I wonder if you have ever stopped to observe the marvellous glow in the west as the sun sets, with the shy young moon just over the trees?

我不知道你有没有停下来观赏过落日的彩霞，或是斜挂树梢害羞的新月。

Often at that hour the river is very calm, and then everything is reflected on its surface: the bridge, the train that goes over it, the tender moon, and presently, as it grows dark, the stars. It is all very beautiful.

在那种时刻，河水通常是很平静的，每个景物都倒映在水面上；小桥、火车、温柔的月光以及天色昏暗时挂在天上的星星。这一切都非常的美。

And to observe, to watch, to give your whole attention to something beautiful, your mind must be free of preoccupations, must it not?

当你观察、注视、全神贯注于美好的事物时，你的心一定得远离先入为主的偏见；

It must not be occupied with problems, with worries, with speculations. 

你的心一定不能被问题、烦恼及臆测所占据。

It is only when the mind is very quiet that you can really observe, for then the mind is sensitive to extraordinary beauty; and perhaps here is a clue to our problem of freedom.

只有在你的心非常安静时，你才能真正地观察，然后你的心才能对美好的事物敏感，或许这样就能找出和自由相关的线索了。

Now, what does it mean to be free? Is freedom a matter of doing what happens to suit you, going where you like, thinking what you will?

什么是自由？自由是不是去做你想做的事，去你想去的地方，想你爱想的事？

This you do anyhow. Merely to have independence, does that mean freedom?

这些事横竖早已做了，然而独立自主就是自由吗？

Many people in the world are independent, but very few are free.

许多人在世界上是独立的，但很少人是自由的。

Freedom implies great intelligence, does it not?

自由包藏着极大的智慧。

To be free is to be intelligent, but intelligence does not come into being by just wishing to be free;

得到自由就是得到智慧，不过只是希望自由并不能带来智慧。

It comes into being only when you begin to understand your whole environment, the social, religious, parental and traditional influences that are continually closing in on you.

你必须了解你的整个环境，也就是社会、宗教、父母及传统不断加给你的影响，你才开始有智慧。