TED演讲：内向性格的力量(2)

 　　But the first time that I took my book out of my suitcase, the coolest girl in the bunk¹ came up to me and she asked me, 但是当我第一次把书从行李箱中拿出来的时候，床铺中最酷的那个女孩向我走了过来，并且她问我：

　　"Why are you being so mellow²?" -- mellow, of course, being the exact opposite of R-O-W-D-I-E. “为什么你要这么安静？”安静，当然，是R-O-W-D-I-E的反义词，“喧闹”的反义词。

　　And then the second time I tried it, the counselor³ came up to me with a concerned expression on her face 而当我第二次拿书的时候，我们的顾问满脸忧虑的向我走了过来，

　　and she repeated the point about camp spirit and said we should all work very hard to be outgoing. 接着她重复了关于“露营精神”的要点，并且说我们都应当努力去变得外向些。

　　And so I put my books away, back in their suitcase, and I put them under my bed, and there they stayed for the rest of the summer. 于是我放好我的书，放回了属于它们的行李箱中，并且我把它们放到了床底下，在那里它们度过了暑假余下的每一天。

　　And I felt kind of guilty about this.  我对这样做感到很愧疚。

　　I felt as if the books needed me somehow, and they were calling out to me and I was forsaking⁴ them. 不知为什么我感觉这些书是需要我的，它们在呼唤我，但是我却放弃了它们。

　　But I did forsake⁵ them and I didn't open that suitcase again until I was back home with my family at the end of the summer. 我确实放下了它们，并且我再也没有打开那个箱子，直到我和我的家人一起回到家中，在夏末的时候。

　　Now, I tell you this story about summer camp. I could have told you 50 others just like it 现在，我向你们讲述这个夏令营的故事。我完全可以给你们讲出其他50种版本就像这个一样的故事

　　all the times that I got the message that somehow my quiet and introverted style of being was not necessarily the right way to go,  每当我感觉到这样的时候，它告诉我出于某种原因，我的宁静和内向的风格并不是正确道路上的必需品，

　　that I should be trying to pass as more of an extrovert⁶.  我应该更多地尝试一个外向者的角色。

　　And I always sensed deep down that this was wrong and that introverts⁷ were pretty excellent just as they were. 而在我内心深处感觉得到这是错误的，内向的人们都是非常优秀的，确实是这样。

　　But for years I denied this intuition, and so I became a Wall Street lawyer,  但是许多年来我都否认了这种直觉，于是我首先成为了华尔街的一名律师，

　　of all things, instead of the writer that I had always longed to be 而不是我长久以来想要成为的一名作家，

　　partly because I needed to prove to myself that I could be bold and assertive⁸ too.  一部分原因是因为我想要证明自己也可以变得勇敢而坚定。

　　And I was always going off to crowded bars when I really would have preferred to just have a nice dinner with friends. 并且当我只是想要和朋友们吃一顿愉快的晚餐时，我总是去那些拥挤的酒吧。

　　And I made these self-negating choices so reflexively, that I wasn't even aware that I was making them. 我做出了这些自我否认的抉择，如条件反射一般，甚至我都不清楚我做出了这些决定。

1 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

2 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

3 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

4 forsaking   

放弃( forsake的现在分词 )； 弃绝； 抛弃； 摒弃

参考例句：

• I will not be cowed into forsaking my beliefs. 我不会因为被恐吓而放弃自己的信仰。
• At fourteen he ran away, forsaking his home and friends. 他十四岁出走，离开了家乡和朋友。

5 forsake   

vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃

参考例句：

• She pleaded with her husband not to forsake her.她恳求丈夫不要抛弃她。
• You must forsake your bad habits.你必须革除你的坏习惯。

6 extrovert   

n.性格外向的人

参考例句：

• A good salesman is usually an extrovert,who likes to mingle with people.一个好的推销员通常很外向，喜欢和人们交往。
• Do you think you're an extrovert or introvert?你认为你是个性外向的人还是个性内向的人？

7 introverts   

性格内向的人( introvert的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Extroverts tend to lack self-discipline while introverts lack courage. 性格外向的人缺乏自我约束力，而性格内向的人则缺乏勇气。
• I an introvert and introverts get drawn in. 我是个内向的人而且内向是天生的。

8 assertive   

adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的

参考例句：

• She always speaks an assertive tone.她总是以果断的语气说话。
• China appears to have become more assertive in the waters off its coastline over recent years.在近些年，中国显示出对远方海洋的自信。