第 23 节
作者:点绛唇      更新:2021-02-20 15:52      字数:9321
  may be more accurately put by saying that each one of these Christian
  or mystical virtues involves a paradox in its own nature; and that this
  is not true of any of the typically pagan or rationalist virtues。
  Justice consists in finding out a certain thing due to a certain man
  and giving it to him。  Temperance consists in finding out the proper
  limit of a particular indulgence and adhering to that。  But charity
  means pardoning what is unpardonable; or it is no virtue at all。
  Hope means hoping when things are hopeless; or it is no virtue at all。
  And faith means believing the incredible; or it is no virtue at all。
  It is somewhat amusing; indeed; to notice the difference between
  the fate of these three paradoxes in the fashion of the modern mind。
  Charity is a fashionable virtue in our time; it is lit up by the
  gigantic firelight of Dickens。  Hope is a fashionable virtue to…day;
  our attention has been arrested for it by the sudden and silver
  trumpet of Stevenson。  But faith is unfashionable; and it is customary
  on every side to cast against it the fact that it is a paradox。
  Everybody mockingly repeats the famous childish definition that faith
  is 〃the power of believing that which we know to be untrue。〃
  Yet it is not one atom more paradoxical than hope or charity。
  Charity is the power of defending that which we know to be indefensible。
  Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances which we know
  to be desperate。  It is true that there is a state of hope which belongs
  to bright prospects and the morning; but that is not the virtue of hope。
  The virtue of hope exists only in earthquake and; eclipse。
  It is true that there is a thing crudely called charity; which means
  charity to the deserving poor; but charity to the deserving is not
  charity at all; but justice。  It is the undeserving who require it;
  and the ideal either does not exist at all; or exists wholly for them。
  For practical purposes it is at the hopeless moment that we require
  the hopeful man; and the virtue either does not exist at all;
  or begins to exist at that moment。  Exactly at the instant
  when hope ceases to be reasonable it begins to be useful。
  Now the old pagan world went perfectly straightforward until it
  discovered that going straightforward is an enormous mistake。
  It was nobly and beautifully reasonable; and discovered in its
  death…pang this lasting and valuable truth; a heritage for the ages;
  that reasonableness will not do。  The pagan age was truly an Eden
  or golden age; in this essential sense; that it is not to be recovered。
  And it is not to be recovered in this sense again that;
  while we are certainly jollier than the pagans; and much
  more right than the pagans; there is not one of us who can;
  by the utmost stretch of energy; be so sensible as the pagans。
  That naked innocence of the intellect cannot be recovered
  by any man after Christianity; and for this excellent reason;
  that every man after Christianity knows it to be misleading。
  Let me take an example; the first that occurs to the mind; of this
  impossible plainness in the pagan point of view。  The greatest
  tribute to Christianity in the modern world is Tennyson's 〃Ulysses。〃
  The poet reads into the story of Ulysses the conception of an incurable
  desire to wander。  But the real Ulysses does not desire to wander at all。
  He desires to get home。  He displays his heroic and unconquerable
  qualities in resisting the misfortunes which baulk him; but that is all。
  There is no love of adventure for its own sake; that is a
  Christian product。  There is no love of Penelope for her own sake;
  that is a Christian product。  Everything in that old world would
  appear to have been clean and obvious。  A good man was a good man;
  a bad man was a bad man。  For this reason they had no charity;
  for charity is a reverent agnosticism towards the complexity of the soul。
  For this reason they had no such thing as the art of fiction; the novel;
  for the novel is a creation of the mystical idea of charity。
  For them a pleasant landscape was pleasant; and an unpleasant
  landscape unpleasant。  Hence they had no idea of romance; for romance
  consists in thinking a thing more delightful because it is dangerous;
  it is a Christian idea。  In a word; we cannot reconstruct
  or even imagine the beautiful and astonishing pagan world。
  It was a world in which common sense was really common。
  My general meaning touching the three virtues of which I
  have spoken will now; I hope; be sufficiently clear。
  They are all three paradoxical; they are all three practical;
  and they are all three paradoxical because they are practical。
  it is the stress of ultimate need; and a terrible knowledge of things
  as they are; which led men to set up these riddles; and to die for them。
  Whatever may be the meaning of the contradiction; it is the fact
  that the only kind of hope that is of any use in a battle
  is a hope that denies arithmetic。  Whatever may be the meaning
  of the contradiction; it is the fact that the only kind of charity
  which any weak spirit wants; or which any generous spirit feels;
  is the charity which forgives the sins that are like scarlet。
  Whatever may be the meaning of faith; it must always mean a certainty
  about something we cannot prove。  Thus; for instance; we believe
  by faith in the existence of other people。
  But there is another Christian virtue; a virtue far more obviously
  and historically connected with Christianity; which will illustrate
  even better the connection between paradox and practical necessity。
  This virtue cannot be questioned in its capacity as a historical symbol;
  certainly Mr。 Lowes Dickinson will not question it。
  It has been the boast of hundreds of the champions of Christianity。
  It has been the taunt of hundreds of the opponents of Christianity。
  It is; in essence; the basis of Mr。 Lowes Dickinson's whole distinction
  between Christianity and Paganism。  I mean; of course; the virtue
  of humility。  I admit; of course; most readily; that a great deal
  of false Eastern humility (that is; of strictly ascetic humility)
  mixed itself with the main stream of European Christianity。
  We must not forget that when we speak of Christianity we are speaking
  of a whole continent for about a thousand years。  But of this virtue
  even more than of the other three; I would maintain the general
  proposition adopted above。  Civilization discovered Christian humility
  for the same urgent reason that it discovered faith and charity
  that is; because Christian civilization had to discover it or die。
  The great psychological discovery of Paganism; which turned it
  into Christianity; can be expressed with some accuracy in one phrase。
  The pagan set out; with admirable sense; to enjoy himself。
  By the end of his civilization he had discovered that a man
  cannot enjoy himself and continue to enjoy anything else。
  Mr。 Lowes Dickinson has pointed out in words too excellent to need
  any further elucidation; the absurd shallowness of those who imagine
  that the pagan enjoyed himself only in a materialistic sense。
  Of course; he enjoyed himself; not only intellectually even;
  he enjoyed himself morally; he enjoyed himself spiritually。
  But it was himself that he was enjoying; on the face of it;
  a very natural thing to do。  Now; the psychological discovery
  is merely this; that whereas it had been supposed that the fullest
  possible enjoyment is to be found by extending our ego to infinity;
  the truth is that the fullest possible enjoyment is to be found
  by reducing our ego to zero。
  Humility is the thing which is for ever renewing the earth and the stars。
  It is humility; and not duty; which preserves the stars from wrong;
  from the unpardonable wrong of casual resignation; it is through
  humility that the most ancient heavens for us are fresh and strong。
  The curse that came before history has laid on us all a tendency
  to be weary of wonders。  If we saw the sun for the first time
  it would be the most fearful and beautiful of meteors。
  Now that we see it for the hundredth time we call it; in the hideous
  and blasphemous phrase of Wordsworth; 〃the light of common day。〃
  We are inclined to increase our claims。  We are inclined to
  demand six suns; to demand a blue sun; to demand a green sun。
  Humility is perpetually putting us back in the primal darkness。
  There all light is lightning; startling and instantaneous。
  Until we understand that original dark; in which we have neither
  sight