sat down in the eastern corner of the Place du Forum in Arles, and set to work on one of the most astonishing and beloved paintings ever made.

坐在南法亞爾露天咖啡館的東隅，開始畫下史上最驚人、最受喜愛的畫作。

"Café Terrace at Night" juxtaposes our snug nighttime rituals under our defiant man-made lamps, with the ultimate mysteries and sublimity of the cosmos.

《夜晚露天咖啡座》對比了人們溫馨的夜間習慣以及其頭頂相違背的人造路燈，搭配了宇宙的神秘和崇高。

And yet, as we know, Vincent van Gogh found no buyers for his masterpiece.

然而如我們都知道的，文生・梵谷這幅傑作找不到買家。

No museum came begging, no gallery gave a damn.

沒有博物館來求作、沒有美術館看得上。

His work appeared wholly worthless to his entire era.

他的作品似乎對他所在的整個世代都毫無價值。

He could barely afford lunch or a new pair of shoes; the local children mocked him.

他幾乎負擔不起午餐或新鞋，地方的小孩也嘲弄他。

Rarely has a more despised or marginal figure walked the earth.

當時地球上幾乎沒有比他更被鄙視、邊緣化的人物。

The story is so familiar that we are apt to lose sight of its ongoing relevance and universal import.

我們如此熟悉這個故事，讓我們很容易忽略它的持續相關性和普遍性。

People miss things on a very large scale.

人們會非常大規模地錯過一些事物。

They did so then, and, by implication, they must continue to do so now.

他們當時是這麼做，所以可以推論，現在一定也會持續這麼做。

The reasons are not very complicated and don't belong to any sort of conspiracy.

原因不會非常複雜，也不屬於任何一種陰謀論。

Essentially, humans are herd animals.

人類本質上是群居動物。

They show immense loyalty to groupthink and resolute opposition to independent analysis.

他們對群體思維表現出極大的忠誠度，並堅決反對獨立分析。

They follow what is fashionable.

他們追隨流行事物。

They are appalled where they are told to be appalled, and admiring where they are told to admire.

他們在被告知要震驚時感到震驚、在被告知要仰慕時進行仰慕。

They will bow to van Gogh when instructed to, and stamp on van Gogh when no one tells them not to.

他們會遵循指示向梵谷鞠躬，在沒有人告訴他們不要這麼做時，踐踏梵谷。

Without making any claims for our genius, we should take inspiration.

在不對我們天份有所宣稱的前提，我們應該接受啟發。

If there are ways in which we are presently neglected and criticized, we should be wholly unsurprised and, more importantly, unfrightened.

如果我們目前有被忽視和責備的狀況，我們應該完全不要驚訝，更重要的是要不受驚嚇。

This is the way things have always, and will always, be.

這就是事情一直以來的方式，也將一直如此。

An alternative to hating and undermining ourselves is to be, at points, a lot more acerbic about the sort of people we live among.

與其憎恨和削弱自己，另一個選擇是在某些時刻對於日常周遭的人更加尖刻。

And a lot more confident in our own path.

對於我們選擇的道路要更有信心。