雷雨中的頓悟

⊙ By Nelson Glueck翻譯：藍(lán)藍(lán)

雷雨中的頓悟

⊙ By Nelson Glueck翻譯：藍(lán)藍(lán)

突然遇到傾盆大雨，你的第一反應(yīng)是不是撒腿就跑，趕緊找個(gè)地方躲雨呢？不過(guò)，有些景色，在風(fēng)雨中確實(shí)另有一番滋味；而有些領(lǐng)悟，或許只能在等著雨停的時(shí)候才會(huì)有所感受呢……

Many years ago, I was on a bicycle trip through some1)exceedingly2)picturesque countryside. Suddenly, dark clouds piled up overhead and rain began to fall, but3)strange to relate, several hundred4)yards ahead of me the sun shone brilliantly. Pedaling, however, as rapidly as I could, I found it impossible to get into the clear. The clouds with their rain kept advancing faster than I could race forward. I continued this unequal5)contest for an exhausting half hour, before realizing that I could not win my way to the bright area ahead of me.

Then it6)dawned upon me that I was wasting my strength in unimportant hurry, while paying no attention7)whatsoever to the landscape for the sake of which I was making the trip. The storm could not last forever, and the discomfort was not unendurable. Indeed, there was much to look at which might otherwise have escaped me. As I gazed about with sharpened appreciation, I saw colors and lines and8)contours that would have

1) exceedingly [Ik5si:dINlI] adv. 非常，極端地

2) picturesque [7pIktFE5resk] adj. （景色）如畫(huà)的，美麗的

3) strange to relate 說(shuō)來(lái)奇怪，奇怪的是

4) yard [jB:d] n. 碼，1碼=3英尺≈0.914米。

5) contest [5k?ntest] n. 比賽，角逐，競(jìng)爭(zhēng)

6) dawn upon 意識(shí)到，突然想到

7) whatsoever [7hw?tsEJ5evE(r)] pron. 無(wú)論什么

8) contour [5k?ntJE(r)] n. 輪廓，外形appeared differently under brilliant light. The rain mists which now9)crowned the wooded hills and the fresh clearness of the different greens were entrancing. My annoyance at the rain was gone, and my eagerness to escape it vanished. It had provided me with a new view and helped me understand that the sources of beauty and satisfaction may be found close at hand within the range of one’s own10)sensibilities.

It helped me realize that there is no sense in my attempting ever to flee from circumstances and conditions which cannot be avoided but which I might bravely meet, and frequently11)mend, and often turn to good account. I know that half the battle is won if I can face trouble with courage, disappointment with12)spirit, and13)triumph with14)humility. It has become ever clearer to me that danger is far from disaster, that defeat may be the forerunner of final victory, and that,15)in the last analysis, all achievement is16)perilously fragile unless based on17)enduring principles of moral conduct.

I have learned that trying to find a carefree world somewhere far off involves me in an endless chase, in the course of which the opportunity for happiness and the happiness of attainment are all too often lost in the chase itself. It has become apparent to me that I cannot wipe out the pains of existence by denying them, blaming them largely or completely on others, or running away from them. The elements of weakness which mark every person cannot18)absolve me from the19)burdens and20)blessings of responsibility for myself and to others. I can21)magnify but never lessen my problems by ignoring,22)evading, or23)exorcising them. I believe that my24)perplexities and difficulties can be considerably25)resolved, if not completely overcome, by my own attitudes and actions. I am convinced that there can be no guarantee of my happiness, except that I help26)evoke and27)enhance it by the work of my hands, and the28)dictates of my heart, and the direction of my striving.

9) crown [kraJn] v. 加在頂上

10) sensibility [7sensI5bIlItI] n. 敏感性，感受力

11) mend [mend] v. 改進(jìn)，改良

12) spirit [5spIrIt] n. 活力，銳氣

13) triumph [5traIEmf] n. 勝利，成功

14) humility [hju:5mIlItI] n. 謙恭，謙遜

15) in the last analysis 歸根結(jié)底

16) perilously [5perIlEslI] adv. 危險(xiǎn)地

17) enduring [In5djJErIN] adj. 持久的，永久的

18) absolve [Eb5z?lv] v. 解除（承諾、義務(wù)等）

19) burden [5b:d(E)n] n. 負(fù)擔(dān)，重任

20) blessing [5blesIN] n. 幸福，可喜的事情

21) magnify [5mA^nIfaI] v. 放大，擴(kuò)大

22) evade [I5veId] v. 逃避，規(guī)避

23) exorcise [5eksR:saIz] v. 驅(qū)趕，抹去

24) perplexity [pE5pleksEtI] n. 困惑，混亂

25) resolve [rI5z?lv] v. 解決

26) evoke [I5vEJk] v. 喚起，引起

27) enhance [In5hAns] v. 增加，提高

28) dictate [5dIkteIt] n. （發(fā)自內(nèi)心、非遵守不可的）指令

Then it dawned upon me that I was wasting my strength in unimportant hurry, while paying no attention whatsoever to the landscape for the sake of which I was making the trip.

短語(yǔ)for the sake of是一個(gè)我們?cè)谌粘Ｉ钪薪?jīng)常會(huì)聽(tīng)到、看到的詞組，可以表達(dá)“由于，為了，為了……的利益”等意思，強(qiáng)調(diào)短語(yǔ)后面引出的內(nèi)容正是目的所在，如：He gave up smoking for the sake of health. （出于健康考慮，他把煙都戒了。）

許多年前，我騎著自行車出外游玩，路過(guò)一片風(fēng)景絕美的鄉(xiāng)村郊野。突然大片烏云壓頂，大雨傾盆而下；不過(guò)說(shuō)來(lái)奇怪，就在前方幾百碼的地方，竟是一派陽(yáng)光燦爛。即便我蹬著車，盡快往前沖，卻怎么也到不了天晴的地方。烏云夾著大雨不斷推進(jìn)，速度比我還快。筋疲力盡地騎了半個(gè)小時(shí)后，我放棄了這場(chǎng)不對(duì)等的比賽，終于意識(shí)到自己根本無(wú)法到達(dá)前頭那片晴朗的天地。

那一刻，我突然明白了，我之前一直在毫無(wú)意義地匆匆趕路，浪費(fèi)自己的體力，卻不曾好好欣賞沿途的各色景致——而后者其實(shí)才是我這次出游的目的。暴雨不會(huì)沒(méi)完沒(méi)了地下，而淋雨的不適感還算可以忍受。的確，這一路上有許多值得一看的景致，平時(shí)的我大概不會(huì)注意到這一切。我以更敏銳的目光欣賞著周圍的景色，看到的各種色彩、線條與輪廓，都與它們?cè)诿髅娜展庀碌哪哟螽惼淙?。朦朧煙雨籠罩著樹(shù)木繁茂的青山，各種不同的綠意清新明朗，令人神迷。至此，我對(duì)大雨的懊惱早已消散，急于避雨的沖動(dòng)也消失了。大雨帶給我一種全新的視角，讓我懂得了一個(gè)道理——只要我們自身具備感受力，就能找到身邊的美好與滿足。

這次經(jīng)歷讓我明白了一個(gè)道理：對(duì)于無(wú)法避免的處境與狀況，企圖逃避是毫無(wú)意義的；但我可以勇敢面對(duì)，時(shí)常改善，最后事情多半能有好結(jié)果。我知道，只要勇敢地面對(duì)困難，振奮地面對(duì)失望，謙遜地面對(duì)成功，那人生的戰(zhàn)役便已成功了一半。我也更清楚地意識(shí)到，危險(xiǎn)遠(yuǎn)非災(zāi)難，而失敗也許就是最后勝利的前兆。因此，歸根結(jié)底，只有以經(jīng)受得起時(shí)間考驗(yàn)的道德準(zhǔn)則為基礎(chǔ)，已經(jīng)取得的各種成就才不會(huì)脆弱不堪、危如累卵。

我發(fā)現(xiàn)，試圖在遙遠(yuǎn)的地方尋找一個(gè)無(wú)憂無(wú)慮的世界只會(huì)讓我陷入無(wú)休無(wú)止的追尋之中——正是在這種追尋的過(guò)程中，一個(gè)人常常會(huì)錯(cuò)過(guò)獲得幸福的機(jī)會(huì)，以及取得成就的快樂(lè)。我逐漸明白了，拒絕承認(rèn)痛苦，或者將多數(shù)或全部的問(wèn)題歸咎于他人，或者選擇逃避了事，其實(shí)都無(wú)法消除生活的苦難。

盡管每個(gè)人都會(huì)有他的不足之處，但這并不意味著我就不需要對(duì)自己和他人負(fù)責(zé)，這種責(zé)任帶來(lái)的負(fù)擔(dān)與福氣并不能因此免除。置之不理、避之不談或是拋諸腦后都不會(huì)讓問(wèn)題大事化小，這些做法或許只會(huì)讓情況更加惡化。我相信，哪怕無(wú)法徹底克服，我所遇到的各種疑難依然可以通過(guò)自己的態(tài)度與行為得到一定的解決。我確信，只要靠著自己的雙手努力工作，聽(tīng)從內(nèi)心的指引，朝著目標(biāo)奮斗進(jìn)取，我才能喚起并提高內(nèi)心的幸福感，才能真正獲得幸福。