美国印象：爱迪生（2015）

It proved a savvy strategy.
随着技术更加紧密地编织进
As technology wove itself ever more tightly
美国生活的各方面
into the fabric of American life,
随着越来越多的家庭
with more and more households
走廊上安了电♥话♥
boasting a telephone in the hallway
厨房♥里各种各样的小工具
and all manner of gadgets in the kitchen
室外车道上停着汽车
and an automobile parked outside in the drive,
作为国内最重要的发明家
Edison continued to loom large in the public mind
爱迪生形象在公众心目中日益高大
as the nation's foremost inventor.
技术是奇观
Technology was spectacle.
开♥发♥的所有这些事物
All these things were being developed
完全改变了人们的生活
that were just literally transforming people's lives.
公众真的把爱迪生
And the public really identified Edison
和现代电气新时代等同
with this new modern electrical age,
还把一些不是他的发明挂到他名字上
so it translates also over into Edison sometimes getting credit for things that he didn't invent.
如果在鸡尾酒会
If I'm at a cocktail party
我告诉别人 我是个发明家
and I tell someone that I'm an inventor,
他们想到的肯定是两个人
there's exactly two people they think of.
爱迪生和电影
They think of Thomas Edison
'回到未来'里那个疯狂的家伙
and the crazy guy in the Back to the Future movies,
类似爱迪生的讽刺形象
which is kind of an Edison lampoon.
爱迪生一手创造了发明家的形象
Edison single-handedly created the image of an inventor.
“爱迪生先生 请接受来自
"Please accept the thanks,Mr.Edison,
一个女士的真心感谢
of one truly appreciative woman,"
堪萨斯家庭主妇写信给他
a Kansas housewife wrote him,
在赞颂了压力锅 洗衣机
after extolling the virtues of her pressure cooker
和维克多唱机后说
and her washing machine and her Victrola.
“我们镇上的女士感谢你
"We women of the small town are indebted to you
为我们的快乐也为我们的必需“
for our pleasures as well as our utmost needs."
(警报)
(alarm ringing)
(叫喊)
(men shouting)
开始于1914年12月9日傍晚
It began in the early evening of December 9,1914.
胶片加工建筑爆♥炸♥ 引发
Sparked by an explosion in the film-finishing building,
大面♥积♥着火
the massive fire leapt
在西橘 从建筑烧到建筑
from structure to structure at West Orange,
唱片制♥造♥中使用的化学品
gathering force and momentum from the chemicals used
还有唱片本身
in the manufacture of phonograph recordings,
加剧了火势
as well as the records themselves.
火焰可以从7英里外的纽瓦克看到
The flames could be seen from Newark,seven miles away.
整个晚上 爱迪生站在旁边关注
Throughout the evening,Edison stood watching
当地消防公♥司♥联合起来
as a constellation of local fire companies
奋力扑灭大火
struggled to douse the blaze,
它很快席卷过四个街区
which soon engulfed four city blocks.
到晚上十点 他已经开始造表列举
By 10:00 p.m.,he'd already begun making a list
需要恢复的事宜
of what would need to be done to recover.
“差不多全部烧毁了 ”他告诉现场的记者
"Am pretty well burned out," he told a reporter on the scene,
“明天 我知道损坏程度后 会快速动员"
"but tomorrow,there will be some rapid mobilizing when I find out where I'm at."
虽然主实验室无损
Although the main laboratory was untouched,
到早晨 西橙建筑群的其他大部分
by morning,most of the rest of the West Orange complex
都烧成瓦砾
was molten rubble.
爱迪生临危不惧
Edison was undaunted.
当得知损失估计
When informed that the damages were estimated
在300万到500万美元之间 他笑笑
at between $3 million and $5 million,he just laughed.
“虽然年满67岁” 他说
"Although I am over 67 years old," he said,
“明天我会从头再来”
"I'll start all over again tomorrow."
后面的日子里 看到爱迪生松弛下来
The years to come would see Edison winding down,
花在西橘最终重建公♥司♥的时间 越来越少
spending less and less of his time at his West Orange complex,which eventually was rebuilt,
更多地担当成名人物的新角色
and more occupying a new role as a full-fledged celebrity.
'玛丽有只小羊羔 羊毛白如雪...'
Mary had a little lamb,its fleece was white as snow,
'玛丽去哪里 羊就跟到哪里'
and everywhere that Mary went,the lamb was sure to go.
(笑 鼓掌)
(audience laughs,applauds)
经常看到他与另一个美国偶像
He was often seen now gallivanting about the country
亨利·福特在全国游逛
with fellow American hero Henry Ford,
福特年轻时 在底特律爱迪生照明公♥司♥短暂工作过
who as a young man had worked briefly for the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit
从那时起 就崇拜这位伟大的发明家
and had idolized the great inventor ever since.
据福特说
As Ford tells it,
他向爱迪生谈他对汽车的想法
he talked to Edison about his ideas for the automobile.
爱迪生看过他的计划后说
After Edison took a look at his plans,
“去干吧
he said,"Go for it.
我想你已经在这里找到了答案“
I think you've got the answer here."
福特明显把爱迪生作为自己的榜样
Ford clearly saw Edison as somebody to model himself after,
他们开始成为朋友
and they began to become friends.
自称“流浪汉”
Calling themselves "the vagabonds,"
两人每年夏季上路
the two men hit the road each summer,
同行的还有自然学家约翰·巴勒斯
together with naturalist John Burroughs
和轮胎大王哈维·费尔斯通
and tire magnate Harvey Firestone,
爱迪生常常带领一个车队
Edison usually in the lead of a caravan
其中包括野外厨房♥ 餐饮棚和洗衣服务
that included a field kitchen,dining tent,laundry service
还有福特宣传部门的摄像师队伍
and a contingent of cameramen from Ford's publicity department.
到第二年 还带上了妻子
By the second annual sortie,which also included wives,
媒体跟随在后
the press was bringing up the rear.
他们是第一批媒体的盛大活动
They were media extravaganzas of the first order.
他们很怀旧
But it was nostalgia for them:
四个家伙在树林里
four guys out there in the woods,
烹制咖啡
cooking and making their coffee,
而怀旧的人喜欢看到那些故事
and it was nostalgia for the people that loved to see those stories.
“老家伙们状态还不错 看看”
"The old guys still got it,look at that."
在广泛宣传推动下
Fueled by extensive publicity,
'流浪汉'探险的细节
the details of the Vagabonds' adventures
在全国流传:
circulated through the national conversation:
肋眼牛排作为晚餐
the rib-eye steaks that were served for dinner;
篝火下辩论莫扎特和莎士比亚
the campfire debates about Mozart and Shakespeare;
事实上有一年
the fact that one year,
费尔斯通甚至带上了管家
the Firestones even brought along their butler.
有个故事
There is a story,
路上车子出了点麻烦
they were out and the car was having trouble.
他们拉进一个小镇 修车的说
They pull in to a small town and the guy says,
“问题看起来像电气系统”
"Oh,well,it looks like the electrical system."
爱迪生说
And Edison says,
“不 我是托马斯·爱迪生
"No,I'm Thomas Edison,
“我看了电气系统
"I looked at the electrical system.
电气系统没问题“
The electrical system's fine."
那家伙看着他
The guy looks at him
又检查了下汽车说
and looks at the car a little more and says,
“我明白了 问题在燃油这里”
"Oh,I see,it's in the fuel here."
“不 我是亨利·福特
And Ford says,"No," he says,"I'm Henry Ford.
“我看了燃油系统
"I went through the fuel system.
燃油系统没啥问题“
There's nothing wrong with the fuel system."
这家伙看着留长胡子的约翰·巴勒斯说
And the fellow looks at John Burroughs,who had a beard this long,
“你是圣诞老人 对吧?”
and says,"And you," he says,"you're Santa Claus,right?"
(进行曲)
(playing march tune)
现在几乎是神话般的地位
Almost mythic in stature now,
爱迪生几乎一举一动都受到关注
Edison could barely turn around without being honored.
一份民♥意♥调查叫他“最伟大的美国人”
One poll named him "The Greatest Living American."
另一个调查中 他击败西奥多·罗斯福
In another,he beat out Theodore Roosevelt
和威廉·莎士比亚成为“历史上最伟大的人物”
and William Shakespeare as the "Greatest Man in History."
授予国会勋章 发行纪念邮票
There was a Congressional Medal,a commemorative stamp,
甚至有首歌♥名叫“托马斯·爱迪生: 奇迹人物”
even a song entitled "Thomas Edison: the Miracle Man."
记者 政♥治♥家 群众和其他发明家
Journalists,politicians,individuals,other inventors,
把他们当成发明东西的想法倒入
pour their ideas about what constitutes invention
一个叫“托马斯·阿尔瓦·爱迪生”的文件夹
into a file folder called "Thomas Alva Edison."
而这不是他干的
And that's not his doing.
很多只是他当时在那里
A lot of it is just where he was at the time
和他有的那种影响
and the kind of impact he had
没有均衡地提到失败
that doesn't ever get balanced against the failures
或给这些发明帮忙的人
or the people that fed the river of those inventions.
最终都归结给他
He gets to end up holding it,right,
作为伟大的发明家站在山顶
and stands atop the mountaintop as this great,great inventor.
现在他是圣人
Now he is the sage.
你要重大的引述 你问他
When you want a great quote,you ask him,
即使绝对没理由认为