THE MONKEYS WERE on the road, and in the middle of the road a baby monkey was playing with its tail, but the mother was keeping an eye on it. They were all well aware that someone was there, at a safe distance. The adult males were large, heavy and rather vicious, and most of the other monkeys avoided them. They were all eating some kind of berries that had fallen on the road from a large, shady tree with thick leaves. The recent rains had filled the river, and the stream under the narrow bridge was gurgling. The monkeys avoided the water and the puddles on the road, and when a car appeared splattering mud as it came, they were off the road in a second, the mother taking the baby with her. Some climbed the tree and others went down the bank on each side of the road, but they were back on it as soon as the car had sped by. They had now got quite used to the human presence. They were as restless as the human mind, and up to all kinds of tricks.
猴子们在路上， 在路中间，一只小猴子正在玩弄它的尾巴， 而母亲一直在看着它。 他们都非常清楚有人在那里，在一个安全的距离内。 成年雄性体型庞大，沉重且相当凶恶， 其他的大多数猴子都避开它们。 他们都在吃某种浆果， 这些浆果是从一棵长着厚厚叶子的大树上掉在路上的。 最近的雨水填满了河水， 狭窄的桥下，流水咕噜咕噜地流淌着。 猴子们避开了路上的水和水坑， 一辆车开过来，溅起了泥浆， 他们立刻离开了道路，母亲带走了自己的孩子。 有些爬到树上，其他则沿着道路两侧的河岸走下去， 一旦汽车加速通过后，他们就又回来了。 他们现在已经习惯了人类的存在。 他们像人类的头脑一样躁动不安，并且有各种各样的小花招。
The rice fields on either side of the road were a luscious, sparkling green in the warm sun, and against the blue hills beyond the fields the ricebirds were white and slow-winged. A long, brownish snake had crawled out of the water and was resting in the sun. A brilliantly blue kingfisher had alighted on the bridge and was readying itself for another dive. It was a lovely morning, not too hot, and the solitary palms scattered over the fields told of many things. Between the green fields and the blue hills there was communion, a song. Time seemed to pass so quickly. In the blue sky the kites were wheeling; occasionally they would alight on a branch to preen themselves, and then off they would go again, calling and circling. There were also several eagles, with white necks and golden-brown wings and bodies. Among the newly-sprouted grass there were large red ants; they would race jerkily forward, suddenly stop, and then go off in the opposite direction. Life was so rich, so abundant - and unnoticed, which was perhaps what all these living things, big and little, wanted.
路边的稻田是甜美的，在温暖的阳光中闪着绿光， 在田野外的蓝色山丘的映衬下，稻鸟是白色的，翅膀缓慢。 一条长长的褐色的蛇，从水中爬出来，在阳光下休息。 一只湛蓝的翠鸟落在桥上， 准备再次潜水。 这是一个可爱的早晨，不太热， 田野上散落的孤独的棕榈树们讲述着许多故事。 在绿色的田野和蓝色的山丘之间，有一种融洽，一首曲子。 时间似乎过得飞快。 在蔚蓝的天空中，风筝在翻筋斗。 偶尔，它们会落在树枝上，点缀在它们自己， 然后离开，它们会再次离去、回来和翻筋斗。 还有几只鹰，有白色的脖子和金棕色的翅膀和身体。 新发芽的草丛中，有大红蚂蚁； 他们会蹒跚地向前跑，突然停下来，然后朝相反的方向走去。 生命是如此丰盈，如此富饶 —— 却没有被注意到，或许，这正是所有这些生物们，无论大小，都想要的。
A young ox with bells around its neck was drawing a light cart which was delicately made, its two large wheels connected by a thin steel bar on which a wooden platform was mounted. On this platform a man was sitting, proud of the fast-trotting ox and the turnout. The ox, sturdy and yet slender, gave him importance; everyone would look at him now, as the passing villagers did. They stopped, looked with admiring eyes, made comments, and passed on. How proud and erect the man sat, looking straight ahead! Pride, whether in little things or in great achievements, is essentially the same. What one does and what one has gives one importance and prestige; but man in himself as a total being seems to have hardly any significance at all.
一头脖子上挂着铃铛的年轻牛 正在拉一辆制作精巧的轻型手推车， 它的两个大轮子由一根细的钢条连接，上面安装了一个木制平台。 在这个平台上，一个男人坐着，对快速小跑的牛和动力感到自豪。 这头牛，坚实而紧凑，赋予了他的重要性； 现在每个人都会看着他，就像路过的村民一样。 他们停了下来，用钦佩的眼神看着，发表了评论，然后离开了。 那个男人坐着，直视着前方，多么骄傲和坚定！ 骄傲，无论是在小事上还是在伟大的成就上，本质上都是一样的。 一个人所做的和他所拥有的，会给人以重要性和声望； 但对一个完整的人来说，它似乎根本没有任何意义。
He came with two of his friends. Each of them had a good college degree, and they were doing well, they said, in their various professions. They were all married and had children, and they seemed pleased with life, yet they were disturbed too. "If I may," he said, "I would like to ask a question to set the ball rolling. It is not an idle question, and it has somewhat disturbed me since hearing you a few evenings ago. Among other things you said that competition and ambition were destructive urges which man must understand and so be free of, if he is to live in a peaceful society. But are not struggle and conflict part of the very nature of existence?"
他和他的两个朋友一起来了。他们每个人都有很好的大学学位， 他们说，他们在各种职业中都做得很好。 他们都结了婚，生了孩子，他们似乎对生活很满意， 但他们也很不安。“如果可以的话，” 他说， “我想问一个问题来让球滚动。这不是一个无聊的问题， 自从几个晚上前，听到你的声音以来，我就有些困惑。 除其他事情外，你说竞争和野心是破坏性的冲动， 如果人要生活在一个和平的社会中， 他就必须理解这些冲动，因此必须摆脱这种冲动。 但是，斗争和冲突难道不是存在的本质的一部分吗？”
Society as at present constituted is based on ambition and conflict, and almost everyone accepts this fact as inevitable. The individual is conditioned to its inevitability; through education, through various forms of outward and inward compulsion, he is made to be competitive. If he is to fit into this society at all, he must accept the conditions it lays down, otherwise he has a pretty bad time. We seem to think that we have to fit into this society; but why should one?
目前，社会是建立在野心和冲突之上的， 几乎每个人都接受这一事实，认为这是不可避免的。 个人习惯了它的必然性； 通过教育，通过各种形式的外在和内在的强迫， 他被塑造成有竞争性的。 如果他要融入这个社会， 他必须接受它所规定的条件，否则他就会有一段非常糟糕的时光。 我们似乎认为我们必须适应这个社会；但为什么要这样做呢？
"If we don't, we will just go under."
“如果我们不这样做，我们就会陷入困境。”
I wonder if that would happen if we saw the whole significance of the problem? We might not live according to the usual pattern, but we would live creatively and happily, with a wholly different out look. Such a state cannot be brought about if we accept the present social pattern as inevitable. But to get back to your point: do ambition, competition and conflict constitute a predestined and inevitable way of life? You evidently assume that they do. Now let us begin from there. Why do you take this competitive way of life to be the only process of existence?
我在想，如果我们看到这个问题的全部意义，会发生什么情况？ 我们可能不会按照通常的模式生活， 但我们会创造性地、快乐地生活，拥有完全不同的视野。 如果我们接受目前的社会模式，并认为它是不可避免的，那么这种状态就无法实现。 但是，回到你的观点： 野心、竞争和冲突，是否构成一种注定的、不可避免的生活方式？ 你显然认为它们是。现在让我们从那里开始。 你为什么把这种竞争性的生活方式作为存在的唯一过程？
"I am competitive, ambitious, like all those around me. It is a fact which often gives me pleasure, and sometimes pain, but I just accept it without struggle, because I don't know any other way of living; and even if I did, I suppose I would be afraid to try it. I have many responsibilities, and I would be gravely concerned about the future of my children if I broke away from the usual thoughts and habits of life."
“我有竞争性，雄心勃勃，就像我周围的人一样。 它是一个经常给我带来快乐，有时也带来痛苦的事实， 但我只是毫无抗拒地接受它，因为我不知道任何其他的生活方式； 即使我知道，我想我会害怕去尝试它。 我有很多责任， 如果我打破通常的想法和生活习惯， 我会非常担忧我的孩子们的未来。”
You may be responsible for others, sir, but have you not also the responsibility to bring about a peaceful world? There can be no peace, no enduring happiness for man as long as we - the individual, the group and the nation - accept this competitive existence as inevitable. Competitiveness, ambition, implies conflict within and without, does it not? An ambitious man is not a peaceful man, though he may talk of peace and brotherhood. The politician can never bring peace to the world, nor can those who belong to any organized belief, for they all have been conditioned to a world of leaders, saviours, guides and examples; and when you follow another you are seeking the fulfilment of your own ambition, whether in this world or in the world of ideation, the so-called spiritual world. Competitiveness, ambition implies conflict, does it not?
先生，你也许要对别人负责， 但你难道没有责任去实现一个和平的世界吗？ 只要我们 —— 个人、群体和国家 —— 接受这种竞争性的存在是不可避免的， 人类就不会有和平，不会有持久的快乐。 竞争、雄心，意味着内在和外在的冲突，不是吗？ 一个雄心勃勃的人不是一个和平的人，尽管他可能会谈论和平与兄弟情谊。 政治家永远不可能给世界带来和平， 那些属于任何组织化的信仰的人也不能， 因为他们都习惯于一个由领袖、救世主、导师和榜样组成的世界； 当你跟随另一个人时，你就是在寻求实现你自己的野心， 无论是在这个世界上，还是在观念的世界中，所谓的灵性世界中。 竞争，野心意味着冲突，不是吗？
"I see that, but what is one to do? Being caught in this net of competition, how is one to get out of it? And even if one does get out of it, what assurance is there that there will be peace between man and man? Unless all of us see the truth of the matter at the same time, the perception of that truth by one or two will have no value whatever."
“我看到了，但该怎么办呢？ 陷入这张竞争的网中，如何摆脱它？ 即使一个人真的摆脱了它， 又有什么措施能保证人与人之间会有和平呢？ 除非我们所有人同时看到事情的真相， 否则一两个人对真相的感知将没有任何价值。”
You want to know how to get out of this net of conflict, fulfilment, frustration. The very question 'how?' implies that you want to be assured that your endeavour will not be in vain. You still want to succeed, only at a different level. You do not see that all ambition, all desire for success in any direction, creates conflict both within and without. The 'how?' is the way of ambition and conflict, and that very question prevents you from seeing the truth of the problem. The 'how?' is the ladder to further success. But we are not now thinking in terms of success or failure, rather in terms of the elimination of conflict; and does it follow that without conflict, stagnation is inevitable? Surely, peace comes into being, not through safeguards, sanctions and guarantees, but it is there when you are not - you who are the agent of conflict with your ambitions and frustrations.
你想知道如何摆脱这张冲突、实现、挫折的网。 问“如何”这个问题，本身就意味着你想得到保证， 保证你的努力不会白费。 你依然想要成功，只是在不同的层面上。 你没有看到： 所有的野心，在任何方向上，对一切成功的渴望，都会在内在和外在制造出冲突。 询问“如何”，就是野心和冲突的前途， 而这个问题本身，阻止了你看到问题的真相。 询问“如何”，是更进一步迈向成功的阶梯。 但我们现在，不是从成功或失败的角度来思考， 而是从消除冲突的角度来思考； 如果没有冲突，它是否必定意味着停滞不前呢？ 当然，和平的出现，不是通过保证、制裁和防御， 而是当你不存在的时候 —— 你就是拥有野心和挫折的冲突代理人。
Your other point, sir, that all must see the truth of this problem at the same time, is an obvious impossibility. But it is possible for you to see it; and when you do, that truth which you have seen and which brings freedom, will affect others. It must begin with you, for you are the world, as the other is.
先生，你的另一点， 也就是，所有人都必须同时看到这个问题的真相，这显然是不可能的。 但是你可以看到它；当你这样做的时候， 你所看到的真相，带来了自由，将影响他人。 它必须从你开始，因为你是世界，就像另一个人一样。
Ambition breeds mediocrity of mind and heart; ambition is superficial, for it is everlastingly seeking a result. The man who wants to be a saint, or a successful politician, or a big executive, is concerned with personal achievement. Whether identified with an idea, a nation, or a system, religious or economic, the urge to be successful strengthens the ego, the self, whose very structure is brittle, superficial and limited. All this is fairly obvious if one looks into it, is it not?
野心滋生出头脑和心灵的平庸； 野心是肤浅的，因为它永远在寻求结果。 一个想成为圣人，或成为成功的政治家，或大高管的人， 关心的是个人的成就。 无论是认同于一个想法、一个国家，还是一个体系，宗教的还是经济的， 成功的冲动强化了自我，我， 自我的结构是易碎的、肤浅的和有限的。 如果仔细地观察，所有这些都相当明显，不是吗？
"It may be obvious to you, sir, but to most of us conflict gives a sense of existence, the feeling that we are alive. Without ambition and competition, our lives would be drab and useless."
“先生，这对你来说可能是显而易见的， 但对我们大多数人来说，冲突给人一种存在感，一种我们活着的感觉。 没有野心和竞争，我们的生活将是单调乏味和无用的。”
Since you are maintaining this competitive way of life, your children and your children's children will bread further antagonism, envy and war; neither you nor they will have peace. Having been conditioned to this traditional pattern of existence, you are in turn educating your children to accept it; so the world goes on in this sorrowful way. "We want to change, but..." He was aware of his own futility and stopped talking.
既然你们维持着这种竞争性的生活方式， 你们的子女和你们子女的子女将进一步助长对抗、嫉妒和战争。 你和他们都不会有和平。 在习惯了这种传统的存在模式之后， 你反过来又在教育你的孩子接受它； 所以世界以这种悲伤的方式继续下去。 “我们想改变，但是……” 他意识到自己的徒劳，停止了交谈。