《先知》(The Prophet) 享樂
Then a hermit, who visited the city once a year, came forth and said, "Speak to us of Pleasure."
And he answered, saying:
Pleasure is a freedom song,
But it is not freedom.
It is the blossoming of your desires,
But it is not their fruit.
It is a depth calling unto a height,
But it is not the deep nor the high.
It is the caged taking wing,
But it is not space encompassed.
Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom-song.
And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart; yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing.
Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it were all, and they are judged and rebuked.
I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek.
For they shall find pleasure, but not her alone:
Seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure.
Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure?
And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness.
But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement.
They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer.
Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted.
And there are among you those who are neither young to seek nor old to remember;
And in their fear of seeking and remembering they shun all pleasures, lest they neglect the spirit or offend against it.
But even in their foregoing is their pleasure.
And thus they too find a treasure though they dig for roots with quivering hands.
But tell me, who is he that can offend the spirit?
Shall the nightingale offend the stillness of the night, or the firefly the stars?
And shall your flame or your smoke burden the wind?
Think you the spirit is a still pool which you can trouble with a staff?
Oftentimes in denying yourself pleasure you do but store the desire in the recesses of your being.
Who knows but that which seems omitted today, waits for tomorrow?
Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful need and will not be deceived.
And your body is the harp of your soul,
And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.
And now you ask in your heart, "How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?"
Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,
But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.
For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,
And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,
And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.
People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.
享樂
一位每年造訪城市一次的隱士走上前說，請給我們談談享樂。
他回答道：
享樂是一首自由的歌，
但它不是自由。
它是你們綻放的希望之花，
但不是它們的果。
它是深淵對峰巔的呼喚，
但卻不是深淵，也不是峰巔。
它是鎖在籠中伸展的翅膀，
但又不是周圍環(huán)繞的空間。
哦，千真萬確，享樂是首自由的歌。
我愿你們全身心地歌唱它，卻不希望在歌唱時迷失自己的心。
你們中的一些年輕人追求享樂，仿佛它代表一切;他們受到評判和譴責。
我既不會審判他們，也不會譴責他們。我讓他們去追尋。
因為他們尋得的不僅僅是享樂;
享樂有七個姐妹，她們中最小的也比她美麗。
難道你們沒聽說過一個刨上尋根的人找到了寶藏的故事么?
你們中的一些老年人懊惱地回憶享樂，仿佛那是一種醉酒后犯下的錯誤。
但懊悔只會讓心智模糊，而不是受了懲戒。
他們應帶著感激回憶享樂，就像回憶夏季的收獲。
但如果懊悔使他們得到安慰，那就讓他們獲得慰藉吧。
你們中還有一些人既非充滿追求的青年又非沉浸于回憶的老人;
他們在對追求和回憶的恐懼中躲避所有的享樂，生怕自己疏遠或冒犯了靈魂。
但享樂也存在于他們的生活中，
因此即使他們用顫抖的手挖土尋根，他們也能找到寶藏。
不過請告訴我，有誰能冒犯靈魂呢?
夜駕會冒犯靜夜，螢火蟲會冒犯星空么?
你們的火炮和煙云會冒犯風么?
莫非你們以為靈魂是一地你們用一根木棍就可以攪亂的死水?
當你們極力抗拒享樂時，你們實際上是將享樂的欲望存儲在一個休眠的自我中。
誰不知道今天似乎被冷落的會等待到明天?
即使是你們的身體也了解自己的天然本性和合理需求，不會被蒙蔽。
你們的身體是你們靈魂的琴瑟，
它會發(fā)出甜美動人的音樂，
或者嘈雜之聲，那全在你。
現(xiàn)在你們心中疑惑："我們如何辨別享樂中的好與環(huán)呢?"
到你們的田園中去，你們就會知道采集花蜜是蜜蜂的樂趣，
而對于花朵，為蜜蜂提供蜜也是樂趣。
因為花朵對于蜜蜂是生命的源泉，
蜜蜂對于花朵是愛的使者，
對于兩者，蜜蜂與花朵，奉獻與接受的歡樂既是需要，也是無比情愿。
奧法利斯城的人們，像花朵和蜜蜂那樣享受你們的歡樂吧!
