《美食祈禱和戀愛》Chapter 68 (151):我在印度
As for whatever other changes may have occurred within me during these last few months, perhaps I can't even feel them yet. My friends who have been studying Yoga for a long time say you don't really see the impact that an Ashram has had on you until you leave the place and return to your normal life. "Only then," said the former nun from South Africa, "will you start to notice how your interior closets have all been rearranged." Of course at the moment, I'm not entirely sure what my normal life is. I mean, I'm maybe about to go move in with an elderly medicine man in Indonesia—is that my normal life? It may be, who knows? In any case, though, my friends say that the changes appear only later. You may find that lifelong obsessions are gone, or that nasty, indissoluble patterns have finally shifted. Petty ir-ritations that once maddened you are no longer problems, whereas abysmal old miseries you once endured out of habit will no longer be tolerated now for even five minutes. Poisonous re-lationships get aired out or disposed of, and brighter, more beneficial people start arriving into your world.
至於我在最後幾個月可能發生的任何改變，或許我仍未感受到。長時間學瑜伽的朋友們說，待你離開道場，回去過正常生活後，才能真正看見道場對你產生的影響。“那時，”南非的前修女說，“你纔會開始留意到自己的內心櫥櫃已重新整理過。”當然，目前的我還不很確定什麼是自己的正常生活。我是說，我可能即將搬去和一個印尼老藥師住在一起——這可是我的正常生活？或許是。誰知道？無論如何，我的朋友說，轉變的出現是之後的事。你可能發現終生的癖好一去不復返，或是那棘手困惑的模式終於改變。曾經讓你發狂的芝麻小事不再是問題，而你從前慣於忍受的苦惱，如今連五分鐘也受不了。有害的關係已了結，光明有益的人開始來到你的世界。Last night I couldn't sleep. Not out of anxiety, but out of thrilled anticipation. I got dressed and went out for a walk through the gardens. The moon was lusciously ripe and full, and it hovered right above me, spilling a pewtery light all around. The air was perfumed with jasmine and also the intoxicating scent from this heady, flowery bush they have around here which only blossoms in the night. The day had been humid and hot, and now it was only slightly less humid and hot. The warm air shifted around me and I realized: "I'm in India!"
昨晚我睡不着。不是出於焦慮，而是出於殷切的期待。我穿好衣服，去庭園散步。月亮又大又圓，在我頭頂徘徊，灑下白色月光。茉莉芳香撲鼻，還有夜晚纔開花的花叢散放出醉人的芬芳。白晝溼熱，此時的溼熱只稍微減退。溫暖的空氣在我四周遊走，使我意識到：“我在印度！”I'm in my sandals and I'm in India!
我穿涼鞋，我在印度！
I took off at a run, galloping away from the path and down into the meadow, just tearing across that moonlit bath of grass. My body felt so alive and healthy from all these months of Yoga and vegetarian food and early bedtimes. My sandals on the soft dewy grass made this sound: shippa-shippa-shippa-shippa, and that was the only sound in the whole valley. I was so exultant I ran straight to the clump of eucalyptus trees in the middle of the park (where they say an ancient temple used to stand, honoring the god Ganesh—the remover of obstacles) and I threw my arms around one of those trees, which was still warm from the day's heat, and I kissed it with such passion. I mean, I kissed that tree with all my heart, not even thinking at the time that this is the worst nightmare of every American parent whose child has ever run away to India to find herself—that she will end up having orgies with trees in the moonlight.
我跑了起來，奔出步徑，跑到草地上，衝過沐浴在月光下的草坪。這幾個月的瑜伽、素食和早睡，使我感到自己的身體如此健康有活力。我的涼鞋踩在柔軟溼潤的草地上，發出噓啪、噓啪、噓啪的聲音，整個河谷只聽見這個聲音。我欣喜若狂，直朝公園中央的桉樹林奔去（他們說從前有座古寺坐落於此，祭拜象頭神——掃除障礙之神），我抱住其中一棵樹，白日的高溫使它依然溫熱，我熱情地親吻它。我是說，我全心全意親吻這棵樹；當時根本沒想到，這是美國每個爲人父母者心中最恐懼的事情：他們的孩子跑去印度尋找自我，最後竟然在月光下和樹林狂歡作樂。But it was pure, this love that I was feeling. It was godly. I looked around the darkened valley and I could see nothing that was not God. I felt so deeply, terribly happy. I thought to myself, "Whatever this feeling is—this is what I have been praying for. And this is also what I have been praying to." Eat, Pray, Love
然而，我感覺到的這份愛，是純粹的愛，是神聖之愛。我看着四周幽暗的河谷，只看見神，感到深深的喜悅。我心想：“不管這感覺是什麼——這正是我祈求的東西。也是我敬拜的東西。”
