[美文欣賞]

Indeed, for a living being there is no such thing as true silence, for silence itself is a revelation of the mind and the heart, an echo of the soul of a different form.

Some people use silence as a disguise of the emptiness of the head.

Some use it as a means to depict their disorientation and melancholy.

And some use it as a way of expressing their angers and sorrows.

...

Silence usually is ephemeral. It reminds one of the bronze bells dangling from a pagoda's eaves; on windless days they are a decoration upon the age-weathered beauty, but with wind they give out wonderful tinkling and jingling metallurgic sounds, as if echoing age-old stories of long, long ago...

Do you not think the same of silent people?

They say that "silence is golden", but of what nature is this "gold"? It can include integrity, honesty and kindness; it can stand for indifference to and detachment from fame and fortune; but it can also act as an excuse for hypocrisy, slyness and cowardice... the glittering of gold may not necessarily be the most brilliant lustre in the world.

Can it be that permanent silence is only represented by death?

Perhaps even death cannot represent true silence, for the carrier of the soul can turn into dust, so that the sincere and wise voices from the bottom of the heart will trigger long-lasting echoes in the seas of human hearts...

[參考譯文]

其實，對活著的生命而言，真正的沉默是不存在的。沉默本身也是一種思想和心境的流露，是靈魂的另一種形式的回聲。

有的人以沉默掩飾思想的空虛。

有的人以沉默敘述迷茫和惆悵。

有的人以沉默表達內心的憤怒和憂傷。

……

沉默常常是暫時的。就像古塔檐角下的銅鈴，無風時，它們只是一種古色古香的裝飾，一起風，它們便會發出奇妙的金屬音響，似乎是許多古老故事的悠遠的回聲……

沉默的人們不也一樣?

“沉默是金”，是怎樣的一種“金”呢? 這個“金”字中，可以包含正直、善良，可以代表淡泊、超脫，也可以是虛偽、圓滑、怯懦的一種托辭……金子的光澤，未必是世界上最動人的光澤。

是不是只有死亡才是永遠的沉默?

也許，死亡也未必是真正的沉默，靈魂的載體可以化為塵土，那些真誠睿智的心聲，卻會長久地在人心的海洋中引起悠長的回聲……