TED英文演讲稿:谈转变心态的珠峰游(附翻译)

2019-03-25

  Last year when I was here, I was speaking to you about a swim which I did across the North Pole.去年,当我站在这里的时候,我在谈论我横跨 北极的游泳。

  And while that swim took place three years ago, I can remember it as if it was yesterday.那还是发生在3年前, 对我则好像是昨天一般。

  I remember standing on the edge of the ice, about to dive into the water, and thinking to myself, I have never ever seen any place on this earth which is just so frightening.我还记得我站在冰层的边缘, 就要扎进水里, 然后我自己想到,我再也再也 不要看到地球上的这个地方,这里是如此的让人恐惧。

  The water is completely black.The water is minus 1.7 degrees centigrade, or 29 degrees Fahrenheit.It's flipping freezing in that water.

  那里的水是全黑色。水的温度是负1.7摄氏度, 华氏29度。那水里就是翻动的冰块。

  And then a thought came across my mind: if things go pear-shaped on this swim, how long will it take for my frozen body to sink the four and a half kilometers to the bottom of the ocean?然后一个念头在我脑中划过: 如果这场泳出了点问题, 我这冰冻的身体要花多长时间 才能沉到这4500米的底部呢?

  And then I said to myself, I've just got to get this thought out of my mind as quickly as possible.然后我告诫我自己,我要把这个念头尽快的 抛在我的脑后。

  And the only way I can dive into that freezing cold water and swim a kilometer is by listening to my iPod and really revving myself up,能让我扎入 这冰冷的水里 然后游了4千米的唯一方法就是 听着我的iPod,让我自己全力运转起来,

  listening to everything from beautiful opera all the way across to Puff Daddy, and then committing myself a hundred percent -- there is nothing more powerful than the made-up mind --and then walking up to the edge of the ice and just diving into the water.

  我听了所有的歌,从华丽的歌剧 到吹牛老爹, 然后全身心的投入 没有什么比下定决心还要厉害的 --然后走到冰的边缘 扎入水里。

  And that swim took me 18 minutes and 50 seconds, and it felt like 18 days.这次游泳花了我 18分50秒, 但好像是18天一样。

  And I remember getting out of the water and my hands feeling so painful and looking down at my fingers, and my fingers were literally the size of sausages because -- you know, we're made partially of water -- when water freezes it expands, and so the cells in my fingers had frozen and expandedand burst.

  我记得当我从水里出来时 我的手时如此的疼痛 然后我看着我的手指, 我的手指真的像香肠一样粗,因为--你们知道了,我们身体一部分由水组成 -- 当水结冰时会膨胀, 这样我手指的里细胞 就冷冻了,膨胀了炸裂了。And the most immediate thought when I came out of that water was the following: I'm never, ever going to do another cold water swim in my life again.我从水里上岸的一瞬间的想法 时这样的: 我一生中 再也再也不要去在冰冷的水里游泳了。

  Anyway, last year, I heard about the Himalayas and the melting of the -- (Laughter) and the melting of the glaciers because of climate change.就这样,去年,我听到了喜马拉雅山 以及那里融化的--(笑) 因为气候变化 所融化的冰川。

  I heard about this lake, Lake Imja.我听说了这个湖泊,映佳湖。

  This lake has been formed in the last couple of years because of the melting of the glacier.这个湖是几年前 由于冰川融化所形成的。

  The glacier's gone all the way up the mountain and left in its place this big lake.这些冰川顺山而下 然后在这里留下了这个大湖。

  And I firmly believe that what we're seeing in the Himalayas is the next great, big battleground on this earth.由此我坚信 我要去看见的喜马拉雅 就是我下一个在地球上的 战场。

  Nearly two billion people -- so one in three people on this earth -- rely on the water from the Himalayas.将近20亿的人口 -- 世界上三分之一的地球人口 -- 依靠着喜马拉雅山的水源。

  And with a population increasing as quickly as it is, and with the water supply from these glaciers -- because of climate change --decreasing so much, I think we have a real risk of instability.而世界人口照这个速度发展下去, 而冰川水源的提供 -- 由于气候的变化 --下降的如此之快, 我像我们就有了一个十分不稳定的威胁。

  North, you've got China; south, you've India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, all these countries.北方,我们由中国;南方,我们有印度,巴基斯坦,孟加拉, 和其它所有国家。

  And so I decided to walk up to Mt. Everest, the highest mountain on this earth, and go and do a symbolic swim underneath the summit of Mt. Everest.这样我决定了 登上珠峰, 地球上的最高峰, 如何在珠峰下 游一次具有象征意义的泳。

  Now, I don't know if any of you have had the opportunity to go to Mt. Everest, but it's quite an ordeal getting up there.我不知道,你们是否有机会去珠峰, 但是要去那的话,是一个考验。

  28 great, big, powerful yaks carrying all the equipment up onto this mountain -- I don't just have my Speedo, but there's a big film crew who then send all the images around the world.28只巨大的牦牛 载着所有的仪器登上山峰 -- 我不仅仅带这我的泳裤。 还有一个摄像团队这个摄像团队,会向世界各地直播。

  The other thing which was so challenging about this swim is not just the altitude.这次游泳的挑战不仅仅只有 海拔。

  I wanted to do the swim at 5,300 meters above sea level.我想做的是在5300米的海平面上游泳。

  So it's right up in the heavens.所以直达天堂。

  It's very, very difficult to breath. You get altitude sickness.这里呼吸十分,十分困难。你会有高原反应。

  I feels like you've got a man standing behind you with a hammer just hitting your head all the time.你会感到有一个人不停的那着一把锤子 在敲你的后脑勺。

  That's not the worst part of it.这还不是最差的。

  The worst part was this year was the year where they decided to do a big cleanup operation on Mt. Everest.最糟糕的是,这一年他们决定 在珠峰上做一个大扫除。

  Many, many people have died on Mt. Everest, and this was the year they decided to go and recover all the bodies of the mountaineers and then bring them down the mountain.许多人死在珠峰上, 然后今年,他们决定 收回珠峰上所有的尸体然后把他们带下山。

  And when you're walking up the mountain to attempt to do something which no human has ever done before, and, in fact, no fish -- there are no fish up there swimming at 5,300 meters --而当你想上山 做一些事情 一些没有人做过的事情,事实上,鱼都没游过。 在5300米的海拔高度上,没有任何鱼在那里游过。

  When you're trying to do that, and then the bodies are coming past you, it humbles you, and you also realize very, very clearly that nature is so much more powerful than we are.当你尝试着去做这些事情, 然后你看到这些尸体和你擦肩而过, 这让人不禁有些气馁, 也让你就会清晰的认识到 自然比我们要强大多了。

  And we walked up this pathway, all the way up.然后我们就沿着这条路 一直走上去。

  And to the right hand side of us was this great Khumbu Glacier.然后在我们的右手边 是巨大的昆布冰川。

  And all the way along the glacier we saw these big pools of melting ice.然后,我们在沿路经过所看到的冰川的 都是一大块融化的冰块。

  And then we got up to this small lake underneath the summit of Mt. Everest, and I prepared myself the same way as I've always prepared myself,for this swim which was going to be so very difficult.然后我们到达在珠峰下 的一个小湖这 然后我开始准备自己, 像往常一样准备自己,因为这样的游泳方式会是十分艰难的。

  I put on my iPod, I listened to some music, I got myself as aggressive as possible -- but controlled aggression -- and then I hurled myself into that water.我带上我的iPod, 我听听歌, 我让我能有多激奋就多激奋-- 但是是可以控制的激奋 -- 然后我把我自己扎进水里。

  I swam as quickly as I could for the first hundred meters, and then I realized very, very quickly, I had a huge problem on my hands.我尽力的游着 最起码在前一百米, 然后,我突然意识到, 我面临一个巨大的问题。

  I could barely breathe.我几乎不能呼吸。I was gasping for air.我喘了一口气。I then began to choke, and then it quickly led to me vomiting in the water.然后我开始呛水了, 这导致我在水里呕吐。

  And it all happened so quickly: I then -- I don't know how it happened -- but I went underwater.这一切发生的如此之快 然后 -- 我不知到是怎么发生的 -- 但是我沉入水底。

  And luckily, the water was quite shallow, and I was able to push myself off the bottom of the lake and get up and then take another gasp of air.但幸运的是,水比较的浅, 我可以从湖底跳起来 然后喘另一口气。

  And then I said, carry on. Carry on. Carry on.然后我说道,坚持,坚持,坚持。

  I carried on for another five or six strokes, and then I had nothing in my body, and I went down to the bottom of the lake.我继续划了五到六下水, 然后我就筋疲力尽了, 我沉入湖底。

  And I don't where I got it from, but I was able to somehow pull myself up and as quickly as possible get to the side of the lake.但是我不知从哪来的力气, 我可以就这样 把自己从湖底以最快的速度 弄到湖的岸边。

  I've heard it said that drowning is the most peaceful death that you can have.我听说过溺水 是你可以死的最安详的方式。

  I have never, ever heard such utter bollocks.我从来没有听过 这样的胡说八道。

  (Laughter) It is the most frightening and panicky feeling that you can have.(笑) 这是你们所感受过的 最恐惧,最惊慌的感觉。

  I got myself to the side of the lake.我把我自己拽到湖岸。

  My crew grabbed me, and then we walked as quickly as we could down -- over the rubble -- down to our camp.我的队友抓住了我, 然后我们以最快的速度 下山--在碎石中-- 到达我们的营地。

  And there, we sat down, and we did a debrief about what had gone wrong there on Mt. Everest.在那里,我们坐下来, 然后我们做了一下在珠峰 哪里出错的报告。

  And my team just gave it to me straight.然后我的队员直接告诉我。

  They said, Lewis, you need to have a radical tactical shift if you want to do this swim.他们说道,Lewis, 你要有一个 剧烈的战术变化 如果你想完成这个游泳。

  Every single thing which you have learned in the past 23 years of swimming, you must forget.你必须忘掉 在23年里所学到的游泳 里所有的东西。

  Every single thing which you learned when you were serving in the British army, about speed and aggression, you put that to one side.以及忘掉你在英国部队里 所学习的, 关于那些速度和激奋, 你要先放在一旁。

  We want you to walk up the hill in another two days' time.我们想让你花两天走上山。

  Take some time to rest and think about things.花点时间休息和思考。

  We want you to walk up the mountain in two days' time, and instead of swimming fast, swim as slowly as possible.Instead of swimming crawl, swim breaststroke.我们想让你花两天走上山。 不要游的太快, 但是慢慢的游。不用自由泳,但是用蛙泳。

  And remember, never ever swim with aggression.然后记住,不要游太激奋。

  This is the time to swim with real humility.是时候谦逊地 去游泳了。

  And so we walked back up to the mountain two days later.所以我们又走了回去 两天后回到山峰下。

  And I stood there on the edge of the lake, and I looked up at Mt. Everest -- and she is one of the most beautiful mountains on the earth --我站在那 在湖的边缘, 然后望向珠峰 -- 她是地球上最美丽的山峰之一 --

  and I said to myself, just do this slowly.我就像这样慢慢的对我自己说道。

  And I swam across the lake.然后我游过了这个湖泊。

  And I can't begin to tell you how good I felt when I came to the other side.我无法告诉你们 当我到达湖的另一边时 我感觉有多好。

  But I learned two very, very important lessons there on Mt. Everest, and I thank my team of Sherpas who taught me this.但是我从珠峰学习到两个十分,十分 重要的教训。 我十分感谢我队伍中的夏尔巴告诉了我这些。

  The first one is that just because something has worked in the past so well, doesn't mean it's going to work in the future.第一个就是 一个事情无论原来是怎样的, 并不代表在未来就会怎样。

  And similarly, now, before I do anything, I ask myself what type of mindset do I require to successfully complete a task.相同的, 现在,在我做一件事情之前, 我问到我自己,我需要 怎样的一种态度 才能成功的完成我的任务。

  And taking that into the world of climate change -- which is, frankly, the Mt. Everest of all problems -- just because we've lived the way we have lived for so long,just because we have consumed the way we have for so long and populated the earth the way we have for so long, doesn't mean that we can carry on the way we are carrying on.然后这样来想一想气候变化, 那是,说实话, 珠峰和其他所有的问题-- 不能因为我们已经像这样生活了这么长时间,不能因为我们已经像这样消费了那么长时间 不能因为我们像这样人口增长了这么长时间, 就意味着我们可以这样像以往一样坚持下去。

  The warning signs are all there.警告信号就在那。

  When I was born, the world's population was 3.5 billion people.当我出生时,世界的人口 只有35亿。

  We're now 6.8 billion people, and we're expected to be 9 billion people by 2050.现在有68亿 然后我们预计在2050年有 90亿。

  And then the second lesson, the radical, tactical shift.这里就有第二个教训, 剧烈的战术改变。

  And I've come here to ask you today: what radical tactical shift can you take in your relationship to the environment, which will ensure我今天来到这里问你们: 你在你的环境里 能做出怎样的剧烈的战术转变 才能保证

  that our children and our grandchildren live in a safe world and a secure world, and most importantly, in a sustainable world?我们的子孙 能居住在一个安全的 一个保险的世界, 最重要的是,一个可持续发展的世界?

  And I ask you, please, to go away from here and think about that one radical tactical shift which you could make, which will make that big difference,然后我要求你,请你们,从这里出发 然后想象 你要做怎样的 激进的战术变化, 才能做出巨大的改变,

  and then commit a hundred percent to doing it.如何下定决心去做。

  Blog about it, tweet about it, talk about it, and commit a hundred percent, because very, very few things are impossible to achieve if we really put our whole minds to it.些关于这些变化的博客,微博,谈论一下, 然后全身心投入。 因为如果我们 全身心投入,只有很少事情是不可能的。

  So thank you very, very much.所以,十分感谢你们。