孤独
Loneliness
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
大家好。这里是BBC《六分钟英语》。我是尼尔。
And I'm Rob.
我是罗伯。
It's great that you're here to keep me company – to spend time with me so I don't get lonely,
很高兴有你相陪——陪我度过时光，让我不觉得孤独，
because loneliness is the subject of this programme.
因为孤独是本期节目的主题。
It's good to be here, Neil.
很高兴来到这里，尼尔。
I think many of us have experienced loneliness at some point.
我想我们很多人都在某个时候经历过孤独。
Maybe you've felt lonely because all your friends have gone out for dinner without you,
也许是因为朋友们都出去吃饭却没叫上你，
or maybe you've felt lonely just because you don't fit in somewhere.
或者是因为你不适应某个地方。
Yes, that's when we sometimes use the expression 'to feel lonely in a crowd'.
是的，我们有时会使用“在茫茫人海中感到孤独”这个表达。
Well, we'll be exploring if this is a new idea or something humans have always experienced,
好吧，我们将探讨这是一个新观念还是人类一直经历的事情，
and along the way we'll be teaching you some new vocabulary.
在此过程中我们将教给你一些新词汇。
But now I'm here to keep you company, how about a question for me?
既然现在我在这里陪着你，问我一个问题怎么样？
Of course! Well, one possibly lonely man is Mauro Morandi.
当然！莫罗·莫兰迪可能就是一个孤独的人。
He's lived alone on Budelli Island in Italy for many years,
他独自在意大利的布德利岛独居多年，
but how many years exactly?
但确切地说是多少年？
Is it: a) 6 years, b) 31 years, or c) 44 years?
是：a) 6年，b) 31年，还是c) 44年？
Umm 44 years would be tough, as would 31, so I'll go for 6 years.
呃，44年很艰难，31年也是，所以我选6年。
OK, Rob, we'll find out later if that's right.
好的，罗伯，我们稍后再揭晓那是否正确。
Now, I'm sure we all want to be alone from time to time,
我敢肯定，我们时不时都想独处一下，
to escape the demands of our colleagues or the pressures of real life,
逃避同事的种种要求或现实生活的压力，
but would we really want to be totally alone?
但我们真的想完全一个人吗？
Well, I certainly wouldn't.
好吧，我当然不会。
And research has found that prolonged social isolation is bad for us, particularly mentally.
而且研究发现，长期的社交孤立对我们有害，尤其是精神上。
It's an interesting topic, and one that the BBC Radio 4 programme Thinking Aloud has been exploring.
这是一个有趣的话题，也是BBC广播4频道《脱口而出》节目一直在探索的一个话题。
Its guest, Fay Bound Alberti, Reader in History at the University of York,
该节目的嘉宾费伊· 邦德· 艾伯蒂是约克大学的历史讲师，
explained how loneliness is a relatively new emotional state.
她解释了孤独如何是一种相对较新的情感状态。
A state is a condition at a particular time.
状态是特定时间的状况。
Let's hear what she had to say about references to loneliness in literature.
让我们来听听她是如何看待文学作品中提到的孤独。
Well novels are fascinating,
小说之所以令人着迷，
because there's a difference between novels in the 18th Century, when they first came into being, and novels in the 19th Century
是因为18世纪的小说和19世纪的小说是有区别的，18世纪“孤独”刚出现，
- in the 18th Century something like Robinson Crusoe, there's not a single reference to loneliness.
而在18世纪，像《鲁滨逊漂流记》这样的小说，没有一处提到孤独。
By the 19th Century novels are full of lonely people and that reflects those kinds of social changes.
到了19世纪，小说中充满了孤独的人，而这反映了社会的变迁。
Give me some examples. What may count as examples?
给我举几个例子。有什么为例？
Well, I suppose I'm thinking about if you compare something like Wuthering Heights
我想如果你比较一下像《呼啸山庄》这样的作品，
where you have this desperate desire on the part of the heroine to find love
你会发现女主人公渴望找到真爱，
which is bundled up to in this sense of the self not being complete without another, or Tess of the D'Urbervilles.
那种感觉就像是，如果没有另一个人，自我就不完整了，或者像《德伯家的苔丝》。
And so Victorian fiction in particular tends to be full of woman
所以维多利亚时代的小说中往往都是这样的女性：
who are in search of the significant other and needing to find happiness and an absence of loneliness in the domestic.
她们寻找重要的另一半，需要在家庭生活中找到幸福填补孤独。
It's interesting that Fay mentions the story of Robinson Crusoe – about a man living on a desert island
有趣的是，费伊提到《鲁滨逊漂流记》——关于一个生活在荒岛上的人的故事
– does not mention the word loneliness.
——并没有提到“孤独”这个词。
But because of a shift in how people behaved and thought in the 19th century – called social change,
但由于19世纪人们行为和思维方式的转变——被称为社会变迁，
loneliness became an emotion that was written about in stories.
孤独成为一种情感，被写进故事中。
Ah, but loneliness tended to be something affecting women.
啊，但是孤独往往会影响女性。
They were searching for happiness by finding a 'significant other'
她们通过寻找“重要的另一半”来寻找幸福，
– a partner, usually a man, who they wanted to marry.
另一半是指配偶，通常是她们想要嫁给的男人。
How things have changed!
真是世事变迁！
Yes, now Fay also went on to talk about how some female authors,
是的，费伊还继续谈到一些女性作家，
like Virginia Woolf, looked for solitude – that's being alone,
比如弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫，是如何寻找孤独的——那是指孤单一人，
because that helped them be creative.
因为那能帮助她们变得有创造力。
Even today, being alone gives us headspace and time to think, as long as it doesn't last forever.
即使在今天，孤独也让给我们有空间和时间去思考，只要它不会永远持续下去。
Anyway, as we mentioned, we've probably all been lonely at some point,
不管怎样，正如我们提到的，我们可能都会在某个时候感到孤独，
and Fay Bound Alberti told the Thinking Aloud programme that loneliness can take many forms.
费伊· 邦德· 艾伯蒂告诉《脱口而出》节目，孤独可以有多种形式。
Absolutely, I think that loneliness is something that affects all people but at different times in their lives.
绝对地，我认为孤独会影响所有人，只是在他们生命的不同时期。
I would describe in terms of pinch points
我会用“瓶颈期”来形容，
– there are times when we change or we become, we get married, we become mothers, we get divorced,
当我们做出改变时，我们结婚时，我们成为母亲时，我们离婚时，都会出现“瓶颈期”。
anything that changes our life might put us under temporary loneliness.
任何改变我们生活的事情都可能会让我们暂时感到孤独。
When it's a problem is when it becomes chronic.
当它成为一个长期情况时，它就成了问题了。
It seems that there are certain times in our lives when we might feel lonely
似乎在我们生活中的特定时候我们会感到孤独
– when we break up with a partner or have a baby and feel isolated, for example.
——例如，当我们与另一半分手或生了孩子，我们会感到孤单。
These are moments that Fay describes as pinch points
费伊将这些时刻描述为“瓶颈期”
– times in your life where there are difficulties and things slow down or change.
——你生命中遇到困难，事情进展缓慢或发生改变的时刻。
We could say loneliness at these times is understandable, normal and temporary.
我们可以说在这些时候，孤独是可以理解的，正常的，暂时的。
When it becomes a bigger issue,
当它成为一个严重的问题时，
it's what Fay describes as chronic – so, long lasting.
它就正如费伊所描述的那样，是当孤独变成了长期的——也就是持久的时候。
And loneliness isn't always obvious to other people,
而且孤独对其他人来说并不总是显而易见的，
so it's good to check in with friends and family to see how they're feeling and to ask if they're OK.
所以最好联系一下朋友和家人，看看他们的感受，问问他们是否还好。
Of course, it would be difficult to check in on Mauro Morandi,
当然，联系莫罗·莫兰迪很困难，
who's been living on Budelli Island in Italy for many years,
他在意大利的布德利岛住了很多年，
but how many years exactly?
但确切地说，他住了多少年？
Ahh well I thought 6 years. Was I right?
我认为是6年。对吗？
I'm afraid not. It's actually been 31 years.
恐怕不是。实际上已经住了31年了。
He told National Geographic magazine "I'm sort of in prison here… but it's a prison that I chose for myself."
他告诉《国家地理》杂志：“我在这里有点像在坐牢……但它是我为自己选择的监狱。”
So I'm guessing he's got used to his own company!
所以我猜他已经习惯自己陪伴自己！
I certainly couldn't live alone for that long
我肯定不能一个人住那么久
– I'd been too lonely, I need company Rob.
——我太孤独了，罗伯，我需要陪伴。
Yeah, me too Neil!
我也是，尼尔！
And loneliness is what we've been discussing in this programme.
孤独是我们本期节目讨论的话题。
Here's a recap of some of the vocabulary we've mentioned.
下面要对我们提到过的一些词汇进行回顾。
Firstly, to keep someone company is to spend time with someone so they don't get lonely.
首先，to keep someone company就是花时间陪着某人，这样他们就不会感到孤独。
Social change is a shift in how people behave and think.
Social change是人们行为和思维方式的转变。
A significant other is an informal way of describing a partner.
A significant other是对配偶的一种非正式描述。
Solitude describes being alone.
Solitude是指孤单一人。
When talking about life, pinch points are times where there are difficulties and things slow down or change.
pinch points指的是生活中遇到困难，事情进展缓慢或发生变化的时期。
And chronic describes a health condition that is long lasting.
chronic描述的是一种持久的健康状况。
And that's all we have time for in this programme,
以上就是本期节目的全部内容，
but remember you can find more useful vocabulary,
但要记住，更多有用词汇，
trending topics and help with your language learning here at BBC Learning English.
热门话题以及帮助你学习语言的内容就在BBC学英语。
We also have an app that you can download for free from the app stores,
我们也有应用程序，你可以从应用商店免费下载，
and of course we are all over social media.
当然，我们遍布社交媒体。
Bye for now!
再见了！
Bye bye!
拜拜！