原文標題：行走地球（來自TED演講者John Francis）

來源|經典譯讀 ? 編輯|莫邪

（音樂）（掌聲）

謝謝你們今天到場。我說感謝你們今天到場，因為我已經有17年沒有開口說話了。

而我再次開口說話是在首都華盛頓，是在地球日20周年紀念日的當天。我的家人和朋友們聚在那里等著聽我開口說話。而我說的第一句話就是：“謝謝你們今天到場。”我的媽媽在人群中跳了起來，“哈利路亞，小約翰在說話。”（笑聲）想象一下如果你沉默了17年，而你的媽媽那個時候在人群之中蹦出來這么一句話。我爸爸對我說：“總算了卻了一件事。”我過會兒解釋。然而我轉過身，因為我沒有弄明白我的聲音是從哪兒來的。我已經有17年沒有聽到過自己的聲音了，于是我轉過身，看了看說：“天哪，誰把我腦子里想說的說出來了？”之后我意識到是我自己，我笑了。我能看見我爸爸在說：“是的，他真是瘋了。”

好吧，我想帶你踏上這段旅程。這個旅程象征著我們所有人的歷程。盡管我的這段旅程很不尋常，但是我想讓你們思考你們各自的歷程。

我的旅程開始于1971年，當我親眼看見兩輛油罐車在金門大橋下相撞，50萬加侖的原油涌入港灣。這一幕令我深感不安，于是我決定再也不騎或駕駛任何機動交通工具。這在加州可是個大事，在我的小社區里更是件大事。我的社區是加州因弗內斯的雷斯岬站，當時是1971年冬季，那里大概只有350人。因此，當我開始步行去往各處的時候，人們才發現出了什么事。他們就會把車開到我身邊，對我說：“約翰，你這是干嘛呢？”我回答：“為了環保，我在走路。”他們說：“不對，你在走路是為了讓我們看起來像做錯了事，對吧？你在走路是為了讓我們感覺難堪。”然而也許這里面有些道理，于是我就想如果我開始走路的話，大家都會跟我一起行走。因為那次原油泄露事件，每個人都在談論污染問題。于是我跟大家爭論這個問題，我不停地爭論。我把我的父母叫起來，跟他們說：“我再也不開車了。”我爸爸說：“你怎么不在16歲的時候就這樣做呢？”（笑聲）那時候我還小，還不知道環境問題。

他們回到了費城。我對媽媽說：“我非常高興，我真的很高興。”她說：“兒子，如果你是真高興的話，你就不需要說出來。”媽媽總是這樣的。

于是，在我27歲生日那天，因為之前我爭論得太多，我說得太多，因此我決定要停止說話一天——就一天——歇一歇。于是我就這樣做了。我早上起床，沒說一個字。我得跟你說，這個經歷很感動。因為長久以來，這是我第一次開始聆聽。我所聽到的令我很不安。因為從前我原本以為我在聽的時候，我只是聽到人們必須要說的那點東西就夠了，我認為我都知道他們想要說什么，所以我就不再往下聽了。在我的腦子里，我就開始往前趕，想著我要怎么回答他們，而這時候他們其實還沒有把話說完呢。但我已經開始回答他們，以便結束這段對話。

因此這才是我真正聆聽的第一天。而這讓我很難過，因為我意識到這之前的那么多年我根本沒有在聽。當時我27歲，我以為我什么都知道，其實不是。于是我決定我要再多堅持一天，再多一天，再多一天，直到后來，我對自己承諾我要一整年都保持沉默，因為我開始學到越來越多的東西，而且我需要學到更多的。于是我決定一年里都保持沉默，在我下一年生日的當天，我會再次評估我所學到的，然后也許我會再次開口說話。

唔~~這一下子17年過去了。在這17年當中，我行走，我彈班卓琴，我畫畫，我寫日志，我通過看書試圖研究環境問題。我決定我要去上學，于是我就去了。我走到俄勒岡州的阿什蘭市，那里有關于環境研究的學位。只有500英里遠。我走進報名處，接下來，“什么，什么，什么？”我拿著一份簡報。“噢，你真的想來這里上學？你不會？我們有一個特別的項目專門針對你這類情況。”他們確實有。在接下來的兩年里，我拿下了第一個學位——學士學位。我爸爸過來了，他為我感到十分驕傲。他說：“聽著，我們非常為你驕傲，兒子。但是接下來你要用這個學位做些什么呢？你不開車，你也不說話，你一定躲不開這兩樣的。”（笑聲）

（Applause）Thank you for being here. And I say "thank you for beinghere" because I was silent for 17 years.

And the first words that I spokewere in Washington, D.C., on the 20th anniversary of Earth Day.And my familyand friends had gathered there to hear me speak. And I said,"thank you forbeing here." My mother, up the audience, she jumped, "Hallelujah,Johnny's talking!"（Laughter）

Imagine if you were quiet for 17 years andyour mother was out in the audience,say. My dad said to me, "That'sone"-- I'll explain that. But I turned around because I didn't recognizewhere my voice was coming from. I hadn't heard my voice in 17 years,? so I turned around and I looked and I said,"God, who's saying what I'm thinking?" And then I realized it was me,you know, and I kind of laughed. And I could see my father:"Yeah, hereally is crazy." Well, I want to take you on this journey. And thejourney, I believe, is a metaphor for all of our journeys. Even though this oneis kind of unusual, I want you to think about your own journey. My journeybegain in 1971 when I witnessed two oil tankers colide beneath the Golden Gate,and a half a million gallons of oil spilled into the bay. It disturbed me somuch that I decided that I was going to give up riding and driving in motorizedvehicles. That's a big thing in California. And it was a big thing in my littlecommunity of Point Reyes Station in Inverness, California, because there wereonly about maybe 350 people there in the winter-this was back in '71 now. Andso when I came in and I started walking around, people--they just knew what wasgoing on. And peoplewould drive up next to me and say, "John, what are youdoing?" And I'd say, "well, I'm walking for the environment."And they said, "No, you're walking to make us look bad, right? You'rewalking to make us feel bad."? And maybe there was some truth to that, because I thought that if I startedwalking, everyone would, you know, follow. Because of the oil, everybody talkedabout the pollution. And so I argued with people about that, I argued and Iargued. I called my parents up. I said, "I've given up riding and drivingin cars." My dad said, "Why didn't you do that when you were16?"（Laughter)I didn't know about the environment then.

They're back in Philadelphia. And so I told my mother, "I'm happy though, I'm really happy." She said,"If you were happy, son, you wouldn't have to sayit." Mothers are like that. And so, on my 27th birthday I decided, becauseI argued so much and I talk so much, that I was going to stop speaking for justone day--one day--to give it a rest.

And so I did. I got up in the morning andI didn't say a word. And I have to tell you, it was a very moving experience, because for the first time, I began listening--in a long time. And what I heard, it kind of disturbed me. Because what I used to do, when I thiught I waslistening, was I would listen just enough to hear what people had to say and Ithink that I could--I knew what they were going to say, and so I stoppedlistening. And in my mind, I just kind of raced ahead and thought of what I wasgoing to say back, while they were still finishing up. And then I would launchin. Well, that just ended communication. so on this first day I actually listened. And it was very sad for me, because I realized that for those manyyears I had not been learning. I was 27, I thought I knew everything. I didn't.And so I decided I'd better do this for another day, and another day, andanother day until finally, I promised myself for a year I would keep quietbecause I started learning more and I needed to learn more. So for a year I said I would keep quiet, and then on my birthday I would reassess what I hadlearned and maybe I would talk again.

Well, that lasted 17 years. Now during that time--those 17 years-- I walked and I played the banjo and I painted and I wrote in my journal, and I triedto study the environment by reading books. And I decided that I was going to go to the school. So I did. I walked up toAshland, Oregon, where they were offering an enviromental studies degree. It'sonly 500 miles. And I went into the Registrar's office and--（不說話，四處張望）"What,what, what?" I had a newspaper clipping. "So you really want to go toschool here? You don't… We have a special program for you." They did. And in those two years, I graduated with my first degree--a bachelor's degree. And my father came out, he was so proud.

He said, "Listen,we're really pround of you son, but what are yougoing to do with a bachelor's degree? You don'tride in cars, you don't talk--you're going to have to do those things."（Laughter）