第十二回：蠟炬成灰淚始乾
Chapter 12
“Candle flame turns to
ashes, waxen tears no longer flow”
協巴多杰把文祥及胡妁帶到車站，便告別離去了。
Champa
Dorje accompanied Wen Xiang
and Hu Shuo to the station
and then went on his way.
文祥再檢查電腦，果然已恢復正常，方要告訴文娃剛才的事，文娃說：「這事尊者全告訴我了，我們的系統確實出了問題，有的已經找到了，有的還在檢查。現在，你快到無水河去，千奇在那邊等你。」
Wen
Xiang checked with the computer again and found it
was already back to normal. Just as
he was about to tell Wen Wa what had happened just
now, Wen Wa said, “The sage has told me
everything. There is indeed
something wrong with our system.
We’ve located some of the problems, and are checking the others. Now, you’d better move on to Waterless
River. Creepy’s
there waiting for you.”
無水河在熔爐城東南，胡妁便帶著文祥乘磁浮梭前往。談起方才的事，胡妁對李不俗頗為不滿，她承認他們曾是相知的戀人。三十多年前，李不俗是個很有志氣的青年，在思想上多有涉獵。誰知到了電腦時代，他漸漸自暴自棄，一天不如一天，胡妁卻是日進有功，最後兩人只好分道揚鑣。
Waterless
River was situated to the southeast of Melting Pot City. Hu Shuo took Wen Xiang there by
means of the magnetic levitated shuttle.
When they talked about what had happened just now, Hu
Shuo confessed to being very dissatisfied with Li Busu and admitted that they
had once been lovers. Over 30 years
ago, Li Busu had been an
ambitious young man. He read widely
in philosophy. Who could have seen
that after the advent of the computer age, he gradually became dissolute, with
no ambition in life. He grew worse
every day. Hu
Shuo, for her part, had day by day been making
progress. At last the two of them
went their separate ways.
後來，胡妁結婚了，夫妻一同移民火星。想不到闊別了幾十年後，李不俗也到火星來了。感情本來就是很微妙的，只為了一些雞毛蒜皮的事，胡妁與夫婿分手了。這次胡妁在教主和協巴多杰尊者的開導下，心智大開，急於找人共享，便去告訴李不俗。不料李不俗也突有所悟，所以才惹出事情來。
Later, Hu Shuo married and she and her husband emigrated to
Mars. Unexpectedly, after having
been separated for decades, Li Busu
also showed up on Mars. Love is a
curious thing. For some trifling
reason Hu Shuo and her
husband were divorced. This time,
under the guidance of the sect leader and the sage, Champa
Dorje, Hu Shuo had a greater breadth of understanding. She was eager to share this with others so she told Li Busu. Unexpectedly, Li
Busu was suddenly enlightened, and because of this
trouble began.
文祥倒是不以為意，他突破了生死大關，心中更是坦然，隨口問道：「結了婚，沒有孩子嗎？」
Wen Xiang
didn’t mind at all. He had broken
through the barrier separating life and death so he was even more
unperturbed. He asked casually,
“You were married. Do you have
children?”
胡妁卻問他：「你對易經有興趣嗎？」
But instead Hu Shuo asked him, “Are you
interested in Yi Jing?”
文祥見她支吾其詞，知道其中必有隱情，也樂得岔開：「當然，最近老聽人提起，偏偏我對易經一點概念都沒有。」
When Wen Xiang
saw she was changing the subject, he knew there must be something she didn’t
want to talk about. It was fine
with him if she wanted to talk about other things. “Of course. I’ve heard a lot about it recently. But I have no idea what Yi Jing is all about.”
「我有個朋友很通易理，有空我帶你去和他聊聊。」
“I have a friend who understands the
theory of Yi Jing. Someday when you have time, I’ll take
you there and you can have a talk.”
「你先說說看，易經到底是什麼寶貝？」
“Tell me first. What is so precious about Yi Jing?”
「易經是一本古代中國讀書人必讀的經典，其實我那位朋友說，易經開宗明義第一章就說，宇宙的本體是太極，『太極』是最極端、無邊無際的意思。太極生兩儀，『兩儀』就是指在太極中，兩種相對的極端現象，比如陰陽、大小、黑白、對錯、冷熱等等各種相對的現象。」
“Yi Jing is a classic that was required reading for ancient Chinese
scholars. Actually, my friend said
the opening chapter in Yi Jing says
that the essence of the universe is Tai
Ji. ‘Tai Ji” means extreme or infinity. Out of Tai Ji, two elements are
born. These ‘Two elements’ refer to
the phenomena of polar opposites in Tai
Ji, for example Yin and Yang, large and small, black and white,
right and wrong, or cold and heat, etc., are examples of the many kinds of
polar opposites.”
「這有什麼稀奇呢？這是常識呀！」
“So what’s so special
about that? That’s common sense!”
「別以為常識是理所當然的，在上個世紀，我這樣說會被人認為迷信！」
“Don’t take common sense for
granted. This kind of talk would
have been regarded as superstition in the last century!”
「怎麼會有這麼愚昧的人呢？」
“How could people be
so stupid?”
「應該說怎麼人會這樣愚昧！總之，我們學歷史的，把那個時代稱為愚昧時期。」
“You should have said, how come people are so stupid! Anyway, for those of us who study
history, that era is known as ‘The Age of Ignorance’.”
「愚昧時期？不是叫黑暗時期嗎？」
“‘The Age of
Ignorance? Isn’t it called ‘the
Dark Ages’?”
「不！黑暗時期是指中世紀，歐洲大陸被宗教統治的時期。愚昧時期則指近世紀，整個人類文明都被人的無知、貪慾主宰的時期。」
“No! ‘The Dark Ages’ were during the Middle
Ages when the European Continent was ruled by the Pope. ‘The Age of Ignorance’ refers to the
recent century, when all of civilization was ruled by ignorance and greed.”
「那現在應該稱為夢幻時期了。」
“So we should regard
the present as ‘The Age of Dreams’.”
「在以往，我們稱之為幻滅時期，自從學了易經，我改稱為未濟時期。」
“We initially called it ‘The Age of
Nothingness’. Since I began
studying Yi Jing, I call it ‘The Age
of Wei Ji’.”
「未既？」
“‘Wei Ji’?”
「未是未來的『未』，濟是救濟的『濟』，是第六十四卦，代表一個時代的過去，下一個時代的來臨，永遠循環不止。」
“‘Wei’ is the word denoting the future, and ‘Ji’ is the word denoting ‘help’. It’s the 64th hexagram in Yi Jing. It represents the passing of an era and
heralds the coming of a new era, a process that continues in a never-ending
cycle.”
「我聽說易經是本預言的書。」
“I’ve heard that Yi Jing is a book of prophecy.”
「不盡然，易經是讓人知道宇宙中有天理，而不是教人預言的書。因為人生始於蒙，昧於知，必須一點一點地從學習中理解。如果宇宙本來就沒有準則、規律，人生也毫無意義，生生死死，或不生不死，不過耳耳。反過來說，如果有一個不變的規律，人生當然有意義，只是先決條件是，人不能改變這個規律，否則等於沒有規律。同意吧？」
“Not necessarily. Yi
Jing is a book that demonstrates to people that there’s a natural law in
the universe. It’s not a book to
teach people how to tell the future.
Because life begins with ignorance and is made obtuse by knowledge, man
must, bit by bit, understand life from learning. If there were no rule or regulation in
the universe, life would become meaningless. Life and death, or no life and no death,
would become insignificant. On the
contrary, if there’s an unchanging law, life of course becomes meaningful. However, the deciding factor is that Man
can’t change this rule. Otherwise,
it amounts to no rule, don’t you agree?”
「我舉雙手贊成！」
“I totally agree!”
「因此，人生就是一種歷練，是體認這種規律的獨木橋……」
“So, life is a kind of experience
and training; a single log bridge providing access to this rule…”
「為什麼是獨木橋？應該是康莊大道呀！」
“Why is it a single
log bridge? It should be a broad
highway!”
「是康莊大道嗎？那怎麼連你我都沒有走通呢？但是千百年來，很多人成功地走了過去，有人可憐我們這些自知愚昧，而又沒有方向感的人，便設計了易經，讓我們知道個大概。當然，依循這種規律，是可以略知未來。可是一些自以為是，或者腐木而食的蛀蟲，卻抓住這個機會，利用易經的預知牟取私利。」
“Is it a broad highway? Then how come you or I have never been
able to access it? However, over
the past thousands of years, many people have successfully gotten across
it. Someone took a pity on those of
us who know they’re stupid and have no sense of direction, and designed Yi Jing to give us a rough idea. Of course, according to this rule, it’s
possible to predict the future to some degree. However, some egotists, or termites that
consume decayed wood, seized this chance and profited from the predictive
aspect of Yi Jing.
「那怎麼辦呢？」
“So what’s to be
done?”
「這就是易經的智慧所在了，總之，在愚昧時代，人人唯利是圖，由於西方物質文明發達，人類社會就變成了工廠，唯一的目標是生產。當燃料缺乏時，工廠就由懂燃料的人管理；缺少螺絲釘時，便由管螺絲釘的人負責；下水道不通時，在下水道裡幹活的人，便搖身一變，成為大大的紅人。
“This is where the wisdom of Yi Jing lies. Anyway, during the Age of Ignorance
everybody was interested in obtaining profit. Because Western material civilization
was thriving, human society had become a factory. The sole purpose of this factory was
production. Of course when there
was insufficient fuel, the factory would be managed by people who understood
fuel. When there were not enough
screws, the person in charge of screws would assume responsibility. When the drainage was blocked, those
working in the
sewers became
celebrities overnight.
「這一來，誰製造的問題最多，誰的風頭就最健，誰笨得把問題解決了，便只好去坐冷板凳。誰把話說得清楚，讓人人都懂，就代表這人沒有學問。而被公認為有學問的人，經常是不知所云，把事情說得既玄又神。於是第一流的科學家都相信什麼『萬有引力』！說在物質中心有種引力，互相吸引！他們的神話可多了，說宇宙的開始是一個大爆炸，最後又是一個大收縮，於是宇宙便像一個小孩手中的大汽球，一下子吹得老大，一下子又收了回去！事實上知識倒是大爆炸了，人的常識也來了個大收縮，妙的是人人愚昧不堪，又都自命不凡，胡作非為！」
“This way, whoever was causing the problem would gain
notoriety; whoever was so stupid as to solve the problem would be benched;
whoever explained things clearly so that everyone could understand was
considered uneducated. And those
who were publicly recognized scholars often spoke in riddles. They explained things in an arcane and
mysterious fashion. Therefore, all
top scientists believed in ‘universal gravitation’! They claimed that there was a force of
attraction between all objects that tends to pull them toward one another! They had many myths. They claimed that the creation of the
universe began with a gigantic explosion, followed later by a huge contraction! So the universe is like a balloon in a
child’s hand. It expends to its
maximum and suddenly contracts!
Actually, as knowledge has exploded, man’s common sense has
significantly contracted. The most
interesting part is that, though everyone was so intolerably ignorant, they
were very pretentious and did many foolish things!”
「那個時代人智未開，荒唐事太多了！」文祥也有同感。
“The intelligence of people from that era
had not yet developed. They did
many absurd things.” Wen Xiang felt the same way.
「我說個故事給你聽，太平洋上有個著名的復活島，臨海的地方立了七個高有數丈的石人。我曾經去考察過，其中有一種傳說很能代表人類的處境。土人說，他們是「樹人」，祖先來自一個很大很大的地方，但是那裡有吃人的野獸和殺人的惡人。有一天，他們來到這個樂園，島上長滿了一種椰子，結實纍纍。妙的是這種椰子樹，樹幹圓直，樹葉寬厚。於是，他們就以樹為屋，以葉為頂，以果為食。反正全島都是樹，一棵吃光了，再換一棵。世世代代下來，島上還是綠油油一片，他們的生活可說是平安快樂而幸福。
“Let
me tell you a story. The renowned
Easter Island is located in the Pacific Ocean. 7 giant stone monoliths several meters
high stand there facing the sea. I
once went there for research. One
of their legends is
typical of the man’s condition. The
local natives say they are the ‘tree people’ and their ancestors came from a
vast region where man-eating beasts and evil murderers resided. One day they arrived at this
paradise. The entire island was
thickly covered with coconuts of a particular kind. What’s interesting is that this type of
coconut tree stood straight, with round trunk and leaves that were wide and
thick. Therefore, they built tree
houses, roofed them with leaves, and ate the nuts. Anyway, it didn’t matter because the
entire island was covered with trees.
When they finished consuming one tree, they would move to another. After generations, the island was still
covered in green. It can be said
their life was peaceful and happy.
「他們逐樹而食的結果，有一天終於看到海邊了，這才知道原來樹也有盡頭。大家群集樹頂開會，最後得到兩個結論，一個是自我控制，限量生育，以保持生態的平衡。另一種意見是向外發展，另外找尋更美好的天地。
“The result of consuming one tree after another was that one
day they discovered the ocean shore, whereupon they realized that they had come
to the end of their trees. They
gathered in the treetops to hold a meeting and arrived at two conclusions. One was self-control; limit the
birthrate to maintain ecosystem balance.
The other one was to set forth and look for a better place to live.
「由於沒有人願意自我控制，大家便協力砍了樹屋，建了大船，派人出海找尋新天堂樂園。人是一船一船地出去，時間也一年一年地過去，但一直沒有人回來。有人認為可能是找不到回來的路，應當在海邊豎立一些標誌。他們決定利用山上的石材造一些大人，鑿好了以後，再以椰子樹幹作滾木，運到海邊來。
“Because no one was willing to practice self-control, they joined forces and cut down all the tree houses. They built big ships and sent people out to sea to seek a new paradise. However, one shipload after shipload of people were sent out and as the years went by, none of them ever returned. Some thought that perhaps it was because they couldn’t find the route back home. They suggested that some sort of signs should be placed along the seashore, and decided to use the stone material from the mountains to build giant stone statues. After they finished, rolling them by means of coconut tree trunks underneath the statues, they moved them to the seashore.
「大家都很快樂，都認為創造了歷史繁榮的高峰，連這麼高的摩天石像都建得起來，樹人當然有能力建造天堂！不幸的是，造船、造石像，通通都要砍椰子樹。當他們勉強豎好了第七個石像之後，樹也砍光了，大部分的人都餓死了。」
“Everyone was quite happy. They thought they had created a highly
prosperous period in history. If they
could build such skyscraper stone statues, the tree people naturally had the
ability to build paradise!
Unfortunately, it was necessary to cut down the coconut trees to build
ships and move statues. Just when
they were trying to erect the 7th stone statue, they ran out of
trees. Most of the populace
consequently died of hunger.”
「這是真的嗎？」文祥聽完了，有些感傷。
“Is this true?” Hearing this story Wen Xiang felt a little bit sad.
「什麼真的假的呢？過去發生的事，只是一些變化的現象，不是向這邊變，就是向那邊變，然後人才能得到經驗。」
“What does it matter if it’s true or
not? Things that happened in the
past are merely examples of change.
Things change, one way or the other. Only in this way can man gain
experience.”
「是啊！一切都是相對的。」
“Right! Everything is relative.”
「既然事事都是相對的，易理就以動靜來解釋宇宙萬事萬物。」
“Since everything is
relative, the theory of Yi Jing
explains myriad things in the universe by using ‘dynamic and static’.”
「只用動靜？那怎麼夠？」
“Only ‘dynamic and
static’? Is that enough?”
「電腦是二進位的，不就是動與靜嗎？在電腦中，哪件事不是用動靜來解釋的？」
“The computer uses the
binary system. Isn’t that ‘dynamic
and static’? Which computer
function cannot be explained in terms of ‘dynamic and static’?”
「有道理，只是資料很長，人怎麼記得住？」
“True. But the data is so extensive. How could people memorize it?”
「這就是中國人聰明之處了，我們先不講什麼理論，就算閒聊天吧！我來試試，看能不能猜一猜即將發生在你身上的事。」
“That’s where the Chinese are so
intelligent. Let’s drop the theory
and just shoot the breeze! Let me
give it a try. Let’s see if I can
guess what will happen to you in the near future.”
「你會預言？」
“You can foresee the
future?”
「不！我沒那種本事，如果有，我早就達到圓融境界，出入青冥了。我只是略知一二罷了，起碼還能讓你知道是怎麼回事。這樣吧，我問你幾個問題，你只要回答我一個字，如果你認為答案屬於動的、強的、大的、好的，反正是正面的，你就說『陽』。如果是靜的、弱的、小的、壞的，你就說『陰』，這樣我就可以解釋易經了。」
“No! I don’t have that ability. If I did, I would have achieved a
perfect state and pass freely between worlds. I only understand a little. At least I can show you what it is all
about. Let’s try this. I’ll ask you some questions and you answer
them with only one word. If you
feel the answer belongs to ‘dynamic’, ‘strong’, ‘big’, ‘good’, or any idea that
is positive, you answer with ‘yang’. If it is ‘static’, ‘weak’, ‘small’, or
‘bad’, you answer with ‘Yin’. This way, I’ll be able to explain Yi Jing.”
「但是我怎能確定我的判斷一定正確呢？」
“But how can I be sure
if my judgements are correct?”
「不必管那些，我只是想告訴你，易理基本的規律只是建立在兩儀與三才的結構上。當然，你判斷的正確性越高，預測的結果就越準！」
“Don’t worry about it. I only want to tell you that the basic
theory of Yi Jing is built on the
‘two elements’ plus the ‘trigrams’ (Note 1). Of course, the better your judgement,
the more accurate your results will be!”
「真的？好，妳問吧！」文祥興奮極了，他挺了挺腰，準備接受詢問。
“Really? O.k. Start asking!” Wen Xiang was
very excited. He sat up straight
and prepared for questioning.
「你先想好要問的事，當我問你時，只要說是陰或陽就好了。」
“First think about what you’d like
to ask. When I ask you, you just
answer Yin or Yang.”
「好，妳快問吧！」文祥想的是，今天見不見得到衣紅。
“O.k. Quick, ask me!” Wen Xiang was
thinking: would he see Yi Hong today?
「我先問內卦，內卦相當於與自己最親近的環境，一共有三個問題，第一個與自己有關，問題是，對你重不重要？」
“First, I’ll start with the ‘lower trigram’. The
lower trigram is equivalent to the environment most
dear to you. There’ll be 3
questions. The first one concerns
you, which is, is it important to you?”
「重要！」文祥不假思索，衣紅當然重要。
“Yes, it’s important!” Wen Xiang
didn’t need to think. Yi Hong of
course was important.
「好的，重要代表『陽』。第二個問題是，以你而言，能不能控制這個情況？」
“O.k. ‘Important’ means ‘yang’. The second
question is, are you able to control this situation?”
這個就麻煩了，文祥當然不願意承認他不能控制。可是再想想，他能控制什麼？連想不想她都不能自主，他歎了一口氣，說：「不能！」
This
one was tricky. Of course Wen Xiang didn’t like to admit that he couldn’t control
it. But come to think of it, was
there anything he could control? It
wasn’t even up to him to decide whether or not to think about her. He sighed and said, “No!”
「那就是『陰』，第三個問題是，這件事有沒有希望呢？」
“That was a ‘yin’. The third question is, is there any
hope?”
希望？誰知道！看來是有的，有嗎？文祥想了一會，無可奈何地說：「實在說，我沒有把握，我不知道。」
Hope? Who knows! It looked like there was. Was there? Wen Xiang
thought for a moment and said helplessly, “To tell the truth, I’m not
sure. I don’t know.”
「不知道，那就是『陰』，當然可變為『陽』，必要時可作變卦看。現在再問外卦，你要用大環境的立場來想，千萬不要用剛才的立場，否則就沒有分別了。好，我問你，這件事對整體環境重要不重要？」
“You don’t know; that’ll be ‘yin’. Of course it can
change to ‘yang’. If
necessary, it can be viewed as a ‘variable’ diagram. Now, I’ll ask about the ‘upper trigram’.
You’ll have to consider it with an overall perspective. Do not use the same attitude you used
just now. Otherwise, there would be
no difference. O.k. Let me ask you, is this matter important
in the overall perspective?”
整體環境？指的是什麼呢？假定是這次的任務吧！當然重要：「陽！」
Overall perspective? What did that mean? He assumed it was about his present
mission! Of course it was
important. “Yang!”
「好，再看大環境能不能決定呢？」
“Good. Now see if the overall perspective could
be a deciding factor?”
這就難回答了，大環境能不能決定？決定什麼？自己問的是能不能見到她，那當然是大環境所決定的：「陽！」
That was a tough one. Could the overall perspective decide? Decide what?
He was asking if he could see her, and this, of course, was determined
by the overall perspective. “Yang!”
「最後一個問題，這事符不符合大環境的希望？」
“Last question. Does this matter relate to a hope on the part of the overall perspective?”
大環境的希望？自己想和衣紅見面，大環境當然可以算上電腦一份。電腦希望自己與衣紅見面嗎？為了查明那個龍符，答案是陽。如果只為了自己想見她，那麼在當前還有其他任務的情況下，答案則是陰。到底該選哪一個呢？
Hope on the part of the overall
perspective? He wanted to see Yi
Hong, and of course the computer counted as part of the overall
perspective. Did the computer want
him to see Yi Hong, too? If it were
to check on that Dragon Spell, the answer would be yang. But if it was
only because he himself wanted to see her, and there were other missions at the
moment, then the answer would be yin. Which one should he choose?
文祥天人交戰了片刻，自己也覺得好笑，這不過是個遊戲，有什麼好認真的？就算自己有私心，硬把陰說成陽，那又怎樣？
After fighting this inner battle
for some moments, Wen Xiang began to be amused. This was just a game. Why take it so seriously? So what if he was selfish, and answered yang instead of yin on purpose. So
what?
「陽！」
“Yang!”
「好極了，我剛才問了六個問題，各為一爻，總共是六爻。實際上這六爻是由兩個三才結構所組成，爻由下往上長，就是生機。但我們讀爻時卻是由上而下，依順序來看，上卦的三才是陽陽陽，對八卦而言，是乾卦。下卦的三才是陰陰陽，稱為震卦。上下卦合用，八八六十四，共有六十四個複合卦，再查易經，乾震為『は妄卦』。」
“Great. I asked 6 questions and each one is a Xiao (Note 2), or a line, which
means a total of 6 lines. Actually,
these 6 lines consist of two sets of ‘trigrams’. The hexagram is built from bottom up,
which means ‘a new lease of life’.
However, when we read it, it has to be read from top to bottom. Proceeding in order, the upper ‘trigram’ is yang,
yang, and yang, which is called qian in the Bagua (Note 3). The lower ‘trigram’ is yin, yin, and yang, which is called jen. If you
multiply the
eight upper and eight lower trigrams, they come to
sixty-four different hexagrams. If
you look up Yi Jing, ‘qian jen’ is the ‘wu wang’
hexagram.”
「你是說無望？」文祥大失所望。
“Wu wang, you mean as in ‘no hope’?” Wen Xiang was
greatly disappointed.
「不，你聽錯了，是は妄之災的は妄，不是毫無指望的無望。」
“No. You got it wrong. ‘Wu wang’
means ‘unexpected’, as used in ‘an unexpected catastrophe’.
It’s not the ‘no hope’ of completely hopeless.”
「啊！有災難？是誰的災難？」文祥急了。
“Ah! A catastrophe? Whose catastrophe?” Wen Xiang was
anxious.
「別那麼認真好不好？由於人沒有先見之明，易理最大的弔詭就是不論準不準，都有好處與壞處。如果預測得太準了，人會喪失主見，落入迷信。如果預測的都不準，人便會遁入虛無，找不到人生的方向。」
“Don’t take it so seriously. Because people lack the ability to see
into the future, the major irony in Yi
Jing theory is that that it doesn’t matter whether the prediction is
accurate or not, as they all contain both good and bad. If the predictions become too accurate,
people will lose their ability to make judgements and become
superstitious. If every prediction
was wrong, man would flee from reality and be unable to find any direction of
life.”
「那麼你預言吧！」
“Then go ahead and
predict!”
「你要先告訴我問的是什麼，否則我無從回答。」
“You’ll have to tell me what your
question is. Otherwise, I won’t be
able to answer.”
「我問的是，今天會不會見到一個人？」文祥說時臉都紅了。
“My question is, am I going to see a
person today?” Wen Xiang blushed as he spoke.
「嗯，是位女性。」胡妁在她的電腦上撥了幾下，看著顯示器說：「根據易經的解釋，只要你順天而行，沒有私心就好，否則有災。」
“Hmm, it’s a female.” Hu Shuo tapped some keys on her computer and then looked at
the monitor, “According to Yi Jing,
as long as you act in harmony with heaven’s law and have no selfish motives,
everything will be fine. Otherwise,
there’ll be a misfortune.”
文祥心中一動，如果沒有私心，他最後應該選陰，選陽當然是私心作祟。這下子他真急了，問道：「有什麼災？嚴不嚴重？」
Wen
Xiang’s heart jumped. If he hadn’t had selfish motives, he
should have chosen yin for the last
question. He choice of yang meant it was a selfish motive. Now he was really anxious and asked,
“What kind of misfortune? Will it
be serious?”
「は妄之災嘛，嚴重是不嚴重的，但各人的定義不一樣。」
“An ‘unexpected catastrophe’ won’t be serious. But everyone will have their own opinion.”
「能不能說詳細一點？」
“Could you be more
specific?”
「我說過，我只是介紹一下怎樣預言，你不能太相信。」
“I told you that I just wanted to
explain how to predict things. You
mustn’t take it too seriously.”
「是，我不相信，妳說吧！」文祥急切之情，已形之於色。
“No, I won’t. Go head!” Wen Xiang’s
anxiety was apparent in his face.
「好吧，理論是這樣的，易經六十四卦只是大類，內外卦相互影響。剛才的解釋，相傳是周文王所著，是古人遵循的一種做人做事的道理。當一個社會上，人人都遵守同一種規律時，自然就成為一種可以判斷的方法。
“All right.
Here’s the theory. The
sixty-four hexagrams in Yi Jing are
only the main categories. The
lower-trigram and upper-trigram
mutually influence one another. The
explanation I gave you just now is said to have been written by Emperor Wen of
the Zhou Dynasty. It’s a theory of social conduct that was
observed by the ancients. When everyone in a society observes the same rule, it
naturally becomes a standard for judgement.
「然而易理之微妙，卻在於它真正符合宇宙的規律。這規律有四個：第一，我們知道能量與距離成反比，所以爻與爻越接近的，必大於爻與爻較遠的。第二，爻有陰陽之分，陽動陰靜，動強於靜，所以陽強於陰。第三，既然有位置，就有位能，六爻的位能以單數為陽，雙數為陰。設一、三、五位屬陽地，二、四、六是陰位。俗謂『強龍難壓地頭蛇』，所以如果在陽得陽位、陰得陰位時，能量要加倍，否則減少。
“However, the subtlety of Yi Jing theory is that it really accords with the rule of the universe. This rule can be divided into 4
parts. First, we know that energy
and distance are in inverse ratio.
So the lines that are closer to each other must be stronger than that of
lines lying more distant from one another. Secondly, the lines can be divided
into yin and yang. Yang represents dynamic and yin, static. Dynamic is stronger than static, so yang is stronger than yin. Thirdly, since they are located in a
particular position, they have potential energy. The potential energy of these 6 lines
can be divided into yang and yin. The odd numbers are yang, the even numbers are yin. So 1, 3, and 5 are the yang locations, and 2, 4, and 6 are the yin locations. There’s a saying, ‘A powerful dragon is
no match for the local serpent’. So
if a yang line gets a yang location, or a yin line gets a yin
location, the energy is doubled.
Otherwise, the energy is reduced.
「最後是現實問題，強者欺負弱者，弱者依賴強者。總而言之，共有位、應、比、中爻等判斷條件ぁ，統一研判，即可預言。」
“Finally, it’s a question of
reality. The strong take advantage
of the weak; the weak rely on the strong.
To sum it up, there are the Wei, Ying, Bi, and Zhong
Xiao that represent the conditions for making
judgements. Taking into
consideration the overall view, one is able to prophesize.”
「別談理論，告訴我結果吧！」
“Never mind the
theory. Tell me the result!”
「綜合判斷的結果，以今天來說，應以下卦為主。陰爻代表陰性，分據二三爻，二爻得位，表示是現場的我。三爻陰據陽位，只能算是過客，應該就是你想問的對象了。再說此陰在陰之上，是『乘陰』，陰乘陰無力，表示你最多只能看到。而『扶陽』在上，表示不可能得到……以本卦而論，你的對象可能是『可望而不可及』！」
“When seen from the overall picture, today’s reading should
be based on the lower trigrams. Yin
line means yin, female. According to the second and third lines,
the second line gets a yin location,
which here signifies “me”. The
third line, yin, gets a yang location, so it can only be
considered as a passerby, and should be the person you wanted to ask about. In
addition, this yin line is above
another yin line. It’s a ‘double yin’. Yin multiplied by yin is without strength, which means at most, you could see
her. But there is a yang line on top of this, which means
it’s impossible you’ll get her….
According to this hexagram, the person in question is someone ‘you can
see but can’t reach’!”
「那是說今天見不到？」
“That mean I can’t see
her today?”
「很難說，大概如此，前面說過，易經不是給我們應用的。」
“Hard to say. I suppose so. As I’ve said before, Yi Jing is not for us to use.”
「為什麼第二爻不是她？」
“Why doesn’t the
second line represent her?”
「我能力不足，只能說我知道的。如果第二爻的陰爻代表你想見的對象，第一是與現實不符，因為一、二兩爻目前相距最近，第三爻還未出現。其次，如果她乘你之上而得六二正位，對你將更不利……」
“My ability is limited so I can only tell you what I
know. If the second line, the yin line, represents the person you want
to see, it first of all doesn’t match reality. That’s because the first line and the
second line were the closest and the third line had not yet emerged. Secondly, if she is above you and in the yin location, it would be even more harmful to you…”
文祥聽了，心中頗感不快。他原本只是好奇，胡妁也一再言明，預言未必正確。但是人的心理很奧妙，真假是一回事，心中的需求卻是再現實不過的。
When
Wen Xiang heard this, he felt very unhappy. Initially he had been curious and Hu Shuo had several times
stressed that predictions weren’t necessarily exact. However, the mind of Man works in mysterious
ways. True and false is one thing,
but there’s nothing more real than the need in one’s heart.
文祥只好敷衍道：「哪有這麼巧的事？世界上有多少人？每秒鐘發生多少事？憑這六爻又能代表什麼？」
Wen Xiang
could only evasively say, “So much coincidence is highly unlikely. How many people are there in the
world? How many things are
happening every second? What do
these six lines represent, anyway?”
胡妁也同意：「是呀！所以並不是人人都相信易經呀！還有個變卦是第三爻陰變陽，乾離『同人』卦……」
Hu Shuo agreed. “Yep! So not everybody believes in Yi Jing! There’s the ‘changeable’ diagram,
though. The third line changes from
yin to yang. It’ll be ‘qian li’, the ‘tong ren’ hexagram…”
胡妁見文祥不太高興，猜想自己很可能已說中要害，乾脆閉口不言了。文祥心裡很矛盾，他很想瞭解易理，為了他的任務、對不二老人的好奇，還有對預言的嚮往。但是他希望見到衣紅，也希望聽一些吉利的話。文祥是個人，又剛好陷入戀愛的漩渦，一聽到壞消息，潛意識就緊釘著他，專門想一些不利的結果。生死是一回事，不過一剎那，但是那綿綿的情絲，卻是無邊無盡的折磨。
Hu Shuo saw that Wen Xiang was not too pleased, so she guessed she’d probably
hit the nail on the head and didn’t say anything more. Wen Xiang’s
feelings were mixed. He
wanted to understand the theory of Yi Jing,
fulfill his mission, and satisfy his curiosity about Buer
Lao. In addition, there was his
fondness for prophecy. But he
wanted to see Yi Hong and hoped to hear some auspicious words. Wen Xiang was
a person who happened to be trapped in the whirlpool of love. As soon as he heard some bad news, his
sub-consciousness began to assert itself and he could only think of unhappy endings. Life and death was one thing. But at that moment his feelings entwined
him in the boundless suffering of love.
文祥還在想另外一點，他不知道那最後一爻，在他私心的扭曲下，究竟有什麼影響？姑不論這個預測的真實性如何，為什麼自己會有私心呢？尤其在這種不關痛癢的遊戲上，自己居然還選擇了欺騙自己的答案！
Wen
Xiang was thinking about something else. With the writhing of his selfish heart,
he didn’t know exactly how the last line would influence the result. But first, never mind how accurate
this prophecy might be. Why was he
so selfish? Especially since he
viewed this as a mere game, yet he had chosen a self-deceiving answer!
他好意思再問嗎？承認剛才有私心嗎？當然可以，但又為了什麼？想見到衣紅？希望胡妁告訴他，衣紅就在前面等著他？
Would it be too awkward to ask again, and admit
he had been selfish? Of course he
could, but to what purpose? Because
he wanted to see Yi Hong? Because
he was hoping Hu Shuo would
tell him that Yi Hong would be waiting for him at the end of the road?
文祥望著窗外景物如飛一般向後退去，火星上的房屋有個特色，就是屋頂特別厚重，這和月球上的建築很類似，因為重力小，建築物承載的壓力不足，必須加蓋數層。再加上火星的土壤含有大量的過氧化鐵，色澤暗紅。在高壓高溫下煉製的土磚，不僅整齊劃一，堅固耐用，而且略帶一點果凍狀半透明的色澤。因此，所有用這種火星磚築成的房屋，遠遠看去，很像一個由大塊紅玉雕塑而成的藝術品。
Wen
Xiang observed the scenery speeding swiftly past the
window. A unique feature about
houses on Mars is that their roofs are extremely thick and heavy. In this respect they are very similar to
structures on the Moon. Because
gravitation is slight, the pressure of the building is inadequate and several
layers of roofs must be added.
Moreover, the Martian soil contains large quantities of the dark red
peroxide of iron. After treatment
by high pressure and temperature, the earthen bricks are not only uniform in
size, they are also solid and enduring.
Moreover, they contain a half-translucent luster similar to that of a
jelly. Therefore, when viewed from
afar, houses built of these Martian bricks look like artwork carved from huge
rubies.
火星上到處都是紅色，連天空也是紅的，文祥觸景生情，更是無法遏止心中的那一點紅。今天真的見不到她嗎？胡妁明明說是可望而不可及呀！可是胡妁又懂什麼呢？就憑這樣簡單的一問一答，什麼爻呀爻的，就能決定衣紅出不出現？
Everything on Mars is red, even the
sky. The sight of it stirred past
memories for Wen Xiang, making it even more
impossible to suppress that little smidgen of red in his heart. Was it
true that he wouldn’t see her today?
Hu Shuo said ‘you
can see but can’t reach’! But what
did Hu Shuo know? Could their simple Q and A, a mere bunch
of broken lines, decide whether or not Yi Hong would appear?
途經幾處院落，居然也有一些高大的樹木。只是那種綠色，在一片火紅的背景中，顯得怪異不自然。萬紅叢中一點綠，文祥腦中只有一點紅。
As they passed several courtyard houses,
some lofty trees unexpectedly came into view. Only this shade of green, set against a
red background, seemed so eerie and unnatural. Against a mass of red, a little
green. In Wen Xiang
mind, there was only that little bit of red.
這裡沒有公路，由於二十世紀汽車肆虐，遺禍無窮。在新世紀裡，要想掌握那種開快車樂趣的人，必然是停留在夢中，或者正在網絡高速公路上，利用虛擬實境的速度感，在虛空中競逐無邊的快感。
There
are no highways on Mars because of the countless disasters caused by the
overflow of cars in the 20th century. In this new century those who wanted to
enjoy the thrill of driving at high speed had to do so in their dreams. Or, by using the speed sensation
provided by Virtual Reality on the Internet super highway, they could race to
their heart’s content within that illusory world.
和所有的電腦城一樣，社區到社區之間，都是利用地下的大眾捷運，但在地廣人稀之區，中距交通也有採用高架式的。在火星上稱為磁浮梭（地球上則沿用「車」的概念，稱磁浮車），每車有四節，每節有二十幾個座位。軌道高度約三十多公尺，每隔十公里才停一站。
Like all computerized cities, communities
are linked by underground mass rapid transportation. However, in places where the land is
vast and sparsely populated, elevated tracks are used for medium-range
travel. On Mars, the vehicle of
choice is known as the ‘magnetic levitated shuttle’ (On Earth, the concept of
car continues to be used, so they are referred to as ‘magnetic levitated
cars’).” Every shuttle contains 4
cars and each car contains over 20 seats.
The height of the tracks is a little over 30 meters. The shuttle pulls into a station every
10 kilometers.
還有一站就要到無水河了，在梭門甫關，磁浮梭正要開動之際，文祥覺得眼前突然一亮，一個紅色的影像，就像針尖似的，扎進他的心頭！那種興奮有如從天上懸空而墜的飛瀑，文祥血液沸騰！是她！果然是她！還有襯在一旁的那條白褲子！絕對錯不了！他跳將起來，磁浮梭已經開動了，再一晃，眼前景色又變了！
One
more stop and they would be arriving at the Waterless River. Just as the shuttle door was closing
prior to getting underway, Wen Xiang’s eyes seemed to spot
something. Like a
sharp needle, a red image stabbed into his heart! That thrill was like a waterfall pouring
down from the sky. Wen Xiang’s blood surged!
It was her! It was actually
her! And next to her was that
contrasting pair of white pants! It
was definitely her! He jumped up
but the shuttle had already started to move. In a flash the scenery before them
changed!
「剛才是什麼站？」文祥一驚！預言正確了！他抓著胡妁問道。
He grabbed Hu Shuo’s
hand and asked, “What station was that?”
Wen Xiang was dumbfounded! The prediction had been right!
「星星驛！」胡妁輕輕地把手抽回來，她不瞭解文祥怎麼會這麼激動，關切地說：「坐下吧！你看到什麼了？」
“Xing Xing Yi!” Hu Shuo carefully withdrew her
hand. She didn’t understand why Wen
Xiang was so excited, and in a voice of concern
asked, “Why don’t you sit down?
What did you see?”
「妳說對了！我看到她了！但是只看到一眼！」文祥坐了下來，對胡妁說。
Wen Xiang sat
down and said to Hu Shuo,
“You were right! I saw her! But only for a brief moment!”
「可能是心理作用，你知道，人往往把心裡想的，當做親眼看到的。」
“It might be your mind. You know, people always see what they’ve
been thinking of.”
「不！我真看到她了，還有她的同伴！」文祥惶急地說。
In an agitated voice Wen Xian said, “No! I did see her, and her companion!”
「好吧！就算我猜對了，那也只是湊巧，在機率上說……」
“All right! Even
if I guessed right, it was only a coincidence. The chances of …”
「不管是不是湊巧，妳剛才只說了は妄之災的內卦，也就是說今天的事。以後呢？是不是以後有災禍？」文祥急得站了起來，眼中似要冒出火花。
“Never mind about coincidence. You said just now that the ‘unexpected
catastrophe’ of the ‘lower trigram’ referred to
today. How about later? Will there be a calamity?” Wen Xiang was
so agitated that he stood up, his eyes seemed to be on the verge of shooting sparks.
胡妁和文祥雖然只是初識，但經過這兩天的交往，已經知道他是個穩定、心理沒有障礙的人。不料這一刻居然如此浮躁，為什麼呢？難道先前只是假象？可是電腦當局那麼器重他，活佛、尊者也親自渡化，怎麼會是這樣一個人呢？
Though
Hu Shuo and Wen Xiang had just met, after being together these two days,
she knew he wasn’t troubled with emotional instability. It was totally unexpected that he would
become so upset at this moment.
Why? Could it mean that her
impression of him had been false?
But the Computer Authority Bureau regarded him highly, and both the
Living Buddha and the sage had personally given him guidance. What had happened to him?
胡妁仔細地觀察文祥，發現他面色紅潤，嘴角還出現點點紅斑。她心知有異，立刻聯想到她所做的研究，便馬上扶他坐下，提高音量問道：「文祥！文祥！你是不是覺得心裡很慌？」
Hu Shuo carefully studied Wen Xiang. She saw that his face was red and red
spots had appeared at the corners of his mouth. She knew something was wrong and she
immediately thought of her research.
She immediately helped him sit down and, raising her voice, asked, “Wen Xiang! Wen Xiang! Are you
frightened?”
文祥不僅覺得心慌，而且有些昏亂，胡妁見情況不妙，對電腦說：「文祥可能是中了火星病毒，請趕快替他檢查！」
Wen
Xiang was not only frightened, he was a little bit giddy and confused. As soon as Hu Shuo detected something wrong with Wen Xiang,
she said to the computer, “Wen Xiang may have caught
the Martian virus. Please give him
a check up right now!”
胡妁的電腦在她耳中說：「我們給文祥驗血的結果，的確有些讀數不正常，可是這不能算是病，他只是雄性荷爾蒙讀數太高了。」
Hu Shuo’s computer said in her
ear, “The results of Wen Xiang’s blood test show that
some of his readings are irregular.
But it’s not any kind of illness.
His male hormone reading is far too high.”
胡妁不相信，她說：「不可能，我瞭解雄性荷爾蒙的作用！麻煩你們再作血清分離式的交叉檢查，我認為是一種病毒式的情緒感染！你們不相信可以查二十世紀的生化武器資料。我記得有一種ｓｇ編號的情緒病毒，能瓦解士兵的鬥志，而且會在黏膜附近產生病變，很像他目前的情況。」
Hu Shuo was not convinced. She said, “Impossible, I know how the
male hormone works! Please examine
him again and use seropheresis. I think it’s a kind of viral
infection of the emotions! If you
don’t believe it, you can check the information on 20th century
biochemical weapons. I recall there
was an emotion virus, serial number ‘sg’. It’s capable of demolishing a soldier’s
will to fight and cause abnormal conditions near the mucous membrane. It was very much like his present
situation.”
正說著，文祥搖搖晃晃地又站了起來，恍恍惚惚地走向門口，突然昏倒在地。
As
she was talking, Wen Xiang stood up, staggering. He walked over to the door in a state of
mental confusion and suddenly fell to the floor, unconscious.
胡妁急著將文祥扶起，又對電腦大叫：「還不快想辦法！」
Hu Shuo hurriedly helped Wen Xiang
to his feet, shouting to the computer, “Quick, do something!”
電腦對胡妁說：「他的病毒分裂得太快了，一般『減數分裂』速度最快的不過兩秒，而他體內的病毒，竟然高達每秒三十次！這種情況我們從來沒有碰到過！放心，我們已請藏醫前來支援。」
The
computer said to Hu Shuo,
“His virus is multiplying too rapidly.
The fastest speed for the general ‘meiosis’ to take place is two
seconds. The virus in his body is
dividing itself 30 times per second!
We’ve never seen anything like this! But don’t worry. We’ve sent for the Tibetan doctor.”
就在此時，突然聽得一聲洪亮的「阿彌陀佛」，一位紅衣喇嘛已在車廂內。梭內的十來位乘客，一見喇嘛憑空現身，急忙離座下跪磕頭。
At
this instant, a sudden, loud ‘Amitabha’ was
heard. A lama dressed in red robe
had appeared in the car. As soon as
the dozen passengers in the shuttle saw the lama appear from nowhere, they left
their seats and kowtowed to him.
「阿彌陀佛！」那喇嘛合十還禮，並對眾人道：「諸位檀越，委屈一下，請移步到隔壁梭廂，這裡發現傳染性病毒，現場必須封鎖。」
“Amitabha!” The lama returned their greeting by
folding his hands in the Buddhist salute of respect. He said to the people present, “Will all
of our benefactors kindly remove to the next car. We’ve found a contagious virus here and
we must seal off this area.”
大家聽了，一一躬身退出，轉眼之間，車廂內只剩下三個人。
As soon as they heard this, one after another, they bowed and withdrew.