第五章
第1段
V. Mr. H. G. Wells and the GiantsWe ought to see far enough into a hypocrite to see even his sincerity. We ought to be interested in that darkest and most real part of a man in which dwell not the vices that he does not display, but the virtues that he cannot. And the more we approach the problems of human history with this keen and piercing charity, the smaller and smaller space we shall allow to pure hypocrisy of any kind. The hypocrites shall not deceive us into thinking them saints; but neither shall they deceive us into thinking them hypocrites. And an increasing number of cases will crowd into our field of inquiry, cases in which there is really no question of hypocrisy at all, cases in which people were so ingenuous that they seemed absurd, and so absurd that they seemed disingenuous.
第五章 H. G. 威爾斯與巨人
如要檢視一個偽君子，應詳閱細讀到甚至可清楚看到他的真實誠懇。關於人，我們應好奇他最隱藏、最真實之處，而那不是他藏匿隱而未顯之惡的角落，而是深存未昭顯之善的地方。我們愈以這熱誠、敏銳的善意面對人類歷史的問題，我們容讓任何純粹偽善生存的空間也就愈發縮小。偽善的小人無法誘騙我們相信他們是聖人，但他們也無法誘拐我們認為他們只是偽君子。我們對此的詢問探究，將挖掘出愈來愈多的案例，其中根本不存在虛偽這問題，相反的，當中涉及的人實在太過誠實，誠實到可笑荒謬，荒謬到令人覺得虛偽不實。
第2段
There is one striking instance of an unfair charge of hypocrisy. It is always urged against the religious in the past, as a point of inconsistency and duplicity, that they combined a profession of almost crawling humility with a keen struggle for earthly success and considerable triumph in attaining it. It is felt as a piece of humbug, that a man should be very punctilious in calling himself a miserable sinner, and also very punctilious in calling himself King of France. But the truth is that there is no more conscious inconsistency between the humility of a Christian and the rapacity of a Christian than there is between the humility of a lover and the rapacity of a lover. The truth is that there are no things for which men will make such herculean efforts as the things of which they know they are unworthy. There never was a man in love who did not declare that, if he strained every nerve to breaking, he was going to have his desire. And there never was a man in love who did not declare also that he ought not to have it. The whole secret of the practical success of Christendom lies in the Christian humility, however imperfectly fulfilled. For with the removal of all question of merit or payment, the soul is suddenly released for incredible voyages. If we ask a sane man how much he merits, his mind shrinks instinctively and instantaneously. It is doubtful whether he merits six feet of earth. But if you ask him what he can conquer—he can conquer the stars. Thus comes the thing called Romance, a purely Christian product. A man cannot deserve adventures; he cannot earn dragons and hippogriffs. The mediaeval Europe which asserted humility gained Romance; the civilization which gained Romance has gained the habitable globe. How different the Pagan and Stoical feeling was from this has been admirably expressed in a famous quotation. Addison makes the great Stoic say—
"'Tis not in mortals to command success;
But we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll des erve it."
But the spirit of Romance and Christendom, the spirit which is in every lover, the spirit which has bestridden the earth with European adventure, is quite opposite. 'Tis not in mortals to deserve success. But we'll do more, Sempronius; we'll obtain it.
有一個對虛偽作出不實指控的經典案例。在過去，虛偽通常用於指責宗教教徒，因其不一致、兩面人的特質，他們一方面表現出極其謙卑的身段，另一方面又積極地追逐世上的成功與獲得成功的巨大勝利，這行徑給人的感覺就像騙子，一個人怎能時時稱自己為可鄙的罪人，卻又刻刻視自己為法國皇帝。但事實是，再也沒有哪一種有意識的矛盾反差，要比基督徒的自卑與貪婪豪奪，更接近愛人情侶的自甘卑微與貪婪強取了。事實是，正是那些人們覺得自己不配得的，人們才會盡洪荒之力去取得。從未有哪個墜入愛網的人不這樣宣示，即便竭盡全力，他也要得到他所愛的。但也從未有哪個愛人不承認，他實在不配得。基督王國中得到成功的完整秘訣，就在於謙卑，無論這謙卑是多麽不完美。隨著一個人是否配得以及可付出多少贖價的問題被一筆勾消，靈魂突然獲得釋放並進入難以置信的旅程。若我們問一個頭腦清楚的人，他配得到多少，他的心智應會本能與立即地將自己縮小。[小到甚至連]他是否配得六呎之地，也都令人懷疑。但若你問他，他能征服多少？答案可能是：他能征服星空。羅曼史因此而生，而這可說是徹頭徹尾的基督教產品。人無法配得上傳奇探險、不配與龍、與鷹頭馬身的怪獸共享旅程。堅信謙卑的中世紀歐洲產生羅曼史，懷抱羅曼史的文明則產生了可居住的地球。而從以下這句名言，可清楚看出異教徒與斯多亞學派對此有多麽不同的看法。艾迪生（Addison）讓偉大的斯多亞說出下面這段話：
「成功不屬於凡人；盡非凡之努力，薛普尼奥斯，我們將配得成功。」
但羅曼史與基督世界的精神、愛人的精神，也就是那讓世界遍滿歐洲冒險的精神，則與此極為不同。「成功不屬於凡人；盡非凡之努力，薛普尼奧斯，我們將奪取成功。」
There is one striking instance of an unfair charge of hypocrisy. It is always urged against the religious in the past, as a point of inconsistency and duplicity, that they combined a profession of almost crawling humility with a keen struggle for earthly success and considerable triumph in attaining it. It is felt as a piece of humbug, that a man should be very punctilious in calling himself a miserable sinner, and also very punctilious in calling himself King of France. But the truth is that there is no more conscious inconsistency between the humility of a Christian and the rapacity of a Christian than there is between the humility of a lover and the rapacity of a lover. The truth is that there are no things for which men will make such herculean efforts as the things of which they know they are unworthy. There never was a man in love who did not declare that, if he strained every nerve to breaking, he was going to have his desire. And there never was a man in love who did not declare also that he ought not to have it. The whole secret of the practical success of Christendom lies in the Christian humility, however imperfectly fulfilled. For with the removal of all question of merit or payment, the soul is suddenly released for incredible voyages. If we ask a sane man how much he merits, his mind shrinks instinctively and instantaneously. It is doubtful whether he merits six feet of earth. But if you ask him what he can conquer—he can conquer the stars. Thus comes the thing called Romance, a purely Christian product. A man cannot deserve adventures; he cannot earn dragons and hippogriffs. The mediaeval Europe which asserted humility gained Romance; the civilization which gained Romance has gained the habitable globe. How different the Pagan and Stoical feeling was from this has been admirably expressed in a famous quotation. Addison makes the great Stoic say—
"'Tis not in mortals to command success;
But we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll des erve it."
But the spirit of Romance and Christendom, the spirit which is in every lover, the spirit which has bestridden the earth with European adventure, is quite opposite. 'Tis not in mortals to deserve success. But we'll do more, Sempronius; we'll obtain it.
有一個對虛偽作出不實指控的經典案例。在過去，虛偽通常用於指責宗教教徒，因其不一致、兩面人的特質，他們一方面表現出極其謙卑的身段，另一方面又積極地追逐世上的成功與獲得成功的巨大勝利，這行徑給人的感覺就像騙子，一個人怎能時時稱自己為可鄙的罪人，卻又刻刻視自己為法國皇帝。但事實是，再也沒有哪一種有意識的矛盾反差，要比基督徒的自卑與貪婪豪奪，更接近愛人情侶的自甘卑微與貪婪強取了。事實是，正是那些人們覺得自己不配得的，人們才會盡洪荒之力去取得。從未有哪個墜入愛網的人不這樣宣示，即便竭盡全力，他也要得到他所愛的。但也從未有哪個愛人不承認，他實在不配得。基督王國中得到成功的完整秘訣，就在於謙卑，無論這謙卑是多麽不完美。隨著一個人是否配得以及可付出多少贖價的問題被一筆勾消，靈魂突然獲得釋放並進入難以置信的旅程。若我們問一個頭腦清楚的人，他配得到多少，他的心智應會本能與立即地將自己縮小。[小到甚至連]他是否配得六呎之地，也都令人懷疑。但若你問他，他能征服多少？答案可能是：他能征服星空。羅曼史因此而生，而這可說是徹頭徹尾的基督教產品。人無法配得上傳奇探險、不配與龍、與鷹頭馬身的怪獸共享旅程。堅信謙卑的中世紀歐洲產生羅曼史，懷抱羅曼史的文明則產生了可居住的地球。而從以下這句名言，可清楚看出異教徒與斯多亞學派對此有多麽不同的看法。艾迪生（Addison）讓偉大的斯多亞說出下面這段話：
「成功不屬於凡人；盡非凡之努力，薛普尼奥斯，我們將配得成功。」
但羅曼史與基督世界的精神、愛人的精神，也就是那讓世界遍滿歐洲冒險的精神，則與此極為不同。「成功不屬於凡人；盡非凡之努力，薛普尼奧斯，我們將奪取成功。」
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