The Ambitious Violet 虚荣的紫罗兰-纪伯伦

The Ambitious Violet
By Kahlil Gibran
 
There was a beautiful and fragrant violet who lived placidly amongst her friends, and swayed happily amidst the other flowers in solitary garden. One morning, as her crown was embellished with heads of dew, she lifted her head and looked about: she saw a tall and handsome rose standing proudly and reaching high into space, like a burning torch upon an emerald lamp.
 
The violet opened her blue tips and said:”what an unfortunate am I among these flowers, and how humble is the position I occupy in their presence! Nature has fashioned me to be short and poor… I live very close to the earth and I cannot raise my head toward the blue sky, or turn my face to the sun, as the rose do.”
 
And the rose heard her neighbor’s words: she laughed and commented,” How strange is your talk! You are fortunate, and yet you cannot understand your fortune. Nature has bestowed upon you fragrance and beauty which she did not grant to any other… Cast aside your thoughts and be contended, and remember that he who humbles himself will be exalted, and he who exalts himself will be crushed.”
 
The violet answered.” You are consoling me because you have that I craved… You seek to embitter me with the meaning that you are great… How painful is the preaching of the fortunate to the heart of the miserable! And how severe is the strong when he stands as advisor among the weak!”
 
And Nature heard the conversation of the violet and the rose; she approached and said, ”What has happened to you, my daughter violet? You have been humble and sweet in all your deeds and words. Has greed entered your heart and numbed you senses?” In a pleading voice, the violet answered her, saying, ”Oh great and merciful mother, full of love and sympathy, I beg you, with all my heart and soul, to grant my request and allow me to be a rose for one day.”
 
And Nature responded,” You know not what you are seeking; you are unaware of the concealed disaster behind your blind ambition. If you were a rose you would be sorry, and repentance would avail you but naught.”
 
The violet insisted,” Change me into a tall rose, for I wish to lift my head high with pride; and regardless of my fate, it will be my own doing,” Nature yielded, saying, ”Oh, ignorant and rebellious violet, I will grant your request. But if calamity befalls you. Your complaint must be to yourself.”
 
And Nature stretched forth her mysterious and magic finger and touched the roots of the violet, who immediately turned into a tall rose; rising above all other flowers in the garden.
 
At eventide the sky became thick with black clouds, and the raging elements disturbed the silence of existence with thunder, and commenced to attack the garden, sending forth a great rain and strong winds. The tempest tore the branches and uprooted the plants and broke the stems of the tall flowers, sparing only the little ones who grew close to the friendly earth. That solitary garden suffered greatly from the belligerent skies, and when the storm calmed and the sky cleared , all the flowers were laid waste and none of them had escaped the wrath of Nature except the clan of small violets, hiding by the wall of the garden.
 
Having lifted her head and viewed the tragedy of the flowers and trees, one of the violet maidens smiled happily and called to here companions, saying, “See what the tempest has done to the haughty flowers!” Another violet said, “We are small, and live close to the earth, but we are safe from the wrath of the skies.” And a third one added’ “Because we are poor in height the tempest is unable to subdue us.”
 
At the moment the queen of violet saw by her side the converted violet, hurled to earth by the storm and distorted upon the wet grass like a limp soldier in a battlefield. The queen of the violets lifted her head and called to her family, saying, “Look, my daughters, and meditate upon that which freed has done to the violet who became a proud rose for one hour. Let the memory of this scene be a reminder of your good fortune.”
 
And the dying rose moved and gathered the remnants of her strength, and quietly said, “You are contended and meek dullards; I have never feared the tempest. Yesterday I , too, was satisfied and contented with life, but contentment has acted as a barrier between my existence and the tempest of life, confining me to a sickly and sluggish peace and tranquility of mind. I could have lived the same life you are living now by clinging with fear to the earth… I could have waited for winter to shroud me with snow and deliver me to Death, who will surely claim all violets… I am happy now because I have probed outside my little world into the mystery of the Universe… something which you have not yet done. I could have overlooked Greed, but as I hearkened to the silence of the night, I heard the heavenly world talking to this earthly world, saying, ”Ambition beyond existence is the essential purpose of our being,” At that moment my spirit revolted and my heart longed for a position higher than my limited existence. I realized that the abyss cannot hear the song of stars, and at that moment I commenced fighting against my smallness and craving for tat which did not belong to me, until my rebelliousness turned into a great power, and my longing into a creating will… Nature, who is the great object of our deeper dreams, granted my request and changed me into a rose with her magic fingers.”
 
The rose became silent for a moment, and in a weakening voice, mingled with price and achievement, she said: “I have lived one hour as a proud rose; I have existed for a time like a queen; I have looked at the universe from behind the eyes of the rose; I have heard the whisper of the firmament through the ears of the rose and touched the folds of light’s garment with rose petals. Is there any here who can claim such honor?” having this spoken, she lowered her head, and with a choking voice she gasped, “I shall die now, for my souls has attained its goal. I have finally extended my knowledge to a world beyond the narrow cavern of my birth. This is the design of life… this id the secret of existence.” Then the rose quivered, slowly folded her petals, and breathed her last with a heavenly smile upon her lips.. a smile of fulfillment of hope and purpose in life.. a smile of victory… a God’s smile.
虚荣的紫罗兰 (纪伯伦)
  幽静的花园里，生长着一棵紫罗兰。她有美丽的小眼睛和娇嫩的花瓣。她生活在女伴们中间，满足于自己的娇小，在密密的草丛中愉快地摆来摆去。
一天早晨，她抬起顶着用露珠缀成的王冠的头，环顾四周，她发现一株亭亭玉立的玫
瑰，那么雍容而英挺，使人联想起绿宝石的烛台托着鲜红的小火舌。紫罗兰张开自己天蓝色的小嘴，叹了一口气，说：“在香喷喷的草丛里，我是多么不显眼啊，在别的花中间，我几乎不被人看见。造化把我造得这般渺小可怜。我紧贴着地面生长，无力地向蓝色的苍穹，无力把面庞转向太阳，像玫瑰花那样。玫瑰花听到她身旁的紫罗兰的这番话，笑得颤动了一下，接着说：“你这枝花多么愚蠢呵！你简直不理解自己的幸福，造化把很少赋予别类花朵的那种美貌、那种芬芳和娇嫩给予了你。抛弃你那些错误的想法和空洞的幻想，满足于自己的命运吧，要知道，温顺会使他变得坚强，谁要求过多，谁就会失去一切。紫罗兰回答道：“呵，玫瑰花，你来安慰我，因为在我只能幻想的那一切，你都有了。你是那样美好，所以你用聪明的词令粉饰我的渺小。但是对于不幸者说，那些幸福者的安慰意味着什么呢？向弱者说教的强者总是残酷的！”造化听到玫瑰与紫罗兰的对话，觉得奇怪，于是高声问：“呵，女儿，你怎么了，我的紫罗兰？我知道你一向谦逊而有耐心，你温柔而又驯顺，你安贫而又高尚。难道你被空虚的愿望和无谓的骄傲制服了？”紫罗兰用充满哀求的声调回答她：“呵，你原是无上全能、悲悯万物的啊，我的母亲！我怀着满腔激情、满腔希望请求你，答应我的要求，把我变成玫瑰花吧，哪怕只一天也好！”
造化说：“你不知道你请求的是什么。你不明白外表的华丽暗藏着不可预期的灾祸。当
我把你的躯干抽长，改变了你的容貌，使你变成了玫瑰花，你会后悔的，可是，到那时，后
悔也无济于事了。”
紫罗兰答道：“呵，把我变作玫瑰花吧！变作一株高高的玫瑰花，骄傲地抬着头！日后
不论发生什么事，都由我自己担承！”于是，造化说：“呵，愚蠢而不听话的紫罗兰，我满足你的愿望！但是，如果不幸和灾祸突然降落在你的头上，那是你自己的过错！”造化伸开她那看不见的魔指，触了一下紫罗兰的根——转瞬间紫罗兰变成了玫瑰，伫立在众芳之上。
午后，天边突然乌云密布，卷起旋风，雷电交加，隆隆作响，狂风和暴雨所组成一支不
计其数的大军突然向园林袭来；他们的袭击折断了树枝，扭弯了花茎，把傲慢的花朵连根拔
起。花园里除了那些紧贴着地面生长或是隐藏在岩石缝里的花草之外，什么也不剩了。而那
座幽静的花园遭到了比其他花园更多的灾难。等到风停云散，花儿全死去了，——她们像灰尘一样，满园零落，唯有躲在篱边的紫罗兰，在这场风暴的袭击之后，安然无恙。 一株紫罗兰抬起头来，看着花草树木的遭遇，愉快地微笑了一下，招呼自己的女伴：
“瞧呵，暴风雨把那些自负为美的花朵变成了什么哟！”另一株紫罗兰说：“我们紧贴着地面生长。我们才躲过了狂风暴雨的愤怒。”第三株喊道：“我们是这般脆弱，但龙卷风并没有战胜我们！”这时紫罗兰皇后向四周环顾了一下，突然看见昨天还是紫罗兰的那株玫瑰花。
暴雨把她从土里拔起，狂风扫去了她的花瓣，把她抛在湿漉漉的青草上。她躺在地上，像一个被敌人的箭射中了的人一样。紫罗兰皇后挺直了身子，展开自己的小叶片，招呼女伴们说：“看呵，看呵，我的女儿们！看看这株紫罗兰，为了能炫耀自己的美貌，她想变成一株玫瑰，哪怕是一小时也可以。就让眼前这景象作为你们的教训吧。”濒死的玫瑰叹了一口气，集中了最后的力量，用微弱的声音回答道：“听我说吧，你们这些愚蠢而谦逊的花儿，听着吧，暴风雨和龙卷风都把你们吓坏了！昨天我也和你们一样，藏在绿油油的草丛里，满足于自己的命运。这种满足使我在生活的暴风雨里得到了庇护。我的整个存在的意义都包含在这种安全里，我从来不要求比这卑微的生存更多一点的宁静与享受。呵，我原是可以跟你们一样，紧贴着地面生长，等待冬季用雪把我盖上，然后偕同你们去接受那死亡与虚无的宁静。但是，只有当我不知道生活的奥妙，我才不能那样做，这种生活的奥妙，紫罗兰的族类是从来也不知道的。从前我可以抑制自己一切的愿望，不去想那些得天独厚的花儿。但是我倾听着夜的寂静，我听见更高的世界对我们世界说：‘生活的目的在于追求比生活更高更远的东西。’这时我的心灵就不禁反抗起自己来了。我的心殷切地盼望升到比自己更高的地方。终于，我反抗了自己，追求那些我不曾有过的东西，直到我的愤怒化成了力量，我的向往变成了创造的意志。到那时，我请求造化——你们要知道，造化，那不过是我们一种神秘的幻觉的反映，——我要求她把我变成玫瑰花。她这样作了。就像她常常用赏识和鼓励的手指变换自己的设计和素描一样！”玫瑰花沉默了片刻，然后带着骄傲而优越的神情补充说：“我做了一小时的玫瑰花，我就像皇后一样度过了这一小时。我用玫瑰花的眼睛观察过宇宙。我用玫瑰花的耳朵倾听过以太的私语。我用玫瑰花的叶片感受过光的变幻。难道你们中间找得到一位，蒙受过这样的荣光么？”玫瑰低下头，已经喘不上气来，说：“我就要死了。我要死了，但我内心里却有一种从来没有一株紫罗兰所体验过的感觉。我要死了，但是我知道，我所生存的那个有限的后面隐藏着的是什么。这就是生活的意义。这就是本质的所在，隐藏在无论是白天或夜晚的机缘之后的本质！”
玫瑰卷起自己的叶子，微微叹了一口气，死去了。她的脸上浮着超凡绝俗的微笑——那是理想实现的微笑，胜利的微笑，上帝的微笑。