On Crime and Punishment
Thenone of the judges of the city stood forth and said, Speak to us of Crime and Punishment.
Andhe answered, saying:
Itis when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind,
Thatyou, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore untoyourself.
And for that wrong committed must you knock andwait a while unheeded/?n'hid?d/ at the gate of the blessed.
Likethe ocean is your god-self;
Itremains for ever undefiled.
And like the ether/'iθ?/ it lifts but the winged/w??d/.
Evenlike the sun is your god-self;
Itknows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent. Butyour god-self dwells not alone in your being.
Muchin you is still man, and much in you is not yet man,
Buta shapeless pigmy that walks asleep in the mist searching for its ownawakening.
Andof the man in you would I now speak.
Forit is he and not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist, that knows crime andthe punishment of crime.
Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong/ as though he were not one of you, but astranger unto you/ and anintruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous/ cannot rise beyond the highest/ which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest/ which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow /but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, So thewrong-doer cannot do wrong /withoutthe hidden will of you all.
Likea procession you walk together towards your god-self.
You are the way and the wayfarers/?we?f?r?/.
And when one of you falls down /he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumblingstone.
Ay,and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yetremoved not the stumbling stone.
Andthis also, though the word lie heavy upon your hearts:
Themurdered is not unaccountable for his own murder,
Andthe robbed is not blameless in being robbed.
Therighteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked,
Andthe white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon.
Yea,the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured,
Andstill more often the condemned is the burden bearer for the guiltless andunblamed.
You cannot separate the just from the unjust/ and the good from the wicked;
For they stand together before the face of the sun/ even as the black thread and the white arewoven together.
Andwhen the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth, andhe shall examine the loom also.
Ifany of you would bring to judgment the unfaithful wife,
Lethim also weigh the heart of her husband in scales, and measure his soul withmeasurements.
Andlet him who would lash the offender look unto the spirit of the offended.
Andif any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the ax unto theevil tree, let him see to its roots;
Andverily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful andthe fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth.
Andyou judges who would be just,
What judgment pronounce you upon him /who though honest in the flesh yet is a thief in spirit?
What penalty lay you upon him/ who slays in the flesh yet is himself slain in the spirit?
Andhow prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor,
Yetwho also is aggrieved and outraged?
And how shall you punish those whose remorse/r?'m?rs/ is already greater than their misdeeds?
Isnot remorse the justice which is administered by that very law which you wouldfain serve?
Yet you cannot lay remorse upon the innocen/t nor lift it from the heart of the guilty.
Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze uponthemselves. And you who would understand justice, how shall you /unless you look upon all deeds in thefullness of light?
Only then shall you know that the erect and the fallen are but oneman standing in twilight between the night of his pigmy-self/ and the day of his god-self, And that thecorner-stone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in itsfoundation.
罪 與 罰
于是本城的法官中，有一個走上前來說，請給我們談罪與罰。
他回答說：
當你的靈性隨風飄蕩的時候，
你孤零而失慎地對別人也就是對自己犯了過錯。
為著所犯的過錯，你必須去叩那受福者之門，要被怠慢地等待片刻。
你們的神性象海洋；
他永遠純潔不染，
又像以太，他只幫助有翼者上升。
他們的神性也像太陽；
他不知道田鼠的徑路，也不尋找蛇虺的洞穴。
但是你們的神性，不是獨居在你們里面。
在你們里面，有些仍是人性，有些還不成人性。
只是一個未成形的侏儒，睡夢中在煙霧里蹣跚，自求覺醒。
我現(xiàn)在所要說的，就是你們的人性。
因為那知道罪與罪的刑罰的，是他，而不是你的神性，也不是煙霧中的侏儒。
我常聽見你們論議到一個犯了過失的人，仿佛他不是你們的同人，只象是個外人，是個
你們的世界中的闖入者。
我卻要說，連那圣潔和正直的，也不能高于你們每人心中的至善。
所以那奸邪的懦弱的，也不能低于你們心中的極惡。
如同一片樹葉，除非得到全樹的默許，不能獨自變黃。
所以那作惡者，若沒有你們大家無形中的慫恿，也不會作惡。
如同一個隊伍，你們一同向著你們的神性前進。
你們是道，也是行道的人。
當你們中間有人跌倒的時候，他是為了他后面的人而跌倒，是一塊絆腳石的警告。
是的，他也為他前面的人而跌倒，因為他們的步履雖然又快又穩(wěn)，卻沒有把那絆腳石挪
開。
還有這個，雖然這些話會重壓你的心：
被殺者對于自己的被殺不能不負咎，被劫者對于自己的被劫不能不受責。
正直的人，對于惡人的行為，也不能算無辜。
清白的人，對于罪人的過犯，也不能算不染。
是的，罪犯往往是被害者的犧牲品，刑徒更往往為那些無罪無過的人肩負罪擔。
你們不能把至公與不公，至善與不善分開；因為他們一齊站在太陽面前，如同織在一起
的黑線和白線，
黑線斷了的時候，織工就要視察整塊的布，也要察看那機杼。
你們中如有人要審判一個不忠誠的妻子，
讓他也拿天平來稱一稱她丈夫的心，拿尺來量一量他的靈魂。
讓鞭撻擾人者的人，先察一察那被擾者的靈性。
你們?nèi)缬腥艘哉x之名，砍伐一棵惡樹，讓他先察看樹根；
他一定能看出那好的與壞的，能結實與不能結實的樹根，
都在大地的沉默的心中，糾結在一處。
你們這些愿持公正的法官，
你們將怎樣裁判那忠誠其外而盜竊其中的人？
你們又將怎樣刑罰一個肉體受戮，而在他自己是心靈遭滅的人？
你們又將怎樣控告那行為上刁猾、暴戾，
而事實上也是被威逼、被虐待的人呢？
你們又將怎樣責罰那悔心已經(jīng)大于過失的人？
懺悔不就是你們所喜歡奉行的法定的公道么？
然而你們卻不能將懺悔放在無辜者的身上，也不能將它從罪人心中取出。
不期然地它要在夜中呼喚，使人們醒起，反躬自省。
你們這些愿意了解公道的人，若不在大光明中視察一切的行為，你們怎能了解呢？
只在那時，你們才知道那直立與跌倒的，只是一個站在侏儒性的黑夜與神性的白日的黃
昏中的人，
也要知道那大殿的角石，也不高于那最低的基石。
書目：
先知?沙與沫：英漢對照/ （黎巴嫩）紀伯倫著：冰心譯. -南京：譯林出版社，2015.4
音樂來源：
Mychael Danna & Jeff Danna performing The Prison (Psuedo Video). (C)2017 Breadwinner Canada Inc./ Cartoon Saloon (Breadwinner) Ltd./ MelusineProductions S.A., under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment https://vevo.ly/swsvPl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FljCYPNDQ0Y&list=RDtXxfueP0sNs&index=10
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