TED演讲：单一故事的危险性(11)

 　　Every time I am home I am confronted with the usual sources of irritation¹ for most Nigerians: our failed infrastructure², our failed government,  我每次回家的时候，都会面临那些令众多尼日利亚人头疼的事情：失败的基础设施，失败的政府。

　　but also by the incredible resilience of people who thrive despite the government, rather than because of it. 但与此同时，我也看到了人们面对这个政府所展现出的坚韧不拔，而不是被它给击垮。

　　I teach writing workshops in Lagos every summer, 每年夏天我都在拉各斯开办写作班，

　　and it is amazing to me how many people apply, how many people are eager to write, to tell stories. 都会被申请的人数震惊到，有这么多的人想要学习写作，想要讲述他们的故事。

　　My Nigerian publisher and I have just started a non-profit called Farafina Trust, 我的尼日利亚出版商和我刚刚成立了个非营利性的组织，叫做Farafina信托。

　　and we have big dreams of building libraries and refurbishing libraries that already exist 我们充满了伟大的梦想：我们想建造图书馆，并且重新装修已有的图书馆，

　　and providing books for state schools that don't have anything in their libraries,  对于那些图书馆内空空如也的政府学校，我们会捐赠图书，

　　and also of organizing lots and lots of workshops, in reading and writing, for all the people who are eager to tell our many stories. 我们也会组织大量的阅读班、写作班，来帮助那些渴望讲述我们身上故事的人们。

　　Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign³, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. 故事很重要。多重性的故事很重要。故事一直被用来剥夺、用来中伤。但故事也可以赋予力量与人性化。

　　Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity. 故事可以击毁一个民族的尊严，但也可以修补那被击毁的尊严。

　　The American writer Alice Walker wrote this about her Southern relatives who had moved to the North. 美国作家Alice Walker曾写过她那些搬迁至北方的南方亲戚们。

　　She introduced them to a book about the Southern life that they had left behind. 她为他们推荐了一本书，一本关于他们已挥别的南方生活的书。

　　"They sat around, reading the book themselves, listening to me read the book, and a kind of paradise was regained⁵." “他们团团坐在一起，读着这本书，或是听我给他们读这本书，一种天堂因此而被重拾。”

　　I would like to end with this thought: That when we reject the single story,  我想以此来结束我的演讲：当我们拒绝单一的故事，

　　when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain⁴ a kind of paradise. Thank you. 当我们认识到任何地方都没有单一的故事时，我们将重拾一份天堂。谢谢。

1 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

2 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

3 malign   

adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑

参考例句：

• It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
• She likes to malign innocent persons.她爱诋毁那些清白的人。

4 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

5 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。