|
|
品格——之一
何谓善人？无损于世者则谓之善人；何谓恶人？有害于世者则谓之恶人。
含徵曰：尚有有害于世而反邀善人之誉。此实为好利而显为名高者，则又恶人之尤。
What is a good man? Simply one whose life is useful to the world.
And a bad man is simply one whose life is harmful to others.
Hanchen: There are, however, those who are harmful and yet enjoy a
good reputation, and who
manage to profit by a show of unselfishness. These are the worst of
all.
品格——之二
无善无恶是圣人，善多恶少是贤者，善少恶多是庸人，有恶无善是小人，有善无恶是仙佛。
（冒）青若曰：昔人云，善可为而不可为。
Those beyond good and evil are sages. Those who have more good than
bad in them are
distinguished persons. Common men have more evil than good, and the
scum and riffraff of
society have no good at all. Fairies and Buddha have only good and
no evil.
Chinjo: An ancient one said, “One should do good, of course, but
there are times when one should not."
品格——之三
昭君以和亲而显，刘蕡(fei4)以下第而传，可谓之不幸，不可谓之缺憾。
含徵曰：若故折黄雀腿而后医之，亦不可。
（注）昭君是王嫱的字，她是汉元帝宫女，以貌美而赐匈奴和亲而知名；刘蕡是唐文宗时进
士，大（太）和二年，举贤良对策，以劝帝诛灭权奸而不获取，这里没有译出来正是语堂先
生所说的，需要详加解释才能使西方读者明白的事。
Some men and women left a name for posterity because they were
victims of some adverse
circumstances. One can say that they were most unfortunate, but I
doubt that one should express regret for them.
Hanchen: True enough. On the other hand, it would hardly be right
to break the leg of a sparrow and then bind it up mercifully.
品格——之四
为浊富不若为清贫，以忧生不若以乐死。
（吴）野人曰：我宁愿为浊富。
竹坡曰：我愿太奢，愿为清富，焉能遂愿？
Be clean and poor rather than be filthy rich; accept death cheerily
when it comes rather than be worried about life.
Yehjen: I prefer to be filthy rich.
Chupo: My wish is to be clean and rich. But that is hard to come
by. Am I wishing too much?
品格——之五
天下唯鬼最富，生前囊无一文，死后每饶楮镪；天下唯鬼最尊，生前或受欺凌，死后必多跪
拜。
野人曰：世于贫士，辄目为穷鬼，则又何也？
（陈）康畴曰：穷鬼若死则并称尊矣。
It is not bad to be a ghost. One who was penniless has a lot of
paper money burnt for his benefit one who was pushed around all his
life is worshiped by people on their knees after his death.
Yehjen: Then why do we speak of a poor scholar as a "poor
devil"?
Kangchou: When the poor devil dies, he, too, is honored.
品格——之六
富贵而劳悴，不若安闲之贫贱；贫贱而骄傲，不若谦恭之富贵。
（曹）实庵曰：富贵而又安闲，自能谦恭也。
（许）师六曰：富贵而又谦恭，乃能安闲耳。
竹坡曰：谦恭安闲，乃能长富贵也。
Rather lead a poor but leisurely life than be success and lead a
busy one. But better be simple though rich, than be poor and
proud.
Shih-an: A man who is rich and at the same time has leisure can
afford to be simple.
Shihliu: No. First learn to be simple though rich. Then of course
you have leisure galore.
Chupo: To lead a simple and leisurely life makes wealth and
position endure.
品格——之七
贫而无谄，富而无骄，古人之所贤也，贫而无骄，富而无谄，今人之所少也，足以知世风之
降矣。
（许）耒庵曰：战国时已有贫贱骄人之说矣。
竹坡曰：有一人一时，而对此谄对彼骄者更难。
The ancients praised those who were proud though poor, and not
snobbish though rich. Now in
modern days it is difficult to find the poor who are not snobbish
and the rich who are not haughty.
Lei-an: We notice that as far back as in the Warring Kingdoms
[fifth to third centuries B.C.] there were people who were poor but
proud.
Chupo: The most unbearable are those who grovel before some and are
haughty toward others.
品格——之八
文人每好鄙薄富人，然于诗文之佳者，又往往以金玉珠玑锦绣誉之，则又何也？
含徵曰：富人嫌其悭且俗耳，非嫌其珠玉文绣也。
竹坡曰：不文虽富可鄙，能文虽穷可敬。
云士曰：竹坡之言是真公道说话。
若金曰：富人之可鄙者在吝，或不好史书，或畏交游，或趋炎热而轻忽寒士，若非然者，则
富翁大有裨益人处，何可少之？
Scholars often jeer at the rich. Then when they praise a piece of
composition, why do they
compare it to gold, jade and gems, and brocade?
Hanchen: The rich deserve contempt only when they are uncultured or
stingy. We do not object to their peals and jade.
Chupo: It has nothing to do with riches or poverty. It is just a
question whether one is educated or not.
Yunshih: What Chupo says is fair.
Jochin: We just want the rich to have respect for learning and
culture. They can do a great deal of good when they can see the
point.
品格——之九
黑与白交，黑能污白，白不能掩黑；香与臭混，臭能胜香，香不能敌臭，此君子小人相攻之
大势也。
弟木山曰：人必喜白而恶黑，黜臭而取香，此又君子必胜小人之理也，理在又乌论乎势。
永清曰：当今以臭攻臭者不少。
Black can besmirch white and a bad odor wipe out a fragrance
easily, but not vice versa. This is what happens when a gentleman
is confronted by a cad or a sneak.
[Young brother] Mushan: Men after all prefer white to black and the
fragrant to what stinks. So in the long run, the gentleman must
win.
Yungching: Nowadays it is not at all unusual to find a skunk
fighting another skunk.
品格——之十
耻之一字，所以治君子；痛之一字，所以治小人。
竹坡曰：若使君子以耻治小人，则有耻且格；小人以痛报君子，则尽忠报国。
语堂曰：这是真知卓见。
Remind a gentleman of shame and threaten a sneak with pain. It
always works.
Chupo: Sometimes, though, a gentleman can awaken a sneak with a
sense of shame, and a sneak
can make a heroic sacrifice for his country by enduring pain.
Yutang: What a wise remark! This is rare perception.
品格——之十一
无益之施舍，莫过于斋僧；无益之诗文，莫过于祝寿。
（殷）简堂曰：若诗文有笔资，亦未尝不可。
Nothing is more bootless than to give money to the monks, and
nothing quite such a waste of time as writing eulogies on the
occasion of someone’s birthday.
Chientang: If one is paid for such writing, why not?
品格——之十二
宁为小人之所骂，毋为君子之所鄙；宁为盲主司之所摈弃，毋为诸名宿之所不知。
若金曰：不为小人所骂便是乡愚，若为君子所鄙断非佳生。
I would rather be criticized by the rabble than despised by a
gentleman, and rather fail at the imperial examinations than be
unknown to great scholars.
Jochin: Not to be criticized by the common herd is to be one of
them, and a man despised by a gentleman cannot be a “fine
scholar”.
品格——之十三
傲骨不可无，傲心不可有；无傲骨则近于鄙夫，有傲心不得为君子。
天外曰：道学之言，才人之笔。
A man must have pride in his character [literally “in his bones”],
but not in his heart. Not to have pride in character is to be with
the common herd, and to have pride in one’s heart does not belong
to a gentleman.
Tienwai: Here is a moral truth expressed beautifully by a gifted
writer.
品格——之十四
人非圣贤，安能无所不知。只知其一，惟恐不止其一，复求知其二者，上也；止知其一，因
人言始知其二者，次也；止知其一，人言有其二而莫之信者，又其次也；止知其一，恶人言
有其二者，斯下之下矣。
星远曰：兼听则明，心斋所以深于知也。
永清曰：圣贤大学问，不意于清语得之。
No man can know everything. The best and highest kind of man knows
something, but is sure that there is something he does not know and
seeks it. Next come those who know one point of view,
but admit another point of view when told. Next come those who will
not accept it when told, and lowest are those who know one side of
a question and hate to have people tell them the other side.
Shingyuan: It takes an intelligent man to listen.
Yungching: This is really the wisdom of the sages, expressed in a
casual conversational style.
品格——之十五
武人不苟战，是为武中之文；文人不迂腐，是为文中之武。
司直曰：是真文人必不迂腐。
A military man who does not talk lightly of war is also a cultured
man; a cultured man who does not rest with his smug opinions has
something of the conqueror’s spirit.
Szechih: A really cultured man is never smug.
品格——之十六
文人讲武事，大都纸上谈兵；武将论文章，半属道听途说。
（吴）街南曰：今之武将讲武事，亦属纸上谈兵；今之文人论文章，大都道听途说。
A literary man discussing wars and battles is mostly an armchair
strategist; a military man who discusses literature relies mostly
on rumors picked up from hearsay.
Chiehnan: Nowadays, when a military man discusses wars and battles,
it is also mostly armchair strategy, and when a literary man
discusses literature, it is also mostly based on rumors picked up
from hearsay.
品格——之十七
圣贤者，天地之替身。
A sage speaks for the universe.
品格——之十八
天极不难做，只须生仁人君子有才德者二三十人足矣，君一相一冢宰一，及诸路总制抚军是
也。
九烟曰：吴歌有云，“做天切莫做四月天”，可见天亦有难做之时。
云士曰：极诞极奇之话，极真极确之话。
语堂曰：天把暴君用雷劈死好了，使千千万万人可免于受苦，挨饿，死亡，谁能说上天为甚
么不这样做？
Is it very difficult for heaven [God] to bring peace to the world?
I do not think so. All he needs to do is send into this world about
two dozen great, upright men—one to be the king, one to be prime
minister, one to be crown prince, and the rest to be provincial
governors.
Chiuyuan: It is difficult to be God and satisfy everybody. The
proverb says, “Do not be the sky in April.”
Yunshih: A very true statement, but a strange, striking way of
putting it.
Yutang: Or for God just to strike a tyrant dead with a thunderbolt
and save millions from suffering, starvation, and death. Who will
answer the question of why God did not do it?
[注]张潮是明末清初人，生卒年月不详。语堂先生说张潮卒年当在 1698 年，即清康熙三十
七年以后。这条说“天极不难做……君一相一冢宰一……”云云，查明清官制均不设宰相一
职，而“冢宰”为周官名。《周礼·天官·冢宰》：“乃立天官冢宰，使帅其属而掌帮治”也
等于是宰相，但并非明或清朝的官职，不知何以重覆混淆如此。语堂先生在这里将冢宰译为
crown prince 恐怕也是无办法中（因为不能删改原文）的一个想当然的办法吧。
品格——之十九
予尝谓二氏不可废，非袭夫大养济院之陈言也。盖名山胜景，我辈每思蹇裳就之，使非琳宫
梵刹，则倦时无可驻足，饥时谁与授餐？忽有疾风暴雨，五大夫果真足恃乎？又或丘壑深邃，
非一日可了，岂能露宿以待明日乎？虎豹蛇虺，能保其不为人患乎？又或为士大夫所有，果
能不问主人，任我之登陟凭吊而莫之禁乎？不特此也，甲之所有，乙思起而夺之，是启争端
也；祖父之所创建，子孙贫力不能修葺，其倾颓之状，反足令山川减色矣，然此特就名山胜
境言之耳，即城市之内，与夫四达之衢，亦不可少此一种。客游可作居停，一也；长途可以
少憩，二也；夏之茗，冬之姜汤，复可以济役夫负戴之困，三也，凡此皆就事理言之，非二
氏福报之说也。
语堂曰：这是保存佛教道教的妙论。
I think Buddhism and Taoism are most useful and should not be
destroyed. For when we visit the famous mountains, it is often
difficult to find a good resting place for tired feet, or have
meals and refreshments except at the temples, or to rush into
shelter in case of rain. Sometimes a journey takes several days,
and on cannot stop in the open overnight without fear of tigers and
leopards… But even in cities, it is necessary to have temples for a
stopover in long journeys, for rest in a short one, for having tea
in summer, ginger soup in winter, and for a rest for the carriers.
This is a practical consideration, and has nothing to do with the
theory of retribution.
Yutang: What a curious defense for the existence of Buddhism and
Taoism!
|
|
