Snow in August by Gao Xingjian Read Free Book Online Page A

.)
    Huineng:
    Go north and deliver people from their sufferings. ( Exit .)
     
    [ Huiming clasps his hands in salutation .
    Enter Crowd, looking anxious and frustrated .
     
    Crowd:
    Master Huiming, have you seen the barbarian from the south?
    Huiming:
    Have I seen that guy? No way! The wind has been blowing a gale on this big mountain ridge. Not a soul anywhere. The guy is lame in one foot. He’s probably fallen into a hole somewhere. Maybe he’s been eaten by a tiger or something. There isn’t a single trace of him. Forget it! Go away! Go away! Go home and carry on with your lives! ( Exit .)
     
    [ Crowd disbands reluctantly. Exit .

Act II　Scene 1
    In Which the “Wind and Banner Controversy” Occurs
     
     
    [ Two monks are hoisting a banner in front of a huge incense burner below the steps leading to the central hall of a temple. On the banner it is written: “Neither Creation Nor Extinction.” The name “Dharma Nature Temple” is inscribed on the bottom to one side .
     
    Monk A:
    “Neither Creation Nor Extinction.” What does that mean?
    Monk B:
    Mind your own business. They only told us to hoist the banner.
    Monk A:
    Just try explaining it, okay? What does it mean?
    Monk B:
    Dharma Master Yinzong is going to give a lecture on the sutra a little bit later, why don’t you ask him then?
    Monk A:
    You and I have come here to the Dharma Nature Temple for many years now. We’ve eaten our share of salt and chanted our share of sutras. But if the master asks us what kind of banner we’ve put up and we don’t know how to answer him, then wouldn’t all our efforts be a total waste?
    Monk B:
    Hoisting a banner is also good works.
    Monk A:
    This only applies to people with small natural capacity.
    Monk B:
    And you’ve got big natural capacity?
    Monk A:
    If we don’t get to the bottom of things for the correct answers, how can we develop our capacity?
    Monk B:
    Don’t waste your time talking. Let’s hurry and get this over with! You pull on that side and I’ll unroll from this side.
     
    [ The banner is hoisted and the two monks look up. The banner waves in the wind, and it waves more and more rigorously .
    Enter the monks one after another .
     
    Monk C:
    It’s so windy. Where did this wind come from?
    Monk D:
    Make sure the banner doesn’t fall and hit someone on the head. Did you tie a dead knot there?
    Monk A:
    The knot is dead, but the head is alive.
    Monk B:
    Never mind. Let it wave all it wants. Our job is done.
     
    [ Enter Huineng. He is now middle-aged, wearing straw sandals and dressed in layman’s clothing made of hemp. He looks at the banner.
    Silence. The banner is waving even more vigorously in the wind, making a flapping sound.
     
    Monk C:
    It’s such a big banner, it must be really heavy as well. How come it keeps on flapping and fluttering?
    Monk D:
    Because the wind sets the banner in motion. That’s my explanation.
    Monk C:
    But the wind is insentient, how come it moves the banner for no reason? Huh, try explaining that!
    Monk E:
    The wind is invisible. It’s the banner that moves.
    Monk C:
    The banner is insentient as well. How come it moves by itself?
    Monk F:
    It’s true neither the wind nor the banner is sentient. They move because they are compatible in their respective karma .
    Monk C:
    Karma belongs to the realm of sentient beings, therefore it is capable of movement. But the banner and the wind are both insentient, why do they also move?
     
    [ Enter Master Yinzong .
     
    Yinzong:
    Good question! Who can answer it?
    Monk D:
    When there is movement the wind is present, and when there is no movement the wind is absent. This is inherent in the wind’s nature. The banner looks as if it’s moving, but it’s actually the wind moving by itself. It is a mistake to see only the banner moving and not the wind moving by itself.
    Monk E:
    I beg to differ. A banner is capable of movement but a boulder isn’t. When the wind blows, a banner moves but a boulder remains stationary. It is