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記印度阿三

記印度阿三

印度女人喜歡裝飾品,甚至裝飾到鼻子上,這當然要很有錢的才辦得到。印度窮人根本沒家,睡馬路上,有錢的最闊的有十億美金!這是最不對的事。英國人統治印度一九○年,這種現象當然英國人要負責任。
這些無聊的特技,都是印度人的本事。這一套本事,最像樣的部分就叫「瑜伽」(yoga 1.(in Hindu religious philosophy)a system of ascetic practice, abstract meditation, and mental concentration, used as a method of attaining union with the supreme spirit. 2. a system of exercises or rigid physical positions for achieving serenity and well-being.),信瑜伽的就叫yogi,印度人很多都信。去年十月十九日爸爸給你信上提到的現在印度總理甘地夫人的爸爸(坐過十年半牢的),每天早起就要拿大頂,據說這樣可relax himself(Nehrus wife died in 1936 and his only daughter is his official hostess. He likes playing with his two grandsons. Every morning he starts his day by standing on his head to relax himself.)。中國古話說,救老百姓是「解民倒懸」,如果老百姓都這樣以「倒懸」為樂,那還解個屁!(上次信上談到Peter要求倒釘十字架以表示他對他老師耶穌的敬意,大概Peter也是一個yogi!)
恆河(Ganges)是印度的大河,中國佛教里有「恆河沙數」的話,表示很多很多。印度教徒相信死後河葬可升天堂,所以不但在河裡洗澡,把火葬后的骨灰也丟到河裡去。
古時候,有人有一種特技,能夠一隻腳站很久,他向斯巴達(Sparta,在今天Greece)人說:「我不信你們有這本事。」(I do not believe you can do as much.)但斯巴達人回他一句,這有什麼了不起,「每條鵝都能。」(True, but every goose can.)
印度人好像腦袋頂上總要來點什麼,「包頭」是最起碼的,其他頭頂上的東西可多了!印度女人有一種「水壺舞」(The Dance of the Water Pots),每人頭頂上頂了一把大銅茶壺,中國人要「頂天立地」,印度人只要「頂茶壺立地」就滿意了,雖沒中國人志氣大,但比中國人實際而具體。
印度的火葬是公開的露天的(public cremation),印度古習慣,丈夫死了,太太要在火葬時跳到火堆里陪死!英文叫suttee,印度人以前平均只活三十二歲(現在已到四十一歲了),丈夫很容易早死,一死太太就倒了霉,這種壞風俗,現在已經犯法了。(SUTTEE九*九*藏*書 is a Hindu custom that people once practiced is India. Its name comes from the Sanskrit word sati, which means faithful wife. By the custom of suttee, a widow allows herself to be burned to death beside her husbands body on the funeral pyre. The pyre is a pile of material that burns easily. No one knows how the custom began. An ancient book states that a widow should lie by her husbands body on the funeral pyre. A few widows, especially the wives of kings, refused to leave the pyre and burned to death. In 1829, the British, then the rulers of India, made suttee illegal.)
印度女人頭上多點小點,叫「吉祥點」,她們披「紗麗」(sari),二十英尺長三英尺寬,不用裁縫(當然裁縫恨這東西)。有的女人窮得只有一件紗麗,所以沒法洗換。(Many Indian men have partly adopted European dress. Indian women, however, remain loyal to the national costume, the sari, a garment which emphasizes their dignified and majestic bearing. The simple yet extremely elegant line of the sari is reminiscent of the costume of ancient Greece, while its striking colors, and gold and silver embroidery, are a further example of the Indians love of bright things. The garment is a strip of cloth some twenty feet long and three feet wide. It is draped round the body without any pin or button being used. It is extremely simple in use and presents no dress-mhttps://read.99csw•comaking problem.)
印度人喜歡看貓鼬(mongoose)和眼鏡蛇(cobra)大戰,貓鼬的動作比蛇快,所以老是佔上風。貓鼬鼬平時很溫和,但看到蛇就凶得很。
你記得去年二月十六日爸爸給你談牛的信上,提到的印度「牛被慣得可以在馬路上逛」嗎?這是因為印度有百分之八十五是印度教徒,印度教徒只拿牛耕田拉車,但不許吃牛肉,因為他們認為牛是神聖的。印度選舉的時候,因為不認識字的人太多,不知道哪一黨是哪一黨,於是在選票上印上圖畫,用牛代表國大黨(就是甘地夫人那一黨),結果大家都投牛的票!(牛以外,monkeys and snakes也神聖。)
爸 爸
印度象比非洲象小一點,長得也不太一樣。
你可請姥姥替你買一本竺震旦的書看。《失群的鳥》也有人翻譯成《漂鳥集》或《飛鳥集》
錫克教雖然「一毛不拔」,但卻集合了別的宗教的長處,主張平等。它的教主叫,是十五到十六世紀的人,為了信仰,死在牢里了。錫克教也不準喝酒,所以不但理髮公會理事長恨他們,煙酒公賣局的局長也恨他們。
印度最有名的文學家叫泰戈爾(Tagore),他到中國來過,得過Nobel Prize(諾貝爾獎),中國的一位學者梁啟超,給Tagore起了一個中國名字叫「竺震旦」。(竺是天竺,古代中國叫印度是「天竺」,震旦是「中國」的另一叫法。)(TAGORE was an Indian poet, philosopher, and supporter of freedom for India. In his many poems and songs, he stirred pride among his Hindu countrymen. He also had a strong influence on the West. Tagore was influenced by European models in his writings. He was a mystical and religious poet, and saw God in all beauties of nature. He wrote prose and poetry in the Bengali Language. These have been translated into many languages. Tagore received the 1913 Nobel Prize in Iiterature.)
Untouchables的影子碰到了上面說的四階級都不行!被影子碰到了就得趕快洗澡!
附:你送來的書、卡片、畫片都收到。
印度人吃飯用右手抓著吃,認為左手沒右手乾淨。(他們這些怪毛病可真多!)(The various Hindu castes have different food laws. Most castes eat only with the right hand because they consider the left ha九*九*藏*書nd unclean. Some castes eat meat, and others eat fish but not meat. Some eat neither meat nor fish, but so eat eggs. Still others do not eat eggs.)
印度太窮,人太多(全世界中國人最多,其次是印度人)。
印度的蛇很多,每年咬死三十萬人。印度有玩蛇的或弄蛇的(snake-charmer),在蛇面前吹笛子,其實蛇聽不見,只是看他動作再跟著動。(Indian Snake Charmer may fool his audience, but he does not charm the snake. The cobra cannot hear the music of the flute. It sways merely to follow the movements of the charmer.)
印度還有六百萬頭上頂自己鬍子的人,這種人叫錫克(Sikhs),他們很早就主張男女平等,全世界最恨他們的人就是理髮的,因為他們不理髮,也不刮鬍子(但他們如果擦皮鞋,就可能被理髮的捉住,因為印度的理髮館看起來像個擦皮鞋的攤位)。
其他階級的人,若犯了規,一被開除,就淪為Untouchables,所以大家都不敢,萬一犯規,也繳罰金或吃牛屎喝牛尿(cow dung and cow urine)來求饒,下次再也不敢犯規了(promise never to sin again),因為一變成Untouchables就等於變成了political prisoner,誰都要躲著你了。
親愛的小文:
Untouchables有六千萬——台灣人口的四倍!
錫克人長得人高馬大,是戰士,常做警察和開計程車的(There are about six million Sikhs, and their picturesque appearance distinguishes them from the rest of the population. They are strong, tall and vigorous, and in cities often serve as policemen, watchmen and cab drivers.),所以理髮的也不敢捉他們,也捉不到。錫克人為什麼不理髮呢,因為他們信錫克教,錫克教(Sikhism)不準,於是錫克人就把鬚髮纏在一起,在頭頂上用白布包起來。(Keeping the hair and beard tied in a knot above the head.)(The Sikhs religion forbids them to cut their hair or beards. It strongly emphasizes the brotherhood of all men and forbids the drinking of alcread.99csw.comohol. These soldiers have their hair fastened into a tightly-rolled topknot on the crown of the head and are wearing the characteristic beard retainer, a fine net attached to the ears at either end.)
不過做印度人老婆,有一個人至少佔了便宜,那就是三百年前印度國王沙迦罕(Shah Jahan)的老婆默哈兒(Mahal),她死後,她丈夫為她花了二十多年,修了一座漂亮的大墳——Taj Mahal,taj是阿拉伯文皇冠(crown)的意思。Taj Mahal是印度最有代表性的建築,在印度Agra地方(地圖上沒有,爸爸為你點了一個小·點就在那兒)。它是全世界最漂亮的墳。(TAJ MAHAL at Agra, in north central India, the crowning jewel of Indo-Islamic architecture. A Mogul ruler, Shah Jahan, erected the monument as a tomb for a beloved wife, Arjumand Banu, better know by her title of Mumtaz Mahal or Taj Mahan 1(Crown of the Palace). In 1631 she died after bearing fourteen children in eighteen years. The construction of the tomb, begun the next year, employed some 20000 workmen for nearly twenty years.)
印度的憲法,是全世界最長的。(The constitution of India is the longest in the world.)
古時候過去了,但現代仍有這種用一隻腳站著顯擺的人,這就是印度人。印度人這種鬼名堂多得很,一隻腳站著,一隻手舉著,太陽底下曬著(standing exposed to the sun for many hours),拿大頂(remain with the head bent down),手握拳,讓指甲穿過手心長出來(Keep their fists closed for years, so that the nails grow through the palm and out of the back of the hand.),或埋在地里幾天,還活過來(remain buried for days at a time and emerge from their 「graves」 alive)。……
其實也不怪,因為印度教把佛教吸收到它大口袋裡頭去了,所以今天的九*九*藏*書印度,還有很多很多佛教的痕迹,印度國旗中間那個腳踏車車輪子,就是佛教裡頭「法輪長轉」的法輪(Flag of India. The saffron(orange-yellow)stripe is for courage and sacrifice;white is for truth and purity;and green for faith and chivalry, the wheel is an ancient symbol, the Dharma Chakra(Wheel of Law). Adopted in 1947),公元前三世紀的印度阿育王(Asoka)——他就是拚命把佛教傳到別人家裡去的傢伙——有石獅子雕刻,下面就是這法輪。
一九七五年四月二十日
又如兩手「合十」,這也是佛教的習慣。去年十月十九日信上跟你提到的坐過一年一個月牢的political prisoner甘地夫人這個手勢(gesture),你注意一下。
印度人火葬,因為相信人死了一燒,就可把靈魂燒出來,使靈魂從肉體里解脫出來(free the soul from the body)(中國直到宋朝才有火葬,《水滸傳》你看過嗎?打虎的武松哥哥即潘金蓮的丈夫武大郎就是火葬的)。
印度教(Hinduism)(The religious(Polytheistic)and social systems of the Hindus, developed from Brahmanism, and embodying animistic beliefs. The caste system is the chief characteristic.印度多神教,為婆羅門教的變相,並信靈魂造生命之說,社會階級制度是它主要特點)雖然對牛客氣,對人卻極不客氣。印度教把人分四種階級(caste),每一階級幹什麼,永遠幹什麼(從爺爺的爺爺到孫子的孫子)。四階級中,第三級是農人商人(甘地就屬於這一級,甘地坐過近六年五個月的牢,爸爸在去年十月十九日信上跟你談過),第四級是奴隸、僕人。另有一種不入級的叫「不能碰的」(Untouchables),連做奴隸、僕人都不準,甚至不准他們工作,只准討飯(even forbidden to work, and can only beg),討飯還不準在給錢的人的身邊討,要躲得遠遠的,錢由給錢的人丟在地下,Untouchables再去撿,直接給是不行的,這叫「授受不親」!
就是中國的墨汁。就是中國的聖經紙。這兩樣東西明明是中國的卻用上印度名字。
你看過《西遊記》嗎?西遊記里唐僧、孫悟空、豬八戒去西天取經,就是去印度,印度是佛教(Buddhism)的發源地,佛教的教主是釋迦牟尼(Sakyamuni),比耶穌大五六○歲,比孔夫子大十二歲。佛教很奇怪,它在印度傳了一千年,傳丟了——印度自己沒了,卻跑到別人家裡去了,印度的鄰居(像中國)和鄰居的鄰居(像日本),都到處是佛教徒,可是印度今天自己的佛教徒,只不過三四百萬(兩百多個人裡頭,才有一個信佛的),你說怪不怪?