隐身衣杨绛我们夫妇有时候说废话玩儿。
“给你一件仙家法宝，你要什么”我们都要隐身衣；各披一件，同出遨游。
我们只求摆脱羁束，到处阅历，并不想为非作歹。
可是玩得高兴，不免放肆淘气，于是惊动了人，隐身不住，得赶紧逃跑。
“阿呀!还得有缩地法！”“还要护身法!”想得越周到，要求也越多，干脆连隐身衣也不要了。
其实，如果不想干人世间所不容许的事，无需仙家法宝，凡间也有隐身衣；只是世人非但不以为宝，还惟恐穿在身上，像湿布衫一样脱不下。
因为这种隐身衣的料子是卑微。
身处卑微，人家就视而不见，见而无睹。
我记得我国笔记小The Invisible CloakMy husband and Isometimes carry on aconversation that doesn’tmake any sense. We do so justfor the fun of it.“What would you like if Icould give you something withmagic powers”We had the same wish: amagic cloak that could makeus invisible. We would throw itover our shoulders and gowandering.We had no desire to doanybody harm, just to goabout freely, to see the world.But when you’re having agood time, you are likely toget naughty, attract attention,lose your invisibility, and haveto flee.“Oh, then we’d need themagic power to shrinkdistance!””And the magicpower to protect ourselvesfrom injury!”The more we thoughtabout it, the more kinds ofmagic powers we figured weneeded. But eventually weeven abandoned the idea ofwanting a magic cape thatwould make us invisible.Actually, as long as youdon’t try to do things thatpeople in human society can’ttolerate, you don’t need animmortal from another worldto give you magic powers.There are magic cloaks thatmake you invisible in the veryworld we live in. People fail toCloak of InvisibilitySometimes my husbandand I amuse ourselves withmake-believe.‘If you had the choice ofsome magical power, whatwould you want’We both wanted a cloakof invisibility: with one foreach of us we could go onrambles together.Our idea was onlywarmed to our game we couldeasily get up to naughty tricks,in which case people wouldbecome aware of ourpresence and we would haveto beat a hasty retreat.‘Oh dear, we would haveto have winged feet too!’‘And a protective charm!’The more we went intothe implication, the more ourrequirements became, so wedecided a cloak of invisibilitywasn’t such a good idea afterall.As a matter of fact, aslong as you don’t plan to doanything that society forbids,there is no need of a magicalpower: you can find a cloak ofinvisibility in the mundaneworld. It is just that ordinarilypeople do not prize it, indeedthey are even afraid to put iton, I case like a wet shirt theywon’t be able to take it off.That is because the material ismade from humbleness. If a说里讲一人梦魂回家，见到了思念的家人，家里人却看不见他。
他开口说话，也没人听见。
家人团坐吃饭，他欣然也想入座，却没有他的位子。
身居卑微的人也仿佛这个未具人身的幽灵，会有同样的感受。
人家眼里没有你，当然视而不见；心上不理会你，就会瞠目无睹。
你的“自我”觉得受了轻忽或怠慢或侮辱，人家却未知有你；你虽然生存在人世间，却好像还未具人形，还未曾出生。
这样活一辈子，不是虽生犹如未生吗谁假如说，披了这种隐身衣如何受用，如何逍遥自在，听的人只会觉得这是发扬阿Q精神，或阐述“酸葡萄论”吧且看咱们的常言俗语，要做个“人上人”呀、“出类拔萃”呀、“出人头地”呀、“脱颖而出”呀、“出风头”或“拔尖”“冒尖”呀等等，可以想见一般人都不甘心受轻忽。
他们或悒悒而怨，或愤愤而怒，只求有朝一日挣脱身上这件隐身衣，显身而露面。
英美人把社会比作蛇阱(snake pit)。
阱里see their magic powers, andare also afraid once they putone on it will cling to them likea wet shirt that wouldn’t comeoff. This worldly magic cloak ismade of lowliness andobscurity. When you are andobscure, people will look atyou but not see you,or seeyou but not care.I recall a story in a thetradition of the "biji xiaoshuo"(informal short story). Theghost of a man returns to hishome. He sees the people he'smissed, but they don't seehim. He speaks to them butthey don't hear him. Whenthe family take their seatsaround the table for dinner, hewants to join them, butthere's no place for him.People in a lowly position canempathize with this ghost. Ifpeople don 't want to see you,they'll naturally look rightthrough you. If you 're not intheir hearts, you'll draw ablank stare. Your "ego" wouldfeel slighted, neglected, orinsulted. Although you live inthis world, it would be like youhad never been born, or hadnever acquired a bodily form.What kind of life is that Isn't ita living death' If somebodytold you how wonderful, howfree it was to wear a magiccloak that made you invisible,wouldn't you feel he wasplaying up the “spirit of Ah Q,"or invoking the "sour grapes"complexIt's obvious that noone wants to be overlooked.person’s station is humble, heor she will be looked at butnot seen, or seen but ignored.I remember that in ouranecdotal literature there is astory about a man whoreturns home in a dream tothe family he has sorelymissed, but his family cannotsee him. He opens his mouthand speaks, but his familydoes not hear him either.When the family gathersround the table to eat, hejoyfully goes to take his place,but there is no seat for him.People of humble status arelike this disembodied spectre,and will have the samefeelings. If others have noregard for you, naturally theywill look at you but not seeyou; if to their mind you are ofno consequence, they willignore you however wideopen their eyes are. Your ‘self’will feel neglected or slightedor insulted, but the otherperson will not know you arethere. Though you exist in thehuman world, it will be as ifyou have not yet taken humanform, have not yet been born.Would not a lifetime like thatbe no life at all So if youclaimed that a cloak ofinvisibility of this kind wasvery comfortable, and freedyou from all troubles andcares, your listeners wouldonly think you were consolingyourself for your inferiority,preaching ‘sour grapes’.You can see that the压压挤挤的蛇，一条条都拼命钻出脑袋，探出身子，把别的蛇排挤开，压下去；一个个冒出又没入的蛇头，一条条拱起又压下的蛇身，扭结成团、难分难解的蛇尾，你上我下，你死我活，不断的挣扎斗争。