Questing Inward

探寻内心

"On my head pour only the sweet waters of serenity¹. Give me the gift of the Untroubled Mind."

“只在我头上灌注宁静的蜜露，赐予我一份不受干扰的心境。”

Once, as a young man full of exuberant² fancy, I undertook to draw up a catalogue of the acknowledged "goods" of life. As other men sometimes tabulate³ lists of properties they own or would like to own, I set down my inventory⁴ of earthly desirables: health,love, beauty, talent, power, riches, and fame.

曾经，当我还是个充满丰富幻想的年轻人时，我着手起草了一份被公认为人生“幸福”的目录。就像别人有时会将他们所拥有或想要拥有的财产列成表，我将世人希求之物列成表：健康、爱情、美丽、才智、财富和名誉。

When my inventory was completed I proudly showed it to a wise elder who had been the mentor⁵ and spiritual model of my youth. Perhaps I was trying to impress him with my precocious⁶ wisdom. Anyway, I handed him the list. "This", I told him confidently, "is the sum of mortal goods. Could a man possess them all, he would be as a god.”

当我完成清单后，我自豪地将它交给一们睿智的长者，他曾是我少年时代的良师和精神楷模，或许我是想用此来加深他对我早熟智慧的印象。无论如何，我把单子递给了他，我充满自信地对他说：“这是人类幸福的总和。一个人若能拥有这些，就和神差不多了。”

At the corners of my friend's old eyes, I saw wrinkles of amusement gathering⁷ in a patient net.An excellent list," he said, pondering it thoughtfully. "well digested in content and set down in not-unreasonable order. But it appears,my young friend,that you have omitted the most important element of all.You have forgotten the one ingredient,lacking which each possession becomes a hideous⁸ torment⁹."

在我朋友沉淀着岁月印记的眼角处，我看到愉悦的皱纹汇聚成一张耐心的网。“是一张出色的表单，”他深思熟虑后说。“内容分类清晰，顺序排列合理。但是，我的年轻朋友，好像你忽略了最重要的一个要素。你忘记了那个要素，如果缺少了它，每一次拥有都变成可怕的折磨。”

"And what,"I asked,peppering my voice with truculence,"is that missing ingredient?"

我问道，言语间充满着急躁和不满：“那么，我遗漏的要素是什么？”

With a pencil stub he crossed out my entire schedule. Then, having demolished¹⁰ my adolescent dream structure at a single stroke, he wrote down three syllables¹¹: peace of mind. "This is the gift that God reserves for His special Proteges," he said.

他用一小节铅笔划掉了我的整张表格，一拳击碎了我的少年美梦.紧接着写下了三个字：心之静。“这是上帝为他特别的子民保留的礼物。”他说道。

Talent and beauty He gives to many. Wealth is commonplace, fame not rare. But peace of mind-that is His final guerdon of approval, the fondest insignia of His love.He bestows¹² it charily¹³. Most men are never blessed with it: others wait all their lives-yes,far into advanced age-for this gift to descend¹⁴ upon them."

“上帝赋子许多人才能和美丽。财富司空见惯，名望并非稀有，但心灵的宁静才是他允诺的最终赏赐，是他爱的最佳象征。他施予它的时候很谨慎，多数人从未享受过，有些人则等待了一生——是的，一直到暮年，才等到赏赐降临他们身上。”