羚羊

Tibetan Antelope

从收音机里听到一则消息：一条杀屠弑(音译，即为藏羚羊绒)制成的披肩，在意大利时装市场，可以卖到十几甚至几十万美圆。听了这则使不少屠夫商人心跳的消息，不由得令我忧心忡忡。在高额利润的引诱下，必然会有胆敢以身试法而为之效劳的“勇夫”。不论法律如何禁止捕杀，藏羚羊终究摆脱不了被杀的命运。

I heard this news on the radio: A Shahtoosh shawl made from the down hair of Tibetan antelopes is worth from $100,000 up to a few times over in the Italian fashion market. This news is sure to quicken the heartbeats of bloodthirsty merchants and I worry very much that with the lure of high profits, people will be brazen enough to defy regulations and provide illicit services. Regardless of how the law forbids illegal killing and hunting, the Tibetan antelopes, I am afraid, will eventually meet their doom, the fate of being slaughtered.

在广袤静谧的藏北草原，藏羚羊自来与人类和谐相处，世世代代无忧无虑，安享天年。突如其来的厄运使它们手足无措，柔弱的藏羚羊岂能与手持武器的人类抗争？

Over the vast and peaceful plains in northern Tibet, these antelopes have been living harmoniously with human beings; for many generations they have been worry-free and lived their full lifespan. When all of a sudden such a disaster befalls them, they are completely at a loss. How can these gentle and frail antelopes fight against humans who carry guns and other weapons?

我们可以想象这样的一幕，奄奄一息的藏羚羊静静地躺在草原上，哀望着渐渐模糊的草原，送走此生最后一个夕阳。耳边是杀手们肆无忌惮的笑声，他们正为即将到手的钞票庆贺着。它就在这样的痛楚与仇恨中咽了气。在通往中阴的路上，杀手的面孔和笑声将在冤屈的神识里久久萦绕，无法消散。

Just imagine such a scene: The wounded Tibetan antelope, lying on the field and with few remaining breaths, sadly looks at the prairie with blurry vision and bids its last farewell to the setting sun. Surrounding their prey are the poachers who congratulate themselves in uproarious fits of laughter over the big money on the way to them. It is in such immense pain and aversion that the antelopes perish and wander into bardo, the intermediate state, while the grimaces and laughter of the perpetrators linger forever in their grieving souls.

那些销售与购买披肩的人们，怎能不意识到，在高档时装的背后是堆积如山的藏羚羊头骨，每一条披肩上面都游荡着藏羚羊的灵魂。披着这样的披肩怎能不战栗、不胆寒，怎能心安理得？

Behind high fashion lay huge piles of skulls of Tibetan antelopes and around every shahtoosh shawl lingers the antelopes’ unsettling souls. How can those who sell or buy the shawls have no inkling at all? How can they not feel appalled and terrified when wearing such a shawl? Can they ever maintain an easy conscience?

索南达杰为保护藏羚羊而被人谋杀，殊不知那些暗自庆幸的人们正因此而谋杀了自己的天良；谋杀了自己的今生来世；谋杀了自己的解脱慧命。

Sonam Dargye, an animal rights advocate for Tibetan antelopes, was murdered. Yet little do the murderers know that in what they considered a feat, they have also killed their own conscience; they have destroyed their present and future lives, and they have eradicated their chance to attain liberation.

这一切只是人类残忍发展史中的一段小小篇章，若任由这种兽行继续，甚至为其推波助澜，灭绝地球也只是弹指之间。又有多少人会在乎藏羚羊或某种动物将在极短的时间内，将从人类的视线中消失呢？

The plight of Tibetan antelopes is only a tiny chapter in the whole history of human cruelty, but if this kind of savage behavior is allowed to perpetuate or become more prevalent, the destruction of our Mother Earth will happen in the blink of an eye. How many people care if Tibetan antelopes or other endangered animals will face extinction very soon?

天网恢恢，疏而不漏。六道轮回，沧海桑田。谁能断定自己下世不会沦为畜生？谁能逃脱因果的定则？人类为了满足锦衣玉食的需求，必将付出绵长的代价。

“Though the mills of Justice grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small.” Sentient beings are perpetually cycling in the six realms, constantly changing from one form to the other. Who can say for sure that an animal rebirth is not the next destination? Who can ever defy the effect of positive and negative actions? When humans stop at nothing to satisfy the demand of a sumptuous lifestyle, there is no escape from having to pay a huge price.

令人稍感欣慰的是，保护动物的意识，已经在一些人的心中生起了苗头。酷爱狩猎的英国查尔斯王子，因为一张屠杀野鸭的照片，在西方舆论界引起了一场轩然大波，也使捕猎者的嚣张气焰有所遏制。

But there is some consolation that people are becoming aware of the issue of animal rights and animal protection. England’s Prince Charles, an avid hunter, caused a media uproar in the West when he was photographed killing wild goose; this episode also dampened somewhat the abrasive arrogance of hunters.

我期待着遍地羚羊的景象能在藏北草原上重现，但愿这美好的愿望，不会变成一场黄粱美梦。

I look forward to seeing the grazing prairie of northern Tibet populated again with its native antelope, and I hope this earnest wish is not just a fool’s dream of paradise.

壬午年七月十九日 　
2002年8月27日 　

19th of July, Year of RenWu
August 27, 2002