空船

王芳，我今天早上太生气了！

Wang Fang, I was so angry this morning!

怎么了？出了什么事情？

What's wrong? What happened?

我骑自行车去上班，一个孩子突然骑车到我旁边，几乎撞到我。我马上对他大喊，但是我喊完，才看清楚他的脸，他才七八岁，脸上很害怕，车好像坏了，他也不知道怎么办。我一看清楚他的脸，就一点也不生气了。

I was riding my bike to work, and a kid suddenly rode right up next to me, and he almost crashed into me. I shouted at him right away. But once I had finished shouting, I got a clear look at his face. He was only seven or eight, his face full of fear, his bike looked broken, and he did not know what to do either. The moment I saw his face clearly, my anger was just completely gone.

你看清楚了他是谁，气就没有了。这让我想起一个故事，是庄子讲的。你想不想听？

You saw clearly who he was, and the anger just disappeared. That reminds me of a story. Zhuangzi told it. Do you want to hear it?

想听。是什么故事？

Yes, I do. What story?

故事是这样的：你坐船在河上，突然有一只船撞到你的船，你会很生气，可能还会对着那只船大喊。但是你再看清楚，才发现那只船是空的，船上没有人。这个时候，你还会生气吗？

The story goes like this: you are in a boat on a river, and suddenly another boat crashes into yours. You would be angry, and you might even shout at that boat. But then you look again, and you realize the boat is empty. There is no one on it. At that point, would you still be angry?

不会。因为船是空的，没有人在开船，我怪谁呢？

I would not. Because the boat is empty, no one is steering it, so who would I even blame?

对。庄子说，船是空的，你的气自己就没有了。所以你不用怪那个孩子，也不用怪自己。如果船上真的有一个人，你还是会喊。你今天早上很快就不生气了，是因为你知道，那个孩子不是故意要撞你的，他也很害怕。

Exactly. Zhuangzi said that when the boat is empty, your anger just disappears on its own. So you do not need to blame the child, and you do not need to blame yourself either. If there really were a person on the boat, you would still shout. Your anger vanished so fast this morning because you knew the child was not trying to crash into you on purpose. He was scared too.

这个故事有意思，但是我觉得网上不一样。如果网上有一个不认识的人，突然对你说很不好的话，那个人是故意的，不是空船，他是真的想让你生气。这个时候，我在网上还应该不生气吗？

That is an interesting story, but I think online is different. If there is a stranger online who suddenly says something really unkind to you, that person is doing it on purpose. It is not an empty boat. He really wants to make you angry. In that case, should I still not be angry online?

这是个好问题。可能那个人是真的故意的。但是你会再见到那条船吗？你会再见到网上那个人吗？我觉得重要的不是船空不空，是你要不要让一个你不会再见的人，让你生气很久。

That is a good question. Maybe that person really is doing it on purpose. But will you ever see that boat again? Will you ever see that person online again? I think what matters is not whether the boat is empty. It is whether you want to let someone you will never see again make you angry for a long time.

我明白你的意思，但是我觉得，如果他是故意的，我生气也是应该的。只是我不想让这个生气，从今天早上，一直生气到明天。

I understand what you mean, but I think if he really did it on purpose, my anger is justified too. I just do not want to let that anger last from this morning all the way to tomorrow.

对，这样想就好。

Right, thinking about it that way is good enough.