文字难度：★★★
The street where I live is like many suburban streets throughout Britain. Rows of1)Victorian and 2)Edwardian red-brick villas hug a long, tree-lined road. Neighbours go to work, come back, keep to themselves. Most of them—like me—strangers to each other.
我所居住的街区就像英国其他的郊外街区那样,一排排维多利亚式及爱德华式的红砖别墅房紧拥着一条长长的林荫道。邻居们上班,回家,不与他人来往。邻居大多数人——比如我——彼此陌生。
I have lived in my street for 14 years and I have long suspected that, behind every one of the 116 doors lining the road, there are fascinating stories to be told. So, driven by curiosity—perhaps better described as 3)nosiness—I decided to make a film about my neighbours. What I found turned out to be a 4)revelation—a rich 5)mosaic of human life.
我在这条街上已经住了14年,一直以来我都觉得,在这条街上的116扇门的后面,隐藏着很多有待讲述的精彩故事。因此,出于好奇——或者更确切地说,由于好管闲事——我决定拍摄一部关于我的那些邻居的短片。结果,我的发现让人眼界大开——简直就是一幅人生百态图。
As I walked up and down meeting people, I was most struck by the way my neighbours coped with adversity. I found a family who appeared to be successful, happy and untroubled. Ali and Keith were authors, with one son, Jay, at university and another, Louis, still at school. In 2005, Keith, who is in his fifties, was diagnosed with 6)mesothelioma, an incurable cancer caused by exposure to 7)asbestos, in his case possibly from a school building.
随着我不断地见到形形色色的人,我的邻居应对不幸的方式让我最受触动。我认识了一个表面看起来快乐无忧的成功家庭:艾丽和基思都是作家,一个儿子杰伊正在上大学,另一个儿子路易斯在上中学。2005年,50多岁的基思被诊断出患有间皮瘤——一种因长期接触石棉而诱发的不治之症,他所接触的石棉很可能是来自一所校舍。
He is an amazingly 8)dignified man, always looking to the positive. Illness had 9)decluttered their lives, he told me. “The inessentials drop away and you are left with the essentials, which you can treasure.” Keith had opted for 10)radical surgery followed by 11)radiotherapy and 12)chemotherapy. So far he has 13)defied all the 14)odds in surviving for 18 months. Ali told me: “I’m scared to think ahead. I prefer to think of the future as a ‘don’t know’, whereas before we thought there was no chance at all. Now at least ‘don’t know’ is quite a good place to be.”
他是一个很有品格的人,总是看到事情积极的一面。他告诉我,病痛“整理”了他们的生活。“抛开不必要的东西,剩下的就是必要的,是你可以珍惜的。”基思选择彻底切除肿瘤的手术,紧接着做放射治疗和化疗。至今,他已克服种种难关,生存了18个月。艾丽告诉我:“我害怕想将来。之前我们认定已经毫无机会了,但我宁愿认为将来是‘未知’的。现在,‘未知’至少是个不错的状况。”
What moved me about Keith’s story was the way in which it 15)confounded my assumption that we were all strangers on this street. When Keith fell ill, the neighbours 16)rallied round 17)magnificently. They drew up a 18)rota to take him to hospital for his daily radiotherapy when Ali had to be at work. Ali was reflective about how their lives have changed: “We used to be a bit private before. Now we realize that people can be really 19)great if you just let them in.” Perhaps something for us all to 20)mull over as we increasingly live our lives in anonymous isolation.
基思的故事让我感动的地方在于它推翻了我的假定——之前我以为住这条街上的人都是陌生人。基思患病之后,邻居们都慷慨地伸出援手——他们制定了一个值班表,当艾丽要上班时,由他们来轮流送基思去医院进行每天一次的放射治疗。艾丽对他们生活的改变感慨不已:“过去我们是有点注重隐私的。现在我们意识到,如果你让他人进入你的生活,你会发现他们真的很热心。”也许这点需要我们全部人都细细思量一下,因为我们越来越多地孤立过活,匿迹无名。
Every door that opened to us revealed another extraordinary story—but there was one doorbell we didn’t rush to ring. Even in increasingly 21)gentrified neighbourhoods, there is always one house like this: almost 22)derelict and with pigeons 23)roosting in its 24)eaves. But inside, we found Alek, a 25)captivating 91-year-old who still has a twinkle in his eye. He is a 26)Pole who arrived here in 1948 and retired from his bank 25 years ago. Alek lives in the house alone now, since his wife died in 2000, and he spends most of his time in the kitchen. Did he feel lonely, I asked? “It doesn’t hurt me. I miss people, yes. I miss talking to people,” he said.
每扇向我们打开的门都向我们展现一段非凡的故事——但有一家的门铃我们一直没有急着去按响。即便在日渐重视品味的街区里,总会有这样一间屋子:几乎被遗弃,屋檐上满是寄居的鸽子。但是在那里面,我们发现了艾力克,一位双目依然炯炯有神、富有魅力的91岁老人。他是波兰人,1948年来到这里,25年前从银行退休。自从妻子在2000年去世之后,艾力克便开始一人独居,他大多数时间都在厨房中度过。我问他是否感到孤独?他答道:这伤害不了我。是的,我怀念人们,也渴望与人交谈。”
After several months of research, we had been round most of the houses but there were still a few withholding their 27)tantalizing secrets. Eventually Joseph answered the door of his housing association property and we climbed to the top floor and his 28)spartan 29)bedsit.
经过几个月的调查,我们探访了大多数邻居,不过仍有一些人拒绝透露他们那诱人的秘密。最后,约瑟夫终于打开了房门(他租住的是房屋协会的物业),于是我们爬上顶楼,来到了他简朴的单间。
Joseph told us his story—how he’d been having fun in Thailand, run out of money and been recruited to a drug-smuggling 30)ring. He was arrested in Japan carrying around 70 31)pellets of 32)cannabis in his stomach. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, most of it in solitary confinement, and after he came home he “33)lost it”. Bit by bit, though, Joseph in his quiet way was slowly putting his life back together…
约瑟夫向我们讲述了他的故事——他如何在泰国玩乐,花光了钱以及如何加入了贩毒团伙。在日本,他因胃中藏有大概70粒大麻药丸而被逮捕,后被判处三年半监禁,且大多数时间里被单独监禁。回家之后,他“疯了”。虽然如此,约瑟夫还是静静地、慢慢地重回生活正轨……
So have all these extraordinary and34)appalling stories changed my attitude to my street? To some extent they have. I can no longer walk along the road with my head down ignoring people. I now recognize faces and stop to speak to at least six or seven new people.
这些特别而令人震惊的故事有没有改变我对自己所生活的这个街区的态度?在一定程度上是有的。我再也不能低头走路,无视人群了。现在我认得出一些面孔,并会停下脚步跟至少六、七个新认识的人聊聊天。
The film has made me more aware of the life about me. Houses that were once blank and anonymous now contain stories I know. I feel a connection and obligation to some of the people I met. I 35)pop in and say hello to Alek. Joseph has his family, but I phone him or visit every now and then to see how he’s getting on. I speak to Ali and Keith and, if they ever asked me to help, I’d be there in a shot. If something dreadful happened to me a year ago, I would have sought help far away from my own street. Now there are a couple of people I feel I could tell. And some who might support me if I was 36)burgled or sick. I feel safer and less fearful of crime.
这部短片让我对自己的生活有了更多的认识。那些原本空荡且一无所知的房子现在有着我所熟悉的故事。我感到自己与其中一些人之间存在着一种联系和责任。我会去看望艾力克,向他问好。约瑟夫有了他自己的家庭,但我不时也会打电话给他或看望他,询问他的近况。我会跟艾丽和基思聊天,如果他们需要我帮忙,我会随叫随到。一年前,如果有什么可怕的事情发生在我身上,我会向我所在街道以外的人寻求帮助。现在,这里有了一些我觉得可以倾诉的人。如果我家遭到偷窃或者我生病了,会有人给我帮助。我感到更安全了,不那么害怕罪案的发生了。
My street is a 37)microcosm of big city life. All these people had their own 38)networks and clung to those they knew elsewhere, rather than making friends with their neighbours. A feeling of community can be 39)suffocating and we all need privacy sometimes. But closeness has advantages. Now I value the support and friendship of my neighbours. I feel a warmth towards the area I didn’t have before. My street really is my street now.
我所居住的街区是大城市生活的缩影。所有这些人都有自己的社交网络,宁愿依靠住在别处的熟人,也不愿去跟自己的邻居交朋友。“社区大家庭”的感觉可能会令人感到窒息,而且有时候我们都需要隐私,但是亲密也有其好处。现在,我很重视邻居们给予的支持及友谊。对于这个地方,我感受到一种从未有过的温暖。如今,我的街区真的成为“我的街区”了。
