戀愛(ài)不是游戲Love Shouldn’t Be a Game

廬隱/文　蔡力堅(jiān)/譯

沒(méi)有在浮沉的人海中翻過(guò)筋斗的和尚，不能算善知識(shí)；沒(méi)有受過(guò)戀愛(ài)洗禮的人生，不能算真人生。

A monk who has never done somersaults and sustained bruises in the mortal world cannot aspire to be a spiritual leader. A person who has never tasted the joy and pain of love is in no position to profess to be living a full life.

和尚最大的努力，是否認(rèn)現(xiàn)世而求未來(lái)的涅槃，但他若不曾了解現(xiàn)世，他又怎能勘破現(xiàn)世，而跳出三界外呢？

Monks seek ultimate liberation and happiness—or nirvana in Buddhist parlance1—in a future life by shielding themselves from any earthly temptations. But if they are cocooned in a bubble， how can they see through the vacuity of worldly pursuits and find transcendence2？

而戀愛(ài)是人類生活的中心，孟子說(shuō)：“食色性也。”所謂戀愛(ài)正是天賦之本能，如一生不了解戀愛(ài)的人，他又何能了解整個(gè)人生？

Romantic relationships are a core building block of human experience. Our yearnings for food and sex are， as Mencius claimed， inherently conditioned. If you are alien to romantic love， how can you possibly grasp the full meaning of life？

所以凡事都從學(xué)習(xí)而知而能，只有戀愛(ài)用不著學(xué)習(xí)，只要到了相當(dāng)?shù)哪挲g，碰到合式（適）的機(jī)會(huì)，他和她便會(huì)莫名其妙地戀愛(ài)起來(lái)。

While all knowledge and skills are acquired through a learning process， love is engendered spontaneously. At a right age and at the right moment， a boy and a girl will click3 if the right chemistry4 is there.

戀愛(ài)人人都會(huì)，可是不見(jiàn)得人人都懂，世俗大半以性欲偽充戀愛(ài)，以游戲的態(tài)度處置戀愛(ài)，于是我們時(shí)刻可看到因戀愛(ài)而不幸的記載。

Everyone is supposed to be capable of love. But not everyone understands love. Too often， sex masquerades as love， and love is seen as a game. As a result， relationships often end on a sad note.

實(shí)在的戀愛(ài)絕不是游戲，也絕不是墮落的人生所能體驗(yàn)出其價(jià)值的，它具有引人向上的鞭策力，它也具有偉大無(wú)私的至上情操，它更是美麗的象征。

Love should never be a game. Inaccessible to a depraved mind， love uplifts our spirits and inspires us to reach greater heights. Informed5 by selflessness and nobility， it symbolizes beauty.

在一雙男女正純潔熱愛(ài)著的時(shí)候，他和她內(nèi)心充實(shí)著驚人的力量；他們的靈魂是從萬(wàn)有的束縛中得到了自由，不怕威脅，不為利誘，他們是超越了現(xiàn)實(shí)，而創(chuàng)造他們理想的樂(lè)園。

When a man and a woman are deeply in love， the wellspring of true love provides an amazingly inexhaustible source of inner strength. It delivers them of all emotional shackles， defends them against threats， and enables them to fend off temptations. They are thus able to transcend reality and build a happy future.

不幸物欲充塞的現(xiàn)世界，這種戀愛(ài)的光輝，有如螢火之微弱，而且“戀愛(ài)”有時(shí)會(huì)成為無(wú)知男女墮落之階，使維納斯不禁深深地嘆息：“自從世界人群趨向滅亡之途，戀愛(ài)變成了游戲，哀哉！”

In today’s materialistic world， however， the fire of love has dimmed， like a flickering firefly. Morally decadent behaviors6 are sometimes touted under the guise of the pursuit of love to trap unwitting men and women. Much to the chagrin of Venus， the goddess of love， love is increasingly becoming a game as the world is heading down the path to destruction. It’s sad！

1“涅槃”為佛教用語(yǔ)，意思是實(shí)現(xiàn)自我解放、達(dá)到超脫一切煩惱的精神境界，是梵語(yǔ)nirvana的音譯。“涅槃”在中文里直接使用似乎問(wèn)題不大，一般人能知道其含義，但了解nirvana的概念的人不多，所以似有必要對(duì)其含義略加解釋。? 2佛教所說(shuō)三界，是指欲界、色界、無(wú)色界。唯有跳出三界外，才算三業(yè)清凈，煩惱諸垢皆已凈盡，也就是transcendence，即experience beyond the normal or physical level。

3 click的意思是quickly become friendly or intimate，在此上下文里可以做“愛(ài)戀”解釋。類似用法如：I didn’t meet a woman who I really clicked with until I was 40.? 4 chemistry是指a strong mutual attraction。? 5 inform義為give an essential quality to，類似的用法如：His Catholic upbringing informs his writing.? 6 原文里的“戀愛(ài)”是帶引號(hào)的，所以可以被理解為morally decadent behaviors。