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Before I get to bulk of what I have to say,
譯者: Clara Chen 審譯者: Helen Chang
I feel compelled just to mention a couple of things about myself.
在進入正題之前,
I am not some mystical,
我認為先說說我自己是十分必要的。
spiritual sort of person.
我不是神秘主義者,
I'm a science writer.
亦不篤信精神力量。
I studied physics in college.
我是一位科學作家,
I used to be a science correspondent for NPR.
大學期間主修物理學。
OK, that said:
我曾是全國公共廣播電台 (NPR)的科學通訊記者。
in the course of working on a story for NPR,
有一次,
I got some advice from an astronomer
在為 NPR 寫一篇文章時,
that challenged my outlook,
一位天文學家給我的建議
and frankly, changed my life.
挑戰我了的觀點,
You see, the story was about an eclipse,
坦率來說,改變了我的生命。
a partial solar eclipse that was set to cross the country
那篇文章與日食有關,
in May of 1994.
是一次全國都看得到的日偏食,
And the astronomer -- I interviewed him,
發生在 1994 年五月。
and he explained what was going to happen and how to view it,
我採訪的這位天文學家,
but he emphasized that, as interesting as a partial solar eclipse is,
向我解釋了將要發生什麼, 以及如何觀測日食。
a much rarer total solar eclipse is completely different.
但他特別強調,雖然日偏食也有趣,
In a total eclipse, for all of two or three minutes,
更為罕見的日全食卻全然不同。
the moon completely blocks the face of the sun,
在日全食發生的二至三分鐘內,
creating what he described as the most awe-inspiring spectacle
月球完全遮擋住太陽,
in all of nature.
形成他描述的
And so the advice he gave me was this:
自然界裡最令人驚歎的景象。
"Before you die," he said,
他給我的建議是:
"you owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse."
「在你的生命結束之前,
Well honestly, I felt a little uncomfortable
應該要有一次日全食的體驗。」
hearing that from someone I didn't know very well;
說實話,聽一個不熟悉的人說這話,
it felt sort of intimate.
讓我感到有點不舒服,
But it got my attention, and so I did some research.
畢竟這是個私人話題。
Now the thing about total eclipses is,
但它吸引了我的注意力, 所以我做了些調查。
if you wait for one to come to you,
對於日全食來說,
you're going to be waiting a long time.
如果你只是等待它來到你住的地區,
Any given point on earth experiences a total eclipse
那你恐怕要等很久。
about once every 400 years.
在地球上任意一處遇到日全食的機會
But if you're willing to travel, you don't have to wait that long.
大約每四百年一次。
And so I learned that a few years later, in 1998,
但如果你樂意去旅行, 就不必等待那麼長時間。
a total eclipse was going to cross the Caribbean.
我得知在幾年後,1998 年,
Now, a total eclipse is visible only along a narrow path,
在加勒比海將有機會觀測到日全食。
about a hundred miles wide,
日全食僅在一條狹長區域看得到,
and that's where the moon's shadow falls.
這個區域寬約一百英里,
It's called the "path of totality."
由月球在地球上的投影形成。
And in February 1998,
它被稱為「全食帶」。
the path of totality was going to cross Aruba.
在 1998 年 2 月,
So I talked to my husband, and we thought: February? Aruba?
全食帶將穿越阿魯巴島。
Sounded like a good idea anyway.
我和我丈夫討論了這件事, 我們想:二月?阿魯巴島?
(Laughter)
不論如何聽起來還不錯。
So we headed south,
(笑聲)
to enjoy the sun and to see what would happen
於是我們一路向南享受陽光,
when the sun briefly went away.
同時看看太陽暫時消失時會怎樣。
Well, the day of the eclipse found us and many other people
日食的那天終於到來,
out behind the Hyatt Regency,
許多人和我們一起
on the beach,
在凱悅酒店外的沙灘上
waiting for the show to begin.
等待大自然的表演開場。
And we wore eclipse glasses with cardboard frames
我們戴的日食眼鏡
and really dark lenses that enabled us to look at the sun safely.
是硬紙板鏡框鑲嵌著深色鏡片,
A total eclipse begins as a partial eclipse,
這樣就能安全地觀測日食了。
as the moon very slowly makes its way in front of the sun.
日全食一開始是日偏食,
So first it looked the sun had a little notch in its edge,
因為月球慢慢地掠過太陽的前面。
and then that notch grew larger and larger,
起初,太陽的邊緣出現一個缺口,
turning the sun into a crescent.
缺口越來越大,
And it was all very interesting, but I wouldn't say it was spectacular.
太陽逐漸變成新月狀。
I mean, the day remained bright.
這些景象雖然十分有趣卻並不壯觀。
If I hadn't known what was going on overhead,
我的四周依舊是明亮的白天。
I wouldn't have noticed anything unusual.
如果不是事先知道 我的頭頂上空正在發生什麼,
Well, about 10 minutes before the total solar eclipse was set to begin,
我也許根本不會注意到任何不同。
weird things started to happen.
在日全食開始的十分鐘前,
A cool wind kicked up.
奇怪的事情開始發生了。
Daylight looked odd, and shadows became very strange;
一陣涼風吹過。
they looked bizarrely sharp,
日光顯得怪怪的,陰影變得詭異;
as if someone had turned up the contrast knob on the TV.
看起來很不尋常的清晰,
Then I looked offshore, and I noticed running lights on boats,
就像有人調高了電視銀幕的對比度。
so clearly it was getting dark,
我望向海面,注意到船隻開了燈,
although I hadn't realized it.
很顯然雖然我沒有意識到,
Well soon, it was obvious it was getting dark.
但光照正在變暗。
It felt like my eyesight was failing.
很快,顯然有如夜幕降臨一般,
And then all of a sudden,
我感覺到視力看不清了。
the lights went out.
突然,
Well, at that,
四周全暗了。
a cheer erupted from the beach,
此時,
and I took off my eclipse glasses,
掌聲響徹沙灘,
because at this point during the total eclipse,
我也取下日食眼鏡,
it was safe to look at the sun with the naked eye.
因為當日全食進行到此時,
And I glanced upward,
用裸眼觀察太陽是安全的。
and I was just dumbstruck.
我向上瞟了一眼,
Now, consider that, at this point, I was in my mid-30s.
眼前的景象使我目瞪口呆。
I had lived on earth long enough to know what the sky looks like.
試想,那時我早已步入而立之年。
I mean --
我在地球上活得夠久, 知道天空是什麼樣子。
(Laughter)
我是想說是
I'd seen blue skies and grey skies
(笑聲)
and starry skies and angry skies
我見過藍天,也見過烏雲密佈,
and pink skies at sunrise.
我見過星辰漫天,亦見過天公降怒,
But here was a sky I had never seen.
我還見過日出時粉色的天空。
First, there were the colors.
但我從未見過此時的天空。
Up above, it was a deep purple-grey,
首先,天空的顏色便與以往不同。
like twilight.
向上看,那是一種深紫灰色,
But on the horizon it was orange,
一如暮色降臨。
like sunset,
但是沿著地平線看天空是橙色的,
360 degrees.
像落日,
And up above, in the twilight,
360 度全方位的。
bright stars and planets had come out.
在上方的「暮色」中,
So there was Jupiter
明亮的群星已然出現。
and there was Mercury
那是木星,
and there was Venus.
那個是水星,
They were all in a line.
還有一顆是金星。
And there, along this line,
它們全部排成一排。
was this thing,
沿著這條線看去,
this glorious, bewildering thing.
你會看到它,
It looked like a wreath woven from silvery thread,
這個輝煌的卻令人迷惑的小東西。
and it just hung out there in space, shimmering.
它看起來像由銀絲編織的花環,
That was the sun's outer atmosphere,
它就那樣懸在空中,閃耀著。
the solar corona.
那是太陽的外大氣層,
And pictures just don't do it justice.
我們稱之為日冕。
It's not just a ring or halo around the sun;
圖片並不能如實的重現它。
it's finely textured, like it's made out of strands of silk.
它不僅是圍繞著太陽的光環或日冕;
And although it looked nothing like our sun,
它看起來的手感那麼好, 就像是用絲線織成的。
of course, I knew that's what it was.
雖然它看起來完全不像我們的太陽,
So there was the sun, and there were the planets,
當然,我明白它就是太陽。
and I could see how the planets revolve around the sun.
太陽懸在空中,行星也在那裡,
It's like I had left our solar system
這樣我就可以看清 行星如何圍繞太陽運轉。
and was standing on some alien world,
我感覺自己似乎離開了太陽系,
looking back at creation.
此時我正在外星世界,
And for the first time in my life,
回顧創世的壯景。
I just felt viscerally connected to the universe
這是人生中第一次
in all of its immensity.
我體會到與浩渺的宇宙連成一體,
Time stopped,
廣袤無限。
or it just kind of felt nonexistent,
時間靜止了,
and what I beheld with my eyes --
或者只是彷彿不存在,
I didn't just see it,
目之所及,
it felt like a vision.
不僅是看到,
And I stood there in this nirvana
而且覺得像是一個夢境。
for all of 174 seconds -- less than three minutes --
我站在那,有如登仙,
when all of a sudden, it was over.
整整 174 秒,不到三分鐘,
The sun burst out,
突然,它結束了。
the blue sky returned,
陽光炸開來,
the stars and the planets and the corona were gone.
藍天回歸到我們的視野中,
The world returned to normal.
那些星星和日冕都消失得無影無蹤。
But I had changed.
世界回歸正常,
And that's how I became an umbraphile --
但我卻改變了,
an eclipse chaser.
從此癡迷日食,
(Laughter)
成了「追逐日食者。」
So, this is how I spend my time and hard-earned money.
(笑聲)
Every couple of years, I head off to wherever the moon's shadow will fall
這就是我花錢和消遣的方式。
to experience another couple minutes
每幾年我直奔日食降臨之地,
of cosmic bliss,
去體會宇宙賜予的數分鐘珍貴時刻,
and to share the experience with others:
同時與他人分享這些經歷:
with friends in Australia,
與澳洲的朋友分享,
with an entire city in Germany.
與一整個德國城市分享。
In 1999, in Munich, I joined hundreds of thousands
1999 年在慕尼黑,
who filled the streets and the rooftops and cheered in unison
我與數十萬人擠滿街道和屋頂,
as the solar corona emerged.
同聲歡呼日冕的出現。
And over time, I've become something else:
隨著時間的逝去,我變了,
an eclipse evangelist.
變成日食的傳道者。
I see it as my job
我將它視為己任,
to pay forward the advice that I received all those years ago.
通過傳給別人
And so let me tell you:
來回應多年前收到的忠告。
before you die,
來,讓我告訴你:
you owe it to yourself to experience a total solar eclipse.
當你離開這個世界之前,
It is the ultimate experience of awe.
你一定要有一次觀測日全食的經歷。
Now, that word, "awesome," has grown so overused
那是對自然的終極敬畏。
that it's lost its original meaning.
如今 “awesome” (敬畏) 這詞因為被濫用
True awe, a sense of wonder and insignificance
而失去了它原有的含義。
in the face of something enormous and grand,
真正的敬畏,對奇跡的體會,
is rare in our lives.
和面對宏偉事物對自身渺小的體驗,
But when you experience it, it's powerful.
在我們的生活中是稀有的。
Awe dissolves the ego.
但當你去體會才會發現它如此有力。
It makes us feel connected.
敬畏使自我消失無蹤,
Indeed, it promotes empathy and generosity.
使我們心心相連。
Well, there is nothing truly more awesome than a total solar eclipse.
事實上,它豐富我們的同理心, 使我們更加慷慨。
Unfortunately, few Americans have seen one,
世上沒有比日全食 更令人感到敬畏的了。
because it's been 38 years
可惜並沒有幾個美國人見過日食,
since one last touched the continental United States
因為自上一次日全食發生後,
and 99 years since one last crossed the breadth of the nation.
美國大陸 38 年未有過此現象,
But that is about to change.
99 年來沒有從東到西 覆蓋全國的日食。
Over the next 35 years,
但這種情況將會發生改觀。
five total solar eclipses will visit the continental United States,
在接下來 35 年裡,
and three of them will be especially grand.
美國大陸會迎來五次日全食,
Six weeks from now, on August 21, 2017 --
其中三次將會尤為壯觀。
(Applause)
六個星期後,也就是 2017 年 8 月 21 日,
the moon's shadow will race from Oregon to South Carolina.
(掌聲)
April 8, 2024, the moon's shadow heads north from Texas to Maine.
月亮的陰影將由俄勒岡州 延伸到南卡羅萊納州。
In 2045, on August 12,
在 2024 年 4 月 8 日,月亮的 陰影將從德州向北延伸到緬因州。
the path cuts from California to Florida.
在 2045 年 8 月 12 日,
I say:
全食帶將從加州延伸到佛羅里達州。
What if we made these holidays?
我提議:
What if we --
「把這些日子變成假期如何?」
(Laughter)
如果我們
(Applause)
(笑聲)
What if we all stood together,
(掌聲)
as many people as possible,
如果我們同心協力,
in the shadow of the moon?
越多的人越好,
Just maybe, this shared experience of awe would help heal our divisions,
站在月亮的影子裡怎麼樣?
get us to treat each other just a bit more humanely.
也許這種共享敬畏的經歷 會緩解人與人之間的分歧,
Now, admittedly, some folks consider my evangelizing a little out there;
讓我們之間的交往更加有人情味。
my obsession, eccentric.
我得承認,有人認為我像在傳福音,
I mean, why focus so much attention on something so brief?
覺得我太過了、癡迷、行為古怪。
Why cross the globe -- or state lines, for that matter --
我是說,他們疑惑我為什麼會 在短暫的小事上花費這麼多精力?
for something that lasts three minutes?
為什麼為一件只持續三分鐘的小事
As I said:
不惜跨過州界、甚至半個地球?
I am not a spiritual person.
就像我說的一樣:
I don't believe in God.
我不是追求性靈的人,
I wish I did.
我不信奉上帝,
But when I think of my own mortality --
但願我是,但我不是。
and I do, a lot --
但每當我想到自己有限的生命,
when I think of everyone I have lost,
而且我常常想到,真的,
my mother in particular,
每當我想到身邊逝去的每一個人,
what soothes me
尤其是我的母親,
is that moment of awe I had in Aruba.
能安慰我的,
I picture myself on that beach,
只有我在阿魯巴島那充滿敬畏的時刻。
looking at that sky,
我想像自己躺在那沙灘上,
and I remember how I felt.
看著那天空,
My existence may be temporary,
我記得當時的感覺。
but that's OK because, my gosh,
儘管我的存在是短暫的,
look at what I'm a part of.
但是那也沒什麼,因為,哦天哪,
And so this is a lesson I've learned,
看看我是什麼的一部分。
and it's one that applies to life in general:
這就是我學習到的一課,
duration of experience does not equal impact.
它在生活中普遍適用:
One weekend, one conversation -- hell, one glance --
持續長時間的經歷未必就衝擊力大。
can change everything.
一個週末、一次對話, 甚至驚鴻一瞥,
Cherish those moments of deep connection with other people,
都足以改變任何事。
with the natural world,
珍惜那些你與他人親密接觸的時刻,
and make them a priority.
與自然相處的時刻,
Yes, I chase eclipses.
並把它們排在首要地位。
You might chase something else.
是的,我追逐日食。
But it's not about the 174 seconds.
也許你追求其他的東西。
It's about how they change
重點不在那 174 秒鐘,
the years that come after.
重要的是它對以後人生的影響。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)