大漠擒狼记:在义与利之外 (周国平)[雨巷寻香]中英对照

Other than being righteous or chasing profit
 
“君子喻以义，小人喻以利”。中国人的人生哲学总是围绕着义利二字打转。可是，假如我既不是君子，也不是小人呢？

"The gentleman understands what is moral and the small man understands what is profitable." [1] Choosing between moral value and personal gain has always been an issue at the core of our philosophies of life. But what if my choice for life would be neither that of a gentleman nor of a small man?
 
曾经有过一个人皆君子言必称义的时代，当时或许有过大义灭利的真君子，但更常见的是借义逐利的伪君子和假义真信的迂君子。那个时代过去了。曾几何时，世风剧变，义的信誉一落千丈，真君子销声匿迹，伪君子真相毕露，迂君子豁然开窍，都一窝蜂奔利而去。据说观念更新，义利之辨有了新解，原来利并非小人的专利，倒是做人的天经地义。

There was a time in the past when maintaining high moral standards was the primary concern of the society. In that time, there might be some true gentlemen willing to sacrifice themselves for the society, but mostly seen then were hypocrites making use of the good words to their own advantage and fools believing false claims and following blindly. That era has passed. It is unclear when the public morals began to change; but now the status of "righteousness" has declined so much that no gentlemen still hold their old ideals or hypocrites care to hide their true face or fools trust without doubt any more; instead they all run after money and profit. Fresh interpretations have been made for "being righteous" and "chasing profit" due to change of mentality; as it turns out, chasing profit is not an exclusive advantage to the small man but is right and proper for every one.
 
“时间就是金钱！”——这是当今一句时髦口号。企业家以之鞭策生产，本无可非议。但世人把它奉为指导人生的座右铭，用商业精神取代人生智慧，结果就使自己的人生成了一种企业，使人际关系成了一个市场。我曾经嘲笑廉价的人情味，如今，连人情味也变得昂贵而罕见了。试问，不花钱你可能买到一个微笑，一句问候，一丁点儿恻隐之心？

"Time is money!" has now become a fashionable slogan. It is certainly all right to be used in stimulating productivity. But it has also been promoted to be a model of life replacing conventional wisdoms with the very commercial spirit in it; the consequence is individual life being degraded to business undertaking and personal relationship to trades in a marketplace. There was once plenty of hospitality around but I didn't appreciate it much until it became rare and expensive. Now I do not expect to receive a smile, a word of greeting, or a little compassion without paying for it first.
 
不过，无须怀旧。想靠形形色色的义的说教来匡正时弊，拯救世风人心，事实上无济于事。在义利之外，还有别样的人生态度。在君子小人之外，还有别样的人格。套孔子的句式，不妨说：“至人喻以情。”

There is no need to go backward to find solutions; the old teachings about righteousness are useless to rescue the declining morals or remedy the current problems. Beyond a gentleman pursuing righteousness and a small man seeking personal gain, however, there exists yet another personality which is manifested by a distinctively different life attitude. Following the style of Confucius, as quoted at the beginning, I would say: "The free man understands what is true self." [2]
 
义和利，貌似相反，实则相通。“义”要求人献身抽象的社会实体，“利”驱使人投身世俗的物质利益，两者都无视人的心灵生活，遮蔽了人的真正的“自我”。“义”教人奉献，“利”诱人占有，前者把人生变成一次义务的履行，后者把人生变成一场权利的争夺，殊不知人生的真价值是超乎义务和权利外的。义和利都脱不开计较，所以，无论义师讨伐叛臣，还是利欲支配众生，人与人之间的关系总是紧张。

Though seemingly opposing to each other, the two life philosophies are really interconnected: while "righteousness" asks for a total devotion by its believers to an abstract society, "profit" drives its followers to pursue material gains in everyday life; both neglect the spiritual life of men by shielding the true "selves" from their awareness. By teaching devotion "righteousness" turns the lives of gentlemen to fulfilling a single large duty and by stimulating greed "profit" converts the lives of small men to fighting for rights and gains. Nevertheless, the true value of life is above and beyond duties and benefits. It doesn't matter if the purpose is to enforce justice or seek advantage-- it involves calculation of gains and losses regardlessly and an intensified interpersonal relationship will result either way.
 
如果说“义”代表一种伦理的人生态度，“利”代表一种功利的人生态度，那么，我所说的“情”便代表一种审美的人生态度。它主张率性而行，适情而止，每个人都保持自己的真性情。你不是你所信奉的教义，也不是你所占有的物品，你之为你仅在于你的真实“自我”。生命的意义不在奉献或占有，而在创造，创造就是人的真性情的积极展开，是人在实现其本质力量时所获得的情感上的满足。创造不同于奉献，奉献只是完成外在的责任，创造却是实现真实的“自我”。至于创造和占有，其差别更是一目了然，譬如写作，占有注重的是作品所带来的名利地位，创造注重的只是创作本身的快乐。有真性情的人，与人相处唯求情感的沟通，与物相触独钟情趣的品味。更为可贵的是，在世人匆忙逐利又为利所逐的时代，他接人待物有一种闲适之情。我不是指中国士大夫式的闲情逸致，也不是指小农式的知足保守，而是指一种不为利驱、不为物役的淡泊的生活情怀。仍以写作为例，我想不通，一个人何必要著作等身呢？倘想流芳千古，一首不朽的小诗足矣。倘无此奢求，则只要活得自在即可，写作也不过是这活得自在的一种方式罢了。

If "being righteous" stresses ethics when it is to represent a general attitude towards life and "chasing profit" stresses utility in a similar manner, then "returning to self" is to represent the third life attitude I advocate and will emphasize aesthetics. The new life attitude encourages one to follow the call of one's inner self to advance one's interest in a topic of one's own choice and stop where the same inner self asks it. You are not a part of the ideology you believe in, nor are you a part of your own possession. You are unique because of the very "self" inside you. Life becomes beautiful not because of your making sacrifice or your possessing wealth, but your enhancing its richness; while engaged in a creative work, you actively develop your true personality and taste satisfaction after you have worked to achieve your best potential. Different from making sacrifice, which is always related to an external purpose, originality is what you need to realize your true "self". It is even easier to see the difference between creation and possession. Take writing for example. While greed fixes your mind on how to increase your own fame and wealth, focusing on creation lets you enjoy writing through every stage of its progress. The man who has a free heart is always ready to share his thoughts and feelings and experience the aesthetic beauty of nature. But even more admirable is his relaxed and unaffected manner in a time of materialism marked by a profit-making craze involving the entire society; it is not the leisurely and carefree mood seen in a scholar-official or the contentment pursued by a conservative farmer, but an easiness due to his preference for simple life and detachment from material desires. Take writing for example again. I cannot convince myself that I should spend my life writing only to confirm my productiveness and win the respect of others. Rather, in order for my name to be remembered, it would suffice to compose a short piece of immortal poem. If I have no desire for credit and fame, I shall be able to live a freer life and will choose writing as a way to reflect on it.
 
肖伯纳说：“人生有两大悲剧，一是没有得到你心爱的东西，另一是得到了你心爱的东西。” 我曾经深以为然，并且佩服他把人生的可悲境遇，表述得如此轻松俏皮。但仔细玩味，发现这话的立足点仍是占有，所以才会有占有欲未得满足的痛苦和已得满足的无聊这双重悲剧。如果把立足点移到创造上，以审美的眼光看人生，我们岂不可以反其意而说：人生有两大快乐，一是没有得到你心爱的东西，于是你可以去寻求和创造；另一是得到了你心爱的东西，于是你可以去品味和体验？当然，人生总有其不可消除的痛苦，而重情轻利的人所体味到的辛酸悲哀，更为逐利之辈所梦想不到。但是，摆脱了占有欲，至少可以使人免除许多琐屑的烦恼和渺小的痛苦，活得有器度些。我无意以审美之情为救世良策，而只是表达了一个信念：在义与利之外，还有一种更值得一过的人生。这个信念将支撑我度过未来吉凶难卜的岁月。

I remember that someone once said: "There are two tragedies in life. One is that you haven't got what is your heart's desire. The other is that you have got it." [3] At first, I agreed with him without reservation and appreciated much the humorous and witty way he used to express such a heavy and sad feeling. Then, on further pondering, I found that there was still a discernible element of possession in the core of his thought, which probably was why the double-tragedy would occur-- you felt pain when your heart's desire was not satisfied and pain again after the desire had been satisfied for your being left with nothing to hope for. If we could shift from focusing on possession to creation and look at our life on its aesthetic value, we would then be able to say something quite different: "There are two great joys in life. One is to create what you haven't got but is your heart's desire. The other is to savor it when once you have got it." But we also know that there are pains in life that cannot be avoided or removed. One example is the sad and bitter feeling of those who listen to their own heart which is well beyond those others who care only about profit and gain can understand. But there is still certain benefit for the departure from possessiveness-- it will help eliminate much trivial worry and insignificant pain from my life, making me a freer person. By saying so, I do not mean to promote a remedy for the declining morality but only to point out that beyond worrying about lowered moral standards and pursuing opportunities for profit and gain, there is a third kind of life worth living. Although I do not know what the future will bring, this belief will support me for the rest of my life.  
 
 
Notes:
 
[1] Chapter 16, volume IV, of The Analects of Confucius, translated by D. C. Lau. Another translation of this quotation from Confucius is, by James Legge, "The mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness; the mind of the mean man is conversant with gain."
 
[2]  至人：圣贤之人(sage)。情：情趣(taste and interest)。至人喻以情：有阅历、有知识、有判断能力的人明白什么是发自本心的愿望和兴趣(the sage man knows what is from true self)。这里，“发自本心的”这个限制很重要。无论是义所要求的奉献，还是利所追求的权利，都起源于外部因素，而非来自本心(Here, "from true self" is critical to defining "the third life style". Whether it is to make sacrifice or pursue profit, the cause will be from outside, that is, of an external purpose)。 要想识别和达到本心，必须先积累培养起足够的经验、知识、和判断力(Therefore, to discover and reach your true self, you must improve your experience, judgment, and knowledge)。为使译文更容易被接受，我把“至人”改为“自由人(free man or one with a free heart)”。
 
[3] The author was intended to quote from George Bernard Shaw: "There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it." ("Man and Superman" Act IV; see Works by George Bernard Shaw at Project Gutenberg). But he used an incorrect Chinese translation of the quotation; the correct Chinese translation is "人生有两大悲剧, 一是不去追求自己心中所愿, 另一是去追求." Its implicit meaning is "如果放弃了，你将一生后悔；而如果去追求，你又将一生受苦 (either way it will be tragic-- to pursue it you will suffer, but not to pursue it you will regret, for the rest of your life)." There is another English version of this quotation, published at Brainy Quote, "There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to get it." In this version, a different infinitive "to lose(放弃)" is used to replace "not to get(不去追求)" in the second sentence, but is of similar meaning-- to give up.
 

References:
 
[1] 周国平自选集 (中华阅读网)

(revised 2007-07-10)