24)On Pleasure(歡樂)

The Prophet(先知)
Kahlil Gibran(哈利勒‧紀伯倫)

24)On Pleasure(歡樂)

Then a hermit, who visited the city once a year,
接著一位每年進城一次的隱士
came forth and said, "Speak to us of Pleasure."
上前說︰請談一談歡樂。
And he answered, saying:
他回答說︰
Pleasure is a freedom-song,
歡樂是一首自由之歌，
But it is not freedom.
但它本身卻不是自由。
It is the blossoming of your desires,
它是你們慾望的綻放，
But it is not their fruit.
卻並非它們的果實。
It is a depth calling unto a height,
它是由深谷向高處的呼喚，
But it is not the deep nor the high.
但它並非深谷也非高處。
It is the caged taking wing,
它是籠中鳥的展翅，
But it is not space encompassed.
卻並非被拘限的空間。
Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom-song.
是啊，這是真的，歡樂是一首自由之歌。
And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart;
我祈願你全心去唱它；
yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing.
然而卻不願你們在歌唱之中迷失了靈魂。
Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it were all,
你們之中有些年青人尋找歡樂，彷佛它就是一切，
and they are judged and rebuked.
接著他們便受到批判和譴責。
I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek.
我不願去批判或譴責他們，我要他們去尋找。
For they shall find pleasure, but not her alone;
他們一定會找到歡樂，但將不只找尋到它而已。
Seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure.
它有七個姐妹，其中最差的都比歡樂還要美。
Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure?
你們沒聽過那個掘地找樹根卻發現寶藏的人嗎？
And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret
你們之中有些長輩帶著懊悔之心回憶歡樂，
like wrongs committed in drunkenness.
像喝醉之後所犯的過失。
But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement.
但懊悔只是心神被蒙上陰暗，而非心靈的懲戒。
They should remember their pleasures with gratitude,
他們應懷著感恩回憶他們的歡樂，
as they would the harvest of a summer.
就好像憶起夏季的豐收一樣。
Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted.
但如果懊悔可使他們感到安慰，就讓他們感受安慰吧。
And there are among you those who are neither young to seek nor old to remember;
你們之間有些人既不是在尋找歡樂的青年期，也未達到回憶的老年期；
And in their fear of seeking and remembering they shun all pleasures,
只因他們害怕去追求和回憶，他們便避開所有的歡樂，
lest they neglect the spirit or offend against it.
以免對心靈忽略或冒犯。
But even in their foregoing is their pleasure.
但即使在放棄之中，也能得到歡愉。
And thus they too find a treasure though they dig for roots with quivering hands.
他們也找到了一個寶藏，雖然他們用顫抖的手挖掘著。
But tell me, who is he that can offend the spirit?
但是告訴我，有誰能冒犯心靈呢？
Shall the nightingale offend the stillness of the night, or the firefly the stars?
夜鶯會冒犯夜的安寧，螢火虫會觸犯星辰嗎？
And shall your flame or your smoke burden the wind?
你們的火焰與煙霧會成為風的負荷嗎？
Think you the spirit is a still pool which you can trouble with a staff?
你以為心靈是一池死水，而你能以竿子攪亂它嗎？
Oftentimes in denying yourself pleasure
往往你們拒絕歡樂，
you do but store the desire in the recesses of your being.
只是在你內在更深處藏起了你們的慾望。
Who knows but that which seems omitted today, waits for tomorrow?
誰知道，似乎被忽略的今天，是否正等待著明天呢？
Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful need and will not be deceived.
就連你們的身體也知道它的本能與它正當的需求，而不會受騙。
And your body is the harp of your soul,
你們的肉體是你心靈的豎琴，
And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.
奏出悠美的音樂，或是嘈雜的嗓言，都由你們自己決定。
And now you ask in your heart,
現在，你們心裡疑問著︰
"How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?"
「我們怎麼樣才能分辨什麼是好的歡樂和不好的歡樂呢？」
Go to your fields and your gardens,
到你的田地和花園去，
and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,
你們便會學到，從花朵中吸取花蜜，是蜂的歡樂，
But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.
同樣的，花朵的快樂便是在供給蜜蜂去採蜜。
For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,
對蜜蜂而言，花朵是生命的泉源，
And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,
對花朵而言，蜜蜂是愛的信差。
And to both, bee and flower,
而對蜜蜂和花朵兩者，
the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.
施予和接受歡樂是種需要，也是狂喜。
People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.
奧非裡斯城的人啊﹗像花和蜂一樣地享受歡樂吧﹗