Part 2 Book 7 Chapter 3 On What Conditions One can respect the Past

Monasticism, such as it existed in Spain, and such as it still exists in Thibet, is a sort of phthisis for civilization. It stops life short. It simply depopulates. Claustration, castration. It has been the scourge¹ of Europe. Add to this the violence so often done to the conscience, the forced vocations², feudalism bolstered³ up by the cloister⁴, the right of the first-born pouring the excess of the family into monasticism, the ferocities of which we have just spoken, the in pace, the closed mouths, the walled-up brains, so many unfortunate minds placed in the dungeon⁵ of eternal vows⁶, the taking of the habit, the interment of living souls. Add individual tortures to national degradations⁷, and, whoever you may be, you will shudder⁸ before the frock and the veil,--those two winding-sheets of human devising. Nevertheless, at certain points and in certain places, in spite of philosophy, in spite of progress, the spirit of the cloister persists in the midst of the nineteenth century, and a singular ascetic⁹ recrudescence is, at this moment, astonishing the civilized¹⁰ world. The obstinacy¹¹ of antiquated¹² institutions in perpetuating¹³ themselves resembles the stubbornness of the rancid perfume which should claim our hair, the pretensions¹⁴ of the spoiled fish which should persist in being eaten, the persecution¹⁵ of the child's garment which should insist on clothing the man, the tenderness of corpses¹⁶ which should return to embrace the living.

"Ingrates!" says the garment, "I protected you in inclement¹⁸ weather. Why will you have nothing to do with me?" "I have just come from the deep sea," says the fish. "I have been a rose," says the perfume. "I have loved you," says the corpse¹⁷. "I have civilized you," says the convent.

To this there is but one reply: "In former days."

To dream of the indefinite prolongation of defunct¹⁹ things, and of the government of men by embalming²⁰, to restore dogmas in a bad condition, to regild shrines²¹, to patch up cloisters²², to rebless reliquaries, to refurnish superstitions²³, to revictual fanaticisms, to put new handles on holy water brushes and militarism, to reconstitute monasticism and militarism, to believe in the salvation²⁴ of society by the multiplication²⁵ of parasites²⁶, to force the past on the present,-- this seems strange. Still, there are theorists who hold such theories. These theorists, who are in other respects people of intelligence, have a very simple process; they apply to the past a glazing²⁷ which they call social order, divine right, morality, family, the respect of elders, antique authority, sacred tradition, legitimacy²⁸, religion; and they go about shouting, "Look! take this, honest people." This logic²⁹ was known to the ancients. The soothsayers practise it. They rubbed a black heifer over with chalk, and said, "She is white, Bos cretatus."

As for us, we respect the past here and there, and we spare it, above all, provided that it consents to be dead. If it insists on being alive, we attack it, and we try to kill it.

Superstitions, bigotries, affected³⁰ devotion, prejudices, those forms all forms as they are, are tenacious³¹ of life; they have teeth and nails in their smoke, and they must be clasped close, body to body, and war must be made on them, and that without truce³²; for it is one of the fatalities³³ of humanity to be condemned³⁴ to eternal combat with phantoms³⁵. It is difficult to seize darkness by the throat, and to hurl³⁶ it to the earth.

A convent in France, in the broad daylight of the nineteenth century, is a college of owls³⁷ facing the light. A cloister, caught in the very act of asceticism³⁸, in the very heart of the city of '89 and of 1830 and of 1848, Rome blossoming out in Paris, is an anachronism. In ordinary times, in order to dissolve an anachronism and to cause it to vanish, one has only to make it spell out the date. But we are not in ordinary times.

Let us fight.

Let us fight, but let us make a distinction. The peculiar³⁹ property of truth is never to commit excesses. What need has it of exaggeration? There is that which it is necessary to destroy, and there is that which it is simply necessary to elucidate⁴⁰ and examine. What a force is kindly⁴¹ and serious examination! Let us not apply a flame where only a light is required.

So, given the nineteenth century, we are opposed, as a general proposition, and among all peoples, in Asia as well as in Europe, in India as well as in Turkey, to ascetic claustration. Whoever says cloister, says marsh⁴². Their putrescence is evident, their stagnation⁴³ is unhealthy, their fermentation infects people with fever, and etiolates them; their multiplication becomes a plague of Egypt. We cannot think without affright of those lands where fakirs, bonzes, santons, Greek monks⁴⁴, marabouts, talapoins, and dervishes multiply even like swarms⁴⁵ of vermin.

This said, the religious question remains⁴⁶. This question has certain mysterious, almost formidable sides; may we be permitted to look at it fixedly⁴⁷.

象存在于西班牙和西藏那样的僧侣制度，对文化来说，那是一种痨病。它干脆扼杀生命。简单地说，它削减人口。进修院，等于受宫刑。那已在欧洲成了灾害。此外，还得添上经常加在信仰上的粗暴手段，言不由衷的志愿，以修院为支柱的封建势力，使人口过多家庭的子女出家的宗子制，我们刚才谈过的那些横蛮作风棗“地下室”，闭住的嘴，封锁的头脑，多少终身在地牢里受折磨的智慧，服装的改变，灵魂的活埋。除了民族的堕落以外，还得加上个人所受的苦难，无论你是谁，你在僧衣和面纱棗人类发明的两种装殓死人的服饰棗面前，你总会不寒而栗。

可是，在某些角落和某些地方，出家修道的风气竟无视哲学，无视进步，继续盛行在十九世纪光天化日之下，更奇怪的是苦修习气目前竟有再接再厉的趋势，使文明的世界为之震惊。一些过了时的团体还想永远存在下去，那种倔强的想法，就象要人把哈喇了的头油往头发上抹的那种固执，把发臭的鱼吃到肚里的那种妄想，要大人穿孩子衣服的那种蛮劲，象回到家的僵尸要和活人捆抱的那种慈爱。

衣服说：“你这忘恩负义的人！我在风雨中保护过你。现在你为什么就不要我了呢？”鱼说：“我出身于大海。”头油说：“我是从玫瑰花里来的。”僵尸说：“我爱过你们。”修院说：“我教养过你们。”

对那一切，我们只有一个回答：那是过去的事。

梦想死亡的东西无尽期地存在下去，并采用以香料防止尸体腐烂的方法来管理人群，修整腐朽的教条，在法宝箱上重行涂上金漆，把修院修缮一新，重行净化圣器匣，补缀迷信上面的破绽，鼓动信仰狂的劲头，替圣水瓶和马刀重行装柄，重行建立僧侣制度和军事制度，坚信社会的幸福系于寄生虫的繁殖，把过去强加于现在，那一切，这好象很奇怪。可是确有支持那些理论的理论家。那些理论家，而且还都是些有才智的人，他们有一套极简单的办法，他们替过去涂上一层色彩，这就是他们所谓的社会秩序、神权、道德、家庭、敬老、古代法度、神圣传统、合法地位、宗教，于是逢人便喊：“瞧啊！接受这些东西吧，诚实的人们。”那种逻辑是古人早知道了的。罗马的祭司们便能运用那种逻辑。他们替一头小黑牛抹上石膏粉，便说：

“你已经白了。”

至于我们，我们处处都心存敬意，也随时随地避免和过去发生接触，只要过去肯承认它是死了。假使它要表示它还活着，我们便打它，并且要把它打死。

迷信、过分虔诚、口信心不信、成见，那些魑魅魍魉，尽管全是鬼物，却有顽强的生命力，它们的鬼影全有爪有牙，必须和它们肉搏，和它们战斗，不停地和它们战斗，因为和鬼魅进行永久性的斗争是人类必然的听天由命的思想之一。要扼住鬼影的咽喉，把它制伏在地上，那是不容易的事。

法国的修院，在十九世纪太阳当顶时，是些阳光下枭鸟的窝。修院在一七八九、一八三○和一八四八年革命发祥地的中心鼓吹出家修行，让罗马的幽灵横行在巴黎，那是种违反时代的现象。在正常的年代，如果要制止一种过时的事物，使它消亡，我们只须让它念念公元年代的数字便可以了。但是我们现在绝不是在正常的年代。

我们必须斗争。

我们必须斗争，也必须有所区别。真理的要旨是从不过分。真理还需要矫枉过正吗？有些东西是必须毁灭的，有些东西却只需要拿到阳光下看清就是了。严肃而与人为善的检查，那是种多么强的力量！阳光充足的地方一点不需要我们点起火炬。

因此，现在既是十九世纪，那么，无论是在亚洲或欧洲，无论是在印度或土耳其，一般说，我们都反对那种出家修行的制度。修院等于污池。那些地方的腐臭是明显的，淤滞是有害的，发酵作用能使里面的生物得热病，并促使衰亡。它们的增长成了埃及的祸根，我们想到那些国家里的托钵僧、比丘、苦行僧、圣巴西勒会修士、隐修士、和尚、行脚僧都在蠕蠕攒动，如蚁如蛆，不禁毛骨悚然。

说了那些后宗教问题仍然存在。这问题在某些方面是神秘的，也几乎是骇人的，希望能让我们细心观察一下。

1 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

2 vocations   

n.（认为特别适合自己的）职业( vocation的名词复数 )；使命；神召；（认为某种工作或生活方式特别适合自己的）信心

参考例句：

• The term profession originally denoted a limited number of vocations. 专业这个术语起初表示数量有限的职业。 来自辞典例句
• I understood that Love encompassed all vocations, that Love was everything "." 我明白爱含有一切圣召，爱就是一切。 来自互联网

3 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

4 cloister   

n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝

参考例句：

• They went out into the stil,shadowy cloister garden.他们出了房间，走到那个寂静阴沉的修道院的园子里去。
• The ancient cloister was a structure of red brick picked out with white stone.古老的修道院是一座白石衬托着的红砖建筑物。

5 dungeon   

n.地牢，土牢

参考例句：

• They were driven into a dark dungeon.他们被人驱赶进入一个黑暗的地牢。
• He was just set free from a dungeon a few days ago.几天前，他刚从土牢里被放出来。

6 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

7 degradations   

堕落( degradation的名词复数 )； 下降； 陵削； 毁坏

参考例句：

• She described the degradations she had been forced to suffer. 她描述了自己被迫经受的屈辱。
• Chemical degradations are laborious and time-consuming. 化学降解法复杂且费时间。

8 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

9 ascetic   

adj.禁欲的；严肃的

参考例句：

• The hermit followed an ascetic life-style.这个隐士过的是苦行生活。
• This is achieved by strict celibacy and ascetic practices.这要通过严厉的独身生活和禁欲修行而达到。

10 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

11 obstinacy   

n.顽固；（病痛等）难治

参考例句：

• It is a very accountable obstinacy.这是一种完全可以理解的固执态度。
• Cindy's anger usually made him stand firm to the point of obstinacy.辛迪一发怒，常常使他坚持自见，并达到执拗的地步。

12 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

13 perpetuating   

perpetuate的现在进行式

参考例句：

• Revenge leads to a self-perpetuating cycle of violence. 怨怨相报会导致永不休止的暴力。
• It'set out to eradicate heresy, and ended by perpetuating it. 它的目的只是要根除异端邪说，结果却巩固了异端邪说。 来自英汉文学

14 pretensions   

自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力

参考例句：

• The play mocks the pretensions of the new middle class. 这出戏讽刺了新中产阶级的装模作样。
• The city has unrealistic pretensions to world-class status. 这个城市不切实际地标榜自己为国际都市。

15 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

16 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

17 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

18 inclement   

adj.严酷的，严厉的，恶劣的

参考例句：

• The inclement weather brought forth a host of diseases.恶劣的天气引起了种种疾病。
• They kept on going,even through the inclement weather.即使天气恶劣，他们还是执意要去。

19 defunct   

adj.死亡的；已倒闭的

参考例句：

• The scheme for building an airport seems to be completely defunct now.建造新机场的计划看来整个完蛋了。
• This schema object is defunct.No modifications are allowed until it is made active again.此架构对象不起作用。在重新激活之前，不能进行任何改动。

20 embalming   

v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的现在分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气

参考例句：

• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming. 尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were experts at preserving the bodies of the dead by embalming them with special lotions. 他们具有采用特种药物洗剂防止尸体腐烂的专门知识。 来自辞典例句

21 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

22 cloisters   

n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The thirteenth-century cloisters are amongst the most beautiful in central Italy. 这些13世纪的回廊是意大利中部最美的建筑。 来自辞典例句
• Some lovely Christian Science ladies had invited her to a concert at the cloisters. 有几位要好的基督教科学社的女士请她去修道院音乐厅听一个音乐会。 来自辞典例句

23 superstitions   

迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Old superstitions seem incredible to educated people. 旧的迷信对于受过教育的人来说是不可思议的。
• Do away with all fetishes and superstitions. 破除一切盲目崇拜和迷信。

24 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

25 multiplication   

n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法

参考例句：

• Our teacher used to drum our multiplication tables into us.我们老师过去老是让我们反覆背诵乘法表。
• The multiplication of numbers has made our club building too small.会员的增加使得我们的俱乐部拥挤不堪。

26 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

27 glazing   

n.玻璃装配业；玻璃窗；上釉；上光v.装玻璃( glaze的现在分词 )；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神

参考例句：

• You should ensure against loss of heat by having double glazing. 你应装双层玻璃以免散热。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You should ensure yourself against loss of heat by having double glazing. 你应该装双层玻璃防止热量散失。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

29 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

30 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

31 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

32 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

33 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

34 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

35 phantoms   

n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They vanished down the stairs like two phantoms. 他们像两个幽灵似的消失在了楼下。 来自辞典例句
• The horrible night that he had passed had left phantoms behind it. 他刚才度过的恐布之夜留下了种种错觉。 来自辞典例句

36 hurl   

vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂

参考例句：

• The best cure for unhappiness is to hurl yourself into your work.医治愁苦的最好办法就是全身心地投入工作。
• To hurl abuse is no way to fight.谩骂决不是战斗。

37 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

38 asceticism   

n.禁欲主义

参考例句：

• I am not speaking here about asceticism or abstinence.我说的并不是苦行主义或禁欲主义。
• Chaucer affirmed man's rights to pursue earthly happiness and epposed asceticism.乔叟强调人权，尤其是追求今生今世幸福快乐的权力，反对神权与禁欲主义。

39 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

40 elucidate   

v.阐明，说明

参考例句：

• The note help to elucidate the most difficult parts of the text.这些注释有助于弄清文中最难懂的部分。
• This guide will elucidate these differences and how to exploit them.这篇指导将会阐述这些不同点以及如何正确利用它们。

41 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

42 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

43 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

44 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

45 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

46 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

47 fixedly   

adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地

参考例句：

• He stared fixedly at the woman in white. 他一直凝视着那穿白衣裳的女人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The great majority were silent and still, looking fixedly at the ground. 绝大部分的人都不闹不动，呆呆地望着地面。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记