Interview God　采訪上帝

Interview God　采訪上帝

◎ Jim Elwell

“Come in,” God said to me, “so, you would like to interview me?”

“進來吧，”上帝對我說，“那么，你想采訪我？”

“If you have the time.” I said.

“是的，如果您有時間的話。”我說。

He smiled through his beard and said: “My time is called eternity and is enough to do everything; what questions do you have in mind to ask me?”

上帝微笑了，笑容通過他的胡須綻開，他說：“我的時間叫做永恒，足夠做任何事情了。你心里有什么問題想問我？”

“None that is new to you. What’s the one thing that surprises you most about mankind?”

“對您來說是沒有什么新鮮的。人類唯一讓您感到最驚奇的事情是什么呢？”

He answered: “That they get bored of being children, are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be children again. That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future. That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they never had never lived...”

上帝回答道：“人類厭倦了當(dāng)個孩子，盼望著長大，匆匆忙忙長大后，又向往回到童年。他們?yōu)榱速嶅X而失去健康，然后又浪費錢財來恢復(fù)健康。他們焦慮不安地思索著未來，卻忘記了眼前的生活，所以，他們活著既不是為了現(xiàn)在也不是為了未來。他們活著的時候，似乎永遠都不會死，他們死的時候，也好像從來沒活過……”

His hands took mine and we were silent. After a long period, I said, “May I ask you another question?”

上帝握住我的手，我們一陣沉默。過了好長一段時間，我說：“我可以再問您一個問題嗎？”

He replied with a smile.

上帝用微笑回答了我。

“As a Father, what would you ask your children to do for the new year?”

“作為天父，在新的一年里，您會要求您的子民做什么？”

“To learn that they cannot make anyone love them. What they can do is to let themselves be loved.

“嗯，他們不能強迫別人愛他們。他們所能做的就是讓自己被愛；

To learn that it takes years to build trust, and a few seconds to destroy it.

“要了解，信任需要多年的努力去建立，但幾秒鐘就可以被摧毀；

To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their lives, but who they have in their lives.

“要懂得，最有價值的不是他們生活中擁有的東西，而是他們擁有誰；

To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. There will be others better or worse than they are.

“要明白，拿自己和別人比是不好的，總會有比上不足，比下有余；

To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.

“要明白，富有的人并不是擁有最多的人，而是需求最少的人；

To learn that they should control their attitudes, otherwise their attitudes will control them.

“要學(xué)會，應(yīng)該控制他們的態(tài)度，否則他們的態(tài)度將控制他們；

To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.

“要知道，深深地傷害我們所愛的人只需要幾秒鐘，要愈合這個傷口卻需要許多年；

To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.

“要學(xué)會，通過寬恕的行為學(xué)習(xí)饒恕；

To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.

“要懂得，金錢買不到幸福；

To learn that while at times they may be entitled to be upset, that does not give them the right to upset those around them.

“要懂得，在某些時候他們或許有權(quán)憤怒，但憤怒本身沒有給他們權(quán)力顛覆公正；

To learn that great dreams do not require great wings, but a landing gear to achieve.

“要了解，偉大的夢想不需要巨大的翅膀，但要有起落架來使夢想實現(xiàn)；

To learn that true friends are scarce, he/she who has found one has found a true treasure.

“要了解，真正的朋友非常稀少，找到了的人就找到了真正的寶藏；

To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see something totally different.

“要明白，兩個人看同一件事情會有完全不同的看法；

To learn that those who are honest with themselves without considering the consequences go far in life.

“要知道，那些能誠實地面對自己而不擔(dān)心后果的人，有遠大的前程可走；

To learn that even though they may think they have nothing to give, when a friend cries with them, they find the strength to appease the pain.

“要知道，盡管有時可能認為自己沒什么可給予的，但是當(dāng)朋友同他們一起揮淚的時候，他們能找到力量去撫平傷痛；

To learn that by trying to hold on to love ones, they very quickly push them away; and by letting go of those they love, they will be side by side forever.

“要懂得，試圖緊緊抓住所愛的人，所愛的人會推開你；給所愛的人自由，他們會永遠在你的左右。

To learn that even though the word “love” has many different meanings, it loses value when it is overstated.

“要知道，盡管‘愛’這個字含義很廣，但濫用這個字就會使它失去價值；

To learn that they can never do something extraordinary for me to love them; I simply do.

“要明白，他們永遠不能用特殊的舉動使我愛他們，我愛人類不需要理由；

To learn that the shortest distance they could be from me is the ‘the distance of a prayer’.”

“要知道，他們和我最短的距離，就是‘祈禱者的距離’。”

超多雙語閱讀，盡在聽力課堂