On Pleasure

Then a hermit, who visited the city once a year, came forth and said, "Speak to us of Pleasure."

And he answered, saying:

Pleasure is a freedom song,

But it is not freedom.

It is the blossoming of your desires,

But it is not their fruit.

It is a depth calling unto a height,

But it is not the deep nor the high.

It is the caged taking wing,

But it is not space encompassed.

Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom-song.

And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart; yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing.

Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it were all, and they are judged and rebuked.

I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek.

For they shall find pleasure, but not her alone:

Seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure.

Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure?

And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness.

But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement.

They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer.

Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted.

And there are among you those who are neither young to seek nor old to remember;

And in their fear of seeking and remembering they shun all pleasures, lest they neglect the spirit or offend against it.

But even in their foregoing is their pleasure.

And thus they too find a treasure though they dig for roots with quivering hands.

But tell me, who is he that can offend the spirit?

Shall the nightingale offend the stillness of the night, or the firefly the stars?

And shall your flame or your smoke burden the wind?

Think you the spirit is a still pool which you can trouble with a staff?

Oftentimes in denying yourself pleasure you do but store the desire in the recesses of your being.

Who knows but that which seems omitted today, waits for tomorrow?

Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful need and will not be deceived.

And your body is the harp of your soul,

And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.

And now you ask in your heart, "How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?"

Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,

But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.

For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,

And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,

And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.

People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.

享乐

　　一位每年造访城市一次的隐士走上前说，请给我们谈谈享乐。

　　他回答道：

　　享乐是一首自由的歌，

　　但它不是自由。

　　它是你们绽放的希望之花，

　　但不是它们的果。

　　它是深渊对峰巅的呼唤，

　　但却不是深渊，也不是峰巅。

　　它是锁在笼中伸展的翅膀，

　　但又不是周围环绕的空间。

　　哦，千真万确，享乐是首自由的歌。

　　我愿你们全身心地歌唱它，却不希望在歌唱时迷失自己的心。

　　你们中的一些年轻人追求享乐，仿佛它代表一切；他们受到评判和谴责。

　　我既不会审判他们，也不会谴责他们。我让他们去追寻。

　　因为他们寻得的不仅仅是享乐；

　　享乐有七个姐妹，她们中最小的也比她美丽。

　　难道你们没听说过一个刨上寻根的人找到了宝藏的故事么？

　　你们中的一些老年人懊恼地回忆享乐，仿佛那是一种醉酒后犯下的错误。

　　但懊悔只会让心智模糊，而不是受了惩戒。

　　他们应带着感激回忆享乐，就像回忆夏季的收获。

　　但如果懊悔使他们得到安慰，那就让他们获得慰藉吧。

　　你们中还有一些人既非充满追求的青年又非沉浸于回忆的老人；

　　他们在对追求和回忆的恐惧中躲避所有的享乐，生怕自己疏远或冒犯了灵魂。

　　但享乐也存在于他们的生活中，

　　因此即使他们用颤抖的手挖土寻根，他们也能找到宝藏。

　　不过请告诉我，有谁能冒犯灵魂呢？

　　夜驾会冒犯静夜，萤火虫会冒犯星空么？

　　你们的火炮和烟云会冒犯风么？

　　莫非你们以为灵魂是一地你们用一根木棍就可以搅乱的死水？

　　当你们极力抗拒享乐时，你们实际上是将享乐的欲望存储在一个休眠的自我中。

　　谁不知道今天似乎被冷落的会等待到明天？

　　即使是你们的身体也了解自己的天然本性和合理需求，不会被蒙蔽。

　　你们的身体是你们灵魂的琴瑟，

　　它会发出甜美动人的音乐，

　　或者嘈杂之声，那全在你。

　　现在你们心中疑惑："我们如何辨别享乐中的好与环呢？"

　　到你们的田园中去，你们就会知道采集花蜜是蜜蜂的乐趣，

　　而对于花朵，为蜜蜂提供蜜也是乐趣。

　　因为花朵对于蜜蜂是生命的源泉，

　　蜜蜂对于花朵是爱的使者，

　　对于两者，蜜蜂与花朵，奉献与接受的欢乐既是需要，也是无比情愿。

　　奥法利斯城的人们，像花朵和蜜蜂那样享受你们的欢乐吧！

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