朗读者说：不是哑巴，却十七年不说话，精神上大概是有些疯狂的。不过他通过自己的经历所传递的信息，是值得我们思索的。

I stopped speaking on my 27th birthday in 1973, because I found myself arguing all the time. After witnessing an oil spill in San Francisco Bay in 1971, I gave up using motorised vehicles and started walking everywhere as a statement about pollution. I lived in a small village on the west coast of America, where I kept getting into debates about whether one person could make a difference. I would rant(大声斥责) and rave(咆哮) about how everyone should do what I was doing.

（中文不是对应翻译，只用来帮你理解）目睹了一次石油泄漏之后，我不再用烧油的交通工具，而是四处奔走，扛起反对污染的大旗。然而我发现自己一直在暴怒在争吵，于是27岁生日那天起，我决定不说话了。

I used words to hide from other people, and from myself. I made things up: if someone told me they were going on a trip to Europe, I’d pretend I was going, too; I guess I had low self-esteem. I decided not to speak for one day, as a kind of gift to my community. My girlfriend thought I was doing a nice thing. When I woke the next day, I didn’t see any reason to speak, so I didn’t. When others spoke to me, I mimed(用动作表示；用手势表示) that I was being silent. They were thrilled.

我决定一天不说话，让周围的人安静一天。女朋友也是谢天谢地。结果第二天起来，还是觉得没必要说话，于是接着不说话。别人对我说话，我就比划。他们都吓一跳。

For the first week, everyone thought it was fun, and I realised I was actually listening for a change. I had always been so used to thinking about what I was going to say next.

第一个礼拜，大家就是觉得好玩。原先我总是在考虑接下去该说什么，现在我意识到，通过倾听，我正在发生着改变。

After a few weeks, people started getting worried. My girlfriend wanted me to stop. I sent a letter to my parents in Philadelphia, telling them I hadn’t spoken for three weeks and that I was thinking of not speaking for a year. My dad got on the next plane. They thought I’d been taken over by a Californian cult(派别；异教).

几周之后，大家还是着急了。远在他乡的老爸一听说，瞬间上了最近的一班飞机。他们都以为我是受了什么邪教的蛊惑。

When he arrived, he told me to get in the car to go to his hotel, but I shook my head and walked my fingers in the air. When we got into his hotel room, he said, “OK, you can talk now.” But when I still wouldn’t, he was beside himself(失控，异常，发狂). This went on for years.

我把要带我去他住的旅馆，我其实是不想去的，又摇头又挥手。不过还是去了，他说“你可以说话了”，结果我就是不说，可把他给逼急了。这样一过就是很多年。

I liked not speaking. It gave me peace. People ask if I spoke to myself, but why would I? I’d just have complained when I had no one to blame but myself. I did slip(说漏嘴) up a couple of times. After about six months, I bumped(撞) into someone in the grocery store(杂货店) and said, “Excuse me.” 

不说话让我感到安静。有人问我会不会跟自己说话。回答是：不。只要一开口就是抱怨，何必跟自己过不去呢。不过也有说漏嘴的时候，一次在一家店里撞到一个人，说了声对不起。

My laugh was completely silent; friends said that was the weirdest thing. My girlfriend came around to understanding why I was doing it, but when I decided to walk from California to Oregon to explore the wilderness, we went our separate ways.

连笑都是憋着不出声，最让人觉得诡异。女朋友慢慢开始理解我，但一次我决定从加州徒步走到俄勒冈，去探险野外，那时我俩分手了。

On the 10th anniversary of not speaking, I spoke for a day. I didn’t want it to feel as if it wasn’t a choice. I was in California and I called my parents. My mother picked up and thought it was my brother messing around. I had to prove it was me by telling her something only we knew: I reminded her of when I walked to meet her and my dad in San Francisco and we were in an elevator and she said, “If you were really serious about this walking, you wouldn’t ride in an elevator.”

不说话十周年那天，我打算说开一天口。我可是自愿选择不说话，而不是失去了说话的能力。那天给我妈打了电话，她还以为是我哥在恶作剧。我就跟她讲只有我俩知道的事情，来证明自己。一次我走去见他老人家俩，在电梯里的时候，她说“你要真铁了心要走，就不会坐这电梯了”。

During this time, I gained a bachelor’s, master’s and PhD in environmental studies. I learned some sign language to help me communicate, and I walked across the United States, playing my banjo, and became known as Planetwalker.

那些年中，我获取了环境研究方面的本科硕士博士。学了些手语。带着班卓琴，徒步穿越美国，被人称作星球徒步者。

After 17 years of not speaking, I felt I had something to say. People came to hear me in a hotel in Washington DC. My first words were, “Thank you for being here.” But I didn’t recognise my voice and just started laughing. I saw my dad sitting in the audience, looking at me like, “Yes, he really is crazy.” Having listened to thousands of people, I realised we had a narrow view of what the environment is. It’s more than saving trees; it’s about how we treat each other, and that includes gender and economic equality and civil rights.

封口了十七年后，我有话要说了。大家来听我演讲，结果开口第一句话，就被自己陌生的声音逗笑了。我爸也坐在下面，仿佛在说“确实脑子有问题”。听过各种观点后，我发现我们对“什么是环境”的理解真的很狭隘。保护环境不是拯救几棵树的事情，而是我们怎样对待彼此，包括性别、经济、人权上的平等。

I met my wife just after I started speaking again, because my PhD focused on oil spills, the US Coastguard hired me after the Exxon Valdez disaster. Now I teach in schools and give talks around the world. I started using vehicles again in 1995, after 22 years, when, while walking through Venezuela to Brazil, I realised that walking had become a prison for me. I still practise being silent every morning, and sometimes don’t speak for several days at a time. It reminds me to listen properly; not to judge what I think I’m hearing, but to try to understand what people are really saying.

开始说话之后，我遇见了我的妻子。现在我教教书，做做演讲。徒步了22年之后，我又开始用交通工具了，因为从委内瑞拉徒步到巴西那次，我发觉徒步可以说是种受刑。每天早上我还是不说话，也可能连续几天不说话，提醒自己不要忘了倾听，不要对别人的话妄加评论，而是去试图理解他人真正想说什么。

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