如果只能给朋友推荐一本书的话，我一定会毫不犹豫地选择《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》。这本巴西作家保罗*柯艾略的传世经典，并不是那种让人望而生畏的大部头。看似一本故事情节普通无奇的玄幻小说，作者却在不到10万字的篇幅里，深入浅出地讲述了大量关于人性和天命的思考。有很多片段非常精彩，充满了人生智慧和哲理。
强烈推荐有一定英文功底的人去阅读这本书的英文版，语言非常精到优美，这在翻译过的中文版里是很难体会到的。英文版书名叫The Alchemist（《炼金术士》）。文章后面会摘记一些个人很喜欢的句子，中英双语。
文中有两个小故事是我非常喜欢的，情节简单，但是寓意非常深刻。
第一个故事在小说开头的引子里。一个英俊少年天天到湖边去欣赏自己的美貌，他对自己的美如痴如醉，竟不小心掉进湖里溺水而亡。山林女神看到湖水变成一潭咸咸的的泪水就问她为什么哭泣。湖泊回答她为少年流泪。山林女神说这并不惊讶，大家都跟在少年后面在林中奔跑，只有湖泊可以真切地看到他英俊的面庞。湖泊却说她并不知道少年的美貌，虽然少年每日在她身旁，她却只是在他的眼睛里看到了自己的美丽影像。
感悟：湖泊最有机会可以近距离看到少年的美貌，而她却仅仅是专注于从少年的眼睛里欣赏自己美丽的影子，竟然从来没有注意到少年的美。这是个非常出人意料的结局，但是在生活中这样的情况也并不鲜见。我们经常会因为过于关注自己，而忽略对周围环境的观察和感知；不同的人因为关注点不一样，从而对这个世界的认知是如此千差万别。
还有一个故事是这样的：一位少年去拜访一个有名的智慧大师，向他讨教关于幸福的秘密。这位大师住在一座极为富丽堂皇的城堡里。大师明白少年的来意之后并没有马上告诉他答案，而是建议他先在自己的城堡里转一转，两个小时后再回来见他。同时让他在走路的时候用手拿着一个茶匙，里面滴了两滴油，要求油不能洒出来。
少年严格遵守智者的嘱托，拿着茶匙走遍了城堡的大小台阶、花园和很多房间，但是眼睛一直盯着茶匙里的油。两个小时后他回到大师面前，油一滴也没洒。但是大师问他有没有看到他家里漂亮的餐厅、花园和各种奇珍异宝。少年坦言他什么也没有看到。大师让少年去好好了解他的家。这一次少年很放松，看到了很多美景美物，但是当他回到大师面前时，茶匙里的油已经洒光了。大师给他的人生忠告是：既要看到世上的奇珍异宝，又要永远不忘记勺子里的油。
感悟：这是一个非常发人深思的小故事，很形象地道出了一个朴素的哲理。人活在世上到底是要恣意享受还是应该努力实现价值。如果只是贪图玩乐和享受，人生就会过得很空虚，于己于社会都是一种浪费。而如果像西西弗斯一样只是辛苦的劳作，便失去了很多快乐，也就失去了很多色彩和意义。所以幸福的秘诀就是：既要充分享受人生的美好、沿途的美景美物，又要时刻谨记自己的责任和价值使命。
精彩语句摘抄：
"They are so used to me that they know my schedule," he muttered. Thinking about that for a moment, he realized that it could be the other way around: that it was he who had become accustomed to their schedule.
“羊群太熟悉我了，所以他们了解我的作息时间。”他喃喃自语。思索片刻，他又意识到，也许事情正好相反：是他已经熟悉了羊群的生活习惯。
And he knew that shepherds, like seamen and like traveling salesmen, always found a town where there was someone who could make them forget the joys of carefree wandering.
他明白，牧羊人，和那些海员及四处云游的小商贩一样，总会有一个小镇，在那里有人能够让他们忘记无忧无虑云游的快乐。
When someone sees the same people every day, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
当一个人每天都面对同样一些人的时候，就像他在神学院时那样，这些人就会逐渐成为这个人生活的一部分。由于他们是你生活的一部分，就想改变你的生活。如果你不像他们期望的那样，他们就会生气。每个人对于别人应该怎样生活都有清晰的想法，但是对自己的生活却一头雾水。
It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.
这个谎言就是：在人生的某个时刻，我们对生活中发生的事情失去控制，然后命运就会主宰我们的人生。这是世界上最大的谎言。
Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny is.
"At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their destiny."
"It's a force that appears to be negative, but actually shows you how to realize your destiny. It prepares your spirit and your will, because there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth.
每个人在年轻的时候都知道自己的天命是什么。在那个时候任何事情都是清晰的、可能的。他们敢于做梦，敢于去渴望他们希望在人生中实现的事情。但是随着时间的流逝，一股神秘的力量开始向大家证明，实现天命是根本不可能的。
这股力量看似负面消极的，但是实际上却是在教你如何实现自己的天命，它磨炼你的精神和意志，因为在这个星球上存在一个伟大的真理：不论你是谁，不论你做什么，当你渴望得到某种东西时，你一定能得到；因为这渴望来自宇宙的灵魂，是你在这世间的使命。
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
当你想要某种东西时，整个宇宙会合力助你实现愿望。
But bakers are more important people than shepherds. Bakers have homes, while shepherds sleep out in the open. Parents would rather see their children marry bakers than shepherds.
In the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important for them than their own destinies.
但是面包师是比牧羊人更重要的角色。面包师有家而牧羊人只能睡在野外。父母们更希望自己的孩子嫁给面包师而不是牧羊人。
从长期来看，别人对于面包师和牧羊人两种职业的看法就显得比自己内心想做的事情更重要了。
The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.
幸福的秘诀就是看遍世界上的奇珍异宝，并时刻不忘记茶匙里的两滴油。
I'm like everyone else—I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.
我和其他所有人一样--看待世界以我期望它发展的方向去看，而不是世界本来的样子。
This wasn't a strange place; it was a new one.
这不是一个陌生的地方，这是一个全新的地方。
As he mused about these things, he realized that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure.
在思考这些事情的时候，他意识到，被骗之后，他可以选择把自己看作一个倒霉的受害者，也可以看作是一个寻宝的探险家。
But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.
但是他能够理解这一点，那就是：一旦作出决定，实际上便坠入了一股巨大的洪流之中，这洪流会把人带到一个你做决定时从没有想到的地方去。
We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.
我们害怕失去已经拥有的，不管是我们的生命还是我们的财富。但是当我们明白了生命的历程和世界的历程都是由同一只手写就的时候，这种恐惧就会消失。
How do I guess at the future? Based on the omens of the present. The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity.
我卜算未来的方式，是通过当前的预兆。秘密就在当前。如果关注现在你就能改善它。如果改善了现在，那么未来也会变得更好。忘掉未来吧，你要按照教义过好每一天，相信真主会护佑他的子民。每一天里都蕴含着永恒。
Camels are traitorous: they walk thousands of paces and never seem to tire. Then suddenly, they kneel and die. But horses tire bit by bit. You always know how much you can ask of them, and when it is that they are about to die.
骆驼令人看不透，它们就是走成千上万里，也不会露出疲惫之态，但突然之间就会跪倒在地，力竭而死。马则会逐渐显露疲劳，你随时会知道还能让它走多远，或者它会在何时死去。
Love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny。
爱情从来不会阻止一个人去追寻天命。
Wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure.
心在哪儿，你的财宝就在哪儿。
The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.
害怕遭受痛苦比遭受痛苦本身还要糟糕。
No heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.
没有任何一颗心在追求梦想的时候会感到痛苦，因为追寻过程的每一刻，都与上帝和永恒同在。
Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that dream. That's the point at which most people give up. It's the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one 'dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.'
It said that the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn.
在一个梦想实现之前，世界之魂会对寻梦者途中所学到的一切进行检验。这种做法并无恶意，只是为了让我们不仅实现梦想，同时掌握在寻梦过程中所学到的经验教训。而这时大部分人可能会放弃梦想的时刻。用沙漠的语言，我们称之为“渴死在椰枣树出现在地平线上的时刻。”
谚语说，夜色之浓，莫过于黎明前的黑暗。
"It's not what enters men's mouths that's evil," said the alchemist. "It's what comes out of their mouths that is."
进入人们口中的东西并不邪恶，出自人口的才是。炼金术士说。
网友评论