英语听力—环球英语 561 Beauty and Perfection: Wabi Sabi

　　Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight¹. I'm Ruby² Jones.
Voice 2
And I'm Marina Santee. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Tokyo's National Museum. It is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. Walk inside this huge building. You will see many wonderful works³ of art. There are more than 100,000 objects in the museum. These include some Japanese national treasures! The museum holds objects of great beauty and worth. But the objects in one part of a room are very different from the others. In a large glass case stand some dark green and brown objects. They look like containers gone wrong! Some are a funny shape. Some of them look like their creator⁴ made a mistake! Others look broken. They look like they could have been dug⁵ up directly⁶ from the earth! They do not look very costly⁷ - or very beautiful! They do not really seem to fit in this museum with the other wonderful objects. So what are they doing here? This is not a mistake! These objects are here for a reason. They represent⁸ an ancient Japanese idea that we will discuss in today's programme. The objects represent ‘wabi-sabi.'
Voice 3
‘What is wabi sabi? It is difficult to explain. You cannot just find it.'
Voice 4
‘It is a way of life.'
Voice 5
‘Wabi sabi? It is the Japanese heart.'
Voice 4
Wabi Sabi is to enjoy a quiet and peaceful life.
Voice 3
‘It cannot be described. If it could, it would not be wabi sabi.'
Voice 1
Wabi sabi sounds like a simple term but it has a complex⁹ meaning. This is because it relates to a whole way of looking at life! Some people describe it as a beauty that is not complete, or not perfect. One way to define¹⁰ ‘wabi' is ‘to make things simple.' And a way to define ‘sabi' is ‘change', or the passing of time. Wabi sabi is now becoming known¹¹ in the West. But its origins are in Japan. It is a way of looking at life in all its forms - especially nature, art and culture.
Voice 2
The idea of wabi sabi entered art in the sixteenth century. It came from the Japanese tea ceremony! You may remember an earlier Spotlight programme about Japanese tea ceremonies. It described how in Japan, making tea is a great form of art and skill. The people who lead tea ceremonies are called tea masters. It was the tea masters that helped to bring the idea of wabi sabi to art. The tea masters looked for beauty in simple forms. At that time, this was unusual. People had more traditional ideas of beauty. They saw beauty in great designs, in costly objects. However, wabi sabi brought in the opposite idea. It said that beautiful art did not have to be perfect, costly, or even complex. Art could be simple, even broken, and be beautiful. And that is why you can see the unusual, imperfect containers in the Tokyo museum.
An employee¹² of the museum described the process of wabi sabi in art:
Voice 6
‘A new art form developed that found beauty in stillness. The tea masters began to look for beauty in these simple forms. I am not sure if the makers¹³ of these objects found them beautiful! But the people who did the tea ceremony loved these objects - even if the objects were technically¹⁴ failures.'
Voice 1
So what does wabi sabi have to do with everyday life - and is it only for Japanese people? Richard Powell does not think so. He is an Canadian writer. He says that wabi sabi is becoming increasingly¹⁵ popular in the West. He explained why:
Voice  7
‘I think people have wanted to have a simpler life. But when they tried living simply they found it was too difficult to do all the time. You have to earn money and keep going with life. The reason wabi sabi is popular, is that it is something you can include in everyday life. You can look for wabi sabi all around you and change the environment right where you are.'
Voice 2
It is popular in the west to look to the east for answers about life and spirituality¹⁶. The roots of wabi sabi lie in the eastern religion of Zen Buddhism¹⁷. But many people interested in wabi sabi are not Buddhist¹⁸. Richard Powell is a Christian¹⁹. Richard says some people find it strange that he connects wabi sabi with his Christian life. He says:
Voice  7
‘A lot of my Christian friends have asked me about the connection. They think wabi sabi is some strange Eastern theory. But as soon as you talk to people about it they say, " Oh I know exactly what you are talking about. It is just that we did not have the words or the language to describe it."'
‘For me, truth is truth, no matter where you find it. Beauty is beautiful no matter where you find it.'
Voice 2
Richard told how he sees wabi sabi in his life:
Voice 7
‘Wabi sabi is about making time to be thankful for nature, that is the first part of it, making that time. Then I found lots of things. I could be sitting in a business meeting - but I would notice the birds outside the window. Or in another place I notice a child playing, or I notice an older woman resting on her stick. You start to be thankful for things that are in your life that you did not see before. You find that you recognize and value beauty in places you would not expect'
Voice 1
John Breck is a Christian priest²⁰. He suggests that we can also see wabi sabi in basic Christian belief. That belief states that the beauty and order of God's creation²¹ has been damaged by human wrong-doing, but that God reaches out to bring people back to full life. Breck says:
Voice 8
‘Under the false sense of order that we try to force on the world, there is a natural beauty. That beauty can only be seen by some people - people who can see past the way things look on the outside. Such people can see the inner²² quality and value of things - and of persons.'
Voice 2
What are your thoughts about wabi sabi? Does it only work in Eastern art and culture, or can its ideas truly work in a material world? Is Richard right?  Is truth truth - wherever it is found? Write and tell us your thoughts! Our email address is Radio @ English . net.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

3 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

4 creator   

n.创造者，创作者，缔造者；造物主，神

参考例句：

• He was without doubt the creator of the Roman Empire.毫无疑问,他是罗马帝国的创始人。
• One creator cannot have two procedures with the same name.一个创建者不能有两个同名过程。

5 dug   

n.动物的乳房[乳头]v.挖，掘( dig的过去式和过去分词 )；（如用铲、锨或推土机等）挖掘；挖得；寻找

参考例句：

• He dug a deep hole in the garden. 他在花园里挖了个深坑。
• We dug a deep pit in the yard. 我们在院子中挖了个深洞。

6 directly   

adv.直接地，径直地；马上，立即

参考例句：

• I will telephone you directly I hear the news.我一听到消息，马上打电话给你。
• She answered me very directly and openly.她非常坦率地、开门见山地答复了我。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 represent   

vt.表现，表示；描绘，讲述；代表，象征；回忆；再赠送，再上演；vi.提出异议

参考例句：

• I'll represent to him the risk he is running.我要向他指出他所面临的险境。
• We selected her to represent us.我们选她作为我们的代表。

9 complex   

adj.复杂的，合成的，综合的；n.联合体

参考例句：

• What he said was too complex for me to understand.他说的太复杂了，我无法了解。
• Justice is part of the complex machinery of the law.正义是复杂的法律机器的一部分。

10 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

11 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

12 employee   

n.职员，员工，受雇人员

参考例句：

• Each employee received a like bonus.每个雇员都得到了相同数目的奖金。
• They brought around a new employee this morning.他们今天早晨请来了一位新雇员。

13 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

15 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

16 spirituality   

n.精神性，灵性

参考例句：

• This type of music has a negitive influence on our spirituality.这种音乐对我们的灵性有负面的影响。
• We human are creature of spirituality living with meaning.我们人类是生活在有意义的精神领域里。

17 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

18 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

19 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

20 priest   

n.神父，牧师，司铎，司祭，领导者，神甫；vt.使成为神职人员

参考例句：

• He confessed to a priest that he had sinned.他向神父忏悔他犯了罪。
• The priest visited all the old people in the parish.牧师探望了教区里的所有老人。

21 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

22 inner   

adj.内部的，里面的；内在的，内心的；精神的

参考例句：

• The label is on the inner side of the box.标签贴在盒子内侧。
• Other people seek the mountains for renewal of their inner lives.另一些人到深山中去，寻求新的精神生活。