Dance of Life 生命之舞
Dance of Life
生命之舞
I cannot escape the moon.
Its soft beams push aside the curtains at night.
I don’t even have to see it – a cool blue energy falls across my bed and I am up.
I race down the dark hall and swing open the door, not to leave home but to go back into it. “Moon, I’m here!” I shout.
“Good,” she replies, “Now give us a little dance.”
我无法逃离月亮。夜里，当柔软的光线轻推着窗帘，我甚至无需去看－那微凉而淡蓝的能量落遍床前，我起身，下楼奔往黑暗的大厅，将门转开，并不是离家，却像是归去。我大喊：「月亮，我在这儿呢！」
「好啊！」她回应我，「现在给我们来一小段舞蹈吧！」
But my body has started moving long before she says anything.
When did it start? I can’t remember – my body has always been moving.
Since childhood I have reacted to the moon this way, as her favorite lunatic, and not just hers.
The stars draw me near, close enough so that I see through their twinkling act.
They’re dancing, too, doing a soft molecular jiggle that makes my carbon atoms jump in time.
但在她说话之前，我的身体早已开始动了起来。从什么时候开始的呢？我已无从记忆了－我的身体总是这样动着，从孩提时期我就这样响应着月亮，就像她最爱的癫狂痴人，而甚至还不只她；
星子们将我拉近，近到我能看穿他们闪烁的动作，他们也在舞蹈，轻柔的、分子的微微晃动，让我体内的碳原子也同时跳跃着。
Why my arms flung wide, I head for the sea, which brings out another dance in me.
Moon dancing is slow inside, and soft as blue shadows on the lawn.
When the surf booms, I hear the heart of the earth, and the tempo picks up.
I feel the dolphins leaping in the white foam, trying to fly, and almost flying when the waves curl high to the heavens.
Their tails leave arcs of light as plankton glow in the waves.
A school of minnows rises up, flashing silver in the moonlight like a new constellation.
我将双臂张开，直奔大海，让它带出我内在的另一段舞蹈。月之舞的内在是沈缓的，轻柔得就像草坪上的蓝影一般。而当浪潮澎湃，我听见地球的心，节奏加快。我感觉海豚在白沫中跳跃，尝试着飞翔，而当浪潮翻涌至天堂一般高时，它们几乎真的飞了起来。它们的尾巴画出一道光弧，浮游生物在海浪中闪闪发亮，一群小鱼趁势而起，在月色下闪耀着银白色的光辉，犹如一座新生的星群。
"Ah!" the sea says, "Now we're gathering a crowd."
「啊！」海洋说道，「我们现在可热闹着呢！」
I run along the beach, catching waves with one foot and dodging them with the other.
I hear faint popping sounds -- a hundred panicky sand crabs are ducking into their holes, just in case.
But I'm racing now, sometimes on my toes, sometimes running flat-out.
I throw my head back and a swirling nebula says, "Fast now, twirl!"
我沿着沙滩奔跑，以一只脚抓住海浪，另一只脚则巧妙地闪开。我听见微弱的啪啪声响，是一百只惊慌的沙蟹忙着潜入洞中－只为了以防万一。我开始奔驰，有时以脚趾跑着，有时则竭尽全力，我向后甩头，一团漩涡状的星云对着我说，「快，现在，旋转]
Grinning, ducking my head for balance, I start to spin as wildly as I can.
This is my favorite dance,because it contains a secret.
The faster I twirl, the more I am still inside.
My dance is all motion without, all silence within.
As much as I love to make music, it's the unheard music that never dies.
And silence is my real dance, though it never moves.
It stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe.
我露齿一笑，低下头寻找平衡，开始尽我所能狂野地急速旋转，这是我最喜欢的舞，因为它隐藏着一个秘密：当我转得愈快速，我的内在就愈安定。我的舞蹈，形于外是完全的动作，隐于内却是全然的寂静。如我同等喜爱的音乐创作，那无法以耳听闻的乐音，永存不死。寂静是我真正的舞蹈，即使它如如不动。它就站在一旁，编舞者上帝恩典，加持着我的每个指尖与脚趾。
I have forgotten the moon now and the sea and the dolphins, but I am in their joy more than ever.
As far away as a star, as near as a grain of sand, the presence rises, shimmering with light.
I could be in it forever, it is so loving and warm.
But touch it once, and light shoots forth from the stillness.
It quivers and thrills me, and I know my fate is to show others that this silence, this light, this blessing is my dance.
I take this gift only to give it again.
现在，我已浑然忘了月亮、海洋与海豚，但我比之前更深入在他们的喜悦之中。远若星辰，近似沙砾，那永恒存有在微光朦胧中浮现，我可以永存其中，它充满了爱力与温暖。然而，一经轻触，那静定之中射出的光芒，迸发四散，深深令我震慑憾动。我了解我的天命，就是向其它人展示这寂静、这光、这加持，这是我的舞蹈，我得到这样的礼物只为了把它再给出去。
"Quick, give!" says the light.
「快，给吧！」那光这样说道。
As never before, I try to obey, inventing new steps, new gestures of joy.
All at once I sense where I am, running back up the hill.
The light in my bedroom is on.
Seeing it brings me back down.
I begin to feel my pounding heart, the drowsiness in my arms, the warm blood in my legs.
My cells want to dance slower.
"Can we walk a little?" they ask. "It's been kind of wild."
从未有过，我试着服从，发明愉悦的新舞步、新舞姿。在我意识到身在何方的同时，我跑回小山丘，瞧见我房间内的灯亮着，带我掉回了现实。我开始感到心跳的剧烈、手臂的困倦、双腿的热血奔流。我的细胞想要把舞跳得慢一点儿，「我们可以走一下吗？」他们问，「似乎太过狂放了呢！」
"Sure." I laugh, slowing to an easy amble.
「当然。」我笑着，将速度慢下，轻松地漫步着。
I turn the doorknob, panting lightly, glad to be tired.
Crawling back into bed, I remember something that I always wonder at.
They say that some of the stars that we see overhead aren't really there.
Their light takes millions of years to reach us, and all we are doing is looking into the past, into a bygone moment when those stars could still shine.
我转开门把，微微喘着气，对这样的疲倦感到开心。爬回床上，我想起了那总令我疑惑的一些事。人们说，我们头上所见到的星星，事实上并不真的在那里。他们所发出的光，要花上几百万年才能到达我们这儿，我们所做的只是回顾过往而已，那些星子们依然闪耀的逝去时光。
"So what does a star do after it quits shining?" I ask myself. "Maybe it dies."
「当星星不再闪耀，他在做什么呢？」我自问，「也许，就这样死去。」
"Oh, no," a voice in my head says.
"A star can never die. It just turns into a smile and melts back into the cosmic music, the dance of life."
I like that thought, the last one I have before my eyes close.
With a smile, I melt back into the music myself.
「喔，不！」我脑中的一个声音说，「星子从未死去，它只是化为一抹微笑，融入宇宙乐音、生命之舞当中。」我喜欢这样的想法，这是我闭上眼睛前的最后一个念头。带着一抹微笑，我将自己融入乐音之中。
生命之舞
I cannot escape the moon.
Its soft beams push aside the curtains at night.
I don’t even have to see it – a cool blue energy falls across my bed and I am up.
I race down the dark hall and swing open the door, not to leave home but to go back into it. “Moon, I’m here!” I shout.
“Good,” she replies, “Now give us a little dance.”
我无法逃离月亮。夜里，当柔软的光线轻推着窗帘，我甚至无需去看－那微凉而淡蓝的能量落遍床前，我起身，下楼奔往黑暗的大厅，将门转开，并不是离家，却像是归去。我大喊：「月亮，我在这儿呢！」
「好啊！」她回应我，「现在给我们来一小段舞蹈吧！」
But my body has started moving long before she says anything.
When did it start? I can’t remember – my body has always been moving.
Since childhood I have reacted to the moon this way, as her favorite lunatic, and not just hers.
The stars draw me near, close enough so that I see through their twinkling act.
They’re dancing, too, doing a soft molecular jiggle that makes my carbon atoms jump in time.
但在她说话之前，我的身体早已开始动了起来。从什么时候开始的呢？我已无从记忆了－我的身体总是这样动着，从孩提时期我就这样响应着月亮，就像她最爱的癫狂痴人，而甚至还不只她；
星子们将我拉近，近到我能看穿他们闪烁的动作，他们也在舞蹈，轻柔的、分子的微微晃动，让我体内的碳原子也同时跳跃着。
Why my arms flung wide, I head for the sea, which brings out another dance in me.
Moon dancing is slow inside, and soft as blue shadows on the lawn.
When the surf booms, I hear the heart of the earth, and the tempo picks up.
I feel the dolphins leaping in the white foam, trying to fly, and almost flying when the waves curl high to the heavens.
Their tails leave arcs of light as plankton glow in the waves.
A school of minnows rises up, flashing silver in the moonlight like a new constellation.
我将双臂张开，直奔大海，让它带出我内在的另一段舞蹈。月之舞的内在是沈缓的，轻柔得就像草坪上的蓝影一般。而当浪潮澎湃，我听见地球的心，节奏加快。我感觉海豚在白沫中跳跃，尝试着飞翔，而当浪潮翻涌至天堂一般高时，它们几乎真的飞了起来。它们的尾巴画出一道光弧，浮游生物在海浪中闪闪发亮，一群小鱼趁势而起，在月色下闪耀着银白色的光辉，犹如一座新生的星群。
"Ah!" the sea says, "Now we're gathering a crowd."
「啊！」海洋说道，「我们现在可热闹着呢！」
I run along the beach, catching waves with one foot and dodging them with the other.
I hear faint popping sounds -- a hundred panicky sand crabs are ducking into their holes, just in case.
But I'm racing now, sometimes on my toes, sometimes running flat-out.
I throw my head back and a swirling nebula says, "Fast now, twirl!"
我沿着沙滩奔跑，以一只脚抓住海浪，另一只脚则巧妙地闪开。我听见微弱的啪啪声响，是一百只惊慌的沙蟹忙着潜入洞中－只为了以防万一。我开始奔驰，有时以脚趾跑着，有时则竭尽全力，我向后甩头，一团漩涡状的星云对着我说，「快，现在，旋转]
Grinning, ducking my head for balance, I start to spin as wildly as I can.
This is my favorite dance,because it contains a secret.
The faster I twirl, the more I am still inside.
My dance is all motion without, all silence within.
As much as I love to make music, it's the unheard music that never dies.
And silence is my real dance, though it never moves.
It stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe.
我露齿一笑，低下头寻找平衡，开始尽我所能狂野地急速旋转，这是我最喜欢的舞，因为它隐藏着一个秘密：当我转得愈快速，我的内在就愈安定。我的舞蹈，形于外是完全的动作，隐于内却是全然的寂静。如我同等喜爱的音乐创作，那无法以耳听闻的乐音，永存不死。寂静是我真正的舞蹈，即使它如如不动。它就站在一旁，编舞者上帝恩典，加持着我的每个指尖与脚趾。
I have forgotten the moon now and the sea and the dolphins, but I am in their joy more than ever.
As far away as a star, as near as a grain of sand, the presence rises, shimmering with light.
I could be in it forever, it is so loving and warm.
But touch it once, and light shoots forth from the stillness.
It quivers and thrills me, and I know my fate is to show others that this silence, this light, this blessing is my dance.
I take this gift only to give it again.
现在，我已浑然忘了月亮、海洋与海豚，但我比之前更深入在他们的喜悦之中。远若星辰，近似沙砾，那永恒存有在微光朦胧中浮现，我可以永存其中，它充满了爱力与温暖。然而，一经轻触，那静定之中射出的光芒，迸发四散，深深令我震慑憾动。我了解我的天命，就是向其它人展示这寂静、这光、这加持，这是我的舞蹈，我得到这样的礼物只为了把它再给出去。
"Quick, give!" says the light.
「快，给吧！」那光这样说道。
As never before, I try to obey, inventing new steps, new gestures of joy.
All at once I sense where I am, running back up the hill.
The light in my bedroom is on.
Seeing it brings me back down.
I begin to feel my pounding heart, the drowsiness in my arms, the warm blood in my legs.
My cells want to dance slower.
"Can we walk a little?" they ask. "It's been kind of wild."
从未有过，我试着服从，发明愉悦的新舞步、新舞姿。在我意识到身在何方的同时，我跑回小山丘，瞧见我房间内的灯亮着，带我掉回了现实。我开始感到心跳的剧烈、手臂的困倦、双腿的热血奔流。我的细胞想要把舞跳得慢一点儿，「我们可以走一下吗？」他们问，「似乎太过狂放了呢！」
"Sure." I laugh, slowing to an easy amble.
「当然。」我笑着，将速度慢下，轻松地漫步着。
I turn the doorknob, panting lightly, glad to be tired.
Crawling back into bed, I remember something that I always wonder at.
They say that some of the stars that we see overhead aren't really there.
Their light takes millions of years to reach us, and all we are doing is looking into the past, into a bygone moment when those stars could still shine.
我转开门把，微微喘着气，对这样的疲倦感到开心。爬回床上，我想起了那总令我疑惑的一些事。人们说，我们头上所见到的星星，事实上并不真的在那里。他们所发出的光，要花上几百万年才能到达我们这儿，我们所做的只是回顾过往而已，那些星子们依然闪耀的逝去时光。
"So what does a star do after it quits shining?" I ask myself. "Maybe it dies."
「当星星不再闪耀，他在做什么呢？」我自问，「也许，就这样死去。」
"Oh, no," a voice in my head says.
"A star can never die. It just turns into a smile and melts back into the cosmic music, the dance of life."
I like that thought, the last one I have before my eyes close.
With a smile, I melt back into the music myself.
「喔，不！」我脑中的一个声音说，「星子从未死去，它只是化为一抹微笑，融入宇宙乐音、生命之舞当中。」我喜欢这样的想法，这是我闭上眼睛前的最后一个念头。带着一抹微笑，我将自己融入乐音之中。
