Kahlil Gibran:The Prophet
2007-06-08 19:27阅读：
中学时就读过纪伯伦的《先知》（冰心译），很喜欢。但现在在复习英语的时候接触到了英文原文（《先知》为英文诗集），真的惊为天人。里面那种历尽劫波之后那种老成而睿智的平静不是少年时代能够理解的了的。
下面选几段与大家共赏：
On Love
Then said Almitra, 'Speak to us of Love.'
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there
fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he
said:
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound
you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind
lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as
he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest
branches that quiver in t
he sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their
clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto
himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may
become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the
secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of
Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and
love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and
pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all
of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from
itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, 'God is in my heart,' but
rather, I am in the heart of God.'
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if
it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be
your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to
the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for
another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's
ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart
and a song of praise upon your lips.
On Pain
And a woman spoke, saying, 'Tell us of Pain.'
And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your
understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may
stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles
of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your
joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you
have always accepted the seasons that pass over your
fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your
grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you
heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in
silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender
hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been
fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own
sacred tears.
On Marriage
Then Almitra spoke again and said, 'And what of Marriage,
master?'
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be
forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your
days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of
God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between
you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your
souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one
cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same
loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of
you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver
with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's
keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your
hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's
shadow.
