THE ROAD IN front of the house went down to the sea, weaving its way past many small shops, great flats, garages, temples, and a dusty, neglected garden. When it reached the sea, the road became a big thoroughfare, with taxis, rattling buses, and all the noise of a modem city. Leading off this thoroughfare there was a peaceful, sheltered avenue overhung with huge rain-trees, but in the morning and evening it was busy with cars on their way to a smart club, with its golf course and lovely gardens. As I walked along this avenue there were various types of beggars lying on the pavement; they were not noisy, and did not even stretch out their hands to the passer-by. A girl about ten years old was lying with her head on a tin can, resting with wide open eyes; she was dirty, with matted hair, but she smiled as I smiled at her. Further along, a little girl, hardly three, came forward with outstretched hand and an enchanting smile. The mother was watching from behind a nearby tree. I took the outstretched hand and we walked together for a few paces, returning her to her mother. As I had no coin, I returned with one the next day, but the little girl would not take it, she wanted to play; so we played, and the coin was given to the mother. Whenever I walked along that avenue the little girl was always there, with a shy smile and bright eyes.
房前的路一直延伸到大海， 穿过了许多小商店，大公寓，车库，寺庙和一个尘土飞扬的、被忽视的花园。 当它到达大海时，这条路变成了一条大路， 路上有出租车，嘎嘎作响的公共汽车，以及现代城市的所有噪音。 沿着这条大路向前，是一条宁静的、有遮蔽的大道，上面撑着巨大的雨树， 但在早上和晚上，汽车来往于一个精美的俱乐部， 那里有高尔夫球场和美丽的花园。 当我沿着这条大道走，人行道上躺着各种各样的乞丐。 他们不吵闹，甚至没有向路人伸出手。 一个大约十岁的女孩头枕在锡罐上，睁大眼睛休息； 她很脏，头发蓬乱，但当我对她微笑时，她笑了。 再往前走，一个不到三岁的小女孩伸出手，露出迷人的笑容。 母亲在附近的一棵树后面看着。 我拉起伸出的手，我们一起走了几步，把她带回了她的母亲身边。 由于我没有硬币，第二天我带着一枚硬币回来了， 但小女孩不拿走它，她想玩； 因此我们玩耍，硬币给了母亲。 每当我沿着那条大道散步时，小女孩总是在那里，带着害羞的微笑和明亮的眼睛。
Opposite the entrance to the fashionable club a beggar was seated on the ground; he was covered with a filthy gunnysack, and his matted hair was full of dust. Some days, as I went by, he would be lying down, his head in the dust, his naked body covered with the gunnysack; on other days he would be sitting up, perfectly still, looking without seeing, with the massive rain-tree over him. One evening there was gaiety at the club; it was all lit up, and sparkling cars full of laughing people were driving in, tooting their horns. From the clubhouse came light music loud and air-filling. Many policemen were at the entrance, where a large crowd had gathered to watch the smartly-dressed and well fed people pass by in their cars. The beggar had turned his back on all this. One man was offering him something to eat, and another a cigarette but he silently refused both without making a movement. He was slowly dying, day by day, and the people passed by.
在时尚俱乐部的入口对面，一个乞丐坐在地上。 他身上布满了肮脏的枪袋，他头发上满是灰尘。 有些日子，当我经过时，他会躺下， 头在尘土中，赤裸的身体被枪袋覆盖； 在其他日子里，他会坐起来，完全静止， 睁着眼，却什么也不看，巨大的雨树在他的上面。 一天晚上，俱乐部里很欢乐。 一切都被点亮了， 闪亮的汽车里满是欢笑，人们开车进来，按着喇叭。 从俱乐部里，传来了轻快的音乐，声音很大，弥漫在空气里。 许多警察在入口处，一大群人聚集在一起， 看着穿着得体，吃得好的人开着车经过。 这个乞丐对这一切置之不理。 一个人给他吃东西，另一个人递烟给他， 但他都默默地拒绝了，没有动静。 他正在慢慢地死去，日复一日，人们从旁边走过。
Those rain-trees were massive against the darkening sky, and of fantastic shape. They had very small leaves, but their branches seemed huge, and they had a strange majesty and aloofness in that overcrowded city of noise and pain. But the sea was there, everlastingly in motion, restless and infinite. There were white sails, mere specks in that infinitude, and on the dancing waters the moon made a path of silver. The rich beauty of the earth, the distant stars, and deathless humanity. Immeasurable vastness seemed to cover all things.
那些雨树在黑暗的天空中是巨大的，形状奇妙。 它们的叶子很小，但它们的树枝看起来很大， 在那个拥挤不堪、充满噪音和痛苦的城市里，它们有一种奇怪的威严和冷漠。 但大海就在那里，永远在运动、不安分、无边无际。 有白色的帆，只是无垠中的斑点， 在跳舞的水域上，月亮踏上了一条银色的道路。 地球的丰富之美，遥远的星星，以及不死的人类。 不可估量的浩瀚似乎涵盖了一切。
He was a youngish man, and had come from the other side of the country, a tiresome journey. He had taken a vow not to marry till he had found the meaning and purpose of life. Determined and aggressive, he worked in some office from which he had taken leave for a certain period to try to find the answer to his search. He had a busy and argumentative mind, and was so taken up with his own and other people’s answers that he would hardly listen. His words could not come fast enough, and he quoted endlessly what the philosophers and teachers had said concerning the purpose of life. He was tormented and deeply anxious.
他是一个年轻人， 来自这个国家的另一边，这是一段令人厌烦的旅程。 他发誓不结婚，直到他找到生命的意义和目的。 他坚定而积极进取，在某个办公室工作， 他从那里请了一段时间假，试图找到他要寻找的答案。 他有一个忙碌和争论的头脑， 并且非常沉迷于自己和他人的答案，以至于他几乎不听。 他吐字不快， 无休止地引用哲学家和老师们关于生命的目的所说的话。 他饱受折磨，深深地焦虑。
“Without knowing the purpose of life, my very existence has no meaning, and all my action is destructive. I earn a livelihood just to carry on; I suffer, and death awaits me. This is the way of life but what is the purpose of it all? I do not know. I have been to the learned, and to the various gurus; some say one thing, some another. What do you say?”
“在不知道生命目的的情况下，我的存在本身就没有意义， 我所有的行为都是破坏性的。我谋生只是为了继续下去； 我受苦，死亡在等着我。 这就是生命的方式，但这一切的目的是什么？我不知道。 我去过有学问的人，也去过各种大师。有人说一个东西，有人说另一个东西。 你会说什么？”
Are you asking in order to compare what is said here with what has been said elsewhere? “Yes. Then I can choose, and my choice will depend on what I consider to be true.”
你这么问，是为了把这里所说的话和其他地方所说的话进行比较吗？ “是的。然后我可以选择，我的选择将取决于我认为是真实的。”
Do you think that the understanding of what is true is a matter of personal opinion and dependent on choice? Through choice will you discover what is true? “How else can one find the real if not through discrimination, through choice? I shall listen to you very carefully, and if what you say appeals to me, I shall reject what the others have said and pattern my life after the goal you have set. I am most earnest in my desire to find out what is the true purpose of life.”
你认为对真实的理解 是一种个人的意见，是由选择决定的吗？ 通过选择，你会发现什么是真的吗？ “如果不是通过鉴别，通过选择，人怎么能找到真实呢？ 我会非常仔细地听你的话， 如果你说的话对我有吸引力，我会拒绝别人说的话， 按照你设定的目标来塑造我的生命。 我最真诚地渴望找出人生的真正目的是什么。”
Sir, before going any further, is it not important to ask yourself if you are capable of seeking out the true? This is suggested with respect, and not in a derogatory spirit. Is truth a matter of opinion, of pleasure, of gratification? You say that you will accept what appeals to you, which means that you are not interested in truth, but are after that which you find most gratifying. You are prepared to go through pain, through compulsion, in order to gain that which in the end is pleasurable. You are seeking pleasure, not truth. Truth must be something beyond like and dislike, must it not? Humility must be the beginning of all search.
先生，在继续之前， 问问你自己你是否有能力寻找真实，这难道不重要吗？ 这是出于尊重，而不是出于贬损的精神。 真实是意见、快乐、满足的问题吗？ 你说你会接受吸引你的东西， 这意味着你对真实不感兴趣， 而是在追求你觉得最令人满意的东西。 你准备经历痛苦，通过强迫，来获得最终令人愉悦的东西。 你是在寻求快乐，而不是真实。 真实一定是超越喜欢和不喜欢的东西，不是吗？ 在所有的寻求的开始，必需有谦卑。
“That is why I have come to you, sir. I am really seeking; I look to the teachers to tell me what is true, and I shall follow them in a humble and contrite spirit.”
“这就是我来找你的原因，先生。 我真地在寻求；我期待老师们告诉我什么是真的， 我将以谦卑和忏悔的精神追随他们。”
To follow is to deny humility. You follow because you desire to succeed, to gain an end. An ambitious man however subtle and hidden his ambition, is never humble. To pursue authority and set it up as a guide is to destroy insight, understanding. The pursuit of an ideal prevents humility, for the ideal is the glorification of the self, the ego. How can he who in different ways gives importance to the ‘me’, ever be humble? Without humility, reality can never be.
追随就是拒绝谦卑。 你追随，是因为你渴望成功，渴望获得终点。 一个雄心勃勃的人，无论他的雄心多么的微妙和隐匿，从来都不是谦卑的。 追求权威并将其设置为指南，就是破坏洞察和理解。 追求理想，就是阻止谦卑， 因为理想是我的荣耀，是自我的荣耀。 那些以不同的方式重视‘我’的人，怎么能谦卑呢？ 没有谦卑，真实就永远不可能存在。
“But my whole concern in coming here is to find out what is the true purpose of life.”
“但我来到这里的全部关注点是找出生命的真正目的。”
If one may be permitted to say so, you are just caught up in an idea, and it is becoming a fixation. This is something of which one has to be constantly watchful. Wanting to know the true purpose of life, you have read many philosophers and sought out many teachers. Some say this, some say that, and you want to know the truth. Now, do you want to know the truth of what they say, or the truth of your own inquiry?
如果一个人可以被允许这么说， 你只是陷进了一个想法，它正在成为一种执着。 这是一个人必须不断警惕的某个东西。 想知道人生真正的目的， 你已经读过很多哲学家，也找过很多老师。 有人说这个，有人说那个，你想知道其真实性。 现在，你想知道他们所说的是真的，还是你想自己去调查真相？
“When you ask a straight question like that, I feel rather hesitant in my reply. There are people who have studied and experienced more than I ever can, and it would be absurd conceit on my part to discard what they say, which may help me to uncover the significance of life. But each one speaks according to his own experience and understanding, and they sometimes contradict each other. The Marxists say one thing, and the religious people say something quite different. Please help me to find the truth in all this.”
“当你问这样一个直截了当的问题时，我在回答时感到相当犹豫。 有些人比我学得更多，经验比我多， 放弃他们说的话，这或许有助于我揭开生命的意义，那将是荒谬的自负。 但每个人都根据自己的经验和理解说话， 有时相互矛盾。 马克思主义者说出一个东西，宗教人士说出一些完全不同的东西。 请帮助我找出这一切的真相。”
To see the false as the false, and the truth in the false, and the true as the true, is not easy. To perceive clearly, there must be freedom from desire, which twists and conditions the mind. You are so eager to find the true significance of life that your very eagerness becomes a hindrance to the understanding of your own inquiry. You want to know the truth of what you have read and of what your teachers have said, do you not?
要把假看成假，在假中看到真，把真看成真，是不容易的。 要清楚地感知，必须有摆脱欲望的自由， 欲望扭曲和限制头脑。 你是如此渴望找到生命的真正意义， 以至于在亲自调查的途中，你的这种渴望变成了理解的障碍。 你想知道你所读到的和你的老师所说的话的真实性，不是吗？
“Yes, most definitely.”
“是的，当然。”
Then you must be able to find out for yourself what is true in all these statements. Your mind must be capable of direct perception; if it is not, it will be lost in the jungle of ideas, opinions and beliefs. If your mind has not the capacity to see what is true, you will be like a driven leaf. So what is important is not the conclusions and assertions of others, whoever they be, but for you to have insight into what is true. Is this not most essential?
那么，你必须亲自找出所有这些陈述中的真实性。 你的头脑必须能够直接感知； 如果不是这样，它将迷失在观念、意见和信仰的丛林中。 如果你的头脑没有能力看见什么是真实，那么你像一片被吹动的叶子。 因此，重要的不是别人的结论和断言，无论他们是谁， 而是你要洞察到什么是真实。 这难道不是最基本的吗？
“I think it is, but how am I going to have this gift?”
“我想是的，但是我怎么能有这份天赋呢？”
Understanding is not a gift reserved for the few, but it comes to those who are earnest in their self-knowledge. Comparison does not bring about understanding; comparison is another form of distraction, as judgment is evasion. For the truth to be, the mind must be without comparison, without evaluation. When the mind is comparing, evaluating, it is not quiet, it is occupied. An occupied mind is incapable of clear and simple perception.
理解不是留给少数人的天赋， 而是源于那些认真地认识自我的人。 比较不能带来理解； 比较是另一种形式的分心，因为判断即是逃避。 为了让真实存在，头脑必须不去比较、不去评估。 当头脑在比较、评估时，它就不安静，它就被占据。 一个被占据的头脑，无法清晰和简单地感知。
“Does it mean, then, that I must strip myself of all the values that I have built up, the knowledge that I have gathered?”
“那么，它是否意味着 我必须剥夺自己所建立的所有价值观，我所收集的知识？”
Must not the mind be free to discover? Does knowledge, information – the conclusions and experiences of oneself and others, this vast accumulated burden of memory – bring freedom? Is there freedom as long as there is the censor who is judging, condemning, comparing? The mind is never quiet if it is always acquiring and calculating; and must not the mind be still for truth to be? “I see that, but aren’t you asking too much of a simple and ignorant mind like mine?”
头脑难道不能自由地去发现吗？ 知识、信息 —— 自己和他人的结论和经验，这种巨大的记忆负担 —— 会带来自由吗？ 只要有审查者在评判、谴责、比较，还有自由吗？ 如果头脑总是在获取和计算，它就永远不会安静； 难道头脑不能停下，让真实浮现吗？ “我明白了，但是像我这样简单无知的头脑，你的要求是不是太高了？”
Are you simple and ignorant? If you really were, it would be a great delight to begin with true inquiry; but unfortunately you are not. Wisdom and truth come to a man who truly says, “I am ignorant I do not know”. The simple, the innocent, not those who are burdened with knowledge, will see the light, for they are humble. “I want only one thing, to know the true purpose of life, and you shower me with things that are beyond me. Can you not please tell me in simple words what is the true significance of life?”
你是简单的、无知的吗？ 如果你真的是，那么你就会非常高兴地出发，去真实的调查。 但很不幸，你不是。 智慧和真实降临于一个真正地说 “我是无知的，我不知道”的人身上。 那些简单的、纯真的，而不是那些背负着知识负担的人， 将会看到光明，因为他们是谦卑的。 “我只想要一个东西，知道生命的真正目的， 而你却用超越我的东西来沐浴我。 你能不能用简单的语言告诉我，生命的真正意义是什么？”
Sir, you must begin very near to go far. You want the immense without seeing what is close by. You want to know the significance of life. Life has no beginning and no end; it is both death and life; it is the green leaf, and the withered leaf that is driven by the wind; it is love and its immeasurable beauty, the sorrow of solitude and the bliss of aloneness. It cannot be measured, nor can the mind discover it.
先生，你必须从非常近的地方开始，才能走得很远。 你想要巨大的，却看不到附近的东西。 你想知道生命的意义。生命没有开始，也没有结束； 它既是死亡又是生命； 它是绿叶，是被风飘散的枯叶； 它是爱和它不可估量的美，孤独的悲伤和自在的快乐。 它无法被测量，头脑也无法发现它。