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Theodore Parker

西奧多.帕克

作者簡介

西奧多.帕克（Theodore Parker，1810—1860），美國牧師、社會活動家、廢奴主義者，美國萊克星頓戰(zhàn)役中領(lǐng)導民兵的約翰.帕克（John Parker）之孫。

帕克的著作并不多，但留下的名言膾炙人口。林肯《葛底斯堡演說》中“民有、民治、民享的政府”（government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people）的警句，即為帕克于1850年原創(chuàng)。帕克的另一名句“道德之途前路漫漫，但終將歸于正義”（The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.）常被黑人民權(quán)領(lǐng)袖馬丁.路德.金（Martin Luther King Jr.）在演說中引用，也繡在了奧巴馬總統(tǒng)白宮辦公室的地毯上。

本文選自1880年出版的《大千世界人與事的教誨》（Lessons from the World of Matter and the World of Man）。作為著名牧師，帕克的講道吸引了大量聽眾。他的此篇文字也仿佛一次講道，將閱讀的樂趣娓娓道來。文中將書中思想之美比作奇異的花，將偉大作品喻為思想的航船，事例生動，說理透徹。

The pleasures of the intellect not creative, but only recipient, have never been fully appreciated. What a joy is there in a good book, writ by some great master of thought, who breaks into beauty, as in summer the meadow into grass and dandelions and violets, with geraniums, and manifold sweetness. As an amusement, that of reading is worth all the rest. What pleasure in science, in literature, in poetry, for any man who will but open his eye and his heart to take it in. What delight an audience of men who never speak, take in some great orator, who looks into their faces, and speaks into their hearts, and then rains a meteoric shower of stars, falling from his heaven of genius before their eyes; or, far better still, with a whole day of sunlight warms his audience, so that every manly and womanly excellence in them buds and blossoms with fragrance, one day to bear most luscious fruit before God, fruit for mortality, fruit for eternity not less.

才智的快樂不在于創(chuàng)造，而在于接納。人們從未完全接受這一觀點。偉大思想家的優(yōu)秀名作充滿樂趣，綻放出美感，就像夏日牧場上長出青草、蒲公英、紫羅蘭、天竺葵，散發(fā)各種芳香。作為一種消遣，閱讀能與其他任何娛樂相媲美。任何愿意睜開雙眼、敞開心扉的讀者，都能從科學、文學、詩歌中獲得樂趣。有些作者從不說話，卻勝于雄辯；他們洞察讀者的表情，向讀者的內(nèi)心說話，在他們眼前灑下來自智慧殿堂的流星雨。抑或，作者會鋪灑整日的陽光，溫暖讀者的心田，讓每位男女讀者心中的優(yōu)秀品質(zhì)都發(fā)芽開花，散發(fā)芳香，有朝一日在上帝面前結(jié)出最豐美的果實、易朽的果實、永恒的果實。這些讀者也是非常愉快的。

I once knew a hard-working man, a farmer and mechanic, who in the winter-nights rose a great while before day, and out of the darkness coaxed him at least two hours of hard study, and then when the morning peeped over the eastern hills, he yoked his oxen and went forth to his daily work, or in his shop he laboured all day long; and when the night came, he read aloud some simple book to his family; but when they were snugly laid away in their sleep, the great-minded mechanic took to his hard study anew; and so, year out and year in, he went on, neither rich nor much honoured, hardly entreated by daily work, and yet he probably had a happiness in his heart and mind which the whole county might have been proud to share.

I fear we do not know what a power of immediate pleasure and permanent profit is to be had in a good book. The books which help you the most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is by easy reading; every man that tries it finds it so. But a great book that comes from a great thinker—it is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth, with beauty too. It sails the ocean, driven by the winds of heaven, breaking the level sea of life into beauty where it goes, leaving behind it a train of sparkling loveliness, widening as the ship goes on. And what treasures it brings to every land, scattering the seeds of truth, justice, love, and piety, to bless the world in ages yet to come.

我認識一個勤勞的人，他既是農(nóng)夫，也是技工。冬天，當天還沒亮，窗外還是漆黑一片時，他就早早起床刻苦讀書，至少看上兩個小時。直到清晨的陽光悄悄爬上東邊的山坡，他才趕著牛群開始日復一日的耕種，或者到他的小店里忙上一天。夜幕降臨后，他為家人朗讀簡單的書籍。家人安然睡去后，這位意志力強大的技工繼續(xù)埋頭苦讀。就這樣，年復一年，他并未致富或受人崇敬，日常工作也未見起色，但他心中或許充滿了幸福，這種幸福是全縣人都樂于分享的。

好書能立即令人快樂，并帶來長遠的益處。我擔心人們不了解書的力量會如此強大。最發(fā)人深省的書最能對人有所助益。輕松的閱讀最難讓人獲取知識，每個嘗試過的人都知道這點。但偉大思想家的偉大作品猶如思想的航船，滿載真與美。這艘船在天堂之風的推動下，在人生之海中破浪前行，將所到之處化為美好，留下一道道美麗的波紋，閃閃發(fā)光。隨著船的行進，波紋越蕩越寬。它給予每一片土地財富，播撒真理、公正、愛與虔誠的種子，在未來的日子里保佑這個世界。

偉大思想家的偉大作品猶如思想的航船，滿載真與美。這艘船在天堂之風的推動下，在人生之海中破浪前行，將所到之處化為美好，留下一道道美麗的波紋，閃閃發(fā)光。

Theodore Parker 西奧多?帕克