第55章 论自私者的聪明

    Of Wisdom for a Man’s Self

    论自私者的聪明

    Francis Bacon/弗朗西斯·培根

    An ant is a wise creature for itself，but it is a shrewd thing in an orchard or garden.And certainly men that are great lovers of themselves waste the public.Divide with reason between selflove and society；and be so true to thyself，as thou be not false to others；specially to thy king and country.It is a poor centre of a man‘s actions，himself.It is right earth.For that only stands fast upon his own centre；whereas all things that have affinity with the heavens，move upon the centre of another，which they benefit.The referring of all to a man’s self is more tolerable in a sovereign prince；because themselves are not only themselves，but their good and evil is at the peril of the public fortune.But it is a desperate evil in a servant to a prince，or a citizen in a republic.For whatsoever affairs pass such a man‘s hands，he crooketh them to his own ends；which must needs to be often eccentric to the ends of his master or state.Therefore let princes，or states，choose such servants as have not this mark；except they mean their service should be made but the accessory.

    That which maketh the effect more pernicious is that all proportion is lost.It were disproportion enough for the servant’s good to be preferred before the master‘s；but yet it is a greater extreme，when a little good of the servant shall carry things against a great good of the master’s.And yet that is the case of bad officers，treasurers，ambassadors，generals，and other false and corrupt servants；which set a bias upon their bowl，of their own petty ends and envies，to the overthrow of their master‘s great and important affairs.

    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。

    And for the most part，the good such servants receive is after the model of their own fortune；but the hurt they sell for that good is after the model of their master’s fortune.And certainly it is the nature of extreme self-lovers，as they will set an house on fire，and it were but to roast their eggs；and yet these men many times hold credit with their masters，because their study is but to please them and profit themselves；and for either respect they will abandon the good of their affairs.

    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。

    Wisdom for a man‘s self is，in many branches thereof，a depraved thing.It is the wisdom of rats，that will be sure to leave a house somewhat before it fall.It is the wisdom of the fox，that thrusts out the badger，who digged and made room for him.It is the wisdom of crocodiles，that shed tears when they would devour.But that which is specially to be noted is，that those which （as Cicero says of Pom-pey）are sui amantes，sine rivali，are many times unfortunate.And whereas they have all their time sacrificed to themselves，they become in the end them-selves sacrifices to the inconstancy of fortune；whose wings they thought by their self-wisdom to have pinioned.

    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）