It's such a simple question,

這是一個很簡單的問題，

but these days, of course, simple questions

但是近年來，當然，簡單的問題

bring ever more complicated answers.

伴隨而來的是相對複雜的答案。

People are always asking me where I come from,

人們總是問我，我從何而來，

and they're expecting me to say India,

他們期待聽到我說印度，

and they're absolutely right, so far as 100 percent

當然他們說的一點也沒錯，

of my blood and ancestry does come from India.

我流著印度的血，祖先也來自印度。

Except, I've never lived one day of my life there.

只不過，我這輩子從來沒有 在那裡生活過一天。

I can't speak even one word

當地超過兩萬兩千種方言，

of its more than 22,000 dialects.

我一個字也不會講。

So I don't think I've really earned the right

因此，我想我沒什麼資格

to call myself an Indian.

說自己是印度人。

And if "Where do you come from?"

那麼，如果「你從哪裡來？」

means "Where were you born and raised and educated?"

意謂著「你在哪裡出生、長大和讀書？」

then I'm entirely of that funny little country

那麼，我就完全屬於 那個小巧可愛的國家

known as England,

英國。

except I left England as soon as I completed

只不過，一直到我大學畢業後，

my undergraduate education,

我就離開英國了。

and all the time I was growing up,

在我所有的成長期間，

I was the only kid in all my classes

我總是班上唯一一個，在最初，

who didn't begin to look like the classic English heroes

不把課本上 經典的英國英雄人物

represented in our textbooks.

當做典範的孩子。

And if "Where do you come from?"

如果「你從哪裡來？」

means "Where do you pay your taxes?

指的是「你在哪裡繳稅？

Where do you see your doctor and your dentist?"

你在哪裡上醫院、看牙醫？」

then I'm very much of the United States,

這樣一來，我就成了道地的美國人。

and I have been for 48 years now,

我來這裡四十八年了，

since I was a really small child.

在我很小的時候就來了。

Except, for many of those years,

只不過，其中的幾年，

I've had to carry around this funny little pink card

我得帶著這張有趣的粉紅小卡，

with green lines running through my face

上頭還有綠色的線劃過我的臉，

identifying me as a permanent alien.

證明我是永久居留的外籍居民。

I do actually feel more alien the longer I live there.

我在那住得越久， 真的越覺得自己是個外星人。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And if "Where do you come from?"

如果「你從哪裡來？」

means "Which place goes deepest inside you

意謂著「哪個地方深植你心，

and where do you try to spend most of your time?"

又或是你想在哪裡待最久？」

then I'm Japanese,

那麼我就成了日本人，

because I've been living as much as I can

因為到目前為止，

for the last 25 years in Japan.

我已經在日本待了廿五年。

Except, all of those years I've been there on a tourist visa,

只不過，那些年來 我是用觀光簽證入境的。

and I'm fairly sure not many Japanese

我相信，也沒有多少日本人

would want to consider me one of them.

會認為我是他們的國民。

And I say all this just to stress

我說的這些，只是想要強調

how very old-fashioned and straightforward

我的背景有多老派

my background is,

又多一致。

because when I go to Hong Kong or Sydney or Vancouver,

因為當我到了香港、雪梨或是溫哥華，

most of the kids I meet

大部份我碰到的小孩

are much more international and multi-cultured than I am.

都比我更國際化，文化也更多元。

And they have one home associated with their parents,

他們有一個和父母住的家，

but another associated with their partners,

還有另一個和伴侶住的家，

a third connected maybe with the place where they happen to be,

第三個家也許是他們碰巧造訪的地方，

a fourth connected with the place they dream of being,

第四個家是他們夢想中的家，

and many more besides.

還有更多可能。

And their whole life will be spent taking pieces

他們的一生是從許多不同的地方

of many different places and putting them together

搜集小片玻璃而組成的

into a stained glass whole.

彩色花窗。

Home for them is really a work in progress.

對他們來說，家是進行式。

It's like a project on which they're constantly adding

那就像是一個計畫，他們可以不斷地

upgrades and improvements and corrections.

更新、改善和修正。

And for more and more of us,

對越來越多人來說，

home has really less to do with a piece of soil

家和一把泥土的連結，顯然，

than, you could say, with a piece of soul.

遠比一縷心靈還少。

If somebody suddenly asks me, "Where's your home?"

如果有人突然問我：「你家在哪裡？」

I think about my sweetheart or my closest friends

我想到的是愛人與好友，

or the songs that travel with me wherever I happen to be.

或是陪伴我四處旅行的歌曲。

And I'd always felt this way,

我常有這樣的感覺，

but it really came home to me, as it were,

但對我來說，這就是家的意義。

some years ago when I was climbing up the stairs

數年前，我在父母位於加州的房子裡，

in my parents' house in California,

當我爬上樓梯時，

and I looked through the living room windows

我的視線穿越了客廳的窗子，

and I saw that we were encircled by 70-foot flames,

我看到我們被七十英尺高的火焰包圍，

one of those wildfires that regularly tear through

就像其它地方，加州的野火

the hills of California and many other such places.

時不時就會蔓延整個山頭。

And three hours later, that fire had reduced

三個小時後，

my home and every last thing in it

大火吞噬了我家和所有東西，

except for me to ash.

只留下我和灰燼。

And when I woke up the next morning,

隔天早上，

I was sleeping on a friend's floor,

我在朋友家的地板上醒來時，

the only thing I had in the world was a toothbrush

我在世界上僅有的東西只有

I had just bought from an all-night supermarket.

剛從廿四小時營業的 超市裡買來的牙刷。

Of course, if anybody asked me then,

當然，如果有人在那之後問我：

"Where is your home?"

「你家在哪裡？」

I literally couldn't point to any physical construction.

我根本無法指向任何具體的建築物。

My home would have to be whatever I carried around inside me.

我的家只能讓我隨身攜帶在心頭了。

And in so many ways, I think this is a terrific liberation.

在很多方面，我都覺得 這是一種很糟的自由感。

Because when my grandparents were born,

因為當我的祖父母出生時，

they pretty much had their sense of home,

他們對家、社區，

their sense of community, even their sense of enmity,

又或是家族的世仇，

assigned to them at birth,

都在出生的那一刻起就已決定，

and didn't have much chance of stepping outside of that.

而且他們也沒有什麼機會 離開那個生活圈。

And nowadays, at least some of us can choose our sense of home,

而現在，至少我們 可以自己選擇家的樣貌，

create our sense of community,

建造想要的社區模樣，

fashion our sense of self, and in so doing

塑造自我形象，

maybe step a little beyond

也許因為如此，我們不再像

some of the black and white divisions

祖父母那個年代那樣

of our grandparents' age.

如此黑白對立。

No coincidence that the president

世界最強權國的總統

of the strongest nation on Earth is half-Kenyan,

有一半的肯亞血統並非巧合，

partly raised in Indonesia,

曾在印尼長大，

has a Chinese-Canadian brother-in-law.

有一位華裔加拿大籍的妹夫。

The number of people living in countries not their own

現在有超過兩億兩千人

now comes to 220 million,

沒有住在自己的國家，

and that's an almost unimaginable number,

這數字大到讓人難以想像，

but it means that if you took the whole population of Canada

它所代表的人口數 等於了整個加拿大、

and the whole population of Australia

加上整個澳洲、

and then the whole population of Australia again

再加一個澳洲、

and the whole population of Canada again

再加一個加拿大的總人口數，

and doubled that number,

然後乘以二，

you would still have fewer people than belong

這個數字還略少於

to this great floating tribe.

這個強大的游牧民族。

And the number of us who live outside

像我們這樣不住在祖國的人數

the old nation-state categories is increasing so quickly,

增長得如此快速，

by 64 million just in the last 12 years,

最近的十二年來已達到六千四百萬人，

that soon there will be more of us than there are Americans.

不久之後，這樣的人數 就會比美國人還多了。

Already, we represent the fifth-largest nation on Earth.

我們早已成為了世界上的五大國之一。

And in fact, in Canada's largest city, Toronto,

事實上，在加拿大的最大都市多倫多，

the average resident today is what used to be called

現在大部份的市民都是 過去大家眼中的外國人，

a foreigner, somebody born in a very different country.

來自很特別的地方。

And I've always felt that the beauty of being surrounded by the foreign

我總覺得被外國人圍繞的美感

is that it slaps you awake.

來自於他們一掌把你打醒。

You can't take anything for granted.

你不能理所當然地拿走任何東西。

Travel, for me, is a little bit like being in love,

旅行，對我而言，有點像是戀愛，

because suddenly all your senses are at the setting marked "on."

因為突然間，所有的感官都開啟了，

Suddenly you're alert to the secret patterns of the world.

突然間，你留意起世界的神秘模樣。

The real voyage of discovery, as Marcel Proust famously said,

真正的發掘之旅， 如同普魯斯特 (Marcel Proust) 的名言，

consists not in seeing new sights,

不在於看新的景色，

but in looking with new eyes.

而在於用新的眼光來看世界。

And of course, once you have new eyes,

當然，如果你有新的眼光，

even the old sights, even your home

即便是舊景重現，即便是家，

become something different.

也變得獨一無二。

Many of the people living in countries not their own

許多不住在祖國的人們是難民，

are refugees who never wanted to leave home

他們從未想要離開家園，

and ache to go back home.

渴望回到故鄉。

But for the fortunate among us,

但我想，對我們之中幸運的人來說，

I think the age of movement brings exhilarating new possibilities.

移動的數年，帶來的是 新鮮又愉快的可能性。

Certainly when I'm traveling,

無疑地，在我的旅途中，

especially to the major cities of the world,

特別是到了世界各地的大都市，

the typical person I meet today

我遇見的人就會變成，比如，

will be, let's say, a half-Korean, half-German young woman

韓國與德國混血的年輕女性，

living in Paris.

住在巴黎。

And as soon as she meets a half-Thai,

然後當她遇見了一位

half-Canadian young guy from Edinburgh,

泰國與加拿大混血的青年，住在愛丁堡。

she recognizes him as kin.

她把他當作是同類，

She realizes that she probably has much more in common with him

她想，也許他們倆比其他

than with anybody entirely of Korea or entirely of Germany.

純種韓國人或德國人來得相似許多。

So they become friends. They fall in love.

因此，他們變成了朋友，陷入熱戀。

They move to New York City.

他們搬到了鈕約。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Or Edinburgh.

或是愛丁堡。

And the little girl who arises out of their union

他們倆扶養長大的小女孩

will of course be not Korean or German

當然，不會是韓國人、德國人、

or French or Thai or Scotch or Canadian

法國人、泰國人、蘇格蘭人、加拿大人、

or even American, but a wonderful

或是美國人。

and constantly evolving mix of all those places.

她會是融合了這些國家的美好結晶。

And potentially, everything about the way

這位年輕女孩

that young woman dreams about the world,

夢想世界的方式、

writes about the world, thinks about the world,

書寫世界的方式、思考世界的方式，

could be something different,

都可能成為很特別的樣貌，

because it comes out of this almost unprecedented

因為她的誕生幾乎是史無前例地

blend of cultures.

由多元文化綜合而成。

Where you come from now is much less important

相較之下，你從哪裡來已不如

than where you're going.

你往何處去來得重要了。

More and more of us are rooted in the future

我們受到未來或是當前的影響，

or the present tense as much as in the past.

已不亞於過去對我們的影響了。

And home, we know, is not just the place

我們知道，家不只是一個

where you happen to be born.

你恰巧出生的地方，

It's the place where you become yourself.

那是一個讓你成為你的地方。

And yet,

然而，

there is one great problem with movement,

這樣的移動造成了很大的問題，

and that is that it's really hard to get your bearings

那就是當你流離失所時，

when you're in midair.

將難以找到自己的定位。

Some years ago, I noticed that I had accumulated

幾年前，我發現自己在聯合航空

one million miles on United Airlines alone.

已經累積了一百萬哩的里程數了。

You all know that crazy system,

你們都知道一個瘋狂的機制，

six days in hell, you get the seventh day free.

那就是六天活在地獄， 然後在第七天得到自由。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And I began to think that really,

因此，我開始思考，

movement was only as good as the sense of stillness

唯有將移動和靜止放在同一個視野中，

that you could bring to it to put it into perspective.

才能彰顯兩者共同的美好意義。

And eight months after my house burned down,

在我家發生火災的八個月後，

I ran into a friend who taught at a local high school,

我偶然碰到一位 在當地中學任教的朋友，

and he said, "I've got the perfect place for you."

他說：「我幫你找到最好的地方了。」

"Really?" I said. I'm always a bit skeptical

「真的？」我說，當別人這麼說時，

when people say things like that.

我總是抱著懷疑的態度。

"No, honestly," he went on,

「老實說，是假的，」他繼續說道

"it's only three hours away by car,

「坐車只要三小時，

and it's not very expensive,

不太貴，

and it's probably not like anywhere you've stayed before."

而且可能也不像以你前住過的地方。」

"Hmm." I was beginning to get slightly intrigued. "What is it?"

「嗯。」我開始被吸引了 「那是哪裡？」

"Well —" Here my friend hemmed and hawed —

「嗯…」我的朋友開始躊躇不語

"Well, actually it's a Catholic hermitage."

「嗯，其實那是天主教的修道院。」

This was the wrong answer.

這答案是錯的。

I had spent 15 years in Anglican schools,

過去我曾在英國教會學校待了十五年，

so I had had enough hymnals and crosses to last me a lifetime.

所以我已有足夠的讚美詩集和十字架， 夠我一輩子用。

Several lifetimes, actually.

其實是好幾輩子。

But my friend assured me that he wasn't Catholic,

但是我的朋友向我保證 他不是天主教徒，

nor were most of his students,

大部分他教的學生也不是，

but he took his classes there every spring.

但是每年春天，他都會帶學生到那裡去。

And as he had it, even the most restless, distractible,

如同他過去的經歷， 即使是最焦躁、最容易分心、

testosterone-addled 15-year-old Californian boy

荷爾蒙失調的十五歲加州男孩，

only had to spend three days in silence

也只需要花三天靜一靜，

and something in him cooled down and cleared out.

就能得到內在的平和與淨化。

He found himself.

他找到了自己。

And I thought, "Anything that works for a 15-year-old boy

我想：「能讓十五歲男孩管用的東西，

ought to work for me."

應該對我也管用。」

So I got in my car, and I drove three hours north

因此我上了車，沿著海岸線往北

along the coast,

開了三小時。

and the roads grew emptier and narrower,

路途人煙變得稀少，道路逐漸狹小，

and then I turned onto an even narrower path,

後來我彎進一條更窄、

barely paved, that snaked for two miles

未經修整過的兩哩長小徑，

up to the top of a mountain.

一路蜿蜒到山頂。

And when I got out of my car,

當我下了車，

the air was pulsing.

空氣流動著，

The whole place was absolutely silent,

一片寂靜，

but the silence wasn't an absence of noise.

但不是一丁點聲響也沒有，

It was really a presence of a kind of energy or quickening.

那是真正的活力和朝氣的象徵。

And at my feet was the great, still blue plate

在我腳下的是浩瀚、靜止的

of the Pacific Ocean.

湛藍太平洋。

All around me were 800 acres of wild dry brush.

我站在八百英畝大的荒野中。

And I went down to the room in which I was to be sleeping.

我往下走向留宿處，

Small but eminently comfortable,

雖然不大，但是非常舒適，

it had a bed and a rocking chair

有一張床、一張搖椅，

and a long desk and even longer picture windows

還有一張長桌和一扇更長的畫窗，

looking out on a small, private, walled garden,

對著外頭一座小巧、隱密，有圍牆的花園，

and then 1,200 feet of golden pampas grass

一千兩百呎金黃色的潘帕斯草原

running down to the sea.

綿延到大海。

And I sat down, and I began to write,

接著我坐了下來，開始書寫，

and write, and write,

不斷地書寫、不斷地書寫，

even though I'd gone there really to get away from my desk.

即使我上那兒的原意 是要遠離我的書桌。

And by the time I got up, four hours had passed.

我起身時已過了四小時。

Night had fallen,

夜幕低垂，

and I went out under this great overturned saltshaker of stars,

我走進這片浩瀚無垠的點點星空，

and I could see the tail lights of cars

可以看到車燈

disappearing around the headlands 12 miles to the south.

消逝在南方十二哩外的海角中。

And it really seemed like my concerns of the previous day

前一天的擔憂

vanishing.

似乎已消失無蹤。

And the next day, when I woke up

隔天，我在遠離