14)On Freedom自由

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

14)On Freedom自由

And an orator said, Speak to us of Freedom.
然後一個演說家說︰請跟我們講一講自由吧。
And he answered:
他回答說︰
At the city gate and by your fireside
在城門邊和你們的火爐旁，
I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,
我都看見你們禮拜你們自己的自由。
Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.
就像奴隸在暴君面前卑躬屈膝，雖然遭到殺戮，依然讚美他。
Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel
啊，在廟宇邊的樹林裡，在堡壘的陰暗處，
I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.
我看見到你們當中最自由的人，把自由當成軛和手銬，一樣加諸在自己身上。
And my heart bled within me;
我的心在滴血，
for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you,
因為只有當你們可以駕馭渴望自由的慾望時；
and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment.
只有當你們不再把自由當成目標時，你們才能自由。
You shall be free indeed
你會感到真正的自由，
when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,
並不是當你的白天不再有一絲牽掛，你的夜晚不再有匱乏和悲戚的時候。
But rather when these things girdle your life
而是這些瑣事包圍著你的生活，
and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.
而你們卻能赤裸且毫無拘束地跳脫出來時，你們才是真的自由。
And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights?
你如何能夠跳脫出白晝與黑夜？
unless you break the chains
除非你們掙脫那鐐鏈
which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?
那在你所察覺的黎明時刻就已緊繫著你們午時的鐐鏈。
In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains,
事實上，你們所謂的自由是鐐鏈中最堅實的，
though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the eyes.
然而它的煉環在太陽光下閃閃發光而眩惑了你們的眼睛。
And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free?
你們所要拋棄以便獲取自由的不正是你們如同碎片的自己嗎？
If it is an unjust law you would abolish,
如果那是你們要廢止的不公平的法律，
that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.
那法律本是你們用自己的手寫上自己的額頭的。
You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges,
就算你們把法典燒毀, 沖洗你們法官的額頭, 也不能抹殺法律；
though you pour the sea upon them.
雖然你們將海水倒灌在他們身上, 也不能洗掉法律。
And if it is a despot you would dethrone,
假如那是你們要推翻一個專制者，
see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.
先確定它存在你們心中的寶座是否已被毀掉。
For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud,
試問專制者怎能統治自由而自尊的民眾呢？
but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride?
除非在他們的自由中已存在一種粗暴的天性，在他們的自尊中已包藏著羞愧。
And if it is a care you would cast off,
而如果那是你要擺脫的掛慮
that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.
那掛慮是你自己所選擇而不是別人強加給你的。
And if it is a fear you would dispel,
而如果那是你要驅散的恐懼,
the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.
那恐懼的起源是在你的心中，而不是在所恐懼者的手中。
Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace,
的確，所有的東西都在你們內心裡不斷地半契合之中。
the desired and the dreaded,
你所渴求的和所懼怕的；
the repugnant and the cherished,
你所厭惡的和所珍愛的；
the pursued and that which you would escape.
你所追求的和所要逃避的，
These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling.
這些在你心裡移動就像光與影的相依相從。
And when the shadow fades and is no more,
當影子消失了，再也沒有了，
the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.
可是殘留的光卻變成另一個光的影。
And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.
因此，當你的自由去除了桎梏，它卻成為束縛那更大自由的桎梏。