Each one his own hope.
The brave man is the elder son of creation, who has stept buoyantly into his inheritance, while the coward, who is the younger, waiteth patiently till he decease. He rides as wide of this earth’s gravity as a star, and by yielding incessantly2 to all the impulses of the soul, is constantly drawn3 upward and becomes a fixed4 star. His bravery deals not so much in resolute5 action, as healthy and assured rest; its palmy state is a staying at home and compelling alliance in all directions. So stands his life to heaven, as some fair sunlit tree against the western horizon, and by sunrise is planted on some eastern hill, to glisten6 in the first rays of the dawn. The brave man braves nothing, nor knows he of his bravery. He is that sixth champion against Thebes, whom, when the proud devices of the rest have been recorded, the poet describes as “bearing a full-orbed shield of solid brass7,”
“But there was no device upon its circle,
For not to seem just but to be is his wish.”
He does not present a gleaming edge to ward1 off harm, for that will oftenest attract the lightning, but rather is the all-pervading ether, which the lightning does not strike but purify. So is the profanity of his companion as a flash across the face of his sky, which lights up and reveals its serene8 depths. Earth cannot shock the heavens, but its dull vapor9 and foul10 smoke make a bright cloud spot in the ether, and anon the sun, like a cunning artificer, will cut and paint it, and set it for a jewel in the breast of the sky.
His greatness is not measurable; not such a greatness as when we would erect11 a stupendous piece of art, and send far and near for materials, intending to lay the foundations deeper, and rear the structure higher than ever; for hence results only a remarkable12 bulkiness without grandeur13, lacking those true and simple proportions which are independent of size. He was not builded by that unwise generation that would fain have reached the heavens by piling one brick upon another; but by a far wiser, that builded inward and not outward, having found out a shorter way, through the observance of a higher art. The Pyramids some artisan may measure with his line; but if he gives you the dimensions of the Parthenon in feet and inches, the figures will not embrace it like a cord, but dangle14 from its entablature like an elastic15 drapery.
His eye is the focus in which all the rays, from whatever side, are collected; for, itself being within and central, the entire circumference16 is revealed to it. Just as we scan the whole concave of the heavens at a glance, but can compass only one side of the pebble17 at our feet. So does his discretion18 give prevalence to his valor19. “Discretion is the wise man’s soul” says the poet. His prudence20 may safely go many strides beyond the utmost rashness of the coward; for, while he observes strictly21 the golden mean, he seems to run through all extremes with impunity22. Like the sun, which, to the poor worldling, now appears in the zenith, now in the horizon, and again is faintly reflected from the moon’s disk, and has the credit of describing an entire great circle, crossing the equinoctial and solstitial colures,—without detriment23 to his steadfastness24 or mediocrity. The golden mean, in ethics25, as in physics, is the centre of the system, and that about which all revolve26; and, though to a distant and plodding27 planet it be the uttermost extreme, yet one day, when that planet’s year is complete, it will be found to be central. They who are alarmed lest Virtue28 should so far demean herself as to be extremely good, have not yet wholly embraced her, but described only a slight arc of a few seconds about her; and from so small and ill-defined a curvature, you can calculate no centre whatever; but their mean is no better than meanness, nor their medium than mediocrity.
The coward wants resolution, which the brave man can do without. He recognizes no faith but a creed29, thinking this straw, by which he is moored30, does him good service, because his sheet-anchor does not drag. “The house-roof fights with the rain; he who is under shelter does not know it.” In his religion the ligature, which should be muscle and sinew, is rather like that thread which the accomplices31 of Cylon held in their hands, when they went abroad from the temple of Minerva,—the other end being attached to the statue of the goddess. But frequently, as in their case, the thread breaks, being stretched; and he is left without an asylum32.
The divinity in man is the true vestal fire of the temple, which is never permitted to go out, but burns as steadily33, and with as pure a flame, on the obscure provincial34 altars as in Numa’s temple at Rome. In the meanest are all the materials of manhood, only they are not rightly disposed. We say, justly, that the weak person is “flat,”—for, like all flat substances, he does not stand in the direction of his strength, that is, on his edge, but affords a convenient surface to put upon. He slides all the way through life. Most things are strong in one direction; a straw longitudinally; a board in the direction of its edge; a knee transversely to its grain; but the brave man is a perfect sphere, which cannot fall on its flat side, and is equally strong every way. The coward is wretchedly spheroidal at best, too much educated or drawn out on one side, and depressed35 on the other; or may be likened to a hollow sphere, whose disposition36 of matter is best when the greatest bulk is intended.
We shall not attain37 to be spherical38 by lying on one or the other side for an eternity39, but only by resigning ourselves implicitly40 to the law of gravity in us, shall we find our axis41 coincident with the celestial42 axis, and by revolving43 incessantly through all circles, acquire a perfect sphericity. Mankind, like the earth, revolve mainly from west to east, and so are flattened44 at the pole. But does not philosophy give hint of a movement commencing to be rotary45 at the poles too, which in a millennium46 will have acquired increased rapidity, and help restore an equilibrium47? And when at length every star in the nebul? and Milky48 Way has looked down with mild radiance for a season, exerting its whole influence as the polar star, the demands of science will in some degree be satisfied.
The grand and majestic49 have always somewhat of the undulatoriness of the sphere. It is the secret of majesty50 in the rolling gait of the elephant, and of all grace in action and in art. Always the line of beauty is a curve. When with pomp a huge sphere is drawn along the streets, by the efforts of a hundred men, I seem to discover each striving to imitate its gait, and keep step with it,—if possible to swell51 to its own diameter. But onward52 it moves, and conquers the multitude with its majesty. What shame, then, that our lives, which might so well be the source of planetary motion, and sanction the order of the spheres, should be full of abruptness53 and angularity, so as not to roll nor move majestically54!
The Romans “made Fortune sirname to Fortitude55,” for fortitude is that alchemy that turns all things to good fortune. The man of fortitude, whom the Latins called fortis is no other than that lucky person whom fors favors, or vir summae fortis. If we will, every bark may “carry C?sar and C?sar’s fortune.” For an impenetrable shield, stand inside yourself; he was no artist, but an artisan, who first made shields of brass. For armor of proof, mea virtute me involvo,—I wrap myself in my virtue;
“Tumble me down, and I will sit
Upon my ruins, smiling yet.”
If you let a single ray of light through the shutter56, it will go on diffusing57 itself without limit till it enlighten the world; but the shadow that was never so wide at first, as rapidly contracts till it comes to naught58. The shadow of the moon, when it passes nearest the sun, is lost in space ere it can reach our earth to eclipse it. Always the System shines with uninterrupted light; for as the sun is so much larger than any planet, no shadow can travel far into space. We may bask59 always in the light of the System, always may step back out of the shade. No man’s shadow is as large as his body, if the rays make a right angle with the reflecting surface. Let our lives be passed under the equator, with the sun in the meridian60.
There is no ill which may not be dissipated like the dark, if you let in a stronger light upon it. Overcome evil with good. Practice no such narrow economy as they, whose bravery amounts to no more light than a farthing candle, before which most objects cast a shadow wider than themselves.
Nature refuses to sympathize with our sorrow; she has not provided for, but by a thousand contrivances against it: she has bevelled the margin61 of the eyelids62, that the tears may not overflow63 on the cheeks. It was a conceit64 of Plutarch, accounting65 for the preference given to signs observed on the left hand, that men may have thought “things terrestrial and mortal directly over against heavenly and divine things, and do conjecture66 that the things which to us are on the left hand, the gods send down from their right hand.” If we are not blind, we shall see how a right hand is stretched over all,—as well the unlucky as the lucky,—and that the ordering Soul is only right-handed, distributing with one palm all our fates.
What first suggested that necessity was grim, and made fate to be so fatal? The strongest is always the least violent. Necessity is my eastern cushion on which I recline. My eye revels67 in its prospect68 as in the summer haze69. I ask no more but to be left alone with it. It is the bosom70 of time and the lap of eternity. To be necessary is to be needful, and necessity is only another name for inflexibility71 of good. How I welcome my grim fellow, and walk arm in arm with him! Let me too be such a Necessity as he! I love him, he is so flexile, and yields to me as the air to my body. I leap and dance in his midst, and play with his beard till he smiles. I greet thee, my elder brother! who with thy touch ennoblest all things. Then is holiday when naught intervenes betwixt me and thee. Must it be so,—then is it good. The stars are thy interpreters to me.
Over Greece hangs the divine necessity, ever a mellower72 heaven of itself; whose light gilds73 the Acropolis and a thousand fanes and groves74.
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1
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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glisten
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| vi.（光洁或湿润表面等）闪闪发光，闪闪发亮 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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dangle
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| v.(使)悬荡，(使)悬垂 | |
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elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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detriment
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| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
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steadfastness
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| n.坚定，稳当 | |
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ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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revolve
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| vi.(使)旋转；循环出现 | |
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plodding
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| a.proceeding in a slow or dull way | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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spherical
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| adj.球形的；球面的 | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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axis
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| n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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43
revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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44
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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45
rotary
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| adj.(运动等)旋转的；轮转的；转动的 | |
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46
millennium
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| n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世 | |
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47
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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48
milky
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| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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49
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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50
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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51
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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52
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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53
abruptness
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| n. 突然，唐突 | |
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54
majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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55
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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56
shutter
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| n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置 | |
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57
diffusing
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| （使光）模糊，漫射，漫散( diffuse的现在分词 )； （使）扩散； （使）弥漫； （使）传播 | |
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58
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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59
bask
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| vt.取暖，晒太阳，沐浴于 | |
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60
meridian
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| adj.子午线的；全盛期的 | |
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61
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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62
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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63
overflow
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| v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出 | |
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64
conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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accounting
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| n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表 | |
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66
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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67
revels
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| n.作乐( revel的名词复数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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68
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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69
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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70
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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71
inflexibility
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| n.不屈性，顽固，不变性；不可弯曲；非挠性；刚性 | |
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72
mellower
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| 成熟的( mellow的比较级 )； （水果）熟透的； （颜色或声音）柔和的； 高兴的 | |
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73
gilds
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| 把…镀金( gild的第三人称单数 )； 给…上金色； 作多余的修饰（反而破坏原已完美的东西）； 画蛇添足 | |
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74
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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