🔊 From the point of view of history, of reason, and of truth, monasticism is condemned. Monasteries, when they abound in a nation, are clogs in its circulation, cumbrous establishments, centres of idleness where centres of labor should exist. Monastic communities are to the great social community what the mistletoe is to the oak, what the wart is to the human body. Their prosperity and their fatness mean the impoverishment of the country. The monastic regime, good at the beginning of civilization, useful in the reduction of the brutal by the spiritual, is bad when peoples have reached their manhood. Moreover, when it becomes relaxed, and when it enters into its period of disorder, it becomes bad for the very reasons which rendered it salutary in its period of purity, because it still continues to set the example.

从历史、理性和真理的角度来看,修道制度应受谴责。修道院若在一国泛滥,便成为流通的障碍、累赘的机构、本应存在劳动中心的懒惰中心。修道团体之于宏大社会团体,正如槲寄生之于橡树、疣之于人体。它们的兴旺和肥硕意味着国家的贫困。修道制度在文明初期尚属有益,有助于以精神之力驯服野蛮之人,但当民族臻于成熟时,它便沦为弊害。更何况,当它变得松弛、进入混乱时期时,它之所以变成祸害,恰恰是因为当初在纯净时期它起过有益作用的那些理由--因为它仍然继续树立榜样。

🔊

monasticism /məˈnæstɪsɪzəm/

n. 修道制度；修道生活➕

🔊

condemned /kənˈdɛmd/

v. 谴责；判刑➕

🔊

cumbrous /ˈkʌmbrəs/

adj. 笨重的；累赘的➕

🔊

impoverishment /ɪmˈpɒvərɪʃmənt/

n. 贫困；贫乏➕

🔊

regime /reɪˈʒiːm/

n. 政体；体制；政权➕

🔊

salutary /ˈsæljʊtərɪ/

adj. 有益的；有益健康的➕

🔊 Claustration has had its day. Cloisters, useful in the early education of modern civilization, have embarrassed its growth, and are injurious to its development. So far as institution and formation with relation to man are concerned, monasteries, which were good in the tenth century, questionable in the fifteenth, are detestable in the nineteenth. The leprosy of monasticism has gnawed nearly to a skeleton two wonderful nations, Italy and Spain; the one the light, the other the splendor of Europe for centuries; and, at the present day, these two illustrious peoples are but just beginning to convalesce, thanks to the healthy and vigorous hygiene of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine alone.

幽闭生活已过时其矣。修道院在现代文明早期教育中虽有用处,却阻碍了文明的成长,并有害于其发展。就制度与教化之于人类而言,修道院在十世纪尚属良好,在十五世纪便存疑,在十九世纪则令人生厌。修道制度的麻风病已将两个璀璨的民族--意大利和西班牙--啃噬得几近骷髅；前者是欧洲数世纪的光明,后者是欧洲的光辉；而如今,这两个辉煌的民族才刚康复,全靠1789年那健康而强劲的卫生之道。

🔊

Claustration /klɔːˈstreɪʃən/

n. 幽闭；修道院隐居生活➕

🔊

injurious /ɪnˈdʒʊərɪəs/

adj. 有害的；致伤的➕

🔊

detestable /dɪˈtɛstəbəl/

adj. 可憎的；令人厌恶的➕

🔊

leprosy /ˈlɛprəsi/

n. 麻风病➕

🔊

illustrious /ɪˈlʌstriəs/

adj. 杰出的；著名的➕

🔊

convalesce /ˌkɒnvəˈlɛs/

v. 康复；恢复健康➕

🔊 The convent-the ancient female convent in particular, such as it still presents itself on the threshold of this century, in Italy, in Austria, in Spain-is one of the most sombre concretions of the Middle Ages. The cloister, that cloister, is the point of intersection of horrors. The Catholic cloister, properly speaking, is wholly filled with the black radiance of death. The Spanish convent is the most funereal of all. There rise, in obscurity, beneath vaults filled with gloom, beneath domes vague with shadow, massive altars of Babel, as high as cathedrals; there immense white crucifixes hang from chains in the dark; there are extended, all nude on the ebony, great Christs of ivory; more than bleeding-bloody; hideous and magnificent, with their elbows displaying the bones, their kneepans showing their integuments, their wounds showing their flesh, crowned with silver thorns, nailed with nails of gold, with blood drops of rubies on their brows, and diamond tears in their eyes. The diamonds and rubies seem wet, and make veiled beings in the shadow below weep, their sides bruised with the hair shirt and their iron-tipped scourges, their breasts crushed with wicker hurdles, their knees excoriated with prayer; women who think themselves wives, spectres who think themselves seraphim. Do these women think? No. Have they any will? No. Do they love? No. Do they live? No. Their nerves have turned to bone; their bones have turned to stone. Their veil is of woven night. Their breath under their veil resembles the indescribably tragic respiration of death. The abbess, a spectre, sanctifies them and terrifies them. The immaculate one is there, and very fierce. Such are the ancient monasteries of Spain. Liars of terrible devotion, caverns of virgins, ferocious places.

女修道院--尤其是古老的女修道院,正如本世纪之初它在意大利、奥地利、西班牙所呈现的那样--是中世纪最阴郁的凝结物之一。修道院,那个修道院,是恐怖的交叉点。严格意义上的天主教修道院,完全弥漫着死亡的黑色光芒。西班牙的女修道院则是最为凄惨的。那里,在阴暗之中,在充满昏暗的穹顶下,在模糊阴影的圆顶下,矗立着如大教堂般高大的巴别尔式巨大祭坛；那里,巨大的白色十字架在黑暗中被链条悬挂；那里,象牙制的巨大基督像赤裸裸地伸展在黑檀木上--不止鲜血淋漓--而是狰狞而壮丽,肘部露出骨骼,膝盖露出外皮,伤口露出血肉,戴着银荆棘冠,钉着金钉,额上滴着红宝石般的血滴,眼中含着钻石般的泪珠。钻石和红宝石似乎湿润,令下方阴影中蒙面的人哭泣,她们身侧被苦衣和铁尖鞭笞所伤,胸部被柳条笼挤压,膝盖因祈祷而磨破--这些女人自以为是妻子,这些幽灵自以为是天使。她们思考吗？不。她们有意志吗？不。她们爱吗？不。她们活着吗？不。她们的神经变成了骨头,骨头变成了石头。她们的面纱由编织的夜晚制成。她们面纱下的呼吸,如同死亡那难以形容的悲惨喘息。女修道院长,一个幽灵,使她们神圣化,也令她们恐惧。那无瑕者在那里,且极为凶暴。这就是古老的西班牙修道院。可怖虔敬的巢穴,处女的地牢,残酷之地。

🔊

convent /ˈkɒnvənt/

n. 女修道院➕

🔊

threshold /ˈθrɛʃhəʊld/

n. 门槛；起点➕

🔊

sombre /ˈsɒmbər/

adj. 阴沉的；忧郁的➕

🔊

funereal /fjuːˈnɪərɪəl/

adj. 葬礼似的；悲哀的➕

🔊

ebony /ˈɛbəni/

n. 乌木；黑檀木➕

🔊

integuments /ɪnˈtɛɡjʊmənts/

n. 外皮；覆盖物（常用复数）➕

🔊

rubies /ˈruːbiz/

n. 红宝石（复数）➕

🔊

veiled /veɪld/

adj. 蒙面的；遮掩的➕

🔊

scourges /skɜːdʒɪz/

n. 鞭子；苦难的根源（复数）➕

🔊

excoriated /ɪkˈskɔːrieɪtɪd/

v. 擦伤皮肤；严厉批评➕

🔊

spectres /ˈspɛktəz/

n. 幽灵；鬼怪（复数）➕

🔊

seraphim /ˈsɛrəfɪm/

n. 六翼天使（复数）➕

🔊

respiration /ˌrɛspɪˈreɪʃən/

n. 呼吸➕

🔊

abbess /ˈæbɪs/

n. 女修道院院长➕

🔊

immaculate /ɪˈmækjʊlɪt/

adj. 无瑕疵的；纯洁的➕

🔊

ferocious /fəˈrəʊʃəs/

adj. 凶猛的；残忍的➕

🔊 Catholic Spain is more Roman than Rome herself. The Spanish convent was, above all others, the Catholic convent. There was a flavor of the Orient about it. The archbishop, the kislar-aga of heaven, locked up and kept watch over this seraglio of souls reserved for God. The nun was the odalisque, the priest was the eunuch. The fervent were chosen in dreams and possessed Christ. At night, the beautiful, nude young man descended from the cross and became the ecstasy of the cloistered one. Lofty walls guarded the mystic sultana, who had the crucified for her sultan, from all living distraction. A glance on the outer world was infidelity.

天主教西班牙比罗马本身更罗马化。西班牙的女修道院高于其他一切,是天主教女修道院的典范。它带有东方的气息。大主教,天堂的阉奴总管,锁闭并看守着这个为神保留的灵魂后宫。修女是宫女,神父是阉人。热忱者在梦中被选中,与基督结合。夜晚,那美丽的裸体青年从十字架上下来,成为幽居者的狂喜。高墙守卫着神秘的苏丹妃,她以被钉十字架者为苏丹,远离一切世俗的干扰。向外瞥一眼便是背信。

🔊

archbishop /ˈɑːrtʃbɪʃəp/

n. 大主教➕

🔊

seraglio /sɪˈræliəʊ/

n. 后宫（尤指伊斯兰国家的）➕

🔊

nun /nʌn/

n. 修女；尼姑➕

🔊

odalisque /ˈəʊdəlɪsk/

n. 女奴（尤指奥斯曼帝国后宫中的）➕

🔊

eunuch /ˈjuːnək/

n. 宦官；太监➕

🔊

fervent /ˈfɜːrvənt/

adj. 热心的；热烈的➕

🔊

ecstasy /ˈɛkstəsi/

n. 狂喜；出神➕

🔊

cloistered /ˈklɔɪstəd/

adj. 隐居的；与世隔绝的➕

🔊

lofty /ˈlɔːfti/

adj. 高耸的；崇高的➕

🔊

mystic /ˈmɪstɪk/

adj. 神秘的；玄妙的➕

🔊

sultana /sʌlˈtɑːnə/

n. 苏丹女眷；苏丹的后妃➕

🔊

crucified /ˈkruːsɪfaɪd/

adj. 被钉在十字架上的➕

🔊

sultan /ˈsʌltən/

n. 苏丹（某些伊斯兰国家的君主）➕

🔊

distraction /dɪˈstrækʃən/

n. 分心；分散注意力的事物➕

🔊

infidelity /ˌɪnfɪˈdɛlɪti/

n. 不忠；背信➕

🔊 The in pace replaced the leather sack. That which was cast into the sea in the East was thrown into the ground in the West. In both quarters, women wrung their hands; the waves for the first, the grave for the last; here the drowned, there the buried. Monstrous parallel.

活埋牢取代了皮袋。东方抛入大海的,西方则埋入地下。两地,女人都绞着双手:前者被淹死,后者被埋葬。这是怪异的平行。

🔊

in pace /ɪn ˈpeɪsi/

phrase. （拉丁语）在地牢中；监狱（指中世纪修道院用于惩罚的禁闭室）➕

🔊

Monstrous /ˈmɒnstrəs/

adj. 巨大的；恐怖的；怪异的➕

🔊

parallel /ˈpærəlɛl/

n. 平行；相似处➕

🔊 Today the upholders of the past, unable to deny these things, have adopted the expedient of smiling at them. There has come into fashion a strange and easy manner of suppressing the revelations of history, of invalidating the commentaries of philosophy, of eliding all embarrassing facts and all gloomy questions. \"A matter for declamations,\" say the clever. Declamations, repeat the foolish. Jean-Jacques a declaimer; Diderot a declaimer; Voltaire on Calas, La Barre, and Sirven, declaimers. I know not who has recently discovered that Tacitus was a declaimer, that Nero was a victim, and that pity is decidedly due to \"that poor Holofernes.\"

如今,维护过去者无法否认这些事,便采取了嘲弄的权宜之计。流行起一种怪异而轻松的方式,用以压制历史的启示,抹消哲学的评析,删除所有尴尬的事实和阴郁的问题。“不过是夸夸其谈罢了,”聪明人说。夸夸其谈,愚者附和。让-雅克是夸夸其谈者；狄德罗是夸夸其谈者；伏尔泰关于卡拉斯、拉巴尔和西尔万的事件,也是夸夸其谈者。不知何人最近发现塔西佗是夸夸其谈者,尼禄是受害者,而“可怜的霍洛芬尼斯”无疑值得同情。

🔊

expedient /ɪkˈspiːdiənt/

n. 权宜之计；应急手段➕

🔊

suppressing /səˈprɛsɪŋ/

v. 压制；抑制；隐瞒➕

🔊

revelations /ˌrɛvəˈleɪʃənz/

n. 启示；揭露（复数）➕

🔊

invalidating /ɪnˈvælɪdeɪtɪŋ/

v. 使无效；否定➕

🔊

commentaries /ˈkɒməntəriːz/

n. 评论；注释（复数）➕

🔊

eliding /ɪˈlaɪdɪŋ/

v. 省略；忽略➕

🔊

declamations /ˌdɛkləˈmeɪʃənz/

n. 雄辩；谴责（复数）➕

🔊

declaimer /dɪˈkleɪmər/

n. 雄辩者；演说家➕

🔊

victim /ˈvɪktɪm/

n. 受害者；牺牲品➕

🔊

decidedly /dɪˈsaɪdɪdli/

adv. 肯定地；明确地➕

🔊 Facts, however, are awkward things to disconcert, and they are obstinate. The author of this book has seen, with his own eyes, eight leagues distant from Brussels-there are relics of the Middle Ages there which are attainable for everybody-at the Abbey of Villers, the hole of the oubliettes, in the middle of the field which was formerly the courtyard of the cloister, and on the banks of the Thil, four stone dungeons, half underground, half under water. They were in pace. Each of these dungeons has the remains of an iron door, a vault, and a grated opening which, on the outside, is two feet above the level of the river, and on the inside, six feet above the level of the ground. Four feet of river flow past along the outside wall. The ground is always soaked. The occupant of the in pace had this wet soil for his bed. In one of these dungeons, there is a fragment of an iron necklet riveted to the wall; in another, there can be seen a square box made of four slabs of granite, too short for a person to lie down in, too low for him to stand upright in. A human being was put inside, with a coverlid of stone on top. This exists. It can be seen. It can be touched. These in pace, these dungeons, these iron hinges, these necklets, that lofty peephole on a level with the river's current, that box of stone closed with a lid of granite like a tomb, with this difference, that the dead man here was a living being, that soil which is but mud, that vault hole, those oozing walls-what declaimers!

然而事实是难以驳倒的尴尬之物,它们固执己见。本书作者亲眼见过,距布鲁塞尔八法里处--那里残留着人人可见的中世纪遗迹--在维莱修道院,那个活埋牢的洞口,在那片曾是修道院庭院的田地中央,蒂尔河畔,有四个石砌地牢,一半在地下,一半在水中。它们曾是活埋牢。每个地牢都残留着一扇铁门、一个拱顶和一个栅栏开口,该开口外部距河面两英尺,内部距地面六英尺。四英尺高的河水沿外墙流过。地面始终浸湿。活埋牢的囚徒以这潮湿的泥土为床。其中一个地牢里,有一段铁颈圈碎片铆在墙上；另一个地牢中,可见一个由四块花岗石板砌成的方盒,长不足容人躺下,矮不足容人站立。人放进去,上面盖着石板。这依然存在。看得见,摸得着。这些活埋牢、这些地牢、这些铁铰链、这些颈圈、那个与河水齐平的高高窥孔、那个像坟墓般用花岗石盖封住的石盒--区别在于这里的死者曾是活人--那泥土般的地面、那拱顶孔洞、那渗水的墙壁--真是夸夸其谈！

🔊

disconcert /ˌdɪskənˈsɜːt/

v. 使不安；使困惑➕

🔊

obstinate /ˈɒbstɪnɪt/

adj. 固执的；顽固的➕

🔊

relics /ˈrɛlɪks/

n. 遗迹；遗物（复数）➕

🔊

attainable /əˈteɪnəbəl/

adj. 可达到的；可获得的➕

🔊

oubliettes /ˌuːbliˈɛts/

n. 地下囚牢；地牢（复数）➕

🔊

dungeons /ˈdʌndʒənz/

n. 地牢（复数）➕

🔊

fragment /ˈfræɡmənt/

n. 碎片；片段➕

🔊

riveted /ˈrɪvɪtɪd/

v. 铆接；固定➕

🔊

slabs /slæbz/

n. 厚板；石板（复数）➕

🔊

granite /ˈɡrænɪt/

n. 花岗岩➕

🔊

coverlid /ˈkʌvərlɪd/

n. 盖子；覆盖物➕

🔊

hinges /hɪndʒɪz/

n. 铰链（复数）➕

🔊

peephole /ˈpiːphəʊl/

n. 窥孔➕

🔊

oozing /ˈuːzɪŋ/

adj. 渗出的；分泌的➕

Book VII. Parenthesis – Chapter two: The Convent as an Historical Fact (第二章:女修道院作为历史事实)

🔒 使用该功能需要授权码