Han Kang's Nobel Prize Banquet Speech (2024)

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Dear Laureates, Ladies and Gentlemen, I remember the day when I was eight years old.

陛下、殿下，各位獲獎者，女士們先生們，我記得我八歲那年的一天。

As I was leaving my afternoon abacus lesson, the skies opened in a sudden downpour.

當我結束下午的珠算課時，天空突然下起了傾盆大雨。

This rain was so fierce that two dozen children wound up huddled under the eaves of the building.

雨勢如此猛烈，二十多個孩子不得不擠在建築物的屋簷下避雨。

Across the street was a similar building, and under those eaves, I could see another small crowd.

街對面有一座類似的建築，在那屋簷下，我看到另一小群人。

If I could see another small crowd, it was almost like looking into a mirror.

既然我能看到另一群小人物，這簡直就像照鏡子一樣。

Watching that streaming rain, the damp soaking my arms and cuffs, I suddenly understood.

看著那連綿不斷的雨水，感受著浸透我手臂和袖口的溼氣，我突然明白了。

All these people standing with me, shoulder to shoulder, and all those people across the way were living as an 'I' in their own right.

所有這些與我肩並肩站著的人，以及對面那些人都作為獨立的個體在各自生活著。

Each one was seeing this rain just as I was; this damp on my face, they felt it as well.

每個人都像我一樣看著這場雨；我臉上的溼氣，他們也感同身受。

It was a moment of wonder—this experience of so many first-person perspectives.

這是一個充滿奇蹟的時刻——體驗如此眾多的第一人稱視角。

Looking back over the time I have spent reading and writing, I have relived this moment of wonder again and again, following the thread of language into the depth of another heart.

回顧我閱讀和寫作的時光，我一次次重溫這個奇蹟時刻，沿著語言的線索深入他人的內心。