每日5分鐘（勵(lì)志）36

I Do a Lot of Office Fishing

Some years ago, I started to look at the stars through high-powered binoculars and began reading books written by astronomers for people like me. I became an entranced stargazer for a while.

The men who have learned as much as we know about the universe point out that the sun is an insignificant, moderately hot star in a nebula where it is fixed. The Milky Way, which I have always wanted to spell “w-h-e-y,” is composed of our brothers and sisters, and we are all moving around a central hub. And the hub is moving toward some place, I don’t know where. My brothers and sisters are numbered in billions of billions, and our galaxy itself is one of many, many…h(huán)ow many, I don’t know.

Our sun is so small and our earth, its offspring, is so tiny that when I think of the magnitude, I think of what O. Henry described as a “Statue of What’s the Use.”

What difference does it make that I exist? What possible influence can I make, or my nation make, or a world make?

Where am I going on this ride and does it make any sense? Who’s the boss and what’s He got in mind?

That’s what I got to thinking…it’s all too big, too inevitable, too uncontrollable, and if I think about it with my eyes closed, it’s a pretty pessimistic picture.

Then one day I saw a hunting dog in the woods, an English setter flecked with black. His tail tangled with dock burs. This is a common occurrence to guys like me. I always want to stop and pull out the burs. But this time, out of nowhere, came the realization that this bounding, healthy dog was performing an important job: the job of transporting seeds that were constructed for the very purpose of hitchhiking. The fluff of milkweed sails on the wind to start a new colony miles from its original parent. This dog and its tangle of dock burs are all part of a plan. And so am I.

I believe the plan on this small, lonely earth is to make the best of it—a policy that is becoming increasingly more difficult as the number of human beings increases.

When I came to New York many years ago, I found that in big cities people live faster and decide things quicker than country folk. They have to, in order to survive in the struggle for existence.

Several times a week I slug it out with city dwellers for a place in the subway. They seem a bad lot. But when I pass a city dweller on a trout stream I find he’s just like other people. He’ll speak to me with interest, even warmth. He will ask me how many trout I’ve taken, what fly was successful. And I break down and tell him, and point out that perhaps the black gnat he’s using is too large.

I have tried to make the best of it by doing a lot of office fishing, some front porch fishing, and some quiet mulling about the magnificent things such as dock burs and remote stars. What’s more, I have found it fun; fun that has brought me a lot of happiness, a lot of contentment, and a lot of peace.

辦公室里的垂釣者

　　幾年前我開(kāi)始用高倍望遠(yuǎn)鏡觀察星空，按自己的想法解釋天文學(xué)家撰寫的天文學(xué)入門讀物。很快我就迷上了觀星。

　　迄今為止人類對(duì)宇宙的探索表明太陽(yáng)不過(guò)是星云中極為普通的一顆燃燒著的恒星。銀河(我總想稱其為“星河”)里有許多顆地球的姊妹星球，大家都圍繞著同一個(gè)軸心旋轉(zhuǎn)，而這個(gè)軸心又在向某個(gè)我不知道的地方移動(dòng)。地球是銀河系里億萬(wàn)星球中的一顆，而銀河系不過(guò)是許多星系中的一個(gè)。宇宙中到底有多少星系，我也說(shuō)不清。

　　太陽(yáng)在宇宙中是那么微小，太陽(yáng)的孩子地球則更是微不足道，以至于我一想到地球的分量，就想起歐·亨利說(shuō)過(guò)的那句話——“無(wú)用的化身”。

　　我的存在有何意義?我也好，我的民族也好，我的世界也好，我們的存在能起什么作用呢?

　　我生命的旅程向何處延伸，這個(gè)問(wèn)題真的重要嗎?是誰(shuí)主宰著整個(gè)宇宙，他在想些什么呢?

　　這是我得思考的問(wèn)題……一切都那樣浩渺無(wú)邊、無(wú)法避免、無(wú)法掌控。當(dāng)我閉上雙眼思考這一切時(shí)，腦海里便浮現(xiàn)出一幅令人相當(dāng)悲觀的畫(huà)面。

　　有一天我在小樹(shù)林里看見(jiàn)一只長(zhǎng)著黑色斑點(diǎn)的英國(guó)種塞特獵犬，尾巴上纏著幾根酸模芒刺。這種情況像我這樣的人在森林里經(jīng)常碰到，每次我都會(huì)停下來(lái)把刺拔掉。可這一次，不知道為什么，我突然意識(shí)到這只活蹦亂跳的獵狗身負(fù)著一個(gè)重要的使命：那就是把芒刺播撒到某個(gè)地方，這和司機(jī)讓陌生人搭個(gè)便車是同一道理。芳草花憑借風(fēng)力離開(kāi)故土，飄向自己新的家園;而這幾根芒刺靠的就是這只獵犬的尾巴。一切在冥冥中自有安排，我也是如此。

　　我相信微小而孤寂的地球應(yīng)妥善處理自己的一切——這一原則隨著人口增加而越來(lái)越難實(shí)現(xiàn)。

　　多年前我初到紐約之時(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)大都市里的生活和辦事節(jié)奏遠(yuǎn)比小鎮(zhèn)上要快。人們必須如此，方可在激烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中生存。

　　我一個(gè)星期要擠好幾次地鐵，滿眼所見(jiàn)盡是面目可憎的都市人。但當(dāng)我在溪邊釣鱒魚(yú)碰到一個(gè)城里人時(shí)，會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)他和其他人并無(wú)兩樣。他會(huì)饒有興致、甚至十分熱情地與我聊天，詢問(wèn)我的戰(zhàn)果，或是請(qǐng)教關(guān)于魚(yú)餌的問(wèn)題。我也會(huì)停下來(lái)，提醒他那塊黑蠓魚(yú)餌可能得掰小點(diǎn)兒。

　　就這樣，我努力妥善處理一切，在辦公室和自家院子里都像在溪邊垂釣時(shí)一樣，多與同事或鄰里交流，并常常靜下心來(lái)體味世間偉大的萬(wàn)物，諸如那幾根芒刺，又或是遙遠(yuǎn)的星辰。這樣做樂(lè)趣無(wú)窮，且讓我幸福，讓我滿足，讓我能求得內(nèi)心的寧?kù)o。