THE BANYANS and the tamarinds dominated the small valley, which was green and alive after the rains. In the open the sun was strong and biting, but in the shade it was pleasantly cool. The shadows were deep, and the old trees were shapely against the blue sky. There was an astonishing number of birds in that valley, birds of many different kinds, and they would come to these trees and so quickly disappear in them. There would probably be no more rain for several months but now the countryside lay green and peaceful, the wells were full, and there was hope in the land. The corrupting towns were far beyond the hills, but the nearby villages were filthy and the people were starving. The government only promised, and the villagers seemed to care so little. There was beauty and gladness all about them, but they had no eyes for it nor for their own inward riches. Amidst so much loveliness the people were dull and empty.
榕树和罗望子树统治着这个小山谷， 雨后绿色而新鲜。 在开阔的地方，阳光强烈，很刺眼，但在阴凉处，是令人愉快的凉爽。 阴影很深，老树在蓝天下成形。 在那个山谷里，有数量惊人的鸟，许多不同种类的鸟， 它们会来到这些树上，然后很快消失在树上。 这几个月里，可能不会再下雨了， 但现在村外一片绿色和平，井中水充盈， 田野上有着希望。 腐败的城镇远在山丘之外， 但附近的村庄肮脏，人们正在挨饿。 政府只是应允，而村民们似乎也不在乎。 他们的周围，到处都是美丽和快乐， 但他们没有用眼睛去看，也不去看自己内在的丰盈。 在如此多的可爱中，人们却沉闷而空虚。
He was a teacher with little pay and a large family, but he was interested in education. He said he had a difficult time making ends meet, but he managed somehow, and poverty was not a disturbing factor. Though food was not in abundance, they had enough to eat, and as his children were being educated freely in the school where he was teaching, they could scrape along. He was proficient in his subject and taught other subjects too, which he said any teacher could do who was at all intelligent. He again stressed his deep interest in education.
他是一名薪水不高、家庭很大的老师，但他对教育很感兴趣。 他说，他很难辛地维持着生计，却以某种方式设法做到了， 贫困并不是一个令人不安的因素。 虽然食物并不丰富，但他们有足够的食物， 当他的孩子们在他教书的学校里接受自由教育时， 他们可以一同扛过去。 他精通他的科目，也教其他科目， 他说，任何一个聪明的老师都可以做到。 他再次强调了自己对教育的浓厚兴趣。
"What is the function of a teacher?" he asked.
“老师的职能是什么？” 他问。
Is he merely a giver of information, a transmitter of knowledge? "He has to be at least that. In any given society, boys and girls must be prepared to earn a livelihood, depending on their capacities, and so on. It is part of the function of a teacher to impart knowledge to the student so that he may have a job when the time comes, and may also, perhaps, help to bring about a better social structure. The student must be prepared to face life."
他仅仅是信息的给予者，知识的传播者吗？ “他至少必须成为那样的人。 在任何一个社会中，男孩和女孩都必须做好准备， 根据自己的能力谋生，等等。 教师的职能之一是向学生传授知识， 以便他在成年时，可以找到一份工作， 并且可能有助于带来更好的社会结构。 学生必须准备好面对生活。”
That is so, sir, but aren't we trying to find out what is the function of a teacher? Is it merely to prepare the student for a successful career? Has the teacher no greater and wider significance?
就是那样，先生，但是，难道我们不想找出老师的职能是什么吗？ 它仅仅是为了让学生有一个成功的职业生涯，而做准备吗？ 难道老师没有更大的、更宽广的意义吗？
"Of course he has. For one thing, he can be an example. By the way of his life, by his conduct, attitude and outlook, he can influence and inspire the student."
“他当然有。首先，他可以成为一个榜样。 通过他的生活，通过他的行为，态度和观点， 他可以影响和激励学生。”
Is it the function of a teacher to be an example to the student? Are there not already enough examples, heroes, leaders, without adding another to the long list? Is example the way of education? Is it not the function of education to help the student to be free, to be creative? And is there freedom in imitation, in conformity, whether outward or inward? When the student is encouraged to follow an example, is not fear sustained in a deep and subtle form? If the teacher becomes an example, does not that very example mould and twist the life of the student, and are you not then encouraging the everlasting conflict between what he is and what he should be? Is it not the function of a teacher to help the student to understand what he is?
老师的职能是成为学生的榜样吗？ 难道没有足够多的榜样吗 —— 英雄们、领袖们 —— 在这长长的清单中，还要再加上其他人吗？ 榜样就是教育的方式吗？ 难道教育的职能不是帮助学生自由、具有创造力吗？ 无论是外在或内在，在模仿与顺从中，有自由吗？ 当鼓励学生学习榜样的时候， 恐惧就以一种深刻而微妙的形式被维持着，难道不是吗？ 如果老师成为一个榜样， 那个榜样就在塑造和扭曲学生的生命，难道不是吗？ 那么，你难道不是在鼓励他本人与‘他应该成为的样子’之间的无休止的冲突吗？ 难道老师的职能不是帮助学生理解他是什么吗？
"But the teacher must guide the student towards a better and nobler life."
“但老师必须引导学生走向更美好、更高尚的生命。”
To guide, you must know; but do you? What do you know? You know only what you have learnt through the screen of your prejudices, which is your conditioning as a Hindu, a Christian, or a Communist; and this form of guidance only leads to greater misery and bloodshed, as is being shown throughout the world. Is it not the function of a teacher to help the student to free himself intelligently from all these conditioning influences so that he will be able to meet life deeply and fully, without fear, without aggressive discontent? Discontent is part of intelligence, but not the easy pacification of discontent. Acquisitive discontent is soon pacified, for it pursues the well worn pattern of acquisitive action. Is it not the function of a teacher to dispel the gratifying illusion of guides, examples and leaders?
要指导，你必须知道；但是你知道呢？你知道什么？ 你只知道透过你的有色眼镜而学到的东西， 那些东西，就是作为一个印度教徒、基督徒或共产主义者的个人的管窥之见； 而这种形式的指导，只会导致更多的痛苦和流血， 正如全世界所展示的那样。 难道老师的职能不是帮助学生 明智地将自己从所有这些局限的影响中解脱， 这样，他就能深刻而充分地迎接生命， 却没有恐惧、没有侵略性的不满？ 不满是智慧的一部分，却不是那种能轻易地平息的不满。 获取性的不满，很快就能被平息， 因为它在追逐老掉牙的、陈旧的行为模式。 难道教师的职能不是驱逐那些由指导者、榜样和领袖所产生出的令人满意的幻觉吗？
"Then at least the teacher can inspire the student to greater things." Again, are you not approaching the problem wrongly, sir? If you as a teacher infuse thought and feeling into the student, are you not making him psychologically dependent on you? When you act as his inspiration, when he looks up to you as he would to a leader or to an ideal, surely he is depending on you. Does not dependence breed fear? And does not fear cripple intelligence? "But if the teacher is not to be either an inspirer, an example, or a guide, then what in heaven's name is his true function?"
“那么，至少老师可以激励学生去做更伟大的事情。” 再说一遍，先生，你处理问题的着手方式是不是错了？ 作为一个老师，你把思想和感情灌输到学生身上， 你难道不是在让他对你产生心理上的依赖吗？ 当你作为他的灵感， 当他仰望你，就像他仰望领袖或理想一样， 他肯定会依赖你。依赖难道不会滋生恐惧吗？ 恐惧难道不会使智慧瘫痪吗？ “但是，如果老师不能成为一个启发者、一个榜样、也不是一个向导， 那么，看在老天的份上，他的真正职能是什么？”
The moment you are none of those things what are you? What is your relationship with the student? Did you previously have any relationship with the student at all? Your relationship with him was based on an idea of what was good for him, that he ought to be this or that. You were the teacher and he was the pupil; you acted upon him, you influenced him according to your particular conditioning so, consciously or unconsciously you moulded him in your own image. But if you cease to act upon him, then he becomes important in himself, which means that you have to understand him and not demand that he should understand you or your ideals, which are phoney anyway. Then you have to deal with what is and not with what should be.
当你不再是这些东西的那一刻，你是什么？ 您与学生的关系是怎样的？ 你以前与学生有什么关系？ 你和他之间的关系是基于一种想法， 也就是什么对他有好处，他应该是这样或那样。 你是老师，他是学生。 你根据你特定的局限，去影响他， 所以你有意识地或无意识地按照你自己的形象，在塑造着他。 但是，如果你不再对他动手脚，那么他就变成了重心， 这就意味着，你必须理解他， 而不是要求他理解你或你的理想，无论如何，这些东西都是虚假的。 然后，你必须处理现状，而不是‘应该是’。
Surely, when the teacher regards each student as a unique individual - and therefore not to be compared with any other, he is then not concerned with system or method. His sole concern is with 'helping' the student to understand the conditioning influences about him and within himself, so that he can face intelligently without fear, the complex process of living and not add more problems to the already existing mess.
当然，当老师把每个学生视为独一无二的个体时， —— 因此，不能与任何其他学生相比较， 他就不会去关心系统或方法。 他唯一关心的是‘帮助’学生去理解 关于他和他内心的受限情况， 这样他就可以毫无畏惧地、智慧地面对复杂的生活， 而不会给已经存在的混乱增加更多的问题。
"Are you not asking of the teacher a task that is far beyond him?"
“你不是在要求老师去做一个远远超出他的能力的任务吗？”
If you are incapable of this, then why be a teacher? Your question has meaning only if teaching is a mere career to you, a job like any other, for I feel that nothing is impossible for the true educator.
如果你做不到这些，为什么要去当老师？ 如果教学对你来说仅仅是一种职业，像其他任何的岗位一样， 那么你问的问题才有意义， 因为我觉得，对于真正的教育家来说，没有什么是不可能的。