If you want to help me make more things like this, consider supporting me on Patreon.

如果你想幫助我製作更多這樣的東西，可以考慮在Patreon上支持我。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

Ninja are awesome.

Mysterious shadow figures appearing in a split second, neutralizing a megalomaniacal feudal lord with some exotic contraption, and vanishing into the darkness immediately after.

神祕的影子人物，在一瞬間出現。用一些異國情調的裝置制服一個自大狂的封建領主。 並緊接著消失在黑暗中。

Great movie material, no doubt.

毫無疑問，這是很好的電影素材。

But what sounds good doesn't have to be true.

但聽起來不錯的東西，不一定是真的。

Ninja are known all around the world, but most of what we believe to know about them is misrepresented, made up, or simply a lie.

忍者在世界範圍內廣為人知，但我們認為對他們的瞭解大多是是失實的，編造的，或者根本就是謊言。

That starts with the name.

這要從名字說起。

Two characters: "endure" or "hide", and "person", which can be read in two different ways.

兩個字。"忍 "或 "藏 "和 "人"，可以用兩種不同的方式來讀。

"Ninja", by far the dominant one, likely for Western audience pronunciation reasons,

"忍者"，到目前為止占主導地位，可能是由於西方觀眾的發音原因。或 "Shinobi no mono"，簡稱："Shinobi"。

or "shinobi no mono", in short, "shinobi", which had been, until the 1950s, the clear standard reading.

直到20世紀50年代，這一直是明確的標準讀法。

Doesn't mean that ninja is wrong⏤both readings are legitimate⏤but that ninja, in the time they actually existed, were barely ever called ninja.

這並不意味著 "忍者 "是錯誤的 --兩種讀法都是合法的 - 但是，在他們實際存在的時候，忍者幾乎沒有被稱為忍者。

I, by the way, say ninja with no "-s" in the plural form because in Japanese, singular and plural, usually identical.

順便說一下，我說的忍者在複數形式中沒有S。因為在日語中，單數和複數通常是相同的。

In other languages, one can certainly use an "-s"; I just don't.

在其他語言中，人們當然可以使用S，我只是不使用。

So much for the name, now we should maybe learn what it stands for.

名字就這麼多了，現在我們也許應該瞭解它代表什麼。

Turns out, not so easy.

事實證明，不是那麼容易的，因為正式的忍者，在通過他們的忍者考試後。將從他們當地的忍者辦公室收到一個忍者的ID，從未存在過。

Because official ninja, who, after passing their ninja exam, would receive a ninja ID from their local ninja office, never existed.

The maybe most sensible definition of ninja would be:

忍者最合理的定義也許是。

"A person who, in the Japan of the Sengoku and the Edo era, used special skills for convert intelligence gathering and combat."

Simplified: "historical, Japanese secret special operatives".

簡化。活動包括間諜活動、滲透活動、縱火活動、破壞活動。一般對手的混亂，暗殺，以及非常簡單的，竊聽和告訴。

Activities include: Espionage, infiltration, arson, sabotage, general adversary confusion, assassinations, and, very simply, eavesdropping and telling.

The reason the list's so long is that the term ninja is used for very different groups, from underclass mercenary to shougun guard, from provincial resistance fighter to regime informer.

這個名單之所以這麼長，是因為忍者這個詞被用於非常不同的群體。從底層僱傭兵到首領警衛。從省級抵抗戰士到政權情報員。

Only similarities being the execution of covert operations and the ninja myth resulting from all of these groups.

唯一的相似之處是執行祕密行動以及由所有這些團體產生的忍者神話。

One part of that myth is the typical black uniform from head to toe, with only the eyes left uncovered.

這個神話的一部分是典型的從頭到腳的黑色制服，只有眼睛沒有被遮住。

On first glance, pretty useful.

乍看之下，相當有用。

Covert operation is usually at night, so black uniform for staying unseen.

祕密行動通常在夜間進行，所以要穿黑色制服以保持不被發現。

But ninja also operated during they day, where that kind of camouflage quickly sticks out.

但忍者也在白天行動，這種 "偽裝 "很快就會被發現。

I can see you, mate.

Like hell you do!

In reality, only one instance of such a black uniform is documented, which puts it just above nonexistent.

在現實中，只有一個這樣的黑色制服的例子被記錄下來，這使得它僅高於 "不存在"。

Real, typical ninja clothes would be simple dark peasant or monk outfits.

真正的、典型的忍者服裝將是簡單的深色農民或僧侶服裝。

That way, you're hard to spot at night and blend in during the day.

這樣，你在晚上就很難被發現，而在白天就能融入其中。

Like the uniform, the most famous ninja weapon, the throwing star⏤"shuriken" in Japanese, is more story than history.

像制服一樣，最著名的忍者武器--投擲星，日本的 "shuriken"。是故事多於歷史。

Shuriken means all kinds of throwing objects that can distract or harm an enemy in a fight.

Shuriken是指各種可以在戰鬥中分散或傷害敵人的投擲物。

Generally, those came in various shapes, but longer, pointy ones were more effective than star-shaped ones.

一般來說，這些東西有各種形狀，但較長、較尖的東西比星形的更有效。

And in the few cases they'd actually come into use, they were carried by openly fighting samurai, not ninja.

而在少數情況下，它們會真正投入使用。它們是由公開戰鬥的武士攜帶的，而不是忍者。

When your main objective is to stay hidden, you don't start hurling christmas decorations at enemies.

當你的主要目標是保持隱藏。你不要開始向敵人投擲聖誕裝飾品。

And since we're⏤

既然我們是--嗯 -

And since we're already talking about fighting,

既然我們已經在談論戰鬥了。

ninjutsu⏤the "nin" of ninja plus "jutsu", technique⏤is, in contrast to all claims, not a martial art, but simply an umbrella term for skills helpful in covert operations.

忍術--"忍者 "的 "忍"+"術"：技術--與所有主張相反。不是國術。 但這只是一個總稱，指的是有助於祕密行動的技能。

These are documented for posterity in a handful of manuals, which feature, aside from disguises, infiltration techniques, and more or less helpful equipment,

這些都記錄在少數幾本手冊中，供後人參考，其特點是。除了偽裝、滲透技術和或多或少有用的設備之外。

also lots of esoteric nonsense that has nothing at all to do with what ninja did.

還有很多深奧的廢話，與忍者所做的事情一點關係都沒有。

In the seventh lunar month, the lucky days are the Horse and the Hare.

Dude.

"夥計。"

There are two types of ninja in this world.

在這個世界上有兩種類型的忍者。

The historical ninja, without a single, unbroken tradition, made up of all kinds of different groups that, in secret, infiltrated, scouted out, and burned down castles,

歷史上的忍者，沒有單一的、未被打破的傳統。由各種不同的團體組成，祕密地。滲透，偵察，並燒燬城堡。

and, thanks to 400 years of romantization, commercialization, and artistic distortion, the pop-culture ninja, flying above the rooftops in his black uniform, pelting enemies with throwing stars.

而且，由於400年的羅馬化、商業化和藝術上的扭曲。流行文化忍者。他穿著黑色制服在屋頂上飛行，用投擲的星星砸向敵人。

Every ninja has a right to exist.

每個忍者都有權利存在 --"請你離開鏡頭，好嗎？

Can you get out of the shot, please?

謝謝你。"-

Thanks a bunch.

As long as you don't forget that the ninja on the silver screen doesn't share much more with the ninja in history books than the name.

只要你不忘記銀幕上的忍者除了名字之外，他與歷史書中的忍者沒有更多共同之處。