Chinese practice
隨波逐流
(sui2 bo1 zhu2 liu2)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片:維基共享資源
to drift with the waves and go with the flow
羅馬皇帝及哲學家馬可‧奧理略(西元一二一~一八○年)在《沉思錄》中說道:「時間像是一條由種種發生的事構成的河流,而且是條湍急的河流,才剛看見一個東西,它就被沖走,被另一事物取代,而這也會被沖走」。《沉思錄》有很多啟發人心的話語,這句話只是其中之一。「障礙反而讓行動有所進展,擋路的卻成為我們在這條路上行進的助力」,也是其中名句。這些話顯示,奧理略深知人受到現實及世事的擺佈、在此情況下的應對之道,以及人有能力因應大環境改變而調整應對方式,因此得以面對逆境和人類的處境。
上述第一句引文,常被認為是片語「go with the flow」(隨著水流移動,意指順其自然)的靈感來源。現今很多人推測此語源自一九六○年代的美國。「go with the flow」意指適應新的情勢、順應眾人之見以儘量減少衝突,或是儘可能有彈性和順服。這種做法為的是要減少衝突,因此「go with the flow」的意義主要是正面的。
對戰國時期政治家屈原(西元前三四○~前二七八年)來說,奧理略的話遲來了好幾世紀──屈原對人世感到絕望和厭惡,因此在被流放時投河自盡。
《史記》中的〈屈原列傳〉,作於屈原死後兩百年,記載了一則軼事──屈原披頭散髮、形容枯槁地在汨羅江邊行走,遇到一位漁夫。漁夫認出了屈原,並問他為何如此消沉。屈原回答說:「舉世混濁而我獨清,眾人皆醉而我獨醒,是以見放」(因為全世界都混濁骯髒,只有我一個人乾淨;因為所有人都喝醉了,只有我是清醒的,所以我被被放逐了)。漁夫說,聰明人不會選擇抽離,而會去適應他的環境:「舉世混濁,何不隨其流而揚其波」(如果全世界都混濁骯髒,為什麼不跟隨主流且推波助瀾呢)?漁夫繼續說道,人都醉倒了,那你為何不吃點酒糟、喝點薄酒?為什麼要懷抱深刻的思想和崇高的抱負,卻讓自己被放逐呢?故事末尾,屈原回答說,人不會讓清潔的自己被玷汙,他寧願跳進河裡、葬身魚腹,也不願跟世界同流合汙。
屈原人品高潔,拒絕降低自己的標準,不讓自己被腐敗的世界所污染。
《楚辭》是楚地的詩歌選集,其中一部分為屈原所作。《楚辭》中的〈漁父〉,說的是同樣的故事,幾乎與《史記》版本字句相同,但是以對話的形式出現。然而,在〈漁父〉中,最後一句話是由漁夫所說──他一邊划船離開,一邊自言自語道:「滄浪之水清兮,可以濯吾纓。滄浪之水濁兮,可以濯吾足」(滄浪河的水清澈的時候,可以洗我的帽纓;滄浪河的水渾濁時,可以洗我的腳)。
對有些讀者來說,漁夫腳踏實地的做法和務實的彈性,比起下場淒涼的屈原要更可取──屈原孤獨遺世、流落河邊,被他自己頑固的絕對主義所困。但屈原堅持原則、不惜犧牲的壯烈,讓他成為備受尊崇的英雄。
「何不隨其流而揚其波」這句話,便是成語「隨波逐流」的出處。「隨波逐流」多用來表示負面的意義,指的是沒有確定的方向和目標,只隨著環境和潮流行事。
(台北時報林俐凱譯)
在資訊爆炸的時代,很多人隨波逐流、人云亦云,變成散播假新聞的幫兇。
(In this age of unfettered information, everybody just goes along with everyone else, repeating what they hear and becoming purveyors of fake news.)
英文練習
go with the flow
In his Meditations, the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180) said, “Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.” This is just one quote of many inspirational musings in the book, such as “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” These quotes indicate how the emperor understood the individual human was at the mercy of reality and events, and how one’s approach to them, as well as one’s ability to adjust that approach to suit a changed set of circumstances, would allow one to face adversity and the human condition.
The first quote is often cited as the inspirational origin of the phrase “go with the flow,” which many may now associate more with 1960s America. To “go with the flow” means to adapt to new realities, to agree with the consensus to minimize conflict, or to otherwise be as flexible and amenable as possible. Because this approach is designed to reduce conflict, it is mostly positive.
Aurelius’ words came several centuries too late for the Warring States period statesman Qu Yuan (c. 340–278 BC), whose despair and disgust for the world of men led him to drown himself while in exile.
In the quyuan liezhuan (Biography of Qu Yuan) in the shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) written 200 years after Qu Yuan’s death, we read an anecdote of how the disheveled minister met a fisherman along the bank of the Miluo River. The fisherman recognized Qu Yuan, and asked him why he was so low. Qu Yuan replied, “Because the world is fouled, and I alone am clean; because all men are drunk and I alone am sober — this is why I was exiled.” The fisherman says that the wise man does not choose to be aloof, but instead adapts to his environment. He says “If the world is fouled, why not follow where the filth flows and stir up waves?” (舉世混濁,何不隨其流而揚其波?), and continues “If all men are drunk, why not drink their dregs? Why get yourself exiled because of your deep thoughts and noble aspirations?” The anecdote ends where Qu Yuan responds by saying that one should not sully one’s own cleanliness with filth, and that he would rather jump into the river and bury himself in the bellies of the fish than suffer having his own purity covered by the dirt of the vulgar world.
Qu Yuan is made out to be a man of high principle, refusing to lower his standards or allow himself to be tainted by the filth of a corrupt world.
The chu ci (The Songs of the South) is an anthology of songs and poems from the state of Chu, some of which have been attributed to Qu Yuan himself. One of the poems is yufu (The Fisherman), which recounts the same anecdote, virtually word-for-word with the shiji version but in dialogue format. In yufu, however, the fisherman gets the last word, singing to himself as he rows away, “When the water of the River Canglang is clear, it suffices to wash the strings of my cap; when the water of River Canglang is muddy, it does to wash my feet.”
To some readers, the fisherman’s down-to-earth approach and pragmatic flexibility makes him more sympathetic than the desolate Qu Yuan, a lone figure left behind on the bank of the river, captive of his unbending absolutism. His resolute adherence to principle, even in the face of the ultimate sacrifice, however, has made Qu Yuan something of a cultural hero, somebody to look up to.
From 何不隨其流而揚其波 we get the idiom 隨波逐流 (to drift with the waves and go with the flow). The Chinese idiom is mostly negative, associated more with drifting and lack of direction.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
You can decide where we go tomorrow. I’m quite happy to go with the flow.
(明天要去哪裡,你決定吧。我隨遇而安。)
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