空山靈雨 Empty Mountain, Spiritual Rain42 / 45

面具 The Mask

面具Masks

人面原不如那紙製底面具喲！The human face is no match for a mask made of paper!咐你看那紅的，黑的，白的，靑的，喜笑的，悲哀的，目呲Just look at those red, black, white, and blue faces—the smiling, the sorrowful, the glaring

人面原不如那纸制底面具哟！咐你看那红的，黑的，白的，靑的，喜笑的，悲哀的，目呲

怒得欲裂底面容，無論你怎樣褒獎，怎樣棄嫌，他們一點也不改變．紅的還是紅，白的and wrathful faces that seem ready to split apart: no matter how you praise or despise them, they do not change in the least. The red remain red, and the white

怒得欲裂底面容，无论你怎样褒奖，怎样弃嫌，他们一点也不改变．红的还是红，白的

還是白；remain white;目眦欲裂底還是目眦欲裂．those glaring as if their eyes would split remain glaring as if their eyes would split.

还是白；目眦欲裂底还是目眦欲裂．

人面呢？But the human face?顏色比那紙製底小玩意兒好而且活動，帶着生氣．可是你褒獎他底時Its coloring is finer than that of those little paper toys, and it moves and is full of life. Yet when you praise a man,

人面呢？颜色比那纸制底小玩意儿好而且活动，带着生气．可是你褒奖他底时

候，他雖是很高興，臉上却裝出很不願意底樣子；though he is delighted, his face assumes an air of great reluctance;你指摘他底時候，他雖是懊惱，臉上when you criticize him, though he is vexed, his face

候，他虽是很高兴，脸上却装出很不愿意底样子；你指摘他底时候，他虽是懊恼，脸上

偏要顯出勇於納言底顏色．insists on displaying the look of one brave enough to accept counsel.

偏要显出勇于纳言底颜色．

人面到底是靠不住呀！The human face is unreliable after all!我們要學面具，但不要戴他，因爲面具後頭應當讓他空We should learn from the mask, but we should not wear it, for behind the mask we ought to leave

人面到底是靠不住呀！我们要学面具，但不要戴他，因为面具后头应当让他空

着才好．nothing at all—that is best.

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What it’s about

Paper masks, the speaker declares, are more reliable than human faces. Red, black, white and blue masks keep their colors; smiling, grieving or furious expressions remain unchanged no matter whether viewers praise or reject them. Their artificiality is honest because it makes no claim to spontaneous inward truth, and their fixed surfaces cannot flatter an audience by adjusting themselves.

A living face is more beautiful, animated and unstable. Praise makes a person happy while the face performs reluctance; criticism causes resentment while it displays courageous receptiveness. The speaker concludes that human faces cannot be trusted. We should learn from masks but not wear them, because the space behind a mask ought to remain empty. The paradox does not recommend a fixed persona; it asks for the mask's indifference without adding another deceptive layer over the self.

When it was written 背景

Color-coded paper faces recall theatrical and festival masks, where an audience reads convention rather than searches for involuntary psychology. Xu reverses the usual contrast in which a natural face is true and a mask false. Yet his final warning prevents the aphorism from endorsing emotional rigidity: an empty back is essential, and wearing a mask would recreate the doubleness he criticizes. For learners, the parallel 你襃獎/你指摘 sentences clearly separate feeling from displayed expression. Read 學面具 as learning its freedom from reputation, not copying one permanent expression.

Words in this chapter 生词