George Bernard Shaw once said: "There are two tragedies in life, one is that your desires are not satisfied, and the other is that your desires are satisfied." ”
When desires are not satisfied, we become restless; when desires are satisfied, it is easy to indulge in them.
Each of us has desires, just to varying degrees.
Regarding human "desire", the British writer Maugham gave us a good interpretation through the novel "Veil":
The heroine of the story, Katie, is young and beautiful, but has a vanity full of desire;
She hastily married in order to satisfy her own desires, but after marriage, she pursues the so-called love and betrays her husband;
It wasn't until she experienced the betrayal of her lover, the unfortunate death of her husband, and the complete disillusionment of her desires that she suddenly woke up and rethinked life.
Desire is a double-edged sword, and those who know how to control desire can control their destiny and enrich their lives;
Those who are trapped by desire are ruined years and spend their whole lives making up for their mistakes.
Don't lose yourself for a moment of vanity
Katie has been a beautiful embryo since she was a child, with large watery eyes and slightly reddish brown mane.
But she grew up in a family with indifferent affection, her father was silent, and her mother was selfish and vain.
Originally, the mother wanted to live a decent and rich life through marriage, but what was helpless was that Katie's father did not have outstanding achievements in his career.
The mother pinned all her hopes on Katie, hoping that she would have a good marriage to satisfy her vanity.
Katie also guessed her mother's thoughts and never questioned her mother, because it was also in line with her heart.
Since adulthood, Katie has been surrounded by admirers and suitors; every time she attends a dance, she becomes the focus of the audience.
Katie never agreed to anyone's pursuit, but only politely maintained contact with them, skillfully maneuvering between various types of men, enjoying the satisfaction of being pursued by everyone.
Katie's vanity was satisfied by her beauty.
However, vanity will blossom, but it will not bear fruit.
Over time, the god of fate did not take care of the beautiful Katie;
In the blink of an eye, Katie has become a twenty-five-year-old leftover girl, but she still hasn't met her own wishful thinking.
Even Katie's mother was reminding her not to pick and choose, but Katie didn't think so.
For a long time, Katie has never been short of suitors around her, which has also allowed Katie to develop a vain and arrogant self-esteem, and she will not compromise for marriage.
At this time, Katie's sister was engaged to a rich man, and the man's family conditions were also very favorable.
Such an accident is simply a blow and ridicule for Katie;
Katie realizes her predicament and regrets rejecting the men who proposed to her.
Whenever she remembered that her bad-looking sister had found her true destiny, Katie became more anxious.
In order not to lose to anyone, Katie desperately needs a marriage to prove herself;
As long as someone is willing to marry her, Katie will never refuse.
Just as Katie is desperate, she meets Dr. Walter, a bacteriologist who is returning home for a vacation.
After a few interactions, Walter proposed to Katie.
Although Katie did not take a fancy to Walter, under the influence of vanity, Katie agreed to Walter's marriage proposal.
She naively thought that through the wedding, she could regain her former sense of superiority and enhance her social status.
Bacon once said, "The vain are despised by the wise, admired by the sick, worshiped by the aggressors, and enslaved by their own vanity." ”
Katie grew up under the influence of her mother and became a vain person.
She drifts away from the pursuit of vanity and self-satisfaction until she loses herself;
Even, for the sake of temporary vanity and comparison, he turned his marriage into a transaction.
Each of us has the right to pursue happiness and beauty, but we must grasp a measure, and we cannot throw away the blessings of our hearts for the sake of temporary vanity, and we can't satisfy ourselves in vain.
Vanity is hardly an evil deed, but all evil deeds revolve around vanity.
Once you indulge in it, you will lose yourself and even ruin your life.
Don't miss true love driven by desire
Desire is like a seed, and constant fulfillment will make it grow more rapidly.
Katie has no love for Walter, but in order to satisfy her vanity and get rid of the ridicule of her relatives, she chooses to marry Walter.
After getting married, Walter was very fond of Katie and deeply impressed Katie with meticulous care and thoughtfulness.
However, after several years of married life, Katie still regretted marrying Walter.
Katie is lively by nature, walter is not good at words, and whenever Katie chats with him, she always gets no response;
Katie loves to party and dance, walter loves to read and research.
Although the two have very different personalities and hobbies, Walter loves Katie like crazy, and Walter is willing to do anything as long as she is happy.
But while Katie enjoys this love, she is full of contempt for Walter.
In her view, Walter's love was reserved, restrained, and even hypocritical.
Lao She once said: "Marriage is the end of love, but also the attempt of love, but also the beginning of love." ”
In the face of this marriage without love and passion, Katie's heart is painful, and she can't stand such a married life.
At a party, Katie and tang sheng, a government official, see each other.
Tang Sheng is handsome and charming, instantly captivating Katie and awakening her desire for love.
In less than three months, Katie was completely caught up in Tang Sheng's sweet words; even though she knew that Tang Sheng was a husband, Katie still chose to indulge herself.
With Tang Sheng, Katie experienced the taste of love, mistakenly thought that she had met true love, and even tried to date Tang Sheng.
If reason is the compass, then desire is the storm.
Driven by desire, Katie no longer restrains herself, enjoys the excitement of love to the fullest, and loses the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
One day, when Katie and Donson are on a runaway home date, they are discovered by Walter, who has returned home early.
This completely crumbles the marriage that is not equal.
Faced with Katie's betrayal, Walter loves to hate and soon makes up his mind to punish Katie.
He gave Katie two choices: either accompany him to the epidemic-ravaged Meitan Province; or let Tang Sheng divorce and marry her.
Katie, who has six gods and no masters, went to Tang Sheng for consultation with hope, foolishly thinking that people would definitely marry her.
Tang Sheng, on the other hand, was only for fun, never had the idea of marrying Katie, and when he saw that things had been revealed, he abandoned her.
Desire is torn apart by reality, and Katie, who is disillusioned with love, will eventually suffer the consequences of herself.
As Liu Xiang said: "Those who are lustful, the horses that chase misfortune." ”
In order to satisfy her own desires, Katie fell into the trap of love, hurting the man who really loved her and ruining her own happiness.
Don't lose the courage to live at the low point of life
Katie and Walter survived a few bumpy days and finally arrived at Mae Tam Province.
In order to avoid Katie, Walter went out early and returned home every day, and almost disappeared.
In this strange environment, Katie is unwell and stays at home alone every day.
Fortunately, Walton, a customs assistant who lives nearby, often comes to Katie to chat and help her pass the time.
Walton tells Katie some stories of Chinese history, introducing the monastery located in a dangerous area.
Walton's eloquent narration aroused Katie's curiosity, and she decided to visit the monastery.
There, Katie saw the crowds of patients and the nuns' selfless dedication at the expense of their lives.
Faced with heavy and dangerous work, the nuns always maintained an optimistic attitude and patiently cared for the sick.
The spirit of great love and selfless dedication in them deeply touched Katie;
Katie is ashamed of her decadence and deeply remorseful for the vanity and shallowness of the past.
She took the initiative to beg for help from the monastery and contributed her strength to alleviate the torment in her heart.
The dean arranged for Katie to teach the girls to do sewing and take care of their daily lives.
Katie's meticulous care day after day has earned the girls' trust and affection.
Mook once said, "All we can enjoy is the joy of giving." ”
Katie volunteers at the monastery every day, and the whole person becomes spiritual and the inner world becomes more and more fulfilling.
She gradually understood that life should have love and value in the world; both to learn to be brave and to learn to pay;
Only by loving others with a brave heart can we harvest peace and tranquility.
At the same time, Katie also reacquaints herself with Walter.
He risked his life and ran to the front line of the plague to treat and save people.
In order to prevent the spread of the plague, Walter attached great importance to local security and personally commanded the army to maintain order.
Walter treats everyone with gentleness and kindness, becoming a hero in everyone's minds, and Katie admires what he does.
Just when the relationship between the two is about to ease, an accident occurs, Katie is pregnant, and the child is most likely born to Tang.
If Katie lied that the child was Walter's, she would be forgiven by Walter.
However, Katie has grown up in the tribulations and does not want to live in hypocrisy and cowardice anymore, and she decides to tell Walter the truth.
Walter, who learned the truth, could not accept such a harsh reality and fell into pain and despair.
A few days later, Walter contracted cholera at work and died.
Katie had to return to Hong Kong alone with a sad feeling.
In just a few months, Katie has experienced life and death, lost her husband, but gained the courage to face unknown challenges.
When she faced Tang Sheng's brazen entanglement again, Katie decisively withdrew and walked away from the land of right and wrong.
After learning of her mother's death, Katie made up her mind to change herself and took the initiative to take on the responsibility of caring for her father and raising the children in her womb.
Marie Curie once said: "Our most important principle is: do not make people bring you down, and do not ask things to bring down you." ”
Katie continues to transform in the pain, transforming the tribulations and pains she has experienced into courage, precipitating them into wisdom, and guiding her in her pursuit of a new life.
Life is very bitter, even if you win after surviving, you will lose the courage to live at the low point of life.
The Thai writer Tsa Gojidi once said, "Once a person becomes a slave to desire, he can never be freed." ”
Just like Katie when she was young, she was controlled and driven by desire, and once became a slave to desire;
Fortunately, she has gone through the test of life and death, miraculously regained her life, found herself with an independent soul, and escaped the control of desire.
Katie's life experience makes us understand that the greed and ugliness of human nature will make us instantly satisfied, and it will also destroy our lives and leave irreparable faults.
The only thing we can do is recognize ourselves, find our place, and bravely make a change.
After all, there is no return journey in life, and living out oneself will not leave regrets empty.
Author | Shu Tong
Image | Network (if there is infringement, please contact to delete)