亨利·休格的神奇故事（2023）

那个人走路完全没有半点踪影
There wasn't even a shadow of a trace of a path where the man was walking.
他在高大的竹子 还有各种茂密的植物之中
He was pushing his way between tall bamboos
开辟出一条路来
and every kind of heavy vegetation.
我悄悄地跟在他身后大约90米处
I crept after him, very quiet, keeping at least 100 yards behind.
每当我看不见他时 其实大部分时间都是这样
Whenever I lost sight of him, which was most of the time,
我也能跟随他的脚步声
I was able to follow the sound of his footsteps.
过了半个小时 紧张的跟随领队游戏还在继续
For half an hour, this tense game of follow-the-leader went on.
然后 突然间 我听不到前面那个人的声响
Then, suddenly, I no longer heard the man in front of me.
我停下来仔细听
I stopped and listened.
突然 透过茂密的林下灌木
All at once, through the thick undergrowth,
我看到一片小空地和两间小屋
I saw a little clearing and two small huts.
我的心跳了一下
My heart jumped.
离得最近的小屋旁有个水坑
There was a water-hole next to the nearest hut
旁边铺着祈祷垫 在它上方
with a prayer-mat beside it, and above,
是一颗巨大的猴面包树 长着美丽厚实、树叶茂盛的树枝
a large baobab tree with beautiful, thick, leafy branches.
我耐心等待 度过了炎热的晌午
All through the great noontime heat, I waited.
我耐心等待 熬过了湿热的下午
On through the heavy wet heat of the afternoon, I waited.
五点钟快到了
As five o'clock approached,
我静悄悄地爬到树上 躲藏在树叶中
I quietly climbed up my tree and hid among the leaves.
最后 那个伟大的 瑜伽行者走出了小屋
Finally, the great yogi came out of his hut
盘腿坐在垫子上
and sat cross-legged on the mat.
他的每个动作都冷静而轻柔
Each movement he made was calm and gentle.
他双手手掌向下 放在膝盖上
He put his hands palm downward on his knees
通过鼻腔深呼吸一口气
and took a long breath through his nostrils,
我已经能看到某种光亮在他周围融化
and already I could see a sort of brightness was melting over him.
整整14分钟 他完全保持这个姿势不动
For 14 minutes, he remained perfectly still in this position.
然后 我看着他 我看见了 我非常有信心
And then, as I watched, I saw, quite positively,
他的身体缓缓离开了地面
his body slowly lifting off the ground.
30、38、45、50厘米
Twelve inches. Fifteen. Eighteen. Twenty.
直到离祈祷垫60厘米
Two feet above the prayer-mat.
我在树上对自己说
Up in the tree, I said to myself,
“你面前是一个坐在空气中的人”
"There before you is a man sitting in the air."
在我看着他的46分钟里 他的身体保持悬空
Forty-six minutes, by my watch, his body remained suspended.
然后他慢慢降回地面
And then he slowly descended back to earth,
直到臀部再次坐在坐垫上
until his buttocks rested again upon the mat.
我从树上爬下来 直接跑了过去
I climbed down from my tree and ran straight over.
那个伟大的瑜伽行者正在洗手和洗脚
The great yogi was washing his hands and feet.
他说：“你在这里待了多久？”
"How long have you been here?" he said sharply.
突然 他捡起石块 狠狠向我扔来
Suddenly, he picked up a brick and threw it at me so hard
石块击中我膝盖下方 断成两截
it broke in two as it struck my leg below the knee.
至今伤疤还在 我给你看
I have the scar still. I'll show it to you.
这其实是运气之击
This was actually a stroke of luck.
伟大的瑜伽行者 不应该发脾气和扔石块
A great yogi isn't meant to lose his temper and fling bricks.
这个老者很丢脸 感到懊恼 深深对自己失望
The old man was humiliated, remorseful, and deeply disappointed in himself.
他解释说 虽然他不能收我为门徒
He explained that though he could not take me on as a disciple,
但他愿意给我一些非正式的指示
he would, nevertheless, give me some informal instruction
以弥补他攻击我的过失
in order to make amends for attacking me,
其实被打完全是我的责任
an attack I fully deserved, by the way.
那是1♥8♥9♥0年
This was in 1♥8♥9♥0.
我马上要满17岁
I was nearly 17 years old.
那伟大的瑜伽行者给了什么建议？
Now, what was the great yogi's instruction?
这就告诉你
Here it comes.
思维是分散的
The mind is a scattered thing.
它同时涉及数千种不同的东西
It concerns itself with thousands of different items at once.
你在周围看见、听见和闻到的
Things you see around you. Things you hear and smell.
你思考的 你试图不去想的
Things you think about. Things you try not to think about.
必须学会专注 以至于
You must learn to concentrate such that
你可以随意形象化一样物体 只能想一样 心无旁贷
you can visualize at will one item, one item only, and nothing else.
如果努力练习 你或许能将意识思维集中于
If you work hard, you may be able to concentrate your conscious mind
你任意选择的东西
on any one object you select
并维持专注大约三分半钟
for around three and one-half minutes.
每天都练习的话 需要勤奋坚持20年左右
This will take about 20 years of diligent, daily effort.
我大叫：“20年！”
"Twenty years!" I cried.
20年 甚至还会更久
Twenty years. It may take longer.
要是你有能力做到 一般都需要这么长时间
That's the usual time, if you are able to do it at all.
到时我都变成老人了！
I'll be an old man by then!
因人而异 有的人只要10年 有的人可能要30年
The time varies. Some take ten years, some take thirty.
在极罕见的情况下 偶有禀赋异于常人者
On extremely rare occasions, a special person comes along
只练一两年就能习得这种本领
who's able to develop the power in only one or two years,
但这极为罕有 你不行的
but this is one in a billion. Not you.
集中思维有那么难…
Is it that difficult to concentrate the mind--
难度非常大 你试试看 闭上眼睛 然后想某一个事物
Almost impossible. Try it and see. Shut your eyes and think of something.
只想一个事物 让它形象化 显现在你面前
Think of just one object. Visualize it. See it before you.
不出几秒钟 思维就开小差了
In a few seconds, your mind will wander.
其他想法♥会♥溜进来 这个东西很难
Other thoughts will creep in. It's a very difficult thing.
那个伟大、睿智的老瑜伽行者如是说
Thus spoke the great, wise, old yogi.
于是 我的练习开始了
And so my exercises began.
每天晚上 我都坐下来
Each evening, I sat down,
闭上眼睛 把我在这世上最亲爱的人形象化
closed my eyes, and visualized the person I loved best in the world,
他是我的哥哥 10岁时就因为血液疾病去世了
which was my elder brother who died, age ten, from a blood disease.
我专注于他的脸 但思维马上就开始开小差了
I concentrated on his face, but the instant my mind began to wander,
我停止练习 休息几分钟
I stopped the exercise, rested for several minutes,
然后再次尝试
then I tried again.
经过五年的每日练习
After five years of daily practice,
我能够完全专注于我哥哥的脸
I was able to concentrate absolutely on my brother's face
长达一分半钟
for one and a half minutes.
我有进步了
I was making progress.
与此同时
In the meantime,
我开始通过魔术表演赚到了不少钱
I began to earn quite good money giving conjuring performances.
我天生就长了一双巧手
By nature, my sleight-of-hand is very good,
但我总是继续坚持练习
but always, I continued my exercises.
每天晚上 不管在哪里 我都会找安静的地方坐下
Every evening, wherever I was, I settled myself down in a quiet spot
把思维集中在我哥哥的脸上
and concentrated my mind on my brother's face.
有时 我会点亮蜡烛 从盯着火焰开始
Sometimes, I lit a candle and began by staring at the flame.
你知道 蜡烛的火焰分为三个部分
A candle flame, as you know, has three separate parts:
顶部的黄色 下面一点的淡紫色
the yellow at the top, the mauve lower down,
还有里面的黑色
and the black inside.
我把蜡烛 放在距离我面部约40厘米处
I placed the candle 16 inches away from my face,
完全与我的眼睛齐平
absolutely level with my eyes,
所以我丝毫用不着调整眼部肌肉
so I didn't have to make even tiny adjustments of my eye muscles
不用仰视或者俯视
by looking up or down.
我盯着中♥央♥的黑色部分 直到周围的一切都消失了
I stared at the black part in the center until everything around me disappeared.
然后我闭上眼睛
Then I shut my eyes
开始把思维集中在哥哥脸上
and began to concentrate on my brother's face.
到了1907年 当时我34岁 我已经能专注三分钟了
By 1907, when I was 34 years old, I could concentrate for three minutes
思维完全不会开小差
without any wandering of my mind whatsoever.
也是在那时 我意识到了一种不足道的能力
It was also at this time that I became aware of a slight ability,
只是一种纯粹的小感觉
just a queer, little feeling,
就是当我闭上眼睛时 用力专注于某样东西
that when I closed my eyes and looked at something hard,
只要高度集中专注力
with fierce intensity,
所看之物的轮廓就会显现在我眼前
I could see the outline of the object I was looking at.
我想起瑜伽行者曾经说过
I thought of a thing the yogi had said:
“已知有些圣人形成了 非常强的专注力
"Certain holy people have been known to develop so great a concentration
以至于不用眼睛也看得见”
they can see without using their eyes."
每天晚上 我用蜡烛火焰练习完之后
Each night after I performed my exercises with the candle flame,
我会喝一杯咖啡 然后蒙住双眼
I drank a cup of coffee, then I blindfolded myself
坐在椅子上 尝试不用眼睛去看东西
and sat in my chair trying to see without my eyes.
我先从一叠扑克牌开始
I started with a deck of playing cards.
我观察牌的背面 我猜牌面数值
I studied the backs. I guessed the values.
很快成功率就高达60%
Immediately, I had a 60% success rate.
后来 我买♥♥了地图和航海图
Later, I bought maps and navigational charts
把它们钉在我的房♥间四周
and pinned them up around my room.
我花几个小时蒙着眼睛看它们 试图读出小小的印字
I spent hours looking at them blindfolded, trying to read the small lettering.
接下来的八年 我每晚都坚持做这种练习
Every evening for the next eight years, I proceeded with this kind of practice.
到了1915年 我已经可以直接看穿一本书
By 1915, I could read a book straight through,
蒙着眼睛从头到尾看完
cover to cover, blindfolded.
我掌握了！
I had it!
最后 我习得了这个本领
At last, I had this power.
你知道 它成就了我的整个魔术表演
As you know, it became my entire conjuring performance.
观众很喜欢 但没人相信是真的 现在依然不信
Audiences loved it, but no one believed it to be genuine. Still don't.