Part 2 Book 7 Chapter 4 The Convent from the Point of View of Principles

Men unite themselves and dwell in communities. By virtue¹ of what right? By virtue of the right of association.

They shut themselves up at home. By virtue of what right? By virtue of the right which every man has to open or shut his door.

They do not come forth². By virtue of what right? By virtue of the right to go and come, which implies the right to remain at home.

There, at home, what do they do?

They speak in low tones; they drop their eyes; they toil³. They renounce⁴ the world, towns, sensualities, pleasures, vanities, pride, interests. They are clothed in coarse woollen or coarse linen⁵. Not one of them possesses in his own right anything whatever. On entering there, each one who was rich makes himself poor. What he has, he gives to all. He who was what is called noble, a gentleman and a lord, is the equal of him who was a peasant. The cell is identical for all. All undergo the same tonsure⁶, wear the same frock, eat the same black bread, sleep on the same straw, die on the same ashes. The same sack on their backs, the same rope around their loins. If the decision has been to go barefoot, all go barefoot. There may be a prince among them; that prince is the same shadow as the rest. No titles. Even family names have disappeared. They bear only first names. All are bowed beneath the equality of baptismal names. They have dissolved the carnal family, and constituted in their community a spiritual family. They have no other relatives than all men. They succor⁷ the poor, they care for the sick. They elect those whom they obey. They call each other "my brother."

You stop me and exclaim, "But that is the ideal convent!"

It is sufficient that it may be the possible convent, that I should take notice of it.

Thence it results that, in the preceding book, I have spoken of a convent with respectful accents. The Middle Ages cast aside, Asia cast aside, the historical and political question held in reserve, from the purely⁸ philosophical⁹ point of view, outside the requirements of militant¹⁰ policy, on condition that the monastery¹¹ shall be absolutely a voluntary matter and shall contain only consenting parties, I shall always consider a cloistered¹² community with a certain attentive¹³, and, in some respects, a deferential¹⁴ gravity.

Wherever there is a community, there is a commune; where there is a commune, there is right. The monastery is the product of the formula: Equality, Fraternity. Oh! how grand is liberty! And what a splendid transfiguration! Liberty suffices to transform the monastery into a republic.

Let us continue.

But these men, or these women who are behind these four walls. They dress themselves in coarse woollen, they are equals, they call each other brothers, that is well; but they do something else?

Yes.

What?

They gaze on the darkness, they kneel, and they clasp their hands.

What does this signify?

一些人聚集拢来，住在一起。凭什么权利？凭结社的权利。

他们闭门幽居。凭什么权利？凭每人都有的那种开门或关门的权利。

他们不出门。凭什么权利？凭每人都有的来和去的权利，这里也就包含了待在自己屋里的权利。

他们待在自己的屋里干些什么？

他们低声说话，他们眼睛向下，他们工作。他们放弃社交、城市、感官的享受、快乐、虚荣、傲气和利益。他们穿粗呢或粗布。他们中的任何人没有任何财物。进了那扇大门后有钱人都自动地变成穷人。他把自己所有的东西分给大家。当初被称作贵族、世家子、大人的人和当初被称作乡下佬的人，现在都一律平等。每个人的静室都完全一模一样。大家都剃同样的发式，穿同样的僧衣，吃同样的黑面包，睡在同样的麦秸上，死在同样的柴灰上。背上背一个同样的口袋，腰上围一条同样的绳子。如果决定要赤脚走路，大家便一齐赤着脚走。其中也许有个王子，王子和其他的人一样也是个影子。不再有什么头衔，连姓也没有了。他们只有名字。大家都在洗名的平等前低下头去。他们离开了家庭骨肉，在修会里组成了精神方面的家庭。除了整个人类，他们没有其他亲人。他们帮助穷人，他们照顾病人，他们选举自己服从的人，他们彼此以友朋相称。

你拖住我，兴奋地说：“这才真是理想的修院呢！”

只要那是可能存在的修院，就足已使我加以重视了。

因此，在前一卷书里，我曾以尊敬的口吻谈到一个修院的情况。除了中世纪，除了亚洲，在保留历史和政治问题之后，从纯哲学观点出发，站在宗教争论的束缚之外，处在进修院绝对出自志愿、完全基于协议的情况下，我对修道团体就能以关切严肃的态度相待，甚至在某些方面以尊敬的态度相待。凡有团体的地方都有共同生活，有共同生活的地方也都有权利。修院是从“平等、博爱”这样一个公式里产生的。啊！自由真伟大！

转变真灿烂！自由已足使修院转变为共和国。

让我们继续谈下去。

可是这些男人，这些妇女，住在四堵高墙里，穿着棕色粗呢服，彼此平等，以兄弟姊妹相称，这很好，不过他们是否还做旁的事呢？

做。

做些什么？

他们注视着黑影，他们双膝跪下，两手合十。

那是什么意思？

1 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

4 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

5 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

6 tonsure   

n.削发；v.剃

参考例句：

• The ferule is used for conversion,tonsure,ordination and parlance.戒尺用于皈依、剃度、传戒、说法等场合。
• Before long,she saw through the emptiness of the material world and took tonsure.没过多久，她也看破红尘，削发为尼了。

7 succor   

n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助

参考例句：

• In two short hours we may look for succor from Webb.在短短的两小时内，韦布将军的救兵就可望到达。
• He was so much in need of succor,so totally alone.他当时孑然一身，形影相吊，特别需要援助。

8 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

9 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

10 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

11 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。

12 cloistered   

adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the cloistered world of the university 与世隔绝的大学
• She cloistered herself in the office. 她呆在办公室里好像与世隔绝一样。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

14 deferential   

adj. 敬意的，恭敬的

参考例句：

• They like five-star hotels and deferential treatment.他们喜欢五星级的宾馆和毕恭毕敬的接待。
• I am deferential and respectful in the presence of artists.我一向恭敬、尊重艺术家。