喜樂悲愁皆歸塵土是什麼意思

全浸閱讀=Total Immerse Dynamic eReading=TIDE

Ganga Stone- Tales of love and death

這是一篇關於生，死，愛的悼文，在生與死邊緣的話題總是肅穆神聖而又觸犯世俗禁忌；生老病死，愛恨情仇，用什麼來穿越羈絆？主人公Ganga，用大愛找到了生命的目的。

人生如夢，且聽一曲如夢令？

如夢令 李清照

常記溪亭日暮 沉醉不知歸路 興盡晚回舟 誤入藕花深處 爭渡 爭渡 驚起一灘鷗鷺

Tales of Love & Death

P1

1）SOMETIME IN 1985， when she was working as a volunteer at a hospice on the Lower East Side， Ganga Stone took a bag of groceries to an actor who was dying of AIDS。 2）She parked her bicycle and walked up to his apartment， not without trepidation。 3）AIDS was then ravaging the gay community in New York， and almost nothing was known about it。 3）Its victims were stigmatised and isolated。 4）When the man， Richard Sale， opened the door to her， he was stick-thin and covered with lesions。 5）She had never seen anyone look that bad。 6）And when she handed over the groceries， he deliberately dropped them on the floor。 7）He was far too weak to cope with cooking them。 8）One packet of bread-mix so frustrated him that he tossed it across the room。

▷hospitice-a home provided for sick or terminally ill

▷not without trepidation=with trepidation

trepidation-fear/anxiouty

not without雙重否定的高強度

▷ravaging the gay community

ravage-cause severe and extensive damage

肆虐

syn-destroy/devastate/scourge

▷stigmatised and isolated

stigmatised-condemn disproval

▷stick-thin and covered with lesions

stick-thin： thin like a piece of wood

lesion-injury of wound or harm caused by disease of ulcer/cancer/abscess

▷was far too weak to cope with cooking

Cope with： handle

注意far在too。。。to do sth短語中的加強作用

▷so frustrated him that he tossed it across the room。

frustrated： make distress and annoyance

▷toss across-throw/flip to the other side

注意前一句剛用了too。。。to do sth，後一句馬上跟用so。。。that。。。的表達效果，double shot！

TE People 文章是寫作學習的典範：

開篇是一個場景倒回，a scene description

Ganga Stone，本文女主人公，生命中最重要最inspiring的一個場景

第一句time，身份，人物，行動全部被introduced and presented。

第二句呈現動作細節，not without trepidation人物心理狀態也交代了。 why trepidation？

當時她還只是一個普通人，aids剛剛ravaging，大家還不是很瞭解，她的反應是正常的，也為後文的轉變做出鋪墊

第三句交代時代背景，重點是ravaging vs almost nothing was known about的強對比，烘托前面女主的心理反應

第45678句敘述Ganga與病人的第一次互動，對方對Ganga善意行為的反應是出乎意料的

其中Richard的出場，寥寥數語寫出了病人的helpless， stick-thin， covered with lesions，far too weak to cope with，frstrated by a bread-mix packet，令人心酸

第一段非常visualized，風華正茂而又充滿愛心的Ganga騎著腳踏車穿過85年的紐約街景；她心懷忐忑敲開門，木柴一樣瘦滿身傷疤的Richard把Ganga好心送來的做飯食材故意扔到地上，還被一袋麵包刺傷了自尊，並當著Ganga面丟到房間的另一邊。such a weird scene，a difficult encounter，衝突發生

P1 openning，一切如歷歷在目

P2

1）What he needed， she realised， was a hot meal delivered directly to him。 2）That day she bought one at the corner deli and took it up。 3）This was better， but still not perfect。 4）Richard needed food that was tailored to his illness and could tempt the jaded appetite of someone dying， so she did research and， the next time， cooked something for him herself。 5）This worked， and also seized her with a sudden idea。 6）She would give up her current job， selling coffee from a cart on Wall Street， and set up a system to feed AIDS sufferers in their homes： every day， free， all over the city。 7）And she would call it “God’s Love We Deliver”。 8）At last， here was purpose in her life。

▷corner deli

deli=delitessens-convenient shops like 711

▷was tailored to his illness and could tempt the jaded appetite of someone dying

jaded-bored/tired/satiated

▷seized her with a sudden idea

hit by a new idea

▷And she would call it “God’s Love We Deliver”。 At last， here was purpose in her life。

主題句出場，purpose in her life

have u got urs？

雖然Ganga tepiadation，Richard的lesions and “rude” behaviors也沒有frustrated her，一轉身她便在街角便利店帶來了熟食，並由此產生一個成為她人生終極意義的想法，這些描述的背後也反映出人物特點：她是一個充滿愛和包容的人；

P1+p2

一個場景-一次frustration-一個想法-一段人生，開場就已經完成，“善意被拒絕” ，“轉角遇到愛” ，“電影”進入正片；

如果需要寫application essay的同學，這樣的佈局謀篇，簡直就是最強人已在陣中；

再次想起了武當山趙敏寫給張無忌的信：

“金盒夾層，靈膏久藏。珠花中空，內有妙方。二物早呈君之左右，何勞憂之深也？”

所有的功能性英語寫作表達妙方，都藏在TE文章中，何必再四處尋尋覓覓，悽悽慘慘慼戚？

P3

1）It started in the tiny kitchen of her apartment with her room-mate Jane Best， both of them taking phone orders and buying ingredients with their own money， but soon outgrew anything their stove could manage。 2）She turned to take-out， recruited friends， urged restaurants to give spare food and put collecting tins beside cash registers in stores， talking up the cause with her blue eyes blazing。 3）Besides that she was still chief courier， racing round Manhattan on her bike， because it was sheer joy to place that bag of good fresh food in someone’s hands， and see them smile。

▷started in the tiny kitchen vs outgrew anything their stove could manage

一切的大事都是從小地方開始

▷take-out ：food delivery

▷talking up the cause with her blue eyes blazing 有愛的女人眼睛會發光

blaze-fire/glare

▷because it was sheer joy to place that bag of good fresh food in someone’s hands， and see them smile。 （vs Richard‘s action in p1）

sheer joy -pure/unmix happy 反扣開頭，這是她做這件事情motivation，她希望看到千萬個Richard Sale的微笑，而不是toss the bread across the room。

P3-busy but happy

這是中曲起始段，事業起步期，用很多細節，體現主人公的inside motivation，the blue eye blazing，the sheer joy

P4

1）She could not do that job for long， however。 2）God’s Love swelled like a proving loaf。 By 1993 it was providing two meals a day to 550 clients in all five boroughs， with 1，700 volunteers helping。 3）That year it moved from a church basement to a 16，000-square-foot building in SoHo， and still that was too small。 4）The service expanded to include almost anyone who was homebound and struggling to find food。 5）Celebrities， including New York’s mayors， gave donor-parties and brand-new delivery vans。 Money poured in， two-thirds of it in private donations。 6）By this year， when God’s Love had proved its worth all over again during the covid lockdowns， 17，000 volunteers were feeding 2。5m New Yorkers on a budget of $23m。

▷swelled like a proving loaf

proving loaf：正在烤的麵包

這個比喻很餓

▷boroughs-districts

homebound-unable to leave house for too old or too ill

P4 grow and help

這是中曲發展段，事業起飛期，影響與規模都擴大了

P5

1）Why “God’s Love”？ people asked her。 It sounded too pious， but she thought it was funny， like a lit-up restaurant sign。 2）God was not someone or something she hid， and it could be any God： Jesus， Shiva， Allah， Supreme Truth， consciousness。 3）Perfectly non-sectarian。 4）Food was part of that love， unconditional as a mother’s， given constantly and with pleasure by people who expected nothing back。 5）No questions were asked when an order came in， but the meals， as irresistibly delicious as she insisted they had to be， were sent out at once。 6）Never a day missed。 7）Since she herself hated to stand in line in a restaurant， why should her clients wait？ 8）This was love that went beyond the personal。

▷pious-religious

▷lit-up restaurant sign

lit-up： light up 霓虹深處

▷Supreme Truth， consciousness。 Perfectly non-sectarian。

Sectarian-fractional/sect區隔（大愛無疆）

▷Food was part of that love， unconditional as a mother’s， given constantly and with pleasure by people who expected nothing back。

▷No questions were asked when an order came in but the meals， as irresistibly delicious as she insisted they had to be， were sent out at once。

這兩句看著讓人莫名感動， no need more words

p5 love beyond personal

小人物的視覺與感悟，這是Ganga的自發性覺悟階段，只是發自心底的想要help others，做最basic簡單的事情。

P6

1）At the personal kind she was not so good。 Her marriage， to an Australian busboy with flowing blond hair she had met while waitressing at Max’s Kansas City， was a disaster from day one。 2）After 13 months she walked out， with a son now， but somehow she could not connect with the little boy， who went to live unhappily with his father。 3）In 1987 a one-night fling with a Wall Street customer resulted in a daughter， Hedley， whom she kept close， though the father bolted。 4）Single life was no joke， but New York， she concluded， was a hard place to find a man。 5）Sometimes she seemed picked on from the start， with a violent father and the sense that neither of her parents thought she was good for much。

▷

At the personal kind：寫名人常用的轉場句

▷flowing blond hair-金髮飄飄的帥小夥

▷while waitressing at：waitress作動詞

▷a disaster from day one

total mess

▷a one-night fling with：one night stand

fling-throw 把自己“扔”出去一晚

▷though the father bolted

bolted-run away

▷but New York， she concluded， was a hard place to find a man

where ever is not？

▷pick on

to single out for criticism， teasing， or bullying

p6 persoanl life not so good

表明光明後面的個人坎坷，哪個迎著太陽前行的人背後不跟著個影子呢？在光芒背後的dark side，才是這個人之所以成為這個人的原因，寫人物基本都要觸及到這個方面，童年陰影，成長挫折，行差踏錯，誤入歧途，等等。

P7

1）Only one person thought she was： Swami Muktananda， “Baba”， as she called him， whose ashram in India was her home in the late 1970s。 2）Baba， to her， was part of that greater and universal love she longed to enter into。 3）It was he who called her Ganga after the Ganges， the ever-surging energy of Shiva。 4）After his death she wore a red bindi for a year and bought a wedding ring， as though she had been his wife。 But this spiritual marriage was tough， too。 5）At the ashram she scrubbed stone floors and did not speak for almost a year。 6）And when she bowed before Baba， he sometimes hit her。 She took it as a gift， a training in self-control。

▷ashram-hermitage， a place of religious retreat修行所

▷was part of that greater and universal love she longed to enter into

▷Ganges恆河

▷the ever-surging energy of Shiva

surge-gush，sudden increase

▷Shiva

溼婆神：Lord Shiva。 是印度的三大主神之一，與梵天（Brahma）、毗溼奴（Vishnu），合稱為三相神（Trimurti）

溼婆，是仁慈的意思，象徵著“昌盛”和“吉祥”，同時又象徵著“毀滅”與“重生”。

作為宇宙毀滅之神，意涵“死亡”為重生的迴圈，代表宇宙原始意識，也是再生與創造的陽效能量。佛教文獻稱他為大自在天，住色界之頂，為三千界之主。有地、水、火、風、空、日、月、祭祀八種化身，擁有毀滅和再生的力量。在印度，溼婆神普遍被視為宇宙最高之神。

▷scrubbed stone floors and did not speak for almost a year

這麼類似冰與火之歌的阿雅？

scrub-rub hard to clean，with brush and water

p7 true love found

Ganga生命中的真愛與太陽出現，給她愛，給她虐，給她覺醒

P8

1）His more lasting training was in how she should see death。 2）She had gone to the ashram still mourning her mother， who had died 12 years earlier of motor neurone disease。 3）Baba taught her that death was merely the dropping of the body by the soul， which then moved on。 4）It was the most important moment in a human life， and nothing to grieve about。

▷death was merely the dropping of the body by the soul， which then moved on。 It was the most important moment in a human life， and nothing to grieve about。需要領悟

p8：know death，know life

覺悟生死，是Ganga的一個生命與事業轉折點

P9

1）For her this teaching was as vital as hot meals。 Food had to come first； then， as equal comfort， news of the immortal self。 2）She began to lead “death classes” for patients and their partners， and in 1995 stepped down from God’s Love to focus on that work。 Sadness had no place in it； instead， she told death-jokes。 3）She wrote a book called “Start the Conversation”。 （“The One who sails through death and out the other side is who you are。 Have you got that？”） 4）And， once again， this put some people off。 How did she know？ Where did that piercing certainty come from？

▷news of immortal self

immortal-undying/timeless

news在這裡是message，religious常用語

▷piercing certainty

piercing-showing shrewness or keen intellignce ，piercing願意是擊穿，這裡有一種洞悉世情的睿智穿透感

確信的智慧

p9 覺悟後Ganga離開God‘s love we deliver，開始death class，事業和生命從material-food進入到spirit-conversation with death

P10

1）She would say， from experience。 She had proof of her mother’s continued existence， as well as Baba’s， whose life still sparked in her like electricity。 2）God’s Love， too， had been set up originally for those near death。 In its first year， 400 clients died。 3）She had treasured those last weeks， when even young men welled up with the wisdom of the old， and yet the world avoided listening。

▷whose life still sparked in her like electricity

spark-flash

▷welled up with the wisdom of the old

well up：touched/moved by

well原意井，情緒如井噴

p10 這是值得思考的一段，provide food to people near death？有點ridiculous，但又是必需。nut not enough，即使吃飽了sooner or later they will be dead。身體被滿足後，有足夠的體力和精神去承受面對死亡的威脅和恐懼？

想起六大門派圍攻光明頂時，明教面臨滅頂之災，眾人在火堆前高唱那一段：

“熊熊聖火，焚我聖軀，生又何歡，死又何苦？為善除惡，唯光明故，喜樂悲愁，皆歸塵土。憐我世人，憂患實多。”

不過，人在未面臨生死前，都是avoid listening的。

Ganga對人生的理解經歷了三個階段：

material for food-hot food-spirid food，所以她一步步從hospice走到了God‘s love we deliver 到death classes。

P11

1）One of those clients had been Richard。 After their first difficult encounter， they had become brief friends。 2）And in retrospect， even his throwing of the bread-mix was wisdom。 It started something she and all New York turned out to be grateful for。

▷difficult encounter

encounter-meet 迴應開頭場景

▷brief friend

brief-short， short because Richard was dead

▷in retrospect

retrospect-looking back

吾日三省吾身的省字

P11這個結尾，時光回溯，回看來時路，即使Richard那一丟，在Ganga心裡也釋然了，從difficult encounter變成了wisdom，所謂的頓悟與漸悟？

After Reading

TE人物篇是對人一生的總結，有故事，有理想，有愛，有抱負，哀傷，無奈，以及信仰，不是一兩次閱讀所能夠完全融匯，需要細品，這篇可以嘗試從以下三個方面開始

1。how to write an openning scene

2。how to describe a people in sick

3。how to follow the evolvement of a person‘s ideal