|
|
|
| |
|
THE stage is more beholding to love, than the life of man. For as
to the stage, love is ever matter of comedies, and now and then of tragedies;
but in life it doth much mischief; sometimes like a siren, sometimes like
a fury. You may observe, that amongst all the great and worthy persons
(whereof the memory remaineth, either ancient or recent) there is not one,
that hath been transported to the mad degree of love: which shows that
great spirits, and great business, do keep out this weak passion. You
must except, nevertheless, Marcus Antonius, the half partner of the empire
of Rome, and Appius Claudius, the decemvir and lawgiver; whereof the former
was indeed a voluptuous man, and inordinate; but the latter was an austere
and wise man: and therefore it seems (though rarely) that love can find
entrance, not only into an open heart, but also into a heart well fortified,
if watch be not well kept. It is a poor saying of Epicurus, Satis magnum
alter alteri theatrum sumus; as if man, made for the contemplation
of heaven, and all noble objects, should do nothing but kneel be-
fore a little idol, and make himself a subject, though not of the mouth
(as beasts are), yet of the eye; which was given him for higher purposes.
It is a strange thing, to note the excess of this passion, and how it
braves the nature, and value of things, by this; that the speaking in a
perpetual hyperbole, is comely in nothing but in love. Neither is it merely
in the phrase; for whereas it hath been well said, that the arch-flatterer,
with whom all the petty flatterers have intelligence, is a man's self;
certainly the lover is more. For there was never proud man thought so
absurdly well of him self, as the lover doth of the person loved; and therefore
it was well said, That it is impossible to love, and to be wise. Neither
doth this weakness appear to others only, and not to the party loved; but
to the loved most of all, except the love be reciproque. For it is a true
rule, that love is ever rewarded, either with the reciproque, or with an
inward and secret contempt.
By how much the more, men ought to beware of this passion, which loseth
not only other things, but itself! As for the other losses, the poet's
relation doth well figure them: that he that preferred Helena, quitted
the gifts of Juno and Pallas.
For whosoever esteemeth too much of amorous affection, quitteth both riches
and wisdom. This passion hath his floods, in very times of weakness; which
are great prosperity, and great adversity; though this latter hath been
less observed: both which times kindle love, and make it more fervent,
and therefore show it to be the child of folly. They do best, who if they
cannot but admit love, yet make it keep quarters; and sever it wholly from
their serious affairs, and actions, of life; for if it check once with
business, it troubleth men's fortunes, and maketh men, that they can noways
be true to their own ends. I know not how, but martial men are given to
love: I think, it is but as they are given to wine; for perils commonly
ask to be paid in pleasures. There is in man's nature, a secret inclination
and motion, towards love of others, which if it be not spent upon some
one or a few, doth naturally spread itself towards many, and maketh men
become humane and charitable; as it is seen sometime in friars.
Nuptial love maketh mankind; friendly love perfecteth it; but wanton love
corrupteth, and embaseth it.
舞臺(tái)上的愛情比生活中的愛情要美好得多。因?yàn)樵谖枧_(tái)上，愛情只是喜劇和悲劇的素材。而在人生中，愛情卻常常招來不幸。它有時(shí)像那位誘惑人的魔女，有時(shí)又像那位復(fù)仇的女神。你可以看到，一切真正偉大的人物（無論是古人、今人，只要是其英名永銘于人類記憶中的），“沒有一個(gè)是因愛情而發(fā)狂的人：因?yàn)閭ゴ蟮氖聵I(yè)抑制了這種軟弱的感憎。只有羅馬的安東尼和克勞底亞是例外。前者本性就好色荒淫，然而后者卻是嚴(yán)肅多謀的人。所以愛情不僅會(huì)占領(lǐng)開曠坦闊的胸懷，有時(shí)也能闖入壁壘森嚴(yán)的心靈－－假如守御不嚴(yán)的話。
埃皮克拉斯曾說過一句笑話：“人生不過是一座大戲臺(tái)�！彼坪醣緫�(yīng)努力追求高尚事業(yè)的人類，卻只應(yīng)像玩偶奴隸般地逢場(chǎng)作戲似的。雖然愛情的奴隸并不同于那班只顧吃喝的禽獸，但畢竟也只是眼目色相的奴隸－－而上帝賜人以眼睛本來是更高尚的用途的。
過度的愛情追求，必然會(huì)降低人本身的價(jià)值。例如，只有在愛情中，才永遠(yuǎn)需要那種浮夸謅媚的詞令。而在其他場(chǎng)合，同樣的詞令只能招人恥笑。古人有一句名言：“最大的奉承，人總是留給自己的”。－－只有對(duì)情人的奉承要算例外。因?yàn)樯踔磷铗湴恋娜耍哺试冈谇槿嗣媲白暂p自賤。所以古人說得好：“就是神在愛情中也難保持聰明。”情人的這種弱點(diǎn)不僅在外人眼中是明顯的，就是在被追求者的眼中也會(huì)很明顯——除非她（他）也在追求他（她）。所以，愛情的代價(jià)就是如此，不能得到回愛，就會(huì)得到一種深藏于心的輕蔑，這是一條永真的定律。
由此可見，人們應(yīng)當(dāng)十分警惕這種感情。因?yàn)樗坏珪?huì)使人喪失其他，而且可以使人喪失自己本身。至于其他方面的損失，古詩人早已告訴我們，那追求海倫的人，是放棄了財(cái)富和智慧的。
當(dāng)人心最軟弱的時(shí)候，愛情最容易入侵，那就是當(dāng)人得意春風(fēng)，忘乎所以和處境窘困孤獨(dú)凄零的時(shí)候，雖然后者未必能得到愛情。人在這樣的時(shí)候最急于跳入愛情的火焰中，由此可見，“愛情”實(shí)在是“愚蠢”的兒子。但有一些人，即使心中有了愛，仍能約束它，使它不妨礙重大的事業(yè)。因?yàn)閻矍橐坏└蓴_情緒，就會(huì)阻礙人堅(jiān)定地奔向既定的目標(biāo)。
我不懂是什么緣故，使許多軍人更容易陷入愛情，也許這正像他們嗜愛飲酒一樣，是因?yàn)槲ｋU(xiǎn)的生活更需要?dú)g樂的補(bǔ)償。人心中可能普遍具有一種博愛的傾向，若不集中于某個(gè)專一的對(duì)象身上：就必然會(huì)施之于更廣泛的大眾，使他成為仁善的人，例如像有的僧侶那樣。
夫妻的愛，使人類繁衍。朋友的愛，給人以幫助。但那種荒淫縱欲的愛，卻只會(huì)使人墮落毀滅�。� |
|
| |
|
|
|
