粉笔界“劳斯莱斯”，数学家的挚爱

- The legend around this chalk is that it's impossible to write a false theorem.
关于这支粉笔的传说是用它不可能写出一个错误的定理。

- I assume the special ingredient was angel tears.
我猜里面包含特殊的成分——天使的眼泪。

- Mathematicians from all of the top schools very frequently use it.
所有顶尖学校的数学家都经常使用它。

- It's a cult favorite.
它是数学界的最爱。

- As soon as I use it I was a convert.
我一用它，我就被折服了。

- The chalk is one of the best kept secrets in the math world.
这支粉笔是数学界保守得最好的秘密之一。

- It's the Rolls Royce of chalk.
它是粉笔中的劳斯莱斯。

- Hagoromo is a brand of Japanese chalk.
Hagoromo是一个日本粉笔的品牌。

The way it flows on a board is a bit hard to describe in words.
它在黑板上的板书流动方式有点难以用语言描述。

- It's really hard to get.
这款粉笔真的很难买到。

You can only get it from Japan, you need a Japanese person to bring it back for you.
你只能从日本买到它，你需要一个日本人帮你带回来。

- I discovered it when I went to visit the University of Tokyo and one of the professors there said to me, you know, we have better chalk than you do in the States and I said, oh go on, chalk is chalk.
我去东京大学的时候发现了这款粉笔，那里的一个教授对我说，你知道，我们的粉笔要比美国的好，我说，噢，那就看看吧，粉笔就是粉笔。

And so I tried it out, and I was surprised to find that he was right.
接着我试了一下，我惊讶地发现他是对的。

- I tried it, and I thought it was phenomenal.
我试过了，我觉得很了不起。

It's the densest, it erases the cleanest, it leaves the nicest line.
它是密度最高的，它是能擦除最干净的，它留下的是最漂亮的线条。

- If you use bad chalk often you have to press really hard for anyone to see what you're writing so using Hagoromo on a good board, it doesn't really feel like you're working hard to write.
如果你经常用劣质粉笔，你就得使劲按，让别人看到你在写什么，而在一个好的黑板上使用Hagoromo粉笔，就不会觉得你在费力写板书。

- When I'm teaching I get a feeling of energy, confidence, and the chalk absolutely helps.
当我上课的时候，我会有一种充满活力、自信的感觉，而粉笔绝对起到了帮助的作用。

- Slowly the math world has become aware of this, and it became a bit of a fad in some circles.
慢慢地，数学界已经意识到了这一点，这在一些圈子里成了一种时尚。

- It was like maybe four years ago the word came out that the company was going out of business.
好像是四年前有消息说这家粉笔公司要倒闭了。

I sort of jokingly referred to it as a chalk apocalypse.
我会开玩笑地把它称为粉笔启示录。

So I immediately started hoarding up as much as I could.
所以我立刻开始尽可能多地去囤积这款粉笔。

- I ordered three boxes of Hagoromo and kept it in my office and used it very sparingly.
我订购了三盒羽衣粉笔，保存在我的办公室里，并非常节省地用它。

- I should've bought more but I have friends that bought boxes and boxes and boxes of the stuff.
我本应该多买点，但我有朋友买了一箱又一箱。

They might very well be set for the rest of their career.
他们或许为以后的职业生涯做好了准备。

- We've got like 1,500 sticks.
我们买了大概1500支。

That's a lot of days, four sticks a day.
一天用四支，能用好长时间。

I think I'm gonna make it.
我想我能做到。

- I have probably a 10-year supply still at home.
我可能有10年的供应量囤在家里。

- I calculated how many boxes would I need to last for 10 or 15 years.
我计算了10年或15年我会需要多少盒。

I didn't wanna become a chalk dealer, but I did like the idea that I could be the first stick is free chalk dealer on the block in my department.
我不想成为一个粉笔经销商，但我确实喜欢这样的想法，我可以成为这个街区我的部门中第一个免费粉笔经销商。 

- I was probably selling it regularly to maybe eight to 10 colleagues.
我可能定期把它卖给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.
我会伸手到我办公室里的柜子里，再拿出另一盒，我们会在我办公室里做这笔交易。

Yeah, we all had a chalk fix.
是啊，我们都有粉笔固定使用量。

And we still do.
而且我们依然还是这样。

- The original Hagoromo chalk is slowly disappearing.
原来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，并尽最大努力在韩国遵循配比生产。

- It was mixed emotions.
这很耐人寻味。

I was happy to know that it would still be made.
我很高兴知道它仍然会被制造出来。

But I was a little disappointed that I was less clever than I thought I was.
但我有点失望，因为我没有想象中那么聪明。

- In many ways mathematics is like craftsmanship, in some ways it's like artistry; in some ways it's like science.
在许多方面，数学就像手工艺，在某些方面，它就像艺术；在某些方面，它就像科学。

But there's a real high craft side to getting a beautiful lecture on a blackboard.
但在黑板上进行一个漂亮的演讲确实要很高的技巧。

Mathematicians admire this in each other and like to use the best tools for it.
数学家们互相欣赏这一点，并喜欢使用最好的工具。

- There's incredible value to this but the value is in using it up, not hoarding it.
这支粉笔有难以置信的价值，而价值在于用光它，不是囤积它。