IN THE EARLY morning sunlight, the leaves of the tree just outside the window were making dancing shadows on the white wall of the room. There was a gentle breeze, and these shadows were never still; they were as alive as the leaves themselves. One or two moved gently, with grace and ease, but the motion of the others was violent, jerky and restless. The sun had just come up from behind a deep-wooded hill. The day was not going to be hot, for the breeze was blowing from the snowy mountains to the north. At that early hour, there was a strange quietness – the quietness of the slumbering earth before man begins his toil. Within this quietness were the screeches of the parrots flying crazily to the fields and woods; within it were the raucous calls of the crows and the chatter of many birds; within it were the distant hoots of a train, and the blast of a factory whistle announcing the hour. It was the hour when the mind is as open as the heavens and as vulnerable as love.
在清晨的阳光中，窗外的树叶 在屋内白色的墙壁上绘出跳动的阴影。 微风轻拂，这些阴影从未停下； 它们像叶子本体一样活泼。 有一两片在缓慢地移动，优雅而轻松， 而其余的动作是粗暴的、生涩的和不安的。 太阳刚从一座树木繁茂的山丘后面升起。 天气不会很热，因为有微风从北面的雪山吹来。 在那个清晨，有一种奇怪的寂静 —— 那是在人开始辛勤劳动之前，沉睡的大地的寂静。 它里面有鹦鹉疯狂地飞向田野和树林的尖叫声。 有乌鸦的喧闹声和许多鸟儿们的聊天声。 有远处火车的嘶吼声，以及工厂口哨宣布时间的冲击声。 在那一刻，头脑像天空一样开放，像爱一样柔脆。
The road was very crowded, and the people walking on it were paying scant attention to the vehicular traffic; they would smilingly step aside, but first they had to look around to see who was making so much noise behind them. There were cycles, buses and bullock carts, and men drawing lighter carts loaded with sacks of grain. The shops, selling everything that man could want from needles to motorcars, were spilling over with people.
这条路很拥挤， 走在上面的人们很少注意车辆交通； 他们会微笑着走到一边， 但首先他们必须环顾四周，看看谁在他们的身后制造出了这么大的噪音。 有自行车、公共汽车和牛车， 还有人推着装满谷物袋的较轻的手推车。 商店里，售卖着人想要的一切： 从针头到汽车，到处都是人。
This same road led through the wealthy part of the city, with its usual aloofness and tidiness, into the open country; and not far out was the famous tomb. You left the car at the outer entrance, and went up a few steps, through an open archway, into a well-kept and watered garden. Walking along a sandy path and up more steps, you passed through another archway, blue with tiles, and entered an inner garden with a wall completely around it. It was enormous; there were acres of luscious, green lawns, lovely trees and fountains. It was cool in the shade, and the sound of falling water was pleasant. The circular path that went along the wall on the edge of the lawn had a border of brilliant flowers, and it would have taken quite a while to walk around it. Following the path that cut across the lawn, you wondered how so much space and beauty and work could be given to a tomb. presently you climbed a long flight of steps, which opened on a vast platform covered with slabs of reddish-brown sandstone. On this platform rose the stately tomb. It was built of smooth, polished marble, and the single marble coffin within it shone with the soft light of the sun that filtered through the intricately latticed marble window. It seemed lonely in its peace, though surrounded with grandeur and beauty.
这条路穿过城市的富裕区， 带着它平常的冷漠和整洁，进入开阔的乡村； 不远处就是著名的坟墓。 你把车停在入口旁，向上走几步， 穿过一个开放的拱门，进入一个细心呵护、浇过水的花园。 沿着一条沙质的小路走下去，登上更多的台阶， 你穿过另一个拱门，镶嵌着蓝色的瓷砖， 走进一个内部花园，它的周围被墙圈着。 它是巨大的；那里有数英亩的甜美的、绿色的草坪，可爱的树木和喷泉。 阴影处很凉爽，水跌落的声音令人愉悦。 环形的小径沿着草坪边缘的墙壁， 有一个灿烂的花朵边界，绕着它走一圈需要相当长的时间。 沿着穿过草坪的小径， 你在想：为了一座坟墓，花费了多少的空间、美丽和劳作。 现在，你爬上了一段很长的阶梯， 这些阶梯通往一个巨大的平台，上面覆盖着红褐色的砂岩板。 在这个平台上，升起了庄严的坟墓。 它由光滑的、抛光的大理石制成， 里面有一具大理石棺材，闪耀着柔和的阳光， 那些阳光透过了错综复杂的格状的大理石窗。 在它的和平中，它似乎显得孤独，尽管被宏伟和美丽所包围。
From the platform you could see where the ancient town, with its domes and gateways, met the new, with its steel pylons for the radio broadcasting station. It was strange to see the coming together of the old and the new, and the impact of it stirred your whole being. It was as though the past and the present of all life lay before you as a simple fact, without the interference of the censor and his choice. The blue horizon stretched far away beyond the city and the woods; it would always remain, while the new became the old.
从平台上，您可以看到古老的城镇以及它的圆顶和大门 与新城相遇，立着用于无线电广播电台的钢塔。 看见新与旧的相遇， 以及它对你的整个存在所激发的印象，真是太奇怪了。 好像所有生命的过去和现在，都作为一个简单的事实，摆在你面前， 没有审查者和他的选择的干涉。 蓝色的地平线，远远超出了城市和树林。 它将永远存在，同时，新的变成了旧的。
There were three of them, all quite young, a brother, a sister and a friend. Well dressed and very well educated they spoke several languages easily, and could talk of the latest books. It was strange to see them in that bare room; there were only two chairs, and one of the young men had to sit uncomfortably on the floor, spoiling the crease in his well pressed trousers. A sparrow that had its nest just outside suddenly appeared on the sill of the open window but seeing the new faces, it fluttered and flew away again.
他们三个人都很年轻，一个哥哥、一个妹妹和一个朋友。 他们衣着考究，受过良好的教育， 他们能流畅地说几种语言，可以谈论最新的书籍。 在那个光秃秃的房间里，看到他们真是太奇怪了。 只有两把椅子，其中一个年轻人只能不舒服地坐在地板上， 玷污了他压得好的裤子上的折痕。 一只巢穴就在外面的麻雀突然出现在敞开的窗户的窗沿上， 但看到了新面孔，它又扇动翅膀，飞走了。
“We have come to talk over a rather personal problem,” explained the brother, “and we hope you don’t mind. May I plunge into it? You see, my sister is going through a beastly time. She feels shy about explaining it, so I am doing the talking for the moment. We like each other very much, and have been almost inseparable ever since we were youngsters. There is nothing unhealthy about our being together, but she has been twice married and twice divorced. We have been through it all together. The husbands were all right in their way, but I am concerned about my sister. We consulted a well known psychiatrist, but somehow it didn’t work out. We needn’t go into all that now. Though I had never met you personally, I had known about you for several years, and had read some of your published talks; so I persuaded my sister and our mutual friend to come along with me, and here we are. ” He hesitated for a few moments, and then went on. “Our difficulty is that my sister doesn’t seem to be satisfied with anything. Literally nothing gives her any sort of satisfaction or contentment.
“我们是来讨论一个相当私人的问题，” 哥哥解释说， “我们希望你别介意。我可以投入其中吗？ 你看，我妹妹正在经历一个野兽般的时代。 她觉得羞于解释它，因此我现在来说。 我们彼此非常喜欢，几乎从小就形影不离。 我们在一起没有什么不健康的， 但她已经两次结婚，两次离婚。 我们一起经历了这一切。 丈夫们都还很好，但我担心我的妹妹。 我们咨询了一位著名的精神科医生，但不知何故，它没有成功。 我们现在不必要讨论所有那些。 虽然我从未与你单独会面， 但我认识你好几年了，读过你的一些讲话内容。 所以我说服了我的妹妹和我们共同的朋友，和我一起过来，而我们到了这里。” 他犹豫了一会儿，然后继续说。 “我们的困难是，我妹妹似乎什么都不满意。 实际上，没有什么能给她带来任何满意或满足。”
Discontent has become almost a mania with her, and if something isn’t done, she’s going to crack up completely.”
不满几乎变成了对她的狂热， 如果不采取某些措施，她就会完全崩溃。”
Isn’t it a good thing to be discontented? “To some extent, yes,” he replied; “but there are limits to everything, and this is going too far.”
不满不是一件好事吗？ “在某种程度上，是的，” 他回答说。 “但凡事都有限度，而这太过分了。”
What’s wrong with being totally discontented? What we generally call discontent is the dissatisfaction which arises when a particular desire is not fulfilled. Isn’t that so? “Perhaps; but my sister has tried so many things, including these two marriages, and she hasn’t been happy in either of them. Fortunately, there have been no children, which would have further complicated matters. But I think she can speak for herself now; I only wanted to set the ball rolling.”
完全地不满有什么错？ 我们通常所说的‘不满’是不满意 是由于一个特定的欲望没有得到满足，而产生的不满。不是那样吗？ “也许是；可是我妹妹尝试了那么多， 包括这两段婚姻，她却仍不高兴。 幸运的是，没有孩子，否则将使事情变得更加复杂。 但我想，她现在可以自己说了；我只想让球转起来。”
What is contentment, and what is discontent? Will discontent lead to contentment? Being discontented, can you ever find the other? “Nothing really satisfies me,” said the sister. “We are well off, but the things that money can buy have lost their meaning. I have read a great deal but as I’m sure you know it doesn’t lead anywhere. I have dabbled in various religious doctrines, but they all seem so utterly phoney; and what have you left after that? I have thought about it a great deal, and I know it isn’t for want of children that I am like this. If I had children, I would give them my love, and all that kind of thing, but this torment of discontent would certainly go on. I can’t find a way of directing or channelizing it, as most people seem to do, into some absorbing activity or interest. Then it would be easy sailing; there would be an occasional squall, which is inevitable in life, but one would always be within reach of calm waters. I feel as though I were in a perpetual storm, without any safe port. I want to find some comfort, somewhere; but, as I said what the religions have to offer seems to me so utterly stupid, nothing but a lot of superstitions. Everything else, including worship of the State, is only a rational substitute for the real thing – and I don’t know what the real thing is. I have tried various entertaining side issues, including the current philosophy of hopelessness in France, but I am left empty handed. I have even experimented with taking one or two of the latest drugs; but that, of course, is the ultimate act of despair. One might just as well commit suicide. Now you know all about it.”
什么是满足，什么是不满？ 不满会导致满足吗？心怀不满，你能找到别的东西吗？ “没有什么能够真正地满足我，” 妹妹说。 “我们很富裕，但金钱可以买到的东西已经失去了意义。 我读了很多书，但我相信你知道它不会带来任何结果。 我涉足过各种宗教教义，但它们似乎都完全是假的。 在那之后，你还剩下什么？ 我想了很多， 我知道我不是因为缺乏孩子，我才这样。 如果我有孩子，我会把我的爱和所有东西给他们， 但这种不满的折磨肯定会继续下去。 我找不到一种方法来指引或引导它， 就像大多数人似乎所做的那样，进入一些吸引人的活动或兴趣。 那样，航行将很容易； 偶尔会有一次吱吱声，这那是生命中不可避免的， 但一个人总是在平静的水域内。 我感觉自己仿佛置身于一场永恒的风暴中，没有任何安全的港口。 我想在某个地方找到一些安慰； 但是，正如我所说，在我看来，宗教所提供的东西是如此的愚蠢， 除了很多迷信之外，什么都没有。 其余的一切，包括对国家的崇拜，都只是对真理的合理性的替代品 —— 我不知道真理是什么。 我尝试过各种有趣的非主流， 包括法国当前的绝望哲学，但我空手而归。 我甚至尝试过服用一两种最新的药物； 但这当然是绝望的终极行为。 一个人也可以去自杀。 现在，你知道了。”
“If I may put in a word,” said the friend, “it seems to me that the whole thing would be resolved if she could only find something that really interested her. If she had a vital interest that occupied her mind and her life, then this discontent that is eating her up would disappear. I have known this lady and her brother for many years, and I keep telling her that her misery arises from not having something that will take her mind off herself. But nobody pays much attention to what is said by an old friend.”
“如果我能说一句话，” 这位朋友说， “在我看来，如果她能找到她真正感兴趣的东西， 整个事情就会得到解决。 如果她有一个占据她头脑和生命的重要的兴趣， 那么这种吞噬她的不满就会消失。 我认识这位女士和她的哥哥很多年了， 我一直告诉她， 她的痛苦源于没有某个东西能让她从自己身上移开。 但没人会太在意老朋友说的话。”
May I ask, why shouldn’t you be discontented? Why shouldn’t you be consumed by discontent? And what do you mean by that word? “It is a pain, an agonizing anxiety, and naturally one wants to get out of it. It would be a form of sadism to want to remain in it. After all, one should be able to live happily, and not be ceaselessly driven by the pain of dissatisfaction.”
我可以问吗，你为什么不应该不满？ 你为什么不应该被不满所吞噬？ 你说的那个词是什么意思？ “它是一种痛苦，一种极度的焦虑，自然地，人想摆脱它。 留在其中，想必会变成一种虐待狂。 毕竟，一个人应该能够幸福地生活， 而不是被不满的痛苦无休止地驱使。”
I am not saying that you should enjoy the pain of it, or merely put up with it; but why should you try to escape from it through an interesting occupation, or through some other form of abiding satisfaction?
我并不是说你应该享受它的痛苦，或者只是忍受它； 但是，你为什么要试图通过一个有趣的占有物， 或者通过某些其他形式的持久的满足，去逃避它呢？
“Isn’t that a most natural thing to do?” asked the friend. “If you are in pain, you want to get rid of it.”
“那难道不是最自然的做法吗？” 朋友问。 “如果你很痛苦，你想摆脱它。”
We are not understanding each other. What do we mean by being discontented? We are not inquiring into the mere verbal or explanatory meaning of that word, nor are we seeking the causes of discontent. We shall come to the causes presently. What we are trying to do, is to examine the state of the mind that is caught in the pain of discontent. “In other words, what is my mind doing when it is discontented? I don’t know, I have never before asked myself that question. Let me see. But first of all, have I understood the question?”
我们没有相互理解。 我们所说的‘不满’是什么意思？ 我们不是在探究这个词口头的或解释性的意义， 也不是在寻找不满的原因。 我们不久就会遇到这些原因。 我们正在试图做的， 是检查头脑的状态 —— 这个陷入了由不满引起的痛苦之中的头脑所处的状态。 “换句话说，当我的头脑不满足时，它正在做什么？ 我不知道，我从来没有问过自己这个问题。让我看看。 但首先，我理解了这个问题吗？”
“I think I see what you are asking, sir,” put in the brother. “What is the feeling of the mind that is in the throes of discontent? Isn’t that it?”
“我想，我看到你在问什么了，先生，” 哥哥说。 “处于不满之痛的头脑是什么感觉？难道不是吗？”
Something like that. A feeling is extraordinary in itself – is it not? – apart from its pleasure or pain. “But can there be any feeling at all,” asked the sister, “if it is not identified with pleasure or pain?”
某种类似的东西。一种本身就很非凡的感觉 —— 它不是吗？—— 剥离掉它的快乐或痛苦。 “但是，难道还有其它感觉吗，” 妹妹问道， “如果它不通过快乐或痛苦来识别？”
Does identification bring about feeling? Can there be no feeling without identification, without naming? We may come to that question presently; but again, what do we mean by discontent? Does discontent exist by itself, as an isolated feeling, or is it related to something?
识别会带来感觉吗？ 不去识别，没有了名字，就感觉不到吗？ 我们目前可能要谈到那个问题。但是再一次，我们所说的‘不满’是什么？ 不满是作为一种孤立的感觉而存在，还是与某种东西相关？
“It is always related to some other factor, to some urge, desire or want, isn’t it?” said the friend. “There must always be a cause; discontent is only a symptom. We want to be or to acquire something, and if for any reason we cannot we become discontented. I think this is the source of her discontent.”
“它总是与其他因素相关，与某个冲动、欲望或要求相关，不是吗？” 这位朋友说。“必定有一个原因。不满只是一个症状。 我们想要成为或获得一些东西， 如果出于任何原因我们不能做到，我们就变得不满。 我认为这就是她不满的原因。”
Is it? “I don’t know, I haven’t thought that far,” replied the sister.
是吗？“我不知道，我没有想那么远，” 妹妹回答道。
Don’t you know why you are discontented? Is it because you haven’t found anything in which you can lose yourself? And if you did find some interest or activity with which you could completely occupy your mind would the pain of discontent go? Is it that you want to be contented?
难道你不知道自己为什么不满吗？ 是因为你没有找到任何可以使自己迷失的东西吗？ 如果你真地找到某些兴趣或活动， 它可以完全占据你的头脑，不满的痛苦会消失吗？ 你是想被它填满吗？
“God, no!” she exploded. “That would be terrible, that would be stagnation.”
“天啊，不！” 她爆炸了。“那将是可怕的，那将是停滞不前。”
But isn’t that what you are seeking? You may have a horror of being contented, yet in wanting to be free of discontent, you are pursuing a very superior kind of contentment, aren’t you? “I don’t think I want contentment; but I do want to be free from this endless misery of discontent.”
但那不是你所寻求的吗？ 你可能有一种被满足的恐惧，但却想要摆脱不满， 你正在追求一种非常优越的满足感，不是吗？ “我不认为我想要满足； 但我确实想从这种无休止的不满中解脱。”
Are the two desires different? Most people are discontented, but they generally tame it by finding something which gives them satisfaction, and then they function mechanically and go to seed, or they become bitter, cynical, and so on. Is that what you are after?
这两种欲望不同吗？ 大多数人都不满， 但是他们通常的做法是，通过寻找某些令人满意的东西，他们驯服了它， 然后他们机械化地运转并播种，或者他们变得刻薄、愤世嫉俗，等等。 那就是你所追求的吗？
“I don’t want to become cynical, or just go to seed, that would be too stupid; I only want to find a way to soften the ache of this uncertainty.”
“我不想变得愤世嫉俗，或者只是播种，那太愚蠢了； 我只想找到一种方法来减轻这种不确定性的痛苦。”
The ache exists only when you resist uncertainty, when you want to be free of it. “Do you mean I must remain in this state?”
只有当你抵制不确定性的时候，当你想要摆脱它时，痛苦才存在。 “你是说我必须保持这种状态吗？”
Please listen. You condemn the state you are in; your mind is opposing it. Discontent is a flame that must be kept burning brightly, and not be smothered by some interest or activity that is pursued as a reaction from the pain of it. Discontent is painful only when it is resisted. A man who is merely satisfied, without understanding the full significance of discontent, is asleep; he is not sensitive to the whole movement of life. Satisfaction is a drug, and it is comparatively easy to find. But to understand the full significance of discontent, the search for certainty must cease.
请听。你谴责你所处的状态；你的头脑正在反对它。 不满是一种火焰，必须保持明亮地燃烧， 而不是被某种兴趣或活动所扼杀， 那些被追求的兴趣或活动，是对痛苦的反应。 只有当不满被抵制时，它才是痛苦的。 一个仅仅满意而没有理解不满的全部意义的人，处于睡觉的状态； 对生命的整个运动，他并不敏感。 满意是一种药物，而且寻找起来相对容易些。 但是，为了理解不满的全部意义，对确定性的搜索，必须停下。
“It is difficult not to want to be certain about something.”
“很难不去确定某些东西。”
Apart from mechanical certainties, is there any certainty at all, any psychological permanency? Or is there only impermanency? All relationship is impermanent; all thought, with its symbols, ideals, projections, is impermanent, property is lost, and even life itself ends in death, in the unknown, though man builds a thousand cunning structures of belief to overcome it. We separate life from death, and so both remain unknown. Contentment and discontent are like the two sides of one coin. To be free from the ache of discontent, the mind must cease to seek contentment.
除了机械设备的确定性之外， 是否还有任何的确定性，任何心理上的永久性？ 或者只剩下无常？ 所有的关系都是无常的； 所有的思想，连同它的符号、理想、投影，都是无常的， 占有物丧失了，甚至生命本身也以死亡告终，消逝于未知， 尽管人类建立了一千个狡猾的信仰结构来克服它。 我们将生命与死亡分开，因此两者都仍是未知。 满足和不满就像一枚硬币的两面。 为了从不满的痛苦中解脱，头脑必须停止寻求满足。
“Then is there no fulfilment?”
“那就没有实现吗？”
Self-fulfilment is a vain pursuit, isn’t it? In the very fulfilment of the self, there is fear and disappointment. That which is gained becomes ashes; but we again struggle to gain, and again we are caught in sorrow. If once we are aware of this total process, then self-fulfilment in any direction, at any level, has no significance at all. “Then to struggle against discontent is to smother the flame of life,” she concluded. “I think I understand the meaning of what you have been saying.”
自我实现是一种徒劳的追求，它不是吗？ 在自我的实现中，有恐惧和失望。 获得的东西变成灰烬；但我们再次挣扎着去获得， 接着，我们再次陷入悲伤。 如果一旦我们意识到这整个过程， 那么在任何方向，任何层面上的自我实现就没有任何意义。 “然后，与不满作斗争，就是扼杀生命的火焰，” 她总结道。“我想我理解你说的意思。”