ofwisdomforaman’sself

论自私者的聪明

francisbacon/弗朗西斯·培根

anantisawisecreatureforitself，butitisashrewdthinginanorchardorgarden.andcertainlymenthataregreatloversofthemselveswastethepublic.dividewithreasonbetweenselfloveandsociety；andbesotruetothyself，asthoubenotfalsetoothers；speciallytothykingandcountry.itisapoorcentreofaman‘sactions，himself.itisrightearth.forthatonlystandsfastuponhisowncentre；whereasalhingsthathaveaffinitywiththeheavens，moveuponthecentreofanother，whichtheybenefit.thereferringofaloaman’sselfismoretolerableinasovereignprince；becausethemselvesarenotonlythemselves，buttheirgoodandevilisattheperilofthepublicfortune.butitisadesperateevilinaservanttoaprince，oracitizeninarepublic.forwhatsoeveraffairspasssuchaman‘shands，hecrookeththemtohisownends；whichmustneedstobeofteneccentrictotheendsofhismasterorstate.thereforeletprinces，orstates，choosesuchservantsashavenotthismark；excepttheymeantheirserviceshouldbemadebuttheaccessory.

thatwhichmakeththeeffectmoreperniciousisthatallproportionislost.itweredisproportionenoughfortheservant’sgoodtobepreferredbeforethemaster‘s；butyetitisagreaterextreme，whenalittlegoodoftheservantshallcarrythingsagainstagreatgoodofthemaster’s.andyetthatisthecaseofbadofficers，treasurers，ambassadors，generals，andotherfalseandcorruptservants；whichsetabiasupontheirbowl，oftheirownpettyendsandenvies，totheoverthrowoftheirmaster‘sgreatandimportantaffairs.

蚂蚁本是聪明灵巧的小动物，却也是果园菜圃里的害虫。因而十分自恋的人确有可能会损害公众。用理智将自爱与爱人区分开吧！忠实于己，不要欺骗别人；尤其不要欺君叛国。人类行为卑劣的中心，就是自我。正如地球，它只以自我为中心。而与日月五行亲近的东西，也就有其他的中心，并从中得利。凡事从自我出发，君主这样做倒是可以容忍，因为君王是一己之主，且他们的祸福关系着公众的福祉。但臣仆之于君主，人民之于国家也是这样的话，就罪过之极了，因为任何事一经此种人的手，他都要为一己之私服务，经常背离君主、君国的目标行事。所以君王、国家从来都不会挑选有这种弊病的奴仆，除非他们认为所需要的服务无关紧要。更糟的是，当比例失调时，奴仆利益优先于主人，已经有失体统了；而如果奴仆的微薄私利牵制影响了主人的利益，就更是无法无天了。然而，卑劣的军官、会计、使者和将军等贪官污吏之事，使球偏离轨道，他们为了自己的微利，出于妒忌，将主人的宏绩伟业毁于一旦。

andforthemostpart，thegoodsuchservantsreceiveisafterthemodeloftheirownfortune；butthehurttheysellforthatgoodisafterthemodeloftheirmaster’sfortune.andcertainlyitisthenatureofextremeself-lovers，astheywillsetanhouseonfire，anditwerebuttoroasttheireggs；andyetthesemenmanytimesholdcreditwiththeirmasters，becausetheirstudyisbuttopleasethemandprofitthemselves；andforeitherrespecttheywillabandonthegoodoftheiraffairs.

多数情况下，这种人所获的好处无济于他们的幸运，可为了那微利所作出的出卖行为带来的灾害却与主人的洪福差不多。自恋者会为了烤熟鸡蛋而放火烧屋，这当然是他们的本性使然。然而，这些家伙往往能取信于主人，因为他们所擅长的就是溜须拍马、谋求私利，不论是为了讨好主人，还是为了谋取私利，他们都会把正义之事的利益抛弃。

wisdomforaman‘sselfis，inmanybranchesthereof，adepravedthing.itisthewisdomofrats，thatwillbesuretoleaveahousesomewhatbeforeitfall.itisthewisdomofthefox，thatthrustsoutthebadger，whodiggedandmaderoomforhim.itisthewisdomofcrocodiles，thatshedtearswhentheywoulddevour.butthatwhichisspeciallytobenotedis，thatthosewhich（ascicerosaysofpom-pey）aresuiamantes，sinerivali，aremanytimesunfortunate.andwhereastheyhavealheirtimesacrificedtothemselves，theybecomeintheendthem-selvessacrificestotheinconstancyoffortune；whosewingstheythoughtbytheirself-wisdomtohavepinioned.

自私者的聪明，在许多方面都犯下罪恶。房屋轰塌前一定要逃生，那是老鼠的机智；把小动物从它们挖好了的栖身之处驱逐出来，鸠占鹊巢，那是狐狸的狡猾；边吞食边落泪，那是鳄鱼的阴险。尤其要指出的是，“有己为人”（西塞罗告诉庞培语），往往倒霉。即使耗尽毕生的精力为自己牟利，最终还是要被无常的命运收拾掉；而他们还自忖，以自私者的明智，足以能束缚住生命的翅膀呢。（未完待续）