their eyes,
他们可能觉得我挺失败的
but at least I still had my integrity
但是我也守住了我的底线
and could sleep at night.
晚上也睡得安稳
And then there are guys like Craig Fisher, who…
有的人 就像克莱格·费舍
but he has no moral compass,
就没什么道德观念
and he’ll just basically pivot to whatever
人们关心什么就去做什么
sound bite or talking point, what makes him seem the most interesting,
把所有人的注意力都拉到自己身上
the most, you know, it’s whatever.
包括 最主要的
He’s very, you know, telegenic. I get it, you know, but…
他很会出镜 让自己上电视展示
I told her about my nonprofit.
我也给她讲了我的非盈利组织
Even though it had been struggling lately,
尽管这段时间已经非常不景气
I still felt I’d done some real good with it.
我还是觉得我做的不错
Maybe if I was more in touch
要是我能和帮助的客户
with the people I was helping, or out in the field more,
多交流交流 或者多关注一下这个领域
I would feel a little less disconnected or, um…
我可能就不会觉得那么受排挤
Wh… what is that look?
你这样子做什么
What?
什么
That…
就是那种
No, what are you thinking?
你在想什么
What am I thinking?
我在想什么
Yeah, please, tell me.
是啊 跟我说说
Honestly…
实话说
I’m thinking you’re really lucky.
我真的觉得你挺幸运
You’re 50 years old,
年至天命
and you still think that the world was made for you.
居然还觉得这个世界是为你而生的
Uh, I’m 47.
嗯 我才47
Do you even know poor people?
你真的知道啥是贫穷吗
Of course.
当然知道
Okay, well, when I visit my mother’s family in Delhi,
我去我妈的老家德里的时候
a lot of people out there only live on two dollars a day.
好多人一天的开销只有两块钱
They’re not complaining about being ignored at a dinner party.
他们没有抱怨在饭桌上被人无视
They’re happy they get dinner.
他们能吃饭就很开心
Right. But I’m not competing with those people. I’m…
对 不过我不是和这些人比 我是
You compete with the people who are markers in your life.
你比较的是 你生命中有意义的那些人
Why are you competing at all?
那你比个什么劲呢
It’s the way the world is. And…
这世间本就如此 再说
You competing with your friends from college,
你和大学同学比来比去
that competition is the history of colonialism, okay?
这本身就是殖民♥主♥义的历史 知道吗
And… and the oppression of women,
还有什么 镇♥压♥女性
and the fucking up of the environment.
糟蹋环境
Oh, come on, don’t go there. And…
得得得 你别扯那么远
I’m not part of the problem, okay?
这些问题又不是我造成的
I work for a… a nonprofit, for fuck’s sake.
我是给非盈利组织办事的啊我靠
It’s just, from where I sit, it kind of seems like
从我这个角度看 这就是一出
white privilege, male privilege,
白种人特权的 男性特权的
first-class problems.
第一阶层问题
Okay. I…
好吧 我
You know, I know I might seem like some cliché to you,
我说这些可能听着是陈词滥调