Mandy Harvey: Feeling the Music with Your Feet曼迪·哈维：用脚感受音乐

⊙ By Stacy Nick

翻译：BillyBudd

曼迪·哈维的听力天生就有问题，但这个问题一开始并未剥夺她倾听这个世界的机会，而是在她以为这并不足以成为她音乐梦想之路上的阻碍时，才一点点地将她残留的听力腐蚀殆尽。在梦想即将起航的大学一年级，曼迪便被剥夺了全部声音，她成为指挥家的梦想从此成为泡影。但天无绝人之路，她竟然学会了用脚找回声音，成为一名歌手，不仅发了专辑，还成功闯进《美国达人秀》的总决赛。失去听力后，曼迪从另一条路回到了音乐的怀抱。

When you see and hear Mandy Harvey perform, you notice her voice. But if you look down, you might notice she’s not wearing shoes.

Mandy: So you can feel things better. When you’re standing on the stage, you can feel the drums, and you can feel the1)bass. So being able to feel the music through the floor—it makes me feel like I’m a part of the band, and not just the only person in the room who doesn’t really understand what’s going on.

Harvey was born with near-perfect2)pitch, but she was also born with a3)deformity in her ears that made hearing difficult but not impossible with the use of lip reading and4)hearing aids. But eventually,the hearing aids stopped working.

Mandy: I didn’t wake up one day and just couldn’t hear. I woke up one day and realized I was having difficulty and that I’d5)overcompensated by lip reading, so that I didn’t really understand how bad it was.

That was a decade ago. Harvey had just started her6)freshman year as a music7)major at Colorado State University. By the end of the school year, all of her8)residual hearing was gone along with her dreams of becoming a choral9)director. She dropped out of school and10)fell into a11)depression.

When her father, Joe, suggested they play a song together on the guitar like they used to, she was12)game. Then he suggested they learn a new song and that she sing.

Mandy: I expected it to be13)utter14)crap,and I ended up being accurate with my15)notes, still. And that kind of was a door open for me.

One that unexpectedly led her to the stage.

Mandy: I used to hate performing—such anxiety, would16)throw up or17)black out. It was horrible.

Losing her hearing actually helped her get over that fear. Now she has hundreds of shows18)to her name and four albums,including a new one out later this year. She’s gotten so good at performing that sometimes the audience wonders if she’s really deaf.

Mandy: We’ve created an idea of how people are supposed to look when they’re19)broken. And so when you don’t fit that imaginary20)mold, then it’s a trick. Or you’re a21)liar, or you’re not really broken, so you shouldn’t be doing certain things.

Like sing or hold a conversation.

1) bass [beɪs] n. 贝斯，即低音吉他

2) pitch [pɪtʃ] n. 音高

3) deformity [dɪˑfɒrmətɪ] n. 畸形，残疾

4) hearing aid 助听器

5) overcompensate [ˌəʊvərˑkɒmpenseɪt] v. 过度补偿

6) freshman [ˑfreʃmən] n.（大学）一年级新生

7) major [ˑmeɪdʒə] n. 主修学生，主修生

8) residual [rɪˑzɪdʒʊəl] adj. 残留的，剩余的

9) director [dɪˑrektə] n. 指挥家

10) fall into 进入，陷入（某种状态）

11) depression [dɪˑpreʃən] n. 沮丧，抑郁，动词形式为depress。

12) game [geɪm] adj. 愿意尝试的，心甘情愿的

13) utter [ˑʌtə] adj. 完全的，彻底的

14) crap [kræp] n. 垃圾

15) note [nəʊt] n. 调子，声调

16) throw up 呕吐

17) black out 昏厥，暂时失去知觉

18) to one’s name 在某人名下，属某人所有

19) broken [ˑbrəʊkən] adj. 患病的；（精神）颓丧的，消沉的

20) mold [məʊld] n. 模子，模型

21) liar [ˑlaɪə] n. 骗子Wayne Connell (22)Invisible Disabilities Association): We oftentimes look at people,and we make a decision based on what we can see.

That’s Wayne Connell. He founded the Denver23)nonprofit Invisible Disabilities after dealing with a similar situation with his wife,Sherri. She has24)multiple sclerosis.

Connell says because of the wide range,it’s impossible to know exactly how many people are dealing with invisible disabilities.Harvey’s been a voice for the program for years and says, dealing with her disability every day can sometimes feel like a battle.

Mandy: And there are days when I lose and I’m depressed and I can’t get out of bed.But Mandy Harvey is now on her biggest stage ever—national television. And she wants to be judged on her voice and her songs, not her back story.

Mandy: Not that I’m hiding my disability or…or whatever you would call it. I don’t find it to be really a disability. It’s just, uh, I do things differently. And I want people to appreciate music for what it is and not because of a story,you know? I’m not a story. I’m a person. And my25)passion is music, and I want your passion to be my music. So judge me on my music.

22) invisible [ɪnˑvɪzəbəl] adj. 看不见的，无形的

23) nonpro fi t [nɒnˑprɒfɪt] n. 非营利组织

24) multiple sclerosis 多发性硬化，一种自身免疫病，常伴随肢体无力、抑郁、暴躁等症状。

25) passion [ˑpæʃn] n. 热情，酷爱

见招拆招

作文素材常积累：曼迪·哈维——If you don’t give up on something you truly believe in, you will fi nd a way. 人生从不跟人开玩笑，说关门就关门，说好给你留一扇窗就会留一扇窗。上天夺走了曼迪的听力，却也为她留了一扇窗。既然耳朵听不见，那就用身体的其他部位去切实地感受音乐吧。门关了又怎样？失去了听力的曼迪照样当上了歌手。假如人生让你吃了闭门羹，允许你默哀两分钟，接下来就收拾收拾心情，找找那扇给你留着的窗吧！

She dropped out of school and fell into a depression.

Fall into sth. 是英语中用得比较频繁的动词词组之一，它具有的含义也比较广泛，有如例句中“（被动、无意中）陷入（某种不愉快的状态）”的意义，还有“分成，归入（某一类别）”，以及“（不知不觉地）开始做某事”的意思。如：

● Alone in London, without friends or money, Catherine fell into despair. （孤身在伦敦，没有朋友，而且身无分文，凯瑟琳陷入了绝望。）

● This book falls into the class of children’s stories. （这本书归到儿童故事类。）

● He fell into a conversation with the taxi driver. （他在不知不觉间就跟出租车司机聊了起来。）

当你观看并聆听曼迪·哈维表演时，你会注意到她的美妙嗓音。但如果你往下看，你可能还会注意到她光着脚。

曼迪：这样你可以更好地感受一切。当你站在舞台上时，你可以感受到鼓跟低音吉他的震动。能够通过地板感受音乐，这让我觉得我也是乐队的一部分，而不是整个房间里唯一一个对周遭发生之事一无所知的人。

哈维生来就具有近乎完美的绝对音感，但与生俱来的还有她耳部的残疾，这对她的听力造成了影响。但通过读唇术及助听器，哈维并非完全听不到声音。但到最后，助听器也失去了作用。

曼迪：我并不是某天醒来突然就听不见了，而是在某天醒来后发现自己有听力障碍，但因为我靠读唇就能完全理解对方的话，所以我当时并未真正认识到情况到底有多糟。

那已经是10年前的事了。当时哈维才刚入读科罗拉多州立大学，还是个音乐系的大一新生。到了大一学年末，哈维连残余的听力也失去了，与之一同消逝的还有她成为合唱指挥家的梦想。她因此辍学，一蹶不振。

当她的父亲乔提议两人像以前一样来一曲吉他合奏时，她愿意尝试一下。之后他又提议两人来学首新歌，让她来唱。

曼迪：我以为我会唱得很烂，但其实我都在调上。这件事就像为我打开了一扇门。

一扇将她带上舞台的意外之门。

曼迪：我以前很讨厌表演——表演焦虑会让我恶心得想吐或晕过去，那曾让我觉得非常可怕。

听力的丧失实际上帮助她克服了那种恐惧。如今，她已经完成了上百场演出，还出了四张专辑，其中一张即将在年末发行。她对表演已经变得非常拿手，以致观众有时候会怀疑她是不是真的失聪了。

曼迪：我们对受疾病困扰的人所该有的样子形成了某种思维定式。因此，当你跟这个假想形象对不上号，人们就会觉得这是场骗局。或者你就是个骗子，觉得你其实并不是真的有病，所以有些事你是不该去做的。

例如唱歌，或是与人交谈。

韦恩·康奈尔（隐性残疾协会）：我们经常以貌取人，根据我们眼睛看到的东西下结论。

刚才说话的是韦恩·康奈尔，他的妻子谢莉患有多发性硬化症。在跟妻子一起遭遇了类似情况后，他在丹佛成立了非营利组织“隐性残疾”。

康奈尔称，因为这个范围太广，我们很难得知究竟有多少人正在与隐匿的残疾进行着抗争。哈维为该组织发声已经好几年了。她说，自己每天都得应对自身的残疾，这种生活有时会让她觉得像是一场战斗。曼迪：我也有过丢盔弃甲、沮丧消沉、不想离开被窝的时候。

但曼迪·哈维已经站上了她迄今为止所踏足过的最大的舞台——全国电视台。她希望人们能以她的歌声，而非她的背景故事来评价她。

曼迪：我并不是想要隐瞒我的残疾或……或是你们给它的什么名称。我并不认为那真的是一种残疾，那只是，呃……我做事的方式与众不同。我希望观众欣赏我音乐的原因是出于它本身的价值，而不是因为一个故事，你知道吧？我不是一个故事，我是一个人。我热爱音乐，我希望你热爱的是我的音乐。所以，以音乐作为评判我的标准吧。