《茶之书》中英文对照VI莳花弄草.docVIP

VI. Flowers 莳花弄草 In the trembling grey of a spring dawn, when the birds were whispering in mysterious cadence among the trees, have you not felt that they were talking to their mates about the flowers? Surely with mankind the appreciation of flowers must have been coeval with the poetry of love. Where better than in a flower, sweet in its unconsciousness, fragrant because of its silence, can we image the unfolding of a virgin soul? The primeval man in offering the first garland to his maiden thereby transcended the brute. He became human in thus rising above the crude necessities of nature. He entered the realm of art when he perceived the subtle use of the useless. 春日拂晓，曦光颤颤，林间的鸟儿用神秘调子低语，你不觉得它们正向伴侣诉说花的故事么？人类对花朵的欣赏与表达爱的诗章，两者定然相依相存。不知不觉中绽放甜蜜，恬静沉默里散发芬芳，除却花朵，还有何物能让你想到少女情窦初开的羞涩柔情？当原始时代的人第一次向爱慕的少女献上花环，他便超越了蛮荒状态。他超越于自然界那些原始的基本需要，而变成了真正的人类。当领悟了这无用之物的妙处，他便进入了一个艺术的王国。 In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends. We eat, drink, sing, dance, and flirt with them. We wed and christen with flowers. We dare not die without them. We have worshipped with the lily, we have meditated with the lotus, we have charged in battle array with the rose and the chrysanthemum. We have even attempted to speak in the language of flowers. How could we live without them? It frightens on to conceive of a world bereft of their presence. What solace do they not bring to the bedside of the sick, what a light of bliss to the darkness of weary spirits? Their serene tenderness restores to us our waning confidence in the universe even as the intent gaze of a beautiful child recalls our lost hopes. When we are laid low in the dust it is they who linger in sorrow over our graves. 悲欢交替的生命中，花是我们永恒的友伴。我们与花同斟共饮，同歌共舞，嬉戏赏玩。婚礼和洗礼需要用到它们，丧葬与哀悼更是离不开它们。祈祷时我们有百合相伴，冥想时有莲花作陪，连冲锋陷阵也戴着蔷薇与菊花。我们甚至试图用花的语言诉说。没有它们我们如何生活？想到一个被剥夺了花朵的世界，便令人心生恐怖。病榻之前，它们几时不给人以慰藉？它们又何曾不将喜悦的光彩注入疲惫灵魂的暗影？它们宁静的温柔，使我们恢复了在宇宙天地间日渐消逝的信心，就像美貌的孩童专注的凝视，重新带回那已失的希冀。而有朝一日当我们被埋葬在尘埃之下，是它们久久地在我们的坟前忧伤徘徊。 Sad as it is, we cannot conceal the fact that