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第36章 The Seeker of Truth真理的追寻者

Anonymous

心灵寄语

人在改变,生活在改变,唯一不变的是真理。真理蕴涵在生活中,真理隐藏在普通的话语中。生活中不缺乏真理,唯一缺乏的是发现真理的人。

After years of searching the seeker was told to go to a cave, in which he would find a well.“Ask the well what is truth,”he was advised,“And the well will reveal it to you.”Having found the well, the seeker asked that most fundamental question.

And from the depths came the answer,“Go to the village crossroad, there you shall find what you are seeking.”

Full of hope and anticipation the man ran to the crossroad to find only three rather uninteresting shops. One shop was selling pieces of metal, another sold wood, and thin wires were for sale in the third. Nothing and no one there seemed to have much to do with the revelation of truth.

Disappointed, the seeker returned to the well to demand an explanation, but he was told only,“You will understand in the future.”When the man protested, all he got in return were the echoes of his own shouts. Indignant1 for having been made a fool of—or so he thought at the time—the seeker continued his wanderings in search of truth.

As years went by, the memory of his experience at the well gradually faded until one night, while he was walking in the moonlight, the sound of sitar music caught his attention. It was wonderful music and it was played with great master and inspiration2. Profoundly moved, the truth seeker felt drawn towards the player. He looked at the fingers dancing over the strings. He became aware of the sitar itself. And then suddenly he explored in a cry of joyous recognition:the sitar was made out of wires and pieces of metal and wood just like those he had once seen in the three stores and had thought to be without any particular significance.

At last he understood the message of the well:We have already been given everything we need, our task is to assemble3 and use it in the appropriate way. Nothing is meaningful so long as we perceive4 only separate fragments. But as soon as the fragments come together into a synthesis5,we could not have foreseen by considering the fragments6 alone.

佚名

有一个真理的寻求者,他多年以来四处寻找真理,有人告诉他到一个山洞里去,在那里他会发现一口井。有人忠告他:“问问那口井什么是真理,井会回答你的。”于是,寻求者找到了那口井,问了那个最基本的问题。从井底深处传来回答:“到十字路口那儿的村子,在那里你会找到答案。”

怀着希望和期盼的心情,他跑到十字路口,但只发现三家很普通的店铺。第一家是五金店,卖金属片。第二家是木材店,卖木头。而第三家店卖细金属丝。那里的任何东西和任何人看上去似乎跟揭示真理毫无关联。

带着失望的心情,寻求着重新返回到那口井旁,要求给个解释,但是,那口井只告诉他:“你以后就懂了。”当他表示不能接受这样的答案时,却只能听到自己叫声的回音。那个人很气愤,以为自己被愚弄了——至少那是当时的想法——他开始了继续寻求真理的漫漫长路。

随着时光的流逝,寻求真理的人已经逐渐淡忘了在井边那段经历。然而,有一天夜晚,他在月光中散步,他被锡塔琴传出的美妙音乐深深吸引。那音乐美妙无比,演奏者技艺高超,将曲子表现得超凡脱俗,鼓舞人心。真理的寻求者被深深打动了,不由自主地向演奏者走去。他看着那演奏者的手指在琴弦间舞动,同时也注意到那把锡塔琴。猛然间他恍然大悟,惊喜地叫出声来:原来锡塔琴就是由金属丝,金属片和木头组成的,这正是他在那三家店铺看到的东西,当时那些东西对他来说还没有什么特殊的意义。

最后,他终于明白了那口井给他的启示:生活已经赐予了我们所需要的一切,我们所要做的就是用合理的方式将它们组装并使用。世间的万物,如果我们只是把它们看成互不相干的个体,那它们将毫无意义可言。但是,碎片能够组合成一个新的实体,而如果我们总是把那些碎片孤立起来,我们将难以得到那无法预见的惊喜。

词汇空间 ocabulary

1.indignant adj. 愤怒的,愤慨的

2.inspiration n. 灵感,鼓舞人心的事

3.assemble v. 集合,收集

4.perceive v. 感觉,察觉

5.synthesis n. 综合,合成

6.fragment n. 碎片,片段

文化链接 Culture Background

锡塔琴(Sitar)

锡塔琴是演奏北印度曲式“兴都斯坦”最主要的拨弦乐器,是由木头及共鸣处的毒葫芦制成,共有21弦,其独特的声音很难形容,传统的弹奏法姿势十分独一无二且优雅,下半身要用瑜珈的盘腿坐在地上,弹奏的时候左手只使用两跟手指头,食指负责滑音,中指负责拉扯弦,右手则使用一种名叫“mizrab”的义甲套在手指上,就这样以左手控制音高,右手拨弦弹奏,跟一般的拨弦乐器的发声原理差不多,但多了下面的共鸣弦效果,所以会听到一种“喵-喵”的声音。

妙语拾珠

1.We have already been given everything we need, our task is to assemble and use it in the appropriate way.

生活已经赐予了我们所需要的一切,我们所要做的就是用合理的方式将它们组装并使用。

2.Nothing is meaningful so long as we perceive only separate fragments. But as soon as the fragments come together into a synthesis, we could not have foreseen by considering the fragments alone.

世间的万物,如果我们只是把它们看成互不相干的个体,那它们将毫无意义可言。但是,碎片能够组合成一个新的实体,而如果我们总是把那些碎片孤立起来,我们将难以得到那无法预见的惊喜。