如何把故事讲得精彩？
What makes a good story?
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
大家好。这里是BBC教学英语的《六分钟英语》节目。我是尼尔。
And I'm Georgina.
我是乔治娜。
Let me tell you a story, Georgina.
我给你讲个故事吧，乔治娜。
Are you ready?
你准备好了吗？
Yes!
准备好了！
Grandma had always warned me not to look into the mirror at midnight.
奶奶总是警告我半夜不要照镜子。
There was something strange about that mirror, she said.
她说半夜镜子会有些奇怪。
How childish – to believe silly stories!
相信那些愚蠢的故事得多幼稚！
Later that night I heard a noise.
那天晚上晚些时候，我听到了声音。
I woke up, dark and alone.
我醒了，周围一片黑暗，只有我一个人。
A clock chimed midnight.
午夜钟声敲响了。
The floorboards were creaking as I walked towards the mirror.
当我走向镜子时，地板在吱吱作响。
I looked into my face reflecting in the glass, when suddenly - my eye winked!
我看着我的脸反射在玻璃里，我看着镜子中反射出的自己的脸，突然——我的眼睛眨了一下！
Agh, stop Neil! You're scaring me!
哎呀，别说了，尼尔！你吓到我了！
Oh sorry, Georgina!
哦，抱歉，乔治娜！
OK, let's try another story:
好吧，我们试试另一个故事：
Once upon a time there was a beautiful servant girl who lived with her wicked stepmother and two jealous stepsisters…
从前，有一个美丽的仆人女孩，她和邪恶的继母以及两个嫉妒的继姐妹住在一起……
Ah, that's better, Neil,
啊，那个故事要好些，尼尔，
and I know this story – Cinderella – more romantic and much less scary!
而且我知道这个故事——《灰姑娘》——更浪漫一些，没那么吓人！
As you can see from Georgina's reaction,
从乔治娜的反应你可以看出，
telling stories is a powerful way to connect and communicate with people - and the topic of this programme.
讲故事是与人联系和交流的一种强有力方式——也是本期节目的主题。
Stories help us make sense of the world, which is why we've been telling them to each other for millennia
故事帮助我们了解世界，这就是为什么我们几千年来一直在向人们讲故事，
– and why some of the earliest folk tales
以及为什么一些最早的民间故事
– stories that parents have told and passed on to their children over many years – are still being told today.
——父母多年来讲述给孩子的故事——而今仍在被人们讲述。
According to the novelist Sandra Newman, and other academics,
根据小说家桑德拉·纽曼和其他学者的观点，
there are seven classic plotlines which are constantly being recycled into new stories.
有七条经典的情节主线正不断地被反复利用改编成新的故事。
They include 'rags to riches' plots, like Cinderella…
其中包括“麻雀变凤凰”的情节，比如《灰姑娘》……
'Defeating the monster' plots, like Dracula…
“打败怪物”的情节，就像吸血鬼德古拉……
…and other plots such as 'comedies', 'adventures' and 'tragedies'.
和其他情节，如“喜剧”、“冒险”和“悲剧”。
So, my quiz question is this:
所以，我的问题是：
which of the following well-known folk tales is a 'defeating the monster' story?
：下面哪个著名的民间故事是“打败怪物”的情节？
Is it: a) Beowulf, b) Beauty and the Beast or, c) Goldilocks and the Three Bears?
是：a）《贝奥武夫》， b）《美女与野兽》，还是c）《金发姑娘和三只熊》？
Well, they all have beasts, bears or wolves in the title,
好吧，它们的标题都带有怪兽，熊或狼，
so I'll guess b) Beauty and the Beast.
所以我猜是b)《美女与野兽》。
OK, Georgina, we'll come back to that later.
好的，乔治娜，我们稍后再来揭晓。
It's interesting to ask how we can explain the lasting appeal of these classic plotlines.
有趣的是，我们该如何解释这些经典情节线的持久吸引力。
Someone who might know is anthropologist and writer, Professor Jamie Tarani.
人类学家兼作家杰米·塔拉尼教授可能知道。
Here he is talking to BBC World Service's, The Why Factor.
这是他在BBC全球服务节目The Why Factor上的讲话。
See if you can spot his answer.
看看你是否能发现他的答案。
Often the reason why we feel so motivated to pass on stories is
通常，我们之所以如此热衷于讲述故事，
because the stories do tap into certain universal human fantasies and fears
是因为这些故事确实触及了人类普遍幻想和恐惧的某些东西，
that will often transcend the concerns of particular times and places.
而这些幻想和恐惧往往超越了特定时代和特定地点。
We are intensely moralistic – most of the time,
我们非常注重道德——大多数时候是这样的，
the bad guys have unhappy endings and the good guys have happy endings.
善有善报，恶有恶报。
We know that in the real world it doesn’t actually work like that,
我们知道在现实世界中并不是这样的，
so there’s an element of wish-fulfillment that somehow satisfies our moral appetite.
所以有一种如愿以偿的成分，在某种程度上满足了我们的道德欲望。
Stories from very different cultures often have plots with similar fantasies and fears.
来自不同文化的故事通常具有相似的幻想和恐惧情节。
These human emotions are universal, meaning they exist everywhere and relate to everyone in the world.
这些人类情感是普遍的，这是指它们无处不在，与世界上的每个人都有关。
Classic stories work because they tap into basic human emotions.
经典故事之所以产生影响，是因为它们触及了人类的基本情感。
They understand and express what it means to be human.
它们理解并表达了作为人类的意义。
Unlike in the real world, stories can reinforce our sense of morality
与现实世界不同，故事可以强化我们的道德感
- evil stepmothers get punished,
——邪恶的继母受到惩罚，
Cinderella marries her prince and everyone lives happily ever after.
灰姑娘嫁给了她的王子，所有人从此过上了幸福的生活。
In this way they create wish-fulfillment – the achievement of what we really want and desire.
通过这种方式，它们营造出如愿以偿的感觉——实现自己真正想要的和渴望的。
Well, so much for plotlines, Neil,
故事情节就说这么多吧，尼尔，
but that still doesn't explain how stories have the power to catch and hold our attention.
但这仍然不能解释故事如何吸引以及抓住我们的注意力。
Let's hear from novelist Sandra Newman,
让我们来听听小说家桑德拉·纽曼是怎么说的
author of How Not To Write a Novel – a handbook of over 200 common mistakes.
——他是《如何写砸一本小说》的作者，这本书是一本包含200多个常见错误的手册。
Here she tells BBC World Service's, The Why Factor that her absolute number one storytelling rule is comprehensibility
她告诉BBC全球服务节目The Why Factor，她讲故事的第一原则绝对是可理解性
– people need to understand your story.
——人们需要理解你的故事。
There are some people who actually are so unfortunately bad at communicating
不幸的是，有些人真的很不擅长沟通，
that even when they tell a story to another person it becomes incomprehensible.
以至于即使他们给别人讲一个故事，故事也会变得难以理解。
And gradually as they stop making sense and ramble and digress and don't know where they're going,
渐渐地，由于他们讲不清楚，瞎扯，离题，不知道自己要讲什么，
you see everybody not only lose interest but become hostile
你会发现大家不仅失去兴趣，而且变得充满敌意
– people become very frustrated when someone is not getting to the point.
——当有人没有说到点子上时，人们会变得非常沮丧。
According to Sandra, the biggest mistake is incomprehensibility or not understanding the plot,
桑德拉认为，最大的错误是不可理解或无法理解故事情节，
because the storyteller is rambling
因为讲故事的人瞎扯
– talking in a confused way, going off the subject or not making sense.
——说话含糊不清，脱离主题或讲不清楚。
When listeners give a story their time and attention, they want the storyteller to get to the point
当听众花时间和精力听一个故事时，他们希望讲故事的人简明扼要
- start talking about the most important and relevant information.
——开始谈论最重要和最相关的信息。
But to cut a long story short, Georgina, it's time to return to the quiz question.
但是长话短说，乔治娜，是时候回到测试问题上来了。
Remember I asked you which famous folk tale had a 'defeating the monster' plot.
记得我问你哪个著名的民间故事有“打败怪物”的情节吗？
What did you say?
你说是什么？
I said the answer was b) Beauty and the Beast. Was I right?
我说答案是b）《美女与野兽》。对吗？
Your answer was…
你的答案是……
Oh, do get to the point, Neil!
哦，别兜圈子了，尼尔！
…wrong! In fact, the answer is, a) Beowulf
……是错的！事实上，答案是a）《贝奥武夫》
- an Old English epic about the hero, Beowulf, who defeats dragons and beasts.
——一部关于英雄贝奥武夫打败龙和野兽的古英语史诗。
Well, Neil, there are two sides to every story, as the saying goes.
尼尔，正如俗话所说，凡事都有两面性。
So, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with folk tales
那么，让我们来回顾一下我们学过的词汇，从民间故事开始
– popular stories that have been told and passed down over generations.
——代代相传的通俗故事。
Many folk tales contain universal ideas – ideas which exist everywhere, in every age and culture.
许多民间故事包含着普遍的观念，这些观念在任何时代、任何文化中都存在。
Stories tap into these ideas, meaning they understand, connect to and express them.
故事触及这些观点，这意味着它们理解、联系和表达这些观点。
Wish-fulfillment means the achievement or realisation of things you really want and desire.
如愿以偿指的是实现你真正想要的和渴望的。
A good storyteller will never ramble
一个擅长讲故事的人永远不会瞎扯
- talk in a confused way, often going off the subject or not making much sense.
——说话含糊不清，经常脱离主题或讲不清楚。
And instead will get to the point - start talking about what is most important and relevant.
相反的意思是简明扼要——开始谈论最重要和最相关的事情。
That's all we have time for,
以上就是本期节目的全部内容了，
but remember to join us again soon for the inside story on trending English topics and vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English.
记得下次继续收听，更多英语时事话题和词汇，就在《六分钟英语》。
Bye for now!
再见了！
Goodbye!
再见！