TED演讲:创意隐藏在哪里(9)
There are also things, quite uncanny, which bring me information that will help me in the writing of the book.
除此以外，还有一些离奇的事件在写作时为我带来了不同的写作资料。
In this case, I was writing a story that included some kind of detail, period of history, a certain location.
当时我正在写一个古代的故事，需要那个年代的历史和地理资料来补足故事中的细节。
And I needed to find something historically that would match that.
我需要找到某些历史事件来与其匹配。
And I took down this book, and I — first page that I flipped it to was exactly the setting, and the time period,
我从书架上拿下这本书，我翻开的第一页便是我故事里的时代和地点，
and the kind of character I needed was the Taiping rebellion,
以及我在描写太平天国时所需要的人物，
happening in the area near Guilin, outside of that, and a character who thought he was the son of God.
在一个接近桂林的地方，和一个认为他是神的儿子的人物。
You wonder, are these things random chance?
你不禁想，这一切都是偶然的吗？
Well, what is random? What is chance? What is luck?
但偶然是什么？机会是什么？运气又是什么？
What are things that you get from the universe that you can’t really explain?
那些从天而降的灵感又是什么？
And that goes into the story, too. These are the things I constantly think about from day to day.
这也成为故事的一部分。这些就是我日复一日想着的事。
Especially when good things happen, and, in particular, when bad things happen.
在好事发生的时候，尤其，在坏事发生的时候。
But I do think there’s a kind of serendipity, and I do want to know what those elements are,
但我是相信这种突发灵感的，我也想知道它们形成的元素是什么，
so I can thank them, and also try to find them in my life.
我才能感谢并找到它们。
Because, again, I think that when I am aware of them, more of them happen.
因为，我想，我越能察觉它们，它们就发生的越频繁。
Another chance encounter is when I went to a place
还有一次是我去了一个地方，
I just was with some friends, and we drove randomly to a different place,
我只是和朋友漫无目的地开着车，
and we ended up in this non-tourist location, a beautiful village, pristine.
却到了这个旅游景点以外的一个淳朴的、古朴的村庄，
And we walked three valleys beyond, and the third valley, there was something quite mysterious and ominous, a discomfort I felt.
我们越过了三个山谷，在第三个山谷，我有些神秘的、不舒服的预感。
And then I knew that had to be setting of my book.
我知道这将成为我故事的场景。
And in writing one of the scenes, it happened in that third valley.
故事里的其中一幕便发生在第三个山谷，
For some reason I wrote about cairns — stacks of rocks — that a man was building.
其中一幕我写到，一个男人，正摆着石堆。
And I didn’t know exactly why I had it, but it was so vivid.
我不知道为什么我这样写，但那景象很鲜明。
I got stuck, and a friend, when she asked if I would go for a walk with her dogs, that I said, sure.
我陷入了困境，一个朋友问我要不要和她去遛狗，我说好。
And about 45 minutes later, walking along the beach, I came across this.
四十五分钟后，我在海滩上遇见了这件事。
And it was a man, a Chinese man, and he was stacking these things, not with glue, not with anything.
一个男人，一个中国男人，他正堆着这些东西，没有胶水，没有任何工具。
And I asked him, “How is it possible to do this?”
我问他：“这怎么可能？”
And he said, “Well, I guess with everything in life, there’s a place of balance.”
他说：“世间每件事都有一个平衡点。”
And this was exactly the meaning of my story at that point.
那便是我故事里所要讲的重点。
I had so many examples — I have so many instances like this, when I’m writing a story, and I cannot explain it.
在我的写作过程中，这样的事时常发生，我无法解释是否因为我有一种特殊的过滤法。
Is it because I had the filter that I have such a strong coincidence in writing about these things?
因为这些强烈的巧合正是我想写的事？
Or is it a kind of serendipity that we cannot explain, like the cosmological constant?
或是这真是一些我们所不能解释的突发事件从天而来？
小说家谭恩美寻找她发展创意的过程，探讨创意从何而来。