A couple years ago I went to Tokyo with my husband and I ate at the most remarkable sushi restaurant.
几年前,我跟丈夫去东京玩,我在最美味的寿司店里吃饭。
I don't even eat fish. I'm vegan. So that tells you how good it was.
我不吃鱼,我是素食主义者。所以你们该知道那有多好吃了。
Even with just vegetables, this sushi was the stuff you dreamed about.
即便只是蔬菜而已,那寿司都是梦寐以求的美味。
The restaurant had six seats, my husband and I marveled at how anyone can make rice so superior to all other rice.
餐厅有6个座位,我丈夫和我惊讶于怎么可以把米饭做的如此无以伦比。
We wondered why they didn't make a bigger restaurant and be the most popular place in town.
我们想知道为什么他们不开个更大的餐厅,成为镇上最受欢迎的地方。
Our local friends explain to us that all the best restaurants in Tokyo are that small.
当地的朋友向我们解释说在东京所有最好的餐馆都很小。
And do only one type of dish: sushi or tempura or teriyaki.
只做一种类型的料理:寿司、天妇罗或照烧。
Because they want to do that thing well and beautifully.
因为他们想把一件事干好,干漂亮。
And it's not about quantity, it's about taking pleasure in the perfection and beauty of the particular.
这跟数量无关,它关乎在追求完美中享受愉悦。
I'm still learning now that it's about good and maybe never done, that the joy and work ethic and virtuosity we bring to the particular can impart a singular type enjoyment to those we give to you, and of course to ourselves.
我现在仍在学习,关键在于做好,而不是做完,做某事时的快乐,敬业和炉火纯青可以给我们服务的对象带来一种特定的享受,当然也让我们自己得到享受。
And my professional life it also took me time to find my own reasons for doing my work.
在我的职业生涯中,我花费了不少时间来找寻我做这份工作的原因。
The first film I was in came out in 1994.
我参演的第一部电影在1994年上映。
Again, appallingly, the year most of you were born.
又是一件很吓人的事,那年你们中的大多数才刚出生。
I was 13 years old upon the film's release.
电影上映时我才13岁。
And I can still quote what the New York Times said about me verbatim.
至今我仍能一字不差的复述纽约时报对我的评价。
Miss Portman poses better than she acts.
波特曼小姐摆造型的功力比演戏要强得多。
The film had a universally tepid critic response and went on to bomb commercially.
这部电影在全球的反响都是不愠不火,而商业方面则是惨败。
That film is called The Professional, or Leon in Europe.
这部电影叫做《这个杀手不太冷》,在欧洲叫《杀手莱昂》。
And today, twenty years and 35 films later, it is still the film people approach me about the most to tell me how much they loved it.
直至今天,在20内拍了35部电影之后,它仍然是人们见到我时最常提到的片子,他们告诉我有多爱这部电影。
How much it moved them. How it's their favorite movie.
它多么的感人,是他们最喜欢的电影。
I feel lucky that my first experience releasing a film was initially such a disaster by all standards and measures.
我感到很幸运,我首次参演的电影起初在所有的标准看来都是一场灾难。
I learned early that my meaning had to be from the experience of making the film and the possibility of connecting with individuals rather than the foremost trophies in my industry: financial and critical success.
我很早就学到,我的价值应该来自于电影拍摄过程的体验,来自触碰人心的可能,而不是我们行业最首要的荣誉:商业和影评方面的成功。
And also these initial reactions could be false predictors of your work's ultimate legacy.
而且,最初的反响可能会错误预测了你的作品的最终价值。