On beauty
美

Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide? And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?
如果美不以自身為途徑，為向導，你們又到哪里去找她，又怎么能找到她呢？如果她不是你們言語的編織者，你們又如何能談論她呢？

The aggrieved and the injured say, "Beauty is kind and gentle. Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us."
傷心痛苦者說：“美是善良而溫柔的。她像一位因自己的榮耀而半含羞澀的年輕母親，走在我們的身邊。”

And the passionate say, "Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread. Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us."
熱情奔放者說：“不，美是強烈而令人驚畏的。她如暴風雨般震動我們腳下的大地，搖撼我們頭上的天空。”

The tired and the weary say, "Beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit. Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow."
疲憊怠倦者說：“美是溫柔的低語，她在我們的心中訴說。她的聲音波動在我們的沉默中，猶如一道微弱的光在對陰影的恐懼中顫抖。”

But the restless say, "We have heard her shouting among the mountains, and with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions."
但活潑好動者說：“我們曾聽到她在山谷中大聲呼叫，隨其吶喊而來的是足蹄踏地、翅膀拍擊和雄獅怒吼的聲音。”

At night the watchmen of the city say, "Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east."
夜晚，城市的守夜人說：“美將與晨光一同從東方升起。”

And at noon-time the toilers and the wayfarers say, "We have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset."
正午，辛勤勞作者和長途跋涉者說：“我們曾看到她透過黃昏之窗眺望大地。”

In winter say the snow-bound, "She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills."
嚴冬，困在風雪中的人說：“她將與春同至，雀躍于山巒之間。”

And in the summer heat the reapers say, "We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair."
酷暑，收割莊稼的人說：“我們曾看到她與秋葉共舞，雪花點綴于她的發梢。”

All these things have you said of beauty, yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied, and beauty is not a need but an ecstasy. It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth, but rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted. It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear, but rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears. It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw, but rather a garden for ever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.
你們談到關于美的所有這些，實際并非關于她本身，而是關于你們未被滿足的需求，但美并不是一種需求，而是 心醉神迷的欣喜。她不是焦渴的唇，也不是伸出的空空的手，而是一顆燃燒的心，一個充滿喜悅的靈魂。她不是你們想看到的形象，也不是你們想聽到的歌聲，而是 你們閉上眼睛看到的形象，堵住耳朵聽到的歌聲。她不是傷殘樹皮下的樹液，也不是懸在利爪下的翅膀。而是一座鮮花永遠盛開的花園，一群永遠在天空飛翔的天使。

Beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.
當生命摘去遮蓋她圣潔面容的面紗時，美就是生命。