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【读书笔记】《沉思录》卷七09

沪江英语 2012-07-17 08:00
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 本书简介:
《沉思录》是古罗马皇帝奥勒留写给自己的书,内容大部分是他在鞍马劳顿中写成的。作品来自奥勒留对身羁宫廷的自己和自己所处混乱世界的感受,追求一种冷静而达观的生活。这部著作是斯多葛学派的一个里程碑,亦是温总理放在枕边,读了不下百遍的书。
本书原文由古希腊文而作,英文版选择比较权威的George Long的版本,中文版选择何怀宏的版本作参考。笔记中的英文释义摘自《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

 作者简介:
马可•奥勒留(Marcus Aurelius,公元121—180年),著名的“帝王哲学家”,古罗马帝国皇帝,在希腊文学和拉丁文学、修辞、哲学、法律、绘画方面受过很好的教育,晚期斯多葛学派代表人物之一。奥勒留也许是西方历史上唯一的一位哲学家皇帝。他是一个比他的帝国更加完美的人,他的勤奋工作最终并没有能够挽救古罗马,但是他的《沉思录》却成为西方历史上的伟大名著。

卷七09

7.33 In every pain let this thought be present, that there is no dishonour in it, nor does it make the governing intelligence worse, for it does not damage the intelligence either so far as the intelligence is rational or so far as it is social. Indeed in the case of most pains let this remark of Epicurus aid thee, that pain is neither intolerable nor everlasting, if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination: and remember this too, that we do not perceive that many things which are disagreeable to us are the same as pain, such as excessive drowsiness, and the being scorched by heat, and the having no appetite. When then thou art discontented about any of these things, say to thyself, that thou art yielding to pain.

 Notes:

rational [adj] based on reason rather than emotions
 【opp】irrational
perceive [v] 1. to notive or become aware of someting
             用法:perceive sth/that/sth to be sth
             e.g.: I perceive a change in his behaviour.
                   2. to understand or think of somebody/something in a particular way.
             e.g.: She did not perceive herself as disabled.

7.34 How do we know if Telauges was not superior in character to Socrates? For it is not enough that Socrates died a more noble death, and disputed more skilfully with the sophists, and passed the night in the cold with more endurance, and that when he was bid to arrest Leon of Salamis, he considered it more noble to refuse, and that he walked in a swaggering way in the streets- though as to this fact one may have great doubts if it was true. But we ought to inquire, what kind of a soul it was that Socrates possessed, and if he was able to be content with being just towards men and pious towards the gods, neither idly vexed on account of men's villainy, nor yet making himself a slave to any man's ignorance, nor receiving as strange anything that fell to his share out of the universal, nor enduring it as intolerable, nor allowing his understanding to sympathize with the affects of the miserable flesh.

7.35 Nature has not so mingled the intelligence with the composition of the body, as not to have allowed thee the power of circumscribing thyself and of bringing under subjection to thyself all that is thy own; for it is very possible to be a divine man and to be recognised as such by no one. Always bear this in mind; and another thing too, that very little indeed is necessary for living a happy life. And because thou hast despaired of becoming a dialectician and skilled in the knowledge of nature, do not for this reason renounce the hope of being both free and modest and social and obedient to God.

 先尝试自己翻译一下吧,参考译文见下:

中文翻译:
7.33 在任何痛苦中都让这一思想出现,即在这痛苦中并没有耻辱,它并不使支配的理智变坏,因为就理智是理性或社会的而言,它并不损害理智。的确,在很痛苦的时候也可以让伊壁鸠鲁的这些话来帮助你:痛苦不是不可忍受或永远持续的,只要你记住它有它的界限,只要你不在想像中增加什么东西给它,也记住这一点,我们并没有觉察,我们把许多使我们不惬意的事情也感觉为痛苦,像十分瞌睡、燥热和失去胃口。然后当你不满于这些事情时,你就对自己说,我是在遭受痛苦。

7.34 我们怎么知道泰拉格斯在品格上不如苏格拉底优越呢?因为仅下面这些还是不够的:苏格拉底有一更高贵的死;更巧妙地与智者辩论;更能忍耐寒冷的冬夜;当他被命令去逮捕萨拉米的莱昂时,他认为拒绝是更高尚的;他昂首阔步地在街上走过-虽然这一事实人们很可能怀疑其真实性。此外我们还应当探究:苏格拉底拥有一颗什么样的灵魂,是否他能够满足于公正地对待人和虔诚地对待神,不无益地为人们的犯罪苦恼,同时也不使自己屈服于任何人的无知,不把从宇宙降临于他的任何事情看做是奇怪的,不把它作为不可忍受的东西,不允许他的理智与可怜的肉体的爱好发生共鸣。

7.35 自然并没有如此混合你的理智与身体结构,以致不容许你有确定自身的力量和使你自己的一切服从你支配的力量;因为成为一个神圣的人却不被人如此承认是很有可能的。要总是把这牢记在心:过一种幸福生活所需要的东西确实是很少的。不要因为你无望变成一个自然知识领域中的辩证家和能手,就放弃成为一个自由、谦虚、友善和遵从神的人的希望。

回顾:《沉思录》读书笔记系列>>

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