the Justice League of America will be teaming up with The 99.

在 2010 年十月，

Icons like Batman,

美國正義聯盟將與 "The 99" 聯手作戰。

Superman, Wonder Woman and their colleagues

美國文化的偶像，像蝙蝠俠、

will be teaming up with icons Jabbar, Noora,

超人、神奇女俠和他們的夥伴，

Jami and their colleagues.

將與伊斯蘭世界的超級英雄，賈巴爾 (Jabbar)、諾拉 (Noora)、

It's a story of intercultural intersections,

加米 (Jami) 以及他們的夥伴（The 99 中的主角群）成為盟友。

and what better group

這部漫畫故事融合不同的文化。

to have this conversation

而這個團隊將能

than those that grew out of fighting fascism

傳達更積極的訊息，

in their respective histories and geographies?

更勝他們在各自的時代和地域中，

As fascism took over Europe in the 1930s,

對抗法西斯主義的情節。

an unlikely reaction came out of North America.

1930 年代，法西斯主義席捲歐洲，

As Christian iconography got changed,

而北美卻出現意想不到的情況。

and swastikas were created out of crucifixes,

包括基督教聖像的變革，

Batman and Superman were created by Jewish young men

以十字架為原型創造出的的納粹十字章，

in the United States and Canada,

與此同時，一群美國和加拿大的年輕猶太人

also going back to the Bible.

創造出蝙蝠俠和超人，

Consider this:

也是受到聖經的啟發。

like the prophets, all the superheroes

大家想想：

are missing parents.

就像聖經中的先知一樣，所有超級英雄們

Superman's parents die on Krypton

都失去雙親。

before the age of one.

超人的雙親在氪星死亡，

Bruce Wayne, who becomes Batman,

當時他還未滿足歲。

loses his parents at the age of six in Gotham City.

Bruce Wayne，也就是蝙蝠俠，

Spiderman is raised

他在六歲時，雙親在高譚市同時被刺殺。

by his aunt and uncle.

蜘蛛人是由他的

And all of them, just like the prophets who get their message

阿姨和叔叔帶大的。

from God through Gabriel,

他們如同先知一般，從天使加百列

get their message from above.

接收上帝的指令，

Peter Parker is in a library in Manhattan

英雄的使命從天而降。

when the spider descends from above

Peter Parker 是在曼哈頓的圖書館中

and gives him his message through a bite.

被一隻從天花板降下的蜘蛛叮咬，

Bruce Wayne is in his bedroom

而得到他的超能力。

when a big bat flies over his head,

Bruce Wayne 是在自己的臥室中

and he sees it as an omen to become Batman.

發現一隻碩大的蝙蝠飛過他頂上，

Superman is not only sent to Earth

認定是個徵兆，要他以「蝙蝠俠」的形象行俠仗義。

from the heavens, or Krypton,

而超人不僅是從天堂，或說氪星

but he's sent in a pod, much like Moses was on the Nile.

降臨地球，

(Laughter)

他還是被放在太空艙裡，很像被放進紙莎草箱子，擱在尼羅河邊的摩西。

And you hear the voice of his father, Jor-El,

（笑聲）

saying to Earth, "I have sent to you my only son."

你們還能聽到它的父親 Jor-El

(Laughter)

對地球說「我將我的獨子獻給您了。」

(Applause)

（笑聲）

These are clearly biblical archetypes,

（掌聲）

and the thinking behind that was to create

這些情節很明顯都是源自聖經，

positive, globally-resonating storylines

背後的構想在於創作出

that could be tied to the same things

有正義感，令世人為之動容的情節

that other people were pulling mean messages out of

通過故事展現同樣的積極本質

because then the person that's using religion for the wrong purpose

而不會讓人戴著有色眼鏡來批評。

just becomes a bad man with a bad message.

因為如果有人將宗教用作惡意目的，

And it's only by linking positive things

那麼他就是讓宗教蒙塵的惡人。

that the negative can be delinked.

只有時刻銘記事物的積極一面，

This is the kind of thinking that went into

才能消除悲觀的印象。

creating The 99.

正是因應這種想法

The 99 references the 99 attributes of Allah in the Koran,

才創造出 The 99。

things like generosity and mercy and foresight and wisdom

The 99 來源自真主阿拉的 99 個尊名，

and dozens of others that no two people in the world would disagree about.

代表慷慨、慈悲、遠見及智慧，

It doesn't matter what your religion is;

和一些為世人共同稱道的美德，

even if you're an atheist, you don't raise your kid telling him, you know,

並不直接牽涉宗教。

"Make sure you lie three times a day."

也就是說，就算你是無神論者，你也不會教孩子

Those are basic human values.

每天撒三次謊。

And so the backstory of The 99

那些都是基本的價值觀。

takes place in 1258,

而 The 99 的背景故事

which history tells us the Mongols invaded Baghdad and destroyed it.

發生在 1258 年，

All the books from Bait al-Hikma library,

蒙古大軍攻陷巴格達並毀城。

the most famous library in its day, were thrown in the Tigris River,

當時世界最著名的「智慧之家」圖書館，

and the Tigris changes color with ink.

所有的藏書都被扔進底格里斯河，

It's a story passed on generation after generation.

因此河水被墨汁徹底染黑了。

I rewrote that story,

這個故事世代流傳。

and in my version, the librarians find out that this is going to happen --

我重新詮釋這個故事。

and here's a side note:

在我改編的版本裡，智慧之家的圖書館員預見即將發生的事件——

if you want a comic book to do well, make the librarians the hero. It always works well.

我順帶一提：

(Laughter)

如果你想讓一部漫畫書受歡迎，就讓圖書館員成為英雄。絕對不會錯。

(Applause)

（笑聲）

So the librarians find out

（掌聲）

and they get together a special solution, a chemical solution called King's Water,

所以那些圖書館員

that when mixed with 99 stones

協力研製出一個特殊的化學配方，喚作「君王之水」，

would be able to save all that culture and history in the books.

將藥水跟 99 個寶石混合，

But the Mongols get there first.

藥水就能保存書籍中記載的所有文化與歷史。

The books and the solution get thrown in the Tigris River.

不幸地，蒙古大軍早先一步，

Some librarians escape, and over the course of days and weeks,

將書籍和藥水一起扔進底格里斯河。

they dip the stones into the Tigris and suck up that collective wisdom

一些圖書館員逃走了，而在數週的時日內，

that we all think is lost to civilization.

他們把寶石浸在底格里斯河以吸取

Those stones have been smuggled as three prayer beads

我們以為已經流失的智慧財富。

of 33 stones each

這些寶石被做成三串念珠，

through Arabia into Andalusia in Spain, where they're safe for 200 years.

每串三十三顆，

But in 1492, two important things happen.

從阿拉伯偷渡至安達魯西亞，安全保存兩百年。

The first is the fall of Granada,

但在 1492 年，兩個重大的歷史事件發生了。

the last Muslim enclave in Europe.

首先是格拉那達，

The second is Columbus finally gets funded to go to India, but he gets lost.

歐洲最後一個穆斯林領土淪陷。

(Laughter)

第二是哥倫布終於得到資助航行印度，但最後去錯了地方。

So 33 of the stones are smuggled

（笑聲）

onto the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria

所以其中三十三顆寶石

and are spread in the New World.

由哥倫布船隊的尼尼亞號、平塔號和聖瑪利亞號

Thirty-three go on the Silk Road to China, South Asia and Southeast Asia.

傳至新大陸。

And 33 are spread between Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

還有三十三顆通過絲路到中國、南亞及東南亞。

And now it's 2010, and there are 99 heroes

最後三十三顆散佈在歐洲、中東及非洲各地。

from 99 different countries.

到了 2010 年，出現九十九位英雄

Now it's very easy to assume

分別來自於九十九個國家。

that those books, because they were from a library called Bait al-Hikma, were Muslim books,

現在我們很容易這樣聯想，

but that's not the case because the caliph that built that library,

那些來自於智慧之家圖書館的書籍，看來就是面向於穆斯林的。

his name was al-Ma'mun -- he was Harun al-Rashid's son.

其實不然，因為當時修建圖書館的國王，

He had told his advisers, "Get me all the scholars

名叫阿爾·馬蒙 —— 他是哈倫·拉希德的兒子，

to translate any book they can get their hands onto into Arabic,

他對幕僚們說：「把學者們都請到我這裡來，

and I will pay them its weight in gold."

讓他們把所有能找到的書都翻譯成阿拉伯語，

After a while, his advisers complained.

我會酬予他們與書同重的黃金。」

They said, "Your Highness, the scholars are cheating.

沒多久，他的幕僚們開始抱怨，

They're writing in big handwriting to take more gold."

他們這樣說，「陛下，學者們在作弊。

To which he said, "Let them be, because what they're giving us

他們故意把字寫大，好換取更多金子。」

is worth a lot more than what we're paying them."

而他回答說，「隨他們去，因為學者為我們所作的

So the idea of an open architecture, an open knowledge,

比黃金有價值得多。」

is not new to my neck of the desert.

這樣開放建築、開放知識的想法，

The concept centers on something called the Noor stones.

在我的國家裡不是什麼新鮮事了。

Noor is Arabic for light.

故事主題圍繞著被稱作 Noor 的寶石。

So these 99 stones, a few kind of rules in the game:

"Noor" 是阿拉伯文「光明」之意。

Number one, you don't choose the stone; the stone chooses you.

這九十九顆寶石本身有一些規則：

There's a King Arthur element to the storyline, okay.

第一，不是你選擇寶石；是寶石選中你。

Number two, all of The 99,

這是仿效《亞瑟王》的傳說情節。

when they first get their stone, or their power, abuse it;

第二，當九十九個英雄

they use it for self-interest.

最初得到寶石的力量時，不外乎地

And there's a very strong message in there that when you start abusing your stone,

利用它滿足私心。

you get taken advantage of

這傳達一個重要的訊息，一旦你開始誤用寶石，

by people who will exploit your powers, okay.

那些想要運用你的力量的人們

Number three, the 99 stones all have within them

就會設法操縱你。

a mechanism that self-updates.

第三，九十九個寶石都具備

Now there are two groups that exist within the Muslim world.

自我升級的能力。

Everybody believes the Koran is for all time and all place.

當今的穆斯林世界有兩大派別。

Some believe that means that the original interpretation

所有人都相信古蘭經適用於每個時代和地區。

from a couple thousand years ago is what's relevant today.

部分人認為這意味著經文原始的解釋，

I don't belong there.

從幾千年前時至今日仍然適用。

Then there's a group that believes the Koran is a living, breathing document,

我不這麼認為。

and I captured that idea within these stones that self-update.

另外有些人相信古蘭經是活的、有機的經典。

Now the main bad guy, Rughal,

這就是寶石擁有自我更新能力的由來。

does not want these stones to update,

而故事中主要的反派，盧加爾 (Rughal)，

so he's trying to get them to stop updating.

不希望這些寶石升級。

He can't use the stones, but he can stop them.

所以他嘗試阻止它們自我更新。

And by stopping them, he has more of a fascist agenda,

他不能運用寶石，但可以抑制寶石的力量。

where he gets some of The 99 to work for him --

通過抑制寶石的力量，他就能大肆進行獨裁行動，

they're all wearing cookie-cutter, same color uniforms

他欺騙九十九位英雄中的部分人為他效力。

They're not allowed to individually express who they are and what they are.

為他效力的人都身著同樣款式，同色的制服。

And he controls them from the top down --

他們不能私下透漏自己的身份。

whereas when they work for the other side, eventually,

而他親自指揮這些人。

when they find out this is the wrong person, they've been manipulated,

然而當他們終於投奔正義方，

they actually, each one has a different, colorful

知道自己曾被操縱並效力於惡徒之後，

kind of dress.

他們都換成不同顏色、

And the last point about the 99 Noor stones is this.

不同外型的服裝。

So The 99 work in teams of three.

關於九十九個光明寶石，最後的規則是，

Why three? A couple of reasons.

九十九個英雄要以三個分為一組行動。

Number one, we have a thing within Islam that you don't leave a boy and a girl alone together,

為何是三個？原因如下。

because the third person is temptation or the devil, right?

第一，伊斯蘭教規不允許孤男寡女私下相處。

I think that's there in all cultures, right?

因為誘惑跟魔鬼會從中介入。

But this is not about religion, it's not about proselytizing.

所有的文化都是這麼說的，對吧？

There's this very strong social message

但這與宗教無關，沒有在灌輸教條。

that needs to get to kind of

這其中蘊含了強烈的社會訊息，

the deepest crevices of intolerance,

我們需要良善對待

and the only way to get there is to kind of play the game.

最深層的偏見。

And so this is the way I dealt with it.

要達到這個目的，就得行動起來。

They work in teams of three: two boys and a girl, two girls and a boy,

於是，我們就這樣為英雄分組。

three boys, three girls, no problem.

他們三人一組，可能是兩男一女或兩女一男，

And the Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, also spoke about

也有三個都是男生或都是女生的，都沒有問題。

the importance of the number three in all cultures, so I figure I'm covered.

瑞士的精神分析學家，卡爾·容格，也曾主張

Well ...

數字「三」在所有文化的重要性，我想我掌握它了。

I got accused in a few blogs that I was actually sent by the Pope

不過呢......

to preach the Trinity and Catholicism in the Middle East,

有些人在 blog 上指責我是由天主教皇派來

so you -- (Laughter)

到中東宣傳三位一體跟天主教法的，

you believe who you want. I gave you my version of the story.

所以......（笑聲）

So here's some of the characters that we have.

不論你相信什麼 —— 反正我說了我的故事。

Mujiba, from Malaysia: her main power is she's able to answer any question.

下面介紹故事的幾位主角。

She's the Trivial Pursuit queen, if you want,

穆吉巴 (Mujiba)，來自馬來西亞，她最主要的力量是能解答任何的問題。

but when she first gets her power,

如果她玩棋盤問答 (Trivial Pursuit) 遊戲，肯定是百勝將軍。

she starts going on game shows and making money.

而她最初獲得力量的時候，

We have Jabbar from Saudi who starts breaking things when he has the power.

確實是藉此在問答遊戲節目撈一大筆。

Now, Mumita was a fun one to name. Mumita is the destroyer.

而這是來自沙烏地阿拉伯的賈巴爾 (Jabbar)，他擁有無堅不催的怪力。

So the 99 attributes of Allah have the yin and the yang;

然後這是穆密塔 (Mumita)，名字很有趣。穆密塔代表「毀滅」。

there's the powerful, the hegemonous, the strong,

真主阿拉的九十九個尊名中，包涵陽剛及陰柔的性質。

and there's also the kind, the generous.

陽剛的性質體現霸氣與堅毅；

I'm like, are all the girls going to be kind and merciful and the guys all strong?

陰柔的性質體現善良與雅量。

I'm like, you know what, I've met a few girls who were destroyers in my lifetime, so ...

我傾向將女生設定得比較善良慈悲，而男生比較陽剛。

(Laughter)

你知道嗎，以前我認識幾個女孩，她們實在很會折磨人，所以......

We have Jami from Hungary, who first starts making weapons:

（笑聲）

He's the technology wiz.

這位是來自匈牙利的加米 (Jami)，擅長製造武器。

Musawwira from Ghana,

他是個「科技巫師」。

Hadya from Pakistan, Jaleel from Iran who uses fire.

還有來自迦納的穆薩維拉 (Musawwira)；

And this is one of my favorites, Al-Batina from Yemen.

來自巴基斯坦的哈蒂亞 (Hadya)；來自伊朗，有火燄力量的加里爾 (Jaleel)。

Al-Batina is the hidden.

然後這是我最愛的一位英雄，來自葉門的艾爾·巴廷娜 (Al-Batina)。

So Al-Batina is hidden, but she's a superhero.

這名字源自 Al-Batin，意指隱者。

I came home to my wife and I said, "I created a character after you."

所以巴廷娜總是低調行事，但確實是個超級英雄。

My wife is a Saudi from Yemeni roots.

我有次回家跟妻子說，「我照著妳的形象創造了一位角色。」

And she said, "Show me." So I showed this.

我妻子是葉門裔的沙烏地阿拉伯人。

She said, "That's not me."

她說，「讓我看看。」我就給她看這位角色。

I said, "Look at the eyes. They're your eyes."

她說，「這不像我啊。」

(Laughter)

我回答，「看那雙眼睛，那是照著妳的眼睛畫的。」

So I promised my investors this would not be another made-in-fifth-world-country production.

（笑聲）

This was going to be Superman, or it wasn't worth my time or their money.

我向投資人承諾這漫畫絕不是粗製濫造的東西。

So from day one, the people involved in the project,

它會和超人一樣棒，否則就不值得投資我的心力或是他們的錢。

bottom left is Fabian Nicieza,

這些是從頭開始全程參與製作的工作人員，

writer for X-Men and Power Rangers.

左下角的是 Fabian Nicieza，

Next to him is Dan Panosian,

《X戰警》和《金剛戰士》的編劇。

one of the character creators for the modern-day X-Men.

他旁邊的是 Dan Panosian，

Top right is Stuart Moore, a writer for Iron Man.

現代版X戰警的創作者之一。

Next to him is John McCrea, who was an inker for Spiderman.

主要編劇，Stuart Moore，也是《鋼鐵人》的編劇。

And we entered Western consciousness

他旁邊的是 John McCrea，主要為《蜘蛛人》畫漫畫線稿。

with a tagline: "Next Ramadan, the world will have new heroes,"

我們以一條標語來得到西方世界的關注：

back in 2005.

「下個齋月，新的英雄將橫空出世。」

Now I went to Dubai, to an Arab Thought Foundation Conference,

這是在 2005 年的事。

and I was waiting by the coffee for the right journalist.

我到杜拜參加阿拉伯思想基金會的會議，

Didn't have a product, but had energy.

當時我邊喝咖啡邊物色合適的記者。

And I found somebody from The New York Times,

手頭上還沒有現成的作品，但有滿腔熱情。

and I cornered him, and I pitched him.

然後我相中紐約時報的一位記者。

And I think I scared him -- (Laughter)

我把他堵到角落裡緊盯著他。

because he basically promised me --

他大概被我的舉動嚇到了——（笑聲）

we had no product -- but he said, "We'll give you a paragraph in the arts section

因為他這樣答應我——

if you'll just go away."

由於成品還沒出來——他就說，「我們會在藝術版上為你寫一段介紹，

(Laughter)

拜託你快放開我。」

So I said, "Great." So I called him up a few weeks afterward.

（笑聲）

I said, "Hi, Hesa." And he said, "Hi." I said, "Happy New Year."

所以我說，「成交。」幾週之後我打電話給他。

He said, "Thank you. We had a baby." I said, "Congratulations."

我說，「嗨，Hesa。」而他也答「嗨。」我說「新年快樂。」

Like I care, right?

他回答「謝謝你。我們有個孩子了。」我說，「恭喜你。」

"So when's the article coming out?"

裝作我很在意他，沒錯。

He said, "Naif, Islam and cartoon?

「所以為我寫的文章會在何時見報？」

That's not timely.

他說，「Naif，伊斯蘭教的漫畫？

You know, maybe next week, next month, next year, but, you know, it'll come out."

這不太合潮流。

So a few days after that, what happens?

也許下週、下個月、明年都有可能，但你知道，一定會見報的。」

What happens is the world erupts in the Danish cartoon controversy.

接下來幾天後，你知道發生了什麼事嗎？

I became timely.

丹麥報紙的伊斯蘭漫畫醜聞被公諸於世。

(Laughter)

這下我可走在潮流尖端了。

So flurry of phone calls and emails from The New York Times.

（笑聲）

Next thing you knew, there's a full page covering us positively,

於是紐約時報不停打電話和發郵件給我。