轮扁对国君说的话

这道菜的视频我又看不下去了，这已经是第四次了。我觉得中间一定有一步，他们根本没有拍出来。

I've given up on this dish's video again, this is already the fourth time. I feel like there's a step in the middle they never actually filmed.

为什么这么说？是他们做得太快，还是有什么地方没讲清楚？

Why do you say that? Did they do it too fast, or is there something they didn't explain clearly?

调料放多少，什么时候放，火开多大，视频里说得都很简单，可是我自己做的时候，味道每次都不一样。我觉得这里面有一种手感，是他们自己知道，但是没办法讲出来的。

How much seasoning to add, when to add it, how high the heat should be, the video makes all of it sound simple, but every time I actually cook it myself the taste comes out different. I feel like there's a kind of feel in there that they themselves know but have no way of putting into words.

你说的这个，庄子早就讲过一个故事，是关于一个做轮子的工匠的。

What you're describing, Zhuangzi already told a story about this long ago, about a craftsman who made wheels.

工匠？跟做菜有什么关系？

A craftsman? What does that have to do with cooking?

齐国的国君齐桓公有一天在殿里读书，一个叫轮扁的工匠正在殿外做轮子，这个工匠已经做了很多年轮子了。轮扁问国君读的是什么，国君说是古人写的书。轮扁又问，那些人还活着吗？国君说，都死了很久了。轮扁说，那国君读的，不过是古人留下的糟粕罢了。

One day Duke Huan of Qi was reading in the hall, and a craftsman named Wheelwright Bian was making a wheel outside the hall, this craftsman had already been making wheels for many years. Bian asked the ruler what he was reading. The ruler said books written by the ancients. Bian asked again, are those people still alive? The ruler said, they've been dead a long time. Bian said, then what the ruler is reading is nothing but the dregs the ancients left behind.

国君没生气吗？说别人的书是糟粕，这也太不客气了。

Wasn't the ruler angry? Calling someone else's books dregs, that's pretty rude.

国君当然生气了，说轮扁要是能讲出道理，就算了；讲不出来，就要杀了他。

Of course the ruler was angry, said if Bian could explain his reasoning, fine; if he couldn't, he would have him killed.

那轮扁怎么解释？

So how did Bian explain himself?

轮扁说，他做轮子已经几十年了，中间要凿一个孔，让轮子能装上去。凿得慢一点，孔就松，轮子装上去会摇晃，不稳；凿得快一点，孔就紧，轮子怎么也装不进去。中间那个恰到好处的手感，在他的手里，也在他的心里，可是他自己说不出来，连自己的儿子也教不会，所以他七十岁了，还在自己凿轮子。古人能写下来的道理，都留在书里了；写不下来的那部分，跟着他们一起死了。所以国君读的，当然只是糟粕。

Bian said he's been making wheels for decades now. In the middle you have to chisel a hole so the wheel can be fitted on. Chisel a little too slow, the hole comes out loose, the wheel wobbles once it's on, unsteady; chisel a little too fast, the hole comes out tight, the wheel won't go on at all. That exactly-right feel in between is in his hand, and in his heart, but he himself can't put it into words, he can't even teach his own son, so at seventy he's still chiseling wheels himself. What the ancients could write down, they left in books; the part that couldn't be written down died along with them. So what the ruler is reading is of course only dregs.

这跟我的视频一模一样啊！那种手感真的说不出来，只能自己多试几次才知道。

That's exactly like my video! That kind of feel really can't be put into words, you can only find it by trying it yourself a few more times.

我讲这个故事的时候，也这么想，可是后来我又觉得，这句话是不是说得太满了。学校每天都在教编程，教外语，如果什么都不能靠别人教，那这些课是干什么用的？

When I was telling this story I thought the same thing, but afterward I started to feel maybe this claim goes too far. Schools teach coding and foreign languages every day. If nothing at all can be taught by someone else, then what are all these classes for?

编程是能教的吧，语法、规则都写得清清楚楚。可是同样学过这些规则的人，写出来的程序也不一样，有的人一看就知道问题在哪儿，有的人找半天都找不到。这中间的差别，好像也没办法完全讲清楚。

Coding can be taught, right, the syntax and rules are all written out clearly. But among people who've learned the same rules, the programs they write turn out different, some people spot the problem at a glance, others search for ages and still can't find it. That difference in between also seems impossible to fully explain.

学外语也是这样。语法能教你怎么说是对的，可是一句话应该在什么时候说，用什么样的语气，这个只能靠自己在生活里慢慢感觉。

Learning a foreign language is the same. Grammar can teach you what's correct to say, but exactly when to say a sentence, in what tone, that you can only sense gradually yourself through actual living.

弹钢琴也差不多。老师能告诉你手指怎么放，可是弹的时候心里那种感觉，好像真的没办法完全教给别人。

Playing piano is similar too. A teacher can tell you how to place your fingers, but that feeling in your heart while you're playing, it really does seem impossible to fully teach to someone else.

所以我现在觉得，轮扁说的也不是全部的道理。学校教的那部分，能让我们少走很多弯路，只是最后那一点手感，可能真的要靠自己，一年一年地练出来。

So now I think what Bian said isn't the whole truth either. What school teaches can save us from a lot of wrong turns, it's just that last bit of feel that maybe really does depend on yourself, practiced out year after year.

那我下次做这道菜，也不看视频了，自己多试几次，找到那种手感。

Then next time I make this dish, I won't watch the video either. I'll try it myself a few more times and find that feel.