Hippopotamus Post

第一章第8段 The theory of the unmorality of art has established itself firmly in the strictly artistic classes. They are free to produce anything they like. They are free to write a "Paradise Lost" in which Satan shall conquer God. They are free to write a "Divine Comedy" in which heaven shall be under the floor of hell. And what have they done? Have they produced in their universality anything grander or more beautiful than the things uttered by the fierce Ghibbeline Catholic, by the rigid Puritan schoolmaster? We know that they have produced only a few roundels. Milton does not merely beat them at his piety, he beats them at their own irreverence. In all their little books of verse you will not find a finer defiance of God than Satan's. Nor will you find the grandeur of paganism felt as that fiery Christian felt it who described Faranata lifting his head as in disdain of hell. And the reason is very obvious. Blasphemy is an artistic effect, because blasphemy depe...

在這陰雨綿綿的天氣，有什麼比讀一本好書更享受....(睡覺？) 因此我們就繼續來讀吧！ Heretics第一章第五段 But there are some people, nevertheless—and I am one of them—who think that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe. We think that for a landlady considering a lodger, it is important to know his income, but still more important to know his philosophy. We think that for a general about to fight an enemy, it is important to know the enemy's numbers, but still more important to know the enemy's philosophy. We think the question is not whether the theory of the cosmos affects matters, but whether in the long run, anything else affects them. In the fifteenth century men crossexamined and tormented a man because he preached some immoral attitude; in the nineteenth century we feted and flattered Oscar Wilde because he preached such an attitude, and then broke his heart in penal servitude because he carried it out. It may be a question which of the two methods was the more cru...

出於個人莫名其妙的堅持 從標題開始我就選擇跟之前不一樣的翻譯，我知道異教徒是更為簡潔與直接的表達方式，但我真心覺得在Chesterton的文字中，在他的社會情境脈絡裡，他的發言對象不僅僅是我們所謂的異教徒，而是與正統持不同立場，甚或更為精確的，可說是那些根本不認為有正統的人...(這些人當中很多都不是所謂的異教徒) 因此我翻成異端份子。 （但異端是什麼？在非基督教界的社會文化中，有人在用這個詞嗎？還是應該直接翻成異議份子呢？？？？？） 以下文章都將以原文跟翻譯文字交叉排列的方式呈現。 感謝近代的知識共享與資訊平台的快速發展，原文來自於Project Gutenberg（網址http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/470）。     I Introductory: Remarks  on  the  Importance  of Orthodoxy Nothing more strangely indicates an enormous and silent evil of modern society than the extraordinary use which is made nowadays of the word "orthodox." In former days the heretic was proud of not being a heretic. It was the kingdoms of the world and the police and the judges who were heretics. He was orthodox. He had no pride in having rebelled against them; they had rebelled against him. The armies with their cruel security, the kings with their cold faces, the decorous processes of State, the reasonable processes of law—all these like sheep had gone ast...

為了要讓人生有意義... (People should start wondering about the meaning of life in a pandemic.  What is, after all, the meaning of death threats? If not to remind the mortal beings their mortality?  ) I try to go back to the beginning, to return to the basics, and ask myself: what shall I do to make life probably a little bit more meaningful? As a christian, since Christ has died for us, we shall live for him.  As simple as this sounds, it is not a reality that is "given" to us, but a reality that we have to struggle, to strive to live up to.  Apart from the daily struggles of getting closer to God, knowing His will, and living a Godly life; out of stupidity, perhaps, I always think I should get my hands dirty by doing something (well, it's probably a workaholic syndrome). If the Lord wills, I shall start with what I'm probably capable of. One of them is to finish what I've already started, which is the translation of G. K. Chesterton's ...