名著精讀:《悉達多》 船伕(3)

But when Siddhartha fell silent, and a long silence had occurred, then Vasudeva said: "It is as I thought. The river has spoken to you. It is your friend as well, it speaks to you as well. That is good, that is very good. Stay with me, Siddhartha, my friend. I used to have a wife, her bed was next to mine, but she has died a long time ago, for a long time, I have lived Alone. Now, you shall live with me, there is space and food for both."
"I thank you," said Siddhartha, "I thank you and accept. And I also thank you for this, Vasudeva, for listening to me so well! These people are rare who know how to listen. And I did not meet a single one who knew it as well as you did. I will also learn in this respect from you."
"You will learn it," spoke Vasudeva, "but not from me. The river has taught me to listen, from it you will learn it as well. It knows everything, the river, everything can be learned from it. See, you've already learned this from the water too, that it is good to strive downwards, to sink, to seek depth. The rich and elegant Siddhartha is becoming an oarsman's servant, the learned Brahman Siddhartha becomes a ferryman: this has also been told to you by the river. You'll learn that other thing from it as well."
Quoth Siddhartha after a long pause: "What other thing, Vasudeva?"
Vasudeva rose. "It is late," he said, "let's go to sleep. I can't tell you that other thing, oh friend. You'll learn it, or perhaps you know it already. See, I'm no learned man, I have no special skill in speaking, I also have no special skill in thinking. All I'm able to do is to listen and to be godly, I have learned nothing else. If I was able to say and teach it, I might be a wise man, but like this I am only a ferryman, and it is my task to ferry people across the river. I have transported many, thousands; and to all of them, my river has been nothing but an obstacle on their travels. They travelled to seek money and business, and for weddings, and on pilgrimages, and the river was obstructing their path, and the ferryman's job was to get them quickly across that obstacle. But for some among thousands, a few, four or five, the river has stopped being an obstacle, they have heard its voice, they have listened to it, and the river has become sacred to them, as it has become sacred to me. Let's rest now, Siddhartha."

等到席特哈爾塔說完了，而且出現了很長時間的沉寂之後，瓦蘇代瓦才說：“情況正如我所想，河水跟你說了話。它也是你的朋友，跟你說了話。這很好，好極了。你就留在我這兒吧，席特哈爾塔，我的朋友。以前我有過妻子，她的牀鋪就在我的旁邊，可是她早就過世了，我已經單身生活了很久。你跟我一起過吧，住處和飯食都夠兩個人的。”
“我感謝你，”席特哈爾塔說，“謝謝你，我同意。瓦蘇代瓦，我還要感謝你這麼專心地聽我講！善於傾聽的人極少，我從沒遇見過像你這樣善於傾聽的人。在這方面我也要向你學。”
“你會學到的，”瓦蘇代瓦說，“但不是跟我學。是河水教會了我傾聽，你也該跟它學。它什麼都懂，這條河，可以向它學習一切。瞧，你已經向它學到了一點，那就是努力向下，沉下去，向深處探索，這很好。富有而高貴的席特哈爾塔變成划船的夥計，博學的婆羅門席特哈爾塔變成船伕，這也是河水點撥你的。你還會向它學到別的東西。”
又經過了一個長長的間歇，席特哈爾塔才說：“還有別的嗎，瓦蘇代瓦？”
瓦蘇代瓦站起來。“夜深了，”他說，“咱們睡吧。我不能告訴你‘別的’是什麼，朋友。你會學到的，興許你已經知道了。瞧，我不是學者，我不擅長講話，也不擅長思索。我只善於傾聽，心地善良，別的特長就沒有了。要是我能說會道，說不定會是個賢人呢，可我只是個船伕，我的任務就是送人們過這條河。我擺渡過許多人，成千上萬人，他們都認爲我這條河只是他們旅途上的一個障礙。他們出門旅行是爲了掙錢和做買賣，去參加婚禮，去朝聖，而這條河正好擋在他們路上，船伕就是要幫他們迅速越赤這個障礙。但是，在這成千上萬的人中間有幾個人，爲數很少的幾個人，四個或者五個，這條河對於他們不再是障礙，他們聽見了河水的聲音。他們凝神細雨聽，這條河對於他們變得很神聖，就像對於我這樣。不過，咱們還是休息吧，席特哈爾塔。”