“To truly laugh， you must be able to take your pain， and play with it！”
——Charlie Chaplin
“要想真正地開懷大笑，你就要背負起苦難，還得以它為樂。”
——查理·卓別林
Charlie Chaplin—A Comedy Genius
查理·卓別林——喜劇之王
In a poor home of a performer， in a poor section of London during the late 19th century， a child was born into a dim life filled with tragedy. His mother was mad， his father died of alcoholism； most people in today's society would write this child off， and indeed most did. Who knew that this poor child would be Charlie Spencer Chaplin， the first ever cinematic comedy genius？
在十九世紀末倫敦的貧民區中，有個孩子誕生在一個窮苦的演藝之家。整個家中毫無一絲溫馨，他的母親患有精神病，父親死於酗酒。在如今這個社會，大多數人或許就此認定這孩子沒什麼前途可言了，事實也大多確實如此。可有誰能料到這個可憐的窮孩子就是日後電影史上第一位喜劇之王——查理·斯賓塞·卓別林！
Most of Chaplin's early life was spent moving from room to room while his family struggled to pay the rent and stay fed. His mother made enough money to survive as a performer， but she consistently suffered spells of madness and was admitted to mental institutions on many occasions.
Alas， her performing career withered away. In his autobiography， Chaplin describes his mother's next attempt to support her family through sewing clothes； but this eventually ended when they could no longer afford to rent the machine. In his early life， the results of poverty were broken up only by off-and-on residency in workhouses for homeless children， and these were the times when his mother was in a mental hospital.
It truly is amazing that one of film's greatest comedians came out of such a tragic background， but at that same time it seems quite typical. Charlie Chaplin teaches us that sometimes， in the face of adversity， one must simply laugh.
Charlie Chaplin's silent movies could be understood anywhere in the world because they are just that. While talkies strengthened the language barrier， Chaplin's movies remained silent so that the whole world could join in on the laughter. As the America was enjoying early talkies like The Jazz Singer， the rest of the world were roaring and crying at City Lights.