TED演讲：单一故事的危险性(8)

 　　When I learned, some years ago, that writers were expected to have had really unhappy childhoods to be successful, 当我多年前听说作家们必须有极其不幸的童年才能取得成功的时候，

　　I began to think about how I could invent horrible things my parents had done to me. 我开始思考如何捏造一些我父母对我做过的恶行。

　　But the truth is that I had a very happy childhood, full of laughter and love, in a very close-knit family. 但是事实上，我的童年非常愉快，充满了欢笑和关爱，也有着一个非常亲密的家庭。

　　But I also had grandfathers who died in refugee camps. 但我也有在难民营中死去的祖父。

　　My cousin Polle died because he could not get adequate healthcare. 我的表兄Polle因为无法得到充足的医疗而去世。

　　One of my closest friends, Okoloma, died in a plane crash because our fire trucks did not have water. 我最亲近的朋友之一Okoloma，死于一场飞机失事，因为我们的消防车中没有水。

　　I grew up under repressive military governments that devalued education,  我在不重视教育、充满压迫性的军权政府下长大，

　　so that sometimes, my parents were not paid their salaries.  以致于我的父母有时根本拿不到他们的工资。

　　And so, as a child, I saw jam disappear from the breakfast table,  因此，年少的我目睹果酱从早餐桌上消失，

　　then margarine disappeared, then bread became too expensive, then milk became rationed¹.  随后黄油也消失了，面包变得无比昂贵，牛奶需要限量供应。

　　And most of all, a kind of normalized political fear invaded our lives. 最重要的是，政治恐惧成了我们生活中习以为常的一部分。

　　All of these stories make me who I am. 所有这些故事都塑造了我。

　　But to insist on only these negative stories is to flatten² my experience and to overlook the many other stories that formed me. 但如果我仅仅关注这些悲观的故事，那么我就简化了我的生命历程，并且忽视了许多其他同样塑造了我的故事。

　　The single story creates stereotypes³, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. 单一的故事衍生单一的传统典型。而这些以偏概全的想法所存在的问题，并不是在于它们不真实，而是在于它们不完整。

　　They make one story become the only story. 它们将一个故事转变成了唯一的故事。

1 rationed   

限量供应，配给供应( ration的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We were rationed to two eggs a day. 每天配给我们两个鸡蛋。
• The army is well rationed. 部队给养良好。

2 flatten   

v.把．．．弄平，使倒伏；使(漆等)失去光泽

参考例句：

• We can flatten out a piece of metal by hammering it.我们可以用锤子把一块金属敲平。
• The wrinkled silk will flatten out if you iron it.发皱的丝绸可以用熨斗烫平。

3 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》