2016-02-02 Ellen
[Click to see the movie: The Little Prince]
写给大人的童话
缘起:
“All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 开宗明义，这部童话是要献给一个大人曾经做过的那个孩子（to the child from whom this grown-up grew）。因为，只有孩子知道活着的意义。（“Only the children know what they are looking for.” ）
大人：
大人则把一切意义概念化和数字化：
“Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essentail matters. They never say to you, “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?” Instead, they demand: “How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him...If you were to say to the grown-ups: “I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof,” they would not be able to get an idea of that house at all. You have have to say to them: “I saw a house that cost $20,000.” Then they would exclaim: “Oh, what a pretty house that is!”
这段话是不是直戳你心头呢？你懂的，哈哈。
长大了，灵魂的眼睛就闭上了，只睁着一双肉体的眼睛，看来看去，满眼都是那些被自己的妄想无限放大的片刻缘起。狐狸说，眼睛本来就是瞎的，什么重要的东西都看不见。（“But eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart.” ）一个真的小孩会相信这样的话，一个有过童年的大人也会由衷赞同这样的话：人只有用心去看，才看得到世界的实相，真正珍贵的东西，肉眼是看不见的。（“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”） 肉眼属于肉身，而后者最后被小王子彻底抛弃：他要回去自己的小小星球，带不动沉重累赘的躯壳。
小孩：
小孩都快被大人烦死了，被他们的问题里那一串串的数字，被一副副急功近利的可憎面目。
“Grown ups never understood anything by themselves. And it is rather tedious to have to explain things to them time and again.”
小王子说，你给我画只羊。
对，画一只里面装着羊的盒子，就对了。
我知道的，羊就在盒子里面。
“No one is ever satisfied where he is....Only the children know what they’re looking for....”
诗意地栖居
小王子（安东尼）大约是最懂“诗意地栖居”（海德格尔《人诗意地栖居》）的人了。海德格尔力图还原存在的本真面目，提醒人们不要被言语误导、活到清净圆满的大自在中去。今天再读小王子，顿悟他原来并不是一个天然去雕琢的小孩，而是一个成人几经净化后，终于找回的那个自己心里的小孩。这个小孩把童年作成了一首一尘不染的诗，告诉我们怎样才能幸福：
“When you discover an island that belongs to nobody, it is yours.”
“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”
“What makes the desert beautiful,' said the little prince, 'is that somewhere it hides a well...”
洗干净的心，就是净土。
然而地球属于大人，童年和诗是被禁的。
“What a queer planet!... And thepeople have no imagination. They repeat whatever one says to them. . .”
成人会抱怨，因为他们爱攀比，并制造出一大堆和虚荣有关的振振之词，用词汇来限制自己和他人的自由。没有几个大人是幸福的，“No one is ever satisfied where he is” 。即使他们拥有了天上的星星，也只会用“有用”和“没用”去衡量星星的实用价值。“All men have stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems... But all these stars are silent.” 他们已经很久没有开怀大笑了。然而只要一息尚存，看到美丽的玫瑰，他们的第一个想法就是把它批量种植来卖钱。
朱光潜在《谈美》第一章《我们对一棵古松的三种态度》中写道：“就‘用’的狭义说，美是最没有用处的。” 本来，商业的眼光、科学的眼光、审美的眼光，和事物的实相都没有什么关系，无所谓对与错，但须知“有用”也只是一个概念，具有刻意的导向性。大用无形，到底什么是有用的呢。还是朱光潜说得痛快：“悠悠的过去只是一片漆黑的天空，我们所以还能认识出来这漆黑的天空者，全赖思想家和艺术家所散布的几点星光。朋友，让我们珍重这几点星光!让我们也努力散布几点星光去照耀那和过去一般漆黑的未来!”（《谈美》）
交往理性
当年第一次阅读《小王子》的时候，主要让我感到困惑的，是和“驯服（tame）”有关的一段对话：
“I am looking for friends. What does that mean --tame?"
"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. "It meansto establish ties."
作为社交恐惧症患者和卑贱型人格拥有者，我对人际关系方面的知识相当匮乏，交朋友都是靠运气。对狐狸的tame理论，我一开始真的是将信将疑，毕竟驯服也有很多种不同的理解方式。如今，又在江湖上鼻青脸肿地混迹了好几年之后的我，对tame的说法理解起来终于似乎毫无障碍了。两个独立的个体之间，要建立一条自然的纽带，并不可能靠“一见如故”就一步完成的，之后的事情，相当于互相驯服的一个漫长过程，直到有一天很自然地觉得：you are my people.
"To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes.But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world....”
现在我不会轻易地要求别人做我的朋友，也仍不知如何应对“Let's be friends”的盛邀。跳过taming直接建立的交情，一部分是机缘巧合，一部分由杂念和功利心促成。而在taming之后，一段交情也还有很长的路要走，比如，我得对这种关系负责。“People have forgotten this truth," the fox said. "But you mustn’t forget it.You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed.You’re responsible for your rose.”
我真正读过的好书很少，应试教育在我身上的烙印很深，第一次认真地学到哈贝马斯的“交往理性” 已是在研究生阶段的课堂上（其实到现在也还是没有真的读过The Theory of Communicative Action）。吴先生提到交往理性时发挥了一下，说，现在的人，与人交往往往是有功利目的的，你再也不能指望一个意欲和你来往的人完全没有任何具体的想法。现在看来这么明显的道理，那时对我竟有醍醐灌顶的作用。还好，我人生的一大悲哀和幸事，是同一件事：我并没有什么"用"。
尾声
梦乃大脑自作的诗，童话好比人生自作的诗。
要能找到心里的那个小孩，也许还有机会重新开始。
PS.
非常推荐容易迷茫的学生读一读朱光潜的《谈美》
在看《小王子》的电影或中文版的书之前，最好先把英文版的书通读一遍。文字的想象空间更大，虽然电影中增补的情节也是有益的发挥。
《小王子》的书和电影，都可以在我的网站的download页面下载（ellensangreal.org/download）。这个页面上也可以下载到其他一些资源。
本文也发布在我的网站上，点击"阅读原文"即可看到。
"书香"目录
英文雪诗两首：自动回复关键词"Frost"
The Little Prince - 《小王子》，给大人看的童话：自动回复关键词"prince"
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