第 9 节
作者:上访不如上网      更新:2022-05-01 22:41      字数:9322
  Laertius; vii。  188。' as our own ancestors; who being besieged by
  Caesar in the city Alexia; resolved to sustain the famine of the siege
  with the bodies of their old men; women; and other persons who were
  incapable of bearing arms。
  〃Vascones; ut fama est; alimentis talibus usi
  Produxere animas。〃
  '〃'Tis said the Gascons with such meats appeased their hunger。〃
  Juvenal; Sat。; xv。 93。
  And the physicians make no bones of employing it to all sorts of use;
  either to apply it outwardly; or to give it inwardly for the health of
  the patient。  But there never was any opinion so irregular; as to excuse
  treachery; disloyalty; tyranny; and cruelty; which are our familiar
  vices。  We may then call these people barbarous; in respect to the rules
  of reason: but not in respect to ourselves; who in all sorts of barbarity
  exceed them。  Their wars are throughout noble and generous; and carry as
  much excuse and fair pretence; as that human malady is capable of; having
  with them no other foundation than the sole jealousy of valour。  Their
  disputes are not for the conquest of new lands; for these they already
  possess are so fruitful by nature; as to supply them without labour or
  concern; with all things necessary; in such abundance that they have no
  need to enlarge their borders。  And they are; moreover; happy in this;
  that they only covet so much as their natural necessities require: all
  beyond that is superfluous to them: men of the same age call one another
  generally brothers; those who are younger; children; and the old men are
  fathers to all。  These leave to their heirs in common the full possession
  of goods; without any manner of division; or other title than what nature
  bestows upon her creatures; in bringing them into the world。  If their
  neighbours pass over the mountains to assault them; and obtain a victory;
  all the victors gain by it is glory only; and the advantage of having
  proved themselves the better in valour and virtue: for they never meddle
  with the goods of the conquered; but presently return into their own
  country; where they have no want of anything necessary; nor of this
  greatest of all goods; to know happily how to enjoy their condition and
  to be content。  And those in turn do the same; they demand of their
  prisoners no other ransom; than acknowledgment that they are overcome:
  but there is not one found in an age; who will not rather choose to die
  than make such a confession; or either by word or look recede from the
  entire grandeur of an invincible courage。  There is not a man amongst
  them who had not rather be killed and eaten; than so much as to open his
  mouth to entreat he may not。  They use them with all liberality and
  freedom; to the end their lives may be so much the dearer to them; but
  frequently entertain them with menaces of their approaching death; of the
  torments they are to suffer; of the preparations making in order to it;
  of the mangling their limbs; and of the feast that is to be made; where
  their carcass is to be the only dish。  All which they do; to no other
  end; but only to extort some gentle or submissive word from them; or to
  frighten them so as to make them run away; to obtain this advantage that
  they were terrified; and that their constancy was shaken; and indeed; if
  rightly taken; it is in this point only that a true victory consists:
  〃Victoria nulla est;
  Quam quae confessor animo quoque subjugat hostes。〃
  '〃No victory is complete; which the conquered do not admit to be
  so。〃Claudius; De Sexto Consulatu Honorii; v。 248。'
  The Hungarians; a very warlike people; never pretend further than to
  reduce the enemy to their discretion; for having forced this confession
  from them; they let them go without injury or ransom; excepting; at the
  most; to make them engage their word never to bear arms against them
  again。  We have sufficient advantages over our enemies that are borrowed
  and not truly our own; it is the quality of a porter; and no effect of
  virtue; to have stronger arms and legs; it is a dead and corporeal
  quality to set in array; 'tis a turn of fortune to make our enemy
  stumble; or to dazzle him with the light of the sun; 'tis a trick of
  science and art; and that may happen in a mean base fellow; to be a good
  fencer。  The estimate and value of a man consist in the heart and in the
  will: there his true honour lies。  Valour is stability; not of legs and
  arms; but of the courage and the soul; it does not lie in the goodness of
  our horse or our arms but in our own。  He that falls obstinate in his
  courage
  〃Si succiderit; de genu pugnat〃
  '〃If his legs fail him; he fights on his knees。〃
  Seneca; De Providentia; c。 2。'
  he who; for any danger of imminent death; abates nothing of his
  assurance; who; dying; yet darts at his enemy a fierce and disdainful
  look; is overcome not by us; but by fortune; he is killed; not conquered;
  the most valiant are sometimes the most unfortunate。  There are defeats
  more triumphant than victories。  Never could those four sister victories;
  the fairest the sun ever be held; of Salamis; Plataea; Mycale; and
  Sicily; venture to oppose all their united glories; to the single glory
  of the discomfiture of King Leonidas and his men; at the pass of
  Thermopylae。  Who ever ran with a more glorious desire and greater
  ambition; to the winning; than Captain Iscolas to the certain loss of a
  battle?'Diodorus Siculus; xv。  64。' Who could have found out a more
  subtle invention to secure his safety; than he did to assure his
  destruction?  He was set to defend a certain pass of Peloponnesus against
  the Arcadians; which; considering the nature of the place and the
  inequality of forces; finding it utterly impossible for him to do; and
  seeing that all who were presented to the enemy; must certainly be left
  upon the place; and on the other side; reputing it unworthy of his own
  virtue and magnanimity and of the Lacedaemonian name to fail in any part
  of his duty; he chose a mean betwixt these two extremes after this
  manner; the youngest and most active of his men; he preserved for the
  service and defence of their country; and sent them back; and with the
  rest; whose loss would be of less consideration; he resolved to make good
  the pass; and with the death of them; to make the enemy buy their entry
  as dear as possibly he could; as it fell out; for being presently
  environed on all sides by the Arcadians; after having made a great
  slaughter of the enemy; he and his were all cut in pieces。  Is there any
  trophy dedicated to the conquerors which was not much more due to these
  who were overcome?  The part that true conquering is to play; lies in the
  encounter; not in the coming off; and the honour of valour consists in
  fighting; not in subduing。
  But to return to my story: these prisoners are so far from discovering
  the least weakness; for all the terrors that can be represented to them;
  that; on the contrary; during the two or three months they are kept; they
  always appear with a cheerful countenance; importune their masters to
  make haste to bring them to the test; defy; rail at them; and reproach
  them with cowardice; and the number of battles they have lost against
  those of their country。  I have a song made by one of these prisoners;
  wherein he bids them 〃come all; and dine upon him; and welcome; for they
  shall withal eat their own fathers and grandfathers; whose flesh has
  served to feed and nourish him。  These muscles;〃 says he; 〃this flesh and
  these veins; are your own: poor silly souls as you are; you little think
  that the substance of your ancestors' limbs is here yet; notice what you
  eat; and you will find in it the taste of your own flesh:〃 in which song
  there is to be observed an invention that nothing relishes of the
  barbarian。  Those that paint these people dying after this manner;
  represent the prisoner spitting in the faces of his executioners and
  making wry mouths at them。  And 'tis most certain; that to the very last
  gasp; they never cease to brave and defy them both in word and gesture。
  In plain truth; these men are very savage in comparison of us; of
  necessity; they must either be absolutely so or else we are savages; for
  there is a vast difference betwixt their manners and ours。
  The men there have several wives; and so much the greater number; by how
  much they have the greater reputation for valour。  And it is one very
  remarkable feature in their marriages; that the same jealousy our wives
  have to hinder and divert us from the friendship and familiarity of other
  women; those employ to promote their husbands' desires; and to procure
  them many spouses; for being above all things solicitous of their
  husbands' honour; 'tis their chiefest care to seek out; and to bring in
  the most companions they can; forasmuch as it is a testimony of the
  husband's virtue。  Most of our ladies will cry out; that 'tis monstrous;
  whereas in truth it is not so; but a truly matrimonial virtue; and of the
  highest form。  In the Bible; Sarah; with Leah and Rachel; the two wives
  of Jacob; gave the most beautiful of their handmaids to their husbands;
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