Chapter 6 with childlike mortals

Siddhartha went to visit businessman Kamaswami.After being directed, he walked into a magnificent house.A servant led him across rich carpets into a room where he waited to be received by his master. Kamaswami came in.He was a quick, quick-witted man, with graying hair, intelligent, cautious eyes, and a greedy mouth.The host greets the guests cordially. "I have been told," began the merchant, "that you are a Brahmin, a scholar, seeking employment from a merchant. Are you in trouble, Brahmin, and that is why you have come to seek employment? "No," said Siddhartha, "I'm not in trouble, I never was in trouble. You know, I'm from the Samanas, I've lived with them for a long time."

"Since you come from the Samana, how can it not be difficult? Aren't the Samanas all poor? "I do not have property," Siddhartha said, "I do have nothing, if that's what you mean. But I am natural, not trapped." "If you're so poor, what are you going to live on?" "It never occurred to me, sir, that I have been poor for more than three years, and have never thought of living on anything." "Then you live off other people's property." "Perhaps. But merchants also make their living off other people's property."

"Well said. He never takes other people's things for nothing, though. He pays them for his own goods." "That's exactly what it is. Everyone takes, everyone gives, and that's life." "But please, since you are so poor, what can you give to others?" "Everyone gives what he has. The soldier gives his strength, the merchant his wares, the teacher his knowledge, the farmer his food, and the fisherman his fish." "Very well. So, what is your offering? What have you learned? What will you do?" "I will think. I will wait. I will fast."

"that's it?" "I think that's all." "What's the use of that? Fasting, for example—what's the good of it?" "It is good, sir. If a man has nothing to eat, fasting is the wisest thing he can do. For example, if Siddhartha had not learned to fast, he would have to find a job today, regardless With you or elsewhere, for hunger would compel him to do so. But Siddhartha was able to wait with equanimity. He knew no impatience, he knew no hardship, he could endure hunger for a long time, and laugh at it. Mr. , and this is the benefit of fasting."

"That makes sense, Samana. Just a moment, please." Kamaswami went out, came back with a roll of paper, handed it to the guest, and asked, "Can you read this?" Siddhartha carefully looked at the roll of paper, which contained a purchase contract, and began to read its contents. "Excellent," said Kamaswami, "can you write me something on this piece of paper?" He handed Siddhartha a piece of paper and a pen.Siddhartha waved it away and handed him the paper back. Kamaswami read: "Writing is good, thinking is better. Cleverness is good, patience is better."

"It's really well written." The businessman praised, "There are a lot of things that we can discuss with each other later. Today, I invite you to be my guest and stay overnight in my house." Siddhartha thanked him for accepting the invitation and stayed at the merchant's house ever since.Clothes and shoes were brought to him, and a servant attended to his bath every day.There were two hearty meals during the day, but Siddhartha ate only one, and he did not eat meat or drink alcohol.Kamaswami told him about his business, showed him goods and warehouses, and taught him how to calculate accounts.Siddhartha learned a lot of new things, but he listened more and talked less.He kept Kamala's words in mind, and never humbled the businessman, forcing him to treat himself as an equal, even more than an equal.Kamaswami runs his business carefully, often with great enthusiasm, but Siddhartha treats it all as a game. He tries to learn to master the rules of the game accurately, but the content of the game is not clear. tempted him.

Soon after he arrived at Kamaswami's house he became involved in the business done by his master.But every day, at the time Kamala had agreed with him, he would visit her, wear rich clothes, fine shoes, and bring her presents soon after.Her ruddy, intelligent mouth taught him many things.Because he was still a child in love, and could easily fall into lust in a reckless and insatiable way, as if falling into a bottomless abyss, Kamala basically taught him that you can't get without giving pleasure. Reason for entertainment.Every gesture, every caress, every touch, every glance, every tiniest part of the body has its secret, and the awakening of this secret brings happiness.She taught him that after a grand ceremony of love, if the lovers do not have the feeling of being amazed by each other, the feeling of being conquered and conquered by the other party, then they should not separate so that both parties will be bored and bored, and there will be no such reluctance. The bad mood of others or forced by others.He enjoyed many wonderful moments around the beautiful and intelligent female artist, becoming her student, lover and friend.The value and significance of his current life can be said to be entirely with Kamala, not in Kamaswami's business.

Kamaswami entrusted him with drafting important letters and contracts, and it was his habit to discuss all important matters with him.He soon discovered that Siddhartha didn't know much about rice and cotton, shipping and trade, but luck with his hands, and that Siddhartha, in his composure, was good at listening and understanding the unfamiliar. In terms of human skills, he surpassed him as a businessman. "This Brahmin," he said to a friend, "is not a real merchant, and never will be. His heart has no passion for business. Yet he has the secret of those who automatically succeed, I don't know if it's because he was born with a lucky star, or because he knows magic, or because of the skills he learned from the monks. Business is messed up. He seems to be just a game, never completely occupying his heart, never Total control over him, he was never afraid of failure, never worried about losing money."

The friend advised the businessman: "You hand over the business to him, and give him one-third of the dividends he earns for you. If you lose money, let him bear the same share of the loss. Then, he will be more Enthusiastic." Kamaswami took this advice.However, Siddhartha remains nonchalant.When he got a bonus, he accepted it calmly, and when he got a loss, he smiled and said, "Hey, I messed up again this time!" In fact, he didn't seem interested in doing business.Once, he went to a village and wanted to buy a large amount of rice there.But when he arrived, the rice had already been sold to another merchant.Still, Siddhartha stayed in the village for a few days, entertaining farmers to give copper coins to their children and attending a wedding before returning satisfied.Kamaswami blamed him for wasting time and money by not returning immediately.Siddhartha replied: "Don't reprimand, dear friend! You can't achieve anything by reprimanding. If there is a loss, let me bear it. I am very satisfied with this trip. I met all kinds of people. All kinds of people, a Brahmin became my friend, children sat on my lap and played, farmers showed me their fields, and no one took me for a businessman."

"That's all very well," Kamaswami exclaimed unhappily, "but really you're a businessman, that's all! Did you go just for fun?" "Of course," Siddhartha smiled, "of course I went this time for pleasure. Otherwise for what? I got acquainted with many people and places, I enjoyed friendliness and trust, I gained friendship. Look, dear Yes, if I were Kamaswami, seeing that my business had failed, I would have hurried back in such annoyance that time and money had actually been lost. However, I had a good few days, Learned, had fun, didn't hurt myself or others with worry and haste. If I go there again, maybe to buy a later harvest, or for some other purpose, the friendly people will be warm and friendly Receive me, and I'll be glad I didn't show haste and annoyance at the time. Well, take it easy, my friend, and don't hurt yourself by scolding me! If ever you see, this Siddhar Siddhartha has caused you a loss, then you only need to say one word and Siddhartha will go! But until then, let's make ends meet."

Kamaswami tried in vain to make Siddhartha miss that he was eating Kamaswami's inkstone.Siddhartha ate his own bread, or rather, they both ate other people's bread, everyone's bread.Siddhartha could not listen to Kamaswami's worries, and Kamaswami was always worried.If a business had the potential to fail, if a shipment was lost, if a debtor could not pay his debts, then Kamaswamishu wanted his partner to miss whining or getting angry, frowning, not sleeping. Good sleep, what good will it do.Once Kamaswami accused him of saying that he learned everything he knew from Kamaswami, and Siddhartha replied, "Don't make fun of me like that! I learned from you. What matters is how much a basket full of fish can be sold for, and how much interest can be charged on a loan. This is your knowledge, and I can think not from you, venerable Kamaswami, in this regard you Still learn from me!" In fact, his heart is not on doing business.Business was useful for him to save money to send to Kamala, but he made far more money in business than he needed.Moreover, Siddhartha cared and wondered precisely for those whose business, craft, care, amusement, and folly were as foreign and distant to him as the moon.He easily managed to talk to everyone, live with everyone, and learn from everyone.He felt deeply that something separated him from them, and this was his Samanatic asceticism.He saw people live in childlike or animal-like ways, which he both loved and despised.He sees them toil, sees them suffer and grow old, for something which he does not think is worth the price at all, for money, for small pleasures, for small honors, he sees them accusing and abusing each other, To see them complain about pains that make the Samana laugh, to see them fret over want that the Samana does not care about. No matter what these people brought him, he let it go.He welcomes the merchant who supplies him with linen, he welcomes the debtor who asks him for a loan, and he welcomes the beggar who tells him the story of his own poverty for an hour. In fact, compared with the monk, the beggar is probably half as poor. Neither is enough.He treated the rich foreign businessman no differently than the servants who shaved him, or the street vendors who always cheated him of a few pennies when they sold bananas.When Kamaswami came to him, complained to him, or blamed him for a business, he always listened with curiosity and interest, marveled at him, tried to understand him, and tried to make him understand. Some reason, and just as much as he thought necessary, and turned away from him, on to the next person who wanted to see him.Many people came to him, many people wanted to do business with him, many people wanted to deceive him, many people wanted to get his bottom line, many people wanted to arouse his sympathy, and many people wanted to ask him for advice.He advises, sympathizes, gives generously, lets himself be fooled a little, and the whole game, and the enthusiasm with which it is played by all, holds him as preoccupied as he had been with the gods and the Brahmans. At times, he felt a faint voice of decay deep in his chest, soft reminders, soft complaints, barely audible.Then he began to realize that he was leading a strange life, that what he was doing was just a game, that he was having fun and feeling happy, but the real life passed by and did not touch him.Like a football player he plays with his business, plays with the people around him, observes them, has fun with them, and his heart, the source of his life, is not there.This source flowed somewhere, flew far away from him, gradually disappeared, no longer relevant to his life.Several times he was taken aback by the thought, wishing he, too, could participate enthusiastically and wholeheartedly in these everyday childlike activities, to really live, to do things, to enjoy and live, not just Standing aside as a bystander. He often visits the beautiful Kamala, learns the art of love, worships sexual fulfillment, where giving and taking are more united here than anywhere.He chatted with Kamala, learned from her, gave her advice, and took her advice.And Kamala knew him better than Govinda had known him, and she became more like him. He once said to Kamala, "You are like me, unlike most people you are Kamala, not someone else, there is a stillness inside you, it is a refuge, you can hide in it at any time, It's like coming home, and so am I. Only a few people do it, but everyone can learn it too." "Not everyone is smart," Kamala said. "No," said Siddhartha, "that's not the point. Kamaswami is as intelligent as I am, but he has no refuge in his heart. Others have, but are children intellectually. Karma Well, most people are like fallen leaves, fluttering in the air, rolling, and waddling to the ground. But some, a few, are like stars in a fixed orbit, without wind Blow them, they have their own laws and orbits. I know quite a few scholars and Samanas, but only one of them is this type of perfect man, and I will never forget it. That is Gotama, the living Buddha, the lecturer Thousands of believers listen to his scriptures every day, and listen to his every class, but they are all falling leaves, and they have no doctrine and rules in their hearts." Kamala looked at him with a smile. "You're talking about him again," she said, "and you're back to the Samana idea." Siddhartha was silent.So they played the love game, one of the thirty or forty different games Kamala knew.Her body is supple as a leopard, as a hunter's bow; whoever learns love from her will learn many tricks and know many secrets.Well played long and hard with Siddhartha, teasing him, pushing him away, forcing him, embracing him, delighting in his mastery, until he was conquered and lay exhausted beside her. His beloved mistress bent over him and gazed for a long time into his face, into his weary eyes. "You are the best lover I have ever met," she mused. "You are stronger, more flexible, more submissive than anyone else. You have learned my art brilliantly, Siddhartha. In the future, When I'm older, I'll bear you a child. But dear, you're still a Samana, and you don't love me or anyone, don't you?" "Probably so," said Siddhartha wearily, "I'm like you, and you don't love—otherwise how would you practice love as an art? People like us probably don't Can love, and those childlike mortals can, that's their secret.