HIGH UP IN the mountains it had been raining all day. It was not a soft, gentle rain, but one of those torrential downpours that wash out roads and uproot trees on the hillside, causing landslides and noisy streams which become quiet in a few hours. A little boy, soaked to the skin, was playing in a shallow pool and paying not the least attention to the angry and high-pitched voice of his mother. A cow was coming down the muddy road as we climbed it. The clouds seemed to open and cover the land with water. We were wet through and removed most of our clothing, and the rain was pleasant on the skin. The house was way up on the mountainside, and the town lay below. A strong wind was blowing from the west, bringing more dark and furious clouds.
山上，下了一整天的雨。 这不是一场温柔的雨，而是一场倾盆大雨， 冲毁了山坡上的道路和连根拔起的树木， 引起了山体滑坡和喧闹的溪流，几个小时后，它将会安静下来。 一个皮肤湿透的小男孩正在浅水里玩耍， 对母亲愤怒和高声的呼喊一点也不在乎。 当我们爬上山路，正碰见一头牛从泥泞的路上走下来。 云层似乎敞开了，大地被雨水覆盖。 我们湿透了，脱掉了大部分衣服，雨水在皮肤上很是愉悦。 房子在山腰，小镇在下面。 一阵强风从西面吹来，带来了更加浓黑和狂暴的云层。
There was a fire in the room, and several people were waiting to talk things over. The rain, beating on the windows, had made a large puddle on the floor, and the water even came down the chimney, making the fire sputter.
房间内有灯火，几个人在等待谈话的结束。 雨水敲打在窗户上，在地板上形成了一个大水坑， 水甚至从烟囱里流了进来，使火堆发出噼啪的声响。
He was a very famous politician, realistic, intensely sincere and ardently patriotic. Neither narrow-minded not self-seeking his ambition was not for himself, but for an idea and for the people. He was not a mere eloquent tub thumper or vote catcher; he had suffered for his cause and, strangely, was not bitter. He seemed more of a scholar than a politician. But politics was the bread of his life, and his party obeyed him, though rather nervously. He was a dreamer, but he had put all that aside for politics. His friend, the leading economist, was also there; he had intricate theories and facts concerning the distribution of enormous revenues. He seemed to be familiar with the economists of both the left and the right, and he had his own theories for the economic salvation of mankind. He talked easily, and there was no hesitation for words. Both of them had harangued huge crowds.
他是一位非常有名的政治家：务实、真诚和非常爱国。 既不狭隘，也不自私，他的远大抱负不是为了自己， 而是为了一个观念，为了人民。 他不仅仅是一个慷慨激昂的雄辩家或拉选票能手； 他为自己的事业而遭受苦难，奇怪的是，他并不抱怨。 他看起来更像是一个学者，而不是一个政治家。 但政治是他生命中的面包，他的政党服从他，尽管关系相当地紧张。 他是一个梦想家，却把这一切都放在一旁，专心于政治。 他的朋友，一位著名的经济学家，也在这里。 他有关于巨额收入分配的复杂理论和证据。 他似乎熟悉左派和右派的经济学家， 他研究出了一套拯救人类经济的理论。 他讲话很流利，话语之间从不犹豫。 他们俩都在公众中做过演讲。
Have you noticed, in newspapers and magazines, the amount of space given to politics, to the sayings of politicians and their activities? Of course, other news is given, but political news predominates; the economic and political life has become all-important. The outward circumstances – comfort, money, position and power – seem to dominate and shape our existence. The external show – the title, the garb, the salute, the flag – has become increasingly significant, and the total process of life has been forgotten or deliberately set aside. It is so much easier to throw oneself into social and political activity than to understand life as a whole; to be associated with any organized thought, with political or religious activity, offers a respectable escape from the pettiness and drudgery of everyday life. With a small heart you can talk of big things and of the popular leaders; you can hide your shallowness with the easy phrases of world affairs; your restless mind can happily and with popular encouragement settle down to propagate the ideology of a new or of an old religion.
你可曾注意到，在报刊和杂志上， 政治、政治家的言论及其活动被赋予了多大的空间？ 当然，其余的新闻也有，但政治新闻占主导地位。 经济和政治活动已经变得至关重要。 外在的状况 —— 舒适、金钱、地位和权力 —— 似乎主宰并塑造了我们的存在。 外在的表演秀 —— 头衔、服装、礼炮、旗帜 —— 变得越来越重要， 生命的整个过程已经被遗忘，或被故意搁置一旁。 比起理解生命的整体性， 使自己投入到社会和政治活动中，显得更为容易。 把自己与任何组织化的思想、政治或宗教活动联系在一起， 在为逃避日常生活中的琐碎和乏味，提供了一个体面的理由。 带着一颗狭小的心灵，你就可以谈论大事和受欢迎的领袖； 你可以掩饰你的浅薄，只需用简短的话语谈论国际新闻； 通过宣扬一种意识形态，无论是新的还是旧的宗教， 你躁动不安的头脑可以愉快地、在大家的鼓励声中，安定下来。
Politics is the reconciliation of effects; and as most of us are concerned with effects, the external has assumed dominant significance. By manipulating effects we hope to bring about order and peace; but, unfortunately, it is not as simple as all that. Life is a total process, the inner as well as the outer; the outer definitely affects the inner, but the inner invariably overcomes the outer. What you are, you bring about outwardly. The outer and the inner cannot be separated and kept in watertight compartments, for they are constantly interacting upon each other; but the inner craving, the hidden pursuits and motives, are always more powerful. Life is not dependent upon political or economic activity; life is not a mere outward show, any more than a tree is the leaf or the branch. Life is a total process whose beauty is to be discovered only in its integration. This integration does not take place on the superficial level of political and economic reconciliations; it is to be found beyond causes and effects.
政治是结果的调和； 由于我们大多数人都关心结果，外在已经占据了主导地位。 通过操纵结果，我们希望带来秩序与和平； 但不幸的是，它并不像所有这些那么简单。 生命是一个整体的过程，包含了内在和外在； 外在肯定影响内在，但内在总是战胜外在。 你是什么，你带来了外在的。 外在和内在不能被划分并保持在严密的隔离室内， 因为它们在不断地相互作用； 但内在的渴望，那看不见的追求和动机，总是更为强大。 生命不依赖于政治或经济活动； 生命不仅仅是一个外在的展现，如同树不仅仅是叶子或树枝一样。 生命是一个完整的过程，在它的融合中，才能发现其中的美。 这种融合 不会发生在政治与经济相协调的表层上； 它的发生，超越了因果。
Because we play with causes and effects and never go beyond them, except verbally, our lives are empty, without much significance. It is for this reason that we have become slaves to political excitement and to religious sentimentalism. There is hope only in the integration of the several processes of which we are made up. This integration does not come into being through any ideology, or through following any particular authority, religious or political; it comes into being only through extensive and deep awareness. This awareness must go into the deeper layers of consciousness and not be content with surface responses.
因为我们玩弄因果关系，从不超越它们，除了在口头上， 我们的生命是空虚的，没有多大意义。 正是由于这个原因， 使我们成为政治兴奋剂和宗教情怀主义的奴隶。 只有把我们组成的几个进程融合起来，才有希望。 这种融合不是通过任何意识形态， 也不能通过遵循任何特殊的宗教或政治权威而产生； 只有通过广泛而深刻的意识才能产生。 这种意识必须进入意识的更深层， 而不是满足于表层的回应。