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Once upon a time in a country far, far away lived a most unusual king who 1)proclaimed that in his tiny Himalayan kingdom, "2)Gross national happiness is more important than gross national product." Although most of us 3)give lip service to the 4)cliché, "Money can't buy you happiness," in our hearts we believe a big pile of cash can make a sizable 5)down payment and put smiles on our faces. To us, if a country's economic development isn't measured in dollars, it doesn't make sense. So the story of Bhutan sounds like a fairy tale.
從前，在一個很遠(yuǎn)很遠(yuǎn)的國家，住著一位不同尋常的國王。他在那個小小的喜馬拉雅王國宣布："國民幸福總值比國民生產(chǎn)總值更重要。"雖然我們大多數(shù)人口頭上認(rèn)同這樣的老生常談——"金錢不能買到幸福"，但我們心里仍然相信一大疊鈔票可以讓你付清一筆相當(dāng)金額的首付款，從而讓我們面露笑容。一個國家的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展不以金錢來度量，這對我們來說根本說不通。因此，不丹的故事聽起來就像天方夜譚。
Even Bhutan's nicknames—Land of the Thunder Dragon, the Kingdom in the Clouds, the last Shangri-la—6)evoke a fantasyland. I've come here for a 7)reality check, to 8)immerse myself in Bhutanese culture, to see if fairy tales do come true and people can live happily ever after.
僅僅是不丹的綽號——"雷龍之境"、"云中王國"、"最后的香格里拉"——已經(jīng)能讓我們聯(lián)想起仙境。我來這里驗證事實，讓自己沉浸在不丹文化里，看看童話故事是否成真，人們能否真的"從此過上幸福的生活"。
It's not Sunday, but I'm in church, or rather, a Buddhist temple inside our hotel in the city of Paro. The monk is 9)conducting a 10)ceremony, offering us blessings for a safe journey and giving us packages of prayer flags to take along. Their 11)significance becomes clear a couple of days later when I arrive at Dochula Pass just above 10,000 feet on a fog-12)shrouded, narrow, no-shoulder highway. Religion isn't just "A Sunday Kind of Love注" for the Bhutanese. Buddhism is part of daily life, the foundation of the culture.
雖然今天不是星期天，但我身處教堂，或者更確切地說，是帕羅市內(nèi)我們所住酒店里的一座佛寺。僧人正在進(jìn)行一種儀式，祈愿我們旅途平安，還給了我們一包包經(jīng)幡隨身攜帶。幾天后，當(dāng)我來到位于10000英尺（3048米）高處、云霧繚繞、沒有路肩的狹窄的多奇拉隘口時，經(jīng)幡的重要性開始顯現(xiàn)。對不丹人而言，信仰不是一種"星期天的愛"；佛教是不丹人日常生活的一部分，是不丹文化的根基。
13)Isolation from the outside world used to 14)shelter Bhutan's unique culture, but that's changing. A 94-year-old local tells me, "When I was younger, I kept hearing stories about big powerful machines called trains that could carry people quickly over long distances. I wanted to see one for myself, so I walked six days to the Indian 15)border. There I 16)hitched a ride on a truck, which was the first motorized 17)vehicle I'd ever seen, and rode ten hours to see my first train."
過去，不丹的與世隔絕庇護(hù)了其獨特的文化，但現(xiàn)在這種情況逐漸發(fā)生改變。當(dāng)?shù)匾晃?4歲高齡的老人告訴我："我年輕時經(jīng)常聽說火車的故事，這種強(qiáng)大的機(jī)器能很快地將人帶到很遠(yuǎn)的地方。我想親眼看看火車，于是徒步走了六天去到印度邊境。我在那里搭上一輛卡車，這是我平生見過的第一輛機(jī)動車。坐了十個小時的卡車之后，我看到了人生的第一輛火車。"
Bhutan still doesn't have its own trains, but in 1962 it got its first road and in 1983 its first (and only) international airport. Now I'm one of only about 25,000 tourists who find their way here each year. Far greater outside influence arrives 18)via satellites and computers thanks to King Jigme Singye Wangchuck—the fourth Dragon King of Bhutan—having lifted the ban on television and the Internet in 1999. Will this new technology "bring good things to life," as the TV 19)commercial goes? I can only report that for the half hour I spent watching people watch TV, the crowd was 20)mesmerized by the latest episode of Bhutanese Idol.
雖然不丹現(xiàn)在仍然沒有火車，但這個國家在1962年建成了國內(nèi)第一條道路，1983年建成國內(nèi)第一個（也是唯一一個）國際機(jī)場。每年僅有大約2.5萬名旅客能到此游玩，我便是其中之一。更大的影響來自衛(wèi)星和電腦，這要感謝不丹第四世國王吉格梅·辛格·旺楚克在1999年解除了對電視和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的禁令。這樣的新科技是否能像廣告所說的那樣"帶來美好生活"？我只能這樣匯報：我花了半個小時觀察人們看電視的情形，人們都被最新一集的《不丹偶像》迷住了。
Traveling the country, I visit the village of Kingathang, where a local farmer invites me to try some fresh- 21)brewed arra, the local 22)spirit. He gives me a tour of his home and introduces me to the 12 family members, covering four generations, who live together under one roof. It is a scene I will see repeated again and again—old caring for young, young helping old, and all regarding it as the natural order. While visiting people in their homes, I also visit 23)monasteries and temples to try to understand the philosophy that shapes the culture and inspires the national policy of Gross National Happiness.
在這個國家旅行時，我探訪了金加桑村。一位當(dāng)?shù)剞r(nóng)民邀請我品嘗當(dāng)?shù)匦迈r釀造的"阿拉酒"。他還帶我參觀了他的家，向我介紹了他的12位家庭成員——他們四世同堂，住在同一屋檐下。這是我后來反復(fù)看到的一個畫面——長護(hù)幼，幼助老，所有人都視之為自然秩序。除了到當(dāng)?shù)鼐用窦抑邪菰L，我還游覽了各大寺院，試圖理解這種塑造了不丹文化、啟發(fā)了"國民幸福總值"這一國家政策的哲學(xué)思想。
I save the best temple for last, the Tiger's Nest Monastery, 24)nestled 10,200 feet high on the side of a cliff. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche, who is 25)credited with bringing Buddhism to Bhutan, was carried here on the back of a flying tigress. The monastery followed in 1692, built to mark one of the most holy sites in Bhutan. Fortunately, given today's shortage of flying tigresses, I can follow a foot 26)trail to the top. I planned to ask a monk some grand question about the meaning of life. Instead, once I arrived I had more pressing 27)concerns and simply requested a new set of knees so I could make it back down the mountain. I'm not sure I gained any 28)insights into the secret of Gross National Happiness up here, despite the great view.
我把最好的寺院——虎穴寺留到最后。這座寺院嵌在10200英尺（3109米）高的懸崖壁上。據(jù)傳，將佛教帶到不丹的蓮花生大師騎著一只會飛的雌虎來到此地。1692年，此地修筑了虎穴寺，以紀(jì)念不丹最重要的圣地之一。雖然今天沒有會飛的雌虎，但幸運的是我還可以沿著一條小徑登上山頂。本來我打算向僧人提一些關(guān)于生命意義的宏觀問題，但是最后，當(dāng)我終于到達(dá)那里時，我卻有了更為迫切的問題：我只求一對新的膝蓋，好讓我下山。我不確定自己在這里得到了什么關(guān)于"國民幸福總值"之奧秘的啟發(fā)，不過此地風(fēng)光確實絕美。
Who knows whether the people in the faraway Kingdom of Bhutan will live happily ever after, but for now it's official government 29)policy to 30)foster that goal. And according to people who measure such things, the Bhutanese are in fact the happiest people in Asia and among the happiest in the world. My advice: See this country before it changes. There aren't many places like it. Some of the 31)contentment here may be 32)contagious. A bit of it even 33)rubbed off on a 34)cynic like me—at least for the time I was in Bhutan.
誰也不知道這個遙遠(yuǎn)的不丹王國里的人們是否能夠"從此過上幸福的生活"，但至少現(xiàn)在促成這一目標(biāo)已經(jīng)成為當(dāng)?shù)卣墓俜秸摺Ａ硗猓瑩?jù)衡量這些指標(biāo)的人說，不丹人實際上是亞洲乃至全世界最幸福的人群之一。我的建議是：在這個國家改變之前來看看吧。世界上像這樣的地方不多了。這里的滿足感也許具有傳染性，甚至像我這樣憤世嫉俗的人也被感染了些許——至少當(dāng)我身在不丹時是這樣。
