A Blind Man Helped Me See the Beautiful World
盲人帮我看到了世界的美妙
It was late afternoon when the chairman of our Bangkok- based company gave me an assignment: I would leave the next day to accompany an important Chinese businessman to tourist sites in northern Thailand. Silently angry, I stared at my desk. The stacks of paper bore witness to a huge amount of work waiting to be done, even though I had been working seven days a week. How will I ever catch up? I wondered.
这天已经是傍晚了，我们这家位于曼谷的公司董事长突然给我一个任务： 第二天必须要我出发陪一位重要的中国商人去泰北的旅游景点。 我傻盯着桌子犯愁。桌上积压的成堆文件足以证明，尽管一直以来我每周都工作七天，可还有大量的活儿没干完。 怎么才能赶上进度？我真的没有主意了。
After a one-hour flight the next morning, we spent the day visiting attractions along with hundreds of other tourists, most of them loaded with cameras and small gifts. I remember feeling annoyed at this dense collection of humanity.
第二天，早晨坐了一个小时飞机后，我们整天就和几百名其他游客一起，参观了一些景点。 他们大多数都带着相机，带着许多小礼物。 我记得那天我被挤在密集的人群中很烦恼的心情。
That evening my Chinese companion and I climbed into a chartered van to go to dinner and a show, one which I had attended many times before. While he chatted with other tourists, I exchanged polite conversation in the dark with a man seated in front of me, a Belgian who spoke fluent English. I wondered why he held his head motionless at an odd angle, as though he were in prayer. Then the truth struck me. He was blind.
那晚我和这位中国伙伴一起坐旅游包车去吃晚饭、看表演。 那个表演我以前曾看过多次的。 上车后，他跟其他游客聊着天，我则在黑暗中礼貌地跟一位坐在我前面的男士说话。这是位比利时人，讲一口流利的英语。开始我有点奇怪，为什么他的头纹丝不动地保持着一个古怪的角度，好像在做祷告的样子。 随后使我震撼的真相是，他竟然是个盲人！
Behind me someone switched on a light, and I could see his thick silvery hair and strong, square jaw. His eyes seemed to contain a white mist. "Could I please sit beside you at the dinner?" he asked. "And I'd love it if you'd describe a little of what you see."
"I'd be happy to," I replied.
我身后有人开了灯，我看到了他一头浓密的银发，以及方正有力的下巴。 他的眼睛里似乎有一层迷雾。 "等会吃饭时我能挨着您坐吗？" 他问道。 "我很希望您能把您所看到的给我略为介绍一下。"
"我很乐意，"我回答说。
My guest walked ahead toward the restaurant with newly found friends. The blind man and I followed. My hand held his elbow to steer him, but he stepped forward with no sign of hesitation or stoop, his shoulders squared, his head high, as though he were guiding me.
我的客人与几位新交的朋友径直走进了餐馆，我和这位盲人跟了进去。 我用手搀着他的肘部给他引路，但他却没有表现任何丝毫的犹豫或不自信，昂首挺胸地走着，好像是他在给我带路。
We found a table close to the stage. He ordered half a liter of beer and I ordered a grape soda. As we waited for our drinks, the blind man said, "The music seems out of tune to our Western ears, but it has charm. Please describe the musicians."
我们找了一张靠近舞台的桌子坐下，他点了半升啤酒，而我则要了一杯葡萄汽水。 在等着饮料的时候，盲人说： "这首乐曲在我们西方人听来似乎变调了，不过还是挺有魅力的， 您能描述一下这些乐手吗？"
I hadn't noticed the five men performing at the side of the stage as an introduction to the show. "They're seated cross-legged on a rug, dressed in loose white cotton shirts and large black trousers, with fabric around their waists that has been dyed bright red. Three are young lads, one is middle-aged and one is elderly. One beats a small drum, another plays a wooden stringed instrument, and the other three have smaller, violin- like pieces they play with a bow."
我开始关注正在舞台边上奏演出开场曲的那五个人。 "他们盘着腿坐在地毯上，身着宽松的白棉布衬衫和肥大的黑裤，腰部系着染成鲜艳红色的布带。有三个年轻小伙子，一个中年人和一个老年人。一个击鼓，一个奏着木制的弦乐器，其他三个拉着一种类似小提琴的用琴弓拉的小小的乐器。"
As the lights dimmed, the blind man asked, "What do your fellow tourists look like?"
"All nationalities, colors, shapes and sizes, a gallery of human faces," I whispered.
灯光暗下来了，盲人问： "您周围的那些游客们都长什么模样？"
"各种国籍、各种肤色都有，体型、个子大小也各自不同，真像个不同人种的大展示，"我低声说。
As I lowered my voice further and spoke close to his ear, the blind man leaned his head eagerly toward me. I had never before been listened to with such intensity.
"Very close to us is an elderly Japanese woman," I said. "Just beyond her a yellow-haired Scandinavian boy of about five is leaning forward, his face just below hers. They're motionless, waiting for the performance to start. It's the perfect living portrait of childhood and old age, of Europe and Asia."
"Yes, yes, I see them," the blind man said quietly, smiling.
我凑近他的耳朵进一步压低声音说话，他也热切地把头靠近我。 从来还没有人这么急切地想听我说话。
"我们近旁是一位日本老妇人，"我说。 "就在她旁边，有一个大约五岁的斯堪的纳维亚金发男孩，他的身体往前伸着，脸刚好位于妇人的脸下面。 他们静静地在等着演出开始。 这真是一幅生动完美的画像，儿童与老人，欧洲人与亚洲人。"
"是的，是的，我见到他们了，"盲人微笑着轻声地说。
A curtain at the back of the stage opened. Six young girls appeared, and I described their violet- colored silk skirts, white blouses, and gold-colored hats like small crowns, with flexible points that moved in rhythm with the dance. "On the tips of their fingers are golden nails perhaps 8 centimeters long," I told the blind man. "The nails highlight each elegant movement of their hands. It's a delightful effect."
He smiled and nodded. "How wonderful — I would love to touch one of those golden nails."
舞台后部的帷幕打开了，出来六位年轻姑娘。 我向他描述她们身着紫罗兰色丝裙，白色外套，头戴形似小皇冠的金色帽子，帽上的饰物随着舞蹈节奏有弹性地跳动着。 "她们的手指上有金黄色的指甲套，有八厘米长吧，" 我告诉盲人。 "长长的指甲使手部的每一个动作都更显得十分优美，效果真美。"
他微笑着点点头： "太美妙了，我真想摸一下那些金黄色的指甲。"
The first performance ended just as we finished dessert, and I excused myself and went to talk to the theater manager. Upon returning, I told my companion, "You've been invited backstage."
A few minutes later he was standing next to one of the dancers, her little crowned head hardly reaching his chest. She shyly extended both hands toward him, the brass fingernails shining in the overhead light. His hands, four times as large, reached out slowly and held them as though they were holding up two tiny birds. As he felt the smooth, curving sharpness of the metal tips, the girl stood quite still, gazing up into his face with an expression of wonder. A lump formed in my throat.
第一个节目结束时我们正好吃完甜食，我打了个招呼离座去与戏院经理搭话。一回来我就告诉我的伙伴："有人请你到后台去。"
几分钟后他和其中一位舞蹈演员站在了一起，她戴着小皇冠的头部还够不着他胸部的位置。 她害羞地将两只手伸向他，黄铜指甲套在从屋顶射下的灯光下闪闪发亮。 他慢慢地伸出自己那双足有女孩的手四倍大的双手，握住了那双小手，就好像捧着两只小鸟一样。 他轻轻抚摸着那些光滑的、呈弧形弯曲的金属尖指甲套时，女孩静静地站着，惊奇地注视着他的脸。 我不禁感伤起来。
After taking a cab back to the inn, with my Chinese guest still with the others, the blind man patted my shoulder, then pulled me toward him and embraced me tightly. "How beautifully you saw everything for me," he whispered. "I can never thank you enough."
Later I thought: I should have thanked him. I was the one who had been blind, my eyes merely skimming the surface of things. He had helped me lift the veil that grows so quickly over our eyes in this busy world, to see a whole new realm I'd failed to appreciate before.
乘车回酒店后，我的中国客人还是与别人在一起。盲人拍拍我的肩膀，把我拉向他，紧紧地拥抱着我。 "你帮我看到的一切太美了，"他低声说，"真不知道怎么感谢你。"
后来我想，该说谢谢的是我。 其实我更像是一个盲人，我看事物只是在表面一掠而过。 在这忙忙碌碌的世界里，一层面纱快速形成，遮住了我们的双眼，是他帮我揭开了这层面纱，见到了一个以前未曾好好欣赏的崭新境界。
About a week after our trip, the chairman told me the Chinese executive had called to express great satisfaction with the trip. "Well done," the chairman said, smiling. I knew you could do the magic."
I was not able to tell him that the magic had been done to me.
此行一周之后，董事长告诉我，那位中国经理来电话说他对旅程非常满意。 "干得好，"董事长笑着说，"我就知道你会有神奇的表现。"
但我无法告诉他，其实是别人的神奇改变了我。
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