Chapter 95

I was not aware of the moment when I first crossed the threshold¹ of this life.
 
What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery like a bud² in the forest at midnight!
 
When in the morning I looked upon the light I felt in a moment that I was no stranger in this world, that the inscrutable without name and form had taken me in its arms in the form of my own mother.
 
Even so, in death the same unknown will appear as ever known to me. And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well.
 
The child cries out when from the right breast the mother takes it away, in the very next moment to find in the left one its consolation³.
 
当我刚跨过此生的门槛的时候，我并没有发觉．
 
是什么力量使我在这无边的神秘中开放，像一朵嫩蕊，中夜在森林里开花！
 
早起我看到光明，我立刻觉得在这世界里我不是一个生人，那不可思议，不可名状的，已以我自己母亲的形象，把我抱在怀里．
 
就是这样，在死亡里，这同一的不可知者又要以我熟识的面目出现．因为我爱今生，我知道我也会一样地爱死亡．
 
当母亲从婴儿口中拿开右乳的时候，他就啼哭，但他立刻又从左乳得到了安慰．

1 threshold   

n.界限，门槛，入口，开端

参考例句：

• I'll never cross the threshold of your house again.我再也不进你的家门了。
• He stopped at the threshold of the bedroom.他在卧室门口停住了。

2 bud   

vi.发芽，萌芽；n.芽，花蕾

参考例句：

• Some flowers bud their leaves very early in spring.有些花在春季里很早发出叶来。
• A bad habit in a child should be nipped in the bud.应该尽早把孩子的坏习惯改过来。

3 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。