Six Billion Worlds

沐光

I can still recall1 the day when I sat on the stairs of a temple in Nepal. The square before the temple became very muddy as a result of the rain. We had to walk on a path made by a line of bricks2 on the muddy ground.

A friend of mine complained3 all the way while she stepped on the bricks walki-ng towards me. Looking around she said very impatiently4， “disgusting indeed！ What if I fall into the dirty water？”

Since I knew her very well， I nodded cautiously5， hoping to comfort6 her by my silent sympathy7.

A few minutes later another friend of mine came to the same scene. She stepped on the brickpath dancing briskly8 and singing， “Jump， jump， jump！” until she reached the dry ground. She couldnt help shouting， “What a fun it is！” Eyes beaming with joy， she made the remarks， “The most pleasant thing of the rainy season is that one can enti-rely be free from dust.”

In the eyes of the two there were two different worlds. As the world has a population of 6 billion， it follows that there should be 6 billion worlds.

記得某个下午，我坐在尼泊尔寺庙的楼梯上。雨水把整个寺庙广场弄得泥泞不堪，我们在地上铺砖块作走道。

一位朋友边抱怨边踏着砖块走来。她走到我面前，以一种极为不耐烦的态度环顾四周，然后说：“真恶心！如果我掉进这些脏水里怎么办？”

因为十分了解她，所以我谨慎地点点头，希望通过这些无言的同情，令她舒服些。

几分钟后，另一个朋友也来到这个泥泞的广场，她一面在砖块上跳着，一面唱着：“跳，跳，跳！”最后踩到干地上时，还大呼：“真好玩！”她的双眼闪烁着喜悦的光芒，然后说：“雨季最棒的就是没有灰尘。”

两个人，两种不同的看世界的方式；60亿人，60亿个世界。

1. recall [r??k??l] vt. 召回；恢复；回想起 n. 回忆；取消；召回

2. brick [br?k] n. 砖，砖块；砖状物

3. complain [k?m?ple?n] vi. 抱怨；控诉；诉说

4. impatiently [?m?pe??ntli] adv. 不耐烦地，急躁地

5. cautiously [?k????sli] adv. 谨慎地，小心地

6. comfort [?k?mf?t] vt. 安慰；使舒服 n. 安慰；舒适

7. sympathy [?s?mp?θi] n. 同情，同情心

8. briskly [?br?skli] adv. 轻快地；活泼地endprint