评论
打印
The legend around this chalk is that it's impossible to write a false theorem.
传说，用这款粉笔书写定理怎么写都不会错。
I assume the special ingredient was angel tears.
我猜这款粉笔可能是用天使的眼泪做的。
Mathematicians from all of the top schools very frequently use it.
所有顶尖学校的数学老师们都经常宠它。
It's a cult favorite.
就像邪教的心头好一样。
As soon as I use it I was a convert.
一用上它，我就皈依了。
The chalk is one of the best kept secrets in the math world.
这款粉笔是数学圈里的最高机密。
It's the Rolls Royce of chalk.
堪称是粉笔界的劳斯莱斯。
Hagoromo is a brand of Japanese chalk.
羽衣是一个日本的粉笔品牌。
The way it flows on a board is a bit hard to describe in words.
用这款粉笔板书会非常流畅，流畅到难以用语言来描述。
It's really hard to get.
但也真的很难买到。
You can only get it from Japan, you need a Japanese person to bring it back for you.
只能从日本买，所以要请日本朋友帮你带。
I discovered it when I went to visit the University of Tokyo
我是在访问东京大学时发现的这款粉笔，
and one of the professors there said to me, you know, we have better chalk than you do in the States
当时，那边的一位教授对我说，你知道吗，我们的粉笔比你们美国的好用
and I said, oh go on, chalk is chalk.
我说，哈，得了吧，粉笔就是粉笔（还不都一个样）。
And so I tried it out, and I was surprised to find that he was right.
我试了一下，让我意外的是，我发现他说的是对的。
I tried it, and I thought it was phenomenal.
试过之后，我也觉得这款粉笔简直是绝非凡品可比。
It's the densest, it erases the cleanest, it leaves the nicest line.
它质地最稠，却擦得最干净，板书线条也是最赏心悦目的。
If you use bad chalk, often you have to press really hard for anyone to see what you're writing
用质量不好的粉笔，你经常要很用力地板书，才能让大家都看得清。
so using Hagoromo on a good board, it doesn't really feel like you're working hard to write.
但用羽衣粉笔在一块好的黑板上板书的时候，是不会感觉费劲的。
When I'm teaching I get a feeling of energy, confidence, and the chalk absolutely helps.
上课的时候我会觉得充满了激情和自信，这和粉笔绝对是离不开的。
Slowly the math world has become aware of this, and it became a bit of a fad in some circles.
数学世界逐渐意识到这一点，用这款粉笔成了一些数学老师中间的时尚潮流。
It was like maybe four years ago the word came out that the company was going out of business.
大概四年前，有消息说这家公司要倒闭了。
I sort of jokingly referred to it as a chalk apocalypse.
我开玩笑地说粉笔界的末日要到了。
So I immediately started hoarding up as much as I could.
便立刻开始拼命囤这款粉笔。
I ordered three boxes of Hagoromo and kept it in my office and used it very sparingly.
我订了三盒放在办公室里，用的时候也非常非常节省。
I should've bought more but I have friends that bought boxes and boxes and boxes of the stuff.
我本来应该再多买些，有朋友就买了无数盒。
They might very well be set for the rest of their career.
差不多把后半辈子要用的都已经买好了。
We've got like 1,500 sticks.
我们有差不多1500根。
That's a lot of days, four sticks a day.
一天用4根的话也能用很久了。
I think I'm gonna make it.
我觉得我能用完。
I have probably a 10-year supply still at home.
我家里还有差不多10年的囤货。
I calculated how many boxes would I need to last for 10 or 15 years.
我真的算过我10年或15年一共会用多少盒粉笔。
I didn't wanna become a chalk dealer,
我本来没想倒卖粉笔，
but I did like the idea that I could be the first stick's free chalk dealer on the block in my department.
但是我确实很喜欢成为我们部门里第一个免费的粉笔经销商这一念头。
I was probably selling it regularly to maybe eight to 10 colleagues.
我差不多会定期卖给8到10个同事。
I would reach into my cupboard in my office and pull out another box and we'd do the deal in my office.
我会打开我办公室的柜子，拿一盒出来，就在我办公室里一手交钱一手交货。
Yeah, we all had a chalk fix. And we still do.
是的，我们都有粉笔情结。一直都有。
The original Hagoromo chalk is slowly disappearing.
原版的羽衣粉笔正在慢慢消失。
A few years ago, a Korean company bought their formulas and did the best job of faithfully reproducing it in Korea.
几年前，一家韩国公司购买了他们的配方然后在韩国生产，还原度几乎做到了百分之百。
It was mixed emotions.
这事儿让我感觉比较复杂。
I was happy to know that it would still be made.
一方面，知道这款粉笔还在生产我是很高兴的。
But I was a little disappointed that I was less clever than I thought I was.
但同时也有点失望，因为囤粉笔这事儿我并没有自己想象的那么聪明。
In many ways mathematics is like craftsmanship,
从很多方面来看，数学都像是一门手艺，
in some ways it's like artistry;
在某种程度上来看，它又像是一门艺术；
in some ways it's like science.
在另一些方面来看，它又像一门科学。
But there's a real high craft side to getting a beautiful lecture on a blackboard.
但上课时能写出一黑板漂亮的板书确实需要很高的技巧。
Mathematicians admire this in each other and like to use the best tools for it.
数学老师们彼此都很向往这一点，也都喜欢用最好的工具来往这个方向靠近。
There's incredible value to this but the value is in using it up, not hoarding it.
这款粉笔非常珍贵，但它的价值在于用完，而不是只把它们囤起来。
