出自英国诗人布莱克的这首《天真的预言》
一沙一世界,
一花一天堂.
双手握无限,
刹那是永恒.
上面的四行诗是长诗《Auguries of Innocence》的开头四行。作者名唤威廉·布莱克(William Blake 1757-1827),他还是一位水彩画家、版画家。有意思的是,此诗虽然前四句家喻户晓,整首长诗却不在布莱克的代表作之列,评论家们也很少谈起。
意思是生活的一切原本都是由细节构成的,如果一切归于有序,决定成败的必将是微若沙砾的细节
诗歌全文:
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.
A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.
A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.
A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight
Does the rising sun affright.
Every wolf's and lion's howl
Raises from hell a human soul.
The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus'd breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher's knife.
The bat that flits at close of eve
Has left the brain that won't believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever's fright.
He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov'd by men.
He who the ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by woman lov'd.
The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider's enmity.
He who torments the chafer's sprite
Weaves a bower in endless night.
The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgement draweth nigh.
He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar's dog and widow's cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.
The gnat that sings his summer's song
Poison gets from slander's tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy's foot.
The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist's jealousy.
The prince's robes and beggar's rags
Are toadstools on the miser's bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Throughout all these human lands;
Tools were made and born were hands,
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;
This is caught by females bright,
And return'd to its own delight.
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.
The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar's rags, fluttering in air,
Does to rags the heavens tear.
The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer's sun.
The poor man's farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric's shore.
One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.
He who mocks the infant's faith
Shall be mock'd in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.
He who respects the infant's faith
Triumphs over hell and death.
The child's toys and the old man's reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.
The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out.
The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar's laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour's iron brace.
When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket's cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.
The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.
If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.
The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.
The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse.
Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.
We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.
God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.
全诗翻译:
天真的预言
--威廉布莱克
从一粒细沙中窥探世界
在一朵野花里寻觅天堂
掌中握无限
霎那成永恒
当真理被恶意利用时
比一切臆造的谎言狰狞
现实本来就这样
人生来就要面对快乐和悲惨
只要能明了这一点
我们就不会再受伤害
将快乐和忧伤编织
披在我神圣的心上
穷人手里的一个铜板
抵得上非洲海岸的所有黄金
从劳动者手里砸取的一丁点钱
能买的下守财奴的所有土地
如果得到上帝的庇护
甚至可以买卖国土的全部
谁曾嘲笑纯真的信念
他将被岁月和死亡讥讽
谁要动摇纯真的信念
他将永远被埋葬在陈腐的墓穴中
谁能尊重纯真的信念
他将战胜地狱和死亡
如果不相信自己的眼睛
将永远不懂得去信任,请随心而行
如果太阳和月亮心存猜疑
它们将会转瞬消失
被激情围绕就能拥有美好
情欲攻心则会迷失自我
每一个夜晚,每一个清晨
有人生来就为不幸伤神
每一个清晨,每一个夜晚
有人生来就被幸福拥抱
有人生来就被幸福拥抱
有人生来就被长夜围绕
如果不是亲眼所见
我们就会相信谎言
谎言在黑夜里生灭
灵魂在光芒中休眠
对挣扎在黑暗中的人
上帝散发出光明
对生活在白昼的人
上帝幻化为人性
诗歌鉴赏:
双手握无限,刹那是永恒。
一沙一世界,一花一天堂,
一树一菩提,一叶一如来。
天真的预言,参悟千年的偈语。
幽香中,顿悟生命之奥妙
传统的佛学经典语论中,被世人熟知的有这样一句:“一花一世界,一叶一菩提”。这说的大概是:从一朵花里就可以看出整个世界,用一片叶子就能代表整棵菩提。佛学是门博大精深的学问,那许多高深的哲理是我们这些正在成长的年轻的思想所无法参悟的。同样,对于这句时常萦绕在耳边的“名言”,我仅仅只能做一些字面上肤浅的猜想。
同时,不仅是在传统的佛学中有“一花一世界,一叶一菩提”的思想,早在18世纪,英国伟大的浪漫主义诗人布莱克,也曾在一首名为《天真的暗示》的诗中这样写到:“一颗沙里看出一个世界,一朵野花里一座天堂。”我想,不论是佛学的“一花一世界,一叶一菩提”还是文学的“一沙一世界,一花一天堂”,它们要表述的意思应该都是大致相同的吧!
“一沙一世界,一花一天堂”是生命永恒存在亘古不老的原始哲学。
对于我们整个人类来说,生命应该是没有止境的,物质也是永恒发展的。但是,在天体的转动和岁月的轮回中,我们却分明地看到每一个个人所拥有的单个生命在时空轮回中的单薄无力,我们这些单个的个体在宇宙中渺小得恐怕不及沧海一粟。然而,活着的人们是不甘落没的,即便是痛苦,他们也希冀着。于是,一个人的希冀传给另一个人就是两个人的希冀,两个人的希冀延续下去,就是一个民族的希冀,一个民族的希冀传给另一个民族就是两个民族的希冀,两个民族的希冀再延续下去,那就是整个人类、整个宇宙的希冀。做为个体的、自我的个人来说,希冀是卑微的,但是若干个、千万个卑微的希翼凝结在一起,就是一个物种巨大的生命力。人类的个体在一代代的更新着,人类的历史在一天天的漫延着。多少朝代在我们的身边升起又降落?多少文明早我们的眼前生长又衰退?然而,生命这一物种却穿越过时间和空间的阻隔,顽强的延续着。
“把无限放在掌心,让永恒收藏刹那”是生命永恒存在亘古不老的原始见证。无限的人类历史可以由有限的人类个体来串织;无极的时空宇宙可以用有限的沉浮人生来度量,永恒的笔端能够记录人类文明的变迁。
历史的书卷可以承载岁月沧桑的巨变。当历史的车轮碾过人类的发展足迹,会有无数的文明在道路两旁绽开;当宇宙的尘埃在这些文明上落定,又一个美丽的春天即将烽成。如果这样,那有限与无限的概念是否可以交换,或许就根本无所谓有限无限的概念了。那么,有限的将是岁月时空不已的轮回,无限的却是人类灵魂深处那有力的羁绊。当有限与无限已无所谓界线,那人类便无所谓永恒与收藏了,更无所谓个体的生与死,这才是真正的“一花一世界,一叶一菩提”的境界。
自其不变者而观之,则物与我皆无尽也
“一颗沙里看出一个世界,一朵野花一个天堂”是人类个人生命充分的自信与自由,凝结起来就是一个广袤且博大的物种之起源的理由了。从一个卑微的个体生命中我们有可以清楚的看到这整个物种的生命力,这却正是“把无限放在你的手掌上,永恒把一刹那收藏”。
这样的一首诗,看到这里,应该觉得它就是对人类生命中自信与自由的讴歌,可它的题目却偏偏叫做“天真的预示”,作者何谓之以“天真”二字呢?这样以来,意义岂不是大相径庭了?是作者对生命含蓄的嘲讽,还是对仕途无奈的自慰?我恐怕是无从猜测了,因为我对布莱克的了解仅仅是停留在字面水平的阶段。我只知道布莱克非常讨厌大哲学家培根,有些恨之入骨的意味,并认为大诗人华滋华斯“不是诗人,而是一个同所有真正的诗歌和灵感为敌的邪教哲学家。”他们两边,一边是浪漫主义者,一边是现实主义者,思想上的分歧可见一斑。并且从布来克的另外一首诗《沙子》中也能得到一些眉目:“嘲笑吧,嘲笑吧,伏尔泰卢梭,嘲笑吧,嘲笑吧,但一切徒劳,你们把沙子对风扔去,风又把沙子吹回”。但是,如果要真正的更深刻的了解布莱克原本的思想,还需要更深的历史与文学的双重积淀。