On Reason and Passion
?卡里·纪伯伦 / Kahlil Gibran
And the priestess spoke again and said: Speak us of reason and passion.
And he answered, saying:
Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite. Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody. But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?
Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in midseas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing; and let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.
I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house. Surely you would not honor one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both.
Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows,—then let your heart say in silence, “God rests in reason.”
And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky, —then let your heart say in awe, “God moves in passion.”
And since you are a breath in God’s sphere, and a leaf in God’s forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.
女祭司开口说道:请给我们讲讲理性与热情的事。
于是先知答道:
你们的心灵常常是个战场,理性与判断、热情与渴望在上面交锋。愿我成为你们心灵的和平使者,将你们本质的一切冲突与对抗变为和谐的旋律。倘若你们自身不是和平使者,不是钟爱自身本质的人,我又该如何完成呢?
你们的理性与热情,是你们远航之魂的舵与帆。如果你们的舵或帆断了,你们就只能在海上颠簸漂浮,或者滞留在海中央。理性独自掌权,是一种局限的力量;热情不加束缚,则是自我焚烧的火焰。
所以,让你们的灵魂将理性升华到热情的极致,它将高唱;让你们的灵魂用理性来引导热情,这样,你们的热情才会历经每日的复活,宛如凤凰从灰烬中展翅重生。
愿你们把自己的判断和渴望当做你们家中两位挚爱的客人。当然,你们不会厚此薄彼;因为偏爱其中一个,便会使你同时失去两者的爱和忠诚。
在群山之中,当你们坐在白杨树的阴凉下,享受着远处田野的安宁和草原的宁静安详时——让你们的心在静谧中说:“上帝憩于理性。”
当暴风雨来临,狂风震撼森林,雷电宣告天空的庄严肃穆时——让你们的心在敬畏中说:“上帝行于热情。”
既然你们是上帝领域中的一丝气息、上帝森林里的一片树叶,那你们也应憩于理性,行于热情。
1. Would that I_______be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might_______ the discord and the rivalry of your elements_______oneness and melody. But how shall I, unless_______yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the _______of all your elements?
2. Therefore_______your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it_______sing; and let it direct your passion_______reason, that your passion may live through_______own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise_______its own ashes.
1. 理性与判断、热情与渴望在上面交锋。
2. 愿我成为你们心灵的和平使者,将你们本质的一切冲突与对抗变为和谐的旋律。
3. 让你们的灵魂用理性来引导热情,这样,你们的热情才会历经每日的复活,宛如凤凰从灰烬中展翅重生。
1. If either your sails or your rudder be broken...
either... or:其一的;或者……或者……;不是……就是……
2. Then let your heart say in silence.
in silence:寂静;无声;沉默地