人類為了獲得這些沒有靈魂的物品，被迫做自己不喜歡的工作

“‘In order to feel — you said。”

“Yes， that’s what I said。”

“Now try to get this through your mind： ‘In order to feel’。。。 the deeds of all mankind。”

“What d’you mean，Even the deeds of drug addicts — are they too part of a search for such sensations？”

“你剛說‘為了感受’。”

“是啊。”

“你現在試著理解：

‘為了感受’……所有人的行為。”

“‘所有人’是什麼意思？就連吸毒犯的行為也算嗎？他們也在尋找這種感受嗎？”

“Of course。 Just like everyone else， they are aspiring to find these sensations， only they are going about it their own way — subjecting their bodies to torture， taking poison in the belief it can help them， just for a moment， experience even an approximation of a great sensation。

‘And the drunkard， oblivious to everything， winces and drinks his bitter poison only because the search for a beautiful sensation lives in him too。

“And the scientist harnesses his mind and comes up with some fanciful invention， thinking that this will help him find satisfaction， along with everyone else。 But to no avail。

“當然，

他們和大家一樣，也在自己的道路上，努力尋找這種感受。

他們用毒品讓塵世的肉體承受折磨，希望藉此藉此暫時獲得這種無上的感受，哪怕只是接近也好。

酗酒者忘掉一切，眉頭一皺後喝下那堪比毒藥的苦酒，

也只是因為內心尚存追尋美好感受的渴望。

還有科學家絞盡腦汁，發明各種奇特的新機械，認為這可以讓自己和所有人感到滿足，卻屢屢徒勞無功。

“Over the whole course of its history， Vladimir， human thought has gone and invented a tremendous number of senseless things。 Just think of the multitude of objects surrounding you right where you live。 And each of those objects is considered to be the achievement of scientific thought。 Think of the labours of the multitude of people behind its production。 Only please tell me， Vladimir， which of these objects has made you happy and satisfied with life？”

自有史以來，人類的頭腦已經想出太多沒有意義的東西了。

弗拉迪米爾，你回想一下，你生活周遭有這麼多東西，每個都被視為科學思想的成果，背後投注了大量的人力，但你只要告訴我，弗拉迪米爾，

有哪樣東西讓你對生活感到快樂、滿足的？”

“Which？。。。 Which？。。。 Well， maybe， not a single one， if you look at them individually。 But taken all together these objects do a lot toward making life easier。

“哪樣啊……分開來看或許說不出來，但所有東西放在一起，就能讓生活變得便利許多。

“Take the motor-car， for example。 You get behind the wheel and you can go where you like。 It can be cold and raining on the street， but in the car you can turn on the heat。 It can be hot and sweaty outside， but inside all you have to do is turn on the air conditioner and you have a nice， cool ride。 And in your home， in the kitchen， for example， there’s lots of appliances to help women。 There are even dishwashing machines to spare the housewife that particular care。 And vacuums to clean the rooms through and through and save a lot of time，too。 Everyone knows that there’s a lot more objects out there like these that can make our lives a lot easier。”

就拿小客車來說，你可以坐在駕駛座，去你想去的地方。外頭如果又溼又冷，車內可以開暖氣；外頭如果熱到汗流浹背，車內可以開空調，讓你的周圍充滿冷空氣。

另外像是家中的廚房，也有很多供女人使用的廚具，甚至有洗碗機替女人省事。吸塵器讓打掃更輕鬆，也可以節省時間。大家都知道，有很多器具可以讓我們的生活更便利。”

“Alas， Vladimir， ‘ease-makers’ such as these are quite illusory。 Man is obliged to pay for them day after day through sufferings and a shortened lifespan。 In order to afford these soulless objects， people are obliged to spend their whole life slaving over joyless tasks。 The more these soulless objects appear all around us， the more clearly they show the degree of Man’s misunderstanding of what constitutes the universal essence of being。

“唉，弗拉迪米爾，

這些便利都是假象，所有人每天得為此付出代價，讓自己壽命減短及承受痛苦。

人類為了獲得這些沒有靈魂的物品，終其一生像個奴隸，被迫做自己不喜歡的工作。

這些沒有靈魂的物品環繞在身邊，代表著人類對宇宙存在本質的誤解程度。

（未完待續）

圖片來自網路

請你一定要相信我，

我所做的一切都是來自人的本能。

那是人自始就被賦予的。

自神聖源頭流傳下來的。

我做得到的事情，

每一個人都做得到。

（阿納斯塔夏）