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第三章 BOOK THREE

应该想到，我们的生命日渐衰落，所剩日稀；还应该想到，即使长寿，我们是否能够保留下足够的理解力来了解事物，来保持沉思的力量以获得有关神和人的知识。如果一个人开始走向衰老，他的排汗、营养、想象力和胃口以及其它类似的方面都还不会有问题；但自我奋斗的力量，高远而强烈的责任感，对所有表象的清晰洞察，对一个人是否应该离开人世的思考，以及其它类似的绝对需要受过训练的理性参与的活动，已然销声匿迹。我们必须珍惜生命，不仅仅是因为我们每天都在走向死亡，也是因为我们对事物的观念和对其的理解会首先丧失。 We ought to consider not only that our life is daily wasting away and a smaller part of it is left, but another thing also must be taken into the account, that if a man should live longer, it is quite uncertain whether the understanding will still continue sufficient for the comprehension of things, and retain the power of contemplation which strives to acquire the knowledge of the divine and the human. For if he shall begin to fall into dotage, perspiration and nutrition and imagination and appetite, and whatever else there is of the kind, will not fail; but the power of making use of ourselves, and filling up the measure of our duty, and clearly separating all appearances, and considering whether a man should now depart from life, and whatever else of the kind absolutely requires a disciplined reason, all this is already extinguished. We must make haste then, not only because we are daily nearer to death, but also because the conception of things and the understanding of them cease first.

我们也应该看到，即使那些模仿自然之物的事物中也包含一些令人愉悦的和诱人的东西，比如，面包在烘烤时，表面的皮会裂开，这与面包师技艺所要达到的目的正好相反，但其样式在某种意义上是美的，以一种特别的方式刺激人们的胃口。再比如，当无花果完全成熟时，它会像打哈欠般裂开；当橄榄熟透了的时候会有一种特殊的美。而垂伏的谷穗，狮子的眉毛，从野猪嘴角流下的泡沫，还有很多其他类似的，如果人们分别考究，其实远远称不上美，但由于它们也是自然之物的结果，是自然之物的装饰，也愉悦了我们的心灵，所以也是美的；因此，当一个人对宇宙之物有所感触，有深刻的洞察，那世间的一切对他来说在某种意义上都将是令人愉悦的。因此当他看到野兽龇牙咧嘴时，其所感受的乐趣丝毫不比观看用想象创造的绘画或雕塑差；在老妇老夫身上，他能发现成熟和举止得体；对青年人诱人的魅力，他用无邪的眼欣赏；很多这样的事物自我呈现，不是愉悦每一个人，而是愉悦那些对自然及其产物真正熟悉的人。 We ought to observe also that even the things which follow after the things which are produced according to nature contain something pleasing and attractive. For instance, when bread is baked some parts are split at the surface, and these parts which thus open, and have a certain fashion contrary to the purpose of the baker's art, are beautiful in a manner, and in a peculiar way excite a desire for eating. And again, figs, when they are quite ripe, gape open; and in the ripe olives the very circumstance of their being near to rottenness adds a peculiar beauty to the fruit. And the ears of corn bending down, and the lion's eyebrows, and the foam which flows from the mouth of wild boars, and many other things- though they are far from being beautiful, if a man should examine them severally- still, because they are consequent upon the things which are formed by nature, help to adorn them, and they please the mind; so that if a man should have a feeling and deeper insight with respect to the things which are produced in the universe, there is hardly one of those which follow by way of consequence which will not seem to him to be in a manner disposed so as to give pleasure. And so he will see even the real gaping jaws of wild beasts with no less pleasure than those which painters and sculptors show by imitation; and in an old woman and an old man he will be able to see a certain maturity and comeliness; and the attractive loveliness of young persons he will be able to look on with chaste eyes; and many such things will present themselves, not pleasing to every man, but to him only who has become truly familiar with nature and her works.

希波克拉底（Hippocrates）一生医人无数，最终自己也得病死去；Chaldaei家族预言了很多人的死亡，这一命运最终也降临到他们头上；亚历山大（Alexander），Pompeius和尤里斯•凯撒（Caius Caesar）一生毁城极多，在战斗中杀死骑兵步兵无数，最终他们也难逃一死；赫拉克利特（Heraclitus）对宇宙间的灾难作了如此多的思考，但他溺水而亡，死时全身满是淤泥；德谟克利特（Democritus）承受小人中伤；苏格拉底则被小人所杀。这一切意味着什么？你登上航船，扬帆远行，抛锚登陆，下船，如果这意味着真得到达了另一生命，这里，即使在这里，诸神依然存在；但如果这意味着来到一个没有感性的国度，那你将不再受痛苦与喜悦的摆布，不再成为躯壳的奴隶，躯壳的卑贱与服务于它的灵魂的高贵等同：后者是智性的和神性的，前者是凡尘的和堕落的。 Hippocrates after curing many diseases himself fell sick and died. The Chaldaei foretold the deaths of many, and then fate caught them too. Alexander, and Pompeius, and Caius Caesar, after so often completely destroying whole cities, and in battle cutting to pieces many ten thousands of cavalry and infantry, themselves too at last departed from life. Heraclitus, after so many speculations on the conflagration of the universe, was filled with water internally and died smeared all over with mud. And lice destroyed Democritus; and other lice killed Socrates. What means all this? Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art come to shore; get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not even there. But if to a state without sensation, thou wilt cease to be held by pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the vessel, which is as much inferior as that which serves it is superior: for the one is intelligence and deity; the other is earth and corruption.

当他人并没有把自己的思想奉献给具有公共效用的目标时，不要把你残余的生命浪费到他们身上，因为你一旦有这样的想法，你就失去了做很多其他事情的机会。这是一个怎样的人，他为什么说和正在说什么，他在想什么，他意图何为等等这些都让我们脱离了探究我们自身控制能力的目标，我们应该检查自己一联串思想中任何没有目的和用处的东西，特别是那些过分好奇的情感和恶意的念头；值得一个人花精力思索的应该是：当一个人突然问你正在想什么？你能以最完美的坦诚立刻回答我在想的是何事；从回答中可以清楚地看出，你的内心单纯而仁慈，是一个合格的群居动物，你对愉悦或肉体的享受完全漠视，也无敌意、嫉妒和猜疑，没有任何当你说你正在想时会让你脸红的东西。对那些能够做到这些的人和已经侧身最优秀者行列的人，他们就像诸神的侍奉和臣仆一样，也运用植身于他们之内的神性，这一神性让人不受欢愉的玷污，不受痛苦的伤害，不为欺凌所辱，不对罪恶仁慈，而是最高贵战斗中的斗士，不为激情俘获，正义深及骨髓，对发生的一切和命中注定的所得欣然接受，出于普遍的利益，既非经常，但也非从不，想象他人所言所想所为。这就是人们应该做的惟一的事；人们要经常思考从事物的总体中分配于他的那一份，使自己的行为公平，说服自己承认自己的一份很不错。每个人的份额惟他所有，他人无享；他还得牢记在心，每一个理性的动物都是他的亲属，关心每一个人是人的本性；人们所要坚持的不是所有人的意见，而仅仅是那些公认遵循自然生活的那些人的意见。对于那些不遵循自然生活的人，他要一直牢记在心，记住无论是在家还是外出，是白天还是夜晚他们是那一种类型的人，他们是干什么的，他们与什么人一起过那种不纯洁的生活。因此，他不会对来自这些人的赞美表示褒许，因为他们甚至对自己都不满意。 Do not waste the remainder of thy life in thoughts about others, when thou dost not refer thy thoughts to some object of common utility. For thou losest the opportunity of doing something else when thou hast such thoughts as these, What is such a person doing, and why, and what is he saying, and what is he thinking of, and what is he contriving, and whatever else of the kind makes us wander away from the observation of our own ruling power. We ought then to check in the series of our thoughts everything that is without a purpose and useless, but most of all the over-curious feeling and the malignant; and a man should use himself to think of those things only about which if one should suddenly ask, What hast thou now in thy thoughts? With perfect openness thou mightest, immediately answer, This or That; so that from thy words it should be plain that everything in thee is simple and benevolent, and such as befits a social animal, and one that cares not for thoughts about pleasure or sensual enjoyments at all, nor has any rivalry or envy and suspicion, or anything else for which thou wouldst blush if thou shouldst say that thou hadst it in thy mind.For the man who is such and no longer delays being among the number of the best, is like a priest and minister of the gods, using too the deity which is planted within him, which makes the man uncontaminated by pleasure, unharmed by any pain, untouched by any insult, feeling no wrong, a fighter in the noblest fight, one who cannot be overpowered by any passion, dyed deep with justice, accepting with all his soul everything which happens and is assigned to him as his portion; and not often, nor yet without great necessity and for the general interest, imagining what another says, or does, or thinks. For it is only what belongs to himself that he makes the matter for his activity; and he constantly thinks of that which is allotted to himself out of the sum total of things, and he makes his own acts fair, and he is persuaded that his own portion is good. For the lot which is assigned to each man is carried along with him and carries him along with it. And he remembers also that every rational animal is his kinsman, and that to care for all men is according to man's nature; and a man should hold on to the opinion not of all, but of those only who confessedly live according to nature. But as to those who live not so, he always bears in mind what kind of men they are both at home and from home, both by night and by day, and what they are, and with what men they live an impure life. Accordingly, he does not value at all the praise which comes from such men, since they are not even satisfied with themselves.

心甘情愿地工作，关心公共利益，审时度势，专心致志；不要因为学习修辞而分心思考，不要作夸夸其谈者，不要同时忙于过多事物。而且，让你心中的神性护卫着这样一个生灵，他果敢而成熟，投身政治，他是一个罗马人，一个统治者，他身居其位，就像一个等待上天造唤其离去的人，随时准备上路，既不需要誓言也不需要任何人的证词。他也很快乐，不假外求，不要外在给与的宁静。人必须自己挺立起来，而不由他人扶持。 Labour not unwillingly, nor without regard to the common interest, nor without due consideration, nor with distraction; nor let studied ornament set off thy thoughts, and be not either a man of many words, or busy about too many things. And further, let the deity which is in thee be the guardian of a living being, manly and of ripe age, and engaged in matter political, and a Roman, and a ruler, who has taken his post like a man waiting for the signal which summons him from life, and ready to go, having need neither of oath nor of any man's testimony. Be cheerful also, and seek not external help nor the tranquility which others give. A man then must stand erect, not be kept erect by others. 如果你发现人生中有什么比正义、真理、节制、坚韧更美好,简言之，比你得到的精神上的自我满足更美好，并且与正确的理念相符，那就全身心地去追求吧，去享受你所发现的最好的事物。那神性深植你内心，把你的所有欲望都归附于它自身，仔细地审视所有印象，而且如苏格拉底所言，把其自身和感性的诱惑区分开来，把它自身归附于诸神，关心人类，如果没有什么东西比得上神性更美好，如果你发现其他事情比起它来无不萎谢卑贱，那你就让它拥有你的全部，因为如果你一旦偏离神性，那你以后就有可能对你本身具有的和你拥有的好的东西再次移心别恋；任何其他的事物，比如众人的美誉、权力、享受欢乐等都不应该拿来和理性的、政治的和实践的善相提并论。所有这些事物，即使它们看上去有一小部分已经融入了更好的事物中，也只能获得一时的声名，却让我们误入歧途。所以，请直接而自由地选择那更善者，跟随它，不悔不怨。有人说有用者即是更善者，哦，如果那对作为理性生灵的我们有用，那就追随它；但如果它仅仅对作为动物的我们有用，那就如我们上面所言，请你保持谨慎的判断力：小心翼翼地使用正确的方法进行追问。 If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason, and in the condition that is assigned to thee without thy own choice; if, I say, thou seest anything better than this, turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be the best. But if nothing appears to be better than the deity which is planted in thee, which has subjected to itself all thy appetites, and carefully examines all the impressions, and, as Socrates said, has detached itself from the persuasions of sense, and has submitted itself to the gods, and cares for mankind; if thou findest everything else smaller and of less value than this, give place to nothing else, for if thou dost once diverge and incline to it, thou wilt no longer without distraction be able to give the preference to that good thing which is thy proper possession and thy own; for it is not right that anything of any other kind, such as praise from the many, or power, or enjoyment of pleasure, should come into competition with that which is rationally and politically or practically good. All these things, even though they may seem to adapt themselves to the better things in a small degree, obtain the superiority all at once, and carry us away. But do thou, I say, simply and freely choose the better, and hold to it.- But that which is useful is the better.- Well then, if it is useful to thee as a rational being, keep to it; but if it is only useful to thee as an animal, say so, and maintain thy judgement without arrogance: only take care that thou makest the inquiry by a sure method. 不要把任何会强迫你打破誓言、丧失自尊、仇恨人类，猜疑、诅咒、行伪善和需要掩饰来满足的欲望之类东西看成是对你有益的：那些热爱智性和精灵胜过其他，崇拜自然的完美，行为无过失，从不抱怨的人，既不孤僻，也不需要过多的朋友，而且最主要的是，他既不迷恋死亡，也不逃避死亡；无论生命有多长寿或多短暂，他都会把灵魂约束于肉体之内，他一无牵挂：即使不得不即刻辞世而去，他也将坦然而往，仿佛去做一项可以以尊严和秩序的方式完成的事；整个人生中他只关心一件事：他的思想是否偏离了一个有智性的动物和一个公民社会成员的本分。 Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs walls and curtains: for he who has preferred to everything intelligence and daemon and the worship of its excellence, acts no tragic part, does not groan, will not need either solitude or much company; and, what is chief of all, he will live without either pursuing or flying from death; but whether for a longer or a shorter time he shall have the soul inclosed in the body, he cares not at all: for even if he must depart immediately, he will go as readily as if he were going to do anything else which can be done with decency and order; taking care of this only all through life, that his thoughts turn not away from anything which belongs to an intelligent animal and a member of a civil community. 在一个历经磨炼、摆脱罪恶的人的心灵里，你找不到腐败的事物，没有混杂，也没有掩饰于内心的苦痛。当命运召唤他离去时，他的人生已是完整的，人们不会说他像一个戏没演完就提前退场的演员，而且，在他心中没有奴性，没有做作，没有什么会引起责难，没有什么需要遮遮掩掩。

In the mind of one who is chastened and purified thou wilt find no corrupt matter, nor impurity, nor any sore skinned over. Nor is his life incomplete when fate overtakes him, as one may say of an actor who leaves the stage before ending and finishing the play. Besides, there is in him nothing servile, nor affected, nor too closely bound to other things, nor yet detached from other things, nothing worthy of blame, nothing which seeks a hiding-place. 尊重那能产生意见的才能，在灵魂中是否会存在任何与自然和理性生物构造相矛盾的任何意见完全依赖于这一才能，这一才能保证人们免予草率决断，与人友善，服从诸神。 Reverence the faculty which produces opinion. On this faculty it entirely depends whether there shall exist in thy ruling part any opinion inconsistent with nature and the constitution of the rational animal. And this faculty promises freedom from hasty judgement, and friendship towards men, and obedience to the gods. 抛弃纷繁，抓住惟一，牢记于心：人只生存于现在，而现在只是一个无法分离的点，人生的其他部分要么是过去，要么完全不确定，人生苦短，所居立锥而已，死后的万世英名依旧易朽，它只能依靠可怜的人类的延续来维持，而人生苦短，自知不暇，何及久远。 Throwing away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and besides bear in mind that every man lives only this present time, which is an indivisible point, and that all the rest of his life is either past or it is uncertain. Short then is the time which every man lives, and small the nook of the earth where he lives; and short too the longest posthumous fame, and even this only continued by a succession of poor human beings, who will very soon die, and who know not even themselves, much less him who died long ago. 除了上面提到的，我再补充一点建议：把呈现于你的东西作一个定义和描述，以便清晰地分辨它外在的物质是什么，它内在是什么，它完整的整体是什么，为你自己找出它恰当的名称，以及由它构成的事物的名称，它分解后的部分的名称。对人生中向你呈现的事物进行系统的和真实的调查，观察事物时总是同时洞察宇宙的本性，以及宇宙间运作的每一事物的用处，每一个别在何种价值上与整体相关，与作为最高等级城邦（其它城邦与最高城邦类似）公民的人相关；研究每一个别事物是什么，由什么构成，研究你所见事物在本性上能存在多久，对于这一事物我应该如何对待，是亲切、刚毅、求真、诚实、俭朴、知足还是其他，这对提高我们的心灵善莫大焉。因此，每一刻人们都应该说：这来自于神；来自命运的安排与轮回，如此类似于巧合和偶然；这来自同一的祖先，与我是同族和同伴，而根据他的本性并不能确定他是何者。对此我很清楚，因此我根据仁慈与正义的友谊自然法则对待他，同时对每一无关紧要的事物我都试图确定它的价值。 To the aids which have been mentioned let this one still be added:- Make for thyself a definition or description of the thing which is presented to thee, so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is in its substance, in its nudity, in its complete entirety, and tell thyself its proper name, and the names of the things of which it has been compounded, and into which it will be resolved. For nothing is so productive of elevation of mind as to be able to examine methodically and truly every object which is presented to thee in life, and always to look at things so as to see at the same time what kind of universe this is, and what kind of use everything performs in it, and what value everything has with reference to the whole, and what with reference to man, who is a citizen of the highest city, of which all other cities are like families; what each thing is, and of what it is composed, and how long it is the nature of this thing to endure which now makes an impression on me, and what virtue I have need of with respect to it, such as gentleness, manliness, truth, fidelity, simplicity, contentment, and the rest. Wherefore, on every occasion a man should say: this comes from God; and this is according to the apportionment and spinning of the thread of destiny, and such-like coincidence and chance; and this is from one of the same stock, and a kinsman and partner, one who knows not however what is according to his nature. But I know; for this reason I behave towards him according to the natural law of fellowship with benevolence and justice. At the same time however in things indifferent I attempt to ascertain the value of each. 如果你从事前人留下的事业，那请真诚地、热情地、坚定地服从正确的理性，不要让任何事情诱惑你分心，保持你神圣部分的纯洁，仿佛你要立刻将其归还；如果你从事于此，请专心致志，无所畏惧，对当下根据自然而为心满意足，在你说的每一句话里包含壮丽的真理，你将幸福生活，没有人能够阻止你。 If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee, but keeping thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldst be bound to give it back immediately; if thou holdest to this, expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound which thou utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is able to prevent this. 医生总是随身携带器械，以备不时之需，所以你也应该懂得一些法则，以理解神圣和人事，以做一切事，甚至最琐屑的事，在做这些事时总是保持神圣与血肉的完美交融，因为你不会愿意在做任何事的时候只涉及属人的部分，而不涉及属灵的部分，反之亦然。 As physicians have always their instruments and knives ready for cases which suddenly require their skill, so do thou have principles ready for the understanding of things divine and human, and for doing everything, even the smallest, with a recollection of the bond which unites the divine and human to one another. For neither wilt thou do anything well which pertains to man without at the same time having a reference to things divine; nor the contrary. 不再无目的地游荡；你既不读自己的回忆录，不看有关古罗马希腊人的事迹，也不研究你过去收藏的书籍中的精品。如果你还在乎自己，还有力量行动，那赶快找回摆在你面前的目标，抛弃无用的空想，自我拯救吧。 No longer wander at hazard; for neither wilt thou read thy own memoirs, nor the acts of the ancient Romans and Hellenes, and the selections from books which thou wast reserving for thy old age. Hasten then to the end which thou hast before thee, and throwing away idle hopes, come to thy own aid, if thou carest at all for thyself, while it is in thy power. 偷窃、播种、购买、保持肃静、弄明白应该做什么，许多事情正是由这些词赋予了意义，这不是肉眼的作用，而依靠心灵之眼。 They know not how many things are signified by the words stealing, sowing, buying, keeping quiet, seeing what ought to be done; for this is not effected by the eyes, but by another kind of vision. 身体、灵魂、智性：让身体拥有感觉，让灵魂产生欲望，让智性遵从法则。依靠外表来获得有关形式的印象，这是动物都能做的；被欲望之绳所牵引，这是野兽的行径，是那些强暴妇女之人所为，是法拉利斯（Phalaris）和尼禄（Nero）之流所为；不信神的人，背叛祖国的人，关起门来搞阴谋诡计的人，他们也有选择看上去合适的事物的智性。因此，如果世间其他事情与我上面提到的这些有共同之处的话，那对好人来说仍旧残存一些特别的东西，他们对所发生的事知足长乐，对命运纺锤为他所纺的线坦然接受；他不玷污内置胸中的神圣，也不为杂多的影像所迷惑，而保持心灵的宁静，服从自己的内心就像服从神一样，从不撒谎，从不做违背正义的事情。如果所有人都拒绝相信他过着一种简单、适度、知足长乐的生活，他不会对任何人发怒，也不会偏离导向人生目的的道路，为了达到这一目的，人们应该保持纯洁、宁静，准备好离去，完完全全心甘情愿地接受命运的安排。 Body, soul, intelligence: to the body belong sensations, to the soul appetites, to the intelligence principles. To receive the impressions of forms by means of appearances belongs even to animals; to be pulled by the strings of desire belongs both to wild beasts and to men who have made themselves into women, and to a Phalaris and a Nero: and to have the intelligence that guides to the things which appear suitable belongs also to those who do not believe in the gods, and who betray their country, and do their impure deeds when they have shut the doors. If then everything else is common to all that I have mentioned, there remains that which is peculiar to the good man, to be pleased and content with what happens, and with the thread which is spun for him; and not to defile the divinity which is planted in his breast, nor disturb it by a crowd of images, but to preserve it tranquil, following it obediently as a god, neither saying anything contrary to the truth, nor doing anything contrary to justice. And if all men refuse to believe that he lives a simple, modest, and contented life, he is neither angry with any of them, nor does he deviate from the way which leads to the end of life, to which a man ought to come pure, tranquil, ready to depart, and without any compulsion perfectly reconciled to his lot. 第四章 BOOK FOUR

内在的法则当它符合自然时，所发生的事情对它具有如此的影响力，以致它能容易就使自己适应事物自身或呈现于它的事物，因为在特定的条件下，它不需要明确的物质基础就能趋向其目的；它从对抗它的事物那里获得物质性的存在，就如火依靠投入其中的东西而得到为续，如果火势过小，则可能熄灭，但当火势强盛时，它就能很快适应堆积在上面的东西，燃烧它，通过这一物质使火焰越烧越旺。 That which rules within, when it is according to nature, is so affected with respect to the events which happen, that it always easily adapts itself to that which is and is presented to it. For it requires no definite material, but it moves towards its purpose, under certain conditions however; and it makes a material for itself out of that which opposes it, as fire lays hold of what falls into it, by which a small light would have been extinguished: but when the fire is strong, it soon appropriates to itself the matter which is heaped on it, and consumes it, and rises higher by means of this very material.

不要让行为失去目标，除了完美的制作法则，不要服从其他。 Let no act be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than according to the perfect principles of art.

人们为自己寻找隐退之路，隐居乡间、海滩或山林，对此你也常常非常羡慕，但这样想法全然是绝大部分人共有的，因为是否应该选择急流勇退完全在你的能力控制范围之内；一个人无论选择隐退还是进入自己的灵魂，他们摆脱麻烦而获得的宁静或者自由，在他特别怀有这样的念头：他可以通过对隐退和进入灵魂的观察从而获得完美的宁静时，并无差别，我确信宁静不是别的，而是心灵的良好秩序。经常让自己隐退一下吧，时常更新自己；让你的法则简单而根本，当你想重现这些法则时，它们足够胜任完全地洁净灵魂的任务，驱除你对命运回报的不满。你对何不满？对人的恶？回忆一下下面的观点：理性的动物为彼此而存在，忍耐是正义的一个部分，人们在不知不觉中犯错。思考一下，有多少人由于相互的敌意、怀疑、仇恨、争斗而丧失性命，化为灰烬，最终归于沉默。——你可能对分与你的宇宙中的那一份并不满足。——那请你回忆一下下面两种选择：存在神意或者原子，原子导致事物偶然发生；或者回想一下那已经被证明了的论断：世界是一个政治共同体；最终归于消亡。——也许肉身将始终控制着你。——那请更深一步地思考，无论是采用平和的还是激烈的方式，当心灵一旦从肉身中解脱出来并发现自己的力量，它不再与肉身纠缠，对你的所闻和喜怒哀乐重加思考，最终归于平静。——也许追逐虚荣的欲望还在折磨你——看，万事如何转头即被遗忘，每一个当下中无限的时间呈现出何等的混乱，名誉如粪土，假意奉承者如墙头草，趋炎附势，我们宛如井底之蛙，一切都将归于虚无。整个大地只是一个点，你蜗居其中，何其微渺，其内有何值得称颂，什么人会对你高声赞美？ Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains; and thou too art wont to desire such things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that by looking into them he is immediately in perfect tranquility; and I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat, and renew thyself; and let thy principles be brief and fundamental, which, as soon as thou shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to cleanse the soul completely, and to send thee back free from all discontent with the things to which thou returnest. For with what art thou discontented? With the badness of men? Recall to thy mind this conclusion, that rational animals exist for one another, and that to endure is a part of justice, and that men do wrong involuntarily; and consider how many already, after mutual enmity, suspicion, hatred, and fighting, have been stretched dead, reduced to ashes; and be quiet at last.- But perhaps thou art dissatisfied with that which is assigned to thee out of the universe.- Recall to thy recollection this alternative; either there is providence or atoms, fortuitous concurrence of things; or remember the arguments by which it has been proved that the world is a kind of political community, and be quiet at last.- But perhaps corporeal things will still fasten upon thee.- Consider then further that the mind mingles not with the breath, whether moving gently or violently, when it has once drawn itself apart and discovered its own power, and think also of all that thou hast heard and assented to about pain and pleasure, and be quiet at last.- But perhaps the desire of the thing called fame will torment thee.- See how soon everything is forgotten, and look at the chaos of infinite time on each side of the present, and the emptiness of applause, and the changeableness and want of judgement in those who pretend to give praise, and the narrowness of the space within which it is circumscribed, and be quiet at last. For the whole earth is a point, and how small a nook in it is this thy dwelling, and how few are there in it, and what kind of people are they who will praise thee.

那只剩下这个了：记住隐退回你自己的内心，最主要的是不要误导或让你自己过度劳累，要保持自由，看待事情要像一个男人，一个人，一个公民，一个凡人。面对诸多事物，做你应该做的，其他的任其自在，这种事情有两类：一类是不涉及灵魂的事情，因为它们是外在的，不可能改变灵魂，我们心灵的动摇只来自内在的意见；另一类是你发现瞬息万变，眨眼即不复存在的所有事物，要经常牢记在心，你已经目睹了多少这样的变化，宇宙既是变化：生命既是意见。 This then remains: Remember to retire into this little territory of thy own, and above all do not distract or strain thyself, but be free, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal. But among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, let there be these, which are two. One is that things do not touch the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; but our perturbations come only from the opinion which is within. The other is that all these things, which thou seest, change immediately and will no longer be; and constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation: life is opinion. 说到我们是理性的存在，那如果我们的智性部分是公共的，那理性也应该是公共的；如果这一说法成立，那命令我们去做什么和不去做什么的理性也是公共的；如果这一说法成立，那也就存在公共的法律；如果这一说法成立，我们就是平等的公民；如果这一说法成立，我们就是某种政治共同体的成员；如果这一说法成立，世界在某种意义上就是一个国家。那么整个人类是哪一种公共政治共同体的成员？由此出发，我们的智性能力、推理能力和制定法律的能力也来自这一公共政治共同体；否则它们来自何处？正如我的肉身部分来自赋予我的某种尘世元素，其中的湿性来自一些元素，而热性和火性来自另一些特定的元素（没有事物产生于虚无，正如虚无总要返归虚无），因此人的智性部分也有一个来源。 If our intellectual part is common, the reason also, in respect of which we are rational beings, is common: if this is so, common also is the reason which commands us what to do, and what not to do; if this is so, there is a common law also; if this is so, we are fellow-citizens; if this is so, we are members of some political community; if this is so, the world is in a manner a state. For of what other common political community will any one say that the whole human race are members? And from thence, from this common political community comes also our very intellectual faculty and reasoning faculty and our capacity for law; or whence do they come? For as my earthly part is a portion given to me from certain earth, and that which is watery from another element, and that which is hot and fiery from some peculiar source (for nothing comes out of that which is nothing, as nothing also returns to non-existence), so also the intellectual part comes from some source. 死亡正如新生，是自然的奥秘；由同样的元素合成，又分解为同样的元素；这件事任何人都完全不应该感到羞耻，因为它并不与理性动物的本性相矛盾，也不与我们国体的理性相矛盾。 Death is such as generation is, a mystery of nature; a composition out of the same elements, and a decomposition into the same; and altogether not a thing of which any man should be ashamed, for it is not contrary to the nature of a reasonable animal, and not contrary to the reason of our constitution. 一些事应该由某些人来做，这很自然，有其必然性；如果一个人没有这种能力，他就不可能让无花果树结果。但无论如何请记住，在很短的时间里，你和他都会死去，你们的声名也会随之烟消云散。 It is natural that these things should be done by such persons, it is a matter of necessity; and if a man will not have it so, he will not allow the fig-tree to have juice. But by all means bear this in mind, that within a very short time both thou and he will be dead; and soon not even your names will be left behind. 放弃你的意见，那就将没有这样的抱怨：“我被伤害了。”放弃这样的抱怨：“我被伤害了。”那伤害也随之而去。 Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, "I have been harmed." Take away the complaint, "I have been harmed," and the harm is taken away. 不会让一个人比以前变得更坏的东西，也不会让他的生活变得更糟糕，也不会对他的内心和外在造成伤害。 That which does not make a man worse than he was, also does not make his life worse, nor does it harm him either from without or from within. 普遍有用的事物的本性被强迫如此行事。 The nature of that which is universally useful has been compelled to do this. 思考一下，所有发生的事情，都是公平发生的，如果你仔细观察，你会发现确实如此。我说的不仅仅是事物系列的整体，也涉及何谓公平，仿佛有人为每一个别事物赋予其价值。继续你的观察，你所做的一切，都与此相协，即人为善，在某种意义上人被恰当地理解为善的。在你的所有行为中保持这一点吧。 Consider that everything which happens, happens justly, and if thou observest carefully, thou wilt find it to be so. I do not say only with respect to the continuity of the series of things, but with respect to what is just, and as if it were done by one who assigns to each thing its value. Observe then as thou hast begun; and whatever thou doest, do it in conjunction with this, the being good, and in the sense in which a man is properly understood to be good. Keep to this in every action. 对事物不要抱有对你作恶的那些人一样的意见，也不要和他们希望你具有的一样，而要真实地看待它们。 Do not have such an opinion of things as he has who does thee wrong, or such as he wishes thee to have, but look at them as they are in truth. 一个人心中总要随时牢记两条规则：其一，人们应该仅仅只做由统治和立法才能所体现的理性允许作的事；其二、如果有人即刻纠正了你的错误，否定了你的意见，那就改变你的意见吧。但这一改变必须产生于特定的理由，比如出自正义和公共利益等等，而不能仅仅因为高兴或者这样做会带来名誉。 A man should always have these two rules in readiness; the one, to do only whatever the reason of the ruling and legislating faculty may suggest for the use of men; the other, to change thy opinion, if there is any one at hand who sets thee right and moves thee from any opinion. But this change of opinion must proceed only from a certain persuasion, as of what is just or of common advantage, and the like, not because it appears pleasant or brings reputation. 你有理性吗？有的。——那你为何不使用它？如果理性担负起自己的职责，你还有什么别的要求？ Hast thou reason? I have.- Why then dost not thou use it? For if this does its own work, what else dost thou wish? 你只是作为部分而存在，因此你应该消失在制造了你的那个整体中，但你将遵从宇宙的生产原则，通过转变又一次获得新生。 Thou hast existed as a part. Thou shalt disappear in that which produced thee; but rather thou shalt be received back into its seminal principle by transmutation. 很多乳香放在同一祭坛上：有的在前，有的在后，但毫无区别。 Many grains of frankincense on the same altar: one falls before, another falls after; but it makes no difference. 如果你愿意回归原则和对理性的崇拜，那在十天时间里，对那些现在是畜牲和猿类的人来说，你看上去将和神一样。 Within ten days thou wilt seem a god to those to whom thou art now a beast and an ape, if thou wilt return to thy principles and the worship of reason. 别做那样的举动，仿佛你可以活一万岁，死亡在你头上盘旋。当你活着的时候，当你力所能及的时候，为善吧。 Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good. 不去窥视邻居说什么、做什么、想什么，而仅仅只关注自身的人，避免了多少的麻烦，这样的行为既正义又纯洁；或者正如阿加芬(Agathon)所言，不要环顾那些道德败坏者，勇往直前，目无旁骛。 How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be just and pure; or as Agathon says, look not round at the depraved morals of others, but run straight along the line without deviating from it. 对死后的声名抱有强烈欲望的人，没有想到那些记住他的人自己也将很快死去；当名声是通过愚蠢地崇拜并最终要毁灭的人来传播时，传播者的后代亦要死亡，一切记住你的人都要死去。但假设记住你的是不朽的，这对你意味着什么？我可以说它将不再消失，而将永存？赞扬如果没有用处还有什么意义？你现在无理地拒绝了自然的赐予，而依附到其他东西上…… He who has a vehement desire for posthumous fame does not consider that every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon; then again also they who have succeeded them, until the whole remembrance shall have been extinguished as it is transmitted through men who foolishly admire and perish. But suppose that those who will remember are even immortal, and that the remembrance will be immortal, what then is this to thee? And I say not what is it to the dead, but what is it to the living? What is praise except indeed so far as it has a certain utility? For thou now rejectest unseasonably the gift of nature, clinging to something else... 真正的美丽者其自身美丽，美的原因只来自它自身，外在的称赞并不构成其自身。人们对事物的称赞不会让它变得更好，也不会让它变得更坏。我确信这对乡巴佬所谓美的事物，比如物质的东西或手工制品也是有效的。真正美丽者不需要其他，除了法律，真理和仁慈或谦虚。什么东西是由于被人称赞而变得美丽？什么东西是由于被人诋毁而变得丑陋？如果人们不称赞一块绿宝石，就会让它变差吗？那么黄金、象牙、紫宝石、七弦琴、小刀、鲜花、灌木呢？ Everything which is in any way beautiful is beautiful in itself, and terminates in itself, not having praise as part of itself. Neither worse then nor better is a thing made by being praised. I affirm this also of the things which are called beautiful by the vulgar, for example, material things and works of art. That which is really beautiful has no need of anything; not more than law, not more than truth, not more than benevolence or modesty. Which of these things is beautiful because it is praised, or spoiled by being blamed? Is such a thing as an emerald made worse than it was, if it is not praised? Or gold, ivory, purple, a lyre, a little knife, a flower, a shrub? 如果灵魂继续存在，空气是如何永久包容他们的？——土地是如何保存那些如此久远以前就被埋葬的尸体？这些尸体保留一段时间后就发生变化，不管它变成什么，它们分解了，为其他死尸留出空间；因此进入空气的灵魂在保留一段时间后也变化扩散了，被纳入宇宙的繁衍智能，比如成为自然中的火性，正是依靠这种方式为进入空气的新灵魂留出空间。这就是人们对灵魂继续存在这一假说可能给出的答案。但我们不止要关注被埋葬的尸体的数量，还得关注每天被我们和其他动物吃掉的动物的数量，葬身于其天敌腹中的动物的数量如此之大，难于想象!但大地依然接纳了它们，因为它们的尸体转化为血、空气或火元素了。 If souls continue to exist, how does the air contain them from eternity?- But how does the earth contain the bodies of those who have been buried from time so remote? For as here the mutation of these bodies after a certain continuance, whatever it may be, and their dissolution make room for other dead bodies; so the souls which are removed into the air after subsisting for some time are transmuted and diffused, and assume a fiery nature by being received into the seminal intelligence of the universe, and in this way make room for the fresh souls which come to dwell there. And this is the answer which a man might give on the hypothesis of souls continuing to exist. But we must not only think of the number of bodies which are thus buried, but also of the number of animals which are daily eaten by us and the other animals. For what a number is consumed, and thus in a manner buried in the bodies of those who feed on them! And nevertheless this earth receives them by reason of the changes of these bodies into blood, and the transformations into the aerial or the fiery element. 何谓对这类事物究根问底，探求真理？就是把事物分为质料和形式因。 What is the investigation into the truth in this matter? The division into that which is material and that which is the cause of form, the formal. 不要无头绪地乱忙，每一行动都要服从正义，对产生的每一印象都保持理解和领悟。 Do not be whirled about, but in every movement have respect to justice, and on the occasion of every impression maintain the faculty of comprehension or understanding. 哦，宇宙，与你和谐者，同样与我和谐。对你适时者，对我也正合时。你四时轮回，季有所产，赐福于我，噢，自然，万物由你而生，你孕育万物，万物复归于你。诗人吟唱道，亲爱的雅典；你会吟唱，亲爱的天城？哲人教导，如想安宁，切勿多事。——但是想一想，下面的说法是否更有道理？做必做的，如有需要，人按其自然的群居需要而为，这为人带来安宁，不仅由于为善，更由于无为。我们所说所为绝大部分都无必要，如果人们能不做无必要之事，那就会有更多的闲暇，更少的不安。因此在做任何事情之前，人们都应该问问自己：这是一件无必要的事吗？人们不但应该去除无必要之事，而且要去除无必要之思，因为这样的话，无必要的行为也就不会再次发生。 Everything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to thee, O Universe. Nothing for me is too early nor too late, which is in due time for thee. Everything is fruit to me which thy seasons bring, O Nature: from thee are all things, in thee are all things, to thee all things return. The poet says, Dear city of Cecrops; and wilt not thou say, Dear city of Zeus? Occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, if thou wouldst be tranquil.- But consider if it would not be better to say, Do what is necessary, and whatever the reason of the animal which is naturally social requires, and as it requires. For this brings not only the tranquility which comes from doing well, but also that which comes from doing few things. For the greatest part of what we say and do being unnecessary, if a man takes this away, he will have more leisure and less uneasiness. Accordingly on every occasion a man should ask himself, Is this one of the unnecessary things? Now a man should take away not only unnecessary acts, but also, unnecessary thoughts, for thus superfluous acts will not follow after. 尝试善人的生活如何适合于你，这种人对由整一中分配与他的心满意足，对自己的正义行为和仁慈举动心满意足。 Try how the life of the good man suits thee, the life of him who is satisfied with his portion out of the whole, and satisfied with his own just acts and benevolent disposition. 你看到那些事情了吗？那你也看看这些。不要烦扰你自己，保持全然的质朴，有人犯错？那是他自己犯错，有什么事情降临到你头上？噢；从一开始，来自宇宙，降临于你身上的，都是分配与你，命中注定的。一句话，你生也有涯，你必须用理性和正义造福当下。当你闲暇时，保持清醒。 Hast thou seen those things? Look also at these. Do not disturb thyself. Make thyself all simplicity. Does any one do wrong? It is to himself that he does the wrong. Has anything happened to thee? Well; out of the universe from the beginning everything which happens has been apportioned and spun out to thee. In a word, thy life is short. Thou must turn to profit the present by the aid of reason and justice. Be sober in thy relaxation. 无论宇宙是井然有序还是浑沌一团，它还是宇宙，但当宇宙混乱不堪时，你内心能够保持清明？当所有事物都如此隔绝、消散和富有同情时，你也同样。 Either it is a well-arranged universe or a chaos huddled together, but still a universe. But can a certain order subsist in thee, and disorder in the All? And this too when all things are so separated and diffused and sympathetic. 忧郁的、柔弱的、固执的、兽性的、不成熟的、动物式的、愚蠢的、伪装的、粗鄙的、欺诈的、残暴的，形形色色的人。 A black character, a womanish character, a stubborn character, bestial, childish, animal, stupid, counterfeit, scurrilous, fraudulent, tyrannical. 不知道宇宙中有何物的，对宇宙他是一个陌生人；不知道宇宙中发生什么的，也是如此。他是一个逃跑者，逃离社会理性；他是个瞎子，闭上理解之眼；他是一个贫者，依赖他人，没有从自身获得生活所需的所有。他是宇宙中的一块脓疮，由于对所发生的事不愉快，他就从我们公共的本性之理性上撤离，与之决裂，同样的自然，既制造了这些不快，也创造了你；他是一条裂痕，与国家隔绝，他作为一个理性动物，却把自己的灵魂与理性动物分裂。 If he is a stranger to the universe who does not know what is in it, no less is he a stranger who does not know what is going on in it. He is a runaway, who flies from social reason; he is blind, who shuts the eyes of the understanding; he is poor, who has need of another, and has not from himself all things which are useful for life. He is an abscess on the universe who withdraws and separates himself from the reason of our common nature through being displeased with the things which happen, for the same nature produces this, and has produced thee too: he is a piece rent asunder from the state, who tears his own soul from that of reasonable animals, which is one. 一者是不穿束腰长袍的哲学家，一者是不拿书的哲人；这里还有一个半裸的：他说，我没有面包，但坚持理性。——我不从学习中获得自己生活的方法，我坚守自己的理性。 The one is a philosopher without a tunic, and the other without a book: here is another half naked: Bread I have not, he says, and I abide by reason.- And I do not get the means of living out of my learning, and I abide by my reason. 热爱你曾学过的技艺吧，并对之表示满意，尽管可能很贫乏；向那些把自己所有的整个灵魂托付与诸神的人一样度过你的余生，即不做暴君，也不做他人的奴隶。 Love the art, poor as it may be, which thou hast learned, and be content with it; and pass through the rest of life like one who has intrusted to the gods with his whole soul all that he has, making thyself neither the tyrant nor the slave of any man. 以维斯西巴安大帝(Vespasian)时代为例，思考一下，你将会看到，人们结婚、生子、生病、病危、战争、宴乐、买卖、耕种、谄媚、顽固地傲慢自大、猜疑、搞阴谋、希望害死某人、对现实抱怨不止、恋爱、积累财富、希望成为执政官、由国王一般的权力，所有这一切，然而，现在这些人都已死去。再回到图拉真（Trajan）时代，一切依然如此，他们的生命也早已结束。同样的，过去的每一刻时光和整个世界的历史，眼看那多少的辛劳之后一切都那么快地衰落，分解为尘埃。但是你首先要思考的是那些人，他们自己偏离而忙碌于无益之事，拒绝去做根据其本性应该做的事，而且固执己见，心满意足。这里要记住的是：精力的分配要有价值且比例适当，如果你专注鸡虫小事，将不可能胜任大事，自己也会对自己不满。 Consider, for example, the times of Vespasian. Thou wilt see all these things, people marrying, bringing up children, sick, dying, warring, feasting, trafficking, cultivating the ground, flattering, obstinately arrogant, suspecting, plotting, wishing for some to die, grumbling about the present, loving, heaping up treasure, desiring counsulship, kingly power. Well then, that life of these people no longer exists at all. Again, remove to the times of Trajan. Again, all is the same. Their life too is gone. In like manner view also the other epochs of time and of whole nations, and see how many after great efforts soon fell and were resolved into the elements. But chiefly thou shouldst think of those whom thou hast thyself known distracting themselves about idle things, neglecting to do what was in accordance with their proper constitution, and to hold firmly to this and to be content with it. And herein it is necessary to remember that the attention given to everything has its proper value and proportion. For thus thou wilt not be dissatisfied, if thou appliest thyself to smaller matters no further than is fit. 曾经熟悉的词句现在变得陈腐了，那些显赫一时的名字也如此，卡米勒斯(Camillus)、（Caeso）、 Volesus、利奥纳图斯（Leonnatus）,以及稍后的西庇阿（Scipio）和加图（Cato）, 然后是奥古斯都（Augustus）,还有艾德里安（Hadrian）和（Antoninus）。所有一切随风而逝，成为故事，安葬了他们，一切也就完全湮没。这里我说的是那些曾经如太阳般光辉万丈的人物，对于其余，他们一断气，尸骨未寒，已经没人再提起他们。那么，总结一下，什么是永恒的纪念？没有这回事。那我们深重的痛苦应该置于何处？只有一件事，思想的正义，行为的合群，不撒谎，欢喜地接受所发生的一切的秉性，把这看成必然，看成惯例，看成是对同一种类原则和来源的遵从。 The words which were formerly familiar are now antiquated: so also the names of those who were famed of old, are now in a manner antiquated, Camillus, Caeso, Volesus, Leonnatus, and a little after also Scipio and Cato, then Augustus, then also Hadrian and Antoninus. For all things soon pass away and become a mere tale, and complete oblivion soon buries them. And I say this of those who have shone in a wondrous way. For the rest, as soon as they have breathed out their breath, they are gone, and no man speaks of them. And, to conclude the matter, what is even an eternal remembrance? A mere nothing. What then is that about which we ought to employ our serious pains? This one thing, thoughts just, and acts social, and words which never lie, and a disposition which gladly accepts all that happens, as necessary, as usual, as flowing from a principle and source of the same kind. 心甘情愿地服从克洛索吧，命运三女神之一，让她按其所愿纺织你的命运之线。 Willingly give thyself up to Clotho, one of the Fates, allowing her to spin thy thread into whatever things she pleases. 万事如过眼烟云，瞻仰者和被瞻仰者皆如此。 Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that which is remembered. 经常洞察万物皆由变化而生，习惯承认宇宙的本性最热衷的不过是变化事物之所是，并创造和它们一样的新事物。因为存在的事物在某种意义上就是即将产生的事物的种子，但你只把播撒进土地和子宫的称为种子，这一观念非常粗俗。 Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are and to make new things like them. For everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be. But thou art thinking only of seeds which are cast into the earth or into a womb: but this is a very vulgar notion. 你将很快死去，但你不纯朴，内心充满动摇，并非没有可能为外物所伤害，没有仁慈地对待所有人，没有把智慧仅仅用于正义的行为。 Thou wilt soon die, and thou art not yet simple, not free from perturbations, nor without suspicion of being hurt by external things, nor kindly disposed towards all; nor dost thou yet place wisdom only in acting justly. 明察人们的支配原则，即使是那些智者的，看看他们逃避什么，追求什么。 Examine men's ruling principles, even those of the wise, what kind of things they avoid, and what kind they pursue. 你的罪过与他人的支配原则无关，也与你延续的躯壳无关。那罪过在哪？它在你体内，让你坚持产生罪恶的观念。只要让这一力量不再形成这样的观念，那就万事大吉。如果最接近于它的可怜的躯体正在燃烧，充满了龌龊和腐物，那么让对这些事物的形成意见的那个部分保持安静吧，也就是说，让它做出这样的判断，平等地发生于好人和坏人头上的事无所谓好坏，因为平等地发生于遵从自然而生活的人和不遵从自然而生活的人头上的事，既不有违自然，也不顺应自然。 What is evil to thee does not subsist in the ruling principle of another; nor yet in any turning and mutation of thy corporeal covering. Where is it then? It is in that part of thee in which subsists the power of forming opinions about evils. Let this power then not form such opinions, and all is well. And if that which is nearest to it, the poor body, is burnt, filled with matter and rottenness, nevertheless let the part which forms opinions about these things be quiet, that is, let it judge that nothing is either bad or good which can happen equally to the bad man and the good. For that which happens equally to him who lives contrary to nature and to him who lives according to nature, is neither according to nature nor contrary to nature. 始终把宇宙看成一个活生生的生命，有躯体，有灵魂；洞察所有事物如何指向同一观念，指向活生生的宇宙的观念；洞察所有事物如何跟随一个动作起舞；洞察所有事物如何与所有存在事物互为因果；洞察命运之线和宇宙网络的不断延展。 Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living being; and how all things act with one movement; and how all things are the cooperating causes of all things which exist; observe too the continuous spinning of the thread and the contexture of the web. 正如埃皮克提图曾经所言，你只不过是一个躯壳包裹着的小小灵魂。 Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say. 事物经历变化并无罪恶，由变化而保持存在也无善可言。 It is no evil for things to undergo change, and no good for things to subsist in consequence of change. 时间是一条河，一条激流，流淌的是发生了的事物；一旦事物呈现人眼，它即被带走，由另一事物替代它的位置，很快，这一事物也被带走。 Time is like a river made up of the events which happen, and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place, and this will be carried away too. 我们熟悉发生的每一件事情，就如熟悉春天的玫瑰，秋天的果实；对那些让傻瓜欢天喜地或惆怅满腹的死亡、诽谤、背叛等等，也是如此。 Everything which happens is as familiar and well known as the rose in spring and the fruit in summer; for such is disease, and death, and calumny, and treachery, and whatever else delights fools or vexes them. 随后而来的一系列事物总是与已经失去东西相适应；因为这个系列并非一堆杂乱事物的列举，只有外在的秩序，而是有理性的关联：正如所有存在的事物被和谐地安排在一起一样，呈现于世界的事物不但表现出前后的顺序，相互间还有奇妙的关系。 In the series of things those which follow are always aptly fitted to those which have gone before; for this series is not like a mere enumeration of disjointed things, which has only a necessary sequence, but it is a rational connection: and as all existing things are arranged together harmoniously, so the things which come into existence exhibit no mere succession, but a certain wonderful relationship. 始终记住赫拉柯利特的名言：土死成水，水死成空气，空气死成火，反之亦然。想想那种人，他忘却了人生的目的，想想那些人，他们与最经常在一起说话的人争论支配宇宙的理性，以及他们每天遇到但却陌生的东西：我们的言行不能像睡着了一样，即使在睡梦中我们也仿佛在言说、行为；我们不应该像儿童一样，承袭家教，不思而言行。 Always remember the saying of Heraclitus, that the death of earth is to become water, and the death of water is to become air, and the death of air is to become fire, and reversely. And think too of him who forgets whither the way leads, and that men quarrel with that with which they are most constantly in communion, the reason which governs the universe; and the things which daily meet with seem to them strange: and consider that we ought not to act and speak as if we were asleep, for even in sleep we seem to act and speak; and that we ought not, like children who learn from their parents, simply to act and speak as we have been taught. 如果有神告诉你，明天，或者后天你肯定将死去，你将不会在意到底是后天还是明天，除非你的精神状态处于最卑鄙的境界，因为有什么差别呢？——所以，即使你能富贵长寿，这又有什么了不起？ If any god told thee that thou shalt die to-morrow, or certainly on the day after to-morrow, thou wouldst not care much whether it was on the third day or on the morrow, unless thou wast in the highest degree mean-spirited- for how small is the difference?- So think it no great thing to die after as many years as thou canst name rather than to-morrow. 经常想一想，有多少医生，在他们时常面对病人束手无策之后，自己也死去；有多少占星家，在以巨大的自负预言他人之死后，自己也死去；有多少哲学家，在无休止地探讨死亡和不朽之后，也同样死去；有多少英雄，屠杀千百人，仍难逃一死；有多少暴君，狂妄自大，草芥人命，仿佛他们是不朽者，也一样死去；还有多少城市销声匿迹，比如赫利斯（Helice） 、庞贝（Pompeii）和赫库兰尼姆（Herculaneum），数不胜数。把你所知道的人也加到这里吧，一个接一个。埋葬他人者，他人葬之，一切不过百马过隙。总之，时刻洞察，人事白云苍狗，了无价值，昨日的黄毛小儿明天可能就是一具干尸或一钵尘土，顺应自然，度过短暂的人生，在人生之旅结束时心无不满，就仿佛成熟的橄榄，从枝头垂落，对生产了它的自然，心怀感激，对它安生的树枝，道声感谢。 Think continually how many physicians are dead after often contracting their eyebrows over the sick; and how many astrologers after predicting with great pretensions the deaths of others; and how many philosophers after endless discourses on death or immortality; how many heroes after killing thousands; and how many tyrants who have used their power over men's lives with terrible insolence as if they were immortal; and how many cities are entirely dead, so to speak, Helice and Pompeii and Herculaneum, and others innumerable. Add to the reckoning all whom thou hast known, one after another. One man after burying another has been laid out dead, and another buries him: and all this in a short time. To conclude, always observe how ephemeral and worthless human things are, and what was yesterday a little mucus to-morrow will be a mummy or ashes. Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew. 像海角一样，海浪不断扑打，但它傲然挺立，驯服周围狂暴的海水。 Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it. 我不幸福，因为这些发生在我身上。——并非如此。我很幸福，尽管这些发生在我身上，因为我继续免除了痛苦的折磨，没有被当下碾碎，也没有对未来恐惧。这样的事情可能发生的每个人头上，但不是每个人在这种时候都能免除痛苦。那么为何说比这更大的不幸是一种幸运？你总是把这称为人的不幸？这不是人偏离其本性的结果？当一件事物与人的本性的意愿并不违背时，在你眼中这件事是对人的本性的偏离？噢，你熟知自然的意志。是否所发生的事阻止你行正义、宽宏、节制、谨慎和安全来对抗轻率的意见和谬误？是否所发生的事表明，人的本性所获得的一切皆是其自有，以此阻止你行谦虚、自由，还有其他一切？那么在任何让你困惑是否应该使用这一原则的时候都回想起：这不是不幸，高贵地忍受它即大幸。 Unhappy am I because this has happened to me.- Not so, but happy am I, though this has happened to me, because I continue free from pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearing the future. For such a thing as this might have happened to every man; but every man would not have continued free from pain on such an occasion. Why then is that rather a misfortune than this a good fortune? And dost thou in all cases call that a man's misfortune, which is not a deviation from man's nature? And does a thing seem to thee to be a deviation from man's nature, when it is not contrary to the will of man's nature? Well, thou knowest the will of nature. Will then this which has happened prevent thee from being just, magnanimous, temperate, prudent, secure against inconsiderate opinions and falsehood; will it prevent thee from having modesty, freedom, and everything else, by the presence of which man's nature obtains all that is its own? Remember too on every occasion which leads thee to vexation to apply this principle: not that this is a misfortune, but that to bear it nobly is good fortune. 来审视一下那些顽强地执着于生的人，这对我们鄙视死亡不无益处，尽管鄙陋。他们比早逝了的人获得了更多的什么？Cadicianus,费比乌斯（Fabius）, 尤利安（Julianus）, 雷比达（Lepidus），还有其他名人们，他们躺在某处自己的坟墓里，他们埋葬了很多人，最终也埋葬了自己。尽管生与死的间隙如此短暂，但想一想，伴随我们艰辛度过这一短暂时光的，有多少磨难，遭遇的是什么样的人，凭借的是怎样脆弱的躯体。生命毫无价值，其后无限，其前亦然，还有那无垠的空间，面对这一无限，苟延三日和长命百岁有何区别？ It is a vulgar, but still a useful help towards contempt of death, to pass in review those who have tenaciously stuck to life. What more then have they gained than those who have died early? Certainly they lie in their tombs somewhere at last, Cadicianus, Fabius, Julianus, Lepidus, or any one else like them, who have carried out many to be buried, and then were carried out themselves. Altogether the interval is small between birth and death; and consider with how much trouble, and in company with what sort of people and in what a feeble body this interval is laboriously passed. Do not then consider life a thing of any value. For look to the immensity of time behind thee, and to the time which is before thee, another boundless space. In this infinity then what is the difference between him who lives three days and him who lives three generations? 始终走捷径，走捷径是自然之举：一言一行要与最正当的理性相适应，这一目的把人从麻烦、战争以及所有诡计、炫耀中解脱出来。 Always run to the short way; and the short way is the natural: accordingly say and do everything in conformity with the soundest reason. For such a purpose frees a man from trouble, and warfare, and all artifice and ostentatious display.