and most quietly painful conundrums in philosophy,

最大且最令人煩惱的謎題

and more importantly, in everyday life.

更重要的是，我們每天都要面對它

The problem is rooted in the fact that in the eyes of other people,

事實上，問題來自在他人怎麼看你

all of us are automatically and stubbornly associated with our bodies,

我們的外表，包含長相在內

which includes, of course, our faces.

總被他人不自覺地認為那是人格的展現

The way we look is the overwhelming factor

一個人的樣貌

that dictates how others assess our natures and our characters.

是他人直接判斷天性和個性的依據

Whatever lip service we might pay to less punitive ideologies,

儘管我們說自己不信這一套

in the practical world, who we are is taken to be how we look.

但現實世界中，以貌取人卻是存在的

The sweet face is assumed to contain a gentle, benevolent owner;

看起來友善的人就是溫柔、好心的人

the large, red face with narrow eyes as angry and suspicious one.

眼睛看起來狹窄，臉紅通通的人就是憤怒且可疑的人

We trust that personal identity is indivisible from bodily form.

人們相信人的個人身份和外表密不可分

Yet there is one dramatic exception from this rule: our own cases.

但唯有一個例外，那就是當我們在看自己的時候

When it comes to ourselves, we know, usually with considerable an ongoing sorrow

談到自己時，我們一直都有一股悲傷

that the way we look is obviously not who we are.

清楚地知道，從外表看不出真正的自己

We are profoundly aware of a large gulf between our understanding of ourselves

我們很了解自己的認知與外貌傳達的訊息

and the suggestions emitted by our bodies.

有很大的不同

Inside we may feel tender, inspired, inquisitive, playful, and young.

內心是溫柔、有靈感、好奇、貪玩且年輕的

But the face we see in the mirror is indelibly imprinted with an atmosphere

但在鏡子中的臉卻看起來

that may be stern, grave, humorless,

沈悶、嚴肅、沒幽默感

and ever more akin to that of an insipid elderly uncle.

跟無趣的長輩一樣

We may bravely push the hair this way and that,

我們會變換髮型

or soften the appearance with the help of a slightly brighter jumper

套上淡色系的連身褲，讓自己外表看起來溫和一些

or some intrepid shoes or dab some kind of cream or powder here and there.

穿上大膽色系的鞋，或東塗西抹某種乳霜

But nothing can ever overcome the monumental injustice,

但不管做什麼都無法

to which we appear to be subject.

改掉主觀意識的武斷

It isn’t merely that we feel unattractive:

這不僅讓自己認為自己失去魅力

we feel something bigger: misrepresented,

更嚴重的是我們認為自己被扭曲了

as if we have been forced to go out into the world as an ambassador for a country

就像被迫以大使身份代表國家

we don’t actually really inhabit or identify with.

進入一個我們既不是出生地也不認同的地方

The English essayist George Orwell once remarked that at 40,

英國作家 George Orwell 曾說

everyone has the face they deserve.

人到四十歲都會有自己四十歲時該有的臉

This is as absurd and cruel as to suggest that everyone might have the illnesses,

這荒唐殘忍的看法就像在說每個人

the income or the life, fate they deserve.

都或許會有應得的疾病、薪資、人生和命運

No one, not even with 40 years of trying,

即使試了四十年

has ever managed to change their facial appearance

從內心做起反映真實的自己

by an effort of the inner will so as better to reflect their identity.

也無法改變自己的樣貌

No one who has passionately thought of themselves

即使大半輩子都一心認為自己

as a button-nosed person over half a lifetime

有小巧的鼻子

has ever thereby shrunk their proboscis by even a quarter of a millimetre.

也無法讓長鼻子縮短幾毫米

In fact, quite the opposite tends to happen:

事實上洽好相反

our characters are liable to mould themselves

我們的個性傾向於

to the personalities implied by our faces,

因為好幾年來我們總看見他人眼中的自己

as a result of years of other people assuming

而他人也按照這樣的假設來對待我們

that this must be who we are and treating us in the light of our appearance.

便自行培養由外貌反映出來的個性

The gentler sides of someone who looks gentle

那些看起來溫柔的人

will thereby constantly be invited to the surface

他溫柔的一面會因此浮現在外表

by the expectations and encouragement of others.

這都是來自他人的期望與鼓勵

The person who is routinely assumed to be a bit sly

那些常被認為狡猾的人

because of the slope of their eyelids

因為他上翹的眼角

may end up fitting in with the prevailing story of who they are.

最後可能就會被其他人說服自己是什麼樣的人

The mind-body problem leads us to understand some of what love,

心物問題帶領我們了解

in its most generous, imaginative guises, should really involve:

愛在最寬容的想像中該包含什麼

a commitment to remember that the other is not how they appear;

要記住一個人的內心並不像外表展現的那樣

that their body was imposed and not chosen

外觀是自己強行塑造而來，而不是選擇

and that there may be a very different character

或許還有許多禁錮在心裏

trapped within their physical envelope.

那不為人知的一面

The writer Cyril Connolly, who struggled with his weight all his life,

作家 Cyril Connolly 終其一生為自己的體重苦惱

and felt sickened by his round full cheeks,

並厭惡自己的圓臉頰與禿頭

bald head and what he termed ‘accountant’s expression’, once wrote poignantly:

他把這種長相稱做「會計師臉」

‘Inside every fat man is a thin one trying to get out…’

他曾哀傷地寫道：「每個胖子心中都住著想要逃出來的瘦子」

But the phenomenon shouldn't be limited to the fat-thin dichotomy.

但這種現象不該只限於胖瘦而已

Inside a distressing number of us, there is someone else trying to get out,

有許多人心中都還住著另一個想要逃出來的人

perhaps a mellow 65-year-old man from the body of a 25-year-old woman,

或許一個二十五歲女性的身體裡住著處事圓滑的六十五歲的老先生

or a thoughtful nerdy girl from the body of a middle-aged irritable male.

或是一個中年急躁的男性身體裡住著一位貼心的宅女

The best we can do to overcome the mind-body problem

克服心物問題的最佳辦法

is not to fiddle with our clothes, invest in hairdressers

就是別太忙著穿搭、花大錢去弄頭髮

or endanger our health with plastic surgery.

或去整形破壞健康

We will never be able properly to align mind and body,

外在的形塑沒有辦法

by outward sculpting.

讓身心言行一致

The solution is to recognise

解決辦法就是去了解

that the problem is an existential part of being human.

這個問題是身為人的一部份

And therefore, that we must always strive to remember,

因此，我們必須一直記得

in spite of all the visual evidence, and in a spirit of love,

即使是眼見為憑，在愛當中

that the bodies and faces of others are very separate

別把他人的身體、長相與他們的個性

from the character of their minds,

混為一談

in the hope that others will in time

希望其他人能夠

give us completely generous and kind interpretation

在他們眼睛落在我們身上的那一刻起

when their gaze turns to our faces and bodies.

給予完全寬容且善良的解讀