Poem in Prose - The Teacher of Wisdom

闲过信陵饮 · 发表于 26-12-2003 16:10:47

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The Teacher of Wisdom By Oscar Wilde 
 
 
From his childhood he had been as one filled with the perfect 
knowledge of God, and even while he was yet but a lad many of the 
saints, as well as certain holy women who dwelt in the free city of 
his birth, had been stirred to much wonder by the grave wisdom of 
his answers. 
 
And when his parents had given him the robe and the ring of manhood 
he kissed them, and left them and went out into the world, that he 
might speak to the world about God. For there were at that time 
many in the world who either knew not God at all, or had but an 
incomplete knowledge of Him, or worshipped the false gods who dwell 
in groves and have no care of their worshippers. 
 
And he set his face to the sun and journeyed, walking without 
sandals, as he had seen the saints walk, and carrying at his girdle 
a leathern wallet and a little water-bottle of burnt clay. 
 
And as he walked along the highway he was full of the joy that comes 
from the perfect knowledge of God, and he sang praises unto God 
without ceasing; and after a time he reached a strange land in which 
there were many cities. 
 
And he passed through eleven cities. And some of these cities were 
in valleys, and others were by the banks of great rivers, and others 
were set on hills. And in each city he found a disciple who loved 
him and followed him, and a great multitude also of people followed 
him from each city, and the knowledge of God spread in the whole 
land, and many of the rulers were converted, and the priests of the 
temples in which there were idols found that half of their gain was 
gone, and when they beat upon their drums at noon none, or but a 
few, came with peacocks and with offerings of flesh as had been the 
custom of the land before his coming. 
 
Yet the more the people followed him, and the greater the number of 
his disciples, the greater became his sorrow. And he knew not why 
his sorrow was so great. For he spake ever about God, and out of 
the fulness of that perfect knowledge of God which God had Himself 
given to him. 
 
And one evening he passed out of the eleventh city, which was a city 
of Armenia, and his disciples and a great crowd of people followed 
after him; and he went up on to a mountain and sat down on a rock 
that was on the mountain, and his disciples stood round him, and the 
multitude knelt in the valley. 
 
And he bowed his head on his hands and wept, and said to his Soul, 
'Why is it that I am full of sorrow and fear, and that each of my 
disciples is an enemy that walks in the noonday?' And his Soul 
answered him and said, 'God filled thee with the perfect knowledge 
of Himself, and thou hast given this knowledge away to others. The 
pearl of great price thou hast divided, and the vesture without seam 
thou hast parted asunder. He who giveth away wisdom robbeth 
himself. He is as one who giveth his treasure to a robber. Is not 
God wiser than thou art? Who art thou to give away the secret that 
God hath told thee? I was rich once, and thou hast made me poor. 
Once I saw God, and now thou hast hidden Him from me.' 
 
And he wept again, for he knew that his Soul spake truth to him, and 
that he had given to others the perfect knowledge of God, and that 
he was as one clinging to the skirts of God, and that his faith was 
leaving him by reason of the number of those who believed in him. 
 
And he said to himself, 'I will talk no more about God. He who 
giveth away wisdom robbeth himself.' 
 
And after the space of some hours his disciples came near him and 
bowed themselves to the ground and said, 'Master, talk to us about 
God, for thou hast the perfect knowledge of God, and no man save 
thee hath this knowledge.' 
 
And he answered them and said, 'I will talk to you about all other 
things that are in heaven and on earth, but about God I will not 
talk to you. Neither now, nor at any time, will I talk to you about 
God.' 
 
And they were wroth with him and said to him, 'Thou hast led us into 
the desert that we might hearken to thee. Wilt thou send us away 
hungry, and the great multitude that thou hast made to follow thee?' 
 
And he answered them and said, 'I will not talk to you about God.' 
 
And the multitude murmured against him and said to him, 'Thou hast 
led us into the desert, and hast given us no food to eat. Talk to 
us about God and it will suffice us.' 
 
But he answered them not a word. For he knew that if he spake to 
them about God he would give away his treasure. 
 
And his disciples went away sadly, and the multitude of people 
returned to their own homes. And many died on the way. 
 
And when he was alone he rose up and set his face to the moon, and 
journeyed for seven moons, speaking to no man nor making any answer. 
And when the seventh moon had waned he reached that desert which is 
the desert of the Great River. And having found a cavern in which a 
Centaur had once dwelt, he took it for his place of dwelling, and 
made himself a mat of reeds on which to lie, and became a hermit. 
And every hour the Hermit praised God that He had suffered him to 
keep some knowledge of Him and of His wonderful greatness. 
 
Now, one evening, as the Hermit was seated before the cavern in 
which he had made his place of dwelling, he beheld a young man of 
evil and beautiful face who passed by in mean apparel and with empty 
hands. Every evening with empty hands the young man passed by, and 
every morning he returned with his hands full of purple and pearls. 
For he was a Robber and robbed the caravans of the merchants. 
 
And the Hermit looked at him and pitied him. But he spake not a 
word. For he knew that he who speaks a word loses his faith. 
 
And one morning, as the young man returned with his hands full of 
purple and pearls, he stopped and frowned and stamped his foot upon 
the sand, and said to the Hermit: 'Why do you look at me ever in 
this manner as I pass by? What is it that I see in your eyes? For 
no man has looked at me before in this manner. And the thing is a 
thorn and a trouble to me.' 
 
And the Hermit answered him and said, 'What you see in my eyes is 
pity. Pity is what looks out at you from my eyes.' 
 
And the young man laughed with scorn, and cried to the Hermit in a 
bitter voice, and said to him, 'I have purple and pearls in my 
hands, and you have but a mat of reeds on which to lie. What pity 
should you have for me? And for what reason have you this pity?' 
 
'I have pity for you,' said the Hermit, 'because you have no 
knowledge of God.' 
 
'Is this knowledge of God a precious thing?' asked the young man, 
and he came close to the mouth of the cavern. 
 
'It is more precious than all the purple and the pearls of the 
world,' answered the Hermit. 
 
'And have you got it?' said the young Robber, and he came closer 
still. 
 
'Once, indeed,' answered the Hermit, 'I possessed the perfect 
knowledge of God. But in my foolishness I parted with it, and 
divided it amongst others. Yet even now is such knowledge as 
remains to me more precious than purple or pearls.' 
 
And when the young Robber heard this he threw away the purple and 
the pearls that he was bearing in his hands, and drawing a sharp 
sword of curved steel he said to the Hermit, 'Give me, forthwith 
this knowledge of God that you possess, or I will surely slay you. 
Wherefore should I not slay him who has a treasure greater than my 
treasure?' 
 
And the Hermit spread out his arms and said, 'Were it not better for 
me to go unto the uttermost courts of God and praise Him, than to 
live in the world and have no knowledge of Him? Slay me if that be 
your desire. But I will not give away my knowledge of God.' 
 
And the young Robber knelt down and besought him, but the Hermit 
would not talk to him about God, nor give him his Treasure, and the 
young Robber rose up and said to the Hermit, 'Be it as you will. As 
for myself, I will go to the City of the Seven Sins, that is but 
three days' journey from this place, and for my purple they will 
give me pleasure, and for my pearls they will sell me joy.' And he 
took up the purple and the pearls and went swiftly away. 
 
And the Hermit cried out and followed him and besought him. For the 
space of three days he followed the young Robber on the road and 
entreated him to return, nor to enter into the City of the Seven 
Sins. 
 
And ever and anon the young Robber looked back at the Hermit and 
called to him, and said, 'Will you give me this knowledge of God 
which is more precious than purple and pearls? If you will give me 
that, I will not enter the city.' 
 
And ever did the Hermit answer, 'All things that I have I will give 
thee, save that one thing only. For that thing it is not lawful for 
me to give away.' 
 
And in the twilight of the third day they came nigh to the great 
scarlet gates of the City of the Seven Sins. And from the city 
there came the sound of much laughter. 
 
And the young Robber laughed in answer, and sought to knock at the 
gate. And as he did so the Hermit ran forward and caught him by the 
skirts of his raiment, and said to him: 'Stretch forth your hands, 
and set your arms around my neck, and put your ear close to my lips, 
and I will give you what remains to me of the knowledge of God.' 
And the young Robber stopped. 
 
And when the Hermit had given away his knowledge of God, he fell 
upon the ground and wept, and a great darkness hid from him the city 
and the young Robber, so that he saw them no more. 
 
And as he lay there weeping he was ware of One who was standing 
beside him; and He who was standing beside him had feet of brass and 
hair like fine wool. And He raised the Hermit up, and said to him: 
'Before this time thou hadst the perfect knowledge of God. Now thou 
shalt have the perfect love of God. Wherefore art thou weeping?' 
And he kissed him.

artemis · 发表于 26-12-2003 23:59:11

信陵君多日不见，一来就诗兴大发啊！顶！

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[读者文摘] Poem in Prose - The Teacher of Wisdom

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