[THE LITTLE GIRL next door was ill, and she had been crying, off and on, all day long, and far into the night. This had been going on for some time, and the poor mother was worn out. There was a small plant in the window which she used to water every evening, but for the past few days it had been neglected. The mother was alone in the house, except for a rather helpless and inefficient servant, and she seemed somewhat lost, for the child’s illness was evidently serious. The doctor had driven up several times in his big car, and the mother became sadder and sadder.
[隔壁的小女孩病了， 她整天都在哭，断断续续地，一直哭到深夜。 这种情况已经持续了一段时间，可怜的母亲已经筋疲力尽。 窗边有一棵小植物，她每天晚上都会给它浇水， 但在过去的几天里，它一直被忽视了。 母亲独自一人呆在家里， 除了一个相当无助和低效的仆人， 而她似乎有些迷茫， 因为孩子的病明显是严重的。 医生开着他的大车来了好几次， 母亲越来越伤心。
A banana-plant in the garden was irrigated by the kitchen water, and the soil around it was always damp. Its leaves were dark green, and there was one very large leaf, two or three feet across and much more in length, which had so far not been torn by the winds, like the other leaves. It would sway very gently in the breeze, and it was touched only by the western sun. It was a wonderful thing to see the yellow flowers in descending circles on a long, drooping stem. These flowers would soon be young bananas and the stem would become quite thick, for there might be dozens of them, rich, green and heavy. Now and then a shiny black bumblebee would go in among the yellow flowers, and several black and white butterflies would come and flutter about them. There seemed to be such an abundance of life in that banana-plant, especially with the sun upon it, and with its large leaves stirring in the breeze The little girl often used to play around it, and she was so full of fun and smiles. Sometimes we would walk together a short distance down the lane as the mother watched, and then she would go running back. We couldn’t understand each other, for our words were different, but that didn’t stop her from talking; so we talked.
花园里的一棵香蕉树被厨房的水灌溉， 周围的土壤总是潮湿的。 它的叶子是深绿色的， 有一片非常大的叶子，两三英尺宽，长度更长， 到目前为止还没有像其他叶子那样被风撕裂。 它会在微风中非常轻柔地晃动，只有西下的阳光才能触及它。 看到黄色的花朵在长而下垂的茎上呈一圈下降， 真是一件美妙的事。 这些花很快就会变成年轻的香蕉， 茎会变得很粗， 因为可能有几十朵，丰富，绿色和沉重。 时不时地，一只闪亮的黑色大黄蜂会进入黄色的花朵之中， 几只黑白相间的蝴蝶会过来飞来飞去。 那棵香蕉树似乎有如此丰富的生命， 尤其当阳光照射着它， 它的大叶子在微风中摆动 小女孩经常在它周围玩耍，她充满了乐趣和笑容。 有时我们会在母亲的注视下一起沿着小巷走一小段路， 然后她会跑回去。 我们无法理解彼此， 因为我们的语言不同，但这并没有阻止她说话。所以我们聊了起来。
One afternoon the mother beckoned me in. The little girl was skin and bones; she smiled weakly, then closed her eyes in utter exhaustion. She was sleeping fitfully. Through the open window came the noise of other children, shouting and playing. The mother was speechless and bereft of all tears. She wouldn’t sit down, but stood by the little cot, and there was despair and longing in the air. Just then the doctor came in, and I left, with a silent promise to return.
一天下午，母亲向我招手。 小女孩廋成了皮包骨；她虚弱地笑了笑， 然后闭上眼睛，筋疲力尽。她睡得很熟。 透过敞开的窗户传来其他孩子的吵闹声，他们大喊大叫，玩耍。 母亲无言以对，泪流满面。 她不愿坐下，而是站在小婴儿床旁， 空气中弥漫着绝望和渴望。 就在这时，医生进来了，我离开了，带着一个‘下次再来’的沉默允诺。
The sun was setting behind the trees, and the huge clouds above it were brilliantly golden. There were the usual crows, and a parrot came screeching in and clung to the edge of a hole in a large, dead tree, with its tail pressed against the trunk; it hesitated, seeing a human being so close, but an instant later disappeared into the hole. There were a few villagers on the road, and a car went by, loaded with young people. A week-old calf was tied to a fence post, with its mother grazing nearby. A woman was coming down the road with a brightly-polished brass vessel on her head, and another on her hip; she was carrying water from the well. She used to go by every evening; and that evening especially, against the setting sun, she was the earth itself in motion.
太阳落在树后，上面巨大的云彩呈灿烂的金色。 有经常光顾的乌鸦，一只鹦鹉尖叫着飞进来， 紧紧抓住一个在一棵枯萎的大树上的树洞的边缘，它的尾巴压在树干上。 它犹豫了一下，看见一个人如此之近，但一瞬间就消失在洞里。 路上有几个村民，一辆车经过，满载着年轻人。 一只一周大的小牛被绑在篱笆柱上，母亲在附近吃草。 一个女人正带着一个光亮的黄铜罐走在路上， 她的臀部还别着另一个。她去井边取水。 平时，她每天晚上都会经过。 那天晚上很特别，在夕阳下，她是大地本身的运动。
Two young men had come from the town nearby. The bus had brought them to the corner, and they had walked the rest of the way. They worked in an office, they said, and so couldn’t come any earlier. They had put on fresh clothes, which the old bus hadn’t soiled, and they came in smiling but rather shyly, their manner hesitantly respectful. Once seated, they soon forgot their shyness, but they still weren’t quite sure how to put their thoughts into words.
两个年轻人从附近的城镇过来。 公共汽车把他们带到了拐角处，剩下的路得他们自己走。 他们说，他们在办公室上班，所以不能早点来。 他们穿着新衣服，旧公共汽车没有把衣服弄脏， 他们微笑着进来，但相当的害羞，他们的举止扭扭捏捏地恭敬。 一坐下，他们很快就忘记了自己的害羞， 但他们仍然不太确定如何用言词表达自己的想法。
What sort of work do you do? “We are both employed in the same office; I am a stenographer, and my friend keeps accounts. Neither of us has been to college, because we couldn’t afford it, and neither of us is married. We don’t get much pay, but as we have no family responsibilities, it’s enough for our needs. If either of us ever gets married, it will be quite another matter.”
你们在做什么工作？ “我们都在同一个办公室工作。我是一名速记员，我的朋友记账。 我们俩都没有上过大学，因为我们负担不起， 而且我们都没有结婚。我们没有得到多少报酬， 但由于我们没有家庭责任，这足以满足我们的需求。 如果我们中的任何一个人结婚，那将是另一回事。”
“We are not very well-educated,” added the second one, “and though we read a certain amount of serious literature, our reading isn’t intensive. We spend a great deal of time together, and on holidays we go back to our families. There are very few in the office who are interested in serious things. A mutual friend brought us to your talk the other day, and we asked if we could see you. May I ask a question, sir?”
“我们接受教育的程度不是很好，” 第二个补充道， “虽然我们读了一定数量的严肃文献，但我们阅读并不仔细。 我们花了很多时间在一起，在假期，我们回到家人身边。 办公室里很少有人对严肃的事情感兴趣。 前几天，一个好朋友带我们去参加你的讲话， 我们问我们能不能见到你。 先生，我能问一个问题吗？”
Of course. “What is love?”
当然可以。“什么是爱？”
Do you want a definition of it? Don’t you know what that word means? “There are so many ideas about what love should be, that it’s all rather confusing,” said the first one.
你想要一个定义吗？你不知道这个词是什么意思吗？ “关于爱应该是什么有很多观念，这一切都相当令人困惑，” 第一个说。
What sort of ideas?
什么样的观念？
“That love shouldn’t be passionate, lustful; that one should love one’s neighbour as oneself; that one should love one’s father and mother; that love should be the impersonal love of God, and so on. Every man gives an opinion according to his fancy.”
“那份爱不应该是激情的、感官的； 一个人应该爱自己的邻居，就像爱自己一样； 一个人应该爱自己的父亲和母亲； 这种爱应该是非个人的、上帝的爱，等等。 每个人都根据自己的幻想给出一个观点。”
Apart from the opinions of others, what do you think? Have you opinions about love too? “It’s difficult to put into words what one feels,” replied the second one. “I think love must be universal; one must love all, without prejudice. It’s, prejudice that destroys love; it’s class consciousness that creates barriers and divides people. The sacred books say that we must love one another, and not be personal or limited in our love, but sometimes we find this very difficult.”
除了别人的观点外，你怎么认为？ 你对爱也有观点吗？ “很难用言语表达自己的感受，” 第二个人回答说。 “我认为爱必须是普遍的；一个人必须爱所有人，不带偏见。 是偏见摧毁了爱； 正是阶级意识制造了障碍，分裂了人们。 神圣的书上说，我们必须彼此相爱， 而不是个人的或有限的爱，但有时我们发现这非常困难。”
“To love God is to love all,” added the first one. “There’s only divine love; the rest is carnal, personal. This physical love prevents divine love; and without divine love, all other love is mere barter and exchange. Love is not sensation. Sexual sensation must be checked, disciplined; that’s why I’m against birth control. physical passion is destructive; through chastity lies the way to God.”
“爱上帝就是爱所有人，” 第一个补充道。 “只有神圣的爱；其余的都是肉体的、个人的。 这种肉体的爱阻止了神圣的爱； 没有神圣的爱，所有其他的爱都只是买卖和交换。 爱不是肉体上的感受。性欲的感受必须受到检点、节制； 那就是为什么我反对节育。 身体上的激情是破坏性的；凭借着贞洁，有通往上帝的道路。”
Before we go further, don’t you think we ought to find out if all these opinions have any validity? Is not one opinion as good as another? Regardless of who holds it, is not opinion a form of prejudice, a bias created by one’s temperament, one’s experience, and the way one happens to have been brought up? “Do you think it is wrong to hold an opinion?” asked the second one.
在我们进一步讨论之前， 你不认为我们应该找出所有这些观点是否具有任何的有效性吗？ 难道一种观点不是和另一种观点同样好吗？ 不管是谁持有的，观点难道不是一种偏见， 一种由一个人的气质、一个人的经历以及碰巧被抚养的方式所产生的成见吗？ “你认为持有一种观点是错误的吗？” 第二个人问道。
To say that it is wrong or right would merely be another opinion, wouldn’t it? But if one begins to observe and understand how opinions are formed, then perhaps one may be able to perceive the actual significance of opinion, judgment, agreement.
说它是错的或对的，那只是另一种观点，不是吗？ 但是，如果一个人开始观察和理解观点是如何形成的， 那么也许他可能能够感知到观点、判断和同意的实际意义。
“Would you kindly explain?”
“你能友善地解释一下吗？”
Thought is the result of influence, isn’t it? Your thinking and your opinions are dictated by the way you have been brought up. You say, “This is right, and that is wrong”, according to the moral pattern of your particular conditioning. We are not for the moment concerned with what is true beyond all influence, or whether there is such truth. We are trying to see the significance of opinions, beliefs, assertions, whether they be collective or personal. Opinion, belief, agreement or disagreement, are responses according to one’s background narrow or wide. Isn’t that so?
思想是影响的结果，不是吗？ 你的想法和观点是由你成长的方式决定的。 你说，“这是对的，那是错的”， 是基于你所接受的特定条件的伦理模式。 我们暂时不关心超越所有影响的真实情况， 也不关心是否存在这种真实。 我们试图看到观点、信仰、主张的意义， 无论是集体的还是个人的。 观点、信仰、同意或不同意， 是根据一个人的背景而作出的反应，无论这个背景是狭窄的或是广阔的。 难道不是那样吗？
“Yes, but is that wrong?”
“是的，但那是错的吗？”
Again, if you say it’s right or wrong, you are still in the field of opinions. Truth is not a matter of opinion; a fact does not depend on agreement or belief. You and I may agree to call this object a watch, but by any other name it would still be what it is. Your belief or opinion is something that has been given to you by the society in which you live. In revolting against it, as a reaction, you may form a different opinion, another belief; but you are still on the same level, aren’t you?
你又来了，如果你说这是对还是错，你仍然落入了观点之中。 真理不是某个观点的问题。事实不依赖于同意或信念。 你和我可能同意称这个物体为‘手表’， 但以任何其他名称来命名，它仍然是它本来的样子。 你的信念或观点，是你所生活的社会给你的东西。 在反抗它时，作为一种反应，你可能会形成一个不同的观点，另一种信念； 但你仍然在同一个水平面上，不是吗？
“I am sorry, sir, but I don’t understand what you are getting at,” replied the second one.
“对不起，先生，但我不明白你在说什么，” 第二个回答。
You have certain ideas and opinions about love, haven’t you? “Yes.” How did you get them? “I have read what the saints and the great religious teachers have said about love, and having thought it over, I have formed my own conclusions.”
你对爱有一定的想法和观点，不是吗？ “是的。” 你是怎么得到它们的？ “我读过圣徒和伟大的宗教导师对爱的说法， 经过深思熟虑，我得出了我自己的结论。”
Which are shaped by your likes and dislikes, are they not? You like or you don’t like what others have said about love, and you decide which statement is right and which is wrong according to your own predilection. Isn’t this what you do? “I choose that which I consider to be true.”
那些是由你的喜好和厌恶所塑造的，不是吗？ 你喜欢或不喜欢别人对爱所说的话， 你根据自己的喜好决定哪个陈述是对的，哪个是错误的。 你不是这么做的吗？“我选择我认为是对的。”
On what is your choice based? “On my own knowledge and discernment.”
您的选择基于什么？“靠我自己的知识和辨别力。”
What do you mean by knowledge? I’m not trying to trip or corner you, but together we are trying to understand why one has opinions, ideas, conclusions about love. If once we understand this, we can go very much more deeply into the matter. So, what do you mean by knowledge?
你所说的知识是什么意思？ 我不是想绊倒你或把你逼到墙角， 但我们一起试图理解为什么一个人对爱有观点、想法和结论。 如果我们一旦理解了这些，我们就可以更深入地研究这个问题。 那么，你说的知识是什么意思呢？
“By knowledge I mean what I have learnt from the teachings of the sacred books.” “Knowledge embraces also the techniques of modern science, and all the information that has been gathered by man from ancient days up to the present time,” added the other.
“我所说的知识是指我从圣书的教义中学到的东西。” “知识也包括现代科学的技术， 以及人类从古代到现在收集的所有信息，” 另一位补充道。
So knowledge is a process of accumulation, is it not? It is the cultivation of memory. The knowledge that we have accumulated as scientists, musicians, type-setters, scholars, engineers, makes us technical in various departments of life. When we have to build a bridge, we think as engineers, and this knowledge is part of the tradition, part of the background, or conditioning, that influences all our thinking. Living, which includes the capacity to build a bridge, is a total action, not a separate, partial activity; yet our thinking about life, about love, is shaped by opinions, conclusions, tradition. If you were brought up in a culture which maintained that love is only physical, and that divine love is all nonsense, you would, in the same way, repeat what you had been taught, wouldn’t you?
所以知识是一个积累的过程，不是吗？ 它是对记忆力的培养。 我们所积累的 作为科学家、音乐家、打字员、学者、工程师的知识， 使我们在生活的各个部分都有了技术。 当我们必须建造一座桥梁时，我们像一位工程师一样思考， 这些知识是传统的一部分，是背景的一部分，或者是限制条件的一部分， 它影响着我们所有的思考。 生活，包括建造桥梁的能力，是一个整体的行动， 而不是一个分离的、部分的活动； 然而，我们对生活，对爱的思考，是由观点、结论、传统塑造的。 如果你在一个坚持认为 ‘爱只是肉体上的，而神圣的爱都是无稽之谈’的文化中长大， 你会以同样的方式重复你被教导的东西，不是吗？
“Not always,” replied the second one. “I admit it’s rare, but some of us do rebel and think for ourselves.”
“不总是这样，” 第二个回答。 “我承认这种情况很少见，但我们中的一些人确实会反抗并为我们自己思考。”
Thought may rebel against the established pattern, but this very revolt is generally the outcome of another pattern; the mind is still caught in the process of knowledge, tradition. It is like rebelling within the walls of a prison for more conveniences, better food, and so on.
思想可能会反抗既定的模式， 但这种反抗通常是另一种模式的产物； 头脑仍然被困在知识、传统的过程中。 这就像在监狱的围墙内反抗， 以获得更多的便利、更好的食物等等。
So your mind is conditioned by opinions, tradition, knowledge, and by your ideas about love, which make you act in a certain way. That is clear, isn’t it?
因此，你的头脑受到观点、传统、知识 以及你对爱的观念的限制， 这些限制使你以某种方式行动。那很清楚，不是吗？
“Yes, sir, that is clear enough,” answered the first one. “But then what is love?”
“是的，先生，这已经足够清楚了，”第一个回答。“但，那什么是爱呢？”
If you want a definition, you can look in any dictionary; but the words which define love are not love, are they? Merely to seek an explanation of what love is, is still to be caught in words, in opinions, which are accepted or rejected according to your conditioning. “Aren’t you making it impossible to inquire into what love is?”, asked the second one.
如果你想要一个定义，你可以在任何字典中查找； 但是定义爱的词不是爱，不是吗？ 仅仅为了寻求‘爱是什么’的解释， 仍然陷入了言语、观点， 这些是你根据你的限制条件而接受或拒绝的东西。 “你这么说，人不就没有办法去调查什么是爱了吗？” 第二个人问道。
Is it possible to inquire through a series of opinions, conclusions? To inquire rightly, thought must be freed from conclusion, from the security of knowledge, tradition. The mind may free itself from one series of conclusions, and form another, which is again only a modified continuity of the old.
通过一系列的观点、结论，可以进行调查吗？ 要正确地调查，思想必须从结论中解放出来， 从知识、传统的安保措施中解放。 头脑可能从一连串的结论中解脱出来，并形成另一个结论， 这只是又一个在老旧的知识上，进行改良而形成的延续体。
Now, isn’t thought itself a movement from one result to another, from one influence to another? Do you see what I mean? “I’m not at all sure that I do,” said the first one. “I don’t understand it at all,” said the second.
现在， 思想本身，它不就是从一个结果到另一个结果，从一个影响到另一个影响的移动吗？ 你明白我的意思吗？ “我完全不确定我是否明白，” 第一个人说。 “我完全不明白，” 第二个说。
Perhaps you will, as we go along. Let me put it this way: is thinking the instrument of inquiry? Will thinking help one to understand what love is? “How am I to find out what love is if I’m not allowed to think?” asked the second one rather sharply.
也许你会的，随着我们的前进。让我这样说： 思考是调查的工具吗？ 思考会帮助一个人理解什么是爱吗？ “如果我不被允许思考，我怎么能知道什么是爱？” 第二个人尖锐地问道。
Please be a little more patient. You have thought about love, haven’t you? “Yes. My friend and I have thought a great deal about it.”
请多一点耐心。你思考过爱，不是吗？ “是的。我和我的朋友对它思考了很多。”
If one may ask, what do you mean when you say you have thought about love? “I have read about it, discussed it with my friends, and drawn my own conclusions.”
如果有人可以问，当你说你思考过爱时，你是指什么意思？ “我读过它，和我的朋友讨论过，并得出了我们自己的结论。”
Has it helped you to find out what love is? You have read, exchanged opinions with each other, and come to certain conclusions about love, all of which is called thinking. You have positively or negatively described what love is, sometimes adding to, and sometimes taking away from, what you have previously learnt. Isn’t that so?
它是否帮助你找到了什么是爱？ 你们已经阅读，彼此交换观点，并得出关于爱的某些结论， 所有这些都被称之为思考。 你已经从正面或反面描述了‘爱是什么’， 有时增加了，有时拿走了你以前学到的东西。 难道不是那样吗？
“Yes, that’s exactly what we have been doing, and our thinking has helped to clarify our minds.”
“是的，这正是我们一直在做的事情， 我们的思考有助于澄清我们的头脑。”
Has it? Or have you become more and more entrenched in an opinion? Surely, what you call clarification is a process of coming to a definite verbal or intellectual conclusion. “That’s right; we are not as confused as we were.”
是吗？还是你越来越根深蒂固地陷入了一种观点？ 当然，你所谓的澄清 是一个得出明确的口头上的或智力上的结论的过程。 “没错；我们没有像以前那么困惑。”
In other words, one or two ideas stand out clearly in this jumble of teachings and contradictory opinions about love. Isn’t that it?
换句话说，有一两种观念 从这堆关于爱的教导和矛盾的观念中脱颖而出。不是吗？
“Yes; the more we have gone over this whole question of what love is, the clearer it has become.”
“是的； 我们越是讨论爱是什么的整个问题，它就越清晰。”
Is it love that has become clear, or what you think about it?
是爱变得清晰，还是你对它的想法？
Let us go a little further into this, shall we? A certain ingenious mechanism is called a watch because we have all agreed to use this word to indicate that particular thing; but the word ‘watch’ is obviously not the mechanism itself. Similarly, there is a feeling or a state which we have all agreed to call love; but the word is not the actual feeling, is it? And the word ‘love’ means so many different things. At one time you use it to describe a sexual feeling, at another time you talk about divine or impersonal love, or you assert what love should or should not be, and so on.
让我们更进一步探讨这个问题，好吗？ 某种巧妙的机械被称为手表， 因为我们都同意用这个词来表示那个特定的东西； 但‘手表’这个词显然不是机器本身。 同样地，有一种感觉或一种状态，我们都同意称之为爱。 但这个词不是实际的感觉，是吗？ ‘爱’这个词意味着很多不同的东西。 有一次你用它来描述一种性快感， 在另一个时候，你谈论神圣的或非个人的爱， 或者你断言爱应该或不应该是什么，等等。
“If I may interrupt, sir, could it be that all these feelings are just varying forms of the same thing?” asked the first one.
“如果我可以打断的话，先生， 所有这些感觉都难道不是同一事物的不同形式吗？” 第一个人问道。
How does it appear to you? “I’m not sure. There are moments when love seems to be one thing, but at other moments it appears to be something quite different. It’s all very confusing. One doesn’t know where one is.”
在你看来，它是什么样子的？ “我不确定。有些时候，爱似乎是同一个东西， 但在其他时刻，它似乎是完全不同的东西。 这一切都非常令人困惑。 一个人不知道自己在哪里。”
That’s just it. We want to be sure of love, to peg it down, so that it won’t elude us; we reach conclusion, make agreements about it; we call it by various names, with their special meanings; we talk about ‘my love’, just as we talk about ‘my property’, ‘my family’, ‘my virtue’, and we hope to lock it safely away, so that we can turn to other things and make sure of them too; but somehow it’s always slipping away when we least expect it.
就是那个样子。我们要确定爱，把它钉住，那样它就不会逃避我们； 我们得出结论，对它达成一致； 我们用各种名称来称呼它，赋予它们特殊的含义； 我们谈论‘我的爱’， 就像我们谈论‘我的财产’，‘我的家庭’，‘我的美德’一样， 我们希望安全地将其锁起来， 这样我们就可以转向其他东西，并确定它们； 但不知何故，它总是在我们最不期望的时候溜走。
“I don’t quite follow all this,” said the second one, rather puzzled.
“我不太理解这一切，” 第二个人说，相当疑惑。
As we have seen, the feeling itself is different from what the books say about it; the feeling is not the description, it is not the word. That much is clear, isn’t it? “Yes.”
正如我们所看到的，这种感觉本身与书中所说的不同。 这种感觉不是描述、不是词语。 这很清楚，不是吗？“是的。”
Now, can you separate the feeling from the word, and from your preconceptions of what it should and should not be?
现在，你能把这种感觉从这个词中分离出来， 从你对它应该和不应该是什么的成见中分离出来吗？
“What do you mean, ‘separate’?” asked the first one.
“你说的'分离'是什么意思？” 第一个人问道。
There is the feeling, and the word or words which describe that feeling, either approvingly or disapprovingly. Can you separate the feeling from the verbal description of it? It’s comparatively easy to separate an objective thing, like this watch, from the word which describes it; but to dissociate the feeling itself from the word ‘love’, with all its implications, is far more arduous and requires a great deal of attention.
有一种感觉， 以及描述这种感觉的一个或多个词语，无论是赞同的还是不赞成的。 你能把这种感觉和它的口头描述分开吗？ 将客观的物体，例如这个手表， 与描述它的词语分开，是相对容易的。 但是，要将这种感觉本身与‘爱’这个词及其所有的含义分开 就会困难得多，需要大量的关注。
“What good will that do?” asked the second one.
“那有什么好处？” 第二个人问道。
We always want to get a result in return for doing something. This desire for a result, which is another form of conclusion-seeking, prevents understanding. When you ask, “What good will it do me if I dissociate the feeling from the word ‘love’?”, you are thinking of a result; therefore you are not really inquiring to find out what that feeling is, are you? “I do want to find out, but I also want to know what will be the outcome of dissociating the feeling from the word. Isn’t this perfectly natural?”
我们总是希望在做了某些事情后，获得一个结果。 这种对结果的欲求，是另一种形式的结论，阻碍了理解。 当你问，“如果我把这种感觉从'爱'这个词中分离出来，这对我有什么好处？”， 你在思考一个结果； 因此，你并不是真的在调查那种感觉是什么，不是吗？ “我确实想找出， 但我也想知道将感觉与词语分离的结果是什么。 这难道不是很自然吗？”
Perhaps; but if you want to understand, you will have to give your attention, and there’s no attention when one part of your mind is concerned with results, and the other with understanding. In this way you get neither, and so you become more and more confused, bitter and miserable. If we don’t dissociate the word, which is memory and all its reactions, from the feeling, then that word destroys the feeling; and then the word, or memory, is the ash without the fire. Isn’t this what has happened to you both? You have so entangled yourselves in a net of words, of speculations, that the feeling itself, which is the only thing that has deep and vital significance, is lost.
也许是；但是如果你想理解，你将不得不给予你的注意， 当你头脑的一部分关心结果，而另一部分关心理解时， 就没有注意。 这样一来，你什么也得不到， 所以，你变得越来越困惑、痛苦和悲惨。 如果我们不把这个词，也就是记忆及其所有的反应， 把它与这个感觉分离开，那么这个词就会破坏这个感觉； 那么这个词，或记忆，就是没有了火焰的灰烬。 这不就是你们俩身上发生的事情吗？ 你们把自己纠缠在一张用词语、用推测编织的网中， 以至于这个感觉本身， 也就是唯一具有深刻和重要意义的东西，丢失了。
“I am beginning to see what you mean,” said the first one slowly. “We are not simple; we don’t discover anything for ourselves, but just repeat what we have been told. Even when we revolt, we form new conclusions, which again have to be broken down. We really don’t know what love is, but merely have opinions about it. Is that it?”
“我开始看见你说的意思了，” 第一个人慢慢地说。 “我们并不简单； 我们不亲自去发现任何东西，却只是重复我们被告知的事物。 即使我们反抗，我们也会形成新的结论，这些结论必须再次被打破。 我们真的不知道爱是什么，只是对它有某些观点。是那样吗？”
Don’t you think so? Surely, to know love, truth, God, there must be no opinions, no beliefs, no speculations with regard to it. If you have an opinion about a fact, the opinion becomes important, not the fact. If you want to know the truth or the falseness of the fact, then you must not live in the word, in the intellect. You may have a lot of knowledge, information, about the fact, but the actual fact is entirely different. put away the book, the description, the tradition, the authority, and take the journey of self-discovery. Love, and don’t be caught in opinions and ideas about what love is or should be. When you love, everything will come right. Love has its own action. Love, and you will know the blessings of it. Keep away from the authority who tells you what love is and what it is not. No authority knows; and he who knows cannot tell. Love, and there is understanding.
你不这么认为吗？ 当然，要知道爱、真理、上帝， 必须没有观点、没有信仰、没有关于它的推测。 如果你对一个事实有观点，这个观点就变得重要了，而不是事实。 如果你想知道事实的真伪， 那么你一定不能活在言语中，活在智力上。 你可能有很多关于事实的知识、信息， 但真切的事实是完全不同的。 收起书本、描述、传统、权威， 踏上自我发现的旅程。 爱，不要陷入关于‘爱是什么’或‘应该是什么’的观点和想法中。 当你爱，一切都会恰当。 爱有它自己的行动。爱，你会知道它的祝福。 远离那个告诉你‘什么是爱，什么不是爱’的权威。 没有权威知道；知道的人无法告知。 爱，就有理解。