28 Kierkegaard
28 祁克果
……Europe is on the road to bankruptcy……
……欧洲正迈向破产的地步……
Hilde looked at her watch. It was already past four o'clock. She laid the ring binder on her desk and ran downstairs to the kitchen. She had to get down to the boathouse before her mother got tired of waiting for her. She glanced at the brass mirror as she passed.
席德看了看时间。已经过了四点了。她把讲义夹放在书桌上，然后便跑到楼下的厨房。她得在妈妈等得不耐烦之前赶快到船屋那儿去。她经过那面铜镜前看了它一眼。
She quickly put the kettle on for tea and fixed some sandwiches.
她很快地把茶壶拿出来，准备烧茶，并以加倍的速度做了几个三明治。
She had made up her mind to play a few tricks on her father. Hilde was beginning to feel more and more allied with Sophie and Alberto. Her plan would start when he got to Copenhagen.
她已经决定要跟她爸爸开几个玩笑。她开始觉得自己愈来愈站在苏菲和艾伯特这一边了。等爸爸到达哥本哈根时，那些玩笑就要开始了。
She went down to the boathouse with a large tray.
很快地，她已经端着一个大托盘，站在船屋那儿了。
"Here's our brunch," she said.
“我们的早午餐来了。”她说。
Her mother was holding a block wrapped in sandpaper. She pushed a stray lock of hair back from her forehead. There was sand in her hair too.
妈妈正拿着一块用沙纸包着的东西。她把一绺散落的发丝从额前拂开，她的头发上也有沙子。
"Let's drop dinner, then."
“那我们就不要吃晚餐好了。”
They sat down outside on the dock and began to eat.
她们坐在外面的平台上，开始吃起来。
"When's Dad arriving?" asked Hilde after a while.
“爸爸什么时候到家？”过了一会儿，席德问。
"On Saturday. I thought you knew that."
“星期六。我还以为你知道呢。”
"But what time? Didn't you say he was changing planes in Copenhagen?"
“可是几点呢？你不是说他要在哥本哈根换机吗？”
"That's right.
“没错……”
Her mother took a bite of her sandwich.
妈妈咬了一口肝酱黄瓜三明治。
"He gets to Copenhagen at about five. The plane to Kristiansand leaves at a quarter to eight. He'll probably land at Kjevik at half-past nine."
“他大约五点会抵达哥本哈根，七点四十五分有一班飞机开往基督山。他大概会在九点半时在凯耶维克机场着陆。”
"So he has a few hours at Kastrup ..."
“这么说他在卡斯楚普机场会停留几个小时……”
"Yes, why?"
“嗯，干嘛？”
"Nothing. I was just wondering."
“没事。我只是想他一路不知道会怎样。”
When Hilde thought a suitable interval had elapsed, she said casually, "Have you heard from Anne and Ole lately?"
她们继续吃着。当席德认为时间已经够久时，便假装不经意地说：“你最近有没有安娜和欧雷的消息？”
"They call from time to time. They are coming home on vacation sometime in July."
“他们不时打电话来。七月时他们会回家度假。”
"Not before?"
“他们不会提前来吗？”
"No, I don't think so."
“我想不会。”
"So they'll be in Copenhagen this week... ?"
“这么说他们这个星期会在哥本哈根……”
"Why all these questions, Hilde?"
“到底怎么回事？席德。”
"No reason. Just small talk."
“没事，只是聊聊。”
"You mentioned Copenhagen twice."
“你提到哥本哈根两次了。”
"I did?"
“有吗？”
"We talked about Dad touching down in ..."
“在刚才我们谈到爸爸在……”
"That's probably why I thought of Anne and Ole."
“我大概是这样才想到安娜和欧雷吧。”
As soon as they finished eating, Hilde collected the mugs and plates on the tray.
她们一吃完，席德就收拾杯盘，放在托盘上。
"I have to get on with my reading, Mom."
“妈，我得回去继续看书了。”
"I guess you must."
“我想也是。”
Was there a touch of reproach in her voice? They had talked about fixing up the boat together before Dad came home.
她的回答里有谴责的意味吗？她们以前曾经说好在爸爸回家前要一起把船整修好。
"Dad almost made me promise to finish the book before he got home."
“爸爸差点没要我答应他在他回家前把那本书念完呢。”
"It's a little crazy. When he's away, he doesn't have to order us around back home."
“这真是有点太胡闹了。他虽然离家在外，也不需要这样子指挥家里的人呀。”
"If you only knew how much he orders people around," said Hilde enigmatically, "and you can't imagine how much he enjoys it."
“你才知道，他可是会指挥人呢!”席德高深莫测地说。“而且你无法想象他多喜欢这样呢!”
She returned to her room and went on reading.
她回到房里，继续看下去。
Suddenly Sophie heard a knock on the door. Alberto looked at her severely.
突然间苏菲听到有人敲门。艾伯特严肃地看着她。
"We don't wish to be disturbed."
“我们不想被人打搅。”
The knocking became louder.
敲门声又响了，这回更大声。
"I am going to tell you about a Danish philosopher who was infuriated by Hegel's philosophy," said Alberto.
“我要和你谈一位丹麦的哲学家。他对黑格尔的哲学非常不满。”
The knocking on the door grew so violent that the whole door shook.
敲门声愈来愈激烈，以至于整扇门都在晃动。
"It's the major, of course, sending some phantasm to see whether we swallow the bait," said Alberto. "It costs him no effort at all."
“一定是少校派了什么童话人物来看看我们是不是上钩了。”艾伯特说。“他这样做根本不费吹灰之力。”
"But if we don't open the door and see who it is, it won't cost him any effort to tear the whole place down either."
“可是如果我们不开门看看是谁，他也可以不费吹灰之力地把这整栋房子拆掉呀！”
"You might have a point there. We'd better open the door then."
“你说得可能有道理。我们最好还是开门吧。”
They went to the door. Since the knocking had been so forceful, Sophie expected to see a very large person. But standing on the front step was a little girl with long fair hair, wearing a blue dress. She had a small bottle in each hand. One bottle was red, the other blue.
于是他们打开门。由于刚才的敲门声大而有力，苏菲预期这个人一定长得很魁梧。可是站在门前台阶上的却是一位有着一头金色的长发，穿了印花夏装的小女孩。她两手各拿了一个小瓶子。一瓶是红的，一瓶是蓝的。
"Hi," said Sophie. "Who are you?"
“嗨！”苏菲说。“你是谁？”
"My name is Alice," said the girl, curtseying shyly.
“我名叫爱丽丝。”小女孩说，一边害羞地一鞠躬。
"I thought so," said Alberto, nodding. "It's Alice in Wonderland."
“果然不出我所料。”艾伯特点点头。“是爱丽丝梦游仙境里的爱丽丝。”
"How did she find her way to us?"
“她是怎么找到我们的？”
Alice explained: "Wonderland is a completely borderless country. That means that Wonderland is everywhere--rather like the UN. It should be an honorary member of the UN. We should have representatives on all committees, because the UN also arose out of people's wonder."
爱丽丝解释说：“仙境是一个完全没有疆界的国度。这表示仙境无所不在——当然也在联合国。它应该成为联合国的荣誉会员国。我们应该派代表参加他们所有的委员会，因为联合国当初成立也是一个奇迹。”
"Hm ... that major!" muttered Alberto.
“哼……又是少校搞的鬼。”艾伯特嘀咕着。
"And what brings you here?" asked Sophie.
“你来这儿做什么呢？”苏菲问。
"I am to give Sophie these little philosophy bottles."
“我是来拿这些小哲学瓶子给苏菲的。”
She handed the bottles to Sophie. There was red liquid in one and blue in the other. The label on the red bottle read DRINK ME, and on the blue one the label read DRINK ME too.
她把瓶子递给苏菲。两个瓶子都是透明玻璃做的，其中一个装了红色的液体，另一个则装了蓝色的。红瓶子上贴了一张标签，写着：请把我喝下去。蓝瓶子上的标签则写着：请把我也喝下去。
The next second a white rabbit came hurrying past the cabin. It walked upright on two legs and was dressed in a waistcoat and jacket. Just in front of the cabin it took a pocket watch out of its waistcoat pocket and said:"Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!"
这时忽然有一只白兔子从小木屋旁跳过去。它全身挺直，只用两只脚来走路，身上穿了一件背心和外套。来到小木屋前时，它从背心口袋里掏出了一个怀表，并且说：“糟了，我要迟到了！”
Then it ran on. Alice began to run after it. Just before she ran into the woods, she curtsied and said, "Now it's starting again."
然后它就跑走了。爱丽丝开始追它。就在她跑进树林前，她姿态优美地鞠了一个躬，说道：“现在又要开始了。”
"Say hello to Dinah and the Queen," Sophie called after her.
“请帮我向蒂娜和皇后打招呼好吗？”苏菲在她身后喊。
Alberto and Sophie remained standing on the front step, examining the bottles.
小女孩消失了。艾伯特和苏菲仍站在台阶上，仔细看着那两个瓶子。
"DRINK ME and DRINK ME too," read Sophie. "I don't know if I dare. They might be poisonous."
“‘请把我喝下去’和‘请把我也喝下去’，”苏菲念了出来。“我不知道我敢不敢呢。里面可能有毒。”
Alberto merely shrugged his shoulders.
艾伯特只是耸耸肩。
"They come from the major, and everything that comes from the major is purely in the mind. So it's only pretend-juice."
“他们是少校派来的。而从少校那边来的每一件事物都是纯粹存在心灵中的，所以这并不是真的水。”
Sophie took the cap off the red bottle and put it cautiously to her lips. The juice had a strangely sweet taste, but that wasn't all. As she drank, something started to happen to her surroundings.
苏菲把红瓶子的瓶盖拿掉，小心地把瓶子送到唇边。瓶里的水有一种很奇怪的甜味，还有一些别的味道。当她喝下去时，她周遭的事物开始发生了一些变化。
It felt as if the lake and the woods and the cabin all merged into one. Soon it seemed that everything she saw was one person, and that person was Sophie herself. She glanced up at Alberto, but he too seemed to be part of Sophie's soul.
感觉上仿佛小湖、树林小木屋都融成一体了。很快的，她所见到的一切似乎只是一个人，而这个人就是苏菲她自己。她抬头看了艾伯特一眼，但他似乎也成了苏菲灵魂的一部分。
"Curiouser and curiouser," she said. "Everything looks like it did before, but now it's all one thing. I feel as if everything is one thought."
“奇怪，真奇怪。”她说。“一切事物看起来都和从前没有两样，但现在却都成了一体了。我觉得一切事物好像都变成一个思想了。”
Alberto nodded--but it seemed to Sophie that it was she nodding to herself.
艾伯特点点头．但苏菲的感觉却好像是她自己在向她点头似的。
"It is Pantheism or Idealism," he said. "It is the Romantics' world spirit. They experienced everything as one big 'ego.' It is also Hegel--who was critical of the individual, and who saw everything as the expression of the one and only world reason."
“这是泛神论或观念论，”他说。“这是浪漫主义者的世界精神。在他们的体验中，每一件事物都属于一个大的‘自我’，这也是黑格尔的哲学。他批评个人主义，认为每一件事物都是世间唯一的世界理性的表现。”
"Should I drink from the other bottle too?"
“我应该也喝另外一瓶吗？”
"It says so on the label."
“标签上是这么说的。”
Sophie took the cap off the blue bottle and took a large gulp. This juice tasted fresher and sharper than the other. Again everything around her changed suddenly.
苏菲把蓝瓶子的盖子拿掉，喝了一大口。里面的水尝起来比另一瓶新鲜，味道也较重。喝了之后，她周遭的每一件事物又开始改变了。
Instantly the effects of the red bottle disappeared and everything slid back to its normal place. Alberto was Alberto, the trees were back in the woods and the water looked like a lake again.
在那一瞬间，红瓶子所造成的效果消失了，一切事物都回到原来的位置。艾伯特还是艾伯特，树也回到了林子里，湖看起来又是湖了。
But it only lasted for a second, because things went on sliding away from each other. The woods were no longer woods and every little tree now seemed like a world in itself. The tiniest twig was like a fairy-tale world about which a thousand stories could be told.
可是这种感觉只持续了一秒钟。因为，所有的东西都一直继续移动，愈分愈开。树林已经不再是树林，每一株小树现在看起来似乎本身就是一个世界，连最细小的树枝仿佛都是一个宝库，装着一千年的童话故事。
The little lake suddenly became a boundless ocean-- not in depth or breadth, but in its glittering detail and the intricate patterns of its waves. Sophie felt she might spend a lifetime staring at this water and to her dying day it would still remain an unfathomable mystery.
那小湖突然变成了一座无边无际的汪洋，虽然它没有变深，也没有变广，但湖里却出现了许多晶莹闪烁、细密交织的波纹。苏菲觉得她即使一辈子注视着这里的湖水，直到她死去之日也参不透那里面深不可测的秘密。
She looked up at the crown of a tree. Three little sparrows were engrossed in a curious game. Was it hide-and-seek? Sophie had known in a way that there were birds in this tree, even after she had drunk from the red bottle, but she had not really seen them properly. The red juice had erased all contrasts and all individual differences.
她抬起头看着一棵树的顶端。上面有三只小麻雀正全神贯注地玩着一种奇怪的游戏。她过去也知道树上有小鸟(即使在她喝了红瓶子里的水以后)，可是她却从来没有好好地看过它们。红瓶子里的水使得所有事物的差异和各自的特色都泯灭了。
Sophie jumped down from the large flat stone step they were standing on and bent over to look at the grass. There she discovered another new world--like a deep-sea diver opening his eyes under water for the first time. In amongst the twigs and straws of grass, the moss was teeming with tiny details. Sophie watched a spider make its way over the moss, surefooted and purposeful, a red plant louse running up and down a blade of grass, and a whole army of ants laboring in a united effort in the grass. But each tiny ant moved its legs in its own particular manner.
苏菲从她所站立的大石阶上跳下来，蹲在草地上。她在那里又发现了一个新世界，就像是一个深海的潜水员第一次在海底睁开眼睛一样。在绿草的茎梗间，青苔显得 纤毫毕露。苏菲看着一只蜘蛛不慌不忙地爬过青苔，向着它的目标走去……一只红色的虱子在草叶上来回奔跑……一群蚂蚁正在草丛间合力工作。可是每一只小蚂蚁 走路的方式都各有特色。
The most curious of all was the sight that met her eyes when she stood up again and looked at Alberto, still standing on the front step of the cabin. In Alberto she now saw a wondrous person--he was like a being from another planet, or an enchanted figure out of a fairy tale. At the same time she experienced herself in a completely new way as a unique individual. She was more than just a human being, a fifteen-year-old girl.
最奇怪的是，当她再度站起来，看着仍然站在木屋前阶梯上的艾伯特时，居然看到了一个奇妙不可思议的人。感觉上他像是从另外一个星球来的生物，又像从童话故 事里走出来的一个被施了魔法的人。同时，现在她也以一种崭新的方式感受到自己是一个独一无二的个体。她不只是一个人而已，也不只是一个十五岁的女孩。
She was Sophie Amundsen, and only she was that.
她是苏菲，而世间只有她是苏菲这个人。
"What do you see?" asked Alberto.
“你看见什么了？”艾伯特问。
"I see that you're a strange bird."
“你看起来像是一只奇怪的鸟。”
"You think so?"
“你这么想吗？”
"I don't think I'll ever get to understand what it's like being another person. No two people in the whole world are alike."
“我想我永远也无法理解做另外一个人是什么样子。世间没有两个人是一样的。”
"And the woods?"
“那树林呢？”
"They don't seem the same any more. They're like a whole universe of wondrous tales."
“感觉起来也不一样了，像是一个充满了神奇故事的宇宙。”
祁克果
"It is as I suspected. The blue bottle is individualism. It is, for example, Soren Kierkegaard's reaction to the idealism of the Romantics. But it also encompasses another Dane who lived at the same time as Kierkegaard, the famous fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen. He had the same sharp eye for nature's incredible richness of detail. A philosopher who saw the same thing more than a century earlier was the German Leibniz. He reacted against the idealistic philosophy of Spinoza just as Kierkegaard reacted against Hegel."
“果然不出我所料。蓝瓶子是个人主义，打个比方，是祁克果(Soren Kierkegaard)对浪漫主义者的理想主义的反动。但它也包括了跟祁克果同一时期的一个丹麦人的世界观。他就是著名的童话故事作家安徒生。他对大自然种种不可思议的细微事物也有很敏锐的观察力。比他早一百多年的德国哲学家莱布尼兹也看到相同的事物。莱布尼兹对史宾诺莎的理想主义哲学的反动就像是祁克果对黑格尔的反动一般。”
"I hear you, but you sound so funny that I feel like laughing."
“你说的话听起来好滑稽，使我很想笑。”
"That's understandable, just take another sip from the red bottle. Come on, let's sit here on the step. We'll talk a bit about Kierkegaard before we stop for today."
“这是可以理解的。你再喝一口红瓶子里的水。来吧，我们坐在台阶这里。在今天结束之前我们要谈谈祁克果的哲学。”
Sophie sat on the step beside Alberto. She drank a little from the red bottle and things began to merge together again. They actually merged rather too much; once more she got the feeling that no differences mattered at all. But she only had to touch the blue bottle to her lips again, and the world about her looked more or less as it did when Alice arrived with the two bottles.
苏菲坐在艾伯特的身旁。她从红瓶子里喝了一小口，然后所有的事物又开始重新聚合。事实上它们聚合得太过了，以致她再次感觉一切事物之间没有什么差别，于是她又将蓝瓶子拿到唇边喝了一口。这回她周遭的世界看起来便与爱丽丝拿着这两个瓶子来时没有什么两样了。
"But which is true?" she now asked. "Is it the red or the blue bottle that gives the true picture?"
“可是哪一种感觉是真实的呢？”她问道，“使我们看到真实画面的是红瓶子还是蓝瓶子？”
"Both the red and the blue, Sophie. We cannot say the Romantics were wrong in holding that there is only one reality. But maybe they were a little bit narrow in their outlook."
“两者都是。我们不能说浪漫主义者是错的，或说世间其实只有一个真实世界。可是也许他们的视野都有点大狭窄了。”
"What about the blue bottle?"
“那蓝瓶子呢？”
"I think Kierkegaard must have taken a few hefty swigs from that one. He certainly had a sharp eye for the significance of the individual. We are more than 'children of our time.' And moreover, every single one of us is a unique individual who only lives once."
“我想祁克果一定从那个瓶子里喝了几大口。不用说，他对个体的意义有很敏锐的观察力。我们不只是‘时代的产物’。我们每一个人都是独一无二的个体，只活一次。”
"And Hegel had not made much of that?"
“而黑格尔在这方面看到的并不多？”
"No, he was more interested in the broad scope of history. This was just what made Kierkegaard so indignant. He thought that both the idealism of the Romantics and Hegel's 'historicism' had obscured the individual's responsibility for his own life. Therefore to Kierkegaard, Hegel and the Romantics were tarred with the same brush."
“嗯。他对广阔的历史比较有兴趣，这正是祁克果对他如此不满的原因。祁克果认为浪漫主义者的理想主义与黑格尔的‘历史观’都抹煞了个人对自己的生命所应负的责任。因此，对祁克果来说，黑格尔和浪漫主义者有同样的缺点。”
"I can see why he was so mad."
“我可以了解他为什么会这么生气。”
"S0ren Kierkegaard was born in 1813 and was subjected to a very severe upbringing by his father. His religious melancholia was a legacy from this father."
“祁克果生于一八一三年，从小受到父亲的严格管教，并且遗传了父亲的宗教忧郁症。”
"That sounds ominous."
“听起来好像不大妙。”
"It was because of this melancholia that he felt obliged to break off his engagement, something the Copenhagen bourgeoisie did not look kindly on. So from early on he became an outcast and an object of scorn. However, he gradually learned to give as good as he got, and he became increasingly what Ibsen later on described as 'an enemy of the people.' "
“由于得了忧郁症，他觉得自己必须解除婚约。但此举不太受到哥本哈根中产阶级的谅解，所以他在很早的时候就成为一个受人唾弃和耻笑的对象。后来他逐渐也厌弃世人、耻笑世人，并因此而逐渐成为后来易卜生所描述的‘人民公敌’。”
"All because of a broken engagement?"
“这一切都只是因为他解除了婚约吗？”
"No, not only because of that. Toward the end of his life, especially, he became aggressively critical of society. 'The whole of Europe is on the road to bankruptcy,' he said. He believed he was living in an age utterly devoid of passion and commitment. He was particularly incensed by the vapidness of the established Danish Lutheran Church. He was merciless in his criticism of what you might call 'Sunday Christianity.' "
“不只是因为这样。他在晚年时，对于社会更是大肆批评。他说：‘整个欧洲正走向破产的地步。’他认为他生活在一个完全缺乏热情和奉献的时代。他对丹麦路德派教会的了无生气尤其感到不满，并对所谓的‘星期日基督徒’加以无情的抨击。”
"Nowadays we talk of 'confirmation Christianity.' Most kids only get confirmed because of all the presents they get."
“这年头还有所谓的‘坚信礼基督徒’。因为，大多数孩子只是为了想得到礼物而接受坚信礼。”
"Yes, you've got the point. To Kierkegaard, Christianity was both so overwhelming and so irrational that it had to be an either/or. It was not good being 'rather' or 'to some extent' religious. Because either Jesus rose on Easter Day--or he did not. And if he really did rise from the dead, if he really died for our sake--then this is so overwhelming that it must permeate our entire life."
“是的，你说到要点了。对于祁克果而言，基督教对人的影响是如此之大，而且是无法用理性解释的。因此一个人要不就是相信基督教，要不就不信，不可以持一种 ‘多少相信一些’或‘相信到某种程度’的态度。耶稣要不就是真的在复活节复活，要不就是没有。如果他真的死而复活，如果他真的为我们而死的话，那么这件事 实在深奥难解，势必会影响我们整个生命。”
"Yes, I think I understand."
“嗯。我明白。”
"But Kierkegaard saw how both the church and people in general had a noncommittal approach to religious questions. To Kierkegaard, religion and knowledge were like fire and water. It was not enough to believe that Christianity is 'true.' Having a Christian faith meant following a Christian way of life."
“可是祁克果看到教会和一般大众都对宗教问题采取一种暧昧含糊的态度。对于他而言，宗教和知识可说是水火不容。光是相信基督教是‘真理’并不够。相信基督教就要过着基督徒般的生活。”
"What did that have to do with Hegel?"
“这和黑格尔有什么关系呢？”
"You're right. Maybe we started at the wrong end."
“你说得对。我们也许应该另起一个头。”
"So I suggest you go into reverse and start again."
“所以我建议你重新开始。”
"Kierkegaard began his study of theology when he was seventeen, but he became increasingly absorbed in philosophical questions. When he was twenty-seven he took his master's degree with the dissertation 'On the Concept of Irony.' In this work he did battle with Romantic irony and the Romantics' uncommitted play with illusion. He posited 'Socratic irony' in contrast. Even though Socrates had made use of irony to great effect, it had the purpose of eliciting the fundamental truths about life. Unlike the Romantics, Socrates was what Kierkegaard called an 'existential' thinker. That is to say, a thinker who draws his entire existence into his philosophical reflection."
“十七岁那年，祁克果开始研究神学，但他对哲学问题却日益感到兴趣。他二十七岁时，以《论反讽观念》这篇论文获得了硕士学位。他在这篇论文中批评浪漫主义的反讽以及浪漫主义者任意玩弄幻象的做法。他并提出‘苏格拉底式的反讽’做为对比。苏格拉底虽然也以反讽技巧得到很大的效果，但他这样做的目的乃是为了要寻求有关生命的根本真理。祁克果认为，苏格拉底与浪漫主义者不同之处在于他是一位‘存在主义’的思想家，也就是说他是一位完全将他的存在放进他的哲学思考的思想家。”
"So?"
“然后呢？”
"After breaking off his engagement in 1841, Kierkegaard went to Berlin where he attended Schelling's lectures."
“一八四一年解除婚约后，祁克果前往柏林访问，并在那儿听了谢林讲课。”
"Did he meet Hegel?"
“他有没有遇见黑格尔呢？”
"No, Hegel had died ten years earlier, but his ideas were predominant in Berlin and in many parts of Europe. His 'system' was being used as a kind of all-purpose explanation for every type of question. Kierkegaard indicated that the sort of 'objective truths' that Hegelianism was concerned with were totally irrelevant to the personal life of the individual."
“没有，那时黑格尔去世已有十年了。不过他的思想已经在柏林等许多欧洲地区成为主流。他的‘体系’被用来说明每一种问题。祁克果表示，黑格尔主义所关切的那种‘客观真理’与个人的生命是完全不相关的。”
"What kind of truths are relevant, then?"
“那么什么样的真理才是相关的呢？”
"According to Kierkegaard, rather than searching for the Truth with a capital T, it is more important to find the kind of truths that are meaningful to the individual's life. It is important to find 'the truth for me.' He thus sets the individual, or each and every man, up against the 'system.' Kierkegaard thought Hegel had forgotten that he was a man. This is what he wrote about the Hegelian professor: "While the ponderous Sir Professor explains the entire mystery of life, he has in distraction forgotten his own name; that he is a man, neither more nor less, not a fantastic three-eighths of a paragraph."
“祁克果认为，与其找寻那唯一的真理，不如去找寻那些对个人生命具有意义的真理。他说，找寻‘我心目中的真理’是很重要的。他借此以个人来对抗‘体系’。 祁克果认为，黑格尔忘记了自己是一个人。他并且如此描述那些教导黑格尔主义的教授：‘当那令人厌烦的教授先生解释生命的玄秘时，他太过专注，以致忘了自己的姓名，也忘了自己是一个人，而不只是八分之三段精彩的文章。”
"And what, according to Kierkegaard, is a man?"
“那么祁克果认为人是什么呢？”
"It's not possible to say in general terms. A broad description of human nature or human beings was totally without interest to Kierkegaard. The only important thing was each man's 'own existence.' And you don't experience your own existence behind a desk. It's only when we act--and especially when we make significant choices--that we relate to our own existence. There is a story about Buddha that illustrates what Kierkegaard meant."
“这很难做概括性的说明。对他而言，描绘人或人性的面貌是完全没有意义的。他认为，世间唯一重要的事只有每一个人‘自己的存在’。而你无法在书桌后面体验自己的存在。唯有在我们行动——尤其是做一些重要的选择——时，我们才和自我的存在有关联。有一个关于佛陀的故事可以说明祁克果的意思。”
"About Buddha?"
“关于佛陀的故事？”
"Yes, since Buddha's philosophy also took man's existence as its starting point. There was once a monk who asked Buddha if he could give clearer answers to fundamental questions on what the world is and what a man is. Buddha answered by likening the monk to a man who gets pierced by a poisoned arrow. The wounded man would have no theoretical interest in what the arrow was made of, what kind of poison it was dipped in, or which direction it came from."
“是的，因为佛教的哲学也是以人的存在为起点。从前有一个和尚问佛陀他如何才能更清楚地回答‘世界是什么’‘人是什么’等根本性的问题。佛陀在回答时，将他比喻为一个被毒箭射伤的人。他说，这个受伤的人不会对‘这支箭是什么材料做的’、‘它沾了什么样的毒药’或‘它是从哪个方向射来的’这些问题感到兴趣。”
"He would most likely want somebody to pull it out and treat the wound."
“他应该是希望有人能够把箭拔出来，并治疗他的伤口。”
"Yes, he would. That would be existentially important to him. Both Buddha and Kierkegaard had a strong sense of only existing for a brief moment. And as I said, then you don't sit down behind a desk and philosophize about the nature of the world spirit."
“没错。这对于他的存在是很重要的。佛陀和祁克果都强烈感受到人生苦短的现象。而就像我说的，你不能只是坐在书桌后面，构思有关世界精神的本质的哲学。”
"No, of course not."
“当然。”
"Kierkegaard also said that truth is 'subjective.' By this he did not mean that it doesn't matter what we think or believe. He meant that the really important truths are personal. Only these truths are 'true for me.' "
“祁克果并说真理是‘主观的’。他的意思并不是说我们想什么、相信什么都无所谓。他的意思是说，真正重要的真理都是属于个人的。只有这些真理‘对我而言是真的’。”
"Could you give an example of a subjective truth?"
“你能举一个例子说明什么是主观的真理吗？”
"An important question is, for example, whether Christianity is true. This is not a question one can relate to theoretically or academically. For a person who 'under-stands himself in life,' it is a question of life and death. It is not something you sit and discuss for discussion's sake. It is something to be approached with the greatest passion and sincerity."
“举例来说，有一个很重要的问题是基督教是否是真实的。这不是一个理论上的或学术上的问题。对于一个‘了解自我生命’的人而言，这是一个关乎生与死的问题，而不是一个你光是坐下来为了讨论而讨论的问题。这样的问题应该以最热情、最真诚的态度来讨论。”
"Understandable."
“我可以理解。”
"If you fall into the water, you have no theoretical interest in whether or not you will drown. It is neither 'interesting' nor 'uninteresting' whether there are alligators in the water. It is a question of life or death."
“如果你掉到水里，你对你是否会淹死的理论不会感到兴趣。而水里是否有鳄鱼的问题既不‘有趣’，也不‘无趣’，因为你已经面临生死关头了。”
"I get it, thank you very much."
“我懂了。谢谢你。”
"So we must therefore distinguish between the philosophical question of whether God exists and the individual's relationship to the same question, a situation in which each and every man is utterly alone. Fundamental questions such as these can only be approached through faith. Things we can know through reason, or knowledge, are according to Kierkegaard totally unimportant."
“所以我们必须区分‘上帝是否存在’这个哲学性的问题与个人与这些问题的关系。每一个人都必须独自回答这些问题。而这类根本性的问题只能经由信仰来找寻答案。但照祁克果的看法，那些我们能经由理性而得知的事情(也就是知识)是完全不重要的。”
"I think you'd better explain that."
“你最好说清楚一些。”
"Eight plus four is twelve. We can be absolutely certain of this. That's an example of the sort of 'reasoned truth' that every philosopher since Descartes had talked about. But do we include it in our daily prayers? Is it something we will lie pondering over when we are dying? Not at all. Truths like those can be both 'objective' and 'general,' but they are nevertheless totally immaterial to each man's existence."
“八加四等于十二，这是我们绝对可以确定的。这是笛卡尔以来每位哲学家都谈到的那种‘可以推算的真理’。可是我们会把它放在每天的祈祷文中吗？我们躺着时会去思考这样的问题而不去想我们什么时候会死吗？绝不是的。那样的真理也许‘客观’，也许‘具有普遍性’，但对于每个人的存在却完全无关紧要。”
"What about faith?"
“那么信仰呢？”
"You can never know whether a person forgives you when you wrong them. Therefore it is existentially important to you. It is a question you are intensely concerned with. Neither can you know whether a person loves you. It's something you just have to believe or hope. But these things are more important to you than the fact that the sum of the angles in a triangle is 180 degrees. You don't think about the law of cause and effect or about modes of perception when you are in the middle of your first kiss."
“你永远不会知道当你对不起一个人的时候，他是否会原谅你，因此这个问题对你的存在而言是很重要的，这是个你会极度关切的问题。同样的，你也不可能知道一个人是否爱你，你只能相信他爱你或希望他爱你。可是这些事情对你而言，要比‘三角形内各内角的总和等于一八O度’更加重要。你在第一次接吻时绝不会去想什么因果律啦、知觉模态啦这类的问题。”
"You'd be very odd if you did."
“会才怪!”
"Faith is the most important factor in religious questions. Kierkegaard wrote: 'If I am capable of grasping God objectively, I do not believe, but precisely because I cannot do this I must believe. If I wish to preserve myself in faith I must constantly be intent upon holding fast the objective uncertainty, so as to remain out upon the deep, over seventy thousand fathoms of water, still preserving my faith.' "
“在与宗教有关的问题上，信仰是最重要的因素。祁克果曾写道：‘如果我能客观地抓住上帝，我就不会相信他了。但正因为我无法如此，所以我必须信他。如果我希望保守我的信心，我必须时时紧握住客观的不确定性，以便让我即使在七万叶深的海上，仍能保有我的信心。”
"That's heavy stuff."
“蛮难懂的。”
"Many had previously tried to prove the existence of God--or at any rate to bring him within the bounds of rationality. But if you content yourself with some such proof or logical argument, you suffer a loss of faith, and with it, a loss of religious passion. Because what matters is not whether Christianity is true, but whether it is true for you. The same thought was expressed in the Middle Ages in the maxim: credo quid absurdum."
“许多人曾经试图证明上帝的存在，或至少尝试用理性去解释他。但是如果你满足于这样的证明或理论，你就会失去你的信仰，同时也会失去你的宗教热情。因为重要的并不是基督教是否真实，而是对你而言，它是否真实。中世纪的一句格言‘我信，因为荒谬’(credo quid absurdum)也表达了同样的想法。”
"You don't say."
“哦？”
"It means I believe because it is irrational. If Christianity had appealed to our reason, and not to other sides of us, it would not be a question of faith."
“这话的意思是：正因为它是非理性的，所以我才相信。如果基督教所诉求的是我们的理性，而不是我们的另外一面，那它就不叫做信仰了。”
"No, I understand that now."
“现在我懂了。”
"So we have looked at what Kierkegaard meant by 'existential,' what he meant by 'subjective truth,' and what his concept of 'faith' was. These three concepts were formulated as a criticism of philosophical tradition in general, and of Hegel in particular. But they also embodied a trenchant 'social criticism.' The individual in modern urban society had become 'the public,' he said, and the predominant characteristic of the crowd, or the masses, was all their noncommittal 'talk.' Today we would probably use the word 'conformity'; that is when everybody 'thinks' and 'believes in' the same things without having any deeper feeling about it."
“我们已经谈到了祁克果所说的‘存在的’和‘主观真理’的意义，以及他对‘信仰’的观念。他创造这三个观念是为了批评传统的哲学，尤其是黑格尔的哲学。不过其中也包含尖锐的‘社会批评’在内。他说，现代都市社会中的个人已经成为‘大众’了，而这些大众或群众最主要的特色就是喜欢说一些含糊不确定的话语。他的意思就是每一个人所‘想’、所‘相信’的都是同样的东西，而没有人真正对这些东西有深刻的感受。”
人生的阶段
"I wonder what Kierkegaard would have said to Joanna's parents."
“我实在很想知道祁克果对乔安的父母会有什么看法。”
"He was not always kind in his judgments. He had a sharp pen and a bitter sense of irony. For example, he could say things like 'the crowd is the untruth,' or 'the truth is always in the minority/ and that most people had a superficial approach to life."
“他对人的评语有时蛮严苛的。他的笔锋犀利，讽刺起人来也很尖酸刻薄。比方说，他会说‘群众就是虚伪’、‘真理永远是少数’，以及大多数人对生命的态度都很肤浅之类的话。”
"It's one thing to collect Barbie dolls. But it's worse to be one."
“搜集芭比娃娃已经够糟了，但更糟的是自己就是一个芭比娃娃。”
"That brings us to Kierkegaard's theory of what he called the three stages on life's way."
“这我们就要谈到祁克果所说的‘人生三阶段’的理论了。”
"Pardon me?"
“对不起，我没听清楚。”
"Kierkegaard believed that there were three different forms of life. He himself used the term stages. He calls them the aesthetic stage, the ethical stage, and the religious stage. He used the term 'stage' to emphasize that one can live at one of the two lower stages and then suddenly leap to a higher stage. Many people live at the same stage all their life."
“祁克果认为生命有三种不同的形式。他本人所用的名词是‘阶段’。他把它们称为‘美感阶段’、‘道德阶段’和‘宗教阶段’。他用‘阶段’这个名词是为了要强调人可能会生活在一个较低的阶段，然后突然跃升到一个较高的阶段。许多人终其一生都活在同样的阶段。”
"I bet there's an explanation on the way. I'm anxious to know which stage I'm at."
“请你再解释清楚。因为我很想知道自己现在是在哪个阶段。”
"He who lives at the aesthetic stage lives for the moment and grasps every opportunity of enjoyment. Good is whatever is beautiful, satisfying, or pleasant. This person lives wholly in the world of the senses, and is a slave to his own desires and moods. Everything that is boring is bad."
“活在美感阶段的人只是为了现在而活，因此他会抓住每个享乐的机会。只要是美的、令人满足的、令人愉快的，就是好的。这样的人完全活在感官的世界中，是他自己的欲望与情绪的奴隶。对他而言，凡是令人厌烦的，就是不好的。”
"Yes thanks, I think I know that attitude."
“谢啦，我想我对这种态度很熟悉。”
"The typical Romantic is thus also the typical aesthete, since there is more to it than pure sensory enjoyment. A person who has a reflective approach to reality--or for that matter to his art or the philosophy he or she is engaged in--is living at the aesthetic stage. It is even possible to have an aesthetic, or 'reflective,' attitude to sorrow and suffering. In which case vanity has taken over. Ibsen's Peer Gynt is the portrait of a typical aesthete."
“典型的浪漫主义者也就是典型的活在美感阶段的人，因为这个阶段所包含的并不只是纯粹的感官享乐而已。一个从美感的角度来看待现实，或自己的艺术，或他所信仰的哲学的人，就是活在美感阶段里。他们也可能从美学的角度来看待痛苦或悲伤，但这只是虚荣心作祟罢了。易卜生的《皮尔金》这出戏的男主角就是典型的活在美感阶段的人。”
"I think I see what you mean."
“我想我懂你的意思了。”
"Do you know anyone like that?"
“你认识这样的人吗？”
"Not completely. But I think maybe it sounds a little like the major."
“没有很典型的。不过我想少校有点像是那样。”
"Maybe so, maybe so, Sophie ... Although that was another example of his rather sickly Romantic irony. You should wash your mouth out."
“也许吧，也许吧，苏菲……虽然这是他展现他那病态的浪漫主义反讽的又一个例子。你应该把你的嘴巴洗一洗。”
"What?"
“什么？”
"All right, it wasn't your fault."
“好吧，这不是你的错。”
"Keep going, then."
“那就请你继续说下去吧。”
"A person who lives at the aesthetic stage can easily experience angst, or a sense of dread, and a feeling of emptiness. If this happens, there is also hope. According to Kierkegaard, angst is almost positive. It is an expression of the fact that the individual is in an 'existential situation,' and can now elect to make the great leap to a higher stage. But it either happens or it doesn't. It doesn't help to be on the verge of making the leap if you don't do it completely. It is a matter of 'either/or.' But nobody can do it for you. It is your own choice."
“一个活在美感阶段的人很容易有焦虑或恐怖和空虚的感受。但果真这样，他就有救了。祁克果认为，害怕几乎是有正面意义的。它表示这个人正处于‘存在的状态中’，可以跃升到更高阶段。可是你要不就晋升到较高的阶段，要不就停留原地。如果你不采取行动，而只是在即将跃升的边缘徘徊是没有用的。这是个两者只能择其一的情况，而且没有人能够帮你做这件事，这是你自己的抉择。”
"It's a little like deciding to quit drinking or doing drugs."
“这很像是决定要不要戒酒或戒毒一样。”
"Yes, it could be like that. Kierkegaard's description of this 'category of decision' can be somewhat reminiscent of Socrates' view that all true insight comes from within. The choice that leads a person to leap from an aesthetic approach to an ethical or religious approach must come from within. Ibsen depicts this in Peer Gynt. Another masterly description of how existential choice springs from inner need and despair can be found in Dosfoevsfcy's great novel Crime and Punishment."
“是的，有可能。祁克果所描述的这个‘决定的范畴’(category of decision)可能会使人想起苏格拉底所说的所有真正的智慧都来自内心的话。是否要从美感阶段跃升到道德阶段或宗教阶段，必须是发自个人内心的决定。易卜生在《皮尔金》里面也描绘了这一点。另外，陀思妥耶夫斯基在他的大作《罪与罚》这本小说中，也生动地描述了存在的抉择如何必须发自内心的需要与绝望的感受。”
"The best you can do is choose a different form of life."
“那时你最佳的选择就是过一种完全不同的生活。”
"And so perhaps you will begin to live at the ethical stage. This is characterized by seriousness and consistency of moral choices. This approach is not unlike Kant's ethics of duty. You try to live by the law of morals. Kierkegaard, like Kant, drew attention first and foremost to human temperament. The important thing is not what you may think is precisely right or wrong. What matters is that you choose to have an opinion at all on what is right or wrong. The aesthete's only concern is whether something is fun or boring."
“如此你也许才可以开始活在道德阶段。这个阶段的特色就是对生命抱持认真的态度，并且始终一贯的做一些符合道德的抉择。这种态度有点像是康德的责任道德观，就是人应该努力依循道德法则而生活。祁克果和康德一样注重人的性情。他认为，重要的不是你认为何者是、何者非，而是你开始在意事情的是非对错。相反的，活在美感阶段的人则只注重一件事是否有趣。”
"Isn't there a risk of becoming too serious, living like that?"
“像那样活在道德阶段，人难道不会变得太严肃了吗？”
"Decidedly! Kierkegaard never claimed that the ethical stage was satisfactory. Even a dutiful person will eventually get tired of always being dedicated and meticulous. Lots of people experience that sort of fatigue reaction late in life. Some relapse into the reflective life of their aesthetic stage.
“确实可能。祁克果从不认为道德阶段是很圆满的。即使是一个敬业尽责的人，如果一直彻底的过着这种生活，最后也会厌倦的。许多人到了年长之后开始有这种厌倦的感受。有些人就因此重新回到美感阶段的生活方式。
"But others make a new leap to the religious stage. They take the 'jump into the abyss' of Faith's 'seventy thousand fathoms.' They choose faith in preference to aesthetic pleasure and reason's call of duty. And although it can be 'terrible to jump into the open arms of the living God,' as Kierkegaard put it, it is the only path to redemption."
可是也有人进一步跃升到宗教阶段。他们一步就跳进信仰那‘七万吋的深渊里’。他们选择信仰，而不选择美感的愉悦和理性所要求的责任。而就像祁克果所说的，虽然‘跳进上帝张开的双臂’也许是一件很令人害怕的事，但这却是得到救赎唯一的途径。”
"Christianity, you mean."
“你的意思是信仰基督教。”
"Yes, because to Kierkegaard, the religious stage was Christianity. But he also became significant to non-Christian thinkers. Existentialism, inspired by the Danish philosopher, flourished widely in the twentieth century."
“是的，因为对祁克果而言，活在‘宗教阶段’就等于是信奉基督。不过对于非基督徒的思想家而言，他也是很重要的一个人物。盛行于二十世纪的存在主义就是受到这位丹麦哲学家的启发。”
Sophie glanced at her watch.
苏菲看看她的手表。
"It's nearly seven. I have to run. Mom will be frantic."
“已经快七点了。我必须冲回家去了。妈妈不急死才怪。”
She waved to the philosopher and ran down to the boat.
她向艾伯特挥一挥手，就跑到小船那儿去了。