这个故事出自克拉考尔谈“正常条件下看不见的东西”时所引用的一篇报告。西竹书院的杨宁老师在他的文学理论课上借此例子说明了一个道理，那就是：你看到了什么，往往不取决于现实如何，而取决于你能看到什么。

杨宁老师在微博中写道，“有趣的是，这个例子居然上了热搜，这或许说明了当今的网络环境更需要这样的认知视角吧。”

其实“你是否看到了一只鸡”与《庄子·秋水》中夏虫语冰的思想不谋而合，今天就让我们一起来欣赏这段富有哲理的经典吧。
“井鼃不可以语于海者，拘于虚也；夏虫不可以语于冰者，笃于时也；曲士不可以语于道者，束于教也。今尔出于崖涘，观于大海，乃知尔丑，尔将可与语大理矣。天下之水，莫大于海。万川归之，不知何时止而不盈；尾闾泄之，不知何时已而不虚；春秋不变，水旱不知。此其过江河之流，不可为量数。而吾未尝以此自多者，自以比形于天地，而受气于阴阳，吾在天地之间，犹小石小木之在大山也。方存乎见少，又奚以自多！”

“You can't discuss the ocean with a well frog--he is limited by the space he lives in. You can't discuss ice with a summer insect--he is bound to a single season. You can’t discuss the Way with a cramped scholar--he is shackled by his doctrines. Now you have come out beyond your banks and borders and have seen the great sea--so you realize your own pettiness. From now on it will be possible to talk to you about the Great Principle.

Of all the water of the world, none is as great as the sea. Ten thousand streams flow into it--I have never heard of a time when they stopped--and it is never full. The water leaks away at Wei-lu --I have never heard of a time when it didn’t--and yet the sea is never empty. Spring or autumn, it never changes. Flood or drought, it takes no notice. It is so much greater than the streams of the Yangtze or the Yellow River that it is impossible to measure the difference. But I have never for this reason prided myself on it. I take my place with heaven and earth and receive breath from the yin and yang. I sit here between heaven and earth as a little stone or a little tree sits on a huge mountain. Since I can see my own smallness, what reason would I have to pride myself?”

(Burton Watson译 1964)

cramp

v.to prevent the development or progress of sb/sth 
 --Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary 
Eg. Like more and more women, she believes wedlock would cramp her style. 
和越来越多的女性一样，她认为婚姻会束缚她的行为方式。

shackle

v.If you are shackled by something, it prevents you from doing what you want to do 
 --Collins English Dictionary
Eg. This is a country ready to throw off the shackles of its colonial past. 
这是一个愿意甩掉其殖民历史的桎梏的国家

doctrine

n.a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, a political party, etc. 
 --Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary 
Eg. The doctrine of surplus value is the cornerstone of Marx's economic theory. 
剩余价值学说是马克思经济理论的基石。

pettiness

n.the fact of lacking importance.
 --Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary 
Eg. Such pettiness and greatness are rarely found in one person.
如此的猥琐卑鄙与伟大极少能够集于一人之身。

pride
v.If you pride yourself on a quality or skill that you have, you are very proud of it.
 --Collins English Dictionary
Eg. Suarez prides himself on being able to organize his own life. 
苏亚雷斯为能安排好自己的生活而自豪。



今天的几个表达大家学会了吗？
我们下期“读诗学英语”再见！

 

图片来源：bilibili西竹书院杨宁老师《文学理论课程》。
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