Chapter 15
His house is a temple. In the entrance hall hangs a framed picture of Ganesha, he of the elephant head. He sits facing out-rosy-coloured, pot-bellied, crowned and smiling - three hands holding various objects, the fourth held palm out in
blessing1 and in greeting. He is the lord overcomer of obstacles, the god of good luck, the god of wisdom, the patron of learning. Simpatico in the highest. He brings a smile to my lips. At his feet is an
attentive2 rat. His vehicle. Because when Lord Ganesha travels, he travels atop a rat. On the wall opposite the picture is a plain wooden Cross.
In the living room, on a table next to the sofa, there is a small framed picture of the
Virgin3 Mary of Guadalupe, flowers tumbling from her open
mantle4. Next to it is a framed photo of the black-robed Kaaba, holiest sanctum of Islam, surrounded by a ten-thousandfold
swirl5 of the faithful. On the television set is a
brass6 statue of Shiva as Nataraja, the cosmic lord of the dance, who controls the motions of the universe and the flow of time. He dances on the
demon7 of ignorance, his four arms held out in choreographic gesture, one foot on the demon's back, the other lifted in the air. When Nataraja brings this foot down, they say time will stop.
There is a
shrine8 in the kitchen. It is set in a cupboard whose door he has replaced with a fretwork arch. The arch partly hides the yellow light bulb that in the evenings lights up the shrine. Two pictures rest behind a small altar: to the side, Ganesha again, and in the centre, in a larger frame, smiling and blue-skinned, Krishna playing the
flute9. Both have
smears10 of red and yellow powder on the glass over their foreheads. In a
copper11 dish on the altar are three silver murtis, representations. He identifies them for me with a
pointed12 finger: Lakshmi; Shakti, the mother goddess, in the form of Parvati; and Krishna, this time as a playful baby crawling on all fours. In between the goddesses is a stone Shiva yoni linga, which looks like half an avocado with a phallic
stump13 rising from its centre, a Hindu symbol representing the male and female energies of the universe. To one side of the dish is a small conch shell set on a pedestal; to the other, a small silver handbell. Grains of rice lie about, as well as a flower just beginning to
wilt14. Many of these items are anointed with
dabs15 of yellow and red.
On the shelf below are various articles of devotion: a beaker full of water; a copper spoon; a lamp with a wick coiled in oil; sticks of
incense16; and small bowls full of red powder, yellow powder, grains of rice and lumps of sugar.
There is another Virgin Mary in the dining room.
Upstairs in his office there is a brass Ganesha sitting cross-legged next to the computer, a wooden Christ on the Cross from Brazil on a wall, and a green prayer rug in a corner. The Christ is
expressive17 - He suffers. The prayer rug lies in its own clear space. Next to it, on a low bookstand, is a book covered by a cloth. At the centre of the cloth is a single Arabic word, intricately woven, four letters: an alif, two lams and a ha. The word God in Arabic.
The book on the bedside table is a Bible.
第十五章
他的家是一座庙宇。门厅里挂着一幅镶了框的象头神（ 象头神，湿婆与雪山神女之子，司掌文学与艺术，能排除障碍。象头神常见的像色红、大腹、象牙一全一残，四臂四手，分执套索、刺棒、巨簟（内装米或甜食）和 断牙。这四手也可颁恩或庇护受难者。）的画像，他长着一个大象头。他面朝外坐着——玫瑰红的肤色，肥大的肚子，头戴王冠，面露微笑——三只手拿着不同的物 体，第四只手掌心向外，在给人祝福，向入问好。他是征服障碍之王，幸运之神，智慧之神，知识的庇护神。最高的和谐。他让微笑浮上了我的嘴唇。在他脚下是一 只聚精会神的大鼠。他的坐骑。因为象头神是骑着大鼠旅行的。对面墙上的画上是一个朴素的十字架。
在起居室里，沙发旁边的桌上，有一幅镶了框的瓜达卢佩圣母马利亚的小画像，鲜花从她敞开的斗篷里撒落下来。画像旁边是一张镶了框的覆盖着黑布的天房的照 片，那是伊斯兰教最神圣的圣所，周围环绕着一千层忠诚的教徒。电视机上有一尊舞王形象的湿婆（湿婆，印度教主神之一，集水火不相容的特性于一身，既是毁灭 者回生者，既是大苦行者又是色欲的象征，既有牧养众生的慈心又有复仇的凶险。）铜雕像，他是宇宙的舞蹈之王，控制着宇宙的运动和时间的流动。他在无知这个 恶魔的身上跳舞，四只胳膊以舞蹈姿势伸展着，一只脚踩在恶魔背上，另一只脚提在空中。当舞王把脚放下来时，他们说，时间就停止了。
厨房里有一个神龛。神龛放在一只碗橱里，橱门被他换成了装饰着浮雕细工的拱门。拱门部分地挡住了晚上照亮神龛的黄色灯泡。
一座小圣坛后面有两幅画像：旁边是另一幅泉头神的画像，中间大一些的画框里是面带微笑，蓝色皮肤的克利须那（克利须邳，黑天，印度教主神之一毗湿奴 的主要化身。）在吹笛子。两尊神的额头上方的玻璃上都有红色和黄色粉末的痕迹。在圣坛上的一只铜盘子里有三座银像——神的代表（印度敖认为，众神都存在于 他们的像里。）。他用手指指着一一向我说明：吉祥天女，化身为雪山神女（雪山神女，漫妥之妻，代表萨克蒂女神的仁慈一面。）的女神之主萨克蒂（萨克蒂，印 度敖三大派之一性力教所崇拜的量高女神，是众女神之主或某一男神（如湿婆）的配偶。），还有克利须那，这次是手脚并用在爬着的顽皮耍孩的样子。在两尊女神 之间有一尊石雕的约尼一林伽（约尼，代表女性生殖器，象征湿婆的配偶女神。林伽，代表男性生殖器，象征湿婆。）湿婆，看上去像中间竖着一个男根的半个鳄 梨，这是一个印度教的象征，代表着宇宙的男性和女性力量。盘子一边是放在垫座上的一只小海螺；另一边是一只小小的银子做的手摇铃。四周放着米粒，还有刚刚 开始枯萎的鲜花。很多东西上面都轻轻涂了黄色和红色。
下面一层架子上放着各种各样奉献的东西：一只装满了水的烧杯；一把铜勺子；一盏灯芯缩在油里的油灯；几枝香；还有几只盛满了红色粉末、黄色粉末、米粒和糖块的碗。
餐厅里还有一幅圣母马利亚画像。
在楼上他的办公室里，电脑旁边有一尊盘腿坐着的象头神的铜雕像，墙上挂着一尊从巴西买来的木雕十字架上的耶稣像，角落里放着一块绿色跪垫。耶稣的表情丰富 ——他在忍受痛苦。跪垫躺在自己清清爽爽的地方。跪垫旁边一个矮阅览架上放着一本书，书上盖着一块布。布中间有一个阿拉伯宇，织得非常精细，有四个字母： 一个alif，两个lam和一个ha。这个字在阿拉伯文里是上帝的意思。
阅览架上的那本书是<圣经>。
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