Kafka on Love and Patience
Kafka’s Beautiful and Heartbreaking Love Letters
原文鏈接：https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/02/05/kafka-love-letters/
[第一段]
“Relationships are probably our greatest learning experiences,”a wise woman once said,echoing/'ek?ui?/Rilke’smemorable/'m?m?r?bl/proclamation/?prɑkl?'me??n/that love is“perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks… the work for which all other work is but preparation/?pr?p?'re??n/.”When we fall in love, we are asked to rise to this task — a polarizing/'pol?'ra?z/pull that stretches thepsyche/?sa?ki/in opposite directions as wecrave/krev/surrender/s?'r?nd?/and safety in equal measure.
echoing/‘ek?ui?/n. 呼應；回音；反照現象
memorable/‘m?m?r?bl/adj. 顯著的，難忘的；值得紀念的
polarizing/‘pol?'ra?z/vt. （使）極化；（使）偏振；（使）兩極分化
psyche/?sa?ki/n. 靈魂；心智
crave/krev/vt. 渴望；懇求
surrender/s?’r?nd?/n. 投降；放棄；交出；屈服
[第二段]
Thediscomfortof thiswildlydisorientingbidirectionalpull is what 29-year-old Franz Kafkaarticulatedin a beautiful and heartbreaking letter to Felice Bauer, a marketingrepfor adictationmachine company whom the young author had met at the home of his friend and future biographer Max Brod in August of 1912. Young Franz and Felice immediately began acorrespondenceofescalatingintensity, with Kafka frequentlyexasperated— as was Vladimir Nabokov at the start of hislifelongromance with Véra — over hisbeloved’sinfrequentandinsufficientlyromantic response. Over the five-year course of theirturbulent, mostlyepistolaryrelationship, they were engaged twice, even though they met in person only a few times. During that period, Kafka produced his most significant work, including TheMetamorphosis. Five hundred of his letters survive and wereposthumously/?p ɑst??m?sl?/published in theintenselyrewarding andrevelatoryLetters to Felice (public library).
[第三段]
In November of 1912, three months after he met Felice, Kafka writes:
Fr?ulein Felice!
I am now going to ask you a favor which sounds quite crazy, and which I should regard as such, were I the one to receive the letter. It is also the very greatest test that even the kindest person could be put to. Well, this is it:
Write to me only once a week, so that your letter arrives on Sunday — for I cannotendureyour daily letters, I am incapable of enduring them. For instance, I answer one of your letters, then lie in bed in apparent calm, but my heart beats through my entire body and is conscious only of you. I belong to you; there is really no other way of expressing it, and that is not strong enough. But for this very reason I don’t want to know what you are wearing; it confuses me so much that I cannot deal with life; and that’s why I don’t want to know that you arefond ofme. If I did, how could I, fool that I am, go on sitting in my office, or here at home, instead ofleapingonto a train with my eyes shut and opening them only when I am with you?
[第四段]
Whetherout ofself-protective rationalization or mere/m?r/pragmatism/'pr?gm?'t?z?m/— the onset/'ɑns?t/of tuberculosis/t?'b?kj?'los?s/was, after all, what ended the relationship five years later — he plaintively/?plent?vl?/points to a physiological/?f?z??'lɑd??kl/reason, almost as an excuse for the psychological/?sa?k?'lɑd??kl/:
Oh, there is a sad, sad reason for not doing so. To make it short: My health is only just good enough for myself alone, not good enough for marriage, let alone fatherhood. Yet when I read your letter, I feel I could overlook even what cannot possibly be overlooked.
out of由于；缺乏；自…離開；用…
rationalization/?r???n?l??ze??n/n. 合理化
mere/m?r/僅僅
pragmatism/‘pr?gm?'t?z?m/n. 實用主義；獨斷
onset/‘ɑns?t/n. 開始，著手；發作；攻擊，進攻
tuberculosis/t?'b?kj?'los?s/n. 肺結核；結核病
physiological/?f?z??’lɑd??kl/adj. 生理學的，生理的
psychological/?sa?k?’lɑd??kl/adj. 心理的；心理學的；精神上的
[第五段]
He resumes his plea/pli/, which seems directed more at himself than at her:
If only I had mailed Saturday’s letter, in which I implored/?m'pl?r/you never to write to me again, and in which I gave a similar promise. Oh God, what prevented/pri'v?nt/me from sending that letter? All would be well. But is a peaceful solution possible now? Would it help if we wrote to each other only once a week? No, if my suffering/'s?f?r??/could be cured by such means it would not be serious. And already Iforesee/f?r'si/that I shan’t be able to endure/?n?d?r/even the Sunday letters. And so, to compensate/'kɑmp?nset/for Saturday’s lost opportunity, I ask you with what energy remains to me at the end of this letter…
implored/?m’pl?r/vt. 懇求或乞求
plea/pli/n. 懇求，請求；辯解，辯護；借口，托辭
suffering/‘s?f?r??/n. 受難；苦楚
endure/?n?d?r/vt. 忍耐；容忍
compensate/‘kɑmp?nset/vi. 補償，賠償；抵消
[第六段]
He closes in true Kafkaesque/?kɑfk???sk/fashion:
If we value our lives, let us abandon it all… I am forever fettered/'fet?d/to myself, that’s what I am, and that’s what I must try to live with.
fettered/‘fet?d/adj. 被拘束的；無自由的
[第七段]
It makes sense, of course, for a man who associated pleasure with pain — nowhere more vividly than in his famousproclamation/?prɑkl?'me??n/that“a book must be the axe/?ks/for the frozen sea inside us”— to experience love as at onceelatingandanguishing/'??ɡw??/. But the paradox of love is perhaps the same as that of art, which Jeanette/d??'net/Winterson so elegantly/? ?l?ɡ?ntl?/termed “the paradox of active surrender/s?'r?nd?/” — in order for either to transform us, we must let it turn us over and inside-out.That is what Rilke called love’s great exacting/?ɡ?z?kt??/claim, and in that claim lies its ultimate reward.
proclamation/?prɑkl?’me??n/n. 公告；宣布；宣告；公布
elating/??let/vt. 使…歡欣；使…興高采烈 adj. 得意的
anguishing/‘??ɡw??/n. 痛苦；苦惱
elegantly/? ?l?ɡ?ntl?/adv. 優美地
exacting/?ɡ?z?kt??/adj. 嚴格的；苛求的；吃力的
Kafka on Love and Patience
原文鏈接：https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/10/22/conversations-with-kafka-love-patience/
“Patience is the master key to every situation. One must have sympathy for everything, surrender to everything, but at the same time remain patient and forbearing/f?r'b?r??/.”
forbearing/f?r'b?r??/.adj. 寬容的；忍耐的
[第一段]
One March morning in 1920, a Czech teenager named Gustav Janouch arrived at the Workman’s Accident Insurance Institution, where his father worked. The purpose of the visit was for the seventeen-year-oldaspiring/?'spa??r??/poet to meet his father’s famouscolleague,Metamorphosis/'m?t?'m?rf?s?s/author Franz Kafka (July 3, 1883–June 3, 1924), who had been laboring at the insurance company for twelve years. The twostruckan unlikely friendship and for the remaining four years of Kafka’s life, they frequently shared long walks through the city, talking about literature and life.
aspiring/?'spa??r??/adj. 有抱負的；追求…的；高聳的
Metamorphosis/‘m?t?'m?rf?s?s/變形記
[第二段]
In 1951, long after Kafka’s death, Janouch published hisrecollection/?r?k?'l?k??n/of theseremarkably/r??m ɑrk?bl?/rich walking talks as Conversations with Kafka (public library).What makes these conversations so compelling is that much of what is said counters the familiar image of Kafka as a creature ofgrievance/'griv?ns/andgloom/ɡlum/.Perhaps because we areconstantly/'kɑnst?ntli/entraining/in'treini?/each other through conversation and the young man’s openhearted/'op?n,hɑrt?d/optimism/'ɑpt?m?z?m/awakeneddormant/'d?rm?nt/parts of Kafka’s spirit, there isradiance/'red??ns/in a great deal of what they discuss — art (“Art like prayer is a handoutstretched/?aut?stret?t/in the darkness, seeking for some touch ofgrace/ɡres/which will transform it into a hand thatbestows/b?'sto/gifts.”), poetry (“Goethe sayspractically/'pr?kt?kli/everything that matters to us human beings.”), and love.
recollection/?r?k?'l?k??n/n. 回憶；回憶起的事物
remarkably/r??m ɑrk?bl?/adv. 顯著地；非常地；引人注目地
grievance/‘griv?ns/n. 不滿，不平；委屈；冤情
gloom/ɡlum/n. 昏暗；陰暗
constantly/‘kɑnst?ntli/adv. 不斷地；時常地
entraining/in’treini?/夾帶,vi. 乘火車
openhearted/'op?n,hɑrt?d/adj. 不客氣的，不隱瞞的
optimism/‘ɑpt?m?z?m/n. 樂觀；樂觀主義
dormant/‘d?rm?nt/adj. 休眠的；靜止的；睡眠狀態的；隱匿的
radiance/‘red??ns/n. 輻射；光輝；發光；容光煥發
outstretched/?aut?stret?t/adj. 伸開的；擴張的
grace/ɡres/n. 優雅；恩惠；魅力；慈悲
bestows/b?’sto/vt. 使用；授予；放置；留宿
practically/‘pr?kt?kli/adv. 實際地；幾乎；事實上
[第三段]
In reflecting on the anguish/'??ɡw??/of ill-fated/??l?fet?d/love affairs, Kafka offers a magnificent definition of love and its hazards/'h?z?d/, at once utterly/??t?li/elevating/'?l?vet??/and utterly grounding:
What is love? After all, it is quite simple.Love is everything which enhances, widens, and enriches our life. In its heights and in its depths.Love has as few problems as a motor-car. The only problems are the driver, the passengers, and the road.
anguish/'??ɡw??/n. 痛苦；苦惱
ill-fated/??l?fet?d/adj. 不幸的；惡運的
hazards/‘h?z?d/n. 危害；[安全] 危險；障礙
utterly/??t?li/adv. 完全地；絕對地；全然地；徹底地，十足地
elevating/‘?l?vet??/adj. 引人向上的
第四段]
Far more often than we like to imagine, those problems can steer/st?r/the car toward a crash. Kafka himself wasintimatelyfamiliar with heartbreak, as evidenced by his beautiful andharrowinglove letters. But perhaps because “heartbreak is how we mature,” his own experience is what allowed the author to offer young Gustav such strangely assuring advice in comforting the Gustav’s distress over his parents’ divorce — aruptureof the heart that hadrenderedhim hopeless about the possibility of happiness in love. EchoingNietzsche’sbelief that a fulfilling life requires embracing difficulty, Kafka urges the young man to stay present with his difficult emotions:
Just be quiet and patient. Let evil and unpleasantness pass quietly over you. Do not try to avoid them. On the contrary, observe them carefully. Let active understanding take the place of reflexirritation/??r?'te??n/, and you will grow out of your trouble. Men can achieve greatness only by surmounting/s?'ma?nt/their own littleness/'litlnis/.
irritation/??r?’te??n/n. 刺激；激怒，惱怒，生氣；興奮；令人惱火的事
surmounting/s?’ma?nt/vt. 克服，越過；戰勝
littleness/'litlnis/.渺小
[第五段]
On their following walk, he revisits/ri'v?z?t/the subject. In a sentiment/'s?nt?m?nt/thatcalls to mindJohn Steinbeck’s unforgettable advice on love —“If it is right, it happens,”hecounseled/'ka?nsl/his lovestruck/'l?vstr?k/teenage son.“The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”— Kafka tells young Gustav:
Patience is the master key to every situation. One must have sympathy/?s?mp?θi/for everything, surrender to everything, but at the same time remain patient and forbearing… There is no such thing as bending or breaking. It’s a question only of overcoming, which begins with overcoming oneself. That cannot be avoided. To abandon that path is always to break in pieces.One must patiently accept everything and let it grow within oneself. The barriers/'b?r?r/of thefear-riddenI can only be broken by love. One must, in the dead leaves that rustle/'r?sl/around one, already see the young fresh green of spring,compose oneselfin patience, and wait.Patience is the only true foundation on which to make one’s dreams come true.
sentiment/‘s?nt?m?nt/n. 感情，情緒；情操；觀點；多愁善感
calls to mind 想起
counseled/‘ka?nsl/vt. 建議；勸告
lovestruck/‘l?vstr?k/adj. 熱戀中的
fear-ridden 充滿恐懼的
riddenadj. 充斥…的
rustle/‘r?sl/vi. 發出沙沙聲
compose oneself: 鎮靜
[第六段]
Conversations with Kafka is a trove/trov/of often dark, sometimes radiant, always profound/pr?'fa?nd/insight from one of the most complex and compelling/k?m'p?l??/minds humanity has produced. Complement/'kɑmpl?m?nt/this particular portion with the great Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hahn on how to love and Milan Kundera on the central ambivalences/?m'b?v?l?ns/of life and love.
trove/trov/n. 被發現的東西；收藏的東西
compelling/k?m’p?l??/adj. 引人注目的；強制的；激發興趣的 v. 強迫；以強力獲得（compel的ing形式）
Complement/'kɑmpl?m?nt/n. 補語；余角；補足物 vt. 補足，補助
Zen/z?n/teacher禪師
Zen/z?n/n. 禪；禪宗；禪宗信徒（等于Zen Buddhism）
ambivalences/?m’b?v?l?ns/n. [心理] 矛盾情緒；正反感情并存
Quick Read
10:47 - 11:01 pm 14m
Slow Read
11:02 - 11:27 PM 25m
Slow Read
6:13 - 7:10am 57m
4:40 - 5:40am1h
Sentences:
Patience is the master key to every situation. One must have sympathy for everything, surrender to everything, but at the same time remain patient and forbearing
Love is everything which enhances, widens, and enriches our life. In its heights and in its depths
Just be quiet and patient. Let evil and unpleasantness pass quietly over you. Do not try to avoid them
One must patiently accept everything and let it grow within oneself.
Patience is the only true foundation on which to make one’s dreams come true.
