The Invitation
by Oriah




你靠什麼謀生，我不感興趣。


我想知道你渴望什麼，
你是不是敢夢想你心中的渴望。


It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know 
what you ache for

and if you dare to dream
 of meeting your heart’s longing.


你幾歲，我不感興趣。


我想知道你是不是願意冒險，看起來像個傻瓜般的，

為了愛，
為了你的夢想，
為了生命的奇遇。



It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk 
looking like a fool
for love

for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

什麼行星跟你的月亮刑剋，我不感興趣。


我想知道你是不是觸及到你憂傷的核心，
你是不是對生命
的背叛開敞了心胸，
或是變得枯萎而封閉了自己，因為怕更多的傷痛。



It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow

if you have been opened by life’s betrayals

or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

我想知道你是不是能跟痛苦共處，
不管是你的或是我的，

而不想去隱藏它、消除它、修復它。

I want to know if you can sit with pain

mine or your own

without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.



我想知道你是不是能跟喜悅共處，
不管是你的或是我的，

你是不是能跟狂野共舞，讓激情充滿了你的指尖到趾間，

而不是警告我們要小心，要實際，要記得作為人的侷限。



I want to know if you can be with joy

mine or your own

if you can dance with wildness

and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes

without cautioning us 
to be careful

to be realistic

to remember the limitations 
of being human.

你跟我說的故事是否真實，我不感興趣。


我想要知道你是否能夠為了對自己真誠而讓別人失望，

你是不是能忍受背叛的指控，而不背叛自己的靈魂。
我想要知道你是不是能夠忠實而足以信賴。

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself.

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.



我想要知道你是不是能看到美，
雖然不是每天都美麗，

你是不是能從生命的所在找到你的源頭。


我也想要知道你是不是能跟失敗共存，不管是你的還是我的，

而且還能站在湖岸，對著滿月的銀光吶喊「是啊！」



I want to know if you can see Beauty

even when it is not pretty every day.

And if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure

yours and mine

and still stand at the edge of the lake

and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

你住在那裡，你有多少財富，我不感興趣。
我想要知道你是不是能在一夜憂傷和絕望疲憊、蝕骨挫折之後，
還能夠在早上準時起床餵養小孩、做你該做的事情。

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live

or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up

after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone

and do what needs to be done

to feed the children.

你認識誰，你怎麼來到這兒的，我不感興趣。
我想要知道你是不是能和我一起站在爐火的中心，而不退縮。

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand

in the centre of the fire with me 
and not shrink back.

你在哪裡學習？學什麼？跟誰學？我不感興趣。


我想要知道，當所有的一切都消逝時，

是什麼在你的內心支撐著你。



It doesn’t interest me
 where or what or with whom
you have studied.

I want to know 
what sustains you

from the inside

when all else falls away.

我想要知道你是不是能跟你自己單獨相處，

你是不是真的喜歡做自己的伴侶，在空虛的時刻裡。

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself

and if you truly like the company you keep

in the empty moments.




By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming,

from the book The Invitation

published by HarperONE, San Francisco,

1999 All rights reserved

http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/