Most people will agree they cannot remember much, if anything, prior to around age four. 大部分人都很難回憶起四歲以前的事情。

What is remembered often comes in "spot" images, floating in an otherwise gray area of uncertainty.

能記得東西都是來自于一些影像點，漂浮在不確定的灰色區(qū)域里。

Yet when we look at a two or three year-old,perception and basic cognition appear to be in place and to have been functioning for a good long while. Why are those years lost to us?

但是當我們看一個兩，三歲的小孩子時，感覺和基本認知都已經(jīng)形成并且發(fā)揮作用有一段時間了。為什么我們那些年的記憶卻消失了呢？

One possibility is that memory in humans requires a narrative context. "Narrative context" means that it isn't enough to provide, say, a random visual image to the brain in order for it to form a working memory:

一種可能性是人類的記憶需要一個敘事語境。但“敘事語境”也不是什么都能提供，或者說，大腦中的任意的一個片段都能產(chǎn)生一個流動的記憶：

the image needs to be put in place alongside a number of other images, with which it helps to establish a pattern.

這種影像需要被置于一系列的影像中，這樣才足以建立一個圖景。

The very first time you see a tree, your brain can't do anything with it yet ---the information may simply be stored until it can be connected to other things, such as the back yard where you saw it, its size and color, or events of significance that occurred at the same time.

你第一次看見大樹的時候，你的大腦可能不會做出任何反應——但到你下次再看見類似的東西的時候，這種印象又會蹦出來。例如，你曾經(jīng)見過的后院，隨之后院的面積，顏色，還有一切相關的事物都會同時出現(xiàn)。

Once enough relationships are in place, it then becomes possible to remember -- not just "tree" as an abstraction, but "the big green tree I saw when I was walking this morning behind the house."

一旦足夠的關系是到位時，它就變成了可能記住——不僅僅是“樹”作為一種抽象概念，而是“大青翠樹我走路的時候我看到今天早上在他的房子后面。”

Learning words probably aids in this process, but is not strictly necessary. Still, the brain may provide context for memories by telling itself miniature stories, complete with setting, characters, and relationships.

在這個過程中可能會學到東西，但并不一定是必須。盡管如此，大腦可以聯(lián)系前后關系進行記憶，從而完成與背景，人物，和人際關系的縮影。

According to this idea, early childhood events occur at a time before we have developed enough narrative skills to tell the stories necessary for the formation of memories.

由此看來，早期無法回憶的童年往事，往往發(fā)生在我們還不具備充分的、能夠闡述情節(jié)以構(gòu)成記憶的技能之前。

No narrative context, no long-term memory -- end of story.

沒有敘事背景，沒有長期記憶——故事結(jié)束。