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伯里克利与伯罗奔尼撒战争葬礼演说

已有 3505 次阅读 2023-2-26 15:59 |个人分类:在中法文化之间流连|系统分类:海外观察

希腊雅典是世界民主政体的摇篮，在历史的进程中，雅典是从原始的君主制演变为贵族制，再到民主制的。

雅典的政治家伯里克利（Pericles，约公元前495年—前429年）被认为是推动雅典民主政体的关键人物，他奠定了民主的基础，其政治生涯恰逢希腊的黄金时代，被称为“伯里克利时代”，那是一个艺术、建筑、哲学和城市本身达到新高度的时代。

为纪念在伯罗奔尼撒战争第一年死去的雅典士兵，伯里克利发表了著名的伯罗奔尼撒战争葬礼演说，记载在雅典历史学家修昔底德（Thucydides，约前460年－约前400年）的《伯罗奔尼撒战争》中，伯里克利表达了关于雅典民主理念的诸方面【1，2，3】。

一，伯里克利的葬礼演说译文【4】：

过去许多在此地说过话的人，总是赞美我们在葬礼将完时发表演说的这种制度。在他们看来，对于阵亡将士发表演说似乎是对阵亡战士一种光荣的表示。这一点，我不同意。我认为，这些在行动中表现自己勇敢的人，他们的行动就充分宣布了他们的光荣了，正如你们刚才从这次国葬典礼中所看见的一样。我们相信，这许多人的勇敢和英雄气概毫不因为一个人对他们说好或说歹而有所变更。

首先我要说到我们的祖先们。因为在这样的典礼上，回忆他们的作为，以表示对他们的敬意，这是适当的。在我们这块土地上，同一个民族的人世世代代住在这里，直到现在；因为他们的勇敢和美德，他们把这块土地当作一个自由国家传给了我们。他们无疑是值得我们歌颂的。尤其是我们的父辈，更加值得我们歌颂，因为除了他们所继承的土地之外，他们还扩展了国家的领土；他们把这个国家传给我们这一代，不是没有经过流血和辛勤劳动的。今天我们在这里集合的人，绝大多数正当盛年，我们已经在各方面扩充了我们国家的势力，我们无论在平时或战时，都完全能够照顾自己。

我不想作一篇冗长的演说来评述一些你们都很熟悉的问题，所以我不谈我们用以取得我们的势力的一些军事行动，也不谈我们的父辈英勇地抵抗我们希腊内部和外部敌人的战役。我所要说的，首先是讨论我们曾经受到考验的精神，我们的宪法和使我们伟大的生活方式。说了这些之后，我想歌颂阵亡战士。我认为这种演说，在目前情况下，不会是不适当的；同时，在这里集会的全体人员，包括公民和外国人在内，听了这篇演说，也会感到有意义。

我要说，我们的政治制度不是从我们邻人的制度中模仿得来的。我们的制度是别人的模范，而不是我们模仿任何其他人。我们的制度之所以被称为民主政治，是因为政权在全体公民手中，而不是在少数人手中。解决私人争执的时候，每个人在法律上都是平等的；让一个人担任公职优先于他人的时候，所考虑的不是某一个特殊阶级的成员，而是他具有真正的才能。任何人，只要他能够对国家有所贡献，就绝对不会因为贫穷而在政治上湮没无闻。正因为我们的政治生活是自由而公开的，我们彼此间的日常生活也是这样。在那里，我们远离对彼此进行嫉妒的监视，我们不觉得有必要对我们的邻居做他喜欢的事而感到生气，甚至给以难堪的脸色，尽管这种脸色没有实际的伤害。在我们私人生活中，我们是自由而宽容的；但是在公家的事务中，我们遵守法律。这是因为这种法律使我们心悦诚服。

另外还有一点。当我们工作完毕的时候，我们可以享受各种娱乐，以提高我们的情趣。整个一年之中，有各种定期的赛会和祭祀；在我们的家庭中，我们有华丽而风雅的设备，每天怡娱心目，使我们忘记了我们的忧虑。我们的城邦这样伟大，它充分地给予我们世界各地一切美好的东西，使我们享受外国的东西，就好像是我们本地的出产品一样。

我们是自愿地以轻松的情绪来应付危险的，而不是用那种艰苦的训练。我们的勇敢是从我们的生活方式中自然产生的，而不是因为国家法律的强迫；我认为这些是我们的优点。我们不花费时间来训练自己忍受那些尚未到来的痛苦，但是当我们真的遇到痛苦的时候，我们表现出我们自己正和那些经常受到严格训练的人一样勇敢。我认为这是我们的城邦值得崇拜之处。当然还有其他的优点。

我们爱好美丽，但是没有因此而变得奢侈；我们爱好智慧，但是没有因此而变得柔弱。我们把财富当作可以适当利用的东西，而没有把它当作可以夸耀自己的本钱。至于贫穷，谁也不必以承认自己的贫穷为耻，真正的耻辱是为避免贫穷而不择手段。在我们这里，每一个人所关心的，不仅是他自己的事务，而且也关心国家的事务；就是那些最忙于他们自己的事务的人，对于一般政治也很熟悉——这是我们的特点：一个不关心政治的人，我们不说他是一个只注重自己事务的人，而说他根本没有事务。我们公民们自己决定我们的政策，我们的政策也将得到广泛的讨论。我们认为言论和行动之间是没有矛盾的，最坏的事情就是没有经过恰当的讨论，就贸然开始行动；这一点又是我们和其他地方的人民不同的地方。我们敢于冒险，同时又能够在进行这一冒险之前深思熟虑。他人的勇敢，是由于无知；当他们停下来思考的时候，他们就开始疑惧了。但是真正算得上勇敢的人是那个最了解人生的幸福和灾患，然后勇往直前，担当起将来会发生的事变之结果的人。

再者，在关于友谊的问题上，我们和其他大多数人也形成一个明显的对比。我们结交朋友的方法是给他人以好处，而不是从他们方面得到好处。这就使我们的友谊更为可靠，因为我们要继续对他们表示好意，使受惠于我们的人永远感激我们。但是，一些受了我们恩惠的人，在感情上缺少同样的热忱；因为他们觉得，在他们报答我们的时候，就好像是在偿还一笔债务，而不是在自觉地给予恩惠。在这方面，我们是独特的。当我们真正给予他人以恩惠时，我们不是因为考虑我们的得失才这样做的，而是由于我们的慷慨，我们不会因为这样做而后悔。因此，如果把一切都联系起来考虑的话，我可以断言，我们的城邦是全希腊的学校；我可以断言，我们每个公民，在生活的各个方面，都能够独立自主；并且在表现独立自主的时候，能够特别地表现温文尔雅和多才多艺。为了说明这并不是在这个典礼上的空洞的自我吹嘘，而是真正的具体事实，你们只要考虑一下：正因为我在上面所说的优良品质，我们的城邦才获得了它现在的势力。我们所知道的国家中，只有雅典在遇到战争的时候，可以证明它比一般人所想象的更为伟大。在雅典，也只有在雅典，入侵的敌人不以战败为耻辱；受它统治的属民也不因统治者不够格而抱怨。真的，我们祖先所遗留下来的国家标志和纪念物是巨大的，不但现在，而且后世也会对我们表示赞叹。我们不需要荷马的歌颂，因为他们的歌颂只能使我们娱乐一时，而他们对于事实的估计也不足以代表真实的情况。因为我们的冒险精神充溢着每个海洋和每块陆地；我们到处对我们的朋友施以恩德，对我们的敌人给予回击；关于这些事情，我们将遗留永久的纪念于后世。

这就是这些烈士为它慷慨而战、慷慨而死的一个城邦，因为他们只要想到丧失了这个城邦，就会不寒而栗。十分自然，我们生于他们之后的人，每个人都应当忍受一切痛苦为它服务。因为这个缘故，我说了这么多话来讨论我们的城邦，因为我要很清楚的说明，我们所争取的目标比起其他那些没有我们优点的人所争取的目标要远大。因此，我想用实证来更清楚地表达我对阵亡将士们的歌颂。现在对于他们的歌颂的最重要的部分，我已经说完了。我已经歌颂了我们的城邦，但是，使我们的城邦光明灿烂的是这些人和类似他们的人的勇敢和英雄气概。同时，你们也会发现，言词是不能够公允地表达他们的行为的。在所有的希腊人中间，有他们这种勇气的人也不会很多。

在我看来，他们的那种壮烈献身，向我们表现了非凡的英雄气概，不管它是初次表现的也好，或者是最后证实的也好。他们中间有些人无疑是有缺点的，但是我们所应当记着的，首先是他们抵抗敌人、捍卫祖国的英勇行为。他们的优点抵消了他们的缺点，他们对国家的贡献多于他们在私人生活中所作的祸害。他们这些人中间，没有人因为想继续享受他们的财富而变为懦夫，也没有人逃避这个危难的日子，以图偷生脱离穷困而获得富裕。他们所需要的不是这些东西，而是要挫败敌人的骄气。在他们看来，这是最光荣的冒险。他们担当了这个冒险，愿意击溃敌人，而放弃了其他一切。至于成败，他们让它留在不可预测的希望女神手中。当他们真的面临战斗的时候，他们信赖自己。在战斗中，他们认为保持自己的岗位而战死比屈服而逃生更为光荣。所以他们没有受到别人的责难，而是以自己的血肉之驱抵挡了敌人的冲锋。顷刻间，在他们生命的顶点，也是光荣的顶点，而又是恐惧的顶点，他们就离开我们而长逝了。

他们的行为是这样的勇敢，这些人无愧于他们的城邦。我们这些尚还生存的人们可以希望不会遭遇和他们同样的命运，但是在对抗敌人的时候，我们一定要有同样的勇敢精神。这不是单纯从理论上估计优点的问题。关于击败敌人的好处，我可以说得很多（这些，你们和我一样都是知道的）。我宁愿你们每天把眼光集中到雅典的伟大上。它真正是伟大的，你们应当热爱它。当你们认识到它的伟大时，再回忆一下，使它伟大的是有冒险精神的人们，知道他们的责任的人们，深以不达到某种目标为耻辱的人们。如果他们在一项事业上失败了，他们也会下定决心，不让他们的城邦发现他们缺乏勇敢，他们尽可能把最好的东西贡献给了国家。他们贡献了他们的生命给国家和我们全体，至于他们自己，则获得了永远常青的赞美，最光辉灿烂的坟墓——不是他们遗体所安葬的坟墓，而是他们的光荣永远留在人们的心中，每到适当的时机，总会激动着他人的言论或行动。整个地球其实都是他们的纪念物；他们的纪念物不仅是在自己的祖国，而且也在外国；他们的英名已经生根在人们的心中，而不是凿刻在有形的石碑上。你们应该努力学习他们的榜样。你们要下定决心：要自由，才能有幸福；要勇敢，才能有自由。

现在依照法律上的要求，我已经说了我所应当说的话。刚才我们已对死者作了祭献。将来他们的儿女们将由公费抚养，直到他们达到成年为止。这是国家给予死者和他们的儿女们的花冠和奖品，作为他们经得住考验的酬谢。凡是对于勇敢有最大奖赏的地方，就可以找到人民中间最优秀和最勇敢的精神。现在你们对于阵亡的亲属已致哀吊，你们可以散开了。

二，英文【5】

"Most of my predecessors in this place have commended him who made this speech part of the law, telling us that it is well that it should be delivered at the burial of those who fall in battle. For myself, I should have thought that the worth which had displayed itself in deeds would be sufficiently rewarded by honours also shown by deeds; such as you now see in this funeral prepared at the people's cost. And I could have wished that the reputations of many brave men were not to be imperilled in the mouth of a single individual, to stand or fall according as he spoke well or ill. For it is hard to speak properly upon a subject where it is even difficult to convince your hearers that you are speaking the truth. On the one hand, the friend who is familiar with every fact of the story may think that some point has not been set forth with that fullness which he wishes and knows it to deserve; on the other, he who is a stranger to the matter may be led by envy to suspect exaggeration if he hears anything above his own nature. For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can severally persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity. However, since our ancestors have stamped this custom with their approval, it becomes my duty to obey the law and to try to satisfy your several wishes and opinions as best I may."

"I shall begin with our ancestors: it is both just and proper that they should have the honor of the first mention on an occasion like the present. They dwelt in the country without break in the succession from generation to generation, and handed it down free to the present time by their valour. And if our more remote ancestors deserve praise, much more do our own fathers, who added to their inheritance the empire which we now possess, and spared no pains to be able to leave their acquisitions to us of the present generation. Lastly, there are few parts of our dominions that have not been augmented by those of us here, who are still more or less in the vigour of life; while the mother country has been furnished by us with everything that can enable her to depend on her own resources whether for war or for peace. That part of our history which tells of the military achievements which gave us our several possessions, or of the ready valour with which either we or our fathers stemmed the tide of Hellenic or foreign aggression, is a theme too familiar to my hearers for me to dilate on, and I shall therefore pass it by. But what was the road by which we reached our position, what the form of government under which our greatness grew, what the national habits out of which it sprang; these are questions which I may try to solve before I proceed to my panegyric upon these men; since I think this to be a subject upon which on the present occasion a speaker may properly dwell, and to which the whole assemblage, whether citizens or foreigners, may listen with advantage."

"Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighbouring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life. There, far from exercising a jealous surveillance over each other, we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbour for doing what he likes, or even to indulge in those injurious looks which cannot fail to be offensive, although they inflict no positive penalty. But all this ease in our private relations does not make us lawless as citizens. Against this fear is our chief safeguard, teaching us to obey the magistrates and the laws, particularly such as regard the protection of the injured, whether they are actually on the statute book, or belong to that code which, although unwritten, yet cannot be broken without acknowledged disgrace."

"Further, we provide plenty of means for the mind to refresh itself from business. We celebrate games and sacrifices all the year round, and the elegance of our private establishments forms a daily source of pleasure and helps to banish the spleen; while the magnitude of our city draws the produce of the world into our harbour, so that to the Athenian the fruits of other countries are as familiar a luxury as those of his own."

"If we turn to our military policy, there also we differ from our antagonists. We throw open our city to the world, and never by alien acts exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning or observing, although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality; trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while in education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger. In proof of this it may be noticed that the Lacedaemonians do not invade our country alone, but bring with them all their confederates; while we Athenians advance unsupported into the territory of a neighbour, and fighting upon a foreign soil usually vanquish with ease men who are defending their homes. Our united force was never yet encountered by any enemy, because we have at once to attend to our marine and to dispatch our citizens by land upon a hundred different services; so that, wherever they engage with some such fraction of our strength, a success against a detachment is magnified into a victory over the nation, and a defeat into a reverse suffered at the hands of our entire people. And yet if with habits not of labour but of ease, and courage not of art but of nature, we are still willing to encounter danger, we have the double advantage of escaping the experience of hardships in anticipation and of facing them in the hour of need as fearlessly as those who are never free from them."

"Nor are these the only points in which our city is worthy of admiration. We cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it. Our public men have, besides politics, their private affairs to attend to, and our ordinary citizens, though occupied with the pursuits of industry, are still fair judges of public matters; for, unlike any other nation, regarding him who takes no part in these duties not as unambitious but as useless, we Athenians are able to judge at all events if we cannot originate, and, instead of looking on discussion as a stumbling-block in the way of action, we think it an indispensable preliminary to any wise action at all. Again, in our enterprises we present the singular spectacle of daring and deliberation, each carried to its highest point, and both united in the same persons; although usually decision is the fruit of ignorance, hesitation of reflection. But the palm of courage will surely be adjudged most justly to those, who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet are never tempted to shrink from danger. In generosity we are equally singular, acquiring our friends by conferring, not by receiving, favours. Yet, of course, the doer of the favour is the firmer friend of the two, in order by continued kindness to keep the recipient in his debt; while the debtor feels less keenly from the very consciousness that the return he makes will be a payment, not a free gift. And it is only the Athenians, who, fearless of consequences, confer their benefits not from calculations of expediency, but in the confidence of liberality."

"In short, I say that as a city we are the school of Hellas, while I doubt if the world can produce a man who, where he has only himself to depend upon, is equal to so many emergencies, and graced by so happy a versatility, as the Athenian. And that this is no mere boast thrown out for the occasion, but plain matter of fact, the power of the state acquired by these habits proves. For Athens alone of her contemporaries is found when tested to be greater than her reputation, and alone gives no occasion to her assailants to blush at the antagonist by whom they have been worsted, or to her subjects to question her title by merit to rule. Rather, the admiration of the present and succeeding ages will be ours, since we have not left our power without witness, but have shown it by mighty proofs; and far from needing a Homer for our panegyrist, or other of his craft whose verses might charm for the moment only for the impression which they gave to melt at the touch of fact, we have forced every sea and land to be the highway of our daring, and everywhere, whether for evil or for good, have left imperishable monuments behind us. Such is the Athens for which these men, in the assertion of their resolve not to lose her, nobly fought and died; and well may every one of their survivors be ready to suffer in her cause."

"Indeed if I have dwelt at some length upon the character of our country, it has been to show that our stake in the struggle is not the same as theirs who have no such blessings to lose, and also that the panegyric of the men over whom I am now speaking might be by definite proofs established. That panegyric is now in a great measure complete; for the Athens that I have celebrated is only what the heroism of these and their like have made her, men whose fame, unlike that of most Hellenes, will be found to be only commensurate with their deserts. And if a test of worth be wanted, it is to be found in their closing scene, and this not only in cases in which it set the final seal upon their merit, but also in those in which it gave the first intimation of their having any. For there is justice in the claim that steadfastness in his country's battles should be as a cloak to cover a man's other imperfections; since the good action has blotted out the bad, and his merit as a citizen more than outweighed his demerits as an individual. But none of these allowed either wealth with its prospect of future enjoyment to unnerve his spirit, or poverty with its hope of a day of freedom and riches to tempt him to shrink from danger. No, holding that vengeance upon their enemies was more to be desired than any personal blessings, and reckoning this to be the most glorious of hazards, they joyfully determined to accept the risk, to make sure of their vengeance, and to let their wishes wait; and while committing to hope the uncertainty of final success, in the business before them they thought fit to act boldly and trust in themselves. Thus choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting, they fled only from dishonour, but met danger face to face, and after one brief moment, while at the summit of their fortune, escaped, not from their fear, but from their glory."

"So died these men as became Athenians. You, their survivors, must determine to have as unfaltering a resolution in the field, though you may pray that it may have a happier issue. And not contented with ideas derived only from words of the advantages which are bound up with the defence of your country, though these would furnish a valuable text to a speaker even before an audience so alive to them as the present, you must yourselves realize the power of Athens, and feed your eyes upon her from day to day, till love of her fills your hearts; and then, when all her greatness shall break upon you, you must reflect that it was by courage, sense of duty, and a keen feeling of honour in action that men were enabled to win all this, and that no personal failure in an enterprise could make them consent to deprive their country of their valour, but they laid it at her feet as the most glorious contribution that they could offer. For this offering of their lives made in common by them all they each of them individually received that renown which never grows old, and for a sepulchre, not so much that in which their bones have been deposited, but that noblest of shrines wherein their glory is laid up to be eternally remembered upon every occasion on which deed or story shall call for its commemoration. For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart. These take as your model and, judging happiness to be the fruit of freedom and freedom of valour, never decline the dangers of war. For it is not the miserable that would most justly be unsparing of their lives; these have nothing to hope for: it is rather they to whom continued life may bring reverses as yet unknown, and to whom a fall, if it came, would be most tremendous in its consequences. And surely, to a man of spirit, the degradation of cowardice must be immeasurably more grievous than the unfelt death which strikes him in the midst of his strength and patriotism!"

"Comfort, therefore, not condolence, is what I have to offer to the parents of the dead who may be here. Numberless are the chances to which, as they know, the life of man is subject; but fortunate indeed are they who draw for their lot a death so glorious as that which has caused your mourning, and to whom life has been so exactly measured as to terminate in the happiness in which it has been passed. Still I know that this is a hard saying, especially when those are in question of whom you will constantly be reminded by seeing in the homes of others blessings of which once you also boasted: for grief is felt not so much for the want of what we have never known, as for the loss of that to which we have been long accustomed. Yet you who are still of an age to beget children must bear up in the hope of having others in their stead; not only will they help you to forget those whom you have lost, but will be to the state at once a reinforcement and a security; for never can a fair or just policy be expected of the citizen who does not, like his fellows, bring to the decision the interests and apprehensions of a father. While those of you who have passed your prime must congratulate yourselves with the thought that the best part of your life was fortunate, and that the brief span that remains will be cheered by the fame of the departed. For it is only the love of honour that never grows old; and honour it is, not gain, as some would have it, that rejoices the heart of age and helplessness."

"Turning to the sons or brothers of the dead, I see an arduous struggle before you. When a man is gone, all are wont to praise him, and should your merit be ever so transcendent, you will still find it difficult not merely to overtake, but even to approach their renown. The living have envy to contend with, while those who are no longer in our path are honoured with a goodwill into which rivalry does not enter. On the other hand, if I must say anything on the subject of female excellence to those of you who will now be in widowhood, it will be all comprised in this brief exhortation. Great will be your glory in not falling short of your natural character; and greatest will be hers who is least talked of among the men, whether for good or for bad."

"My task is now finished. I have performed it to the best of my ability, and in word, at least, the requirements of the law are now satisfied. If deeds be in question, those who are here interred have received part of their honours already, and for the rest, their children will be brought up till manhood at the public expense: the state thus offers a valuable prize, as the garland of victory in this race of valour, for the reward both of those who have fallen and their survivors. And where the rewards for merit are greatest, there are found the best citizens."

"And now that you have brought to a close your lamentations for your relatives, you may depart."