忏悔录 Confessions | BookVI Chapter14 捕风捉影

BookVI Chapter14

捕风捉影

To Thee be praise, glory to Thee, Fountain of mercies. I was becoming more miserable, and Thou nearer. Thy right hand was continually ready to pluck me out of the mire, and to wash me thoroughly, and I knew it not; nor did anything call me back from a yet deeper gulf of carnal pleasures, but the fear of death, and of Thy judgment to come; which amid all my changes, never departed from my breast.

赞美归于你，光荣归于你，慈爱的泉源！我的处境越是可怜，你越接近我，你的手已伸到我头上，就要把我从泥坑中找出来，就要洗濯我，而我还不知不觉。赞美归于你，光荣归于你，慈爱的泉源！我的处境越是可怜，你越接近我，你的手已伸到我头上，就要把我从泥坑中找出来，就要洗濯我，而我还不知不觉。

And in my disputes with my friends Alypius and Nebridius of the nature of good and evil, I held that Epicurus had in my mind won the palm, had I not believed that after death there remained a life for the soul, and places of requital according to men's deserts, which Epicurus would not believe. And I asked, "were we immortal, and to live in perpetual bodily pleasure, without fear of losing it, why should we not be happy, or what else should we seek," not knowing that great misery was involved in this very thing, that, being thus sunk and blinded, I could not discern that light of excellence and beauty, to be embraced for its own sake, which the eye of flesh cannot see, and is seen by the inner man. Nor did I, unhappy, consider from what source it sprung, that even on these things, foul as they were, I with pleasure discoursed with my friends, nor could I, even according to the notions I then had of happiness, be happy without friends, amid what abundance so ever of carnal pleasures. And yet these friends I loved for themselves only, and I felt that I was beloved of them again for myself only.

我和阿利比乌斯、内布利提乌斯两人讨论过善恶问题。倘若我也相信伊壁鸠鲁所不信的灵魂不死和人死后按功过受赏罚之说，则伊壁鸠鲁一定在我思想上可占优胜。我提出这一问题：如果我们常生不死，永久生活于肉体的佚乐中丝毫没有丧失的恐惧，如何还不能算幸福？我们还要求什么？我不懂得我已如此深入迷途，如此盲目，以致不能想像德行与美善本身的光明应该用无私的心情去怀抱的，这光明肉眼看不见，只能在心灵深处看到，这种昏昧正是我的重大不幸。这个可怜的我并不考虑到我能和知己们畅谈，即使谈的是可耻的事物，这种乐趣从何处得来；如果我没有这些朋友，即使我尽情享受着肉体的淫乐，在官感方面我也不会感到幸福。我知道我的爱这些朋友，并不杂有自私之心，而他们的爱我也是如此。

O crooked paths! Woe to the audacious soul, which hoped, by forsaking Thee, to gain some better thing! Turned it hath, and turned again, upon back, sides, and belly, yet all was painful; and Thou alone rest. And behold, Thou art at hand, and deliverest us from our wretched wanderings, and placest us in Thy way, and dost comfort us, and say, "Run; I will carry you; yea I will bring you through; there also will I carry you."

多么曲折的道路！一人离开了你，胆敢希望找到更好的东西，这人真可怜！不管他如何辗转反侧，一切是生硬的，惟有你才能使人舒畅安息。你却就在面前，你解救我们，使我们脱离可恨的歧途，把我们安放在你的道路上，你安慰我们，对我们说：“快快跑吧！我将支持你们，我将引导你们，我将抱你们到那里。”