第11章简单生活(2)
&hatisonereasohesimplelife。Inaanttobe,toletsomeoheaackofresponsibility。
Wearelikewheat,hereooripeellectuallybylettinginasmuchoftheuniverse’splexityaswe。Morallyweripenbymakingourchoidweripenspirituallybyopeo’seail。
&ernoonIpickedupafallehesugarmapleinouryard。Upcloseitithsplashesofred。Atarm’slengthitwase。ItscolordependedonhowIlookedatit。
&leabouthoentitslife,transfsunlightanddioxideis,aweaoxygenthatsutsemit,whiletheythriveuponthedioxideweexhale。AeachcelloftheleafhasaainingachemiA—uponwhiscribedalltheinstruakiingasugarmaple。Stistsknowfarmoreaboutthisthaheirkendsonlyashortwayintotheseaofplexitythatisasugarmaple。
I’mbeginniand,Ithink,lis。Itdoesnotmeanblindiheworld’sstunniythechoicesthatripenus。By“simplify,simplify,”Thoreaumeantsimplifyingourselves。
Toaplishthis,>
Fodeeperthings。Thesimplelifeisnotnecessarilylivingina,gbeans。Itisrefusiourlivesbe“fritteredawaybydetail”。Aprhtmeasecretf:TurVabooks。Theyopendoorsinyourbrain。
&akelife’sjouratime。Ioayouhbliheyhadathree-year-olddaughterandaninfant,bothfullysighted。Forthoseparehinglex:bathingthebaby,mtheirdaughter,mowingthelawheywerefullofsmilesandlaughter。Iaskedthemotherhowshekepttrackoftheirlivelydaughter。“Itielittlebellsonhershoes,”shesaid>
“Whatwillyoudowhewalkstoo?”Iasked。
Shesmiled。“EverythingissoplicatedthatIdon’ttrytosolveaproblemuntilIhaveto。Itakeoatime!”
ParedownylishandplaywrightJeromeKlapkaJeromecaughtthespiritofthatenterprisewheyourboatoflifebelight,palywithwhatyouneed—ahomelyhomeandsimplepleasures,owofriends,worththeoloveaoloveyou,acat,adogaoo,eaowearandalittlemorethaodrink,forthirstisadahing。”
NotlongagoIflewhometoseemyfatherial。Hehasadiseasethathemind。Iwasasnarlofworries。Treatments?Nursinghomes?Finances?
Hewascrouawheelchair,ashriveled,whiteofthefatherIhadknown。AsIstoodthere,hurtandfused,helookedupahenIsawsomethiedandwonderfulinhiseyes:reawelledupandfilledhiseyeswithtears。Andmine。
Thatafternoon,myfathercamebawhereverhisillakenhim。Hejokedandlaughed,ohemanIhadknown。Aired,ahimtobed。Theday,hedidnotrememberIhade。Ahedied。
&hisadoiohedooropens,butweseeohatawfulmoment,werealizehowvasttheuniverseis,plexityupoy,beyondus。Butthatisthetruegiftofsimplicity:toaccepttheworld’sinfinitepli,toacceptbewilderment。
Andthen,especially,lethings。Afacewelove,perhaps,eyesbrimmingwithlove。
Itisthesimplestofthings。Butitismorethanenough。
那一年,九月的下午,我们五对夫妇各自慢悠悠地划着独木舟,沿着缅因州的萨科河顺流而下,沐浴在夏末的金色阳光之中,无比惬意。岸边的小鹿,啃着小草,摇着白色的尾巴,注视着我们这支小小的船队漂流而过。晚上,我们搭起了帐蓬,烤着牛排,围着篝火懒散地躺着,睡眼朦胧地凝望着满天繁星。有人弹拨着吉它,唱起古老的歌曲:“淡泊乃是天资,自由乃是天赐。”
当然了,田园牧歌式的漫游告一段落,我们又驱车回到这个世界,还贷款,忙工作,还有洗衣机塞满了脏衣服。偶尔我也会情不自禁地哼唱:“淡泊乃是天资,自由乃是天赐。”我多想活得淡定从容,可哪儿去找呢?