美国国家公共电台 NPR Craig Ferguson On Recovery, Philosophy And A Lifetime Of 'Riding The Elephant'

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Craig Ferguson is in his upper 50s. And it's a small - maybe not so small - kind of miracle that between drinking, drugs and hard living, he's around and a quarter-century sober to write this book. "Riding The Elephant: A Memoir¹ of Altercations², Humiliations, Hallucinations and Observations" is a series of reflections on what he's learned along the road of being a comic and a drummer in Scotland, a bouncer in New York, stints³ on U.S. TV shows including "The Late Late Show," meeting Princess Diana and all 12 steps of recovery. Craig Ferguson joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

CRAIG FERGUSON: Thank you, Scott. The only thing I felt a little uncomfortable with is when you said upper 50s. I thought that - gosh - that sounds ominous⁴.

(LAUGHTER)

SIMON: Well, you're just a shade over the midmark. Let's put it that way.

FERGUSON: Yeah. I'm going to be 57 in a couple of weeks, which is shocking. But...

SIMON: And 57 is the new 25, I think.

FERGUSON: You know what? I totally agree. Actually, I don't know if I'd want to be 25 again. Would you want to be 25 again? I mean...

SIMON: No.

FERGUSON: ...I wouldn't mind being able to physically⁵ be 25 again.

SIMON: Yeah.

FERGUSON: But I wouldn't want to be 25.

SIMON: No, I would not. And there's no movement in our family to make me 25 again. They find me hard enough to take as it is.

FERGUSON: Yeah.

SIMON: You know, from what I know of you, which is your comedy and now this book, I like you a lot.

FERGUSON: Oh, thanks.

SIMON: But am I lucky I didn't know you when you were younger?

FERGUSON: You know, I think part of the legend that reformed alchies - such as myself - tell is that, you know, we were wild and crazy and kind of, you know, Johnny Cash in "A Boy Named Sue." But the truth is I think people felt sad for me. I think I was a rather desperate character, desperate to be liked, desperate to to feel OK. You know, I'm - I was kind of troubled youngster more than anything.

SIMON: May I ask, troubled by what?

FERGUSON: You know, it's a fair question. And I'm not entirely⁶ sure. I try to kind of mess around with what that might be in the writing of this particular book because it is more meditative⁷ than anything else I've done. And so I don't know if it's genetic⁸. I think it's certainly partly that. You know, is it upbringing? But I - as you say, in my upper 50s - so I don't really want to start, you know, blaming my parents or Scotland. I think, perhaps, I was very sensitive. I was a very sensitive little boy. And at the time, it wasn't particularly advantageous⁹ to be that way. You know, I just know that I became sadder and more kind of desperate as time went on. And alcohol seemed to work for a long time and then didn't.

SIMON: Yeah. I have to ask about the time you almost took your life.

FERGUSON: Well, it was a dark time. I was - I didn't like the way I was living. I couldn't stop drinking. I wanted to - I didn't really want to stop drinking. But I didn't want my life to continue the way it was. And I thought I - the thought that came into my head that felt rational at the time, that I must kill myself - on the way to actually committing the act, I had a a big glass of sherry with a friend of mine. And that took my mind off it. And in that old way, the alcohol saves the life of alcoholics¹⁰ sometimes. The paradox¹¹ and the conundrum¹² of alcoholism is not that, you know, people drink because, you know, they - they're trying to destroy themselves. They're trying to save themselves.

SIMON: May I ask - how much strength and time and concentration does it take for you today not to drink or do drugs?

FERGUSON: I - I've been sober since I was 29. And I'm - as you say, I'm - you know, I'm 57 in about a week or two. So I've been sober for a long time. Drinking isn't really the issue. It's more about thinking. It's more like I have a think problem than a drink problem. But, of course, it could become a drink problem very quickly. Part of the philosophy - the way I live now and have done for a very long time is to try to live in the moment, not just - it began with a way of not drinking, like today, just today, just this hour. I'll make it to this hour without having a drink. It doesn't feel like that anymore. But there is a great advantage to trying to live in the day and experience life as it arrives and as it shows up. I think that feels to me like an authentic¹³ and desirable way to to get through this thing (laughter) called life.

SIMON: Now, we should explain the title of your book, "Riding The Elephant." The whole idea is that your - you kid yourself if you think you can guide an elephant...

FERGUSON: I think so.

SIMON: ...At some point.

FERGUSON: Yeah. I mean, I - I mean it...

SIMON: I say that as someone who's never tried, but yeah.

FERGUSON: You know, the title refers to a story in the book where I went on an elephant ride, which is not something I would do now. It was a long time ago. And I've since realized or since been informed that riding elephants is cruel to the elephant. And the idea that you're on an elephant is a metaphor¹⁴ for life. You think your inputs¹⁵ are important. But really, if the big, gray creature wants to go in another direction, there's very little you can do about it other than protest and hang on. And so it felt like a nice little metaphor for an odd and scattered¹⁶ life.

SIMON: Craig Ferguson - his book "Riding The Elephant: A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations and Observations" - thank you so much, Mr. Ferguson.

FERGUSON: Thank you, Scott. And please call me Craig. Mr. Ferguson makes me sound very...

SIMON: Fifty-seven (laughter).

FERGUSON: A little bit - how dare you.

(LAUGHTER)

1 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

2 altercations   

n.争辩，争吵( altercation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Have I been in physical altercations with men? 我有和男人们发生肢体上冲突么？ 来自互联网

3 stints   

n.定额工作( stint的名词复数 )；定量；限额；慷慨地做某事

参考例句：

• He stints himself in [of] sleep. 他节制睡眠。 来自辞典例句
• She never stints herself of money to buy books for her children. 她从不吝惜掏钱让子女们买书。 来自互联网

4 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 meditative   

adj.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• A stupid fellow is talkative;a wise man is meditative.蠢人饶舌，智者思虑。
• Music can induce a meditative state in the listener.音乐能够引导倾听者沉思。

8 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

9 advantageous   

adj.有利的；有帮助的

参考例句：

• Injections of vitamin C are obviously advantageous.注射维生素C显然是有利的。
• You're in a very advantageous position.你处于非常有利的地位。

10 Alcoholics   

n.嗜酒者，酒鬼( alcoholic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many alcoholics go on drinking sprees that continue for days at a time. 许多酒鬼一次要狂饮好几天。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Do you have a copy of the Alcoholics Anonymous book? 你手上有戒酒匿名会的书吗？ 来自互联网

11 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

12 conundrum   

n.谜语；难题

参考例句：

• Let me give you some history about a conundrum.让我给你们一些关于谜题的历史。
• Scientists had focused on two explanations to solve this conundrum.科学家已锁定两种解释来解开这个难题。

13 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

14 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

15 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

16 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。