穆涛散文选译（三）

                       本文的两位译者在唐家大院

            敲木鱼                   

          Knocking a Wooden Fish

                            By Mu Tao

                                    Translated by Hu Zongfeng and Robin Gilbank 

    和尚念经，是敲打木鱼的。鱼犯了什么错？要在殿堂上被敲打。

    我猜就是缺心少脑。有心却不用心，脑子也是那么一点点，凭着那点聪明，就没深没浅地闯荡江湖，遨游大海。

    一个人在婴儿的时候，腿也是盲目高蹈的，常常翘着，乱蹬乱踹。学会走路以后，腿渐渐平实下来。腿是承载人生重量的，风湿呀，寒腿呀，都是负荷之苦。人到中年，劳碌了一天，腿就灌了铅，回到家里，要放松一下才能睡个囫囵觉。人老腿先老，走不动路的时候，这个人的人生也就差不多了。

    行路难，指的是一个人活一辈子不容易。不仅腿难，心更艰难。有一年我回老家，弟弟说，你和贾作家在一个单位上班，替我求一幅难得糊涂的书法吧。我问为什么要这几个字？他说总和同事闹意见。我说你这是糊涂造成的，还敢再糊涂？我给你写四个字：做明白人。他又说：“那你就写平常心吧。”“你还不够平常吗？你现在缺的是上进心，用心去上进，多挣几个钱，养活老婆孩子是头等事”。弟弟还算听话，后来和同事团结了，收入逐渐好转，孩子也去重点中学念书了。“难得糊涂”和“平常心”是人生大境界之后才修的功课，豁达一点，忍让一点，不是难得糊涂。脾气好一点，也不叫平常心。小学不及格的人做博士后的题目没什么实际用处，做出了答案也是抄袭的。

    拜佛是“上访”，是精神上访。老百姓是可怜的，政府解决不了，或不愿解决的缠头事，只好求佛帮忙，生儿子，上大学，找工作，家人平安，以及种种疑难杂病。佛是大领导，向佛诉诉这些苦衷，纵是一时解决不了，也落个心里宽敞。这是庙里的香火一天比一天兴旺的原因。佛的大，就在于倾听和接近百姓的疾苦和心声。应该出台一个政策，严禁政府人去庙里上访。再有一些配套措施，安排人在半路截住，让单位的上级把人领回去。如果有一个好事者，在佛前放一盘录音带，专录政府人抱佛脚时的“心愿”，播放出来一定生动有趣，可能还会有内幕和黑幕。

      有事近佛不是敬佛，那种敬附带着条款。条款得不到兑现，会往佛头上著粪的。以心近佛是敬，心中发愿，做些助佛的大事和小事，让佛腾出手来，多做普度众生的工作。

        When a monk recites his sutras he knocks a wooden fish. What has the fish done wrong? He is knocked at in the Grand Hall.

        I guess this is because it lacks a mind and brains. It does have a mind, but never uses it; only a smattering of brains. With that bit of wisdom, being ignorant of the depths and vastness of the waters, he jumped into it and swam in the sea.

       When a man is in his infancy, he kicked his leg around blindly. His legs were always raised up high and kicked here and there. When he learned to walk, his legs gradually became steady. Human legs carry the weight of human life. Rheumatism in the legs are the tribulation of burden. When a man reaches middle age, he comes home after a busy day and his legs feel as though they are filled with lead. Only a good relax can enable him to enjoy a good sleep. Men start to age from the legs upwards. When a man can no longer work, it means that his life has almost come to an end.

       The road is hard to take. This means that it is not easy to live one’s life. The legs are difficult, but the heart even more so. One year I returned to my hometown. My younger brother said: “You are a colleague of the famous writer Mr. Jia. Would you please ask for a piece of his calligraphy showing the characters ‘Hard to become muddled’?” I asked him why he wanted these characters. He told me that he always had troubles with his colleagues, who had different ideas to him. I said: “This is because you are muddled. How can you become even more muddled? Let me write four characters for you – ‘Be a sensible person.’” He then said: “Just write these three words for me – ‘with ordinary heart.’” “Are you not ordinary enough? What you lack is the heart to move upwards. Use your brain and try to move up. Earn more money and support your wife and kids – these are the most important things.” My younger brother listened to me. Later on, he managed to remain on good terms with his colleague. His income gradually became healthier and his children went onto study at a key high school. “Hard to become muddled” and “with ordinary heart” are lessons to be learnt after one becomes really broadminded in life. When one is tolerant and open-minded it is not “hard to become muddled.” Having a good temper is synonymous with having an ordinary heart. If a person has failed his primary examination, there is no practical use in him trying to enroll on a postdoctoral programme. Even if he is able to answer the questions, the answers must be copied from someone else.

       Worshipping the Buddha is “asking for help from a higher authority.” It is a spiritual inquiry. The ordinary people are sympathetic. When the government cannot or are unwilling to solve some headaches they have to go to the Buddha for help - for instance, when they want to have a baby son, when their kids want to go to university, when they want to find a job, when they want to have a peaceful household, or when they are in suffering from various mysterious diseases. The Buddha is the great authority. When people confess their problems to the Buddha, even if they cannot be solved, they may feel a sense of ease in their heart. That is why the temples become more and more prosperous every day. The greatness of the Buddha lies in that he listens conscientiously to and draws himself closer to the bitter cries of the ordinary people. The government should put forward a policy which bans civil servants from asking for help from a higher authority at the temple. This should be adhered to using auxiliary methods of enforcement. People should be arranged to stop them halfway on the road. Let his higher authority lead his people back. If there are trouble-makers, place a tape recorder in front of the Buddha. This will record the voices of the government civil servants whose heartfelt “wish” to hug the foot of the Buddha is exposed. Should this event be replayed, it would be vividly interesting. There are bound to be some inside stories and shady dealings.    

           When one draws near to the Buddha with something on their mind, they are not truly worshipping the Buddha. Their worship is conditional. When their conditions are not realized, they will spray shit over the Buddha. Allowing one’s heart to draw near to the Buddha is genuine worship of him. With a sincere wish in one’s heart to have the Buddha help with matters large and small, one can let the Buddha empty his hands so as to deliver more living creatures from torment.

               选译自穆涛《先前的风气》

                                                         Selected from Social and Cultural Customs of Bygone Days by Mu Tao

                                                                              English translation by Hu Zongfeng and Robin Gilbank