And I'm Georgina.

我是喬治娜

Let me tell you a story, Georgina. Are you ready?

讓我給你講個故事，喬治娜。你準備好了嗎？

Yes!

是的！

Grandma had always warned me not to

奶奶總是警告我不要

look into the mirror at midnight.

半夜照鏡子

There was something strange about that mirror, she said.

她說，那面鏡子有些奇怪。

How childish – to believe silly stories!

多麼幼稚--相信愚蠢的故事!

Later that night I heard a noise. I woke up, dark and alone.

那天晚上，我聽到了一個聲音。我醒來時，眼前一片漆黑，獨自一人。

A clock chimed midnight.

午夜的鐘聲響起。

The floorboards were creaking as I walked towards the mirror.

我走向鏡子的時候，地板在吱吱作響。

I looked into my face reflecting in the glass, when suddenly -

我看著玻璃裡倒映著的我的臉，突然--。

my eye winked!

我的眼睛眨了眨！

Agh, stop Neil! You're scaring me!

啊，停止尼爾！你嚇到我了！

Oh sorry, Georgina! OK, let's try another story:

哦，對不起，喬治娜！好吧，讓我們嘗試另一個故事。

Once upon a time there was a beautiful servant girl

從前有一個美麗的女僕

who lived with her wicked stepmother and two jealous stepsisters…

她和她邪惡的繼母以及兩個嫉妒的繼姐妹住在一起... ...

Ah, that's better, Neil, and I know this story – Cinderella –

啊，好多了，尼爾，我知道這個故事--灰姑娘。

more romantic and much less scary!

浪漫多了，也就不那麼可怕了!

As you can see from Georgina's reaction,

從喬治娜的反應可以看出。

telling stories is a powerful way to connect and communicate with people -

講故事是與人溝通交流的有力方式--------。

and the topic of this programme.

和本方案的主題。

Stories help us make sense of the world, which is why we've been telling them

故事幫助我們理解這個世界，所以我們一直在講故事

to each other for millennia – and why some of the earliest folk tales –

幾千年來彼此之間--也就是為什麼一些最早的民間故事---。

stories that parents have told and passed on to their children over

家長們講述並傳授給孩子們的故事，在過去的時間裡。

many years – are still being told today.

According to the novelist Sandra Newman, and other academics,

據小說家桑德拉-紐曼和其他學者。

there are seven classic plotlines which are constantly being recycled

七大經典劇情不斷翻新

into new stories.

成新的故事。

They include 'rags to riches' plots, like Cinderella…

它們包括 "破爛不堪 "的情節，像灰姑娘... ...

'Defeating the monster' plots, like Dracula…

"打敗怪物 "的情節，就像德古拉... ...

…and other plots such as 'comedies', 'adventures' and 'tragedies'.

......以及其他情節，如 "喜劇"、"冒險 "和 "悲劇"。

So, my quiz question is this: which of the following well-known folk tales

那麼，我的考題是：以下哪一個著名的民間故事？

is a 'defeating the monster' story?

是一個'打敗怪物'的故事？

Is it: a) Beowulf? b) Beauty and the Beast?

是：a）貝奧武夫？ b）美女與野獸？

or, c) Goldilocks and the Three Bears?

或者，c）金髮姑娘和三隻熊？

Well, they all have beasts, bears or wolves in the title,

嗯，它們的標題裡都有野獸、熊或狼。

so I'll guess b) Beauty and the Beast.

所以我猜b)《美女與野獸》。

OK, Georgina, we'll come back to that later.

好吧，喬治娜，我們稍後再來討論這個問題。

It's interesting to ask how we can explain the lasting appeal of

有意思的是，我們如何才能解釋 "我 "的持久魅力呢？

these classic plotlines.

這些經典的情節。

Someone who might know is anthropologist and writer,

可能知道的人是人類學家和作家。

Professor Jamie Tarani.

Jamie Tarani教授。

Here he is talking to BBC World Service's, The Why Factor.

在這裡，他正在和BBC世界服務頻道的 "為什麼因素 "對話。

See if you can spot his answer.

看你能不能發現他的答案。

Often the reason why we feel so motivated to pass on stories

我們之所以覺得有動力去傳遞故事，往往是由於

is because the stories do tap into certain universal human

因為這些故事確實挖掘了人類的某些普遍性。

fantasies and fears that will often transcend

幻想和恐懼，往往會超越一切。

the concerns of particular times and places. […]

特定時間和地點的關注。[…]

We are intensely moralistic – most of the time,

我們是強烈的道德主義--大多數時候。

the bad guys have unhappy endings and the

壞人的結局是不快樂的，而壞人的結局是不快樂的。

good guys have happy endings.

好人有好報

We know that in the real world it doesn't actually work like that

我們知道，在現實世界中，它實際上並不是這樣工作的

so there's an element of wish-fulfillment

願望成真

that somehow satisfies our moral appetite.

某種程度上滿足了我們的道德慾望。

Stories from very different cultures often have plots

不同文化的故事往往有不同的情節

with similar fantasies and fears.

有著類似的幻想和恐懼。

These human emotions are universal, meaning they exist

這些人類的情感是普遍存在的，也就是說它們是存在的

everywhere and relate to everyone in the world.

無處不在，與世界上的每一個人都有關係。

Classic stories work because they tap into basic human emotions –

經典故事之所以能成功，是因為它們挖掘了人類的基本情感--。

they understand and express what it means to be human.

他們理解並表達了做人的意義。

Unlike in the real world, stories can reinforce our sense of morality -

與現實世界不同的是，故事可以強化我們的道德感------。

evil stepmothers get punished, Cinderella marries her

邪惡的繼母受到懲罰，灰姑娘嫁給了她的母親

prince and everyone lives happily ever after.

王子和每個人都生活在幸福的日子裡。

In this way they create wish-fulfillment – the achievement

通過這種方式，他們創造了願望的實現--實現

of what we really want and desire.

我們真正想要和渴望的東西。

Well, so much for plotlines, Neil, but that still doesn't explain how

尼爾，劇情就到此為止了，但這仍然不能解釋為什麼...

stories have the power to catch and hold our attention.

故事具有吸引和保持我們注意力的力量。

Let's hear from novelist Sandra Newman, author of

讓我們來聽聽小說家桑德拉-紐曼的看法。

How Not To Write a Novel – a handbook of over 200 common mistakes.

如何不寫小說--200多種常見錯誤的手冊。

Here she tells BBC World Service's, The Why Factor,

在這裡，她告訴BBC世界服務的，為什麼因素。

that her absolute number one storytelling rule

她的第一條講故事的規則是

is comprehensibility – people need to understand your story.

是可理解性--人們需要理解你的故事。

There are some people who actually are so unfortunately

有些人其實是很不幸的

bad at communicating that even when they tell a story

不善言辭

to another person it becomes incomprehensible.

對另一個人來說，它變得不可理解。

And gradually as they stop making sense and ramble

漸漸地，當他們不再有意義，漫不經心的時候。

and digress and don't know where they're going,

並岔開話題，不知道他們要去哪裡。

you see everybody not only lose interest but become hostile –

你看到每個人不僅失去興趣，而且變得敵對----。

people become very frustrated

惱羞成怒

when someone is not getting to the point.

當有人沒說到點子上的時候。

According to Sandra, the biggest mistake is incomprehensibility

桑德拉認為，最大的錯誤是無法理解

or not understanding the plot because the storyteller is rambling –

或者因為講故事的人在胡言亂語而不理解劇情 --

talking in a confused way, going off the subject or not making sense.

說話糊里糊塗，離題萬里，或者說不通。

When listeners give a story their time and attention,

當聽眾把時間和注意力交給一個故事時。

they want the storyteller to get to the point -

他們想讓講故事的人直奔主題----。

start talking about the most important and relevant information.

開始談論最重要和相關的資訊。

But to cut a long story short, Georgina,

但長話短說，喬治娜。

it's time to return to the quiz question.

是時候回到問答題了。

Remember I asked you which famous folk tale had a

記得我問過你，哪個著名的民間故事裡有一個

'defeating the monster' plot. What did you say?

'打敗怪物'的情節。你說什麼？

I said the answer was b) Beauty and the Beast. Was I right?

我說答案是b）美女與野獸。我說的對嗎？

Your answer was…

你的回答是...

Oh, do get to the point, Neil!

哦，說重點吧，尼爾！

…wrong! In fact, the answer is, a) Beowulf -

......錯!其實，答案是，a)貝奧武夫--。

an Old English epic about the hero, Beowulf,

一部關於英雄貝奧武夫的古英語史詩。

who defeats dragons and beasts.

誰打敗了龍和獸。

Well, Neil, there are two sides to every story,

尼爾，每個故事都有兩面性。

as the saying goes.

俗話說

So, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned,

那麼，我們來回顧一下我們所學的詞彙。

starting with folk tales –

從民間故事說起

popular stories that have been told and passed down

傳聞

over generations.

世世代代的。

Many folk tales contain universal ideas –

許多民間故事都包含著普遍的思想------。

ideas which exist everywhere, in every age and culture.

在每個時代和文化中到處存在的思想。

Stories tap into these ideas, meaning they understand,

故事挖掘了這些想法，意味著他們理解。

connect to and express them.

連接到並表達它們。

Wish-fulfillment means the achievement or realisation of

願望的實現是指達到或實現以下目標

things you really want and desire.

你真正想要和渴望的東西。

A good storyteller will never ramble -

一個好的講故事的人永遠不會漫不經心------。

talk in a confused way, often going off the subject

哩哩啦啦，東拉西扯

or not making much sense.

或者說沒有什麼意義。

And instead will get to the point -

反而會進入正題-

start talking about what is most important and relevant.

開始談論最重要和最相關的事情。

That's all we have time for, but remember to join us

我們的時間到此為止，但記得加入我們的行列

again soon for the inside story on trending English

再過不久，就會有關於潮流英語的內幕消息。

topics and vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English.

主題和詞彙，在6分鐘英語這裡。

Bye for now!

再見

Goodbye!

再見！