濒死

Nearing Death

儿时的伙伴尤诺得了一种奇怪的病，一半的脸莫名其妙地肿胀，不仅影响日常生活，更因压迫神经而危及生命。经多方治疗，终不见效，如今已回天乏力，不得不离开膝下的一群儿女，离开生长多年的家乡，被家人送至学院，等待死魔的判决。

My childhood friend Yuno has been stricken by a strange disease, half of his face started to swell up inexplicably. The ailment not only affects his daily life but also has become life threatening, as the nerves are compressed. Many treatments have all proven ineffective and his situation is now beyond medical intervention. Having no other choice but to leave behind his children and hometown, he comes to the academy with his family, to wait for the final verdict from the Lord of Death.

今天我去看他，令我难以置信的是，从他扭曲的脸上怎么也搜寻不到他年轻时英俊的痕迹。对于我的安慰和祝福，他报以牵强的笑容，使他的脸显得越发怪异，让我无论如何也不能将眼前的尤诺与我心中那个快乐的牧童尤诺联系在一起。

I paid him a visit today and was shocked to see his twisted face, which revealed not a single trace of his handsome and youthful years. On hearing my consolation and good wishes, he forced a smile, which made his face even more gruesome. It’s almost impossible for me to associate the Yuno in front of me with the Yuno in my memory as a happy shepherd boy.

想起曾经在一起的放牧生涯，我们总是那么无忧无虑。清晨，阳光与清雾伴随着我们出游；傍晚，山歌与彩云陪同着我们归家。尤诺是伙伴中最英俊、最快乐的。如今，美好的日子已如流水一般飘逝。儿时的伙伴相见，竟然恍如隔世。

We were so merry and carefree back then, herding animals together on the pastures. Early in the day, we set out in the morning sun and misty fog; late in the day, we went home under the rosy clouds while singing folk songs. Yuno had been the most handsome and the liveliest among the bunch of us. Yet time and tide have washed away the beautiful days; now coming face to face with my childhood buddy, it just seemed so long ago.

人生总是这样悲欢无常，欢笑过后常常伴随着哀痛，短暂的晴朗就会迎来数日凄风苦雨，若不知以佛法拯救自己，终将被业力的赤风推动，被动地迎接漫漫中阴路，凄迷地等待未知的来世。

Life’s happiness and sorrow are always fickle. Joy is inevitably followed by misery, just like nice brisk days are followed by windy rainy ones. Unless one finds Dharma as the saving grace, one will eventually be blown about by the unrelenting karmic wind helplessly, landing in the treacherous intermediate state to wait miserably for the unknown future.

不幸之中的万幸，在他最艰难的时候，他知道求助于佛法，仅凭这点信心，他也会走得较好。古人云：“天堂人乐成佛难，阎浮人苦成佛易。”因为天界的人太快乐，过于放纵，终将乐尽苦来，成佛无门；阎浮提的人固然痛苦，但却因痛苦而生惩戒之心，并可依此而最终成佛。

Yet it is a great consolation that out of this calamity, Yuno chooses to make Buddhism his refuge. Simply by the faith he has now, he’ll have an easier departure. It has been said: “Extreme happiness in the god realm prevents celestial beings from attaining enlightenment. Miserable sufferings in the human realm facilitate humans to attain Buddhahood.” Heavenly beings indulge themselves in extravagant pleasures and exhaust their merits, resulting in ultimate downfall and cutting off of Buddhahood. Conversely, the sufferings in the human world, though painful to endure, act as spurs and warnings that lead humans onto the path of liberation.

如果善加利用，病痛反而会成为成佛的良方，违缘也会转为顺缘。我祝福尤诺，希望他能明白这个道理。

With skillful methods, diseases can be transformed into prescriptions of liberation and unfavorable conditions into auspicious ones. I wish Yuno all the best and pray that he will understand these teachings.

壬午年五月二十四日　
2002年7月4日　　

24th of May, Year of RenWu
July 4, 2002