Lost Horizon 消失的地平线(52)

“Well, you see, he was an exceedingly gifted and resourceful youth, and we had great confidence in him. It was his own idea, and we allowed him a free hand in carrying it out. All we knew definitely was that the first stage of his plan included a period of tuition at an American flying-school.” "你知道吗，他聪慧过人，机智灵敏，我们大家对他充满信心。那个点子是他想出来的，而我们允许他放开手脚大干一场。就我们所了解，他的计划第一步就是去美国的一家飞行培训学校学了一个学期。" “But how could he manage the rest of it? It was only by chance that there happened to be that aeroplane at Baskul—” "可是接下来的事情他是怎么办到的呢？巴斯库尔当时并不一定就有那么一架飞机啊。" “True, my dear Conway—many things are by chance. But it happened, after all, to be just the chance that Talu was looking for. Had he not found it, there might have been another chance in a year or two—or perhaps, of course, none at all. I confess I was surprised when our sentinels gave news of his descent on the plateau. The progress of aviation is rapid, but it had seemed likely to me that much more time would elapse before an average machine could make such a crossing of the mountains.” "你说的没错，亲爱的康威，很多事情都是机缘巧合。可是那个梦寐以求的机会总算被他等到了。假如不是刚好碰上那驾飞机，那么可能就是在一两年内发现的别的什么机会，也有可能找不到任何机会。坦白说，当我们的哨兵发现他开着飞机在高原上降落的时候，我还是感到非常震惊，虽然飞行训练课程非常紧凑，可是在我看来，要驾驶着这样普通的飞机翻越如此险要的高山，似乎不是一个初学者就能办到的。" “It wasn't an average machine. It was a rather special one, made for mountain-flying.” "那不是一架普通的飞机，那刚好是一架具备高空飞翔功能的飞机。" “Again by chance? Our young friend was indeed fortunate. It is a pity that we cannot discuss the matter with him—we were all grieved at his death. You would have liked him, Conway.” "那么这也是命中注定吧，我们的这位年轻英雄确实很幸运。很遗憾现在没有机会向他询问具体情况了，我们对于他的遇难感到非常悲痛，假如你认识他，你也会喜欢上他的，康威。" Conway nodded slightly;he felt it very possible. He said, after a silence:“But what's the idea behind it all?” 康威轻轻点了点头，他觉得自己很可能会喜欢上这个年轻人，过了一会儿，他说，"可是，你们为何要从外面带人回来呢？" “My son, your way of asking that question gives me infinite pleasure. In the course of a somewhat long experience it has never before been put to me in tones of such calmness. My revelation has been greet ed in almost every conceivable manner—with indignation, distress, fury, disbelief, and hysteria—but never until this night with mere interest. It is, however, an attitude that I most cordially welcome. To-day you are interested; to-morrow you will feel concern; eventually, it may be, I shall claim your devotion.” "孩子，你提问的方式让我非常高兴。在我以往遇到过的所有向你一样的人里面，还从来没有哪一个像你一样冷静。每当我像外来者宣布这一规定的时候，他们的反应可想而知，愤怒，痛苦，狂躁，猜疑，甚至精神失常，直到今晚，只有你带着好奇问出这个问题。你的态度是我最喜欢的。今天你感到好奇，那么明天你就会思考这个建议，最后，或许你就能心甘情愿的留下了"， “That is more than I should care to promise.” "目前我还不能向你保证什么。" “Your very doubt pleases me—it is the basis of profound and significant faith. … But let us not argue. You are interested, and that, from you, is much. All I ask in addition is that what I tell you now shall remain, for the present, unknown to your three companions.” "我也很高兴看到你心意未定，所有虔诚的信仰最初都是从疑惑中生长出来的，我们不必过多讨论。你已经有兴趣了解，就足够了。我只想要你对今天我告诉你的一切保密，暂时不要透露给你的另外几个同伴。" Conway was silent. 康威沉默不语。 “The time will come when they will learn, like you, but that moment, for their own sakes, had better not be hastened. I am so certain of your wisdom in this matter that I do not ask for a promise; you will act, I know, as we both think best. …" " 等时机到了自然会告诉他们你现在所知道的一切，为了他们好，不能操之过急。我相信以你的聪慧一定能够理解我们的良苦用心，所以我也不会强迫你向我做出保证，我想你的表现会让我们双方都满意。" “Now let me begin by sketching for you a very agreeable picture. You are still, I should say, a youngish man by the world's standards;your life, as people say, lies ahead of you;" "现在，让我向你展示一下你将来在香格里拉的图景。依照人世间的标准判断，你还年轻，就像人们常说的，还有大好前程等着你。" "in the normal course you might expect twenty or thirty years of only slightly and gradually diminishing activity." "依照生老病死的自然规律，未来20-30年间你仍然精力充沛，生机勃勃，之后将会走向衰落。" " By no means a cheerless prospect, and I can hardly expect you to see it as I do—as a slender, breathless, and far too frantic interlude. " "当然，这样的人生也是很不错的，我并不希望你认为将来会变成像我这样一个干枯孱弱，了无生气，世所罕见的怪人。" "The first quarter-century of your life was doubtless lived under the cloud of being too young for things, while the last quarter-century would normally be shadowed by the still darker cloud of being too old for them;" "毫无疑问，一般来说，生命的前25 年少不更事，懵懂而快活，百岁前的25 年身体机能逐渐衰退，再难有任何建树。" "and between those two clouds, what small and narrow sunlight illumines a human lifetime!" "中间的这50年是一个人的鼎盛时期，然而时间却如白驹过隙，一晃而过。" “But you, it may be, are destined to be more fortunate, since by the standards of Shangri-La your sunlit years have scarcely yet begun. " "可是你却注定比一般人幸运，因为按照香格里拉的标准来看，你的青春期还没有开始。" "It will happen, perhaps, that decades hence you will feel no older than you are to-day—you may preserve, as Henschell did, a long and wondrous youth. " "或许，你也会经历青春永驻的百年，你的容颜不会改变，就像亨谢尔一样，你也会拥有一个漫长且功勋彪炳的青年时代。" "But that, believe me, is only an early and superficial phase. There will come a time when you will age like others, though far more slowly, and into a condition infinitely nobler;" "不过请相信我，这个阶段还只是开始，一切都是假象，之后你仍然会像所有人类一样开始衰老，尽管过程极其缓慢，最后进入永世衰老的状态。" " at eighty you may still climb to the pass with a young man's gait, but at twice that age you must not expect the whole marvel to have persisted. " "就是说，当你80岁，还可以像年轻人一样轻松的爬上香格里拉的悬崖，可是当你到了160岁时，就不可能做到" "We are not workers of miracles; we have made no conquest of death or even of decay. " "我们并非魔法的产物，不可能逃脱死亡和肉身腐烂。" "All we have done and can sometimes do is to slacken the tempo of this brief interval that is called life. " "我们只不过是将生命的周期延长而已。" "We do this by methods which are as simple here as they are impossible elsewhere; but make no mistake; the end awaits us all." "我们之所以能做到这一点，也只不过是因为这里环境与别处不同，请一定要明白，我们都不是永生不死之身。" “Yet it is, nevertheless, a prospect of much charm that I unfold for you—long tranquilities during which you will observe a sunset as men in the outer world hear the striking of a clock, and with far less care. " "尽管如此，你的未来正如我描述的一样充满诱惑，当外界的同龄人听到上帝的召唤时，你却不必担心过早的老去，可以从容的享受你漫长的青壮年时代。" "The years will come and go, and you will pass from fleshly enjoyments into austerer but no less satisfying realms; you may lose the keenness of muscle and appetite, but there will be gain to match your loss; " "日月如梭，当你最终老了，虽然失去了肉体上的欢愉，生活从此变得简朴，可是心中快乐却一分也没有减少，你也许不再强壮，不思饮食，可是你获得的远大于失去的。" "you will achieve calmness and profundity, ripeness and wisdom, and the clear enchantment of memory. And, most precious of all, you will have Time—that rare and lovely gift that your Western countries have lost the more they have pursued it." "因为你日臻从容，深刻，成熟，智慧。你还拥有丰富有趣的往事可供回忆。最重要的是，你会获得像生命一样宝贵的时间，这是你们西方人拼命追逐却与之渐行渐远的东西。" “Think for a moment. You will have time to read—never again will you skim pages to save minutes, or avoid some study lest it prove too engrossing. " "试想一下，你将有充分的时间用来阅读，再也不必为了赶时间而跳过章节，或对学习浅尝辄止。" "You have also a taste for music—here, then, are your scores and instruments, with Time, unruffled and unmeasured to give you their richest savor. " "你将有时间，不受任何打扰，细细地品味美妙的音乐" "And you are also, we will say, a man of good fellowship—does it not charm you to think of wise and serene friendships, a long and kindly traffic of the mind from which death may not call you away with his customary hurry? " "而且，你会与智慧和宁静做伴，不断地思索，探寻人生的奥秘，而不必担心死神过来的来敲门" "Or, if it is solitude that you prefer, could you not employ our pavilions to enrich the gentleness of lonely thoughts?” "或者，你也可以在香格里拉的庙宇之间独自徘徊，领悟人生真谛。" The voice made a pause which Conway did not seek to fill. 大喇嘛说到这儿停了下来，康威看起来没有打算做出回应。