特斯拉（2020）

特斯拉
他小时候有一只叫马切克的黑猫
He had a black cat named Machek when he was a boy.
无论去哪 那只猫都跟着他
The cat followed him everywhere.
有天 当他抚摸猫背时
And one day, when he stroked the cat’s back,
他看到了个神奇的事
he saw a miracle.
一片光在他手下噼啦作响
A sheet of light crackling under his hand.
“天上的闪电”
“Lightning in the sky,”
他父亲解释道
his father explained,
“和马切克背上的
“is the same thing as the spark shooting
小火花是一样的东西”
from Machek’s back.”
特斯拉就问自己
And Tesla asked himself,
“自然是一只巨大的猫吗”
“Is nature a gigantic cat?”
如果是的话
And if so,
那是谁在抚摸它的背”
who strokes its back?”
九年前
爱迪生机器厂 纽约 1884年8月11日
精神决定物质
Mind over matter,
说的就是这么回事 不是吗
that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?
最终我们将能在黑暗中看清东西
Eventually, we’ll be able to see in the dark.
我找到了
I found them.
我想大杂烩抽屉里还有更多
I think there are more in the crazy drawer.
你知道那抽屉在哪吗
Do you know where that is?
大杂烩抽屉是什么
The crazy drawer?
那看来你没有这习惯
That means is you don’t have crazy drawers
你是哪里人
where you’re from?
我母亲就有个塞满各种东西的抽屉
My mother had a crazy drawer.
你的呢
And yours?
不要说我母亲
Leave my mother out of this.
没人想到你今晚会来 汤姆
No one expected you to come in tonight, Tom.
没有吗
Ha, no?
真的吗
Seriously?
我猜到了
Well I expected it.
我五岁时
When I was five years old…
艾德 你不用因为我说话而特意停下来
Ed, you don’t have to stop because I’m talking.
我五岁时 我们驾船穿过伊利湖
I was five years old and we sailed across Lake Erie
伊利湖 北美五大湖之一
去维也纳拜访那里的爱迪生家族
to visit the Edison clan there in Vienna.
安大略湖边的维也纳
Vienna, Ontario.
安大略湖 北美五大湖之一
父母亲 姐♥妹♥们♥ 玛丽安和塔内
Mother and father, sisters, Marriane and Tanney,
我的兄弟 查理 还有我的祖父山姆
my brother, Charlie, and my Grandpa Sam.
我学会了游泳
I learned to swim.
我回到俄亥俄州后
When I got back to Ohio,
我和我的好朋友乔治去探险
I went exploring with my good friend, George.
乔治·洛克伍德
George Lockwood.
他和我同岁
He was exactly my age.
我们去了我家房♥子下面的水渠玩
We went out to the canal below my house
乔治跟我一起到下到了水里
and I went into the water and George followed me
之后 我闷闷不乐地回到家里
and afterward, I went home feeling very subdued
爬上了床
and crawled into bed.
我母亲叫醒我时天已经很黑了
When my mother woke me, it was very dark
然后她问我乔治
and she asked about George.
半个镇的人都在找他
Everybody was looking for him, half the town.
打着灯笼叫着他的名字 四处寻找
Had lit lanterns, called his name looking everywhere.
我告诉她我看到乔治的头消失在了水里
I told her I saw George’s head disappear in the water
然后我等了他好久
and I waited for him a long time
我不知道该怎么办
and I didn’t know what to do.
我当时才五岁
I was five years old.
是什么让我刚想起了这个
What made me think of that just now.
回家吧 汤姆
Go home, Tom.
说真的
Seriously.
我以为大家都会游泳的
I aways assumed people can swim.
特斯拉 刚刚没看到你在这
Oh, Tesla, didn’t see you there before.
你真的来自特兰西瓦尼亚吗
It is true you’re from Transylvania?
特兰西瓦尼亚是以前东欧的一个地区 今属罗马尼亚
不是
No.
你吃过人肉吗
Have you ever eaten human flesh?
你结婚了吗
Are you married?
没有
No.
你为什么这么问
Why do you ask?
我们喜欢刁难新人
We like to give the new men a hard time.
我会游泳
I can swim.
什么
What’s that?
你刚刚说的
What you said before,
我会游泳
I can swim.
你会
Can you?
那很好
Well good.
我们到时候看
We’ll see.
同情那些可怜的移♥民♥
Pity the poor immigrant,
像歌♥唱的那样
as the song goes.
特斯拉带着开放的心态来到美国
Tesla came to America with an open heart
充满了希冀和希望
filled with expectation and hope.
我和你说过我哥的事
I told you about my brother.
那一年也是这个时候
It was this time of year.
我七岁
I was seven,
他十二岁
he was 12.
他从马上摔下来时
He didn’t die instantly when he was thrown
没有马上断气
from the horse.
我母亲叫醒我
My mother woke me,
把我带到尸体旁
brought me to the body,
让我亲他的嘴唇
told me to kiss him on the lips.
他的嘴唇冰冷冰冷的
His very cold lips.
他才是更聪明的那个
He was the brilliant one.
我永远赶不上
I could never measure up.
亲爱的西盖蒂
Dear Szigeti,
我正在适应爱迪生机器厂
I’m finding my way at Edison’s Machine Works,
这里总是有干不完的活没有足够的时间
where there’s always too much to do and not enough time,
永远没有足够的资金人力
never enough money or men,
不断地要修理 升级 赶工
constant fixes, upgrades, emergencies.
爱迪生不怎么睡觉 还想让他身边的人
Edison hardly sleeps and expects everyone around him
比他睡得更少
to sleep even less.
他和每个人说话 但从来听不进别人的话
He talks to everyone, but is incapable of listening.
他对我的电机不感兴趣
He has no interest in my motor.
常言道 橡树的阴影下什么都无法成长
You know the proverb, nothing grows in the shadow of an Oak.
我希望爱迪生和我
I hoped that Edison and I would,
怎么说呢 能一起工作
I don’t know, work together,
那样他就能理解我的想法了
that he would understand.
明白
Yes.
那样我们就可以成为朋友
That we could be friends.
爱迪生没有时间打理他的头发
Edison doesn’t have time to comb his hair.
不止那样
It’s more than that.
他家里有人去世了
There was a death in the family.
没人说起这事
Nobody talks about it.
他的妻子
His wife,
他的妻子去世了
his wife died.
什么时候的事
When was this?
周二
Tuesday.
做交流电就是在浪费时间
Alternating current is a waste of time.
不现实也没希望
Impractical and deadly.
那东西没有未来
There’s no future in it.
五万美元
$50,000.
你真的认为我欠你五万美元吗
You think I owe you $50,000 honestly?
特斯拉
Tesla,
你不懂美式幽默
you don’t understand the American sense of humor.
事情当然不可能是这样
This is pretty surely not how it happened
但我能和你说什么呢
but what can I tell you?
如果你搜尼古拉·特斯拉
If you Google Nikola Tesla
你会得到三千四百万个结果
you get 34 million results,
但图片里大部分
but for images there are mostly just
都是三四张照片不断重复
three or four photographs repeated over and over.
它们有被各种修改过
They get flipped around.
有些加了颜色有些在背景里
Some are colorized or photoshopped with lightning
加了闪电 但基本就是那四张
in the background but it’s basically just four pictures.