VOA慢速英语:收集秘密的男人

Some people collect postage stamps -- the small pieces of paper you place on letters or postcards before mailing them. Other people collect works of art, antiques or musical instruments. But a man in the American state of Maryland collects...secrets.

一些人喜欢收集邮票，就是在寄信或者明信片的时候贴的那一小片纸。还有一些人喜欢收集艺术品，股东或者乐器。但是美国马里兰州的一名男子喜欢收集，秘密。

For the past 10 years, people from throughout the world have been sending Frank Warren postcards and other objects with secrets written on them. He now has a million secrets.

在过去的十年里，来自全世界的人都向Frank Warren邮寄明信片或者写有他们秘密的东西。现在他已经收集了一百万个“秘密”。

"It's a drawing of an elevator. And the secret says: ‘I feel guilty when I take elevators for one floor, so I limp when I get out.'"

这张卡片上画着一个电梯。这个秘密说的是：我对自己乘一层电梯感到内疚，于是我在出电梯的时候装作瘸子。

Mr. Warren lives in Germantown, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. Ten years ago, he created an art project he calls "PostSecret."

Warren居住在华盛顿特区附近的马里兰州日耳曼敦。十年前他创建了一项艺术工程，他称之为“PostSecret”。

"I invited strangers from all around the world to write down their deepest confession on a postcard, something they'd never told anyone else before, but something that was true. And I asked them to mail it to my home anonymously."

我邀请全世界范围的陌生人在一张明信片上写下他们内心深处最内疚的忏悔，一些他们从没有给别人说起过的事情，但是是真实的故事。我要他们把这张明信片以匿名方式寄到我家。

People send him postcards, other objects and emails telling their secrets. Every Sunday, he chooses 10 secrets and puts them on the PostSecret website.

人们给他寄明信片，还有寄其他东西的，也有通过电子邮件跟他讲述秘密的。每周日的时候他会选出10个秘密更新到PostSecret网站上。

"The way I choose to see it is someone is finally finding the strength and courage to make their heart vulnerable."

我选择这种秘密公开的方式是因为这些人终于有勇气和力量能够认识到内心的脆弱。

Mr. Warren says he created PostSecret so people would have a safe place in which to share their secrets.

Warren说他创建了PostSecret网站所以人们可以找到一个安全的地方来分享他们的小秘密。

"I was struggling with secrets in my own life. And it was by creating this safe place where others could share their secrets with me without judgment -- anonymously -- I think that space was something I needed just as much as they did."

我也曾一度挣扎于生活中的秘密，随着这个安全网站的建立，人们可以不带评判的尺度来跟我一块分享秘密，当然也是匿名的。所以我认为这个我一度需要的地方也正是他们所需要的地方。

He has published six books full of the secrets people have shared with him. One secret in each book is his.

他已经出版了6本关于人们分享给他的秘密。其中每本中都会有一个属于他自己的小秘密。

Eric Perry delivers mail for the U.S. Postal Service. He has brought thousands of secrets to Mr. Warren's home over the past three years.

Eric Perry给美国邮政工作。在过去三年里他给Warren的家中送来了数千封秘密信件。

"I have a couple of the books that Frank's given me and I've read 'em all and my family's looked at em all and it's, it's wild!"

Frank送我了几本书，这几本书我都读过了，而且我的家人也都读过了，书中的内容非常刺激!

The project itself was once one of Mr. Warren's secrets. His wife Jan did not know exactly what he was doing until the first book was published.

这项项目本身曾是Warren的一个秘密。他的妻子Jan直到第一本书出版之前一直不是很清楚他先生到底在做什么。

"The publisher actually called me, and told me that the address was going to be on the book, and I said ‘No, it's not.' And she said, ‘Yes, it is -- it's in the contract.' And I said, ‘No, it's not!' I mean, I was really...I wasn't very happy about that."

出版商竟然打电话告诉我说会把我的地址印在书上。我说不，不要这样。她说，是的，这在合同中写着的。我说，不，不要!我的意思是，我对这种做法不是很高兴。

Some people tell Frank Warren of their secret desire to kill themselves. So he and the PostSecret community have raised more than $1 million to help prevent suicides.

一些人跟Frank Warren说他们的秘密快把他们逼疯了。所以他和PostSecret社区已经筹集了100多万美元的资金用来防止人们自杀。

I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise.

VOA's Adrianna Zhang and Enming Liu reported this story from Germantown, Maryland. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

postcard – n. a card on which a message may be sent by mail without an envelope and that often has a picture on one side

antique – n. art, furniture, jewelry or other objects that were made at an earlier time and are often valuable

elevator – n. a machine used for carrying people and things to different levels in a building

limp – v. to walk in a slow and awkward way because of an injury to a leg or foot

confession – n. a written or spoken statement in which you say that you have done something wrong or committed a crime

anonymously – adv. being done by a person who is not named or identified

wild – informal/adj. very enjoyable, lively, interesting or exciting