On Children



And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

孩子

　　一位怀抱婴儿的妇女说，请给我们讲讲孩子。

　　他说道：

　　你们的孩子并不是你们的孩子。

　　他们是生命对自身的渴求的儿女。

　　他们借你们而来，却不是因你们而来。

　　尽管他们在你们身边，却并不属于你们。

　　你们可以把你们的爱给予他们，却不能给予思想，

　　因为他们有自己的思想。

　　你们可以建造房舍荫庇他们的身体，但不是他们的心灵，

　　因为他们的心灵栖息于明日之屋，即使在梦中，你们也无缘造访。

　　你们可努力仿效他们，却不可企图让他们像你。

　　因为生命不会倒行，也不会滞留于往昔。

　　你们是弓，你们的孩子是被射出的生命的箭矢。

　　那射者瞄准无限之旅上的目标，用力将你弯曲，以使他的箭迅捷远飞。

　　让你欣然在射者的手中弯曲吧；

　　因为他既爱飞驰的箭，也爱稳健的弓。
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