12)On Crime and Punishment罪與罰

The Prophet(先知)
Kahlil Gibran(哈利勒‧紀伯倫)

12)On Crime and Punishment罪與罰

Then one of the judges of the city stood forth and said,
然後，城裡有一位法官走上前說︰
Speak to us of Crime and Punishment.
請跟我們講一講罪與罰吧。
And he answered, saying:
他回答說︰
It is when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind,
就是當你的心靈隨風遊蕩時，
That you, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore unto yourself.
你，獨自而無戒備的侵害他人，也就侵害了你自己。
And for that wrong committed must you knock and wait a while unheeded at the gate of the blessed.
為了那過錯，你必須佇立在福祉之門外，敲門、守候，卻不被回應。
Like the ocean is your god-self;
你的神性似海洋，
It remains for ever undefiled.
永不會被污染。
And like the ether it lifts but the winged.
又如太虛，只助有翼者浮升。
Even like the sun is your god-self;
你的神性甚至一如太陽；
It knows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent.
不辨鼷鼠的路徑，也不探尋蛇穴。
But your god-self dwells not alone in your being.
但是你的神性，並不是獨居在你的身體內。
Much in you is still man, and much in you is not yet man,
你的軀體裡有大部份仍只是人，尚有許多還沒有成人，
But a shapeless pigmy that walks asleep in the mist searching for its own awakening.
只是一個不成形的侏儒，睡眼朦朧地在霧中行走，尋找自己的覺醒。
And of the man in you would I now speak.
我現下說的是關於你內在的人性。
For it is he and not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist, that knows crime and the punishment of crime.
因為知道罪與罰的，不是你的神性，也不是霧中的侏儒，而是人。
Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong
我常聽到你們談起犯過罪的人，
as though he were not one of you,
好像也不是你們之中的一份子，
but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
而是擅自闖進來這個世界的陌生人。
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
但我說︰就算那些聖者與賢人，也無法超過你們每個人心中最高貴的地方。
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
同樣的，那些惡人和弱者也不會比你們心中最卑賤之處更卑賤。
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
就如沒有整株樹的默許，葉子不會枯黃。
So the wrongdoer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
沒有隱藏在你們心中的惡念，人是不會犯錯。
Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.
你們好比同一個隊伍的人齊步向神性邁進。
You are the way and the wayfarers.
你們是路，也是過路的旅人。
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him,
當你們之中有人跌倒時，他是為了後面的人跌倒，
a caution against the stumbling stone.
為了提醒他們不要絆到石頭。
Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him,
是的，他也是為了前面的人而跌倒，
who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
因為他們雖走得快些，腳步踏實些，卻不曾移開絆腳的石頭。
And this also, though the word lie heavy upon your hearts:
這些話說來雖然沉重的壓在你們心上，我仍然要說︰
The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder,
被殺害的人對自己的被殺並不是沒有責任的。
And the robbed is not blameless in being robbed.
被搶劫的人對自己的被劫並非沒有罪咎的。
The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked,
正直的人對於惡人的行為也不是沒有責任的。
And the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon.
清白的人對於壞人的行為也不能毫無干係的。
Yea, the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured.
正如罪人往往是受害人的犧牲品，
And still more often the condemned is the burden bearer for the guiltless and unblamed.
更常見的是，被判罪的人是無罪者和未受罰者的代罪羔羊。
You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked;
你們無法把正與邪完全對立，也不能把善與惡完全隔絕。
For they stand together before the face of the sun
因為它們共存在陽光下，
even as the black thread and the white are woven together.
就像黑線與白線交織在一起一般。
And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth,
當黑線斷了，織工必須檢查整匹布，
and he shall examine the loom also.
同時也要檢查織布機。
If any of you would bring judgment the unfaithful wife,
如果你們有人要求審訊不貞的妻子，
Let him also weight the heart of her husband in scales, and measure his soul with measurements.
讓法官也評估一下她丈夫的心靈吧。
And let him who would lash the offender look unto the spirit of the offended.
而讓想鞭打犯人的人，也審視一下受害者的心靈。
And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the axe unto the evil tree,
如果你們想用正義之名懲罰揮斧砍壞樹之人，
let him see to its roots;
也請先看看它的樹根吧。
And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad,
確實的，他將發現好的、壞的，
the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth.
結果樹的與不結果樹的根，都在大地沈默的心中交結著。
And you judges who would be just.
而你們這些講求公道的法官啊，
What judgment pronounce you upon him who though honest in the flesh yet is a thief in spirit?
對那些肉體貞潔而精神卻像小偷的人將如何審判？
What penalty lay you upon him who slays in the flesh yet is himself slain in the spirit?
對那些殺害別人身體，而他自己心靈卻受害的人，又將會如何審判？
And how prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor,
對於那行為上是欺騙和霸道者，
Yet who also is aggrieved and outraged?
卻同時也是被迫害和被侵犯過的人，你們又如何懲處呢？
And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds?
你又如何去懲罰那悔恨多於惡行的人呢？
Is not remorse the justice which is administered by that very law which you would fain serve?
悔恨，是否已成為你們樂於奉行的法律所保障的公理？
Yet you cannot lay remorse upon the innocent nor lift it from the heart of the guilty.
但你們不能讓無辜者悔恨，也不能令犯人心中釋然。
Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze upon themselves.
悔恨在夜半不請自來，使人們自睡夢中醒覺而審視自己。
And you who would understand justice,
你們這些想要了解公理正義的人，
how shall you unless you look upon all deeds in the fullness of light?
除非洞察一切的行為，否則你們怎能了解公理正義？
Only then shall you know that the erect and the fallen are but one man
也只有到那時候你們才明白，站立和跌倒的是同一個人，
standing in twilight between the night of his pigmy-self and the day of his god-self,
他站立在介於「侏儒身」的夜晚和「神性」的白晝之間的朦朧昏暗的境界之中。
And that the cornerstone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in its foundation.
你們也才了解廟宇的柱石原不比最低的基石高。