Indeed, for a living being there is no such thing as true silence, for silence itself is a revelation of the mind and the heart, an echo of the soul of a different form.

 

Some people use silence as a disguise of the emptiness of the head.

 

Some use it as a means to depict¹（描述） their disorientation and melancholy（忧郁，悲哀）.

 

And some use it as a way of expressing their angers and sorrows.

 

Silence usually is ephemeral. It reminds one of the bronze bells dangling² from a pagoda's eaves; on windless days they are a decoration upon the age-weathered beauty, but with wind they give out wonderful tinkling³ and jingling⁴ metallurgic（冶金学的） sounds, as if echoing age-old stories of long, long ago...

 

Do you not think the same of silent people?

 

They say that "silence is golden", but of what nature is this "gold"? It can include integrity, honesty and kindness; it can stand for indifference⁵ to and detachment from fame and fortune; but it can also act as an excuse for hypocrisy⁶, slyness and cowardice⁷... the glittering of gold may not necessarily be the most brilliant lustre⁸ in the world.

 

Can it be that permanent silence is only represented by death?

 

Perhaps even death cannot represent true silence, for the carrier of the soul can turn into dust, so that the sincere and wise voices from the bottom of the heart will trigger long-lasting echoes in the seas of human hearts.

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