Text A Find Thyself Chuanse（第1页）

TextAFindThyself:gtse

LinYutang

[1]Inmodernlife，aphilosopherisaboutthemosthonoredandmostunheworld，ifindeedsuchapersos。“Philosopher”hasbeerelyatermofsoent。Anyonewhoisabstruseandunintelligibleiscalled“aphilosopher”。Anyonewhoisuhepresentisalsocalled“aphilosopher”。Ahereissometruthiermeaning。earemadeTouesayinAsYouLikeIt，“Hastanyphilosophyinthee，shepherd?”hewasusingitintheseeaning。Inthissense，philosophyisbutahalookonthingsoronlifeingeneral，andeverypersonhasmoreorlessofit。Anyootaketheentirepanoramaofrealityonitssurfacevalue，orrefusestobelieveeveryearsinaneer，ismoreorlessaphilosopher。Heisthefellowwhorefusestobetakenin。

[2]Thereisalwaysaflavorofdisephilosophy。Thephilosopherlooksatlifeasanartistlooksatalahroughaveilorahaze。Therawdetailsofrealityaresofteletopermitustoseeitsmeaiswhataeseartistoraesephilosopherthinks。Thephilosopheristhereforethedirectoppositeofthepleterealistwho，busilyohisdailybusihathissudfailures，hislossesandgaieahereisnothingtobedosuchapersonbecausehedoesahinginhimtostartwith。fuciussaid，“Ifapersosaytohimself‘Whattodo?Whattodo?’indeedIdonotknowwhattodowithsuchapersohefewsciouswitticismsIhavefoundinfucius。

[3]Ihopetopresentinthiseopinionsofesephilosophersonadesignf。Themorethesephilosophersdiffer，themreethatmanmustbewiseandunafraidtoliveahappylife。ThemorepositiveMenoutlookandthemuishlypacifistLaotseanoutletherinthePhilosophyoftheHalf-and-Half，whichImaydescribeastheaverage’sreligiobetweenadinadsinaise，orenterfeivesrisetoawiseandmerryphilosophyofliviypifiedi’aoYuanminginmyopiniona’sgreatestpoetandmostharmoy。

[4]Theonlyproblemunsciouslyassumedbyallesephilosopherstobeofanyimportanceis:howshallweenjoylife，andwhobestenjoylife?ionism，naftertheunattaiulatingoftheuakingpoor，mortalhumais，howshallweanizeourlifethateacefully，endurenoblyandlivehappily?

[5]Whoarewe?Thatisthefirstquestion。Itisaquestionalmostimpossibletoaweallagreethatthebusyselfoourdailyactivitiesisherealself。Wearequitesurewehavelostsomethingioflivichapersaboutlookingforsomethingihewisemaapuzzleforallthespectatorstosolve:ersonlost?Someohinksitisawatotherthinksitisadiamondbroodotherswillessayuesses。Afteralltheseguesseshavefailed，thewisemanwhoreallydoesn’tknoersoertellsthepany:“I’lltellyou。Hehaslostsomebreath。”Andnooheisright。Soweetourtrueselfiofliving，likeabirdfitsoursuitofamantis，whifetsitsoursuitofanotherprey，asissobeautifullyexpressedinaparablebygtse:

&sewaswaheparkatTiao-lirangebirdwhichthesouth。Itswingswereseveacross。Itseyeswereanincirditflewclosepastgtse’sheadtoalightigrove。

“Whatmannerofbirdisthis?”criedgtse。“Withstrongwiflyaway。Withlargeeyesitdoesnotsee。”

Sohepickeduphisskirtsaowardsitwithhiscrossbow，anxioustogetashot。Justthenhesawajoyiheshade，fetfulofallelse。Andhesari，fisownbody，whichthestrangebirdimmediatelypounadeitsprey。Andthisitwaswhichhadcausedthebirdtetitso>

“Alas!”criedgtsewithasigh，“howcreaturesiher。Lossfollowsthepursuitofgain。”

Sohelaidasidehisbowahome，drivenawaybythepark-keeperwhowaoknowwhatbusihere。

Forthreemohis，gtsedidhehouse;ahLinChuaskedhim，saying，“Master，howisitthatyouhavef?”

“Whilekeepingmyphysicalframe，”repliedgtse，“Ilostsightofmyrealself。Gazingatmuddywater，Ilostsightoftheclearabyss。Besides，IhavelearntfromtheMasterasfollows:‘Whenyougointotheworld，followitss。’rollediTiao-ling，Ifotmyrealself。Thatstrangebirdwhichflewetotheutgrotitshekeeperoftheutgrovetookmeforathief。tlyIhave。”[1]

[6]gtsewastheeloquese，asMenciuswastheeloquentfolloweroffucius，bothseparatedfromtheirmastersbyaboutatury。gtseoraryofMencius，asLaotserobablyaporaryoffucius。ButMehgtsethatwehavelostsomethingandthebusinessofphilosophyistodisdrecoverthatwhichislostinthiscase，“achild’sheart，”agtoMencius。“Agreatmanishewhohasnotlosttheheartofachild，”saysthisphilosopher。Meheeffectoftheartificiallifeofcivilizatiohfulheartborninmanassimilartothedeforestationofourhills:

[7]TherewasoheforestsoftheNiuMouiful。Butthemountainanylardedasbeautiful，siuatednearabigcity，thewoodsmereesdown?Thedaysandnightsgaveitrest，andtheraiionourishit，andainuallyspringingupfromthesoil，buttheleandthesheepbegantopastureuponit。ThatiswhytheNiuMountainlookssobald，andwhesbaldheyimagiherewasimberoain。Isthisthetruehemountain?Aaheartoflhteousnessinman，too?Buthowatureremaiifulwhenitishaeveryday，asthesdowhhisax?Tobesure，thenightsanddaysdothehealihenairoftheearlydawn，whidstokeephimsoundandnormal，butthismairisthinandissoohedoesihthisuoushaanspirit，therestaionobtainedduriarenotsuffiaintainitslevel，aheiosuffiaintaihemandegradeshimselftoastatenotfarfromthebeast’s。Peopleseethatheactslikeabeastaherewasruecharahim。Butisthisthetruenatureofman?

[1937]

Notes

&AisafromChapterVofthebookTheImportanceofLivingbyLinYutang。

2。LinYutang（1895-1976）:Hewasaesewriteraor。HisinformalbutpolishedstyleinbothdEnglishmadehimoiialwritersofhisgeion，andhispilationsandtranslationsofclassiesetextsintoEsellersi。

3。gtse（369BC-286BC）:HeresentativefigureofTaoismathiseduringtheWarringStatesPeriod。

4。Shakespeare（1564-1616）:HewasanEandplaywright，widelyregardedasthegreatestwriterintheEnglishlaheworld’spre-emiist。Hisplayshavebeentraoeverymajlanguageandareperformedmoreoftenthanthoseofanyht。

5。AsYouLikeIt:Itisapastoraledybyeareandremainsafavaudiendhasbeenadaptedforradio，film，andmusicaltheatre。

6。fucius（551BC-479BC）:Hewasaeseteacher，editor，politidphilosopherandAutumnPeriodofesehistory。

7。TaoYuanming（about365-427）:HewasaesepoetoftheSixDynastiesperiodandisgenerallyregardedasthegreatestptheturiesbetweentheHanandTangdynasties。Heisalsotheforemostofthe“recluse”poets。

8。Laotse（about571BC-471BC）:Heherofaa，bestknowhoroftheTaoTeg。HeissideredthefounderofphilosophiandisalsoreveredasadeityinmiousformsofTaoistphilosophy，whireferstoLaotseasTaishangLaojuhreePureOnes”。

9。Mencius（372BC-289BC）:Hewasaesethiahetraditionisselytothatoffuciushimself。

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