旅行的藝術(shù):Ⅵ 壯闊-8

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盡管約伯的疑問(wèn)得到了宗教層面的解答，然而從其世俗的層面來(lái)看，也可以找到答案。壯闊景觀的雄偉和力量有其象征意義。那就是：讓我們無(wú)怨無(wú)悔地接受那些無(wú)法跨越的障礙，以及無(wú)法理解的事件。正如《舊約》中的上帝所知的那樣，我們可以參照自然界中遠(yuǎn)超人類體積的景物，如高山、地球上的森林以及沙漠，用以對(duì)比人類的脆弱，進(jìn)而使人堅(jiān)強(qiáng)。

But the religious answer to Job's question does not invalidate the story for secular spirits. Sublime landscapes, through their grandeur and power, retain a symbolic role in bringing us to accept without bitterness or lamentation the obstacles we cannot overcome and events we cannot make sense of. As the Old Testament God knew, it can be helpful to back up deflationary points about mankind with reference to the very elements in nature which physically surpass it-the mountains, the girdle of the earth, the deserts.

如果這個(gè)世界不公平，或讓人無(wú)法理解，那么壯闊的景致會(huì)提示我們，世間本來(lái)就是如此，沒(méi)有什么好大驚小怪的。宇宙的力量可以移山倒海，而人類不過(guò)是小小的玩偶。從壯闊的山河中去了悟自身的局限是十分有效的，否則我們就有可能在日常生活的流變中感到焦慮和憤怒。不只是自然違抗我們，就連生活本身也是不堪忍受的重壓。然而，自然界中廣闊的空間卻最充滿善意和敬意地提示了我們所有超越我們的事物。如果我們用更長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間與它們相伴，它們會(huì)幫助我們心服口服地接受那些無(wú)法理解而又令人苦惱的事情，并接受我們最終將化為塵土這一事實(shí)。

If the world is unfair or beyond our understanding, sublime places suggest it is not surprising things should be thus. We are the playthings of the forces that laid out the oceans and chiselled the mountains. Sublime places gently move us to acknowledge limitations that we might otherwise encounter with anxiety or anger in the ordinary flow of events. It is not just nature that defies us. Human life is as overwhelming, but it is the vast spaces of nature that perhaps provide us with the finest, the most respectful reminder of all that exceeds us. If we spend time in them, they may help us to accept more graciously the great unfathomable events that molest our lives and will inevitably return us to dust.