A Meditation on Rumi and the Power of Poetry | Leili Anvar | TED

譯者: Christina Tang 審譯者: Shelley Tsang 曾雯海

When I left Iran, I was 15 years old.

我十五歲時離開伊朗。

I had only taken with me a suitcase of clothes and a few books.

我只帶著一個行李箱， 裏面裝著衣服和幾本書。

Or so I thought.

或者說我是這麼想的。

I was wrong.

我錯了。

I had taken with me, in me, an invaluable treasure:

我身上帶著一件無價的寶藏：

the Persian language.

波斯語。

A millennium-old language

波斯語已有千年歷史，

that emerged from the beginning as the language of poetry.

在創作詩的初期就出現了。

Persian was the language of my childhood paradise.

波斯語是我孩童時期的語言天堂。

The language of tales and nursery rhymes.

故事和童謠的語言。

But I had to leave the Garden of Eden.

但我得離開快樂的伊甸園。

It is through the experience of exile that I came to realize

透過流放，我才知道

that what I had lost was, yes, a country,

我失去的事物，沒錯，是國家，

a house, a garden.

是家鄉，也是花園。

I had been severed from my land, from the landscapes of Iran,

我已經遠離家鄉，離開伊朗鄉間，

from the reassuring presence of Mount Damavand,

離開了讓我安心的存在 —白雪覆蓋的

covered with snow.

德瑪峰。

But nobody could bereave me of my motherland

但如果故鄉是我的母語，

if my motherland was my mother tongue.

就沒有人能阻止我回鄉。

Within me what was alive was the language.

在我心裡，那個語言一直都在。

What makes me Iranian is Persian.

讓我成為伊朗人的，是波斯語。

Specifically, the treasure of Persian poetry.

更具體的說，是波斯詩的珍寶。

So I started reading poetry,

所以我開始讀詩，

learning poems by heart,

用心學習詩作，

so that I could take them everywhere with me.

好讓自己無論身在何處 都能帶著詩的智慧。

So that I could feel home wherever I go.

讓自己無論去到哪裡 都有家的感覺。

I embarked on a poetic journey that is still going on.

於是我開始讀詩的旅程， 現在仍然持續著。

My guide on this journey was no less than Rumi,

踏上這趟旅程， 最好的導遊莫過魯米，

the Persian mystic poet of the 13th century.

他是十三世紀的波斯神祕主義詩人。

In the prologue of his opus magnum,

在其代表作的序言中，

comparing his poetic work to the song of the reed flute,

他把自己的詩作 和蘆笛詩歌相比，

he says,

他說，

(Reciting in Persian)

（波斯語）

"Listen to this reed flute.

「聽聽蘆笛聲。

Listen how it complains

聽蘆笛如何傾訴

Telling the tale of separations

訴說分離的故事

Saying,

說著，

Ever since I was severed from the reed bed

自從離開蘆床，

Men and women have moaned in unison with my lament

眾男女皆以我的悼詩 齊聲悲咽。

I want a bosom torn by separation

我要因分離而撕裂的內心

That I may unfold the pain of love-desire.

或許我能呈現愛欲之苦。

Whoever is left far from the origin

遠離出生地之任何人

Longs to return to the time of union"

皆渴望重回相聚時光」

I remember quite vividly the first time I heard those lines.

我還清楚記得第一次 聽到這些詩句的時候

It was in 1982,

是在一九八二年，

during the Iran-Iraq war when Tehran was bombarded.

正值兩伊戰爭期間， 德黑蘭遭受連續轟炸。

There was a circle of poets and poetry lovers

當時有一群詩人和愛好詩的人

who would gather every Friday,

每週五都會聚在一起，

notwithstanding the risks,

無懼風險，

to read and listen to poetry.

只為讀詩、聽詩。

My father took me to those gatherings.

父親帶著我參加這些聚會。

I didn’t understand, far from it, all the poetry I heard in those days,

我根本不理解那些日子裡聽到的所有詩歌，

and many lines have left my memory.

很多詩句都已經不復記憶。

But those lines by Rumi,

但是魯米的詩，

oh my God.

天啊，

A whole world opened in front of me.

為我開啟了整個世界。

And Rumi became my companion for life.

魯米變成了我的人生夥伴。

My companion of exile.

流亡的夥伴。

So in exile I read his poetry,

流亡時我讀他的詩，

I listened to the reed,

我聽蘆笛聲，

listened to the reed again and again

反覆不斷聽著

and said those poems aloud.

並大聲朗誦詩作。

I wrote my PhD thesis and two books on his works.

我以他的作品為題，寫了 博士論文及兩本書。

I translated many of his poems.

我翻譯了許多魯米的詩。

It is said that Rumi's work is an ocean from which shore no traveler returns.

有人說魯米的詩作就像汪洋， 沒有旅行者願意回到岸邊。

I can definitely bear witness to that.

這點我絕對見證過。

What does the poet mean with this magnificent prologue?

詩作這篇宏偉序言代表什麼？

“Listen to this reed.”

「聽聽這蘆笛聲。」

What does he want us to listen to?

他要我們聽什麼？

He evokes the pain of exile,

他喚起流亡之痛、

of being separated from where you belong and those you love.

被迫離家，與所愛分離之痛。

And he insists that his song is the song of all exiles.

他主張自己的詩歌是屬於所有流亡者的。

He invites all of us

他邀請每個人

to accompany him on the return journey

乘詩作之翼

on the wings of poetry,

藉蘆笛之歌

through the song of the reed flute.

伴他回鄉

And indeed, his poetry is sheer music.

他的詩真的是很純粹的音樂。

Like the reed flute it tells and it whispers to the soul

像蘆笛悄悄對心靈訴說

a forgotten story.

被遺忘的故事。

Rumi himself had fled his native town

由於蒙古突襲，魯米很小的時候

in today's Afghanistan

便逃離了

when he was very young because of the Mongol’s threat.

位在今日阿富汗的故鄉。

He left his homeland as a child, never to return.

他年幼離鄉，永遠沒再回去。

He had wandered from town to town until he took refuge in Anatolia.

他在城鎮之間遊蕩， 後來在安納托立亞得到庇護。

There, in that foreign land,

他在那片異地

he kept reading Persian poetry,

持續讀波斯詩，

he kept to his mother tongue,

持續學習母語，

and he taught it to his own children.

也教會自己的孩子。

One day he met Shams of Tabriz in Konya,

有天他在科尼亞遇見夏姆斯，

that city in which Rumi had become a very respectable preacher

魯米在科尼亞當地 已成為值得尊敬的傳道士，

and a spiritual guide.

和精神導師。

Shams initiated Rumi to mystical music and dance,

夏姆斯教授魯米 神祕主義音樂及舞蹈，

and above all, to the religion of love.

甚至愛的宗教信仰。

With him, Rumi lived a series of bewildering experiences

受到夏姆斯的影響，魯米 有了一系列迷茫的經驗，

that illuminated him and awakened him to his true self.

點醒他認識真實的自我。

With Shams, Rumi became a poet.

受到夏姆斯的影響，魯米成為詩人。

About this inner transmutation, he says,

關於這個內在轉變，他說：

"I was dead,

「我曾逝去，

alive I became.

亦曾復活。

I was tears.

我曾是淚，

Laughter I became.

亦曾是笑。

The rain of love came upon me,

愛之雨降予我，

and my joy eternal became.”

快樂成了永恆。

(Reciting in Persian)

（波斯語）

Through his lyric poetry,

透過魯米的詩歌，

through the innumerable stories he tells,

透過他說過的無數故事，

Rumi points not only to his own individual experience,

他不只是點出了個人經驗，

but he reminds us of our situation in life.

也提醒了我們人生的情況。

Whoever we are,

無論是誰，

wherever we live,

無論住處，

we are in exile.

都在流亡。

Because as celestial souls, we belong to another world,

身為天靈的我們 屬於另一個世界，

to a lost paradise to which we shall return,

屬於我們應回去的失落天堂，

provided we have developed our spiritual awareness

只要我們發展出靈性意識

and our humanity.

和人性。

Through the beauty of his words,

魯米優美的文字，

Rumi makes us feel all the prism of human emotions.

讓我們感受到 人類情緒的多重面向。

He makes us taste

讓我們體會

earthly desires and celestial hopes as all real poetry should do.

所有詩作都應該有的 世俗欲望和天靈希望。

And over and over again, he returns to the centrality of love

他反覆不斷再論愛的本質，

as every real poet should do.

每位詩人都會做到這點。

And that is why we need the poets.

這就是我們需要詩人的原因。

To remember who we are and where we belong.

要記得我們是誰，我們屬於何處。

Poetry has the power to transmute reality

詩有力量，能把現實徹底變得

into something rich and meaningful.

豐富且有意義。

To me, it was life-saving.

詩救了我一命。

When we look at the world,

當我們看著世界，

at the inhumanity of humanity sometimes,

有時看著人類的殘酷面，

how not to feel in exile, indeed?

怎麼能不感覺流亡，對吧？

How not to cry on "Love's Labour's Lost?"

讀了《愛的徒勞》怎能不哭？

How not to be desperate and disoriented?

怎能不絕望、迷失？

Poetry can help us through the darkness of times.

詩可以幫助我們走過黑暗。

As do all the arts if they are spiritually oriented.

所有精神導向的藝術都可以。

So reading,

所以閱讀，

rendering,

解讀，

writing, reciting poetry is a therapy.

創作、朗誦詩作是一種療法。

It connects us with what is most essential in life,

詩把我們與生活核心連結起來，

and that is why it should be cherished.

所以我們都應該珍惜詩。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

( 掌聲 )