"Shut out the clamour of small things. Withdraw into the deep quiet of your soul, commune with infinite beauty and infinite peace. You must be full of gladness and love for every person and every tiniest thing. Great activity and worry is needless—it is poison to the soul. Learn to reflect, and to brood upon eternal beauty. It is the mystic who finds all that is most precious in life. The flowers of meditation3 blossom in his heart." I cut out these words and pasted them in my hat. I have always felt that my real genius lies in the direction of philosophic4 calm. I determined5 to override6 the brutal7 clamour of petty things.
The alarm clock rang as usual at 6.30. Calmly, with nothing but lovely thoughts in my mind, I threw it out of the window. I lay until eight o'clock, communing with infinite peace. I began to see that Professor Tagore was right. My wife asked me if I was going to the office. "I am brooding upon eternal beauty," I told her.
She thought I was ill, and made me take breakfast in bed.
I usually shave every morning, but a moment's thought will convince you that mystics do not do so. I determined to grow a beard. I lit a cigar, and replied "I am a mystic" to all my wife's inquiries8.
At nine o'clock came a telephone call from the office. My employer is not a devotee of eternal calm, I fear. When I explained that I was at home reading "Gitanjali," his language was far from mystical. "Get here by ten o'clock or you lose your job," he said.
I was dismayed to see the same old throng9 in the subway, all the senseless scuffle and the unphilosophic crowd. But I felt full of gladness in my new way of life, full of brotherhood10 for all the world. "I love you," I said to the guard on the platform. He seized me by the shoulders and rammed11 me into the crowded car, shouting "Another nut!"
When I reached the office my desk was littered with a hundred papers. The stenographer12 was at the telephone, trying to pacify13 someone. "Here he is now," I heard her say.
It was Dennis & Company on the wire.
"How about that carload of Bavarian herrings we were to have yesterday without fail?" said Dennis.
I took the 'phone.
"In God's good time," I said, "the shipment will arrive. The matter is purely14 ephemeral, after all. If you will attune15 yourself—"
He rang off.
I turned over the papers on my desk. Looked at with the unclouded eye of a mystic, how mundane16 and unnecessary all these pettifogging transactions seemed. Two kegs of salt halibut for the Cameron Stores, proofs of the weekly ad. for the Fishmongers' Journal, a telegram from the Uptown Fish Morgue, new tires needed for one of the delivery trucks—how could I jeopardize17 my faculty18 of meditation by worrying over these trifles? I leaned back in my chair and devoted19 myself to meditation. After all, the harassing20 domination of material things can easily be thrown off by a resolute21 soul. I was full of infinite peace. I seemed to see the future as an ever-widening vista22 of sublime23 visions. My soul was thrilled with a universal love of humanity.
Now, it has always seemed to me that to put one's self at the beck and call of another man is essentially25 degrading. In the long perspective of eternity26, was his soul any more majestic27 than mine? In this luminous28 new vision of my importance as a fragment of immortal29 mind, could I, should I, bow to the force of impertinent trivialities?
I sat back in my chair, full of love of humanity.
By and by the boss appeared at my desk. One look at his face convinced me of the truth of Tagore's saying that great activity is poison to the soul. Certainly his face was poisonous.
"Say," he shouted, "what the devil's the matter with you to-day? Dennis just called me up about that herring order—"
"Master," I said mildly, "be not overwrought. Great activity is a strychnine to the soul. I am a mystic...."
A little later I found myself on the street with two weeks' pay in my pocket. It is true that my departure had been hasty and unpleasant, for the stairway from the office to the street is long and dusty; but I recalled what Professor Tagore had said about vicissitudes30 being the true revealers of the spirit. My hat was not with me, but I remembered the creed31 pasted in it. After pacing a block or so, my soul was once more tranquil32.
I entered a restaurant. It was the noon hour, and the room was crowded with hurrying waiters and impatient people. I found a vacant seat in a corner and sat down. I concentrated my mind upon the majestic vision of the brotherhood of man.
Gradually I began to feel hungry, but no waiter came near me. Never mind, I thought: to shout and hammer the table as the others do is beneath the dignity of a philosopher. I began to dream of endless vistas33 of mystical ham and eggs. I brooded upon these for some time, but still no corporeal34 and physical units of food reached me.
The man next me gradually materialized into my consciousness. Full of love for humanity I spoke35 to him.
"Brother," I said, "until one of these priestly waiters draws nigh, will you not permit me to sustain myself with one of your rolls and one of your butter-balls? In the great brotherhood of humanity, all that is mine is yours; and per contra, all that is yours is mine." Beaming luminously36 upon him, I laid a friendly hand on his arm.
He leaped up and called the head waiter. "Here's an attic37 for rent!" he cried coarsely. "He wants to pick my pocket."
By the time I got away from the police station it was dusk, and I felt ready for home. I must say my broodings upon eternal beauty were beginning to be a little forced. As I passed along the crowded street, walking slowly and withdrawn38 into the quiet of my soul, three people trod upon my heels and a taxi nearly gave me a passport to eternity. I reflected that men were perhaps not yet ready for these doctrines39 of infinite peace. How much more wise were the animals—and I raised my hand to stroke a huge dray-horse by the pavement. He seized my fingers in his teeth and nipped them vigorously.
I gave a yell and ran full tilt40 to the nearest subway entrance. I burst into the mass of struggling, unphilosophic humanity and fought, shoved, cursed, and buffeted41 with them. I pushed three old ladies to one side to snatch my ticket before they could get theirs. I leaped into the car at the head of a flying wedge of sinful, unmystical men, who knew nothing of infinite beauty and peace. As the door closed I pushed a decrepit42 clergyman outside, and I hope he fell on the third rail. As I felt the lurching, trampling43, throttling44 jam of humanity sway to and fro with the motion of the car, I drew a long breath. Dare I confess it?—I was perfectly45 happy!
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1
hustling
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催促(hustle的现在分词形式) | |
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2
feverish
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adj.发烧的,狂热的,兴奋的 | |
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meditation
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n.熟虑,(尤指宗教的)默想,沉思,(pl.)冥想录 | |
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philosophic
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adj.哲学的,贤明的 | |
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determined
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adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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override
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vt.不顾,不理睬,否决;压倒,优先于 | |
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7
brutal
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adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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8
inquiries
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n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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throng
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n.人群,群众;v.拥挤,群集 | |
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10
brotherhood
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n.兄弟般的关系,手中情谊 | |
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11
rammed
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v.夯实(土等)( ram的过去式和过去分词 );猛撞;猛压;反复灌输 | |
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12
stenographer
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n.速记员 | |
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13
pacify
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vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒);抚慰 | |
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14
purely
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adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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attune
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v.使调和 | |
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mundane
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adj.平凡的;尘世的;宇宙的 | |
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jeopardize
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vt.危及,损害 | |
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faculty
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n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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19
devoted
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adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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20
harassing
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v.侵扰,骚扰( harass的现在分词 );不断攻击(敌人) | |
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21
resolute
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adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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vista
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n.远景,深景,展望,回想 | |
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23
sublime
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adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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24
buzzer
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n.蜂鸣器;汽笛 | |
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25
essentially
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adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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26
eternity
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n.不朽,来世;永恒,无穷 | |
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majestic
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adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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luminous
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adj.发光的,发亮的;光明的;明白易懂的;有启发的 | |
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29
immortal
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adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
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30
vicissitudes
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n.变迁,世事变化;变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 );盛衰兴废 | |
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31
creed
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n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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32
tranquil
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adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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33
vistas
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长条形景色( vista的名词复数 ); 回顾; 展望; (未来可能发生的)一系列情景 | |
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34
corporeal
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adj.肉体的,身体的;物质的 | |
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35
spoke
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n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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36
luminously
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发光的; 明亮的; 清楚的; 辉赫 | |
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37
attic
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n.顶楼,屋顶室 | |
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withdrawn
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vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出 | |
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doctrines
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n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 );教义;学说;(政府政策的)正式声明 | |
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40
tilt
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v.(使)倾侧;(使)倾斜;n.倾侧;倾斜 | |
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41
buffeted
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反复敲打( buffet的过去式和过去分词 ); 连续猛击; 打来打去; 推来搡去 | |
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42
decrepit
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adj.衰老的,破旧的 | |
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43
trampling
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踩( trample的现在分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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throttling
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v.扼杀( throttle的现在分词 );勒死;使窒息;压制 | |
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45
perfectly
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adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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