对生活的评注 1-88

ALOOF AND INCLINED to be cynical, he was some kind of minister in the Government. He had been brought along, or more probably dragged, by a friend, and seemed rather surprised at finding himself there. The friend wanted to talk something over and evidently thought that the other might as well come along and hear his problem. The minister was curious and rather superior. He was a big man, sharp of eye and a facile talker. He had arrived in life, and was settling back. To travel is one thing, and to arrive is another. Travelling is constant arriving, and arrival that has no further travelling is death. How easily we are gratified, and how quickly discontent finds contentment! We all want a refuge of some kind, a haven from all conflict, and we generally find it. The clever, like the foolish, find their haven and are alert within it.

冷漠而趋于愤世嫉俗的他，是政府里的某个部长。他被一个朋友带了过来，或者更可能是被朋友拖来的，当他发现自己在那里时，他似乎相当惊讶。这位朋友想谈谈一些事情，显然认为，他不妨过来听听这些问题。部长很好奇，相当高傲。他是个大个子，眼光敏锐，说话轻率。在生活中，他已经抵达，并正在安顿下来。旅行是一回事，抵达是另一回事。旅行是不断的抵达，没有下一站的抵达就是死亡。我们是多么轻易地满意，当不满时，又是多么迅速地找到了满足！我们都想要某种避难所，一个远离所有冲突的避风港，我们通常都能找到它。聪明的人，就像愚蠢的人一样，找到了他们的避风港，并在里面保持警觉。

“I have been trying to understand my problem for a number of years, but I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of it. In my work I have always brought about antagonism; enmity has somehow crept in amongst all the people I have tried to help. In helping some, I sow opposition among others. With one hand I give, and with the other I seem to injure. This has been going on for more years than I can remember, and now a situation has arisen in which I have to act rather decisively. I really don’t want to hurt anyone, and I am at a loss what to do.”

“多年来，我一直试图理解我的问题，但我无法彻底弄清楚它。在我的工作中，我总是带来某些敌对；敌意以某种方式，悄悄地渗透到我试图帮助的所有人之中。在帮助某些人的同时，我在其余的人里，种下了敌意。我一只手给予，另一只手似乎在伤害。在我的记忆中，这种情况已经持续了多年，现在到了一种情景，我必须采取果断的行动。我真的不想伤害任何人，我不知道该怎么办。”

Which is more important: not to hurt, not to create enmity, or to do some piece of work? “In the course of my work I do hurt others. I am one of those people who throw themselves into their work; if I undertake something, I want to see it through. I have always been that way.

哪一个更重要：不伤害，不制造敌意，还是做某些工作？ “在我的工作过程中，我确实伤害了其他人。我是那些全身心投入工作的人之一。如果我负责某件事，我想把它彻底完成。我一直都是那样。

I think I am fairly efficient and I hate to see inefficiency. After all, if we undertake some kind of social work, we must go through with it, and those who are inefficient or slack naturally get hurt and become antagonistic. The work of bringing help to others is important, and in helping the needy I hurt those who come in the way. But I really don’t want to hurt people, and I have begun to realize that I must do something about it.”

我想，我相当的高效，我讨厌看到效率低下。毕竟，如果我们从事某种社会工作，我们必须完成它，而那些效率低下或懈怠的人，自然会受到伤害，并变得敌对。帮助他人的工作很重要，在帮助有需要的人时，我伤害了那些阻拦的人。但我真的不想伤害人，我已经开始意识到，我必须为此做点什么。”

Which to you is important: to work, or not to hurt people? “When one sees so much misery and plunges into the work of reform, in the course of that work one hurts certain people, though most unwillingly.”

对你来说，哪一个重要：工作，还是不伤害人？ “当一个人看到如此多的痛苦并投入到改革工作中，在这项工作中，他会伤害某些人，尽管最不情愿。”

In saving one group of people, others are destroyed. One country survives at the expense of another. The so-called spiritual people, in their ardour for reform, save some and destroy others; they bring blessings and also curses. We always seem to be kind to some and brutal to others. Why?

在拯救一群人时，其语的人被摧毁了。一个国家以牺牲另一个国家为代价而存活。那些所谓的高尚的人们，在他们改革的激情中，拯救了一些人，而摧毁了另一些人；他们带来了祝福，也带来了诅咒。我们似乎总是对一些人友善，而对另一些人残忍。为什么？

Which to you is important: to work, or not to hurt people? “After all, one has to hurt certain people, the slovenly, the inefficient, the selfish, it seems inevitable. Don’t you hurt people by your talks? I know a rich man who has been very hurt by what you say about the wealthy.”

对你来说，哪一个重要：工作，还是不伤害人？ “毕竟，一个人必须伤害某些人：那种懒惰的、低效的、自私的人，这似乎是不可避免的。你没有因为你的讲话而伤害人吗？我认识一个富人，你说的关于富人的言论，深深地伤害了他。”

I do not want to hurt anyone. If people are hurt in the process of certain work, then to me that work has to be put aside. I have no work, no schemes for any kind of reform or revolution. With me work is not first, but not to hurt others. If the rich man feels hurt by what is said, he is not hurt by me, but by the truth of what is, which he dislikes; he doesn’t want to be exposed. It is not my intention to expose another. If a man is temporarily exposed by the truth of what is and gets angry at what he sees, he puts the blame on others; but that is only an escape from the fact. It is foolish to be angry with a fact. Avoidance of a fact through anger is one of the commonest and most thoughtless reactions.

我不想伤害任何人。如果在某项工作中，有人受到了伤害，那么对我来说，这项工作必须放在一边。我没有工作，没有任何形式的改革或革命方案。对于我来说，工作不是第一位的，而是不伤害人。如果富人被所说的话所伤，伤害他的，不是我，而是那个现状的真实性，那个他不喜欢的东西；他不想被曝露。我无意揭露另一个人。如果一个人暂时被现状的真实性所揭露，对他所看到的东西感到愤怒，他就把责任归咎于别人；但那只不过是在逃避这个事实。对一个事实发怒，是愚蠢的。通过愤怒来回避事实，是最常见和最轻率的一种反应。

But you have not answered my question. Which to you is important: to work, or not to hurt people? “Work has to be done, don’t you think?” put in the minister.

但是你没有回答我的问题。对你来说，哪一个重要：工作，还是不伤害人？ “工作必须完成，你不觉得吗？”部长说。

Why should it be done? If in the course of benefiting some you hurt or destroy others, what value has it? You may save your particular country, but you exploit or maim another. Why are you so concerned about your country, your party, your ideology? Why are you so identified with your work? Why does work matter so much? “We have to work, be active, otherwise we might as well be dead. When the house is burning, we cannot for the moment be concerned with fundamental issues.”

为什么要完成？如果在造福一些人的过程中，你伤害或摧毁了另一些人，那它有什么价值？你可以拯救你的特定国家，你却在剥削或残害另一个国家。你为什么如此关心你的国家、你的政党、你的意识形态？你为什么对自己的工作如此认同？为什么工作如此地重要？ “我们必须工作，保持活跃，否则我们可能已经死了。当房子烧起来的时候，我们暂时不能关心基本的问题。”

To the merely active, fundamentals are never the issue; they are only concerned with activity, which brings superficial benefits and deep harms. But if I may ask our friend: why is a certain kind of work so important to you? Why are you so attached to it? “Oh, I don’t know, but it gives me a great deal of happiness.”

仅仅保持活跃，原则从来都不是问题；他们只关心活动，这种活动带来了肤浅的利益和深刻的伤害。但是，如果我可以问我们的朋友：为什么某种工作对你来说如此的重要？你为什么如此执着于它？ “哦，我不知道，但它给了我大量的快乐。”

So you are really not interested in the work itself, but in what you get out of it. You may not make money at it, but you derive happiness from it. As another gains power, position and prestige in saving his party or his country, so you gain pleasure from your work; as another finds great satisfaction, which he calls a blessing, in serving his saviour, his guru, his Master, so you are satisfied by what you call altruistic work. Actually it is not the country, the work, or the saviour that is important to you, but what you get out of it. Your own happiness is all-important, and your particular work gives you what you want. You are really not interested in the people you are supposed to be helping; they are only a means to your happiness. And obviously the inefficient, those who stand in your way, get hurt; for the work matters, the work being your happiness. This is the brutal fact, but we cunningly cover it with high-sounding words like service, country, peace, God, and so on.

所以你其实对工作本身不感兴趣，而是对你从中得到的感兴趣。你可能不会从中赚钱，但你从中获得了快乐。当另一个人在拯救他的政党或国家时，他获得权力、地位和声望，而你从你的工作中获得快乐；在服侍他的救世主、他的导师、他的主人时，另一个人找到了极大的满意，他称之为一种祝福，而你，对你所谓的利他主义工作感到满意。事实上，你看重的不是国家、工作或救世主，而是你从中得到的东西。你拥有的快乐是最重要的，你的特定工作给了你想要的东西。其实，你对那些你认为应该帮助的人不感兴趣；他们只是你实现快乐的一种手段。显然，那些效率低下的人，那些挡在你面前的人，受到了伤害；因为工作很重要，工作就是你的快乐。这就是残酷的事实，但我们狡猾地用高尚的语言 —— 服务、国家、和平、上帝等等遮盖了它。

So, if one may point out, you really do not mind hurting people who hinder the efficiency of the work that gives you happiness. You find happiness in certain work, and that work, whatever it be, is you. You are interested in getting happiness, and the work offers you the means; therefore the work becomes very important, and then of course you are very efficient, ruthless dominating for the sake of that which gives you happiness. So you do not mind hurting people, breeding enmity.

所以，如果一个人可以指出，你真的不介意伤害那些阻碍工作效率的人，因为高效的工作给了你快乐。你在某些工作中找到了快乐，而那份工作，不管它是什么，就是你。你对获得快乐感兴趣，工作为你提供了手段；因此，工作变得非常重要，那么，你当然是非常有效的，无情的支配着这个能给你带来快乐的东西。所以你不介意伤害人，滋生敌意。

“I have never seen it that way before, and it is perfectly true. But what am I to do about it?”

“我以前从未想见过这种情况，它完全是真的。但是我该怎么办？”

Is it not important to find out also why you have taken so many years to see a simple fact like this? “I suppose, as you say, I really didn’t care whether I hurt people or not so long as I got my way. I generally do get my way, because I have always been very efficient and direct – which you would call ruthlessness, and you are perfectly right. But what am I to do now?”

为什么你花了这么多年才看到这样一个简单的事实？弄清这个问题，难道不重要吗？ “我猜，正如你所说，我真的不在乎我是否伤害了人，只要我能够得逞。我通常确实能如愿以偿，因为我一直非常高效和直接 —— 你会称之为无情，你是对的。但我现在该怎么办？”

You have taken all these years to see this simple fact because until now you have been unwilling to see it; for in seeing it you are attacking the very foundation of your being. You have sought happiness and found it, but it has always brought conflict and antagonism; and now, perhaps for the first time, you are facing facts about yourself. What are you going to do? Is there not a different approach to work? Is it not possible to be happy and work, rather than to seek happiness in work? When we use work or people as a means to an end, then obviously we have no relationship, no communion either with the work or with people; and then we are incapable of love. Love is not a means to an end; it is its own eternity. When I use you and you use me, which is generally called relationship, we are important to each other only as a means to something else; so we are not important to each other at all. From this mutual usage, conflict and antagonism must inevitably arise. So what are you going to do? Let us both discover what to do rather than seek an answer from another. If you can search it out, your finding of it will be your experiencing of it; then it will be real and not just a confirmation or conclusion, a mere verbal answer.

你花了这么多年的时间才看到这个简单的事实，因为直到现在，你一直不愿意看它；因为在看它的时候，你是在攻击你存在的根基。你寻求快乐，并找到了它，但它总是带来冲突与敌对；而现在，也许是第一次，你正看着这个关于你的事实。你要做什么？难道没有其它的工作方式吗？难道不可能在快乐的状态下工作，而不是在工作中寻求快乐吗？当我们利用工作或人民，作为达到目的的手段时，显然我们之间没有关系，与工作或与人民没有共融；那么，我们就没有能力来爱。爱不是一种达到目的的手段；它是它自在的永恒。当我利用你、你利用我时，这通常被称之为关系，我们彼此之间的重要性，只是一种手段，以便于实现某些目的；因此，在我们彼此之间，根本就不重要。从这种相互利用中，必然会产生冲突与对抗。那你打算怎么做？让我们俩一起发现该做什么，而不是从另一个人那里寻求答案。如果你能把它找出来，你对它的发现将是你对它的体验；那么它将是真实的，而不仅仅是一种确认或结论、一个言语上的答案。

“What, then, is my problem?”

Can we not put it this way? Spontaneously, what is your first reaction to the question: Does the work come first? If it does not, then what does? “I am beginning to see what you are trying to get at. My first response is shock; I am really appalled to see what I have been doing in my work for so many years. This is the first time I have faced the fact of what is, as you call it, and I assure you it is not very pleasant. If I can go beyond it, perhaps I shall see what is important, and then the work will naturally follow. But whether the work or something else comes first is still not clear to me.”

我们能不能以这种方式来看？自发地，你对这个问题的第一反应是什么：工作是第一位的吗？如果不是，那么应该做什么？ “我开始明白你想说什么。我的第一反应是震惊；看到这么多年来，我在工作中所做的事情，我真的很震惊。这是我第一次面对这个事实，你把它称之为‘现状’，我向你保证，它并不是很愉快。如果我能走出它，也许我会看到什么是重要的，然后，工作就会自然地开展。但是，工作是第一位，还是其它的是第一位的，我仍然不清楚。”

Why is it not clear? Is clarity a matter of time, or of willingness to see? Will the desire not to see disappear by itself in the course of time? Is not your lack of clarity due to the simple fact that you don’t want to be clear because it would upset the whole pattern of your daily life? If you are aware that you are deliberately postponing, are you not immediately clear? It is this avoidance that brings confusion.

为什么不清楚？清楚是一个时间问题，还是一个愿不愿意去看的问题？不想看的欲望会随着时间的流逝而自行消失吗？你之所以不清楚，难道不是因为你不想清楚，因为这会扰乱你日常生活的整个模式？如果你意识到你是在故意拖延，你难道没有立刻地清楚吗？正是这种回避带来了困惑。