Circles 圈子

Circles

By Sam

A child drawing a circle may unconsciously know that some day he may jump into it and later he does. It is strange that the earth is round and the orbit along which it moves round the sun is a circle. We don’t know if the solar system moves round a circle but most probably it does. This divine design has a subtle effect on the smartest creature on earth, the human being. Human societies are circles. Everyone lives in circles. Some circles are within other circles. There is no escape.

一个画圈的孩子隐约感觉有一天他会跳进去那个圆圈，后来他真的进去了。很奇怪，地球是圆的，它围绕太阳的轨道也是圆的。我们不知道太阳系是否沿着圆圈运动，很可能是。上天的这种安排给地球上的最精明的动物，人类，产生了微妙的影响。人类社会也是圆圈。每个人都生活在圆圈里。有些圈子里还套着圈子。你无所遁形。

You have no much freedom in a circle. You are conditioned to it. Keep your body in a circle and keep your mind out of it. After work you jump out of this circle and into another circle which may be your own family, your friends, some kind of club or extramarital partner. There is no frontier or deep forest for a recluse to live long enough without being starved to death. Even a recluse cannot escape from his circle. He is only in a circle of a larger kind. There are thorns in a circle which may hurt you if you are too careless. Some circles are not very comfortable to be in.

在圈子里你没有太多的自由，你受制于它。不过，身陷囹圄，心仍可自由，下班后你跳出这个圈子，但又跳入另一个圈子，这可能是你的家人，朋友，某种俱乐部或是婚外情人。现在没有处女地或深林能让隐士长期生活而不被饿死。就是隐士也逃不出自己的圈子。那只是一个更大的圈子。如果你不小心，圈子里的荆棘会刺伤你。有些圈子并不令人愉快。

A master can jump in or out of a circle freely without much difficulty. But seldom does anyone realize that when he jumped out of circle, he will fall into another. He has to. Otherwise he cannot live. Sometimes the wall of the circle is high, and sometimes it is low. In addition, the level of the ground in a circle is not always in parallel with that outside. Sometimes when you are outside the circle, you feel that the wall is high. But when you jump into the circle with much difficulty, you feel disappointed for its shallow ground. Sometimes the wall is low for you but once you jump in you suddenly realize that it takes you quite some time to land, and because you underestimate its depth, it is very likely that you hurt your ankle. The longer you stay in it, the higher the wall will become, and the nearer you get to its center, the farther away you are from its wall. Consequently it is more difficult to jump out. But the older you get, the more likely you are forced to the edge of the circle. When you retire, you are out. You are out of most of the circles. Only one circle is left for you, the circle of your life which you never realize you are in before retirement and you are already at the edge of it. But when you are out of this last circle you jump into another large circle, the universe. There is no escape.

What you can do with a circle is to cope with it, obey its rules and try to get the most out of it.

高人可以自如的跳出跳入一个圈子。但是和少有人知道，当他跳出一个圈子的时候，他又跳入另一个圈子。他只能如此，否则他无法生存，圈子的围墙有的高，有的矮。另外，圈子里的地面也不总是和圈外的地面平行。有时你在圈外时会感觉墙很高。但当你努力跳进去的时候却感到失望，因为地面太浅。有时你感觉强很高，但一旦你跳进去你突然意识到要想着陆尚需时日。而且由于你低估了它的深度你可能会崴脚。你在圈子里呆得时间越长，墙就变得越高。你离圆圈的中心越近，离墙就越远，也就越难跳出。你年龄越大就越可能被逼到圈子的边缘。当你退休了，你跳了出来。你跳出了很多圈子。只有一个圈等着你，你退休前没有意识到的生命圈子，而且你已经到了边缘。但当你跳出这个圈子，你又进入另一个大圈子，宇宙。你无所遁形。

你能做的就是适应圈子，遵守其规则并充分利用它。

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