雪落香杉树：如何做出正确的决断
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老桑说
香杉树
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「朋友，你好！我是老桑。」
《雪落香杉树》是一部享誉全球的畅销小说，后来还被改编成电影。故事发生在二战时期西雅图附近的一个小岛上，那里的居民以白人为主，但也有相当一部分的日裔美国人。
小说的主人公是伊什梅尔·钱伯斯和金田初枝。伊什梅尔是岛上一家报业老板的儿子，而初枝是草莓园主的女儿。20世纪30年代晚期二战爆发前，两人一直都是儿时的玩伴，尽管岛上smolder（郁积）着反日歧视的不满情绪。
伊什梅尔与初枝
高中年代，伊什梅尔爱上了初枝并希望能与她结婚。但是初枝心里十分纠结，因为她很清楚自己不得与其他种族男孩约会的社会禁忌，她的母亲perpetuate（固守）传统，命令她永远不要与白人男孩约会。那段时间里，伊什梅尔和初枝总会在一个偏僻的、主干掏空的香杉树里rendezvous（幽会），避开糟糕的天气和纷扰的世界。
北京植物园
我最近去了一趟北京植物园的树木林，身处其中时我突然想起了这部小说。园中的水杉林仿佛是世外桃源，即使和园里其他部分对比亦是如此。这片树林是自省和放松的好去处，得以安静的思考和心灵上的释放。
当他们即将从高中毕业之际， 1941年12月7日“珍珠港事件”突然爆发了，伊什梅尔后来前往日本加入了战争中，后来不幸地被炸飞了自己的一条手臂。初枝则和她的家人被送往位于加州沙漠地区的曼扎拿集中营，那是战争时期日裔美国人被集中的地方。
二战时期，超过100,000日裔美国人被关在集中营里，这成为了美国历史中的污点。1991年，在纪念珍珠港事件50周年的活动中，时任总统乔治·布什（老布什）正式为那段历史道歉，历史的受害者们后来也获得了赔偿。
当初枝身处曼扎拿集中营时，她写信给伊什梅尔结束两人的恋情，说自己从未爱过他。初枝后来在集中营里嫁给了同为日裔美国人的宫本天道，他之后加入美军与德国在欧洲作战。
1954年，战争已经结束了九年，一位德高望重的渔夫被发现死于自己的船里。天道因此被逮捕并被指控谋杀白人。审判充斥着不完整的事实，含沙射影的歧视以及不同群体之间的矛盾。与此同时，一场暴风雪袭击了小岛，更让法庭经受着压力的严酷考验。
雪落在香杉树上，树仿佛被掩藏在其中，看上去和雪一样通体洁白，但内在仍然是不变的树。这提醒着我们不应被表象所迷惑，同时保持对周遭事物批判态度从而能收获更加现实的生命图景。
伊什梅尔通过报纸报道了庭审。在他自己的调查中，他发现了能够帮助天道无罪释放的证据。他内心很清楚将证据呈送法庭是正确的决定，但同时他也因初枝当初的拒绝，和自己在与日本军队作战中失去的手臂而耿耿于怀。
二战期间，日本也设立了集中营，那里关押着生活在中国北方的同盟国居民，包括美国人和其它国家的公民。在我的潍坊之旅中，我拜访了潍县集中营，那里在战争期间持续实施迫害长达两年之久，直到1945年8月17日才被美国军队解放。
潍县集中营
在法庭的最后陈词阶段，天道的律师说：“宇宙中总有我们无法把控的事物，同时也有我们可以控制的。命运、巧合和事故一起决定了这一切，但人类必须理性行事。”这段陈词本是为了感动陪审团，但坐在旁听席上的伊什梅尔也深受触动，影响了他之后的决定。
天道与辩护人
一边是陪审团在商议最后的结果，一边伊什梅尔来到曾经与初枝见面的那棵香杉树下。思忖良久，他决定将收集到的证据呈现给初枝和她的家人并呈递给法庭。这一关键的证据让法官最后撤销了判决，天道得以与家人团聚。
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
任何地方的不公正都是对正义的威胁。——马丁·路德·金
Are you struggling to do what's right?
你是否正努力做正确的事？
”我们都遇到过左右为难的事情，在自己的情感和做正确的选择之间犹豫、徘徊。
在我们的内心深处都知道应该做正确的事情，但是我们的思想和情感可能会影响判断。报复可能一开始会令人释怀，但随着时间的流逝，它会留下永久的疤痕。
Human beings must act on reason
人应当理性行事
”伊什梅尔最终明白了这句话的真意。天道的辩护律师的一番话打动了伊什梅尔，使他忘却了自己的过去，原谅了那些曾经伤害他的过往，最终把正义置于其他一切之上。与此同时，释放自己的愤怒也有助于他内心的平复。否则他愧疚的良心加之他的愤怒可能让他更加痛苦和孤立。
北京植物园水杉林
在你自己的那片“香杉林”里释放自己
当我们觉得处理当下的境况不在状态时，适当抽身其外是非常必要的，深呼吸，看清本质。这在快节奏的生活环境之下有时非常困难。我们只是想尽快解决完我们所有正在面对着的问题，但常常事与愿违，因为生活实在是太复杂了。
水杉林参天向上
为了解决这个问题，你可以尝试回到自己的“香杉林”之中来重整自己思考和心绪——这可能是任何你享受的安静之处。在北京，我会来到北京植物园，而在费城，我会去内沙米尼州立公园。无论是这两个的哪一处，当我离开的时候我都会感到心旷神怡。出世的片刻是为了能让我更好的入世。
当你反思时，你可以让自己的想法在脑海中浮现，并试着让理性的声音直接与你对话。穿透那覆盖在真相之上阻碍你判断的“白雪”，并试着寻到那片“香杉树”——即自己所面对境遇的真实情境。Meditation（沉思）可以带给你明晰的洞察。
在《爱在冰雪纷飞时》电影中， 伊桑·霍克是伊什梅尔的扮演者。我在之前《死亡诗社》的评论中也提到过他。那部电影中他饰演的是托德·安德森，表现了一个害羞的学校大男孩后来逐步开朗起来的故事，这样的转变得益于他参与诗歌的朗诵活动。
《死亡诗社》的伊桑·霍克
朋友，我们都曾在生命中遭遇不公。伊什梅尔shun（逃避）、受伤，而初枝则是因偏见而拘禁受害。对伊什梅尔来说，抽身反思，原谅以重新面对当下，他逐渐能以平常心处理自己的境遇与应对方式。这些带给他以力量，让他做出了正确的选择。你也同样可以做的到。
谢谢收看《老桑说》。
给你启发，激励你上进，陪伴你坚持。
敬请期待下一集。
英文版
English
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Snow Falling on Cedars:
How to do the right thing
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「 Hello, my friend！
I'm John Smagula. 」
Snow Falling on Cedars is an internationally best-selling novel that was later adapted into a movie. The World War II-era story takes place on a small island off the coast of Seattle. The residents are primarily white, but there is a significant Japanese-American minority.
Ishmael & Hatsue
In the novel we meet Ishmael Chambers and Hatsue Imada. Ishmael is the son of the island’s newspaper publisher, and Hatsue is the daughter of strawberry farmers. In the late 1930s they are childhood friends before the outbreak of WWII, despite the smoldering anti-Japanese racism on the island.
Ishmael at the cedar tree
In high school, Ishmael falls in love with Hatsue, wanting to marry her. Hatsue is conflicted, as she is aware of the social taboos of interracial dating—perpetuated by her own mother who orders her never to date a white boy. During this time, Ishmael and Hatsue regularly rendezvous in a remote hollowed-out cedar tree to escape both the weather and the world.
cedar grove
On my recent visit to the arboretum at the Beijing Botanical Garden, I reflected on this novel. The sequoia grove there is like a retreat from the world, even from the other parts of the park. It’s a great place to reflect and recharge, to gain perspective on thoughts and feelings.
As they are about to finish high school, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Ishmael later goes off to fight the war in Japan, where his arm is later blown off by Japanese troops. Hatsue and her family are sent to the Manzanar internment camp in the California desert, one of the concentration camps where Japanese-Americans were sent during the war.
During World War II, over 100,000 Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps during this dark moment of American history. In 1991, on the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, President George H. W. Bush issued a formal apology. Internees also received redress payments.
While in the Manzanar internment camp, Hatsue sends a letter to Ishmael ending the relationship, saying she never loved him. She then marries Japanese-American Kabuo Miyamoto while still in the camp, who then joins the U.S. army to fight the Germans in Europe.
Nine years after the war ends, in 1954, a well-respected salmon fisherman is found dead on his boat. Kabuo is arrested and prosecuted for the white man’s murder. The trial is filled with incomplete facts, racist innuendo, and community friction. Meanwhile, a massive snow storm cripples the island, making the courtroom a crucible for the tension.
Cedars
When it snows on cedars, the trees become concealed. They look snowy white, but underneath, they’re still the same trees. This is a reminder that things are not always what they seem, and it’s important to take a critical view of our circumstances to gain more realistic perspectives on life.
Ishmael covers the trial for the newspaper. In his own investigation, he uncovers evidence that would exonerate Kabuo. Deep down he knows that turning the evidence over to the court is the right thing to do, but at the same time, he is still simmering over Hatsue’s rejection of him as well as the arm he lost during battle with the Japanese enemy.
The Japanese also ran an internment camp during World War II, but for civilians of Allied countries living in North China. Internees included Americans and other citizens. On my visit to Weifang, I visited the Weihsien Internment Camp, which remained in operation for over two years until American forces liberated the camp on August 17, 1945.
Weihsien Internment Camp
In his closing statement to the jury, Kabuo’s lawyer says, “There are things in this universe that we cannot control, and then there are the things we can…Let fate, coincidence, and accident conspire; human beings must act on reason.” This statement was intended to influence the jurors, but it also affected Ishmael, as he was sitting in the gallery.
Kabuo and defense lawyer
As the jury is deliberating, Ishmael walks by the dead cedar tree where he and Hatsue used to meet. Upon reflection, he decides to show the evidence he found with Hatsue and her family, and they then present it to the court. The judge dismisses the charges, and Kabuo is set free to reunite with his family.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Are you struggling to do what's right?
”We all encounter situations where we are torn between our own feelings and doing what is right.
Deep down, we know the right thing to do, but our thoughts and feelings can influence our judgment. Revenge may feel good at first, but over time, it could leave wounds of its own.
Human beings must act on reason
”Ishmael came to this conclusion. Kabuo’s defense lawyer surely influenced Ishmael act on reason, which caused him to let go of his own past, forgive those who hurt him, and place justice above all else. Releasing his anger actually brought him healing. Otherwise, his guilty conscience would have conspired with his anger to make him more bitter and isolated.
Sequoia Grove
Take time out in your own “cedar grove”
When we just don’t feel right about how we’re dealing with a certain situation, it’s important to retreat for a moment, take some deep breaths, and think it through. It’s sometimes hard to do this in our fast-paced world. We just want to fix all of our problems and make them go away, but often this is not possible. Life can be complicated.
Neshaminy State Park
To work it out, try retreating to your own “cedar grove” to gain perspective on your thoughts and feelings. This can be any quiet place you enjoy visiting. When in Beijing, I visit the Beijing Botanical Garden. In Philadelphia, I go to Neshaminy State Park. Either way, when I leave, I come out refreshed and restored. The step “out” of my world helps me to step back “in.”
When you reflect, let your thoughts pass by and try to let the voice of reason speak to you. Look through the snowy white cover of your situation that is blinding you and try to see the cedars—your life circumstances—for what they really are. This meditation may give you the clarity you need.
In the Snow Falling on Cedars movie, Ethan Hawke plays Ishmael Chambers. We have seen him before in my post on Dead Poets Society. There, he played Todd Anderson, a shy high school boy who later learns to open up. He becomes transformed by expressing himself through poetry.
Kabuo's defense lawyer
My friend, we have all been treated unjustly at some point in our lives. Ishmael was shunned and wounded, and Hatsue was interned and victimized by prejudice. For Ishmael, by taking time out to reflect, forgive, and move on, he came to peace with his circumstances and actions. This gave him the strength, in the end, to do the right thing. So can you.
1.Smolder
a)含义：v. 闷烧；郁积
b)例句：
i.In the late 1930s they are childhood friends before the outbreak of WWII, despite the smoldering anti-Japanese racism on the island.
20世纪30年代晚期二战爆发前，两人一直都是儿时的玩伴，尽管岛上smolder（郁积）着反日歧视的不满情绪。
ii.Few here think the unrest will end anytime soon, and the rage of Greece's youth continues to smolder.
很少有人认为动荡会在短时间内结束，而希腊年轻一代的怒火仍在持续燃烧。
c)近义词：seethe, simmer, burn
2.Perpetuate
a)含义： v. 保持；使不朽
b)例句：
i.Hatsue is conflicted, as she is aware of the social taboos of interracial dating—perpetuated by her own mother who orders her never to date a white boy.
但是初枝心里十分纠结，因为她很清楚自己与其他种族男人约会的社会禁忌，她的母亲固守传统，命令她永远不要与白人约会。
ii.When you resist the state you’re in, you perpetuate it.
而一旦抵制这种状态，你会深陷其间难以自拔。
c)近义词： commemorate, eternalize, immortalize
3.Rendezvous
a)含义：v. 约会
b)例句：
i.During this time, Ishmael and Hatsue regularly rendezvous in a remote hollowed-out cedar tree to escape both the weather and the world.
那段时间里，伊什梅尔和初枝总会在一个偏僻的、主干掏空的香杉树里约会，避开糟糕的天气和纷繁的世界。
ii.This night is also made for a romantic rendezvous.
这个夜晚也是浪漫约会的好时刻。
c)近义词：date, engagement, get-together
4.Meditation
a)含义：n. 冥想；沉思
b)例句：
i.This meditation may give you the clarity you need.
沉思可以带给你明晰的洞察。
ii.In meditation, we allow this harmony to percolate to every layer of our existence.
在冥想中，我们让这种和谐渗透到存在的每一个层次。
c)近义词：contemplation, introspection, reflection
5.Shun
a)含义：v. 避免；躲开
b)例句：
i.Ishmael was shunned and wounded, and Hatsue was interned and victimized by prejudice.
伊什梅尔逃避、受伤，而初枝则是因偏见而拘禁受害。
ii.He said that while he used to shun capital-intensive businesses, his perspective haschanged.
他说，虽然他以前会避开资本密集型业务，但他的观点已经有所改变。
c)近义词：avoid, eschew, snub
Thank you for watching me to inspire, encourage, and accompany you.
See you next time.
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