(中英)現(xiàn)代散文:漸 Gradualness

Gradualness

漸①

◎ Feng Zikai

◎　豐子愷

The subtle factor that makes life endurable is "gradualness". It is by this "gradualness" that the Creator deceives all humans. Through the process of imperceptible gradual change, innocent kids become ambitious youths, chivalrous youths become unfeeling grownups, aggressive grownups become mulish old fogeys. Since the change takes place by slow degrees — year by year, month by month, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, you feel as if you were permanently your same old self always seeing much fun and meaning in life, like one, walking a long, long way down an extremely gentle mountain slope, hardly perceives its degree of incline or notices the altered scenes as he moves along. You thus take a positive view of life and find it endurable. Suppose a kid suddenly became a young man overnight, or a young man suddenly became an old man in a matter of hours from dawn till dusk, you would definitely feel astonished, emotionally stirred and sad, or lose any interest in life due to its transience. Hence it is evident that life is sustained by "gradualness". This "gradualness" is particularly crucial to women. Beautiful young ladies starring in an opera or stage show will someday end up becoming grannies moping their remaining years away around a fire. This may at first sound incredible and young ladies may refuse to accept it as true. Fact is, however, all aged women you meet today have without exception "gradually" evolved from beautiful young ladies of yesterday.

使人生圓滑進(jìn)行②的微妙的要素，莫如“漸”；造物主騙人的手段，也莫如“漸”。在不知不覺之中，天真爛漫的孩子“漸漸”變成野心勃勃的青年；慷慨豪俠的青年“漸漸”變成冷酷的成人；血氣旺盛的成人“漸漸”變成頑固的老頭子。因為其變更是漸進(jìn)的，一年一年地，一月一月地，一日一日地，一時一時地，一分一分地，一秒一秒地漸進(jìn)，猶如從斜度極緩的長遠(yuǎn)的山陂上走下來，使人不察其遞降的痕跡③，不見其各階段的境界，而似乎覺得常在同樣的地位，恒久不變④，又無時不有生的意趣與價值，于是人生就被確實肯定，而圓滑進(jìn)行了。假如昨夜的孩子今朝忽然變成青年；或朝為青年而暮忽成老人，人一定要驚訝，感慨，悲傷，或痛感人生的無常，而不樂為人了。故可知人生是由“漸”維持的。這在女人恐怕尤為必要：歌劇中，舞臺上的如花的少女⑤，就是將來火爐旁邊的老婆子⑥，這句話驟聽使人不能相信，少女也不肯承認(rèn)，實則現(xiàn)在的老婆子都是由如花的少女“漸漸”變成的。

It is also due to this "gradualness" that one is able to reconcile himself to his reduced circumstances. Fiction and reality abound with instances of a good-for-nothing young man from a wealthy family "gradually" ruining his family by repeated business failures and becoming in turn a poor wretch, a hired labourer, a slave, a rogue, a pauper and a thief... Since it is a process of "gradual" change covering, say, ten to twenty years, he doesn't experience any terrible emotional shock at all. Therefore, in spite of all the intense sufferings — hunger, cold, illness, imprisonment, torture, he continues to cling to the present life. On the other hand, however, if the wealthy young man were all of a sudden reduced to begging and thieving, he would definitely feel too aggrieved to go on living.

人之能堪受境遇的變衰，也全靠這“漸”的助力。巨富的紈袴子弟因?qū)掖纹飘a(chǎn)而“漸漸”蕩盡其家產(chǎn)，變?yōu)樨氄?；貧者只得做雇工，雇工往往變?yōu)榕`，奴隸容易變?yōu)闊o賴，無賴與乞丐相去甚近，乞丐不妨做偷兒……這樣的例，在小說中，在實際上，均多得很。因為其變衰是延長為十年二十年而一步一步地“漸漸”地達(dá)到的⑦，在本人不感到甚么強(qiáng)烈的刺激。故雖到了饑寒病苦刑笞交迫的地步，仍是熙熙然貪戀著目前的生的歡喜。假如一位千金之子忽然變了乞丐或偷兒，這人一定憤不欲生了。

Gradualness is really the mysterious law of Mother Nature, the subtle artifice of the Creator! The unnoticed mutual replacement of opposites, the change of the four seasons and the survival or extinction of species — all is imperceptibly governed by this law. Budding spring "gradually" changes into verdant summer; withered autumn "gradually" changes into bleak winter. Though we have gone through several dozen years, yet on a winter night, when we sit around a fire or lie in bed, we can hardly imagine how we would feel on a summer day Consuming cold drinks and fanning ourselves busily, and vice versa. Th gradual change from winter to summer, or from summer to winter takes place day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, without leaving any marked traces in between. The same with daylight gradually fading into night. When you sit by your window reading a book towards the evening, you'll find the words on each page "gradually" becoming blurred. But if you keep on reading, with the words still legible (due to the gradual strengthening of your eyesight in the deepening twilight), you'll be unconscious of daylight already transformed into night. Likewise, when at dawn you stand intently gazing out of a window into the eastern horizon, you never feel the transition from night to day. While parents living together with their children all the time never perceive their gradual growth, they may fail to recognize, however, a distant relative whom they have not seen for quite some time. I remember how, on each New Year's Eve, we used to sit by a red candle to eagerly wait for our narcissus to come into full bloom. How silly we were! If the narcissus had really come into bloom in our presence at our desire, it would have meant the violation of the law of Nature, the weakening of the foundation of the universe, and the last day of humanity!

這真是大自然的神秘的原則，造物主的微妙的工夫！陰陽潛移⑧，春秋代序⑨，以及物類的衰榮生殺⑩，無不暗合于這法則。由萌芽的春“漸漸”變成綠陰的夏；由凋零的秋“漸漸”變成枯寂的冬。我們雖已經(jīng)歷數(shù)十寒暑，但在圍爐擁衾?的冬夜仍是難于想像飲冰揮扇的夏日的心情；反之亦然。然而由冬一天一天地，一時一時地，一分一分地，一秒一秒地移向夏，由夏一天一天地，一時一時地，一分一分地，一秒一秒地移向冬，其間實在沒有顯著的痕跡可尋。晝夜也是如此：傍晚坐在窗下看書，page上“漸漸”地黑起來，倘不斷地看下去，（目力能因了光的漸弱而漸漸加強(qiáng)）幾乎永遠(yuǎn)可以認(rèn)識page上的字跡，即不覺晝之已變?yōu)橐?。黎明憑窗，不瞬目地注視東天，也不辨自夜向晝的推移的痕跡。兒女漸漸長大起來，在朝夕相見的父母全不覺得，難得見面的遠(yuǎn)親就相見不相識了。往年除夕，我們曾在紅蠟燭底下守候水仙花的開放，真是癡態(tài)！倘水仙花果真當(dāng)面開放給我們看，便是大自然的原則的破壞，宇宙的根本的搖動，世界人類的末日臨到了！

Through bit-by-bit change, "gradualness" conceals from notice the lapse of time and the change of things, so that people are misled into believing that everything remains the same eternally. What a trick the Creator is playing on humans! Here is a story by way of illustration. There was a farmer who would jump over a ditch holding a calf in his arms on his way to work in the fields every morning and also on his way back home every evening. A year later, the calf had grown bigger and heavier, almost like a cow, but the farmer, insensible to its increasing weight, continued the same old daily routine. One day, however, he didn't go to work for some reason. And starting from the next day, he was no longer able to carry his calf in his arms in jumping over the ditch. The Creator uses the same trick to make you so obsessed with life that you become oblivious to its changeableness and hardships. You are kept jumping over the ditch nonstop day after day with the growing calf in your arms. While you suppose wrongly that life is immutable, you are in fact putting heavier burdens on yourself from day to day.

“漸”的作用，就是用每步相差極微緩的方法來隱蔽時間的過去與事物的變遷的痕跡，使人誤認(rèn)其為恒久不變。這真是造物主騙人的一大詭計！這有一件比喻的故事：某農(nóng)夫每天朝晨抱了犢而跳過一溝，到田里去工作，夕暮又抱了它跳過溝回家。每日如此，未嘗間斷。過了一年，犢已漸大，漸重，差不多變成大牛，但農(nóng)夫全不覺得，仍是抱了它跳溝。有一天他因事停止工作，次日再就不能抱了這牛而跳溝了。造物的騙人，使人留連于其每日每時的生的歡喜而不覺其變遷與辛苦，就是用這個方法的，人們每日在抱了日重一日的牛而跳溝，不準(zhǔn)停止。自己誤以為是不變的，其實每日在增加其苦勞！

I think the clock is most symbolic of life. It normally seems to be "still" at first sight, but, of all things artificially made, it is the most busy with its hands moving all the time. The same is true of life. We are apt to think that we are forever our own selves and unchangeable, while in fact we are ever-changing like the hands of a clock. Alas, as long as we are alive, we are completely fooled by "gradualness" into believing that we will always remain the same and unchangeable, and therefore becoming only too ready to hold on to this life!

我覺得時辰鐘是人生的最好的象征了。時辰鐘的針，平常一看總覺得是“不動”的，其實人造物中最常動的無過于時辰鐘的針了。日常生活中的人生也如此，刻刻覺得我是我，似乎這“我”永遠(yuǎn)不變，實則與時辰鐘的針一樣地?zé)o常！一息尚存，總覺得我仍是我，我沒有變，還是留連著我的生，可憐受盡“漸”的欺騙！

Time is the essence of "gradualness". Ordinary people have only a superficial understanding of time. They seem to know it only as regards such small matters as boarding a train or boat, but not in things concerning a lifetime. They see the trees, but not the wood. Take the passengers of a train for example. Often some passengers are sensible and considerate enough to offer their own seats to the elderly or handicapped so that they themselves can enjoy peace of mind or momentary public praise. Some, when they see other passengers falling over one another in getting off the train, purposely make room by staying behind, or call out, "Don't squeeze! We'll all make it! Nobody will be left behind!" But few will be as sensible and considerate when making the long journey of life on board a big "social" or "global" train. Therefore, I wish man would live a much shorter life. If their lifespan could become as brief as the time they spent on a train or a boat, human society would probably witness far less bitter strife, and people would be as polite and modest as on the train.

“漸”的本質(zhì)是“時間”。一般人對于時間的悟性，似乎只夠支配搭船、乘車的短時間；對于百年的長期間的壽命，他們不能勝任，往往迷于局部而不能顧及全體?。試看乘火車的旅客中，常有明達(dá)的人，有的寧犧牲暫時的安樂而讓其坐位于弱者，以求心的太平（或博暫時的美譽(yù)）；有的見眾人爭先下車，而退在后面，或高呼“勿要軋，總有得下去的！”“大家都要下去的！”然而在乘“社會”或“世界”的大火車的“人生”的長期的旅客中，就少有這樣的明達(dá)之人。所以我覺得百年的壽命，定得太長。像現(xiàn)在的世界上的人，倘定他們搭船乘車的期間的壽命，也許在人類社會上可減少許多兇險殘慘的爭斗。而與火車中一樣地謙讓，和平，也未可知。

However, we do have among us a few who know how to correctly view life. They are great, indeed! They refuse to be fooled by "gradualness" or the Creator.

然人類中也有幾個能勝任百年的或千古的壽命的人。那是“大人格”，“大人生”。他們能不為“漸”所迷，不為造物所欺。

豐子愷（1898—1975），浙江崇德縣石門鎮(zhèn)人，是我國“五四”新文化運動后很早從事散文寫作的一個先驅(qū)作家?！稘u》是他1925年在上海一個中學(xué)任教時寫的第一篇散文。文章語言樸素自然，干凈流利，內(nèi)容富于哲理，流露出他早期作品中的佛教出世思想。英譯時略有刪節(jié)。