我被赶出来了！（对话）

大家好，我亲爱的学员们，欢迎收听《简单英语故事》，这个播客将帮助你的英语从一般提升到良好，再从良好提升到优秀。

Hello, my lovely learners, and welcome to Easy Stories in English, the podcast that will take your English from okay to good, and from good to great.

我是你们的主持人阿里尔·古德贝迪。

I am Ariel Goodbody, your host for this show.

今天的节目是一段关于参加舞会却被赶出办公室的对话。

Today's episode is a conversation about going to a ball and getting kicked out of an office.

和往常一样，文本稿和PDF文件可在easystoriesinenglish.com获取，链接请见简介。

As always, the transcript and PDF are available at easystoriesinenglish.com and you can find the link to that in the description.

现在，正如你们所听到的，我的嗓子状态不太好。

Now, as you can hear, my voice is not doing so well.

我想这可能是多种因素共同作用的结果。

This is I think a combination of factors.

第一，天气非常炎热。

One, it's very hot.

尽管我喝了很多水，但可能还是有点脱水了。

So despite me drinking endless amounts of water, I am probably a bit dehydrated.

第二，现在是伦敦的花粉症季节。

Two, it's hay fever season in London.

花粉症就是季节性过敏。

Hay fever is seasonal allergies.

这是对树木、草和植物释放的花粉产生的过敏反应，而花粉症在城市里通常最严重，因为公园里种植的植物类型就是这样。

Allergies you get to pollen that trees and grass and plants release, and hay fever is usually worst in cities because of the kind of plants that are put there in parks.

伦敦的花粉症尤其严重，目前空气中似乎有大量的花粉。

And London is particularly bad for hay fever, and there seems to be a lot of pollen around at the moment.

昨晚我抽了一点烟。

I also smoked a little bit last night.

我帮朋友抽完了他的香烟。

I helped my friend finish off his cigarettes.

我其实是在帮他的忙，因为他正在戒烟。

I was really doing him a favor because he's trying to quit smoking.

但最主要的因素还是炎热。

But also the main factor is the heat, really.

天气就是持续不断地炎热。

It's just unrelentingly hot.

过去一周大多数日子的气温都在30摄氏度左右。

It's been around 30 degrees most days for the last week.

在我录制完这段内容后，周二会稍微凉快一点，休息一下，气温会降到大约23摄氏度，但之后又会回升。

We're going to have a bit of a reprieve on Tuesday after I record this, a bit of a rest, it's going to go down to, like, 23 degrees Celsius, but then it's just gonna go back up.

我以前可能说过，但伦敦的30摄氏度和许多地方的30摄氏度并不一样。

And I've talked about it before, I think, but 30 degrees in London is not the same as 30 degrees in many places.

首先，我们没有空调，或者空调非常少。

For one, we have no air conditioning or very little air conditioning.

当然，绝大多数家庭都没有空调。

Certainly, we don't have air conditioning in the vast majority of homes.

其次，我们大多数人住在维多利亚时代的房子里，这些房子的设计是为了保温，而不是散热。

Two, most of us live in Victorian houses that were built to keep heat in, not to let it out.

第三，伦敦到处都是混凝土，它们吸收热量后会缓慢地在整个白天释放出来。

And three, with all the concrete there is in London, it just absorbs the heat and then slowly releases it throughout the day.

所以，即使早上天气凉爽晴朗，到了晚上，整个城市都会向你释放出热气，这并不舒服。

So even if it's quite cool and clear in the morning, by the evening, the whole city is going to be breathing heat out at you, and it's not very nice.

所以，如果你在YouTube上观看，即使早上十点半，你也能看到画面是暗的，这是因为我不敢拉开窗帘。

So if you're watching on YouTube, you can see the time in the dark even though it's half past ten in the morning, and that's because I can't open the curtains.

如果我拉开窗帘，阳光会照进来，让室内比现在还要热。

If I open the curtains, the sunlight will come through and make it even hotter than it already is.

这是一些英国人实际上并不理解的事情，或者很多人只是在最近几年才意识到的。

This is something a lot of British people don't actually understand or something that a lot of people have only learned in the last few years.

但在酷热天气下，如果阳光从房子的一侧照进来，你实际上应该关闭这一侧的窗户和窗帘，以防止更多热量进入。

But in really hot weather, if the sun is coming into one side of the house, you actually want to close the windows and curtains on that side to prevent more heat from coming in.

本质上，就是要让室内的空气比室外的空气更凉爽。

Essentially, want to keep the air inside the house cooler than the air outside.

说实话，这并没有太大的区别，因为我的房间往往会吸收热量，然后需要很长时间才能降温。

To be honest, it doesn't make a massive difference because my room tends to just absorb the heat, and then it takes a very long time for it to cool down.

所以，我衣柜里放了一个小温度计，我觉得我卧室现在的温度大概是27或28摄氏度，因此如果我看起来没平时那么兴奋和热情，那就是原因。

So I have a little thermometer in my wardrobe, and I think it's like 27 or 28 degrees in my bedroom right now, so if I seem a bit less excited and enthusiastic than normal, that's why.

话虽如此，我要点一些香了。

Having said that, I'm going to light some incense.

最近我压力很大，而让我感到家的温馨并平静下来的一件事就是点一点香。

I've been very stressed recently, and one of the things that really helps me feel at home and calm down is lighting a bit of incense.

所以，'香'这个词就是这样的。

So incense is one of those words.

我要让你听听我点香的声音。

I'm gonna let you hear me light the incense.

这会有一点ASMR的效果。

It will be a bit of ASMR.

最近我们的播客里已经有很多ASMR内容了。

We've had a lot of ASMR on the podcast recently.

香是那种我总以为英语使用者都会懂的词，但他们其实并不懂。

Incense is one of those words that I always think people will understand in English, but they don't.

我其实就在几集之前提到过这个，当时我谈到了自己开始点香的事情。

I actually talked about it a few episodes ago when I talked about the fact that I've started lighting incense.

在许多语言中，‘香’这个词基本上就是‘有气味的棍子’或‘好闻的棍子’。

In many languages, the word for incense is basically smelly stick or nice smelling stick.

它是一小根木棍，点燃后会释放出宜人的香气到空气中。

So it's a little stick, a little bit of wood that you burn, and it releases a lovely smell into the air.

所以我这里有几盒香。

So I have a few boxes of incense here.

它们据我所知是从印度进口的。

They're imported from India, I believe.

我有鸦片香、茉莉香。

I have opium incense, jasmine incense.

今天我们将会点燃茉莉香。

We're going to be burning jasmine incense today.

我还有龙血香。

And I have dragon's blood incense.

我买龙血香是因为它听起来真的很酷，像是龙的血。

Now I bought the dragon's blood incense because it sounds really cool, like dragon's blood.

哇。

Wow.

那一定很酷。

That must be cool.

它闻起来没那么好。

It doesn't smell that nice.

我觉得我到目前为止最喜欢的是哪个来着？

I think my favorite one that I've had so far was what was it?

是Copal还是我想不起来了。

It was Copal or I don't remember.

但我对茉莉花抱有很大期望。

But I have high hopes for the Jasmine.

好的。

Okay.

所以闻着茉莉香棒，味道非常好。

So smelling the Jasmine stick, it smells very good.

虽然它闻起来有点药味，我想。

Although it smells quite medicinal, I guess.

我想，茉莉香薰吧。

I guess the Jasmine incense yeah.

对我来说，它闻起来有点像药。

It smells a bit like medicine to me.

我不知道。

I don't know.

嗯，它花香很浓，我喜欢花香型的，但我不想要这种，我喜欢更偏向木质、深沉、幽暗的气味。

Well, it's very flowery, and I do like the flowery ones, but I don't want such, like, I like more of like a woody, deep, dark smell.

所以我想我把盘子放这儿，这样你可以看到我点香，然后我把它放到一边。

So I guess I'll put the plates here so you can see me light it, and then I'll put it on the side.

希望我点香的时候别把自己点着了。

And hopefully, I won't set myself on fire as I light the incense.

顺便说一下，我这儿有一些很棒的火柴。

I have some very nice matches here, by the way.

火柴是那种小小的木棍，你快速一擦就能生火。

Matches are the little wooden sticks that you brush very fast to create fire.

如果你是在听播客，你会听到点火的声音，大概就能猜到是什么了。

If you're listening on the podcast, you'll hear it lights and you'll probably guess what it is.

但我这里有一些非常漂亮的火柴，是我表哥给我的，因为他抽烟斗和雪茄，所以他有这种专门点雪茄的高档火柴，点火时特别有满足感，而且如果你在YouTube上观看，会发现这些火柴是黑色的，看起来特别酷。

But I have some very nice matches here that my cousin gave me because my cousin smokes a pipe and he smokes cigars, so he has these very fancy matches for lighting cigars, and they they create fire in a really satisfying way, and actually you can see if you're on YouTube, this this these matches are black, which looks really cool.

好了，我们开始吧。

Okay, so let's go.

搞定，轻松点着了。

There we go, easily lit.

有时候我得试二十次才能点着一根火柴，曾经我还不得不放弃点火，因为实在点不着，好了，点着了。

Sometimes I have to try lighting a match like 20 times, sometimes I've had to give up on lighting a match because I just couldn't do it, there we go.

它看起来有点像生日蜡烛。

It looks a bit like a birthday candle.

我有个小香炉。

I have this little incense dish.

我有一个圆形的香炉。

I got a round incense dish.

或者说，香插才是正确的说法。

So or I guess an incense holder is the word.

它基本上是用来插香棒的装置。

It's basically the thing that you put the incense stick into.

但有很多是长形的，这很合理，因为这样灰烬会掉下来，容易收集。

But there are lots that are long, and that makes sense because then the ash falls down and it is easy to collect.

我这个香炉是圆形的，所以我把它放在一个小盘子上。

The one I have, I put on a little plate because it's a round dish.

我下面放了一个小盘子来接灰烬。

I put a little plate underneath it to catch the ash.

香燃烧时会掉灰，但效果不太好。

When the incense burns, it lets out ash, but it doesn't do a very good job.

所以我的桌子上到处都是灰烬，这并不完美，但也只能这样了。

So I do have bits of ash all over my table, which is not perfect, but there we go.

这就是生活。

That's life.

好吧。

Okay.

最近我做了很多事。

So I've been up to a lot recently.

所以今天我决定录制两期对话节目，你们听到这个时，我会发布其中一期。

So I decided today I'm going to record two conversational episodes, and I'll release one when you're hearing this.

然后你们下周会听到第二部分。

And then you'll hear part two next week.

所以我基本上就是做个全面的生活更新。

So I'm basically just going to do, like, a big life update.

我录制这段时，日期是7月12日。

As I'm recording this, it is the July 12.

我再过十五天就要搬出我的公寓，然后去南伦敦的朋友家住。

I am moving out of my flat in fifteen days, and then I'm going to stay with a friend in South London.

再过两周，也就是29天后，我将于8月10日飞往中国。

And two weeks after that, so twenty nine days from now, I will be flying to China on the August 10.

所以你可以想象，我一直在准备。

So as you can probably imagine, I've been preparing.

我疯狂地准备着。

I've been madly preparing.

这正好和我开始新工作、去度假，以及同时发生许多非常困难或只是压力山大的事情重叠在一起。

And it's coincided with starting a new job, going on holiday, lots of very difficult things, or just stressful busy things happening at once.

很多好事，但都需要耗费大量精力。

Lots of nice things, but things that take up a lot of energy.

所以短时间内发生了太多事情，今天我就来跟你们说说这些。

So a lot has happened in a short space of time, and that's what I'm going to tell you about today.

几周前，我去了剑桥。

So a few weeks ago, I went to Cambridge.

你可能还记得，我曾在剑桥大学读书。

You might remember that I studied at Cambridge University.

自从毕业以来，我回过剑桥市几次，但这次我是去参加一场舞会。

I've been back to the city of Cambridge a few times since graduating, but this time I was going for a ball.

一场舞会，就像一个盛大的派对。

A ball, like a big party.

在一些童话故事里，比如《灰姑娘》，大家都去参加舞会。

In some fairy tales, like Cinderella, they all go to a ball.

舞会是一个你可能遇到英俊王子，并且他会爱你一生的地方。

A ball is a place you might meet a handsome prince who will love you for your whole life.

但这次，这种情况并没有发生。

In this case, that did not happen.

抱歉。

Sorry.

剧透一下。

Spoilers.

我没拿到请柬。

No prints for me.

但基本上，剑桥的许多学院每年年底都会举办一场五月舞会。

But, basically, many of the Cambridge colleges do a May Ball at the end of each year.

它被称为五月舞会，尽管出于某种原因，这些舞会实际上都在六月举行。

It's called a May Ball, although they all happen in June for some reason.

这本质上就是一场为学生和校友举办的盛大派对。

And it's basically just a really big party for students and alumni.

校友就是已毕业的学生。

So alumni are ex students.

剑桥的大多数舞会都非常正式。

And most of these balls in Cambridge are very formal.

你必须穿着非常讲究的黑色领结礼服，比如燕尾服或高档西装。

You have to wear very fancy black tie, like a tuxedo, a fancy suit, essentially.

但我参加的那场却有些不同。

But the one I went to was a bit different.

我去的是国王学院的活动。

I went to King's affair.

国王学院是剑桥较大的学院之一，或者至少是最古老的学院之一。

Now King's is one of the bigger Cambridge colleges, or at least it's one of the older ones.

实际上，从学生人数来看，它并不算大，但国王学院是我就读的学院，因为当你进入剑桥时，你是在某个学院里学习的。

Actually, it's not that big in terms of number of students, but King's is the college I studied at, because when you go to Cambridge, you study in a college.

我认为整个大学一共有32个学院。

There are, I think, 32 colleges for the whole university.

所以它就像是大学里的一个小型大学。

So it's kind of like a mini university within the university.

国王学院的‘国王盛会’，也就是国王学院的五月舞会，有点不一样。

And King's Affair, which is King's Colleges, May Ball, is a bit different.

它要放松得多。

It's much more relaxed.

价格也便宜一些，而且是一场化装派对。

It's a bit cheaper, and it's a fancy dress party.

所以你必须穿上服装打扮。

So you have to dress up in a costume.

所以国王学院舞会的主题是‘shahmat’，意思是国际象棋中的‘将死’。

So the theme for King's affair was shahmat, which means checkmate in chess.

我认为，当你再走一步就能吃掉对方的国王时，就会喊‘将死’。

So checkmate is what you say when you are one move away from taking your opponent's king, I believe.

我对国际象棋不太在行。

I'm not very good at chess.

但基本上，当你即将获胜时，就会说‘将死’，这个词源自波斯语短语‘shahmat’。

But basically, when you're about to win, you say checkmates, and it comes from this Persian phrase, shahmat.

我觉得这是波斯语。

I think it's Persian.

总之，舞会的主题是国际象棋、古波斯和古印度等元素。

Anyway, so the theme of the ball was kind of chess, ancient Persia, ancient India, all of those things.

所以，我本来根本没打算参加国王学院舞会，但我的一个朋友没上过剑桥，一直想体验一下五月舞会，于是我便说，好吧，我们去试试吧。

So anyway, I originally had no intention of going to King's Affair, but my friend who didn't go to Cambridge has always wanted to try a Mayboule, so I said, okay, let's give it a go.

为什么不呢？

Why not?

我可以以校友的身份，也就是前学生的身份买到票。

I could get tickets as an alumnus, as a former student.

于是我订了票，我们就去了剑桥。

So I booked the tickets and off we went to Cambridge.

在舞会开始前，我一个人在剑桥待了几个小时。

Now before the ball, I was in Cambridge alone for a few hours.

在那里时，我真正意识到自己有多忙，以及我在伦敦的生活在某些方面是多么不可持续。

And I really realized while I was there how crazy busy I've been and how unsustainable in some ways my life in London has been.

比如，我总是在学校授课、在线授课和上瑜伽课之间奔波。

Like, I'm rushing between teaching in a school, teaching online, going to yoga classes.

我通勤时间很长。

I have long commutes.

我总是身处一个喧闹、过度刺激的城市里。

I'm always in like a loud, overstimulating city.

剑桥当然也不是一个安静的城市。

Cambridge is not a quiet city by any means.

如果你在市中心，那里非常拥挤。

If you're in the city centre, it's very condensed.

市中心很小，挤满了游客、学生、商务人士，以及在剑桥科学园区工作的人。

It's a very small city center with tourists, students, business people, people who work on the science parks in Cambridge.

因此，剑桥在高峰时段非常非常繁忙。

So it's very, very busy around rush hour in Cambridge.

但即便如此，与伦敦相比，这里感觉如此宁静。

But even so, compared to London, it felt so peaceful.

我只是去公园里躺下，看着鸟儿，听着相对的寂静，珍惜自己与他人之间有好几米距离的空间。

And I just went and lay down in one of the parks and watched the birds and listened to the relative silence and appreciated the fact that I had more than a few meters space between me and the next person.

因为在伦敦的夏天，如果你在公园里，很难找到很多空地。

Because in London, in the summer, if you're in a park, it's very hard to find a lot of space.

对吧？

Right?

因为夏天人人都想去公园，所以你通常会被挤得紧紧的。

You're usually pretty packed in because everyone wants to go to the park in the summer.

在享受这份美好放松的同时，我也唤起了许多回忆。

Now alongside this lovely relaxation, I did also experience a lot of memories.

我当年在剑桥求学时并不开心。

I didn't have a great time when I studied at Cambridge.

我在交朋友和适应学生生活节奏方面遇到了很多困难。

I struggled a lot with making friends, adapting to study routines as a student.

我当时正经历一段艰难的时期，努力寻找自我，同时也在逐渐摆脱对父母的依赖。

I was still going through a very difficult process of figuring out who I was as a person and also kind of finding my independence from my parents.

因此，剑桥让我留下了许多遗憾和痛苦的回忆。

So I had a lot of regrets and painful memories associated with Cambridge.

很长一段时间里，我以为自己永远不会回去。

For a long time, I thought I would never go back at all.

即使回去，我也不会参加任何大学活动，因为那里有很多校友活动，但自从十年前毕业以来，我几乎没参加过任何一场。

Or if I went back, I would never go back kind of for any university events because there are lots of events for alumni, but I haven't really been to any since graduating almost ten years ago.

最重要的是，我深深感到自己不够优秀，因为我原本想去牛津学中文，但一年后就退学了，因为课程并不符合我的期待。

Most of all, I had a deep sense of inadequacy, like not being good enough because I originally went to Oxford to study Chinese, but I dropped out after a year because the course wasn't what I wanted.

再次，我仍在努力弄清楚自己是谁。

Again, I was still trying to figure out who I was.

于是我转到剑桥学习语言学，我以为这更适合我。

And so I changed to Cambridge to study linguistics, which I thought would be better for me.

但在很多方面，情况更糟了。

But in many ways it was worse.

我仍然在那里苦苦挣扎。

Like I still really struggled there.

因此，我对这一点感到非常羞愧。

So I felt a lot of shame about that.

在我剑桥求学的最后一年，我经历了一次特别严重的抑郁发作。

And I had a particularly bad depressive episode in my last year of being in Cambridge.

所以，回到剑桥，回到国王学院，拥有这段独处的时光，许多这些情绪又涌上心头，但这一次我已准备好去处理它们。

So anyway, going back to Cambridge, going back to King's, having this time to myself, you know, a lot of these feelings came back up, but I was really in a place to process them.

于是，我回到酒店房间，哭了一场，写下了日记，并进行了一次萨满之旅。

So I kind of, I went to my hotel room, I had a cry, I wrote in my journal, and I did a shamanic journey.

我之前提到过萨满旅程。

I've talked a bit about shamanic journeying.

基本上，你会听一种鼓声，比如咚、咚、咚，然后进入幻象，与你的力量动物或灵兽交流，它们会给你建议。

It's basically you listen to, like, a drumbeat, like boom, boom, boom, and you have a vision, and you talk to your power animals, your spirit animals, and they give you advice.

如果听起来很奇怪，那确实很奇怪。

If it sounds very strange, it is.

但无论如何，我跟我的力量动物——一只水獭——交谈了，这是一种非常可爱的海洋生物，游得非常快。

But anyway, I talked to my power animal who is an otter, a very adorable sea creature that swims very fast.

我问他：在接下来几个月我启程去中国之前，我该如何撑过去？因为我压力太大了，事情太多，我快撑不住了。

I asked him for advice about how can I make it through the next few months until I leave for China because I'm so stressed, there's so much going on, I'm just overwhelmed?

他给了我非常好的建议。

And he gave me really good advice.

你知道吗，当你在车里，外面下雨，车窗上布满雨滴，也许雨停了，对吧？

So, you know, when you're in a car and it's raining and the windows of the car are covered in drops of rain, maybe it stops raining, right?

车窗上还留着所有的雨滴，它们静止不动，然后非常缓慢地，有一滴开始移动。

And you have all the drops of rain on the window and they're still, and then very slowly, one of them moves.

当它移动时，撞上了另一滴雨，突然间就像瀑布一样产生连锁反应，所有的雨滴汇聚在一起，瞬间滑落。

And then as it moves, it hits another raindrop, and then suddenly it creates like a a cascading effect, like a waterfall, and all the raindrops combine and suddenly go down.

看着这个过程非常放松，至少我觉得非常放松。

And it's very relaxing to watch, or at least I find it very relaxing to watch.

所以他告诉我，要把每一天都看作汽车窗玻璃上的一滴水。

So he said, treat every day like a droplet of water on a car window.

对吧？

Right?

每一天就像这些水滴中的一滴。

Just like every day is just like one of these drops of water.

有时候它会缓慢移动。

Sometimes it will move slowly.

有时候它会迅速移动。

Sometimes it will move very quickly.

但请保持这种轻松、沉思的态度。

But just take that kind of relaxed, contemplative attitude.

别着急，别总想着明天或下周的事，就一天一天地过。

Like, don't rush, don't think too much about the next day or the next week, just go one day at a time.

这正是我一直在做的。

And that's what I've been doing.

过去一周左右，我每天都在心里对自己说：还有多少天我就要搬出去，和我在南伦敦的朋友住在一起了，还有多少天我就要飞往中国。

I have literally been saying to myself every day for the past week or so, okay, it's this number of days until I move out and move in with my friend in South London, and it's this many days until I fly to China.

我每天都在倒数，这种感觉一天比一天更真实。

Like I'm counting down day by day, and it feels real up by the day.

通过这个过程，我对自己目前的处境感到没那么有压力了。

Through this process, I was able to feel a lot less stressed about my situation.

我也反思了很多，看看自己从学生时代以来发生了多大的变化。

And I also, you know, reflected a lot on how much I've changed since I was a student.

过去，我并没有准备好去中国。

Moving to China was not something I was ready for in the past.

我某种程度上原谅了过去的自己，对吧？

And I was kind of able to forgive my past self, right?

我知道我犯了很多错误，本来可以做得更好。

Like I recognise that I made a lot of mistakes and I could have done things a lot better.

但我也真的尽力了。

But also, I was really trying my best.

我想改变的是，我现在接受了生活充满痛苦和苦难的事实，但如果你只是接受它、承认它，有时甚至拥抱它，那就没问题。

I guess what's changed is that I now accept that life has a lot of pain and a lot of suffering, but if you just accept it and acknowledge it and sometimes even embrace it, it's fine.

你知道吗，自从我当学生以来，我已经变得坚强多了，也更坚韧了。

You know, I've become so much more resilient, so much stronger since I was a student.

所以，是的。

So yeah.

那么球本身呢？

So what about the ball itself?

嗯，在我去剑桥之前，我和我的朋友。

Well, me and my friend, before I went to Cambridge sorry.

我把时间线搞混了。

I'm mixing up the timeline a lot.

我们一起去了买服装，决定去卡姆登市场。

We went together to buy costumes, and we decided to go to Camden Markets.

如果你去过伦敦，大概也去过卡姆登市场。

If you've ever been to London, you've probably been to Camden Market.

那里对游客来说非常受欢迎。

It's incredibly popular with tourists.

卡姆登原本是一个非常另类的区域，深受朋克和哥特风格人群的喜爱。

Camden is an area that was originally very, very alternative, very popular with, like, punks and goths.

它曾是一个充满叛逆街头文化的场所，你可以买到各种穿孔、纹身用品和许多另类的店铺。

It was kind of this edgy street culture place where you get, like, piercings and tattoos and a lot of really alternative shops.

但现在它变得非常商业化。

Now it's become very, very corporatized.

当你走过卡姆登市场时，仍然能看到许多有趣而独特的店铺。

When you walk through Camden Market, there are still many interesting and different shops.

有一些非常好的古董店和别具一格的服装店，但大部分店铺都已被大公司收购，你几乎只是在游客的海洋中穿行。

There are some really good antique shops, some really interesting clothes shops, but for the most part, it's all been bought up by big companies, and you're just kind of wading through a sea of tourists as you're there.

所以一开始我对能不能找到合适的服装有点怀疑，但在一家不错的复古店里，我们确实找到了一套服装的单品。

So I was a bit skeptical about whether we'd find a good outfit, but in one of these good shops, in one of these vintage shops, we did indeed find the pieces of an outfit.

嗯，也不只是在复古店里买的。

Well, it wasn't just in the vintage shop.

我还从一家叫‘小加德满都’的店买了些东西。

I also got some stuff from this shop called Little Kathmandu.

所以它有点像一家那不勒斯风格的店。

So it's like a Napoli shop.

我朋友打扮得像个中世纪的主教，因为主教是国际象棋中的一个棋子。

So my friend was kind of dressed like a medieval bishop because a bishop is a chess piece.

而我则打扮成他的波斯侍从，他的波斯男仆。

And then I was kind of dressed as his Persian hand servants, his Persian man servants.

这个概念有点松散。

It was a bit bit of a loose concept.

对吧？

Right?

我会在YouTube上上传一些照片，当然也会在文字稿里插入这些照片。

I'm gonna put up pictures on YouTube, and I'll put pictures in the transcript as well, of course.

当我们到达派对时，对我们自己的装扮还挺满意的，但心里还是有点嘀咕：这些装扮够不够好？

So when we got to the party, we were quite happy with our outfits, but we were a bit like, are these gonna be good enough?

你知道的？

You know?

它们够贴近主题吗？

Like, are they close enough to the theme?

我们会看到哪些有趣的装扮呢？

What interesting outfits are we going to see?

别人会评判我们吗？

Will people judge us?

让我告诉你，还没进派对现场，只是走过排队等候入场的人群时——因为我们付了加急费，可以插队不用排队——但路过那些排队的人，看着他们的服装，我们立刻就意识到，我们俩是现场穿得最棒的两个人。

And let me tell you, before we even got into the party, just walking past the queues of people, because we paid for a queue jump so we could skip the queue, but walking past the queues of people waiting to get into the party, looking at their costumes, it was immediately obvious that we were two of the best dressed people there.

我得说，我不知道发生了什么，但那些孩子们根本没按照主题来打扮。

And I have to say, I don't know what was happening, but those kids were not dressed to theme.

或者他们确实按照主题打扮了，但只是对主题非常敷衍的解读。

Or they were dressed to theme, but it was a very lazy interpretation of the theme.

到处都是黑白配色，像棋盘一样，很多人说：‘我穿了套西装，然后在脸上画了个棋盘’，还有很多廉价的骑士服装。

There was a lot of just black and white, like a chessboard, a lot of, oh, I've got a suit, but I painted a chessboard on my face, A lot of cheap, like, knight outfits.

还有一些人打扮成《哈利·波特》里的学生，首先，我以为《哈利·波特》在Z世代中并不流行，因为所有大学生都是Z世代。

And then there were some people dressed as, like, Harry Potter students, which, first of all, I didn't think Harry Potter was popular with Gen Z because all the undergraduate students would be Gen Zed.

对吧？

Right?

我以为Z世代不太喜欢《哈利·波特》，而且哈利·波特和国际象棋之间的关联也太牵强了——虽然第一本书里确实有巫师象棋的情节，但这联系实在太弱了。

I didn't think it was popular with Gen Zed, but also the link between Harry Potter and chess is just, I mean, there is a link because they play wizard chess in the first book, but it's a very weak link.

所以我感到挺失望的。

So I I was disappointed.

但另一方面，我们的服装收到了很多赞美。

But on the plus side, we got many compliments on our outfits.

我戴了一顶特别好看的毛茸茸的帽子。

I had a really nice furry hat.

它是用托斯卡纳羊毛制成的，我还披着一件蓝色丝绒斗篷，可以转圈舞动。

It was made of Tuscan wool, and I had a blue velvet cloak that I could spin around in.

我热吗？

Was I hot?

当然热。

Absolutely.

我热吗？

Was I hot?

我有没有为派对带来所有需要的东西？

Was I giving the party everything it needed?

当然有。

Definitely.

绝对有。

Most definitely.

所以十年前我还是学生时，去过国王盛会。

So I went to King's Affair when I was a student ten years ago.

那时的主题是地下风格，也就是地下的世界。

And at that time, the theme was subterranean as in underground.

所以有些人打扮成地下怪物的样子。

So some people came dressed as, like, underground monsters.

很多人打扮成地铁站的样子，比如伦敦地铁站。

Many people came dressed as tube stations, like London tube stations.

于是我打扮成巴金站，这是一个地铁站。

So I dressed as Barking, which is a tube station, a metro station.

我脖子上挂着一个地铁站的标志，然后我穿得像一只狗，因为狗会叫。

And I had a sign for the tube station around my neck, and then I just dressed like a dog because dogs bark.

对吧？

Right?

狗会叫。

They bark.

所以我一直在叫。

So I was barking.

所以，我十年前的装扮其实并不怎么样。

So it's not like my outfit ten years ago was amazing.

我不记得十年前大家的装扮整体有多好，但今年，我得说，确实不太行。

And I don't remember how good the outfits were generally ten years ago, but this year, they were not very good, I have to say.

通常来说，这些舞会就像一场大型派对加集市，到处都是与主题相关的装饰，还有带现场乐手的音乐舞台。

So what happens are these balls, generally, they're kind of like a a big party mixed with a fair, so they have loads of decorations up related to the theme, They have a music stage with live musicians.

他们还设有各种美食摊位，提供不同种类的食物。

They have a bunch of food stalls with different kinds of food.

他们提供免费的酒精饮料。

They give out free alcohol.

今年，他们新增了去年没有的碰碰车。

This year, which they didn't have last time, they had, bumper cars or dodgems.

碰碰车就是那种小汽车，你坐进去后开车四处转，撞向其他也坐在车里的人。

So dodgems or bumper cars are these little cars you get into and you ride around and like bump into, other people who are in these cars.

所以你会有一个专门的区域，开着车来回转，互相碰撞。

So you have like a little area where you drive the cars around and hit each other.

有一个螺旋滑梯，那是一座用木头搭成的小塔，你爬上塔顶，坐在垫子上，从塔的外侧滑下来。

There was a helter skelter, which is like a little tower that they build out of woods, and then you go to the top of the tower, you sit on a rug, and you go down a slide on the outside of the tower.

我不知道其他国家有没有这种螺旋滑梯。

I don't know if helter skelters are really a thing in other countries.

它们在英国的游乐园里很受欢迎。

They're popular at British fun fairs.

我觉得它们还挺危险的。

They're quite dangerous, I think.

所以你要爬上这座小塔，然后沿着螺旋滑道滑下来。

But So you climb up this little tower, and then you ride down in a spiral.

我的一个朋友在螺旋滑梯上受伤了，因为落地有点颠簸，他不得不去医务室贴了块大创可贴。

And my friend actually hurt himself on the helter skelter because it was a bit of a rough landing, and he had to go to the medical room and get a big plaster.

派对里还有一个拍照亭，但我们没去用，因为那里排了很长的队。

There was like a photo booth in the party, which we didn't use because there was a big queue for that.

那里还有水烟，也就是阿拉伯水烟。

There was Shisha, Shisha, also known as hookah.

我真不知道该怎么形容它。

It's like I don't really know how to describe it.

我觉得它最初是波斯的。

I think it's Persian originally.

这基本上就像吸烟，但不是吸香烟，而是用一个大装置，大家通过管子一起吸，而且有香味。

It's basically like smoking, but instead of smoking a cigarette, you have this big thing and you're all smoking from pipes and it's flavored.

通常它是薄荷味或草莓味，某种口味。

So usually, it's like mint flavor or strawberry flavor, some kind of flavor.

这是一种味道较淡的烟草，大家围坐在一起吸水烟。

So it's like a weak flavored tobacco, and you just sit around and smoke shisha.

不知为何，水烟产业已经入侵了剑桥，我一生中吸水烟的唯一经历都是在剑桥当学生或参加剑桥活动时。

For some reason, the shisha industrial complex has invaded Cambridge because the only times in my life I have smoked shisha was when I was a student at Cambridge or attending events in Cambridge.

所有的五月舞会和花园派对都有水烟。

It's like all of the May balls and all of the garden parties have shisha.

我不知道剑桥的这些水烟公司是不是觉得学生都喜欢水烟。

I don't know if these shisha companies in Cambridge have just decided, like, students love shisha.

但确实，这些活动上都能拿到水烟。

But, yeah, you get shisha at all of these events.

最后，学院里有一个地下区域，那里设有一个类似夜总会的区域。

And finally, they had this underground part of the college where they had kind of like a nightclub section.

所以理论上，它具备了一场精彩派对的所有要素。

So in theory, it had all the ingredients for a great party.

但当我们在那里时，很快便发现，除了那些不太出色的服装外，如今的孩子们根本不会开派对。

But what became very quickly apparent when we were there, aside from the less than brilliant costumes, was that kids these days don't know how to party.

我听过很多关于Z世代的说法。

Now I've heard a lot of things about generation zed.

他们喝酒比上一代人少。

They don't drink as much as older generations.

他们抽烟也比以前少。

They don't smoke as much.

好吧，我想他们可能玩电子烟，但不太会开派对。

Well, I guess they vape, but they don't party as much.

他们发生性关系的次数也更少。

They don't have as much sex.

总的来说，Z世代是长期以来最保守、最禁欲的一代，我在派对上真切感受到了这一点。

In general, Gen Z is the most conservative, abstinent generation in a really long time, and I really felt it at this party.

这很难描述，因为派对本质上是一种氛围、一种情绪，但每次我觉得派对即将升温、人们即将放开玩乐时，它又会冷下来。

It's kind of hard to describe because, obviously, parties are like an atmosphere, they're a mood, but every time I felt like the party was heating up and people were about to let loose and really have fun, it kind of died down again.

并不是人们一直在玩手机。

It's not that people were on their phones all the time.

只是感觉这些孩子缺乏举办一场精彩派对所需的社会技能。

It just felt like a lot of these kids were lacking, like, the social skills necessary to have a really good party.

举个例子，我们看到一个女孩穿着很酷的服装，脸上画着泪痕。

So an example is there was this one girl we saw who had a cool costume and she had these like tears on her face.

于是我问：‘哦，这些泪痕是怎么弄出来的？’

And I asked like, oh, like, are those how did you make those tears?

她回答说：‘哦，这是硅胶做的。’

And she said, oh, they're bits of silicone.

我们聊了聊这件事，聊了一会儿。

And like, we talked a bit about that and we were chatting.

然后在某个时刻，她突然不再和我们说话，转回去和她的朋友们在一起了。

And then at some point, she just kind of stopped talking to us and turned back to her group of friends.

就好像她已经决定好了：谈话结束了。

And it was like she had decided, okay, conversation's over.

或者我们正在和一群人聊天，突然其中一个朋友走过来，说：‘我们要去那个房间了’，然后就把他们都带走了。

Or we were talking to a group of people, and then suddenly one of their friends came over and said, oh, we're going to this room, and took them all away.

而且没有说：‘你们要不要一起来？’

And didn't say, like, oh, do you want to come with us?

他们只是说：‘拜拜。’

They were like, bye.

你知道吧？

You know?

我想，我参加过不少夜总会和派对，知道如果有人加入了你的群体，礼貌上至少应该邀请他们一起走。

And, like, I guess I've socialized enough in like nightclubs and parties to know that like, yeah, if someone has sort of joined your group, it's polite to maybe like bring them along.

你需要找到一种自然的方式结束对话。

You need to find like a natural way to end the conversation.

但本质上，在这种派对上，频繁地在不同群体间流动，根据你正在交谈的人组建新群体是非常正常的。

But essentially that in a party like this, it's very normal to move fluidly between groups and to kind of create new groups based on who you're talking to.

但这些孩子似乎不明白这一点。

But these kids didn't seem to get that.

至于夜总会的部分，跳舞的感觉就像人们在跳十五秒的TikTok视频。

And then the nightclub bit, the dancing was like it felt like people were dancing for fifteen minute TikToks.

有人会跳一会儿，非常投入，然后停下来，和朋友聊天，或者玩手机。

It was like someone would dance a bit, get really into it, and then stop, talk to their friend, go on their phone.

而当我去夜店并真正享受时，是因为我完全释放了自己。

Whereas when I go clubbing and I really enjoy it, it's because I release myself.

我会完全沉浸在音乐中，进入一种恍惚状态。

Like, I fully give into the music and I enter like a trance state.

而整个派对上，似乎根本不可能进入任何节奏或恍惚状态，因为每个人都太分心、太焦虑、太脱节了。

And it felt like it was impossible to enter any kind of, like, rhythm or trance for the whole party because everyone was too distracted, too anxious, too disconnected.

我认为，真正让我明白这一点的亮点互动是，我们正在和一位可能是二年级的语言专业学生交谈。

And I think the highlights, the interaction that really made this clear for me was we were talking to like a languages student who was probably second year, I think.

我对他说：你不觉得你们这一代人缺少某种生活热情吗？

And I said to him, I was like, don't you feel like your generation is lacking a certain joie de vivre?

‘生活热情’是一个法语词汇，意思是生活的快乐。

So joie de vivre is a French phrase that means joy of living.

对吧？

Right?

我们用它来指生活的乐趣，即在生活中保持积极的能量。

And we use it to mean just like the joy of life, like having a positive energy in your life.

我当时说：你不觉得你们这一代人缺乏这种精神吗？

And I was like, don't you think your generation doesn't have that?

他回答说：我认为平平淡淡也没什么不好。

And he said, well, I think it's perfectly fine to be middle of the road.

我觉得做个普通人就很好。

I think it's fine to just be normal.

我觉得这非常有趣，因为一方面你穿着相当精致的服装，化了浓妆，但另一方面你又在剑桥大学读书。

And I thought that was so interesting because I'm like, one, you're wearing quite an elaborate outfit with a lot of makeup, but two, you're studying at Cambridge.

这所大学被广泛认为是世界上最好的大学。

Like, this is widely regarded as the best university in the world.

而你却说，哦，我只想做个普通人。

And you're saying like, oh, I just want to be middle of the road.

这在我看来非常奇怪。

Like, it it seemed very strange to me.

这似乎是一种非常奇怪的态度。

Like, it seemed like a a very strange attitude.

我想这可能是代际差异，作为千禧一代，我们成长过程中一直被告诉，你可以做任何你想做的事。

And I think maybe it is this generational thing of me being a millennial, growing up, we were told, like, you can do whatever you want.

你是特别的。

You're special.

你是独一无二的。

You're unique.

追随你的梦想。

Follow your dreams.

而Z世代成长于气候变化、社交媒体和糟糕的经济环境中。

Whereas Gen Z has grown up with climate change, with social media, with a terrible economy.

因此他们观察周围的世界，几乎产生了一种顺从的态度：努力出风头有什么意义呢？

So they look at the world around them and there's almost this conformist attitude of, well, what's the point in trying to stand out?

这根本不现实。

That's just unrealistic.

对吧？

Right?

我应该只是努力快乐、普通、融入其中。

I should just try and be happy and normal and fit in.

我认为社交媒体在其中扮演了巨大的角色。

And I think social media plays a huge role in that.

我认为在这个派对上也是如此，因为我们距离新冠疫情已经五年了，所以组织这场派对的学生中，没有人曾在疫情前参加过五月舞会。

I think also in terms of this party, because what, we're five years out from COVID, so none of the students organizing this party would have attended a May ball before COVID.