Crime And Punishment
Then one of the judges of the city stood forth and said, "Speak to us of Crime and Punishment."
And he answered saying:
It is when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind,
That you, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore unto yourself.
And for that wrong committed must you knock and wait a while unheeded at the gate of the blessed.
Like the ocean is your god-self;
It remains for ever undefiled.
And like the ether it lifts but the winged.
Even like the sun is your god-self;
It knows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent.
But your god-self does not dwell alone in your being.
Much in you is still man, and much in you is not yet man,
But a shapeless pigmy that walks asleep in the mist searching for its own awakening.
And of the man in you would I now speak.
For it is he and not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist, that knows crime and the punishment of crime.
Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.
You are the way and the wayfarers.
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone.
Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
And this also, though the word lie heavy upon your hearts:
The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder,
And the robbed is not blameless in being robbed.
The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked,
And the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon.
Yea, the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured,
And still more often the condemned is the burden-bearer for the guiltless and unblamed.
You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked;
For they stand together before the face of the sun even as the black thread and the white are woven together.
And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth, and he shall examine the loom also.
If any of you would bring judgment the unfaithful wife,
Let him also weight the heart of her husband in scales, and measure his soul with measurements.
And let him who would lash the offender look unto the spirit of the offended.
And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the ax unto the evil tree, let him see to its roots;
And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth.
And you judges who would be just,
What judgment pronounce you upon him who though honest in the flesh yet is a thief in spirit?
What penalty lay you upon him who slays in the flesh yet is himself slain in the spirit?
And how prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor,
Yet who also is aggrieved and outraged?
And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds?
Is not remorse the justice which is administered by that very law which you would fain serve?
Yet you cannot lay remorse upon the innocent nor lift it from the heart of the guilty.
Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze upon themselves.
And you who would understand justice, how shall you unless you look upon all deeds in the fullness of light?
Only then shall you know that the erect and the fallen are but one man standing in twilight between the night of his pigmy-self and the day of his god-self,
And that the corner-stone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in its foundation.
《先知‧罪與罰》
城中的一位法官趨前言道，請給我們講講罪與罰。
他回答說：
當你們的靈魂隨風飄蕩時，
你們孤獨而無心地錯待了別人，從而也錯待了自己。
由於所犯下的過錯，你們必須去叩擊那受福者的門，且會在片刻恭候中受到冷落。
你們的神性自我像大海；
永遠不會被玷污。
又像天空，它僅僅舉拓展翼者。
你們的神性自我甚至像太陽；
它不諸熟鼠輩的路徑，也不尋跡蟲蛇的洞穴。
然而你們的身上並非只有神性存在。
你們身上大部分屬於人性，但也有許多不屬人性，
而是一個未成形的侏儒，夢遊於霧中，尋找著自己的覺醒。
我現在的話都是為你們身上的人性而說。
因為只有它，而不是你們的神性或霧中的侏儒，才能瞭解罪與罰。
我常聽你們指斥某人犯了錯誤，彷彿他不是你們中的一員，倒是你們中的一個陌生者，你們世界的一個闖入者。
但我要說，即使是聖人大德，也不可能高過你們每個人內中的至尊，
同樣，即使是惡人弱小，也不可能低於你們內中的至卑。
就像一片孤葉，不會未經整個大樹的默許就枯黃，
作惡者胡作非為的背後並非沒有你們大家隱匿的允諾。
你們如同隊列向你們的神性前進，
你們是道路，也是行路者。
當你們中的一個人跌倒，他是為後面的人失足，使他們小心避開絆腳的石頭。
噢，他也是為了前面的人失足，因為他們步履雖然輕捷堅定，然而卻沒有挪開絆腳石。
還有，這話儘管讓你們心情沉重：
被殺者對其被殺並非全無責任，
被劫者對其被劫並非無可責難。
行善守法者在惡人惡行中並非純潔無邪。
在作惡多端者犯下的罪行中，雙手無染者也未必清白。
的確，被判有罪者往往是罹難者的受害人，
更常見的是被判刑的人為未獲罪名和免於責罰的人承擔重負。
你們不能把公正與不公。善良與邪惡分開；
因為它們並立於陽光下，就像黑線與白線被編織在一起。
當黑線斷開，織工就應審視整塊織物，他也應檢查機杼。
如果你們把一位不忠的妻子送上法庭，請你們也用天平稱量她丈夫的心，用同樣的標準去衡量他的靈魂。
讓鞭笞犯罪者的人也審視那受害者的靈魂。
如果你們以公正的名義施行懲罰，加斧於罪惡之樹，請你們也觀察一下那樹的根莖；
實際上，你們將發現善根與惡根、不育的根與豐產的根彼此交織在大地沉默的心中。
而你們這些力圖主持公平的法官，
對於那軀體忠實而精神上是一個竊賊的人將如何判處？
對於那傷害他人肢體但實際自己在精神上受害的人，又將給予何種懲罰？
你們如何起訴一個有欺詐或壓迫行為，但又是受到侵害和虐待的人呢？
你們又如何懲罰那些沉痛悔恨，所受折磨已超過所犯過錯的人？
難道悔恨不正是你們所侍奉的法律實施的公正？
你們無法將悔恨加於無事者身上，也無法使罪人免受悔恨的折磨。
它不邀自來，在午夜發出呼喚，人們會醒來，審視自己。
至於你們這些力圖瞭解公正的人，如果你們不在至徹的光明中審視一切行為，又怎能瞭解公正呢？
只在那時你們才能明白，那升起的與沉落的不過是立於其侏儒黑夜與神性白晝之晨昏衰微中的同一個人。
而殿宇的隅石並不高於那最底層的基石。
高中的時候認識這首詩，是因為某篇文章當中引用了「一片孤葉，不會未經整個大樹的默許就枯黃」，相當令我震憾的一段話；因著《罪與罰》，知道《先知》詩集，也迷上Kahlil Gibran。
從架上取下《先知》要拿去借給剛剛結束基測的孩子，最近在案上的是《人子‧耶穌 Jesus, The son of man》
Then one of the judges of the city stood forth and said, "Speak to us of Crime and Punishment."
And he answered saying:
It is when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind,
That you, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore unto yourself.
And for that wrong committed must you knock and wait a while unheeded at the gate of the blessed.
Like the ocean is your god-self;
It remains for ever undefiled.
And like the ether it lifts but the winged.
Even like the sun is your god-self;
It knows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent.
But your god-self does not dwell alone in your being.
Much in you is still man, and much in you is not yet man,
But a shapeless pigmy that walks asleep in the mist searching for its own awakening.
And of the man in you would I now speak.
For it is he and not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist, that knows crime and the punishment of crime.
Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.
You are the way and the wayfarers.
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone.
Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
And this also, though the word lie heavy upon your hearts:
The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder,
And the robbed is not blameless in being robbed.
The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked,
And the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon.
Yea, the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured,
And still more often the condemned is the burden-bearer for the guiltless and unblamed.
You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked;
For they stand together before the face of the sun even as the black thread and the white are woven together.
And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth, and he shall examine the loom also.
If any of you would bring judgment the unfaithful wife,
Let him also weight the heart of her husband in scales, and measure his soul with measurements.
And let him who would lash the offender look unto the spirit of the offended.
And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the ax unto the evil tree, let him see to its roots;
And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth.
And you judges who would be just,
What judgment pronounce you upon him who though honest in the flesh yet is a thief in spirit?
What penalty lay you upon him who slays in the flesh yet is himself slain in the spirit?
And how prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor,
Yet who also is aggrieved and outraged?
And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds?
Is not remorse the justice which is administered by that very law which you would fain serve?
Yet you cannot lay remorse upon the innocent nor lift it from the heart of the guilty.
Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze upon themselves.
And you who would understand justice, how shall you unless you look upon all deeds in the fullness of light?
Only then shall you know that the erect and the fallen are but one man standing in twilight between the night of his pigmy-self and the day of his god-self,
And that the corner-stone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in its foundation.
《先知‧罪與罰》
城中的一位法官趨前言道，請給我們講講罪與罰。
他回答說：
當你們的靈魂隨風飄蕩時，
你們孤獨而無心地錯待了別人，從而也錯待了自己。
由於所犯下的過錯，你們必須去叩擊那受福者的門，且會在片刻恭候中受到冷落。
你們的神性自我像大海；
永遠不會被玷污。
又像天空，它僅僅舉拓展翼者。
你們的神性自我甚至像太陽；
它不諸熟鼠輩的路徑，也不尋跡蟲蛇的洞穴。
然而你們的身上並非只有神性存在。
你們身上大部分屬於人性，但也有許多不屬人性，
而是一個未成形的侏儒，夢遊於霧中，尋找著自己的覺醒。
我現在的話都是為你們身上的人性而說。
因為只有它，而不是你們的神性或霧中的侏儒，才能瞭解罪與罰。
我常聽你們指斥某人犯了錯誤，彷彿他不是你們中的一員，倒是你們中的一個陌生者，你們世界的一個闖入者。
但我要說，即使是聖人大德，也不可能高過你們每個人內中的至尊，
同樣，即使是惡人弱小，也不可能低於你們內中的至卑。
就像一片孤葉，不會未經整個大樹的默許就枯黃，
作惡者胡作非為的背後並非沒有你們大家隱匿的允諾。
你們如同隊列向你們的神性前進，
你們是道路，也是行路者。
當你們中的一個人跌倒，他是為後面的人失足，使他們小心避開絆腳的石頭。
噢，他也是為了前面的人失足，因為他們步履雖然輕捷堅定，然而卻沒有挪開絆腳石。
還有，這話儘管讓你們心情沉重：
被殺者對其被殺並非全無責任，
被劫者對其被劫並非無可責難。
行善守法者在惡人惡行中並非純潔無邪。
在作惡多端者犯下的罪行中，雙手無染者也未必清白。
的確，被判有罪者往往是罹難者的受害人，
更常見的是被判刑的人為未獲罪名和免於責罰的人承擔重負。
你們不能把公正與不公。善良與邪惡分開；
因為它們並立於陽光下，就像黑線與白線被編織在一起。
當黑線斷開，織工就應審視整塊織物，他也應檢查機杼。
如果你們把一位不忠的妻子送上法庭，請你們也用天平稱量她丈夫的心，用同樣的標準去衡量他的靈魂。
讓鞭笞犯罪者的人也審視那受害者的靈魂。
如果你們以公正的名義施行懲罰，加斧於罪惡之樹，請你們也觀察一下那樹的根莖；
實際上，你們將發現善根與惡根、不育的根與豐產的根彼此交織在大地沉默的心中。
而你們這些力圖主持公平的法官，
對於那軀體忠實而精神上是一個竊賊的人將如何判處？
對於那傷害他人肢體但實際自己在精神上受害的人，又將給予何種懲罰？
你們如何起訴一個有欺詐或壓迫行為，但又是受到侵害和虐待的人呢？
你們又如何懲罰那些沉痛悔恨，所受折磨已超過所犯過錯的人？
難道悔恨不正是你們所侍奉的法律實施的公正？
你們無法將悔恨加於無事者身上，也無法使罪人免受悔恨的折磨。
它不邀自來，在午夜發出呼喚，人們會醒來，審視自己。
至於你們這些力圖瞭解公正的人，如果你們不在至徹的光明中審視一切行為，又怎能瞭解公正呢？
只在那時你們才能明白，那升起的與沉落的不過是立於其侏儒黑夜與神性白晝之晨昏衰微中的同一個人。
而殿宇的隅石並不高於那最底層的基石。
高中的時候認識這首詩，是因為某篇文章當中引用了「一片孤葉，不會未經整個大樹的默許就枯黃」，相當令我震憾的一段話；因著《罪與罰》，知道《先知》詩集，也迷上Kahlil Gibran。
從架上取下《先知》要拿去借給剛剛結束基測的孩子，最近在案上的是《人子‧耶穌 Jesus, The son of man》
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