IT HAD BEEN warm all day and it was a trial to be out. The glare of the road and of the water, already harsh and penetrating, was made more intense by the white houses; and the earth that had been green was now bright golden and parched. The rains would not come for many months. The little stream had dried up and was now a winding ribbon of sand. Some cattle were in the shade of the trees, and the boy who was looking after them sat apart, flinging stones and singing in his loneliness. The village was some miles away, and he was by himself; he was thin and underfed, but cheerful, and his song was not too sad.

一整天都很热，外出是一场考验。 道路和水的眩光，已经很严苛和刺眼， 而白色的房子使其变得更加强烈； 原本是绿色的大地，现在已经呈现出明亮的金黄色和干涸。 雨在几个月内都不会来。 小溪已经干涸，现在变成一条蜿蜒的沙带。 一些牛在树荫下， 照看它们的小男孩坐在旁边，扔石子，在孤独中唱歌。 村子在几英里外，他独自一人； 他瘦弱，没吃饱，却也快活，他的歌声也不太悲伤。

Beyond the hill was the house, and we reached it as the sun was going down. From the roof one could see the green tops of the palms, stretching in an unending wave to the yellow sands. The palms cast a yellow shade, and their green was golden. Beyond the yellow sands was the green-grey sea. White waves were crowding on to the beach, but the deep waters were quiet. The clouds over the sea were taking on colour, though the sun was setting far away from them. The evening star was just showing herself. A cool breeze had come up, but the roof was still warm. A small group had gathered, and they must have been there for some time.

山外有一个房子，太阳下山时我们到达了那儿。 从屋顶上可以看到棕榈树的绿色顶部， 在无休止的绿浪中延伸到黄色的沙滩。 棕榈树投下黄色的阴影，它们的绿色是金色的。 在黄色的沙滩之外是灰绿色的大海。 白色的海浪拥挤在海滩上，深水处却很安静。 海上的云层正在变色，尽管夕下的太阳离它们很远。 晚星刚露出了她自己。 一阵凉风吹来，但屋顶仍然是温热的。 一小群人聚在一起，他们一定在那里待了一段时间。

“I am married and the mother of several children, but I have never felt love. I am beginning to wonder if it exists at all. We know sensations, passions, excitements and satisfying pleasures, but I wonder if we know love. We often say that we love, but there is always a withholding. Physically we may not withhold, we may give ourselves completely a gift; but even then there is a withholding. The giving is a gift of the senses, but that which alone can give is unawakened, far away. We meet and get lost in the smoke, but that is not the flame. Why is it that we have not got the flame? Why is the flame not burning without smoke? I wonder if we have become too clever, too knowing to have that perfume. I suppose I am too well read, too modern and stupidly superficial. In spite of clever talk, I suppose I am really dull.”

“我已婚，是几个孩子的母亲，但我从未感受到爱。 我开始怀疑它是否存在。 我们知道感觉、激情、兴奋和满足的快乐， 但我想知道，我们是否知道爱。 我们常说我们爱，但总有一种隐瞒。 在肉体上，我们可能不会隐瞒，我们可以把自身完全地赠与对方； 但即便如此，也是有所保留。 这种赠与是感官的礼物， 却唯有那，才能给予非感官的、遥远的。 我们相遇并迷失在烟雾中，但那不是火焰。 为什么我们没有得到火焰？ 为什么没有烟的火焰不能燃烧？ 我想知道我们是否变得太聪明了，太熟悉那种香水。 我想我是书读得太多了、太时髦了、愚蠢地肤浅了。 尽管说话很聪明，但我想我真的很沉闷。”

But is it a matter of dullness? Is love a bright ideal, the unattainable which becomes attainable only if the conditions are fulfilled? Has one the time to fulfil all the conditions? We talk about beauty, write about it, paint it, dance it, preach it, but we are not beautiful, nor do we know love. We know only the words.

但这是一个沉闷的事情吗？ 爱是一个光明的理想，一个无法实现的， 只有当条件得到满足才能实现的理想吗？ 一个人有时间满足所有这些条件吗？ 我们谈论美，描写它，画它，为之跳舞，宣扬它， 但我们并不美丽，我们也不懂爱。我们只知道这些词。

To be open and vulnerable is to be sensitive; where there is a withholding, there is insensitivity. The vulnerable is the insecure, the free from tomorrow; the open is the implicit, the unknown. That which is open and vulnerable is beautiful; the enclosed is dull and insensitive. Dullness, like cleverness, is a form of self-protection. We open this door, but keep that one closed, for we want the fresh breeze only through a particular opening. We never go outside or open all the doors and windows at the same time. Sensitivity is not a thing you get in time. The dull can never become the sensitive; the dull is always the dull. Stupidity can never become intelligent. The attempt to become intelligent is stupid. That is one of our difficulties, is it not? We are always trying to become something – and dullness remains.

敞开和脆弱就是敏感； 哪里有保留，哪里就有不敏感。 脆弱的人，就是没有安全感的人、脱离了明天的自由人； 敞开是隐含的、未知的。 那敞开和脆弱的，是美丽的； 这封闭的，是沉闷和不敏感的。 沉闷，就像聪明一样，是一种自我保护的形式。 我们打开这扇门，但保持那扇门的关闭， 因为我们想要清新的空气只通过一个特定的开口。 我们从不出门或同时打开所有的门窗。 在时间的长河中，你不能获取敏感性。 沉闷永远不会变成敏感；沉闷总是沉闷的。 愚蠢永远不会变得智慧。试图变得智慧就是愚蠢。 那是我们的困难之一，不是吗？ 我们总是试图成为某种人物 —— 沉闷却依旧。

“Then what is one to do?”

“那人该怎么办呢？”

Do nothing but be what you are, insensitive. To do is to avoid what is, and the avoidance of what is is the grossest form of stupidity. Whatever it does, stupidity is still stupidity. The insensitive cannot become the sensitive; all it can do is to be aware of what it is, to let the story of what it is unfold. Do not interfere with insensitivity, for that which interferes is the insensitive, the stupid. Listen, and it will tell you its story; do not translate or act, but listen without interruption or interpretation right to the end of the story. Then only will there be action. The doing is not important, but the listening is.

什么都不做，意识你自己的现状、你的不敏感。 ‘做’就是逃避现状， 而逃避现状是最恶劣的愚蠢行径。 无论做什么，愚蠢依然是愚蠢。 ‘不敏感’不能成为‘敏感’； 能做的就是意识到现状，让故事展开。 不要干涉‘不敏感’， 因为干涉就是不敏感、愚蠢。 听它给你讲的故事； 别去解释或行动， 在故事结束前，别打断它或解释它。 唯有如此，才会有行动。 ‘做’并不重要，‘听’才是重点。

To give, there must be the inexhaustible. The withholding that gives is the fear of ending, and only in ending is there the inexhaustible. Giving is not ending. Giving is from the much or the little; and the much or the little is the limited, the smoke, the giving and taking. The smoke is desire as jealousy, anger, disappointment; the smoke is the fear of time; the smoke is memory, experience. There is no giving, but only extending the smoke. Withholding is inevitable, for there is nothing to give. Sharing is not giving; the consciousness of sharing or giving puts an end to communion. The smoke is not the flame but we mistake it for the flame. Be aware of the smoke, that which is without blowing away the smoke to see the flame.

要给予，必须有取之不尽、用之不竭的。 在给予中，有所保留，就是对结束的恐惧， 只有在结束中，才有取之不尽、用之不竭的。 给予不会结束。 给予来源于多或少； 而多或少，是有限的，是烟雾，一边在给予，一边在索取。 烟雾是作为嫉妒、愤怒、失望的欲望； 烟雾是对时间的恐惧； 烟雾是记忆、体验。 没有给予，只有烟雾的弥漫。 保留是不可避免的，因为没有什么可给予。 分享不是给予； 意识到分享或给予，就终结了共融。 烟雾不是火焰，但我们把它误认为是火焰。 意识到烟雾，不吹走烟雾，就能看见火焰。

“Is it possible to have that flame, or is it only for the few?”

“有没有可能拥有那团火焰，还是它只是为了少数人？”

Whether it is for the few or the many is not the point, is it? If we pursue that path it can only lead to ignorance and illusion. Our concern is with the flame. Can you have that flame, that flame without smoke? Find out; observe the smoke silently and patiently. You cannot dispel the smoke, for you are the smoke. As the smoke goes, the flame will come. This flame is inexhaustible. Everything has a beginning and an ending, it is soon exhausted, worn out. When the heart is empty of the things of the mind, and the mind is empty of thought, then is there Love. That which is empty is inexhaustible.

无论人数是少是多，都不是重点，不是吗？ 如果我们走这条路，它只会导致无知和幻想。 我们关心的是火焰。 你能拥有那团火焰，那没有烟的火焰吗？ 找出答案；静静地、耐心地观察烟雾。 你无法驱散烟雾，因为你就是烟雾。 随着烟雾的消失，火焰就会来临。 这火焰取之不尽、用之不竭。 一切都有开始和结束，很快会枯竭、破败。 当心中没有了头脑的东西， 头脑清空了思想时，那么，爱在。 那虚无，是取之不尽、用之不竭的。

The battle is not between the flame and the smoke, but between the different responses within the smoke. The flame and the smoke can never be in conflict with each other. To be in conflict, they must be in relationship; and how can there be relationship between them? The one is when the other is not.

战斗不是在火焰与烟雾之间， 而是在烟雾中的不同回应之间。 火焰与烟雾永远不会相互冲突。 要发生冲突，他们必须有关系； 他们之间怎么会有关系？ 当一个不存在的时候，另一个就存在。