地球和月亮的对话

地球  亲爱的月亮,我知道您能言辞能作对答,因为您是人类,我常常听到诗人们如是说。另外,我的孩子们也提及,您实际上就像他们一样有嘴巴、鼻子、眼睛,这些都是他们亲眼所见。要知道在他们的这个年龄,视力自然是极好的。至于我,毫无疑问您该知道我同样也是人类。尤其是年轻时,我生有诸多子嗣。所以,假如您听到我讲话,请不要惊讶。好吧,我甜美的月亮,尽管连我也记不清多少个世纪与您为邻,可时至今日,我从未曾与您有所交流。大抵因为我总在忙于活计,一直无暇闲聊。而今,我的事情已无关紧要。实际上,我可以说任它们顺其自然发展。我不知道生活何以为续,无聊之极。所以,我打算今后时常找您聊聊,顺带关注下你的事情——若是我没有给您添太多麻烦的话。

月亮  这点请勿担心。我倒是希望命运带给我的麻烦如同您带给我的那样少。你若是想和我说说话,就敬请畅所欲言。恐怕您也知道我不善言辞,但是,我乐意倾听,也很乐意答您所问,如果能对您有所帮助的话。

地球  您听到那美妙的音乐了吗?就是天体移动时发出的乐声?

月亮  说实话,我什么也没有听见。

地球  我也没听到任何声音。除却呼啸的风声从极地刮向赤道又从赤道刮回极地——它听着似乎一点也不像音乐。然而,毕达哥拉斯(Pythagoras)说天球之间会产生一种音乐,非常美妙也非常神奇。而且您本身就是其中的一分子,因为您算是这个宇宙里拉琴的第八根琴弦。我听不到大约是因为我的耳朵已经被那个音乐声震聋了。

月亮  那我的耳朵也一定被震聋了。因为如我所言,我没听到,更不知道自己是根琴弦。

地球  那么,我们还是换个话题吧。请您告诉我,月球上真的有人居住吗?如此众多的现代及古代哲学家,从俄耳甫斯(Orpheus)到拉朗德(De La Lande)都对此深信不疑。尽管我像个大蜗牛般地尽量伸长自己的触角,人们将这些触角称之为山脉和峰顶,并且按照人们的提示去努力望向你。可是,我却始终没在您那里看到一个居民——然而,我听说过有一个叫大卫•法布里奇乌斯(David Fabrius)的人,他的视力甚至赛过林叩斯(Linceus)本人,他曾一度发现有人在太阳上晾晒衣物。

月亮  至于您的触角,我倒是不清楚。事实是我这里的确有居民。

地球  您那里的人是什么肤色?

月亮  什么人?

地球  就是那些居住在您上面的人呀。您刚才不是说过您那里住有居民吗?

月亮  是啊,那又如何?

地球  那么,您的居民们不可能全是动物。

月亮  他们既不是动物也不是人类,我不确定他们究竟是何种生物——或是其中哪一个。实际上,对于被您唤作人类的生物,我竟是一无所知呢。

地球  但是,您那里住的是哪种人呢?

月亮  有很多,类型各异。您对他们不了解就如同我不了解你们地球上的人类一样。

地球  在我看来很是奇怪。若不是听到您本人这么说,我无论如何也不敢相信啊。您难道没有曾经被您的居民征服过吗?

月亮  据我所知从来没有过。怎么征服?为什么征服?

地球  因为野心,或因为嫉妒别人的财产而通过政治手段或者诉诸武力占为己有。

月亮  我不知道您所谓的武力、野心、政治是什么。简言之,我不知道您在说些什么。

地球  那么,即使您不懂什么是武器,那一定知道什么是战争吧。因为前不久,我们一位科学家借助天文望远镜——就是一种能够帮助您看得很远的工具——发现在月球上有个巨大工事,其周边筑有各种堡垒。这些迹象说明您那里的人至少知道围攻和互战。

月亮  请您原谅,地球夫人,我本是您的奴仆和臣下,但是请您允许我逾越我的身份来答复您的问题。但是实话实说,假如您理所当然地认为世界每一个地区的每一样东西都和您那里的一模一样,您带给我的印象是您过于自负;似乎大自然在做任何事时都在复制您一样。我曾说过我有居民,您竟然由此断言我的居民一定是人类。我告诉您不是这样。尽管您承认他们是不同的生物这一事实,可是您却假设他们具有和您那里的人一样的品质且生活在同一环境下。您还提到某位科学家的望远镜及其他。但是,假如这架望远镜在其他情况下看得并不比这次更清楚,我只能认为它的视力应该和您孩子们的视力相差无几。您的孩子们看到我有眼睛、嘴和鼻子——可这些连我自己都不知道呢。

地球  如此说来,所谓您的行省里有宽敞的马路以及耕种的田地都不是真的了?——这些从地球上的德国地区通过望远镜就可以看到。

月亮  如果我被耕种过,我怎么对此一无所知;至于马路,我更是从未见过。

地球  我亲爱的月亮,您知道我有些愚钝和迟缓,所以才易于被人蒙骗。但是我要告诉您的是,即便您那里的人从未想过征服您,您也并不安全。一直以来,地球上的很多人苦心琢磨怎么征服您。他们还为此做了大量的计划和准备工作。但是,尽管他们爬到最高点,踮起脚尖,伸长胳膊还是够不到您。况且,多年来我发现人类仔细地研究您的每一部分,测绘您的地理图形,测量您山脉的高度,甚至还为之起了名字。我觉得出于对您的感情和考虑,我该告诉您这些,以便您能应付紧急情况。现在,请允许我问您几个问题。当狗冲着您吠叫时您会感觉多烦躁?您对于那些指着水井里您的倒影的人有什么看法?您是男性还是女性?在古代人们不太确信。阿卡狄亚人(Arcadians)是否早于您来到这个世界?您那里的女人们——我不知应该如何称呼她们——都是卵生的?她们是否曾在这遗落过一枚卵子?还有,您是否如现代科学家认为的那样像念经珠般在中心穿孔?您是否像英国人说的那样是由绿奶酪做成的?在某天,或某个晚上,穆罕默德(Mohammed)把您像西瓜似的切成两半,您的大半个身体滑进他了的袖筒里?坐在光塔的顶端您感觉多幸福?您对拜兰节(Bairam)的宴席怎么看?

月亮  请继续。您这么滔滔不绝侃侃而谈,我都不需要回答您也无需打破我一贯的沉默。您若是找不到别的话题只喜欢在这些废话上浪费时间的话,与其找我这样不能理解您的人,不如找别人为您另造一个星球,依照您的喜好和居住方式而建,并围着您旋转。除了人、狗以及其他类似的事情,您不会谈论别的。而对此我又知之甚少。我仅仅知道我们的太阳是围绕人们所说的大太阳旋转的。

地球  的确如此。与您交谈时,我越是想尽量避免提及自己的事情,就越是失败。不过从现在起,我会倍加小心。请告诉我,您是不是那个享受吸引地球上的潮汐涨落的人?

月亮  也许吧。即便我有这么做,或者对您做了其他什么事,我压根没有注意过。就像您不大会注意到您对我的影响,您对我的影响要远远大于我对您的影响,毕竟您的体积更大也更强壮些。

地球  实际上,就我所知我唯一能影响到您的事情就是,每隔一阵子我会遮蔽太阳照向您的光芒。我自身也会吸收您的光芒。我还知道在您的夜间时段,我的光线会将您照得很明亮,这个我会不时地看到。不过,我好像忘掉了一些至关重要的事情。我想知道,是否真的如同阿里奥斯托(Ariosto)写的那样,人丢失的每样东西——例如:青春、美貌、健康,以及用在求学、追名逐利,用在依照良好的行为规范教养孩子长大成人,用在建立和推广有用机构等事物中所消耗的的体力和金钱——这一切都流向并聚集在您那上面,以至人类的一切都可以在您那里找到,只有愚蠢不在此列,因为愚蠢从未离开过人类。如果上述所言为真,我设想您一定被占满了,没有剩余空间。尤其是考虑到人类在近代丢失了许多东西(例如爱国主义、美德、宽容、诚实),不是像以往似的只丢了部分或几个,而是整个的全部丢失了。当然,如果这些东西不在您处,我也不知其所踪。故而,我想同您签份协议。您现在开始把这些东西退还给我,日后一有机会,您仍旧坚持这么做下去。毕竟,我想丢掉这些您也会很开心,尤其是常识,据我所知总是占据极大的空间。我会设法每年都让人类支付给您一大笔钱的。

月亮  啊,您又谈及人类了。尽管正如您所说,愚蠢从未离开过您的领地,您寻找人类的智慧,却妄图把我的智慧夺走。我不知道它们在哪儿,也许它们正在消失,也许它们藏在世界的某个角落;我只知道在我这儿找不到它们,您刚才提到的其他东西也都不在这里。

地球  至少您可以告诉我您上边的人们是否知晓恶习、犯罪、灾难、痛苦、衰老,简言之,就是各种邪恶?您明白这些词的意思吗?

月亮  哦,当然。我当然明白。我不仅知道它们的意思更知道它们所谓何指。我完全明白这些,因为我这里充满了这些东西——而不是您刚刚提到的那些东西。

地球  在您那里的人们中什么更普遍,美德还是邪恶?

月亮  截止目前,是邪恶。

地球  什么更多些,善还恶?

月亮  无需比较,是恶。

地球  那么,一般来说,您的居民们是幸福的还是不幸福的?

月亮  非常不幸福。我甚至都不愿和他们中最幸福的人交换位置。

地球  和我这边情况相同。以至于我很惊讶您我在这一点上如此相似,当然您在其他地方又如此不同。

月亮  再有,我与您形状相似,运动模式相似,同样接受太阳的照射。没有什么值得大惊小怪的,因为邪恶是这个宇宙里所有星球所共有的,至少在这个太阳系中如此——正如我刚才提及的圆球形状以及其他条件一样。假如您提高嗓门大声说话,就会被天王星(Uranus)和土星(Saturn)听到,或者被我们世界中的其他星球听到。您问他们那里有无幸福的存在,或者善和恶哪个更多些,他们每个都会像我一样回答您。之所以这么说,是因为我已经问过金星(Venus)和水星(Mercury)同样的问题,因为通常我总觉得比起您来,我离他们更近些。就同样的问题我还问过路过的流星,他们的答案和我一模一样。我认为太阳自己也好,每颗星星也好,都会给出同一个答案。

地球  尽管如此,我仍怀抱希望。尤其是现今,人类许诺于我在未来会有莫大的幸福。

月亮  您可以恣意希望下去。我确信您可以永久地希望下去。

地球  您知道发生什么啦?那些人和动物们开始活动且发出声响了。我跟您谈话那一面是夜晚,正如您所见,不,您根本看不到;所以他们还在睡觉,不过,我们谈话时发出的巨大响动已经把他们惊醒。

月亮  可是,您看我这上边,依然是白天呢。

地球  我不想吓坏我的人们或者惊扰他们的美梦,睡眠是他们最大的福分了。好吧,我们下次再谈吧。那么,再见。日安。

月亮  再见;晚安。

普罗米修斯的赌注

在朱庇特治下833275年,缪斯学院下令印刷一些海报并在哈勃纳菲勒斯城(Hypernephenlus)城内及城郊的各个公共场所内张贴。海报上面力邀众神,不论大神还是小神,以及该城的其他居民中,任何一位近期或之前有过有价值的发明的人士参加展示比赛。赛事要求参赛者以本人、模型或描述方式在由该学院指定的评委面前展示。与此同时,该学院遗憾地表示鉴于学院的一贯清贫,他们无法随心所欲地慷慨,但是他们承诺,作为奖品,那个被评为最漂亮也是最有用的发明其发明者将会获得一顶桂冠。并被授予特权日夜佩戴它,无论是在公共场合还是私人场合,无论是在城内还是城外。同时,还允许他头戴桂冠的样子被绘制成画、被塑像、被雕刻、被塑形,以及以任何材料和任何方式进行展示。

很多神祇都参与其中,但也仅仅是把它看作一种消遣。对于哈勃纳菲勒斯城的居民来说,如同和其他城镇的居民一样,这个比赛属于可有可无——至少他们没有兴趣赢得那顶桂冠,它的价值甚至比不过一顶纯棉的睡帽。至于说到荣誉,假如人类自己——他们现在都是哲学家了——都鄙夷它,可想而知在诸神心中它会是什么地位,更别提神要远远比人聪明[事实上,据毕达哥拉斯(Pythagoras)和柏拉图(Plato)所言,神才是真正的聪明]。因此,这一赛事成为独一无二的特例,在此之前的同类赛事中闻所未闻,即在奖项评审时,没有任何徇私徇情之扰,没有私下的承诺和阴谋。最后,统共有三位获奖者:酒的发明者巴克斯(Bacchus);护肤油类的发明者米涅瓦(Minerva),其发明于众神每日的沐浴无比重要;节能铜锅的发明者伏尔甘(Vulcan),该锅能够省火省时地烹饪任何食物。如此一来,奖品不得不分成三份,结果是每人能获得一小截桂树枝。但是这三位都拒绝领取该奖品,不论是部分奖品还是全部奖品。伏尔甘说他的大部分时间都花在锻冶炉前工作和流汗,头上戴着这个东西将会成为一个大麻烦——更别说将会置他于险地,一旦碰巧有火星喷溅到干树枝上,就有可能着火,从而将他烧伤或灼伤。米纳瓦说既然她的头上需要戴一顶一次能遮盖住一百个城池军队的帽子,如荷马(Homer)描述的那样,那么在她的头上增加任何重量都是不明智之举。巴克斯说他不想换帽子,他不愿意把头上的葡萄藤叶桂冠换成桂树桂冠,当然如果允许的话,他还是乐意把桂树枝挂在他的酒馆前面做招牌。然而,缪斯们最终拒绝了他的要求,因此奖品仍然留在他们的宝库里。

其他竞争者们一点也不嫉妒这三位胜出却又拒绝领奖的仙家,也没有人抱怨评委或质疑他们的裁定。只有一个人例外:普罗米修斯。他参加了比赛,他的作品是他在造人时用泥捏的第一个人,并附上了对其功能及品德的介绍,人类种族始于普罗米修斯之手。对于最终结果普罗米修斯大为光火。虽然其他所有人,不管是赢家还是输家都觉得这个比赛不过是个游戏而已。针对普罗米修斯的这种愤愤不平背后的原因大家做了一番调查,原来他最想要的不是这份荣誉而是获胜者能够享有的特权。有些人猜测他可能想用这顶帽子来保护头部不受暴风雨的肆虐,就像台比留(Tiberius)一样,传言说他一听到雷声就立刻带上桂冠,因为他相信桂冠不易受雷电侵袭。可是,哈勃纳菲勒斯城里既没有雷也没有闪电;还有些人,更是言之凿凿,他们说普罗米修斯的年龄慢慢大了,已经开始脱发了——对这么一个不幸,他和很多人一样对其深恶痛疾——再加上他又未曾读过辛奈西斯(Synesius)所著的秃顶颂,或者更可能的是,他并没有被其言论说服。于是,他宁愿把他的秃顶像尤里乌斯•凯撒那样藏在王冠底下。

还是回到我们的故事中来。有一天,普罗米修斯正和莫摩斯(Momus)交谈,他悲切地抱怨道,酒、油和锅被赋予比人类更多的优先权。他宣称人类才是神族给予世界的最好作品。他感觉到莫摩斯没有被他说服,尽管他提出了很多悖论进行论证。于是,普罗米修斯建议他二人一同飞往地球,并随意降落在五大洲中的第一个有人烟的地方;不过,首先他们先相互下了赌注——普罗米修斯打赌在所有这五个洲里,或在其中的大部分地区,他们都能找到正面证据,以证明人类确实是宇宙中最完美的生物。莫摩斯表示同意。就赌金数额达成一致后,他们立即起身下界。他们首先奔向新世界。既是出于其名字的原因,也是出于还没有任何仙家到过该地区的考虑,因此他们对此地区特别好奇。他们的第一站停在波波牙国(Popaián)北部地区,距考卡河(Cauca)不远。此处有种种人类居住的迹象——乡间有耕种的痕迹,无数小路纵横交错,其中多数路段已被堵死;树木被砍倒横在地面上;尤其是那些看上去像坟墓的地方,周遭到处扔着人骨头。尽管如此,两位神仙还是没能看到一个活人的影子或听到人的声音,且不论他们如何努力地竖起耳朵睁大眼睛。他们继续前行,飞一阵儿,走一阵儿。又往前走了数英里,翻过山岭跨过河流,每到一处都能找到相同的迹象和孤寂。“这些地方为何如此荒凉?”莫摩斯向普罗米修斯发问,“明明是有人居住过的样子。”普罗米修斯辩称也许是受到潮汐、地震、飓风或大雨影响。据他所知这些在热带地区是常见的。确实,就在此时,他们听到附近森林里随着风刮过,树枝上的雨不停地被拂落到地上的声音。但是,莫摩斯还是无法理解此地怎么会受到潮汐的影响——大海明明离得很远,远到根本看不见嘛。更让他费解的是,如果地震、飓风、大雨毁灭了该国度里所有的人,那么,那些随处可见的美洲虎、猴子、狐狸、食蚁兽、老鹰、鹦鹉及其他数百种飞行爬行的动物又是怎样得以逃生的呢?最终,他们降临在一个巨大的山谷里。在那儿,他们发现了似乎是一小堆房子,准确地说是类似小木屋的东西,上面覆盖着棕榈树叶子——每幢房子四周都围着木头栅栏。在其中的一处房子前面聚集着很多人,有些人站着,有些人坐着,他们正围在一个悬挂在篝火上面的瓦罐四周。两位仙家幻化作人形,走近人群。普罗米修斯极有礼貌地向在场的每个人问好。然后,他转向一位貌似酋长的人并询问他们在做什么。

野 人  我们在吃东西,你不是看见了嘛。

普罗米修斯  在吃什么好东西呢?

野 人  吃这块肉。

普罗米修斯  是家畜肉还是野味?

野 人  家养的;实际上,是我儿子的肉。

普罗米修斯  你是把公牛当儿子吗?就和帕西法厄(Pasiphae)似的?

野 人  不是公牛,是人。是和其他人一模一样的人。

普罗米修斯  此话当真?你在吃自己的骨肉?

野 人  不是我自己的骨肉,但确实是我儿子的骨和肉。我照顾他、养育他、把他带到这个世界来的唯一目的就是为此。

普罗米修斯  仅仅是为了吃掉他吗?

野 人  这有什么奇怪吗?再有,他妈妈也是一样的。既然她已经不可能再生孩子了,我打算最近吃掉她。

莫 摩 斯  这就好比你吃完鸡蛋再吃掉母鸡一个道理。

野 人  我的其他女人们也一样……她们一旦没有生孩子的用处了……我就打算吃了她们。还有你看到的在这里的奴隶们……要不是隔一阵我就能吃几个他们生的孩子们,我干嘛要养活他们?不过,要是他们老了,也会被我吃掉,一次一个——倘若我能活那么久的话。

普罗米修斯  告诉我,这些奴隶——他们是属于你的部落还是别的部落的?

野 人  别的部落。

普罗米修斯  是离这儿很远的一个部落吗?

野 人  非常远。远到在他们与我们的房子之间甚至隔着一条小溪。

接着,他指向一处矮山头又补充道:“就在那边,是他们以前一直居住的地方,但已经被我们的人毁掉了。”此时此刻,普罗米修斯觉察到许多野人们正向他频抛媚眼,那种爱慕的眼神就如同一只猫看见老鼠似的。故而,以防被同类吃掉,他快速飞起。莫摩斯也一样。他们俩起飞时都有些慌张,以至于他们离开时带起的尘土弄脏了野人们的食物。那些尘土一如当年哈耳皮埃(Harpies)出于妒忌撒在特洛伊人(Trojans)餐桌上的尘土一样。不过,野人们已经很饿了,况且也不像埃涅阿斯(Aeneas)的伙伴们那般挑剔,因此,他们仍继续大快朵颐。

普罗米修斯对新世界颇感失望。于是,他立即赶往最古老的世界,也就是亚洲。几乎是在瞬间,他们二人就从新印度飞到了旧印度并降落在阿格拉城(Agra)附近的一处田间地头。那边聚集了大批浩浩荡荡的人群。他们都围拢在一条堆满柴火的沟渠边上——在沟渠的一头他们看到一些男人手持点燃的火把,准备着随时点燃火堆;在沟渠的另一头,有一个平台,上面有一个年轻女子衣着极为华美,浑身佩戴着各色原始饰物,正在载歌载舞,脸上似乎露出极为开心的模样。看到这一幕,普罗米修斯想象着一个新卢克丽斯(Lucretus)或者一个新弗吉尼亚(Virginia)诞生了。她是一位类似埃瑞克修斯(Erechthetia)的女儿们式的人物,又和伊芙琴尼亚(Iphigenia)、科德拉斯(Codrus)、孟子(Menecius)、柯歇斯(Curtius),德西厄斯(Decius)相类似,她遵循神谕,为了祖国而甘愿牺牲自己。不久之后,他却听说她只是在给亡夫殉葬。于是,他忖度她跟阿尔刻提斯(Alcestis)没什么两样,都愿意用自己的生命换取丈夫的性命。然而,他进而了解到她让自己活活烧死的原因不过是为了遵循当地的寡妇的风俗,而她一直恨自己的丈夫,并且当时她喝醉了。那个死去的丈夫,不是要复活,而是将在同一把火里被烧掉。普罗米修斯马上不再理会这场景而是转身向欧洲出发。在路上,他和莫摩斯有如下对话:

莫 摩 斯  你可曾想过,当年你历经重重险阻盗取天庭的火种送给人类,而有些人却用它把同类放进锅里蒸煮食用?还有些人情愿把自己烧死?

普罗米修斯  当然没有。但是,亲爱的莫摩斯,请别忘记,我们目前见到的都是些野人。人类的本性不是由野人而是由文明人来衡量的。现在我们就在去找他们的路上。我坚信在他们中间我们不仅将会看到听到值得称颂的事情,也会让你充满惊讶。

莫 摩 斯  假设人类是世上最完美的生物,我不明白为什么他们需要被文明教化才能不去自焚或食用自己的子嗣。其他动物都是野生的,然而它们从未刻意烧死自己。当然凤凰除外,不过这种生物从未有人目睹过。吞食自己同类的动物也极为罕见,更别说食用自己的子嗣的动物了——只有在极特殊情况下才会有个别例外,但也断断不会是为了食用而繁衍子嗣的。请你注意,在地球的五个洲中,到目前为止只有最小的那个,况且也不是整个这个洲,再加上其他地区的极少区域里,才被赋予你所宣称的那种高度文明。我不认为你自己会坚持这种文明已经几近完美,巴黎人也好,费城人也好,已经取得人类种族可能取得的那种完美程度。现在,人类需要工作和努力多久才能达到一个并不算完美的文明程度?大概从人类诞生的第一天算起直至今日这么多年的时间了吧。况且,几乎所有有利于或者是获取文明所必备的方法,并非源于刻意的构想而是源于机缘凑巧。也就是说,人类文明更像意外的结果而绝非自然发展的产物;假如这些偶然不存在,人类依旧还是野人,尽管他们刚好和文明人同龄。因此,我断定,如果野人们在诸多方面都逊色于其他动物的话;如果文明,作为野蛮的对立面,时至今日仍只是极少数人的特权的话;再者,如果这极少数人在耗费了数个世纪之后,依赖偶然事件而非其他渠道才达到目前的文明状态的话;最后,如果目前的文明状态仍然远远不够完美的话——那么,我认为假如你用下面的简短方式表达,你对人类的判断也许会更准确些,即,承认人类确实如你所想的那样优于其他物种,不是在完美方面而是在不完美方面——尽管人类在说话或评判时,总是不停混淆这两个概念。他们最擅长从自己设定的前提,或从自以为正确的真理中推导结论。可以确定的是,其他物种从初始起就很完美,每一类都能遵循自己的本性。虽然与其他物种相较,尚不清楚野人为什么会是最糟糕的物种。令我费解的是,既然人类的本质是如此的残缺,正如人类看上去那样,却又为何被认为是比其他物种更为文明的物种?再补充一点,人类文明不仅难以获得,也许也没有完成的可能性,况且也没有稳定到不会被分化,实际上,在已然获得高度文明的各色人类中,文明曾经无数次坍塌。简言之,我持下列观点,假如是你的兄弟厄庇墨透斯(Epimetheus)展示给评委们他创造第一只毛驴或第一只青蛙所用的模型,他很可能赢得你无法赢得的奖项。但是,如果你断定人类的完美是如同普罗提诺(Plotinus)贡献于世界的那种完美,普罗提诺声称其贡献绝对优质而完美,那么,我愿意配合你的说法。所谓完美,是要求这个世界,在所有事物中,也包含所有可能的邪恶。因为,实际上在现今世界里我们发现邪恶几乎无处不在。在这层意义上,我可能赞同莱布尼兹(Leibniz)的观点,当今世界已经是可能的最好的世界了。

毫无疑问,普罗米修斯已经有了现成的答案——简洁、明了并且合乎逻辑——以应付前述论点。但同样可以确定的是,他并没有说出来。因为就在那时,他们发现已经飞到伦敦上空了。他们降落下来,看到某处私人住宅门前聚集了一大批人群。他们加入到人群中进入屋内。屋里,他们看到一个人面朝天躺在床上,手握着枪,已经死去了,胸部留有伤口。在他身边躺着两个小孩,也已经死去。几个仆人站在屋子里,正在接受治安官们的盘问,书记员一边做着笔录。

普罗米修斯  这些可怜的人是谁?

仆 人  是我的主人和他的孩子们。

普罗米修斯  谁杀了他们?

仆 人  我的主人,三个都杀了。

普罗米修斯  你的意思是,他杀了自己和自己的孩子们?

仆 人  对的。

普罗米修斯  难以置信。他一定遇到了极可怕的事情。

仆 人  据我所知应该没有。

普罗米修斯  但是,也许因为他太穷,受人鄙视,或者失恋了,或者仕途不如意。

仆 人  恰恰相反。他非常富有,我想所有人都尊重他。对于爱情他是毫不在意的。况且,他很受朝廷欢迎。

普罗米修斯  那他怎么如此绝望?

仆 人  因为对生活的厌倦,正如他自己写的那样。

普罗米修斯  那些治安官们——他们在干吗?

仆 人  他们在盘问我的主人是否精神失常。要是他没疯,他的资产将归皇室所有。的确这种可能无法避免。

普罗米修斯  但是请告诉我,他没有亲人和朋友可以托付这两个孩子了吗?为什么一定要杀死他们俩个?

仆 人  是的,当然有的。有一个和他关系特别好的朋友,他把他的狗托付给他了。

莫摩斯正准备向普罗米修斯祝贺文明的良好作用,以及它带给人类生命的福音。他还打算提醒他除了人类以外,没有任何其他动物会因为绝望而杀死自己以及自己的孩子们。但是普罗米修斯已经先他一步,付给他赌金了。他已经没有兴趣再去世界的其他两个区域看看了。

自然和冰岛人的对话

一位冰岛人,曾经游历了大半个世界并访问了很多国家。有一次,他在非洲内陆地区游荡时,穿过赤道进入到一片未曾被人探索过的地域。在那里,他经历了一番与瓦斯科•达•伽马(Vasco da Gama)类似的奇遇。当他绕过好望角区域以及好望角本身时,把守奥斯(Austral)海域的好望角,化作一个巨人走至他面前,劝阻他不要进入海图上未载明的水域。冰岛人看到远处有一个巨大的半身像。起初,他以为是石头雕像,类似于他多年前在复活节岛上见过的那些巨型石像。但是,走近之后,他发现原来是一个巨大的女人的身体。她端坐在地上,上身挺直,她的背部和手臂靠着身后的大山。她不是什么石像,而是一个大活人——她的脸既美丽又令人生畏,她的眼睛和头发像渡鸦一样漆黑。她默默地凝视了他一会儿,最终开口:

自 然  你是谁?到这片地域来干什么?你的同类们目前还尚未涉足这里。

冰岛人  我是个可怜的冰岛人。我一直在逃离自然。基本上我的一生都在逃开她,我已经逃离过地球上的一百多个地区,现在我在设法逃离这个地方的自然。

自 然  小松鼠也是这么逃离响尾蛇的,直到它最终落入蛇口。我就是你要逃离的自然。

冰岛人  自然?

自 然  正是我。

冰岛人  真是万分遗憾啊。我深感再没有什么比这更大的灾难降临到我身上了。

自 然  你应该很清楚在这些地区特别容易找到我的。在这儿,你也知道我的能量要远远大于在别处。但是,究竟是什么促使你躲避我呢?

冰岛人  我来告诉你。自儿时起,在经历一些事情之后,我意识到并确信人生的虚浮以及人类的冥顽不化。为了不会快乐的快乐,为了没有用处的物资,他们彼此间争斗不休;他们忍耐并施予彼此无尽的焦虑和无尽的烦恼,这些都会带来真正的骚扰和伤害。由此,他们越是追求幸福,幸福就会离他们越远。因为受到这些观点的影响,我抛开所有的抱负,下定决心过一种默默无闻的宁静生活,不去打扰别人,不去费心钻研,也不与世人你争我夺。同时,我也不曾期待幸福——这是个与我们种族绝缘的东西——我只为自己设定了一个目标,就是脱离痛苦。这样的决定,并不意味着我打算放弃工作和体力劳动,况且你也知道,在劳作与痛苦之间,平静生活与懒散生活之间还是有区别的。我刚刚把我的决心付诸实践,便从中体会到以下的想法真是大错特错。比如,与人生活在一起,假如你认为你不伤害别人,别人就不会伤害你;再比如,如果你能自觉地隐退并满足于最少的物质,这样你就被允许留有一小点地方并且你的这一小点不会被夺走。但是,我还是很轻松地把自己从同类的敌意中解放出来了,比如我远离人类社会,闭门不出——这一切在我的家乡很容易办到。就这样毫无乐趣地生活了一段时间之后,我依然不能毫无痛苦地活着。因为漫长的冬天异常寒冷,而夏天又是出奇地炎热,两者属于典型的当地气候,这样的天气一直在折磨着我。还有炉火,因为我不得不大部分时间待在火边,我的皮肤被烤干,眼睛被烟火熏坏。因此,不论在室内还是室外我都无法感到丝毫舒适。更遑论那种获得我全身心渴望的宁静生活的可能。因为陆地上以及海上经常爆发可怕的风暴,海克拉火山的威胁和隆隆声,对火灾的恐惧,火灾在我们居住的木制房子里司空见惯。所有这些始终在困扰着我。在这个一成不变的生活里,摆脱了所有的欲望、希望和几乎所有的烦恼,只留有平静安宁,上述那些不舒适就显得比平时更为尖锐,更让人难以忍受。因为在平时,我们的脑子总是被社会交际生活以及来自他人的敌意占得满满的。因此,我发现我越是像过去那样退隐,越是尽力把自己缩起来,以避免妨碍或伤害到世上的其他生物,我就越容易被那些事情所烦恼和折磨。于是,我开始尝试不同的地理位置和气候,企图寻找地球上是否有那么一块地方,在那里,我不冒犯别人,别人也不会冒犯我。在那里,没有快乐,但也不会有痛苦。尤其是想到下面这一点,我就更加坚定了自己的决心:也许你注定人类只能适应一种气候(正如你对其他动植物的规定那样),或只能适应某个特定区域,在该范围之外人类就无法兴盛,也无法舒适而毫无痛苦地活着;一旦他们不屑一顾或突破你所规定的适合人类居住的规则,那么由此招致的艰难和痛苦只能归罪于他们自己,而并非你的责任。我几乎找遍了整个世界,足迹踏遍了每个国家,但是我的初衷未改,即不带给任何人麻烦,并过宁静生活。可是,我曾在热带被热浪灼伤;在极地被寒冷冻僵;在温带饱受不稳定的气候的折磨;每到一处我都会被自然灾难所扰。我看到在很多地方,几乎没有一天没有暴雨,也就是说你每天都要袭击或悉心准备一场战争给那些从未伤害过你的居民们。在其他地区,宁静的天空下却总是伴随频繁的地震、频频发作的剧烈火山喷发,以及整个区域地表下的沸腾和颤抖。在狂风与飓风肆虐的地区,通常季节里不再有其他的天气灾难。有时,我会感觉到房顶向我的头顶压下来,因为上面有太多积雪;有时,因为倾盆暴雨,地面会裂开并在脚下下沉;有时,我不得不拼命地从河边逃离,那些河水在我身后紧紧追赶如同要找我算账一般。很多我从来没有一丝一毫地冒犯过的野兽却想一口吃掉我;很多毒蛇想毒死我;很多地方有不少飞虫把我吸得只剩骨头。我更不愿意提及的是那些天天发生的、无数一直在威胁着人类的危险。这些危险多到一位古代哲学家认为不仅没有克服恐惧的办法,相反的,实际上每件事都是令人恐惧的。不仅如此,我也没有被免于病痛的侵扰,尽管从过去到现在,我在肉体享乐上不仅一贯节制,甚至是克己的。我不得不惊叹,一想到你注入我们体内如此强烈却又无法满足的对快乐的渴望,没有这种快乐,或剥夺这种自然的渴求,我们的生命便不再完美。然而,你又规定沉溺于这种快乐,是在所有有关人类的事情里最为有害身心健康的,对每个人都具有毁灭性质,是寿命延续的大敌。纵然,一直以来我基本完全杜绝了所有的享乐,可是我仍然被诸多的各式病症所折磨。一些疾病差点让我丧命;一些几乎让我失去肢体;一些永久性地让我的生活比过去悲惨。所有这些都长达数天乃至数月,以一千种匮乏和一千种痛苦煎熬着我的身心。尽管在生病时,我们每一个人都体验到未曾经历的痛苦和比平日里更多的不幸福(似乎生活本身还不够痛苦),而你却没有因此而补偿人类。比如让他有一段时日精力充沛、有更胜于平时的健康,带给他质量和数量上的双重快乐。在某些国家里,常年冰雪覆盖,我的眼睛几乎变瞎了,就像拉普兰德(Lapland)国的居民常常有的状况。太阳与空气,二者于我们的生存息息相关,所以无从回避,但它们也在时时折磨着我们——我们四周空气里含有的湿度、气候的严峻、天气的各种突变,太阳的热度、光线自身,以至于人类只要暴露于其下就必定会感觉不舒服或受伤。确实,我记不得自己生命中哪一天是不用遭受痛苦的,而同时那些快乐的日子屈指可数。我意识到我们命中注定痛苦之多与快乐之少是等同的。获得任何一种平静生活的可能性与争斗的生活中没有磨难的可能性一样微乎其微。这样,我被迫得出结论,你才是人类、其他动物以及你所创造的生物的最鲜明的敌人。时而,你让我们落入陷阱;时而,你威胁我们;时而,你袭击我们;时而,你又螫伤我们;时而,你击打我们;时而,你撕碎我们。永远地,你总在冒犯我们、迫害我们。不论是出于习惯或受规则约束,可以说,你是你自己家庭、子女、亲骨肉的刽子手。故而,我不抱任何希望。我知道人类最终会停止迫害那些一心要躲开和逃避他们的人,而你则永远不会对我们停手,直到把我们击垮为止。如今,我已经几近步入痛苦而毫无希望的老年时期了。年迈是真正而明确的邪恶,实际上也是最具压迫性的邪恶和痛苦的集合。它不是偶然而来,而是你的法则赋予所有有生命的生物的邪恶。从孩童时代我们就知晓它的存在。从二十五岁生日之后,迹象越来越明显,那种令人无比悲伤的不幸的腐化的过程。如是,人类生命的三分之一是用来成长的,仅仅有短短的瞬间是成熟和完美期,其余的就是衰老以及随之而来的各种不适。

自 然  你是否碰巧想过这世界难道只是为你而造的吗?好吧,让我来告诉你,除了极个别情况之外,在我的工作、法则和操作中,我的目的在过去乃至现在都不是为了人类的幸福或不幸福。不论我在何时以何种方式伤害了你,我都未曾注意到,当然除却极少数例外情形。正如在一般情况下,我并不知晓我是取悦了你们还是帮助了你们。我并没有如你所想的那样,曾经做过这些,或者现在做这些去取悦你、帮助你。最后,即便我不经意间毁灭了你们整个种族,我也从未留意过。

冰岛人  让我们来假设一下,如果有人主动且强烈地邀请我拜访他的别墅。为了使他高兴,我接受了邀请。然而,在应邀前往贵宅之后,我被安置在一间年久失修的破败小室里,潮湿、恶臭、走风漏雨、还时刻会有把我砸扁的可能。主人不仅没有花费心思招待我,让我过得舒适;相反,他甚至没有提供维持我生存的足够供给。他还允许他的孩子以及其他家庭成员对我进行辱骂、嘲笑、威胁乃至殴打。假如我向他抱怨这样的待遇,他会回答:“难道你觉得我的别墅是为你造的吗?我养活我的孩子和佣人就是为了帮助你吗?除了招待你,为你花钱,我还有很多事情需要考虑呢。”对此我的回答是:“你看,我的朋友,你的别墅的确不是为我而建,你有权决定是否邀请我来此做客。但是,既然你主动邀请我住在这里,难道你不觉得你应该做些安排,至少从你那方面来说,让我不受折磨和危险,安心住在这里?”这些就是我现在要说的话。我知道你创造这个世界并非为了让它服务于人类。我更愿意相信你的初衷是为了折磨人类。现在,我来问你,我是否恳求你让我来到这个世界?还是我使用暴力手段或未经你允许闯入这个世界的?事实上,是你自己一厢情愿、亲手安排我来到这里,并且既没有征得我的同意,也不让我有反抗或反对它的选择。在此情形下,难道,即便你没有义务让我在你的国度里感到快乐与满足,你不应该至少保证我不会备受折磨并且生活在这里不会有害于我吗?我所说的不仅仅是我自己,更是关乎整个人类种族,其他动物乃至其他所有生物。

自 然  很显然,你没有考虑到在这个宇宙里生命是生产与毁灭的永恒循环——两者紧紧相连,相互作用,才有世界现实状况。一旦任何一方停止作用,世界将不复存在。因此,若是任何事物没有痛苦便是有害于这个世界的。

冰岛人  这恰恰是那些哲学家们说的。但是,既然被毁灭的要受难,毁灭者也没有体验到快乐,况且他本身也即将被毁灭,请告诉我哲学家不能回答的:有谁能在这个世界最悲惨的生活里找到一丝快乐和任何优点?它的存在依仗受难与死亡,而这两者恰恰又是生命的组成部分?

我们得到消息说在他们进行这样或类似讨论的时候,碰巧有两头狮子出现了,它们是如此疲惫和饥饿,以至于它们只有刚刚好的力气吃掉这个冰岛人。于是它们就吃了,并有了足够的能量再多活一天。但是,有人不相信这个版本的故事。他们坚持说在冰岛人说话时,突然狂风骤起,风把他掀翻在地,接着又把他卷起扔进一个巨大的沙子坟墓里,在那下面,他的身体被完美地脱水并变成了一具漂亮的干尸。后来,他被旅行者发现了,并被带回来陈列在欧洲某城的一个博物馆里。

弗瑞德里克•鲁谢和木乃伊们的对话

木乃伊们在弗瑞德里克•鲁谢的书房合唱

每一个创造物

孤零零地在这世上,走向永恒,

我们最原始的本性

在你,死亡中,得到安息;

不是快乐,而是不再遭受

世世代代的痛苦。

沉沉夜幕

在我们混乱的头脑中

遮蔽了我们坟墓中的思索;

感觉到希望、渴望、枯萎的灵魂

它的力量渐渐远去;

由此,不再遭受痛苦,不再感觉恐惧

那些漫长的空虚岁月

逝去时不再无聊。

我们活着;如同

一个受到惊吓的鬼魂的混乱记忆

如同大汗淋漓的梦魇

在婴儿的灵魂里游荡,

因此,记忆仍在我们中间徘徊

生前的记忆:摆脱恐惧的

是我们的记忆。我们曾经是谁?

生命曾经的意义何在?

如今,生命之于我们的头脑

仍然是巨大的谜团

对于生者的头脑,也是如此

无名的死亡迫近。活着时

要逃离死亡,而现在

要逃离生命之火

我们的原始本元

不快乐但是很安全

因为幸福

既没有被命运赋予凡人也没有赋予死者。

鲁 谢  (站在书房外面,从门缝里窥探书房)怎么回事?谁教这些死人唱歌?他们的歌声就像公鸡在半夜打鸣似的。我被惊出了一身冷汗,几乎吓死。我没有期待它们活过来,我只是为它们做了防腐处理。好吧,不管我有多少理论,我还是从头到脚哆嗦个不停。那个让我把这些人带回家的混蛋真该死。我都不知道该怎么办。如果我继续把他们锁在里面,他们也许会破门而出,他们也许会从锁眼里冒出来,在我熟睡时抓住我。可若是大声呼救说我害怕这些死人,似乎也不太体面。好吧,鼓起勇气,让我先吓唬一下他们。

(进入书房)嗯,孩子们,在玩什么游戏呢?难道不记得你们已经死了吗?你们在这里吵闹什么?是不是因为沙皇的拜访你们就有些得意忘形?还是你们以为不需要像过去一样接受法律约束?我想你们仅仅是在开玩笑,对不对?假如你们活过来了,我得向你们祝贺;不过,我没那么富有,可以像保存死人一样养活你们。因此,你们必须离开。假如有关吸血鬼的传言是真的,你们就是吸血鬼。那么你们必须得找点别人的血喝喝。因为我可不打算让你们喝我的血,不管之前我可以多么慷慨地往你们的血管里注入人工血。简言之,如果你们还能像先前一样保持安静和沉默,我们就能和平共处。在我的家里你们可以自便。否则,我就插上门把你们都杀掉。

木乃伊  请别生气。我向您保证我们还会像从前一样了无声息,您完全没有必要杀死我们。

鲁 谢  那么,这个唱歌是怎么回事?

木乃伊  不久前,就在午夜时分,古人们曾多次提及的大数学年第一次结束了。这也是第一次死者能开口讲话的时候。不单单是我们,所有公墓里的、坟墓里的、甚至是埋在海底、埋在积雪和沙子下面、或者暴露在空气中的死者,不论其身处何地,在这个午夜时分,所有的死者就像我们一样,唱那首你刚刚听到的歌。

鲁 谢  那么他们将会唱多久或说多久啊?

木乃伊  至于唱歌,他们已经唱完了。至于说话,他们每个人被允许说一刻钟。之后,他们就回归沉默直到下一个同样年份的来临。

鲁 谢  如果这是真的,我觉得你们不会再吵醒我睡觉了。你们随心所欲地说吧,我会好奇地站在一边,很高兴听你们交谈而不去打扰。

木乃伊  我们只能靠回答活人的问题说话。唱歌结束后,那些不需要回答活人问题的就保持安静。

鲁 谢  真是太遗憾了。本来我觉得如果你们能讲话,听你们之间谈什么会非常有趣。

木乃伊  即便我们能行,你也什么都听不到。因为我们彼此间没有可交流的。

鲁 谢  我可以想出一千个问题问你。不过,既然时间紧迫,没有选择余地,就请你言简意赅地告诉我在死亡的瞬间,你的身体和思想都经历了什么样的感觉?

木乃伊  我没注意到死亡的瞬间。

其他木乃伊  我们也没有。

鲁 谢  你们怎么可能没有注意到呢?

木乃伊  就像你不会注意到你入睡的瞬间一样,不管你为之多么注意。

鲁 谢  可是,入睡是一个自然的过程。

木乃伊  难道你不觉得死亡也是一个自然的过程吗?你任意找一个不会死的人、动物或植物给我看看?

鲁 谢  要是你没有意识到你已经死了,我一点也不惊讶你会继续唱歌和说话。

丝毫未察觉到这个打击,他继续前行

依然在挣扎,尽管已经死去。

一位意大利诗人如是写道。我想关于死亡的问题,你们这些已经死去的人会比活人更有发言权。但是,还是回到我们的主题上来,在死亡的瞬间,你们没有感到疼痛吗?

木乃伊  如果感觉死亡的那个人根本没有意识到,又怎么有疼痛呢?

鲁 谢  不管怎样,所有人都认为死亡的感觉是极度痛苦的。

木乃伊  仿佛死亡是一种强烈的感觉而不是恰恰相反。

鲁 谢  可是,就灵魂的本质来讲,无论是倾向于伊壁鸠鲁(Epicurean)观点的人,还是持有传统观点的人,他们所有人,或者其中绝大部分人都同意我的说法,认为死亡就其本质上来说,是一种无可比拟的极度的痛。

木乃伊  好吧,请您谨代表我们向他们俩提一个问题:假如人类没有能力意识到他们的主要器官,或多或少地因为睡眠、昏睡、晕厥或其他原因而暂停运作,他又如何能意识到那些功能完全停止工作的那一瞬间,不是暂时地而是永久性地停止?再者,一种活着的感觉怎么能存在于死亡之中呢?实际上,就死亡本身的特质来说怎么可能是一种活着的感觉呢?当知觉不仅变得虚弱而稀少,而且被削弱到最低程度以至于知觉停止或被取消,你认为此时人还会有那么强烈的感觉吗?事实上,难道你认为这种感知的消亡本身会是一种强烈的感觉吗?你可以观察到,当死亡来临时,即便是那些迟早会死于剧烈且痛苦疾病的病人,在他们断气前,也会趋于平静安宁。于是乎,我们看到在减少到很少量时,他们所剩无几的生命不足以感觉疼痛。因而,疼痛比生命更早结束。请你代表我们把这一点告诉那些认为生命快终结时会因疼痛而死的人。

鲁 谢  对于伊壁鸠鲁的支持者来说这些原因已经足够。但是,对于其他人来说却不尽然。他们根据灵魂的实质来判断。在过去我做过很多这方面的研究,将来也会继续做更多,尤其是听到死者说话和唱歌之后。他们相信死亡是一种灵魂从身体的剥离,所以,他们不明白的是,既然二者结合在一起,可以说二者如此粘合为一体最终共同组成一个完整的人,那么,在二者分开时,怎么会不遭受暴力以及难言的苦楚呢?

木乃伊  请你告诉我,灵魂是恰巧附着在身体的神经上,还是黏在肌肉上或是粘膜上了?所以灵魂离开时,必须把它撕开?抑或,它原本是身体的一部分,必须通过暴力才能将其扯开或断开?你难道不知道灵魂离开身体,仅仅因为它不被允许待在那里了?那里已经没有它的位置了,而不是因为有一种力量把它拽开或连根拔起?再请你告诉我,当灵魂进入身体时,它是否感到被粘在,或被紧紧系在,或如你所说粘合在身体上?那么,当它离开那具身体时,灵魂又怎能感到被分开,换言之,经历一种被暴力撕开的感觉?请相信灵魂进入和离开身体都是同样安静、容易和温柔的。

鲁 谢  那么,如果死亡不是痛苦又会是什么?

木乃伊  是快乐而非其他。你要知道垂死好比入睡,不是瞬间发生而是循序渐进的。诚然,死亡的原因及类别不同,其过程自然或多或少,或大或小,不一而论。在最后时刻,死亡带来的既不是快乐也不是痛苦,至少不会比睡眠有更多的感觉。在死亡的前一刻,它不再产生疼痛,因为疼痛是生的感觉。那一刻,也就是死亡开始之初,人的感官是濒死的,就像最大程度上被弱化一样。它有可能是快乐的缘由,因为快乐并不是生的感受。事实上,人类很多快乐源于某种倦怠,因此即便是接近死亡,人的感觉依然感受到快乐,因为倦怠本身常常就是快乐,尤其是它解除你的痛苦。因为你很清楚,所有痛苦和不舒适的停止本身就是快乐。故而,由死亡产生的倦怠应该受到欢迎,因为它让人摆脱更大的折磨。就个人而言,在行将就木的时间里,我并没有关注自己是怎么感觉的,因为医生命令我不要消耗脑力。不过我依然记得我所经历的那种感觉,与人入睡时由倦怠产生的快乐类似。

其他木乃伊  我们也似乎记得这些。

鲁 谢  就依你们所言。不过,以前几乎所有曾和我讨论这个话题的人都持有完全不同的观点。不过呢,据我所知,他们毕竟没有亲身经历。现在请告诉我,在死亡时,在感受到快乐的同时,你想到你快要死了吗?这种快乐只是死亡的礼遇,或者你在想着别的什么事?

木乃伊  只要我还没死掉,我从未想过我不能避开这个危险。至少在我依然有思考能力的最后时间里,我一直期望我依然能再多活一到二个小时。我想很多人死的时候也这样想的。

其他木乃伊  我们也经历了同样的事情。

鲁 谢  的确。西塞罗曾说过没有人虚弱到他认为不能至少再多活一年。但是你怎么注意到灵魂最终离开身体了?请告诉我,你怎么知道你已经死了?他们不回答了。孩子们,能听到我说话吗?一刻钟应该已经到了。让我来摸一下他们的脉搏。他们又死掉了。他们没有机会再吓到我了。我还是回去睡觉吧。

克里斯托弗•哥伦布和佩德罗•古铁雷斯的对话

哥 伦 布  多美的夜晚,我的朋友。

古铁雷斯  确实美丽。不过,若是从陆地上看会更加美丽。

哥 伦 布  是的。这么说你也厌倦航行了啊。

古铁雷斯  不单单是航行。这次出海要远远比我预期的漫长,感觉有些吃不消了。虽说如此,请别以为我会像别人一样埋怨你。相反,无论此次航行你做什么决定,我都会一如既往地支持你。既然谈到了这个话题,我希望你能开诚布公、清晰无误地告诉我,你是否一如最初时那般坚定?你仍旧认为我们真的可以在世界的这边找到陆地和人类?抑或,这许多年里经历过无数次徒劳往返之后,你也开始产生怀疑?

哥 伦 布  坦白地讲,就像朋友之间吐露心迹那样,我承认我现在感觉有点不太确定。尤其本次航海中,多种迹象曾给我带来巨大的希望,但又最终化为失望——比如:在离开哥麦那岛(Gomera)起航后的几天里,有飞鸟从西方掠过我们的头顶。我一度认为这是附近有陆地的征兆。还有,日复一日,我逐渐发现,实际情况和我在出海前的设想与预测完全不同。原先设想的航海中可能遇到的各种事情均未发生。于是,我开始思考,是否那些预测误导了我——尽管它们看上去几乎无懈可击——也有可能,这其中最大的假设,即我们能在海洋的另一端找到陆地,也可能最终落空。诚然,该假设确实持之有故,言之有理。倘若一旦被推翻,那么,似乎除了依靠我们亲眼所见与亲耳所听到的东西,我们再不能相信人类的任何判断了。但另一方面,我还意识到,常常或大多数时候,理论往往与现实相悖。我质问自己,你如何能断定地球的每一部分都如出一辙呢?仅仅因为东半球是一半陆地一半水域,所以西半球也必须如此吗?你怎么肯定它就不可能是一片汪洋呢?或者排除全是陆地,以及陆地和海洋结合的可能性,也有可能是其他元素构成的?假使它和另一半一模一样都有陆地有海洋,也有可能它那里根本就没有人烟?甚至根本无法居住?假定它像我们的半球一样住满了居民,你又如何能确定那里的居民是和我们一样有理智的生物呢?即便这些存在,你也不能确定他们是人还是其他有智力的动物?即便是人类,也有可能和我们熟悉的人类并不一样。比如说,他们体型硕大,更加强壮、灵活,并拥有更高的与生俱来的智商和智慧,抑或拥有更为发达的文明以及人文与科学?我在反复问自己这些。毕竟,自然完全具备此项能力,她的成果如此不同,如此众多,以至于我们无法确定,在我们世界毫不知晓的远方,自然做过什么,又正在做什么,我们也应该质疑用后者为前者辩论是否是个严重的错误?设想未知世界中可能存在的事物——也许是部分也许是全部——是不为我们熟知且令人惊叹的,这并不会有悖于真理的概率。此刻,我们亲眼看到在这片水域,指南针偏离北极星且似乎指向西方——这是海员们以前从未见过的情形。不管我思索了多久,都无法得出满意的答案。尽管如此,我的言下之意不是说我们要相信古代人关于未知世界和未知水域的种种奇迹的传说。例如,汉诺(Hanno)寓言描述某些国家的夜晚充满了火焰,还有流入大海的烈焰之河。其实在本次航海中,我们的船员体会到,对遭遇的可怕奇观和令人忐忑的新事物的恐惧是多么苍白无力——当看到大片大片遮挡航线的、看上去像草地的海草时,他们曾自以为已经到达了可行驶海域的尽头。不过,为了回答你的问题,我的意思是我的假设只是基于最具可能性的推断。不仅我的判断如此,且如你所知,我还就此问题请教了诸多来自西班牙、意大利,还有葡萄牙的著名地理学家、天文学家、航海家,他们一致认为如此。当然,也有碰巧是错误的可能。因为,我反复说过,许多基于最好推理所推导出的结论并不能经得起实践的检验。尤其是涉及我们并不清楚的事情时,这种状况尤为常见。

古铁雷斯  那么,实际上,你是为了一个完全是猜测性的假设,拿自己以及同伴的生命做赌注?

哥 伦 布  确实如此。我不否认这点。但是,暂且不考虑这样的事实。如果每天都有人为了很小的缘由或毫无价值可言的事情去冒险——甚至都未经过思量——设想以下情况:假如你我以及我们的同伴不是身在大海中央的船只上,周遭一片未知的荒凉,置身于能想象的到的危险与不安定之地的话,那么我们会过什么样的生活?我们怎样打发时日?也许会更快乐?或者是相反,也许我们正陷于某种焦虑或困苦——或者感觉了无生趣?假如即便没有不安和危险又如何?如果只是安逸和快乐也就罢了。但如果是被烦恼痛苦缠绕,我倒觉得还不如做其他选择呢。不用我提醒,一旦我们的航行圆满结束,我们将获得多少荣耀和利益,而我们的希望也将得以实现。即便我们没有从中获益,在我看来仍然是极为有益的。它至少保证我们不再感觉无聊之极,让我们珍惜生命,让很多我们平时习以为常的事情变得珍贵。古人写道——你也许曾经读过或听过——那些失恋的人儿,从圣毛拉(Santa Maura)崖[过去曾被称作卢克迪亚(Leucadian)岩]纵身跳入大海,若侥幸不死,就会因阿波罗(Apollo)的恩惠而不再受情爱所困。我不知道我们是否应该相信他们是因此而被治愈了,但是我很清楚地知道从这样的危险中逃脱之后,他们会暂时珍视以前觉得可憎的生命,即便未受到阿波罗的恩惠。或者,无论如何他们一定会比以前更加珍爱生命。根据我的判断,每次出海航行就好似卢克迪亚岩的一跳,它会产生大致相同的影响,且更持久。从这个层面上来讲,海上航行更优越些。一般人认为海员和士兵由于时常处于危险之中,所以他们往往不如普通人那般珍惜生命。但是我却认为,正是因为这个原因很少有人会比海员和士兵更爱惜自己的性命。正因为拥有才使得我们身在福中不知福。很多稀松平常的事情对于海员来说却异常珍贵,因为他们失去了这一切。有谁会把能够站在一小块陆地上当作一种福音?除了海员,尤其是我们的海员们,因为无法预料这次航行的结果,没有人会把发现一小块陆地当作最大的心愿。这个心愿在我们早晨醒来时就占据我们的头脑,到晚上入睡时仍萦绕在心头。如果我们碰巧看到远处山脉的一角、一片森林或类似的事物,我们都无法掩饰自己的喜悦。能够双脚踏上陆地,仅仅一想到我们又可以站在坚实的土地上,能够随意行走,都会让我们幸福上好几天。

古铁雷斯  你所言极是。假如你的猜想性假设如同你的实践所依靠的判断一样正确的话,毫无疑问,总有一天,我们会品尝到这种幸福的滋味。

哥 伦 布  尽管我也不敢保证它的确如此,但就我看来,我希望我们很快能享受到它。这几天,如你所知,测深线已经碰触到海底,它带上海面的信息于我是个好兆头。临近傍晚时,围绕在太阳周围的云层颜色和形状都与过去有些不同。还有空气,你也能感觉到似乎比过去和煦温暖。风也不再猛烈地、横冲直撞地刮个不停。相反,风向飘忽不定,似乎被什么东西阻隔了。还有,海面上飘来的芦苇很明显是不久前被割断的,上面还带着新鲜的红色果实。接下来,一群群的飞鸟……它们曾经误导过我,但是现在出现如此众多的迹象,并且日益愈增,我感觉我们可以相信这一次,尤其是很多鸟类看上去并不像海鸟。总之,我已经尽力克制自己,但是这些迹象确实让我有巨大的美好期许。

古铁雷斯  这次上帝让它变成现实吧。

雀之礼赞

在春天里的一个早晨,阿弥里斯(Amelius),一位独处的哲人,坐在他乡下房子的阴凉处,正捧着书阅读。他被四处里鸟儿的鸣叫声吸引,于是,开始慢慢倾听和思考,放下了手中的书。最后,他提笔即席写下了下面的文字。

鸟儿生来就是这世上最快乐的生灵。之所以这么说,不是因为每当你听到看到鸟儿时,鸟儿所带来的快乐,而是因为鸟儿们本身就比其他动物更容易感受到快乐和欢悦。其他动物一般神色肃穆沉重,甚至很多看上去郁郁寡欢。它们极少会流露出快乐的表情。即便偶尔为之,也难以察觉、转瞬即逝。在多数高兴和享乐的时候,它们都不会显露出兴奋以及丝毫快乐的迹象。即使它们在享受着绿色田野,享受着广阔而美丽的景色,享受着明媚的阳光以及清澈甜美的空气,它们也毫不形之于色——只有野兔例外。据说在月光明亮的夜晚,尤其是月圆之夜,野兔们一起蹦跳玩耍,因这明亮而欢喜,色诺芬(Xenophone)如是写道。通常情况下,鸟儿们的动作和神情里总是表达出极大的欢悦。它们的存在之所以带给我们欢悦,是源于它们自身的体态和行为,是源于它们与生俱来的那种展示快乐和欢悦的特殊能力和性情——是一副看上去既不空洞也不具欺骗性的模样。它们会为经历过的每一次快乐和满足而歌唱。越是快乐和满足,越是唱得努力而投入。鉴于多数时间里它们都在歌唱,我们断定在正常情况下它们是快乐的、是享受生活的。当然,也有人观察到鸟儿们在恋爱时期要比平时唱的更动听、更持久、也更频繁。但不能因此说除了恋爱,鸟儿们就没有其他驱使它们唱歌的快乐和满足的动因。我们能够清楚地观察到,鸟儿们在明媚且风平浪静的天气里远远比在阴暗且多变的天气里唱得更多。当暴风雨袭来时,它们保持沉默,如同任何受到惊吓时的反应那般。暴风雨结束后,它们会飞入空中唱歌,与同伴嬉戏。同样地,我们还观察到,每个清晨,它们总是醒来就歌唱。部分原因是新的一天所带来的欢快,部分原因是与别的动物一样,一晚的休息之后精力充沛所致。同理,鸟儿们嗜好青翠的草木、葱茏的峡谷、清澈透明的溪水和美丽的风景。有个现象非常有趣,凡是我们人类觉得美丽和谐的事物,鸟儿们也有相同的感受——从捕猎丛及类似地点里安置的捕鸟网、粘鸟胶到吸引鸟类的诱饵就可以确定这一点。乡间那些鸟儿们经常光顾、歌唱的地方,也可以展示这一点。与之相比,也许除去那些被人类驯服且与人类生活很久的动物,再没有其他动物,即便有也是极少数,能和人类共享这种地理上适宜和美丽的概念。无须惊奇,因为鸟类只有在自然中才能找到快乐。而现在的这些,许多被我们称之为自然的地方,实际上是人工的。诸如:耕种的田地,经过修剪整理的树木和其他植物,被河岸死死禁锢,只能流向固定方向的河流,以及其他许多事物都不具备在自然状态下的样子与特征。从而,每一处世代相传的、居住着文明人类的乡间——且不说人类密集而居的城镇,大体都是人工的,因而在很大程度上有别于自然应有的状态。关于这个问题,有人认为我们区域的鸟鸣声要远比原始野人时期的好听,声音更柔和,调奏更协调。于是乎他们得出结论,即便像鸟儿们那般自由自在无拘无束的动物,也会因为常常光顾人类的居住场所而习得了些许文明。

暂且不论他们是否说了真话,就自然能同时赋予鸟类歌唱与飞翔的先决条件就很神奇了。有些人的工作就是依靠声音取悦其同类。一般来说他们要站在高处,如是,声音才会传得更远,才会有更多的人听到。因而,空气,作为传递声音的元素,应该驻有有乐感会唱歌的生物。我们的确从鸟儿的鸣叫中——依我之见,我们人类并不强于其他动物——获得了极大的安慰与快乐。我想这种快乐的感受,不是源于鸟儿们甜美的声音,不管其鸣叫多么婉转动听、千变万化、此唱彼和、相互呼应,而是源于歌曲中通常会自然而然地含有的欢快,尤其是存在于鸟类的鸣叫中的那种欢快。正可谓,好似鸟类感到愉悦和舒适时发出的一种笑声。

如是,在某些方面,鸟儿和人类共享欢笑的能力——这是其他动物所不具备的特权。实则,有人认为既然人被定义为聪慧善思的动物,也可将人充分地描绘为会笑的动物,因为他们认为笑是一个并不比理智更逊色的人类标记。这一点确实令人咋舌。虽然人类本是所有生灵中最受折磨、最痛苦的生物,却独独拥有笑的能力,而别的生物却不具备此项能力。另外值得称奇的是我们使用这项特权的方式。比如:有些人遭遇严重的事故,有些人悲恸欲绝,有些人觉得生活了无生趣,他们坚信自己没有任何优点,也无力享受一点快乐,感到万念俱灰——然而,我们发现他们会笑。其实,人们越是知道世事的浮华,越是理解生命终归是不幸福的,其期望值就会越低,也就越发不能适应对快乐的享受。越是如此,人类反而越是易于发笑。然而,笑的普遍本质以及它的内在原则和模式,以及其在头脑中所占据的部分,是很难被定义和限定的——除非承认笑是某种暂时疯狂的表现,是某种胡言乱语、神志不清的行为。因为人类从来不会感到满足,也不曾在任何事物中找到真正的快乐,所以人类并不具备一个合理的、正当的发笑的原因。研究人类如何或在何种条件下首次使用这个特权一定会很有趣。因为毫无疑问,在原始时代,人类和其他动物一样,通常十分严肃,甚至看上去郁郁寡欢。对此,我的观点是,这个世界里的笑出现于哭之后——这个问题是毫无争议的——不过,在第一次发现和体验笑之前一定有一段漫长的时光。在此期间,母亲不会冲着婴儿微笑,婴儿也不会回应母亲一个微笑——如维吉尔(Virgil)所言。因为时至今日,至少在有人类文明的地区,人出生后不久就会笑,多半是因为他周围的人在笑的缘故。我倾向于认为人类首次发笑的原因和时机可能是源于醉酒——这一点是人类种族的遗传特征。醉酒早在人类取得任何文明进步之前就已经产生了。实际上,我们知道很难找到一种原始人类没有酒,没有其他把自己灌醉的方式方法,没有无节制喝酒的习惯。切勿惊讶,因为人类远远比其他动物不快乐,因此人类比其他任何动物都热衷于在思想麻木中找到快乐,转而在忘掉自我中,或者说在生活的某个中断里找到快乐。是故,通过停止或者削减自身对痛苦的认识和感知,他们从中获得极大裨益。谈到笑这个问题,我们观察到,人类虽然在其他时段里多数神情严肃而悲伤,但在醉酒之后,却会频频发笑——不停地说话、唱歌、有悖于他们平日的习性。这些问题我会放在我即将撰写的笑的历史中去详加讨论。在完成笑的起源之后,我打算再写笑的经历、变迁和直至如今的命运——在现代,笑拥有过去所无法比拟的尊重和影响力,并在文明国度之中占据一席之地。笑所扮演的功能,在某种意义上取代了美德、正义、荣誉以及其他以往所扮演的角色,从多个方面限制,甚至是吓退人类的不良企图。现在,就鸟儿们的歌唱做一番归纳。我认为我们通常会因为看到或得知别人的快乐而感同身受——妒忌的情况除外——自然很明智地设定鸟儿的歌唱是一种欢悦与笑声的表达,因此人人喜爱;但是人类的歌唱和笑声,则要考虑到其他人的感受,应该不干扰他人。自然很聪明地确保地面上和空中挤满了能够发出响亮和严肃声响的动物,似乎是在咏唱宇宙之生命的赞歌,激励其他动物随之欢欣鼓舞,由此而营造出不间断,却是虚假的一派众生和乐的景致。

鸟儿们之所以比别的动物更快乐或更能够展示快乐不是没有深层原因的。正如我最初所示,自然确实使鸟类更加适合享受快乐和幸福。首先,鸟儿们不会遭受无聊之扰。每一刻钟它们都在变换位置,从一个区域换到另一个区域,不管其间的距离多远。从最低点飞到空中的最高点,也不过是在瞬间内就能轻松自如地完成的事情。在其生命历程中,它们看到并体验到的事情数量众多且类型各异。它们时时刻刻在锻炼身体,并有充足的户外运动。所有其他动物在吃饱喝足之后,总是安静而懒散地躺着。没有任何一种动物,除去鱼类和一些飞虫,会单单因为愉悦而撒欢奔跑。同理,原始人——只要每日能喂饱自己就不会多走一步,他所需做的工作通常简短且简单。除了暴风雨来临,或者被野兽追逐或其他类似状况之外——原始人大多喜欢安逸和无动于衷。他整日无声无息地、无所事事地呆坐在破旧的小茅草屋里打发时间,要么待在户外、石缝里、悬崖上或岩石的洞穴里。与之相反,鸟儿们很少长时间地停留在一个地方。它们不停地飞来飞去不是因为需要什么,而是为了快乐而飞翔。有时,它们从自己居住的海边飞上几百英里,在傍晚时分又飞回原地。即便是在一个地方做短暂停留,你也不会看见它们安静地坐着。它们总是左转右转,一会儿踱步,一会儿弯腰,一会儿伸伸脖子,一会儿摇一摇,活泼敏捷地振翅,动作迅疾无以言状。总之,鸟儿从破壳而出的那一刻直至死亡,除去中间的睡眠时间,它不会停息一分钟。以上观察的结果是,很明显,从本质上来讲,其他动物包括人类的正常状态是休息,而鸟类则是运动。

与上述品质及外在条件相呼应的是内在条件,即:头脑条件——这点促使它们比别的动物更加适合感受幸福。它们的听力极为敏锐,它们的视力是我们难以想象的发达和完美。具备了这些能力,它们便可以整天享受层出不穷、千变万化的景象:从高高的云霄里,它们能一眼看到大片开阔的区域,并同时能用眼睛清晰地区分出不同地方。这一点也是人类难以理解的。从此现象中,我们推测它们一定拥有强大的力量、活力和无限的想象力。鸟儿们的这种想象力不属于那种深沉、热烈、疾风暴雨,如但丁(Dante)和塔索(Tasso)那般的想象力——后者如同一个致命的礼物,是最糟糕的永恒痛苦与焦虑的根源——鸟儿们拥有的是一种丰富的、变化的、轻盈的、不稳定的、如孩童般的想象力,是愉快和快乐思想的取之不竭的源泉,是自然赋予生物的最慷慨的、最伟大的、最有用处的礼物。正因如此,鸟儿们拥有无限的之于精神愉悦息息相关的能力,并同时缺少有毒害的、痛苦的东西。由于它们的外在生活异常丰富,带动其内在生活也非常丰富,由此产生的优势和快乐非常类似于孩童的那般——绝非是成人一般会有的拙劣和痛苦。因为鸟儿们的活泼和外在的好动性明显展露出与儿童类似的一面,故而我们可以合理假设它们与儿童的内心也很相似。假如孩童般的幸福可以出现在其他年龄段里,而其他年龄段里的疾病不会比儿童时期的疾病更严重,也许人类就有理由慢慢忍受生命的种种了。

依我之见,从某些方面看,鸟类本质的完美性超越其他动物。譬如,当我们考虑到鸟类在视力以及听力方面都远远超越其他动物,根据生物的自然法则,这两项属于主要感官。于是,可以得出这样的结论:鸟类的本性比其他生物的本性更完美。此外,正如我们所见,其他动物自然而然地倾向于休息,而鸟类则倾向于运动——运动要比休息更富有活力。生命实际上是由运动构成的,而鸟类比别的动物具有更多的户外活动——另外,如果视力和听力优于其他动物,这两项也是鸟类们最突出的能力,是否当作生物最典型的特征?因为这两项能力本身就很鲜明且动性强,并且其带给动物的习惯以及内外在效果都很显著。最后,考虑到上述一些情况,结论是鸟类比其他动物拥有更多的外在和内在生命。现在,假如生命的完美多于不完美——至少在生物里如此——假如生命越有活力就是完美的话,那么,结论就是鸟儿的本性更完美。在这一点上,我们不要忘了鸟儿同样能忍耐极度的寒冷和炎热,穿梭在两者之间甚至不用太多时间过渡一下。事实上,我们常常看到,几乎是在瞬间,他们已然从地面冲向凌霄,几乎相当于是在极寒的地区,并且它们能在很短的时间里穿越多种气候。

最后,阿克那里翁(Anacreon)曾许愿他愿意变成一面镜子,这样他的爱人就可以天天看他;他愿意变成一件裙子,这样就可以穿在她身上;他愿意变成油膏擦拭她的身体;他愿意变成水供她沐浴;他愿意变成胸带,这样她就可以把他紧紧抱在胸前;他愿意变成一串项链挂在她脖子上;他愿意变成鞋子,至少她会用脚挤压他——同样地,我也希望可以有一会儿变成一只飞鸟,这样我就可以体验到它们生命中的满足与快乐。

伟大的野公鸡之歌

某些希伯来学者和作家们声称在天与地之间,或者确切地说是一半在空中,一半在地面,生活着一只野公鸡。它脚踏地面,喙与鸡冠顶着天空。你可以在那些作家的作品里读到对它这些特征的描述,此外,这个体形庞大的公鸡还具备思考的能力。否则,诚然,便无异于鹦鹉,说着不知被谁教会的人类的语言。实则,有一首歌名为“Scir detarnegòl bara letzafra ”,即:伟大的野公鸡之晨歌,其原版为希伯来文。这首歌的用语混合了秘术家用语、塔古姆用语、犹太教法学博士语言、犹太教神秘哲学语言以及犹太法典语言,它被写在了一块旧羊皮纸上。我尽力理解并翻译成下列我们所使用的文字。在此期间,我为之付出了艰辛的劳动并同时请教了若干犹太教祭司、犹太教神秘哲学者、神学家、法理学家以及犹太哲学家。目前我尚不确定的是,这只公鸡是时不时地吟唱这首歌还是在每日清晨吟唱?抑或仅唱过一次?有谁经常听到这首歌或曾经听到过这歌声?歌词语言是否属于公鸡语言?这首歌是否是从另一种语言翻译过来的?就目前的版本,我已经穷尽一切可能使之忠实于原文,我认为最好使用散文体而不是诗体,尽管事实上它是一首诗。其行文中有不连贯之处,偶尔也会有浮夸语体,但这些不该由我负责,因为译本首先是忠于原文的。在此处,需要符合东方语言的习惯,尤其是要符合他们的诗人标准。

起来吧,凡人,苏醒!新的一天又开始了。真理回归世界,虚假的影像离去。起来,重拾生活之重担,从虚假之国回归真理世界。

在这一刻,每个人都在头脑里回顾并审视他生命中的全部想法,回想他的计划、努力、需要处理的事情,并自行想象一下在新的一天里可能会遇到的快乐与痛苦。每个人都会在此时更加强烈地渴望找到快乐的期望和愉悦的思想。当然没什么人真的实现了上述愿望。因为苏醒对于每个人来说是不幸的。可怜的人儿刚刚醒来,马上就落入各自不幸福的手中。最甜蜜的事情是睡眠,由快乐与希望相结合带来的睡眠——这种状态会全须全尾地一直持续到天明,之后,它们就会消失不见。

如果凡人的睡眠是永恒的,是与生命等同的话;如果在启明星照耀下,所有活物在地球各处以最无声的方式憔悴着,没有任何活动痕迹:草地上没有牛儿在哞哞地叫,森林里没有野兽在咆哮,天空中没有鸟儿在歌唱,乡间没有蝴蝶在低语、蜜蜂在嗡嗡叫;没有任何声音,没有任何活动的迹象,除了水涨起、风刮起和暴风雨袭来;那么,这个宇宙也就真的毫无用处了。那时是否比会比现在痛苦更多,幸福更少?我问你,哦,太阳,白日的主宰和我们清醒时的保护者,到目前为止你所历经的多少个世纪里,在升起又落下之间,你是否曾见到过一个生物曾经幸福地生活过?截至目前你所见到的凡人无数的成就里,你是否认为至少有一个人实现了他的目标:满足感,即他从他的成功中获得了持久或暂时的满足?你现在是否看见,或者说你曾看见这四海之内可有幸福的存在?幸福到底居住在哪块田野,哪片森林,哪座山峰,哪条峡谷,是在有人居住的地方还是在不毛之地?还是它藏在你的光芒所能照射到并赋予温暖的众多星球中的某个上面?也许,幸福躲在你的视线之外,藏在幽深的洞穴里,也许在地心或海底深处?什么样的活物有幸知道幸福是什么?哪种植物,或其他任何被你赋予生命的生物体,有哪些被赐予幸福?有哪些被剥夺了幸福?又有哪些植物或动物知晓幸福?还有你自己,就像一个不知疲倦的巨人,从不睡觉和休息,日夜急速行进在你的既定行程上,你是幸福的还是不幸福的?

凡人快醒来!你还在受生的束缚。迟早会有一天,无论是外界力量,还是内在力量,都无法把你从沉睡中唤醒。彼时,你将永远地、尽情地安息。你尚未被允许死去。仅仅是间或,你被允许暂时诈死一小会儿。因为若非时不时暂停一会儿,生命就难以为续。倘若过度渴求这种本来就短暂易逝的浅眠,其本身就是致命的,将会招致永久长眠。生活就是如此,为了能够忍受生活的种种,我们必须时不时地放下它,获得一点喘息的机会,用死亡的滋味或几乎是少许死亡让我们重新振作起来。

事物最本质的一面似乎是以死亡为真正且唯一的目的。一切存在源于虚无,因为不存在就不会有死亡。可以确定的是存在的最终目的不是幸福,因为没有什么是幸福的。诚然,活着的生物每做一项工作都是以此为目的的,但是没有一项能带给他们幸福。在他们整个的生命历程里,他们奋斗、克己、遭受痛苦,无一不是在苦苦追索自然制定的这个唯一的目标:死亡。

正常情况下,一天里的清晨是生物们最容易忍受的时段。在苏醒的一刻里,很少有人头脑里充斥着快乐愉悦的思想。但是很快,几乎人人会产生和形成某些快乐的思想。因为在那个时段里,人的头脑总是极易高兴的,即便没有任何特定或特殊的原因,它会比一天内其他时段都更适于忍受生活的不幸。因此,当一个人入睡时充满了绝望,在第二天醒来时他又重新找到了希望,即便这种希望来得毫无缘由。很多不幸和个人困扰、很多恐惧和悲痛的根源会在此时显得要比头天晚上渺小许多。甚至,前一天的煎熬会在今天被嘲笑,会被斥之为幻想和空想的结果。夜晚被比作老年,而早晨被比作青年,总是从容而自信;夜晚则是悲伤的、沮丧的、充满了各种不幸的先兆。但是正如人的青春那般短暂,凡人每天所体验的早晨时光也是极为短促且转瞬即逝,很快白天也会变得年迈不堪。

尽管是生命中的最好部分,我们的盛年依旧是痛苦的。实际上,哪怕仅仅是这丁点幸运也会在短时间内消失殆尽,以致人们很快发现诸多逐渐衰老的迹象。他还未曾体验到生命的完美,还未曾感受到和知晓生命的力量,就已经开始减弱。但凡世间的生灵,他们的绝大部分生命是在慢慢枯萎中度过。自然在其所有的创造里都毫不掩饰地指向了死亡:这正是为什么衰老如此显著、如此清晰、如此长久、如此普遍的原因。宇宙的每一部分都在不知疲倦地奔向死亡,速度迅猛且毫不迟疑。似乎只有宇宙本身不受衰败和凋萎的侵蚀。因为假如在秋天和冬天里,它的生命变得虚弱和衰老;那么,到春天时就一定又青春焕发。当然,就如凡人每天清晨都会感觉年轻一些,尽管实际上每天都在变老,直至吐出最后一口气。宇宙也一样,每年年初重新变得年轻,尽管它其实在不断衰老。总有一天宇宙和自然本身也将不复存在。就好似曾经无比伟大的人类王国和帝国,以及该时代的不朽成就,虽然辉煌一时,但终究会被遗忘。这整个世界也如是这般,所有生命体经历无数变迁和灾难之后,最终不会留下一丝痕迹。取而代之的将是无边的沉寂和深邃的静谧。如此一来,宇宙生命所带来的惊人的、令人不安的秘密,会在它被宣布和了解之前就已经消失得无影无踪了。

哥白尼的任务

第一幕

第一时辰和太阳

第一时辰  早上好,阁下。

太 阳  早上好,或者该说,晚上好。

第一时辰  马车为您备好了。

太 阳  好的。

第一时辰  启明星已经升起一段时间了。

太 阳  她想来就来,想走就走。

第一时辰  您这是什么意思呢,阁下?

太 阳  我的意思是你别来烦我。

第一时辰  可是,阁下,夜晚已经持续了很久,不能再拖延下去了。倘若再行耽搁,阁下,就会有奇怪的事情发生。

太 阳  无论发生什么,我都不打算动一下。

第一时辰  哦,阁下,这是怎么啦?您感觉不舒服吗?

太 阳  不,没有,我没有感觉不舒服。我就是不想动。你呢,去忙自己的事吧。

第一时辰  要是您不配合的话,我怎么忙呢?我是白日的第一个时辰,要是阁下您不能发发慈悲像往常一样出来的话,这一天会变成什么样子?

太 阳  如果不能属于白天,那你还是归属夜晚吧——要不就让夜晚时辰加一次班,你和你的白日小伙伴们就可以休息了。因为,你知道吗?我已经厌倦了每天不停地旋转只为照亮那些生活在一小撮泥土上的小生物们——他们才那么一丁点儿,我这么好的视力几乎都看不到呢。今晚,我决定不再因为这点小事麻烦了。假如人类需要光线的话,他们可以生火照明或找些其他途径解决。

第一时辰  但是,阁下,您让那些可怜的人儿们怎么找呢?若是他们的灯笼和那么多蜡烛整日点燃着,可是非常昂贵的花销啊。假如他们已经找到某种非常便宜的气体,可以用来烧火、照明街道、点亮房间、商店、阁楼和其他地方的话,那么我会觉得事情还不算太糟糕。但是,实际情况是,距人们发现这种气体之前还有差不多三百年的时间呢。在此期间,他们会耗尽燃油、蜡烛、树脂和动物脂。最后,他们就没有什么可供燃烧的东西了。

太 阳  他们可以去抓些萤火虫和发光虫用来照明。

第一时辰  那他们怎样御寒呢?若是没有阁下您的襄助,森林中的所有树木都不足以保证他们取暖。他们还会被饿死,因为地球不再结果子了。在短短几年内,那些可怜的动物种族将会消失。接下来的一段时间里,他们在地球上的一片黑暗中四处摸索着,找寻可以吃的食物和取暖之用。最终,没有任何可以吞咽的食物,最后一星火焰熄灭,那时他们所有人就会在黑暗中死去,就像冻僵的岩水晶一样。

太 阳  我为什么要管这些?我,难道说,是人类种族的奶妈吗?还是负责给他们准备及烹饪食物的厨子?我为什么要关心那些几百万英里之外的我根本看不到的小东西们,就因为没有我的光芒他们看不见,也不能取暖吗?那么,如果说,我必须成为供他们取暖的加热器或火炉的话,合理的状况是他们一家人想取暖就应该自己到火炉边来,而不是火炉围着他们的房子旋转。所以,如果地球需要我的光芒,就请她自己围着我转或者想些办法得到它。就我个人而言,我不需要地球的任何东西,也不需要去照看她。

第一时辰  阁下您的意思是说,假如我理解无误的话,现在地球应该做您以前一直在做的事情?

太 阳  是的,现在,从现在开始到永远。

第一时辰  阁下您说的无疑很有道理。况且,您可以随意而为。不过,还是请您考虑一下,如果您建立新的世界秩序的话,会有多少美丽的事物因此而毁于一旦?白天再也没有美丽的金色战车,也没有那些美丽的战马,它们通常会在大海里沐浴。更别提及其他的细枝末节了。就连我们这些时辰们也不会在天上拥有一席之地了,我们会从天庭侍女变成陆地女子。根据我的预测,除非我们变成青烟才得以重返天庭。即便如此,问题是如何说服地球开始转动呢?想必会很难,因为她尚不习惯这么做。她会觉得这么不停地跑下去、这么浪费力气很奇怪,以前她可从未曾离开她的位置半步。假如阁下您好像都冒出了偷懒的念头,我听说地球并没有比过去勤快一丁点儿啊。

太 阳  在这种情况下,需求会激励她,会逼迫她不得不去跑去跳。但是,最快速也是最确定的方法就是找到一位诗人或自然哲学家,去劝说地球移动。万一劝说失败,也可以强行迫使她移动。从长远来看,这种事情主要由诗人们和自然哲学家们负责。实际上,他们几乎能胜任任何事情。过去,那些诗人们(那时,我年轻尚且听话),他们用美丽的颂歌诱导我——我这么又肥又大的一个人——心甘情愿地去做那项围着一小堆儿沙子拼命疯跑的极度愚蠢的工作,并把它当作一种运动或一种高尚的锻炼。可是,现在我的年纪大些了,我开始转向信仰哲学。做每件事时,我要看它是否有用而不是漂不漂亮。诗人们的伤感情怀,不是让我作呕,就是让我忍俊不禁地大笑。在做每件事前,我总要三思而后行。我发现劳神劳力的生活并不比舒适悠闲的生活更可取——因为这样的生活并不会产生值得你费神费力的成果(在这个世界上,成果一文不值)——我下定决心把劳累和不舒适留给别人。至于我,就安静地留在家里无所事事。我的观念之所以发生了转变,除了部分出于年龄的原因,还如我之前所说的是由于哲学家们而改变的——这些人目前已经开始得势,并且有如日中天的趋势。所以,假如我希望地球能够移动并取代我奔跑的话,诗人在某一方面会比自然哲学家、甚至科学家更能胜任。诗人们,通过讲一两个故事,就能让人们相信世界上的事情真的有价值、很重要,是美丽和愉快的。他们创造出一千种愉快的希望,借此劝诱人们努力和拼命工作。反之,哲学家则会起到劝阻作用。但是,既然哲学家已经占据上风,我担心现在地球也会像我一样不会任诗人摆布。假如没有人听诗人的话,他自然就束手无策了。因此,我认为最好还是请自然哲学家或科学家来帮忙。尽管哲学家们通常不适合也不愿意劝说他人工作,不过在这个极端情况下,他们也许会尽力做些意料之外的努力——除非地球决定与其如此大费周章还不如直接毁灭合适——在那种情况下,我也不能说她做错了。够了,让我们静观其变吧。现在,去做这个:到地球上去,或者派你的一个姊妹,或任何一个你觉得合适的人跑一趟。如果她发现任何一位自然哲学家,站在屋外新鲜的空气里,正在研究天空和星体——因为我们可以很合理地推断她一定会找到这么一位,因为夜已经太长了——不要耽搁,把他带上来,扛在肩上,火速带来见我。我会说服他去做该做的事情。你明白了吗?

第一时辰  是。阁下。我马上照办。

第二幕

(站在阳台上,用一个小纸筒观察东方的天空——

因为彼时还没有发明天文望远镜)

哥白尼真是难以置信。莫不是所有的钟表都坏了?否则太阳早在一小时之前就应该升起来了。可是东方仍看不到一丝光亮,尽管天空如镜面般清澈透明。所有的星星在闪烁着,似乎仍在夜里。现在,赶紧去查阅《天文学大成》和萨克罗博斯科(Sacrobosco)的相关书籍,问问他们是否能就此现象解释一番。我常听人说朱庇特会在夜间和底比斯王的妻子幽会。我还记得我最近读过的一本由一位西班牙人撰写的现代书。书里提及秘鲁人说在古时候,他们的国家曾经有一个特别漫长的夜晚,实际上,是一个永远不会结束的夜。最后,太阳从一个叫作的的喀喀(Titicaca)湖里出来了。此前,我一直以为这是一派胡言。像所有有理性的人一样,我确信它的确如此。现在,我意识到科学和理智根本一文不值嘛。我决定相信那些传言以及类似的东西很有可能完全是真实的。实际上,我正准备去我能找到的所有湖泊,还有沼泽看一看,看我是否能碰巧把太阳捞上来。但是,我听到这震耳欲聋的声响是什么——似乎是一只巨鸟拍打翅膀的声音?

第三幕

最后时辰和哥白尼

最后时辰  哥白尼,我是最后时辰。

哥 白 尼  最后时辰?好吧,我也无能为力。假如,如果可能的话,请留给我足够的时间写遗嘱以及安排身后的事宜——在我死之前。

最后时辰  你是什么意思,“死”吗?我不是生命的最后时辰。

哥 白 尼  那你是谁?是每日祈祷时间的最后时辰吗?

最后时辰  我敢确定较其他时段你更喜欢最后时辰——当你在唱诗班里时。

哥 白 尼  不过,你怎么知道我是一位咏礼司铎?你怎么认识我的?你刚才在呼唤我的名字。

最后时辰  我刚刚从前面的街上打听到你的信息。总之,我是白天的最后时辰。

哥 白 尼  啊,我明白了。第一个时辰病了,所以我们看不到白天。

最后时辰  请允许我说下去。白天再也不会来了——不仅是今天,还有明天,永远不会再来了,倘若您不打算做些什么的话。

哥 白 尼  真有意思!似乎我的工作就是造白天似的!

最后时辰  我会告诉您怎么做。但是首先您必须立即跟我去我的主人太阳的府邸。路上我会详细解释。我们到达后,太阳阁下将会亲自跟您解释一下。

哥 白 尼  好吧。但如果我没理解错的话,这趟旅行会很漫长。我怎么才能带够充足的食物,以保证我在到达前的几年内不会被饿死?况且,我不认为太阳阁下的土地会生产什么能供吃一餐的东西。

最后时辰  别担心这些。您不会在太阳府邸待太久。这趟旅行也仅仅是瞬间的事——因为,恐怕您还不知道,我是个精灵。

哥 白 尼  可我只是个凡胎肉体。

最后时辰  好吧。您完全不需要担心这些事情,您又不是一位玄学哲学家。来吧,坐在我肩上,看我的。

哥 白 尼  好的。出发……不知道事情最后会是什么样。

第四幕

哥白尼和太阳

哥白尼  您好,最明亮先生。

太 阳  请你见谅,哥白尼,我没法请你坐下,因为我们没有椅子。我们的谈话很快就会结束。从我的仆人那里,你一定听说你此行所为何事了。我个人认为——以及我从侍女们那里了解到的你的能力——我想你完全能胜任这项工作。

哥白尼  先生,我觉得这份工作困难重重。

太 阳  困难不会吓跑你这类人的。事实上,人们常说困难只会增加勇敢者的勇气。那么,有什么困难呢?

哥白尼  首先,不论自然哲学和科学的力量有多么强大,我不能确定它们可以强大到足够说服地球去运转而不是舒舒服服地坐着,或是说服地球去工作和劳累而不是悠闲地待着。尤其考虑到我们这个时代并不是一个英雄主义时代。

太 阳  那么,如果不能说服她的话,就强迫她。

哥白尼  我很乐意一试,我的光明先生。假如我是海格立斯(Hercules)或者是罗兰(Roland),而不是一个从沃尔姆斯(Worms)来的小小咏礼司铎的话。

太 阳  这俩者又有什么关系?听说你们中有一位古算术家过去曾说,只要他能站在世界之外,毫无疑问他就能移动天空和地球?现在,你不需要移动天空,你现在站在地球之外,因此,如果你不比那位先贤更笨的话,你就能移动地球,不用管她乐不乐意。

哥白尼  我亲爱的先生,我可以这么做。但是我需要一个撬棍。这支撬棍会很长,长到不仅是我,就连您自己,不论您有多么富有,都没有能力支付所消耗的材料及人工的费用。另一个更严重的困难是下列问题:事实上,这个问题更像是一团乱麻。截至目前为止,地球一直占据宇宙第一的位置,也就是,中心位置。您也知道,她一直是一动不动地坐着,除了环视一下宇宙的其他星球,基本无事可做。其他或大或小,或明亮或暗淡的星球,从她头顶、身边或脚下转过,每个都行色匆匆,如此紧张,如此激烈,以至于我们即便想上一想都会觉得头晕目眩。如此,一切似乎都是为她服务的。宇宙看上去好像一个皇庭,地球似乎端坐在宝座上,其他星球围在她周围,像朝臣、护卫、仆人,各自忙着自己的活计。正因如此,地球一直认为自己是宇宙的女王。实际上,假如情况仍同过去一样的话,我们不能说她的想法是毫无道理的。事实上,我不能否认她的这一想法是建立在良好的基础之上的。那么,我再告诉您人类又会有什么反应。我们认为,并将永远认为,我们自己才是地球所有生灵中第一个同时也是最重要的生物。我们每一个人,即便衣衫褴褛,即便只啃着一小块干面包,无一不觉得自己如国王般重要。这个国王不是君士坦丁堡的君主,德国的君主,或半个地球的君主——例如过去的罗马皇帝——而是整个宇宙的君主,太阳的君主,所有行星的君主,也是所有看得见的、看不见的恒星们的君主。他还是万物之源,是所有恒星、行星,还有阁下您及一切的最终渊源。但是现在,假如我们要求地球放弃现在的中心位置,让她奔跑、转动,不停地忙碌,去做那些到目前为止只有其他星球才做的事情;最后,她会变为其他星球中的一员——这就意味着逼迫地球陛下以及人类的皇帝陛下们禅位,并放弃王国——他们只剩下司空常见的破衣烂衫和凄楚悲凉。

太 阳  你到底在说什么呀?我亲爱的尼古拉(Nicholas)神父?也许你是害怕这个行为会招致叛国罪?

哥白尼  不是这样的,最明亮先生;要是我没有记错的话,没有任何一部法典、法律精要、公法丛书、帝国法、民法、自然法中曾提及过此类叛国罪。但是,我的意思是说我们的这项任务不像乍看上去那样,是简单的物质层面的事情。它的后果不单单显示在物理层面上。因为它将会颠覆尊卑秩序阶梯上的所有阶层以及事物的现存秩序。它将会扭转生物们的目标,由此将会引起玄学中前所未有的巨大变革,并波及其他任何涉及思辨方面知识的领域。因此,如果人类有能力并且愿意进行理性思考的话,他们会发现自己和之前的自己完全不同,并且和他们之前自己对自我的认识也完全不一样。

太 阳  孩子,这些事都不会吓倒我。因为我既尊重玄学也尊重物理学,同样也尊重化学——或者如果你愿意还有通灵术。人类应该对他们现有的样子感到满足。假使他们不喜欢现在的样子,那就让他们继续进行他们颠三倒四的推理,继续反驳事实性证据,毕竟在这些方面他们都得心应手。如是,他们还会继续把自己假想成想象中的样子——男爵、公爵、皇帝或其他什么他们喜欢的样子。这些会带给他们安慰。他们的评判不会对我有丝毫影响。

哥白尼  好的。我们先不谈人类和地球。但是,请考虑一下,我的最明亮先生,我们试想一下其他星球会怎样。当他们看到地球变成他们中的一员,做着和他们同样的事,他们不会愿意再这么光秃秃和灰扑扑的,像以前一样荒凉和凄惨——凭什么地球可以有这么多装饰?他们也同样想拥有河流、海洋、山脉、植被以及动物和居民。因为他们看不到自己为什么要低于地球的级别?宇宙也将会发生一个巨大变革:每一处都会有无数新家庭像雨后春笋般冒出来。

太 阳  那你就让他们冒出来呗。让他们自由发展。我的光和热已经足够他们所有人使用——不会增加多余的费用。宇宙有足够的储备供他们吃饭、穿衣、居住,并慷慨地善待他们而不会因此而负债。

哥白尼  但是,最明亮先生,请再仔细考虑一下。您将会看到另外一个混乱局面。那些星星们,当他们看到你坐着,不是坐在板凳上而是坐在御座上,四周围绕着这么美丽的朝廷和众多的行星——他们,也同样地,不会满足于要求坐下休息,还会要求上位。为了统治需要,必须有臣民。因此,他们会要求像您一样——每人都有自己的行星。这些新的行星也同样需要像地球一样被装饰和被居住。此处,我不再向您提及可怜的人类了——与当前世界相比他们已经无足轻重。无以计数的世界蜂拥而出,连银河里最小的星星都拥有了行星,未来将会变成什么?即便我们只考虑您的得失,让我来说到目前为止,您的位置至少是第二位的,仅次于地球——没有人能和您匹敌,因为其他星星绝没有胆量和您相提并论。但是,在这个新宇宙世界里,您有很多同级,因为它们也有自己的世界。请慎之又慎,以确保您所做的这种改变不会损伤你的尊严。

太 阳  你难道不记得你们的凯撒大帝曾说过,在他穿越阿尔卑斯(Alps)山脉时,他碰巧路过一些可怜的野人的茅草屋——他说他宁愿做那个茅草屋的第一人也不愿做罗马的第二人?同理,我宁愿做我的世界里的第一人,也不愿意做宇宙的第二名。但是,我改变现状的初衷不是野心,而仅仅是对安宁的热爱。更确切地说,是对懒散的热爱。所以,我不在乎有没有同级,也不在乎是在第一位还是最后一位。我和西塞罗(Cicero)不同,我感兴趣的是悠闲而不是尊严。

哥白尼  最明亮先生,只要我力所能及,我会尽全力助您实现您的悠闲。不过,恐怕即便我帮您实现这个愿望,它也不会持久。首先,我几乎可以肯定用不了多少年,您就得被迫和水井里的滑轮一样,或像石磨一样转个不休——尽管您没有移动位置。进而,我怀疑最终,也就是迟早,您会发现您不得不再次奔跑。我不是说绕着地球跑。不过,您又不会在乎这些?也许您的自转就是您再次奔跑的原因。好了,即使如此,不管困难如何、如何筹措,如果您还是坚持先前的决定,我将会鼎力相助。如若本次方案最终无果,您要相信我确实能力欠佳——而别说我并不是个果敢的人。

太 阳  好的,我的哥白尼,请试一下。

哥白尼  只剩下一个困难了。

太 阳  告诉我,是什么?

哥白尼  我不想因为这件事,而把自己像凤凰那样活活烧死。如果真的发生了,我感觉我肯定不可能像那只鸟似的从灰烬中重生。所以,从现在起我不会再出现在阁下您面前了。

太 阳  听着,哥白尼,你知道在你们的哲学家和科学家还未出生的时候——我的意思是说——当诗人占据主导位置的时候——我曾经是个预言家。现在请你让我最后一次预测未来,根据我古代的记忆,我希望你能相信我。从而,我会告诉你之后发生了什么。即使那些支持你的人被烧焦了或遭遇类似情况,但是你自己,如我能看到的,不会因此而受苦。假如你想更安全一些的话,遵循这个建议:请你把这本你撰写的书献给教皇。这样,我保证你甚至不会失去你的祭司位置。

年历小贩和一名路人的对话

小贩  年历,新年历。新日历,您需要年历吗,先生?

路人  新年年历?

小贩  是的,先生。

路人  你觉得这个新年会很快乐吗?

小贩  当然,先生,肯定的。

路人  跟去年一样?

小贩  比去年好,好很多呢。

路人  会和前年一样吗?

小贩  比前年好,先生,好很多呢。

路人  但是,新年会像哪一年呢?你不希望新年像以往的某一年一样吗?

小贩  不,先生,我不想。

路人  你是多少年前开始卖年历的?

小贩  肯定是二十年前了,先生。

路人  你希望今年的新年像过去二十年中的哪一个?

小贩  我?我不知道。

路人  你难道不记得某个感觉特别幸福的新年吗?

小贩  说真的,我不知道,先生。

路人  但是生活是美丽的,不是吗?

小贩  这个大家都知道的。

路人  你难道不想把这二十年重新再过一遍吗?从你出生那天开始,过去所有的年月?

小贩  嗯,我亲爱的先生,我祈求上帝可以让我这样。

路人  但是,假如是让你过和以前一模一样的生活怎么样——经历它所有的痛苦和欢乐?

小贩  我可不希望这样。

路人  那么,你希望重新过什么样的生活呢?是我这样的生活?或者是一个王子的生活?还是别的什么人的生活?你是否想过,无论是我、王子,还是其他人,都会给出和你一样的回答?假如能够重新把以前的生活再过一遍,没有人会乐意这么做?

小贩  我也这么想的。

路人  你不愿意再回去,除非换另一种生活?

小贩  对,先生,我真的不愿意。

路人  不过,你希望过哪种生活呢?

小贩  任何一种,上帝给我哪种都可以,只要没有附加条件就行。

路人  随便哪一种。事先也不知道,就像我们不知道新年会是什么样似的?

小贩  完全正确。

路人  如果我能够重新生活,我也会这么选择。每个人大抵都会如此吧?但是这意味着截至今年年底,命运对每个人都未加以善待啊。很明显,每个人都认为分给自己的不幸多于,或大于幸运——如果要把以前的生活再过一遍,重新经历它所有的好与恶,没有人愿意重生。美丽的人生不是我们已知的人生,而是未知的人生,它不是过去的人生,而是将来的人生。这个新年,命运将会善待你、我和所有人,幸福的人生即将开始。不是吗?

小贩  希望如此吧。

路人  那好,让我看一下你最漂亮的年历。

小贩  给您,先生,一共三十分。

路人  这是三十分。

小贩  谢谢您,先生,再见。年历,新年历,新日历。

Dialogue Between Hercules and Atlas

HERCULES. Father Atlas, Jove sends me and wants me to bring you his greetings, and in case you are tired of that burden, he wants me to take it on my shoulders for a few hours, as I did I don't remember how many centuries ago, so that you can catch your breath and rest a little.

ATLAS. I thank you, my little Hercules; I also feel much obliged to His Majesty Jove. But the world has become so light that this cloak I wear to protect myself from the snow is much heavier. And if it weren't that Jove forces me to stand still here, balancing this little ball on my back, I'd put it under my arm or in my pocket, or I'd let it dangle from a hair of my beard, and then I'd go about my business.

HERCULES. How has it gotten so light? I can see that it has changed shape and that it has become like a bread roll, and it's no longer round as it was when I studied cosmography for that enormous voyage with the Argonauts, but still, I don't understand why it should weigh less than it used to.

ATLAS. I don't know the reason either. But you can verify its lightness yourself if you take it in your hand for a moment and feel its weight.

HERCULES. By Hercules, if I hadn't felt it myself, I could never have believed it. But what kind of novelty is this that I discover? The last time I carried it, it throbbed strongly on my back, like the heart of an animal, and it made a continuous buzzing roar that sounded like a hornet's nest. But now, it ticks like a watch with a broken spring; and it doesn't make the slightest buzz of any kind.

ATLAS. I can't explain this either except that a long time ago the world stopped giving signs of any motion and noise; and, personally, I had a very strong suspicion that it was dead, and from day to day I expected to be infected with its stench. So I was trying to figure out how and where I could bury it and the kind of inscription I should put over its grave. But when I saw that it didn't rot, I concluded that from the animal that it was at first it had turned into a plant, like Daphne and many others, and that this was the reason it didn't stir or breathe. And even now I am afraid that it will soon put down roots and plant them into my shoulders.

HERCULES. I rather believe that it is asleep and that this sleep is of the same kind as that of Epimenides, which lasted more than half a century; or that of Hermotimus, whose soul, they say, used to leave his body whenever it wanted to and remain absent for many years, happily wandering about various countries and then coming back – until his friends, to put an end to such pranks, burned the body. And so when the spirit returned to get back into its home, it found it destroyed, and if it wanted a lodging, it had either to rent another one or to go to an inn. But to make sure that the world will not sleep forever and that some friend or benefactor won't set it on ffire, thinking that it is dead, I say that we should try to wake it up.

ATLAS. Good. But how?

HERCULES. I'd let it have a good whack of my club; but I am afraid I'd thoroughly flatten it into a pancake; or perhaps I'd crack it like an egg since its shell feels so light that it must have become quite thin. And I'm not so sure that men, who used to fight lions with their bare hands, and now fight fleas, wouldn't all faint away from the blow. The best thing is for me to get rid of my club and for you to take off your cloak and then for us to play ball with this tiny globe. I'm sorry I haven't brought the gauntlets or rackets Mercury and I use when we play in Jove's house or his back yard, but our fists should be enough.

ATLAS. Good idea! And what if your father, seeing us play, feels like joining us in the game and throws one of his fireballs and makes us tumble – who knows where – just like Phaethon into the Po?

HERCULES. True, if, like Phaethon, I were a poet's son and not his and if I weren't such that – while poets peopled the cities by the sounds of their lyres – I could unpeople heaven and earth by the sound of my club. And with a kick I would send his fireball flying all the way to the last ceiling of the Empyrean. But you can be sure that even if I got it into my head to unnail five or six stars for a game of cobnuts or to do target shooting with a comet and use it as a sling by holding it by the tail or even to use the sun itself in discus throwing, my father would pretend not to see. Then, in this game our intention is to do good to the world, and it is not like that of Phaethon, who wanted to show off his agility to the hours, who held his stepping block when he climbed into the cart and who also wanted to gain the reputation of being a good charioteer with Andromeda and Callisto and with the other fair constellations, to whom, as we are told, he flung in passing bouquets of rays and candied little balls of light. In fact, he wanted to make a show of himself before the gods during their promenade that day, which, as you know, was a holiday. So don't worry about my father's being angry; in any case, I promise that I will pay you the damages. Now let's get going. Take off your cloak and throw the ball.

ATLAS. Like it or not, I'd better do as you say; you're strong and armed, and I'm old and without weapons. At least be careful not to let it fall so that it doesn't get any more bumps and doesn't get bruised or cracked, as when Sicily broke off from Italy and Africa from Spain; or a splinter may tear off – like a province or a kingdom – and there may be a war as a result.

HERCULES. Don't worry.

ATLAS. Your turn to serve. Don't you see that it's limping because it's out of shape?

HERCULES. Come on. Hit it harder; your serves don't reach me.

ATLAS. It's not the hitting; the wind comes from the southwest, as is usual here, and the ball is carried by the wind – it's so light.

HERCULES. It's the same old story; always chasing after the wind.

ATLAS. Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea to inflate it, for it doesn't bounce off the ffist any more than a melon does.

HERCULES. This is a new flaw, for in ancient times it bounced and jumped like a mountain goat.

ATLAS. Run! Quick! Quick! I say. Don't let it fall; damn the moment you came here!

HERCULES. You served it to me so badly and so low that I couldn't have caught it even if I'd broken my neck running. Oh, poor thing, how are you? Did you hurt yourself? I can't hear anyone breathing; I can't see a soul stirring; they're all still asleep.

ATLAS. Let me have it, by all the horns of the Styx, so that I may settle it again on my shoulders. And you pick up your club, and go back to heaven as fast as you can, and apologize for me to Jove for this accident, which was all your fault.

HERCULES. I'll do so. For many centuries a certain poet by the name of Horace has been a guest in my father's house, where he was admitted as court poet upon the recommendation of Augustus, who had been deified by Jove out of consideration for the power of the Romans. This poet keeps singing certain songs of his; in one of them he says that a just man remains unmoved even if the world falls. I must think that now all men are just, for the world has fallen and no one has moved.

ATLAS. Who ever doubted the justice of men? But stop wasting time; run and hurry to clear me with your father; for I am afraid that at any moment a thunder-bolt will turn me from Atlas into Etna.

Dialogue Between Fashion and Death

FASHION. Madam Death, Madam Death.

DEATH. Wait for your time, and I'll come without your calling me.

FASHION. Madam Death.

DEATH. Go to hell. I'll come when you don't want me.

FASHION. As if I weren't immortal.

DEATH. Immortal?

‘More than a thousand years have passed’since the time of the immortals.

FASHION. Oh, our Madam spews Petrarch too, just like a sixteenth- or nineteenth-century Italian poet.

DEATH. I love Petrarch's poetry because there I find my Triumph and because it mentions me almost everywhere. But now get out of my way.

FASHION. Come, in the name of your love for the seven deadly sins, stop a moment and look at me.

DEATH. I'm looking.

FASHION. Don't you recognize me?

DEATH. You should know that I don't see very well and that I can't wear glasses because the English don't make any that fit me, and even if they did, I wouldn't know how to keep them on.

FASHION. I'm Fashion, your sister.

DEATH. My sister?

FASHION. Yes. Don't you remember that we are both Caducity's daughters?

DEATH. What can I remember, I who am memory's greatest enemy?

FASHION. But I remember well; and I know that you and I together keep undoing and changing things down here on earth although you go about it one way and I another.

DEATH. If you are not talking to yourself or to someone who is inside your throat, raise your voice and chisel your words better; if you keep mumbling between your teeth with that spider-web voice of yours, I'll never hear you, for if you don't know it already, my hearing is no better than my eyesight.

FASHION. Even if it isn't good manners – and in France people don't speak in order to be heard – and since we are sisters and don't have to stand on ceremony, I'll speak as you want. I'm saying that it is our nature and our custom to keep renovating the world. But right from the start you threw yourself on people and on blood, whereas I'm generally satisfied with beards, hair, clothes, furnishings, buildings, and the like. It is quite true, however, that I haven't refrained – nor am I refraining now – from playing many games comparable with yours, such as, for instance, piercing ears, lips, or noses with holes and causing them to be torn by the trinkets I hang in those holes; charring the flesh of men with red-hot brands, as I make them do for beauty's sake; misshaping the heads of babies with bandages and other trappings, making it a custom for all the men of a country to have their heads in the same shape, as I have done in America and in Asia; crippling people with tight shoes; cutting off their breath and making their eyes pop out because of their tight corsets; and a hundred other such things. As a matter of fact and generally speaking, I persuade and force all genteel men to endure daily a thousand hardships and a thousand discomforts and often pain and torment and I even get some of them to die gloriously for love of me. I won't tell you about the headaches, the colds, the inflamations of all kinds, the quotidian, tertian, or quartan fevers that men catch to obey me, agreeing to shiver in the cold or to stifle in the heat according to my wishes, by protecting their shoulders with wool and their chests with cloth, and by doing everything my way, no matter how much it hurts them.

DEATH. Then I believe that indeed you are my sister and, if you want me to, I'll hold it more certain than death itself – without your having to prove it with a parish birth certificate. But if I keep this still, I'll faint. So, if you feel like running next to me, be sure you don't croak, for I go fast; and as we run, you can tell me about your business. Or else, in view of our family ties, I promise you that upon my death I'll leave you everything I have, and you can stay where you are with my best wishes.

FASHION. If we were to run the Palio together, I don't know which one of us would win the race, for whereas you can run, I can go faster than a gallop; and whereas you faint by standing still in one place, I waste away. So let's start running again, and, as you say, as we run, we'll talk about our affairs.

DEATH. Let's get on with it. And since you were born from my mother's womb, it would be good if you would help me in some way with my chores.

FASHION. I have done that in the past more often than you think. First of all, though I continuously cancel and distort all the other customs, I've never in any place allowed the practice of dying to stop; and because of this, you can see it going on everywhere from the very beginning of the world until today.

DEATH. Some miracle – that you didn't do what you couldn't.

FASHION. What do you mean I couldn't? Obviously you don't seem to know the power of fashion.

DEATH. All right, all right! We'll have plenty of time to talk about that when the custom of not dying has come. But for the moment I would like you, as a good sister, to help me obtain the opposite goal more easily and more speedily than I have done so far.

FASHION. I have already told you about some of my doings that are of great assistance to you. But they are trifles in comparison with what I am going to tell you now. A little at a time, but mostly during these past years, to help you out, I have caused the neglect and the elimination of the exertion and those exercises which favor physical well-being, and I have introduced innumerable others that weaken the body in a thousand ways and shorten life and have caused them to be valued highly. In addition to this, I have put in the world such orders and such customs that life itself, both of the body and of the soul, is more dead than alive, so much so that this century can truly be called the century of death. And while in ancient times you had no other property except ditches and caves – where you sowed bones and dust in the darkness, which are seeds that bear no fruit – now you have land in the sun; and the people who move and walk about with their own feet are, so to speak, entirely yours even without harvesting them – as a matter of fact from the very moment they are born. Furthermore, if in the past you were generally hated and reviled, nowadays, because of my doings, things have come to such a point that whoever has any intelligence values and praises you, preferring you to life, and loves you so much as to call you constantly and to look to you as their greatest hope. Finally, I saw many boasting that they would become immortal, that is to say, they would not die completely because a good part of them would not fall into your hands. Although I knew that this was nonsense and that if those or any other people lived in the memory of mankind, their life would become a joke and they wouldn't enjoy their fame any more than they would suffer from the humidity of their tombs – in any case, seeing that this business of immortality stung you, because it seemed to injure your honor and your reputation – I have done away with this custom of seeking immortality and also of bestowing it on anyone who might deserve it. So now if someone dies, you can rest assured that there isn't a particle of him that isn't dead, and he'd better go right underground in his entirety, just like a fish who's swallowed up head and bones in a mouthful. These things are neither few nor slight, and I have done them for your sake – as I wanted to advance your domain on earth, as has happened. For this purpose I am ready to do the same, and more, each day; and for this reason I looked for you. And I think it desirable that from now on we should always stay together, for in this manner we'll be able to talk things over and reach the best decisions, as well as carry them out.

DEATH. You are quite right. Let's do as you say.

Dialogue Between the Earth and the Moon

EARTH. My dear Moon, I know that you can speak and answer questions because you are a person, as I have often heard from the poets. Also, our children say that you, in fact, have a mouth, nose, and eyes, just like their own, and this they can see with their very eyes, which, at their age, must naturally be extremely sharp. As for me, I have no doubt that you know that I am no less a person, so much so that when I was younger, I had many children, so you will not be surprised if you hear me speak. Well then, my sweet Moon, although I have been your neighbor for so many more centuries than I can remember, I never said a word to you until now, for I was so busy with my chores that I did not have any time left for a chat. But now my affairs are of very little consequence; as a matter of fact, I can state that they take care of themselves. I don't know what to do, and I'm bored to death. So I plan to talk to you often in the future and to take an interest in your affairs – if I don't trouble you too much.

MOON. Don't worry about that. I wish Fortune would give me as little trouble as I am certain you will give me. If you feel like talking to me, talk as much as you want, for although I am a friend of silence, as I think you know, I shall listen to you and shall be happy to answer your questions if that can be of help to you.

EARTH. Do you hear this delightful music, which the heavenly bodies make with their movements?

MOON. To tell you the truth, I don't hear anything.

EARTH. I don't hear anything either, except the roar of the wind rushing from my poles to the equator and from the equator to my poles – and it doesn't seem anything like music. Yet Pythagoras says that the celestial spheres make a certain music, so sweet that it is indeed wondrous and that you yourself have a part in it, for you are the eighth string of this universal lyre, which I don't hear because I am deafened by that very music.

MOON. Then I must surely be deafened too, for, as I said, I don't hear it; and I didn't know I was a string.

EARTH. Then let's change the subject. Tell me, are you really inhabited, as so many philosophers, ancient and modern, from Orpheus to De La Lande, state and swear? Though, like a big snail, I try to stretch these horns of mine, which men call mountains and peaks and with whose tips I keep staring at you, I have never been able to discover a single inhabitant on you – and yet I hear that one David Fabricius, whose eyesight was keener than that of Linceus himself, once discovered a number of them as they were hanging their laundry in the sun.

MOON. As to your horns, I don't know anything. The fact is that I'm inhabited.

EARTH. What color are those men of yours?

MOON. What men?

EARTH. Those who inhabit you. Didn't you say you are inhabited?

MOON. Yes. And so?

EARTH. And so, your inhabitants cannot all be animals.

MOON. Neither animals nor men, though I don't know what kind of creatures they are – either of them. As a matter of fact, I haven't been able to understand an iota of what you have been saying about men, as I think you call them.

EARTH. But what kind of people are yours?

MOON. Very many and different kinds; you don't know them just as I don't know yours.

EARTH. That is very strange to me, so much so that if I hadn't heard it from you yourself, I could not believe it for anything in the world. Have you ever been conquered by any of your inhabitants?

MOON. Not that I know of. And how? And why?

EARTH. Through ambition, through greed for other people's possessions, by means of politics, by force of arms.

MOON. I do not know what you mean by arms, ambition, politics; in short, I don't know what you are talking about.

EARTH. But if you don't know about arms, you certainly know about war, for not long ago, one of our scientists with the help of a telescope – which is an instrument made to see very far – discovered a great fortress up there with regular and straight bastions, which is a sign that your people are at least acquainted with sieges and mural combats.

MOON. Excuse me, Madame Earth, if I answer you a little more freely than becomes one of your subjects or servants, as I am. But really, you strike me as rather vain if you think that all things in every part of the world are like your own; as if Nature were only intent on reproducing you in everything she did. I say that I am inhabited, and from this you conclude that my inhabitants must be men. I inform you that they are not; and although you accept the fact that they are different creatures, you assume that they have the same qualities and live under the same conditions as your people; and you bring up the telescope of some scientist or other. But if this telescope doesn't see more clearly in other cases than in this one, I must believe that its eyesight is as good as your children's, who discover in me eyes, mouth, nose – which I don't know anything about.

EARTH. Then it isn't true that in your provinces there are broad-paved roads and that you are cultivated – as can be clearly seen from the German regions with a telescope.

MOON. If I am cultivated, I don't know anything about it. And as to my roads, I do not see them.

EARTH. My dear Moon, you must know that I am somewhat dense and slow, and no wonder men fool me so easily. But I can tell you that even if your own people have never tried to conquer you, nonetheless, you weren't always free from danger; for at various times many people down here got it into their heads to conquer you themselves, and for that purpose they made plans and preparations. But even though they climbed to the highest points and raised themselves on their tiptoes and stretched out their arms, they could not reach you. Moreover, I have seen for many years men minutely scrutinize every part of you, drawing maps of your regions, and measuring the height of your mountains, which we even know by name. I thought I should tell you these things out of my affection and consideration for you so that you'd be prepared for any emergency. Now, let me ask you a couple of questions. How annoyed are you by the dogs barking at you? What do you think of those who point you out in wells? Are you male or female? In ancient times people were not quite sure. Is it true that the Arcadians came into the world before you? That your women – or whatever I should call them – are oviparous, and that one of their eggs fell down here some time ago? And that you are pierced in the middle like rosary beads, as a modern scientist believes? That you are made of green cheese, as the English say? That one day, or perhaps one night, Mohammed cut you in half, just like a watermelon, and that a large chunk of your body slipped into his sleeve? How happy are you to sit on the tops of minarets? How do you feel about the feast of Bairam?

MOON. Go right ahead. When you go on like this, I don't need to answer you and break my usual silence. If you like to spend your time with such nonsense and cannot find anything else to talk about, instead of turning to me who cannot understand you, you'd do better to get men to build you another planet, made and inhabited the way you like, to whirl around you. You can't talk of anything else but men, dogs, and other such things, about which I know no more than about that gigantic sun, around which they say our own sun revolves.

EARTH. Truly, as I talk to you, the more I resolve to avoid speaking about my own things, the less I succeed. But from now on, I'll try to be more careful. Tell me, are you the one who enjoys making the water of my seas rise and then enjoys letting it fall?

MOON. Maybe. But supposing I do to you this or anything else, I don't notice it at all, as in the same way you probably don't notice your influence up here, which must be much greater than mine on you, as you are greater in size and strength.

EARTH. Actually, the only thing I know about the influence I have on you is that every once in a while I take away the light of the sun from you, and I take away your own light from myself. I also know that during your nights I shine very brightly on you, as I myself can see at times. But I was forgetting something that is more important than anything else. I would like to know if really, as Ariosto writes, everything that man loses – such as youth, beauty, health, the labors and the expenses invested in learning and in gaining fame, in bringing up children according to the norms of good behavior, in founding or promoting useful institutions – everything goes and collects up there so that all human things can be found in you, except folly, which never leaves mankind. If this is true, I suppose you must be so full that you have no room to spare, especially if we consider that in recent times men have lost a great many things (such as patriotism, virtue, magnanimity, integrity), not only in part and not only a few of them, as happened in the past, but all together and completely. And certainly, if those things are not up there, I don't know in what other place they could be found. Therefore, I would like to make a pact with you. You'll start returning all these things to me now, and then you'll keep doing so as the opportunity arises. After all, I think that you yourself would be glad to be rid of them, especially common sense, which, as I understand, takes a tremendous amount of space. I would see to it that every year men would pay you a substantial sum of money.

MOON. And there you speak of men again. Although, as you state, folly does not leave your regions, you seek men's wits while you try to take my own away from me. I don't know where they are, if they are disappearing or if they remain in any part of the world; all I know is that they cannot be found here, just as one cannot find any of the other things you have been asking about.

EARTH. At least you can tell me if up there people are acquainted with vice, crime, calamity, pain, old age, in short, evils. Do you understand these words?

MOON. Oh yes. I surely understand them. And not only the words but the things they mean; I know them perfectly well, for I am filled with them – rather than with the other things you mentioned.

EARTH. What are more prevalent among your people, virtues or vices?

MOON. Vices, by far.

EARTH. What is more abundant, good or evil?

MOON. Evil, without comparison.

EARTH. And, in general, your inhabitants are happy or unhappy?

MOON. So unhappy that I wouldn't change places with the most fortunate of them.

EARTH. It's the same here. So much so that it is a great surprise how similar you are to me in this, whereas you are so different in everything else.

MOON. I am also similar to you in form, and in movement, and in receiving light from the sun, and this is no less surprising than the rest because evil is something common to all the planets of the universe or at least of this solar system – just as much as roundness and the other conditions I have mentioned. If you could raise your voice so high that it could be heard by Uranus or Saturn, or by any other planet of our world, and if you could ask them whether unhappiness exists on them and whether good or evil prevails among them, each would answer in the same way I have. I say this because I have already asked Venus and Mercury about the same things, for now and then I find myself closer to them than you. I have also asked some of the comets that have passed by me. All have answered in the same way as I have. And I believe that the sun himself, and every star, would give the same answer.

EARTH. In spite of all this, I am still hopeful, especially nowadays, when men are promising me great future happiness.

MOON. Hope as much as you like; I assure you that you can hope forever.

EARTH. Do you know what's going on? These men and these animals are beginning to stir and make noise. On the side from which I'm talking to you, it is night, as you can see, or rather, as you can't see; and so they were all asleep, and at the commotion that we are making while we talk, they are waking up with great fear.

MOON. But up here, as you can see, it is daytime.

EARTH. I don't want to frighten my people or to shatter their sleep, which is the greatest blessing they have. So we'll talk again some other time. Goodbye, then; and good day.

MOON. Goodbye; and good night.

The Wager of Prometheus

In the year eight hundred thirty-three thousand two hundred and seventy-five of the reign of Jove, the College of the Muses ordered that certain posters be printed and affixed in the public places of the city and suburbs of Hypernephelus, by which all the gods, great and small, as well as the other inhabitants of the city, who recently or in former times might have made some valuable discovery, were invited to present it, either in person or in the form of a model or a description, to the judges appointed by said College. At the same time, regretting that because of their well-known poverty they could not be as generous as they would have liked, they promised, as a prize to the competitor whose invention would be judged the most beautiful and the most useful, a laurel crown with the privilege of wearing it day and night, in public and in private, within and without the city, along with the right to be painted, sculpted, engraved, molded, that is, represented in any manner and material, with such a laurel crown on the head.

Many of the gods competed for this prize, just as a pastime, something no less necessary to the inhabitants of Hypernephelus than to those of other cities – not that they had any desire for that crown, which was not worth a cotton nightcap; and as for glory, if men themselves, now that they have become philosophers, despise it, we can imagine in what kind of esteem it is held by the gods, who are so much wiser than men (as a matter of fact, according to Pythagoras and Plato, they are the only ones to be really wise). Therefore – and it was a unique ex ample, until then unheard of for similar cases of awards offered to the most deserving – this prize was adjudged without the intrusion of solicitations or favors, of secret promises or intrigues. Three competitors won: Bacchus for the discovery of wine; Minerva for the discovery of oil, which is so necessary to the gods for daily anointing after their baths; and Vulcan for having invented an economical copper pot, by which any food can be cooked quickly and with little fire. So the prize had to be divided into three parts, with the result that each one got a small laurel branch; and all three of them refused it, either in part or in whole. Vulcan declared that as most of his time was spent working and sweating before the fire of his forge, that thing on his forehead would be a great nuisance – not to mention that it would expose him to the danger of being burned or scorched if a spark should by chance fall upon those dry leaves and set them on fire. Minerva said that since she had to hold on her head a helmet large enough to cover at once the armies of a hundred cities, as Homer writes, it was not advisable for her to increase that weight in any way. Bacchus said that he didn't want to change his hat and his crown of vine leaves for a laurel crown, although he would happily accept it if he were allowed to use it as a sign in front of his tavern. But the Muses refused to grant it to him for this purpose so that it remained in their treasury.

The other competitors did not envy the three deities who had won and had rejected the prize, nor did they complain about the judges or blame their decision, except one, Prometheus, who had entered the competition by sending in the clay model which he had used in forming the first men, adding to it a description of the qualities and functions of the human race, which he had invented. No little astonishment was caused by Prometheus's dissatisfaction in this matter, which all the others, winners and losers alike, had taken as no more than a game. But as the reason for such dissatisfaction was investigated, it was learned that he strongly desired not the honor itself but the privilege he would have enjoyed had he been the winner. Some think that he wanted to avail himself of the laurel to protect his head against the storms, as we are told of Tiberius, who, whenever he heard thunder, put on his crown, for he believed that laurel was not susceptible to lightning. But in the city of Hypernephelus there is neither thunder nor lightning. Others, more plausibly, state that Prometheus, who was getting on in years, was beginning to lose his hair – a misfortune which he, like many others, did not like at all – and since he had not read Synesius's work in praise of baldness or, as is more likely, since he had not been convinced by it, he wanted to conceal the bareness of his head under the diadem, just as Julius Caesar did.

But to go back to our story. One day, as he was talking to Momus, Prometheus bitterly complained that wine, oil, and pots had been given preference over the human race, which he pronounced the best work the immortals had brought to the world. And since he thought that Momus was not convinced, for he advanced all kinds of arguments to the contrary, Prometheus suggested that both of them fly down to earth together and in each of its five parts stop at random in the first place they discovered to be inhabited by men; but first they made this mutual wager – with Prometheus betting that in all of the five places, or in the majority of them, they would find positive proof that man is the most perfect creature in the universe. This was acceptable to Momus, and having agreed on the amount of the wager, they immediately began their descent toward the earth. They first directed themselves to the New World, for owing to its very name and owing to the fact that no one of the immortals had ever been there, it especially excited their curiosity. They made their first stop in the northern area of the country of Popaián, not far from the river Cauca, in a place where there appeared many signs of human habitation – traces of cultivation in the countryside, numerous trails, al -though often interrupted and mostly obstructed, trees felled and stretched out on the ground, and particularly what looked like graves, with some human bones here and there. But for all that, the two celestial creatures could neither hear a man's voice nor see a live man's shadow no matter how much they sharpened their ears or their eyes. They went on, partly walking, partly flying, for many miles, passing over mountains and rivers, and everywhere they found the same signs and the same solitude.‘How is it these places are so deserted,’said Momus to Prometheus,‘when they clearly show that they were inhabited?’Prometheus mentioned tidal waves, earthquakes, hurricanes, heavy rains, which he knew to be common in tropical regions; and, indeed, at that very time they heard in all the nearby forests rain constantly falling from the tree branches as they were shaken by the wind. But Momus could not possibly understand how that area could be subject to tidal waves – the sea being so far away that it could nowhere be seen; and he could understand still less how it had happened that earthquakes, hurricanes, and heavy rains had destroyed all the men of that country while they had spared jaguars, monkeys, foxes, anteaters, eagles, parrots, and a hundred other kinds of animals of the earth and of the air, which were visible in the area. Finally, as they descended into an immense valley, they discovered, as it were, a small heap of houses, or rather of wooden huts, covered with palm leaves – each one surrounded by a wooden fence. In front of one of them there were many people, some standing, some sitting around an earthen pot suspended over a large fire. The two celestial beings, having taken human form, approached the group. Prometheus courteously greeted everybody and then turned to the one who appeared to be the chief and asked him what they were doing.

SAVAGE. We're eating, as you can see.

PROMETHEUS. Do you have something good to eat?

SAVAGE. Only this meat.

PROMETHEUS. Is it meat from a domestic or from a wild animal?

SAVAGE. Domestic; as a matter of fact, from my own son.

PROMETHEUS. Did you have a steer for a son, like Pasiphae?

SAVAGE. Not a steer but a man, such as all other people have.

PROMETHEUS. Do you really mean it? Do you eat your own flesh?

SAVAGE. Not my own but certainly his, for it was only for this purpose that I brought him into the world, and I cared for him and nurtured him.

PROMETHEUS. Just for the purpose of eating him?

SAVAGE. What's so strange? And his mother too! Since she is not likely to bear any more children, I'm planning to eat her soon.

MOMUS. Just as you eat the hen after having eaten the eggs.

SAVAGE. And so the other women I have ... as they become useless for childbearing ... I'll eat them too. And these slaves you see here ... do you think I'd keep them alive if every once in a while I didn't get some of their children to eat? But as they get old, I'll eat them too, one at a time – if I live long enough.

PROMETHEUS. Tell me, those slaves – do they belong to your own people or to another?

SAVAGE. To another.

PROMETHEUS. To one very far from here?

SAVAGE. Very far, so much so that between their houses and ours there was a little stream.

Then he pointed at a low hill and added:‘There, that's where they used to live, but our people destroyed them.’At this point Prometheus noticed that many of the savages were ogling him with the kind of loving look that a cat gives a mouse. Thus, so as not to be eaten by his own creatures, he quickly took off in flight; and so did Momus with him. Both of them were so scared that as they departed, they contaminated the barbarians' food with the same kind of dirt that the Harpies out of envy showered on the tables of the Trojans. But the savages, more hungry and less squeamish than Aeneas's companions, continued their meal.

Prometheus, quite disappointed with the New World, immediately directed his course toward the oldest world, that is to say, toward Asia; and having covered in not much more than an instant the distance between the new and the ancient Indies, both of them made their descent near Agra, in a field overflowing with a vast multitude of people gathered on the edge of a trench crammed with wood – on whose brim you could see on one side some men with lighted torches, ready to set the wood afire, and on the other, on a platform, a young woman wearing extremely sumptuous clothes and all kinds of barbaric ornaments, who was dancing and shouting and showing signs of the most extravagant joyfulness. As he saw this, Prometheus imagined a new Lucretia or a new Virginia, or an emulator of Erechtheus's daughters, of Iphigenia, of Codrus, of Menecius, of Curtius, and of Decius, who, following the command of some oracle, would voluntarily offer herself up in sacrifice for her country. When he later learned that the woman was sacrificing herself because of her husband's death, he thought that she, not unlike Alcestis, wanted to buy back her husband's life at the price of her own. But having further ascertained that she was preparing herself to be burned alive only because this was the custom among the widows of her group, that she had always hated her husband, that she was drunk, and that the dead man, rather than coming back to life, was to be burned in that very same fire, Prometheus immediately turned his back on that spectacle and headed for Europe. On the way, he held this conversation with his companion.

MOMUS. Would you ever have thought, when with enormous risk you stole fire from heaven to give it to men, that some of them would use it to cook one another in pots and some others to burn themselves voluntarily to death?

PROMETHEUS. Certainly not. But don't forget, dear Momus, that those we have seen so far are barbarians and that the nature of men should not be judged from barbarians but from civilized people toward whom we are now traveling. I'm firmly convinced that among them we'll see and hear things that not only will seem worthy of praise but will also fill you with astonishment.

MOMUS. If men are the most perfect species in the universe, I don't see why they need to be civilized in order not to burn themselves to death or not to eat their own children. The other animals are all barbarians, and yet they don't deliberately burn themselves, except the phoenix, who has never been seen by anyone; those who eat any of their own kind are extremely rare, and still rarer are those who feed on their own offspring – and then only because of some strange accident and not because they've brought them into the world for this purpose. Note also that of the five parts of the world, only one, by far the smallest and not even all of it, plus some minimal areas of another part, are endowed with that civilization that you acclaim. And I don't think that you yourself will maintain that this civilization is so complete that nowadays the men of Paris or of Philadelphia have reached all the perfection of which their species is capable. Now, how long did those people have to work and suffer to reach a state of civilization which is not yet perfect? As many years as those that can be counted from the origin of man to our day. And almost all the inventions that were either most necessary or most conducive to the attainment of a civilized state have had their origins not in design but in chance so that human civilization is more the work of accident than of natural development; and where those accidents have not occurred, the people are still barbarians, although they are just as old as the civilized ones. Therefore, I conclude, if barbarians show themselves in many ways inferior to any other animal; if civilization, which is the opposite of barbarism, is even today the prerogative of a small part of the human race; and if, additionally, this small part has been able to reach the present civilized condition only after innumerable centuries, and mostly by accident rather than by any other cause; and finally, if this condition is far from being perfect – I wonder if you would consider that your judgment of the human race might be more correct if you shortened it in this manner, that is to say, by stating that the human race is indeed supreme among all the others, as you think, but supreme in imperfection rather than in perfection – although men, in speaking and in judging, continually mistake one for the other, for they draw their conclusions from premises which they have themselves devised and which they hold to be tangible truths. It is certain that the other species of creatures have been totally perfect from the very beginning, each according to its own nature. And even if it weren't clear that a savage, considered in relation to the other animals, is the worst of all, I fail to understand why being extremely imperfect in one's own nature, as man appears to be, should be valued as a greater condition of perfection than that of all other creatures. We should add that human civilization, which is so difficult to attain, and perhaps impossible to bring to completion, is not so stable that it cannot disintegrate, as has, in fact, happened many times and among various people who had acquired a good measure of it. In short, I am of the opinion that if your brother Epimetheus had brought before the judges the model he must have used when he formed the first donkey or the first frog, he would have perhaps won the prize you couldn't get. However, I'll be happy to concede that man is a most perfect creature if you decide to say that his perfection is like the one Plotinus attributed to the world, which, said Plotinus, is excellent and perfect in absolute; but to be perfect, the world must contain, among other things, all possible evils as well; for, in fact, we can find in it as much evil as it can possibly hold. And in this sense, I would probably also concede to Leibniz that the present world is the best of all possible worlds.

There is no doubt that Prometheus had a ready answer – clear, precise, and logical – to all these arguments; but it is equally certain that he did not produce it; for at that very moment they found themselves over the city of London. They descended and saw a great multitude of people gathering by the door of a private house. They joined the crowd and entered the house; there they found a man lying on his back in a bed with a pistol in his hand; he was dead, a wound in his chest; and next to him lay two small children, also dead. Several members of the house staff were also in the room, as well as some magistrates, who were questioning them, while a clerk wrote down their answers.

PROMETHEUS. Who are these wretched people?

A SERVANT. My master and his children.

PROMETHEUS. Who killed them?

SERVANT. My master, all three of them.

PROMETHEUS. You mean to say, his children and himself?

SERVANT. Yes!

PROMETHEUS. Incredible! Something really terrible must have happened to him.

SERVANT. Not to my knowledge.

PROMETHEUS. But perhaps he was poor, despised by everyone, disappointed in love, or in disfavor with the Court.

SERVANT. On the contrary! He was very rich, and I think everyone held him in high esteem; to love he was indifferent, and he was very much in favor with the Court.

PROMETHEUS. Then, how did he get so desperate?

SERVANT. Because of the tedium of life, as he has declared in writing.

PROMETHEUS. And these magistrates – what are they doing?

SERVANT. They are inquiring whether my master had lost his mind or not; for if he hadn't, his property goes to the Crown; and indeed there is no way to avoid that.

PROMETHEUS. But tell me, had he no friend or relative to whom he could entrust these small children instead of killing them?

SERVANT. Yes, he did, and, among others, one to whom he was especially close and to whom he has entrusted his dog.

Momus was about to congratulate Prometheus on the good effects of civilization and on the happiness which it seemed to bring to men's lives; he also wanted to remind him that no other animal, except man, kills himself voluntarily or takes the lives of his own children out of sheer desperation. But Prometheus was ahead of him and, without caring about seeing the two remaining parts of the world, paid him the wager.

Dialogue Between Nature and an Icelander

An Icelander, who had traveled most of the world and had visited many different countries, was once wandering in the interior of Africa when he crossed the equator into a region never before explored by man. There he met with an adventure similar to the one encountered by Vasco da Gama, when he doubled the Cape of Good Hope and the Cape itself, which stands guard over the Austral seas, came toward him in the form of a giant to dissuade him from entering those uncharted waters. The Icelander saw an enormous bust far away in the distance. At first he imagined it to be made of stone, like those colossal figures he had seen on Easter Island many years before. But as he drew nearer, he discovered that it was the huge body of a woman, seated on the ground, her bust erect and her back and her elbow resting against a mountain. And she was not a statue, but alive – her face at once beautiful and awesome, her eyes and her hair raven black. She looked at him fixedly for some time, without speaking. Finally she said:

NATURE. Who are you? What are you looking for in these regions, where so far your species has been unknown?

ICELANDER. I'm a poor Icelander and am fleeing Nature. I have fled her nearly all my life in a hundred areas of the earth, and now I'm fleeing her in this area.

NATURE. So flees the squirrel from the rattlesnake until he finally falls into its jaws. I am she from whom you're fleeing.

ICELANDER. Nature?

NATURE. No one else.

ICELANDER. I regret it to the depths of my soul, for I firmly believe that no greater misfortune could happen to me.

NATURE. You should have known that I would be found especially around these parts, where, as you know, my power is more evident than elsewhere. But what prompted you to run away from me?

ICELANDER. Let me tell you that since my early youth and after a little experience, I became aware and convinced of the vanity of life and of the stupidity of men, who fight one another continually for pleasures that don't please and for goods that don't help; they endure and inflict on one another innumerable worries and innumerable troubles, which actually harass and injure; and thus the more they seek happiness, the farther away they get from it. As a result of these perceptions, I abandoned all other desires and resolved to lead an obscure and quiet life, without bothering anyone, without trying to advance myself in any way, without competing with anyone for any good in the world. And without hoping for any kind of pleasure – which is something that's denied our species – I did not set for myself any other goal than to stay away from suffering. With this I don't mean to say that I intended to abstain from work and physical labor, for, as you well know, there is a difference between labor and discomfort and between a quiet and an idle life. As soon as I began to carry out this resolution, I learned by experience how vain it is to think that if you live among men and you don't hurt anyone, you may also avoid being hurt by others; and that if you spontaneously withdraw and are satisifed with the minimum, you may be allowed a little place somewhere, and this minimum may not be taken away from you. But I easily freed myself from the hostility of men by removing myself from their society and by retiring into solitude – which in my native island can be accomplished without difficulty. After doing this and living almost without any trace of pleasure, I still could not exist without suffering because the intense cold of the long winters and the extreme heat of the summers, which are typical of that region, tormented me continually; and the fire, next to which I was forced to spend much of my time, dried up my flesh and tortured my eyes with smoke so that neither inside my house nor in the open air could I save myself from perpetual discomfort. Nor could I lead that quiet life to which I especially turned all my aspirations, for the frightening storms on land and sea, the rumblings and the threats of Mount Hekla, the fear of fires, which are extremely frequent in wooden houses such as ours, never ceased to disturb me. In a constantly uniform life, divested of all desires and hopes and of almost all worry but that of being in peace and quiet, such discomforts as these assume no little weight and are far more serious than they usually appear to be when most of the mind is occupied by thoughts of social and civil life and by the adversities produced by men. Thus, when I found that the more I withdrew and almost contracted myself, as it were, within myself so as not to disturb or harm anything in the world, the less could I avoid being troubled and tormented by other things, I began to change regions and climates to see if there was any part of the earth where, offending no one, I might escape being offended and where, not enjoying pleasure, I might escape suffering. I was further moved to this resolution by the thought that perhaps you had destined the human race to only one climate of the earth (as you had done with each of the other species of animals and plants) and to certain specific areas outside of which men could neither prosper nor live without difficulty and misery; so that if they should scoff at and exceed the limits that your laws had prescribed for human dwellings, such difficulty and misery were to be blamed on them, and not on you. I have searched almost the entire world and have explored almost every country, always keeping my resolution of causing other creatures the least possible trouble and of seeking only a quiet life. But I was burned by heat in the tropics, stiffened by cold near the poles, afflicted by the instability of the weather in the temperate zones, plagued everywhere by the convulsions of the elements. I have seen many places where not a day passes without a storm, which is like saying that every day you attack and give deliberate battle to those inhabitants who have never done you any harm. In other regions the usual serenity of the sky is balanced by the frequency of earthquakes, by the multitude and the fury of volcanoes, by the subterranean boiling and rumbling of the entire country. Winds and furious tornadoes prevail in the regions and the seasons that are free from the other furies of the weather. There were times when I felt the roof cave in over my head because of the great weight of the snow; other times, because of the torrential rain, the earth itself cracked and gave away under my feet. At times I had to flee as fast as I could from rivers that pursued me as if I had done them some wrong. Many wild beasts I had never provoked with the slightest offense tried to devour me; many snakes tried to poison me; in various places flying insects almost consumed me to the bone. I won't speak of the infinite number of daily dangers, which are always threatening man, so much so that an ancient philosopher could not find any cure for fear other than the fact that everything is to be feared. Nor was I spared by illnesses although I was, and still am, not only temperate but self-denying in the pleasures of the flesh. I greatly marvel when I consider that you have instilled in us such a strong and insatiable craving for pleasure that without this pleasure and deprived of what it naturally desires, our life is most imperfect; and yet you have ordered that the indulgence in this pleasure shall be, of all things human, the most harmful to the strength and the health of the body, the most calamitous to everyone, and the most contrary to the duration of life itself. Nevertheless, although I have almost always and completely abstained from all pleasures, I could not avoid suffering many and diverse illnesses, some of which brought me to the brink of death; others threatened me with the loss of a limb or with perpetually leading a more miserable life than in the past; and all of them oppressed my body and mind for days and months with a thousand privations and a thousand sufferings. Although in times of illness each of us experiences new and unfamiliar pains and greater unhappiness than normal (as if human life were not sufficiently miserable as it is), you certainly have not compensated man for this by giving him periods of exuberant and unusually good health, which could bring him some extraordinary pleasure both in quality and in quantity. In countries that are generally covered with snow, I was nearly blinded, as regularly happens to the people of Lapland. The sun and the air, which are vital and necessary to our life and therefore, inescapable, continuously abuse us – the air with its humidity, its rigor, and its other whims, the sun with its heat and with light itself, so much so that man can never be exposed to either one of them without some degree of discomfort or harm. Indeed, I can't remember spending one single day of my life without suffering, whereas I cannot even count those days that I have passed without the shadow of a pleasure. I realize that suffering is as much our inevitable fate as is lack of pleasure and that it is as impossible to lead a quiet life of any kind as it is to lead a restless one without misery; thus, I am bound to conclude that you are a manifest enemy of men, and of the other animals, and of all your own creatures. Now you ensnare us, now you threaten us, now you attack us, now you sting us, now you strike us, now you rend us, and always you offend or persecute us. Either by habit or by rule, you are the slaughterer of your own family and of your own children and, as it were, of your own flesh and blood. Therefore, I have no more hope. I have understood that men finally stop persecuting those who flee or hide from them with the firm resolution of fleeing and hiding, but you never stop harrowing us until you finally crush us. And I am already close to the bitter and gloomy time of old age, a true and manifest evil, in fact an accumulation of the most oppressive evils and miseries, an evil which is not accidental but destined by your laws to all kinds of living creatures, foreknown by each of us from childhood, and continuously apparent in us from our twenty-fifth birthday on, with a sad and unfortunate process of unmerited decay. So that one-third of man's life is assigned to growth, only a few instants to maturity and perfection, and the rest to decline, with all the resulting discom

NATURE. Did you think by any chance that the world was made for you alone? Now let me tell you that in my works, laws, and operations, except for very few of them, my purpose was not, and is not, the happiness or unhappiness of men. When I harm you in any way and with whatever means, I don't notice it, except very rarely; just as I ordinarily don't know whether I please or help you; nor have I done those things, nor do I do those actions, as you believe, to please or to help you. Finally, even if I happened to wipe out your entire species, I wouldn't notice it.

ICELANDER. Let us suppose that someone of his own initiative invited me and strongly urged me to visit his villa, that to please him I accepted, and that once there, I was to be lodged in a dilapidated and ruined cell, humid, fetid, and exposed to the wind and the rain, where I was in constant danger of being crushed. And that not only did he not take the trouble to entertain me with some recreation or provide me with some comfort, but he barely furnished me with enough to keep alive, and he also let me be reviled, scorned, threatened, and beaten by his children and by the rest of his family. And if I complained to him of such treatment, he answered:‘Do you think that I built this villa for you or that I keep these children and these servants of mine just to assist you? I have many things to think about other than entertaining you and spending money for your support.’To this I would reply:‘See, my friend, as you did not build this villa for me, so it was your privilege not to invite me here. But since you asked me of your own initiative to come and stay here, don't you think you should arrange it so that, as far as possible on your part, I should be able to live here without suffering and without danger?’This is what I am saying now. I know very well that you did not create the world for the service of men; I could more easily believe that you created it for the express purpose of torturing them. Now I ask you, did I ever beg you to put me in this universe? Did I intrude into it violently and against your will? Indeed, you yourself have placed me here with your own hands and of your own will and without my knowledge and in such a way that I could neither resist nor oppose it. Then is it not your duty, if not to keep me happy and satisfied in this kingdom of yours, at least to see to it that I am not tormented and tortured and that living in it is not harmful to me? And what I am saying about myself, I am also saying about the entire human race, about the other animals, and about all living creatures.

NATURE. Evidently, you have not considered that in this universe life is a perpetual cycle of production and destruction – both functions being so closely bound together that one is continuously working toward the other, thus bringing about the conservation of the world, which, if either one of them were to cease, would likewise dissolve. Therefore, were anything free from suffering, it would be harmful to the world.

ICELANDER. That is just what all philosophers say. But since what is destroyed suffers and what destroys does not experience pleasure and is itself soon also destroyed, tell me what no philosopher can: who finds any pleasure or who finds any advantage in this most miserable life of the universe, which is preserved by means of the suffering and the death of the very things that compose it?

We are told that while they were engaged in these and similar discussions, there happened to appear two lions who were so worn out and starved that they barely had enough strength to eat up the Icelander, which they did and thus managed to get enough nourishment to survive for the rest of that day. But there are some who deny this story and maintain that while the Icelander was speaking, an extremely fierce wind arose, threw him down to the ground, and raised over him a majestic mausoleum of sand, under which, perfectly desiccated and turned into a beautiful mummy, he was later discovered by some travelers and placed in the museum of a European city.

Dialogue Between Frederick Ruysch and His Mummies

Chorus of Mummies in Frederick Ruysch's Study

Alone in the world, eternal, toward whom does move

Every created thing,

In you, Death, finds rest

Our naked nature;

Not joyous, but secure

From ancient suffering. Profound

Night in our confused mind

Obscures our grave thought;

Towards hope, desire, the shriveled spirit

Feels its strength wane;

Thus from affliction and from fear is freed

And the empty slow years

Unbored whiles away.

We lived; and as the confused memory

Of a frightening ghost

And of a sweating dream

Wanders in the souls of infants,

So in us remembrance lingers

Of our lives: but far from fear

Is our remembering. What were we?

What was the bitter point called life?

Stupendous mystery is today

Life to our minds, and such

As to the minds of the living

Unknown death appears. As when living

From death it fled, now flees

From vital flame

Our naked nature

Not joyous but secure;

For to be happy

Is denied to mortals and denied the dead by Fate.

RUYSCH. (Outside his study, looking through the chinks of the door ) What's going on? Who taught music to these dead? They sing like roosters in the middle of the night. I'm in a cold sweat and am almost more dead than they are. I didn't expect them to come back to life simply because I preserved them from decomposition. Well, for all my philosophy I'm shaking from head to foot. Damn that devil who made me bring these people into my house. I don't know what to do. If I keep them locked up here, they might break the door down, or they might get out through the keyhole and come and get me in my bed. To call for help because I'm afraid of dead people doesn't look good. All right, a little courage, and let me try to scare them instead.

(Entering ) Eh, children, what kind of game is this? Don't you remember that you are dead? What's this racket you are making? Have you gotten cocky because of the Czar's visit, and do you think you're no longer subject to the same laws as in the past? I suppose you meant all this in jest, and no more. If you've come back to life, I congratulate you; but I'm not rich enough to support the living the same way I support the dead; therefore, you'll have to go. If what they say about vampires is true, and you are vampires, you'll have to look for some other blood to drink; for I'm not going to let you suck mine, no matter how generous I've been with the artificial blood I've put into your veins. In short, if you want to keep quiet and silent, as you have so far, we'll remain on good terms, and in my house you won't go without anything you need; otherwise, I'm going to get the door bar and kill you all.

MUMMY. Don't be upset; I promise you that we'll all stay as dead as before, without your having to kill us.

RUYSCH. Then what's this idea of singing?

MUMMY. A short time ago, at exactly midnight, for the first time that great mathematical year has ended of which the ancients write so much; and this is also the first time the dead speak. And not only us but in every cemetery, in every tomb, down at the bottom of the sea, under snow or sand, in the open air, or in whatever place they are, at midnight, all the dead sang, like ourselves, that little song you heard.

RUYSCH. And how long will they go on singing or talking?

MUMMY. As for singing, they have already finished. For talking, they'll be allowed a quarter of an hour. Then they'll return to silence until that same year is again completed.

RUYSCH. If that's true, I don't think you'll break my sleep again. Talk together freely. I'll stand aside and gladly listen to you out of curiosity without disturbing you.

MUMMY. We can only talk by answering some living person. After the song is finished, those who don't have to answer the living remain quiet.

RUYSCH. I'm really sorry, for I think it would be great fun to hear what you'd say among yourselves if you could talk together.

MUMMY. Even if we could, you wouldn't hear anything; for we wouldn't have anything to say to one another.

RUYSCH. I can think of a thousand questions to put to you. But since time is short and leaves no choice, let me know in brief what kind of sensations of body and mind you experienced at the point of death.

MUMMY. I didn't notice the actual point of death.

THE OTHER MUMMIES. We didn't either.

RUYSCH. How come you didn't notice it?

MUMMY. Just as you never notice the moment you begin to sleep, no matter how much attention you pay.

RUYSCH. But to fall asleep is natural.

MUMMY. And don't you think that dying is natural? Show me a man, or an animal, or a plant that doesn't die.

RUYSCH. I'm no longer surprised that you go on singing and talking if you didn't notice when you died.

Unwitting of the blow, he went ahead,

Combatting still, and yet already dead,

writes an Italian poet. I thought that on this question of death, those like you would know something more than the living. But going back to our subject, at the point of death didn't you feel any pain?

MUMMY. What kind of pain can it be if one who feels it doesn't notice it?

RUYSCH. At any rate, all are convinced that the sensation of death is extremely painful.

MUMMY. As if death were a sensation and not the opposite.

RUYSCH. Yet in regard to the nature of the soul, both those who incline to the opinion of the Epicureans and those who hold the common belief, all, or most of them, agree with what I am saying, that is, in believing that death is by its very nature and beyond all comparison an extremely acute pain.

MUMMY. Well, just ask both of them on our behalf: if man has no power to notice the point when his vital operations, to a greater or lesser extent, remain only interrupted by sleep, lethargy, syncope, or by whatever cause, how will he notice the point when those same operations cease altogether, and not for a short space of time but forever? And moreover, how can it be that a living sensation exists in death? As a matter of fact, how can it be that death itself is by its very nature a living sensation? When the power of feeling is not only weak and scanty but reduced to such a minimum that it fails and is abolished, do you think that a person is capable of a strong sensation? In fact, do you believe this very extinction of the power of feeling to be in itself a very great sensation? You can observe that as death approaches, even those who die of acute and painful diseases sooner or later, before they expire, become calm and rest so that we can perceive how, being reduced to a small quantity, their life is no longer sufficient for pain, and as a result pain ceases sooner than life itself. This you may tell on our behalf to whoever thinks he'll die of pain at the point of death.

RUYSCH. Those reasons might be enough for the Epicureans. But not for those who judge otherwise of the substance of the soul, as I have done in the past and will do much more in the future, having heard the dead speak and sing. For believing that death consists in a separation of the soul from the body, they will not understand how these two things, conjoined and, as it were, conglutinated together in such a way that they both form only one person, can be separated without very great violence and unspeakable suffering.

MUMMY. Tell me, is the spirit by any chance attached to the body by some nerve or by some muscle or membrane, which must necessarily be torn when the spirit goes? Or is it by any chance part of the body, from which it must be violently snatched or severed? Don't you see that the soul leaves the body only because it is not allowed to remain and has no place there any longer and not because of any force that tears it and uproots it? Tell me also, when the soul enters the body, does it by any chance feel stuck and vigorously fastened or, as you say, conglutinated to it? Why then, when it leaves that body should the soul feel itself being detached or, in other words, experience a most violent sensation? Rest assured that the entry and the exit of the soul are equally quiet, easy, and soft.

RUYSCH. Then what's death if it's not pain?

MUMMY. Pleasure rather than anything else. You should know that dying, like falling asleep, does not take place in an instant but by degrees. True, these degrees are more or less and greater or smaller according to the variety of the causes and to the kinds of death. In the last moment death brings neither pain nor pleasure, no more than does sleep. In the preceding moments it cannot produce pain because pain is something alive, and, at that time, that is, after the beginning of death, man's senses are moribund, which is like saying weakened in the extreme. It may well be a cause of pleasure, for pleasure is not always something alive; in fact, most human pleasures consist in some sort of languor, so that man's senses are capable of pleasure even when they are near extinction since very often languor itself is pleasure, especially when it frees you from suffering; for, as you well know, the cessation of any pain or discomfort is in itself pleasure. So, the languor of death ought to be the more welcome as it frees man from greater suffering. Personally, although in the hour of death I didn't pay much attention to what I was feeling because the doctors had ordered me not to tire my brain, I nevertheless remember that the sensation I experienced was not much unlike the pleasure produced in men by the languor they feel while they are falling asleep.

THE OTHER MUMMIES. We also seem to remember that.

RUYSCH. Be it as you say, although all those with whom I have had the chance of discussing this matter had an altogether different opinion; but then, so far as I can remember, they didn't bring up their own personal experience. Now tell me, at the time of death, while you felt that pleasure, did you think you were dying and that that pleasure was a courtesy of death, or did you imagine something else?

MUMMY. So long as I wasn't dead, I never thought I wouldn't escape that danger; and at least up to the last moment that I had the power to think, I kept hoping that I would still have an hour or two of life, as I think happens to many when they die.

THE OTHER MUMMIES. The same thing happened to us.

RUYSCH. Indeed, Cicero says that no one is so decrepit that he doesn't expect to live at least another year. But how did you notice at last that the spirit had left the body? Tell me, how did you know that you were dead? They don't answer. Children, don't you hear me? The quarter of an hour must be over. Let me feel their pulse. They're dead again all right; there is no danger of their scaring me another time. So let's go back to bed.

Dialogue Between Christopher Columbus and Pedro Gutierrez

COLUMBUS. A beautiful night, my friend.

GUTIERREZ. Beautiful indeed; but I think it would be more beautiful seen from land.

COLUMBUS. Good. So you're tired of sailing too.

GUTIERREZ. Not just of sailing; but this sailing is turning out to go on much longer than I thought, and it's beginning to get to me. Even so, you shouldn't think that I'm complaining about you, as the others do. Rather, you can be sure that whatever you may decide in regard to this voyage, I'll always be on your side, as in the past, as much as I can. But since we're on the subject, I would like you to tell me clearly, in all honesty, if you still feel as sure as in the beginning that you will find land and people in this part of the world, or if, after so much time and experience to the contrary, you are beginning to have doubts.

COLUMBUS. Frankly and in confidence, as friend to friend, I confess that I'm beginning to feel a little unsure, especially because during this voyage, many of the signs which had given me great hope have proved empty – like the birds that flew overhead from the West, a few days after we left Gomera, and which I thought an indication of land nearby. Also, day after day, I have seen that the facts have not borne out the assumptions and predictions I had made before setting out to sea as to the various things that I believed would occur in the course of the voyage. So I'm beginning to think that, as these predictions have misled me – although they seemed almost infallible – it may also be that the main assumption, that we would find land on the other side of the ocean, will prove empty too. It is true that this assumption is so well founded that, if it is false, it would seem that we could not trust any human judgment except when it is based entirely on things we can actually see and touch. But, on the other hand, I realize that often, in fact most of the time, reality is at odds with theory. And I also ask myself, how can you know that each part of the world is so much like the others that, simply because the Eastern Hemisphere is occupied partly by land and partly by water, it must also follow that the Western Hemisphere is divided up between the two elements? How can you know that it is not totally occupied by one immense sea? Or that instead of land, or even land and water, it could not contain some other element? And if it is made of land and sea like the other, wouldn't it be possible that it is uninhabited? Or even uninhabitable? But suppose it is no less inhabited than ours; how can you be sure that there are rational creatures, as in ours? And even if there are, how can you be sure they are men and not some other kind of intelligent animals? And if they are men, that they are not quite different from those you know? Let's say, much bigger in body, much stronger, with much greater agility, naturally endowed with much greater intelligence and wit; also much better civilized and far more advanced in both art and science? This is what I keep asking myself. And after all, Nature is imbued with such power, and her effects are so varied and numerous that not only can we not judge with certainty what she has done and is doing in faraway places totally unknown to our world, but we may also wonder if it is not a grave mistake to argue the former on the basis of the latter. And it would not be against the probability of truth to imagine that the things of the unknown world – either all together or in part – are alien and wondrous to us. Here we see with our own eyes that in these waters the compass needle deflects from the North Star quite a bit toward the West – a novel phenomenon unheard of to seamen before now; and no matter how long I ponder, I cannot find a reason that satisfies me. For all this, however, I do not mean to imply that we should lend an ear to the fables of the ancients about the wonders of the unknown world and of this ocean, as, for instance, Hanno's fable about the countries filled with flames at night and about the rivers of fire flowing headlong into the sea. Indeed, we see how empty so far have been all the fears of dreadful prodigies and terrifying novelties felt by our men during this voyage – as when they saw that great mass of seaweed that seemed to turn the water into a meadow, somewhat obstructing our path, and they thought they had reached the ultimate limits of the navigable sea. But in answer to your question, I only mean to suggest that my assumption is based on the most probable arguments, not only in my judgment but in the judgment of many distinguished geographers, astronomers, and navigators, whom I have consulted, as you know, in Spain, Italy, and Portugal. Yet it might happen to be incorrect, for, as I repeat, many conclusions drawn from the best reasoning do not stand the test of experience, and this occurs more than ever when they concern things which are quite obscure to us.

GUTIERREZ. Then, in effect, you have staked your life, and the lives of your companions, on an issue that has no more basis than a purely speculative assumption.

COLUMBUS. That's true. I can't deny it. But leaving aside the fact that every day men risk their lives for much smaller causes and for matters of very little value – and even without giving it any thought – consider this: if you and I and our companions were not on these ships in the middle of this sea, in this unknown solitude, in as uncertain and dangerous a condition as we can imagine, what other kind of life would we be living? What would we be doing? How would we be spending these days? More happily, perhaps? Or, rather, wouldn't we be in some anxiety or hardship – or filled with boredom? What is a condition free from uncertainty and danger? If content and happy, it is to be preferred to any other; if tedious and miserable, I don't see what other kind of condition would be less desirable. I won't remind you of the glory and the benefits we will reap, should the outcome equal our hopes. Even if we don't gain any other advantage from this voyage, it still seems most profitable to me insofar as for some time it keeps us free from boredom, makes life dear to us, makes many things valuable to us which we might have otherwise held in low esteem. The ancients write – as you have probably read or heard – that unhappy lovers, hurling themselves into the sea from the Rock of Santa Maura (which was then called the Leucadian Rock) and surviving, were freed from the amorous passion by the grace of Apollo. I don't know whether we should believe that they were thus cured, but I know well that after escaping such a danger, they must have briefly held dear the very life they previously hated, even without Apollo's favor; or, in any case, they must have held it dearer and more valuable than before. In my judgment, every sea voyage is almost like a leap from the Leucadian Rock, and it produces effects which, although the same, are more lasting. In this sense, a sea voyage is far superior. It is commonly believed that being constantly in danger of death, seamen and soldiers value their own life much less than other people. But for the same reason I believe that very few people love and value their life as much as seamen and soldiers. How many blessings we ignore only because we have them! How many things that cannot even be called blessings seem very dear and very precious to seamen only because they are deprived of them! Who ever counted among human blessings having a little land to stand on? No one except seamen and, above all, ourselves, who, because of the great uncertainty about the outcome of this voyage, have no greater desire than the sight of a bit of land. This is the first thought that comes to us when we awaken, with this thought we fall asleep, and if from afar we happen to discover the tip of a mountain or a forest or a similar thing, we will not be able to contain our joy; and having set foot on land, only the thought of finding ourselves again on solid ground and of being able to go here and there walking as we please will make us feel full of bliss for several days.

GUTIERREZ. All this is quite correct, so much so that if your speculative assumption proves as true as your justification for having followed it, we shall no doubt enjoy this bliss – one day or another.

COLUMBUS. Personally, although I no longer dare promise it to myself with certainty, I hope, nevertheless, that we will soon enjoy it. For several days, as you know, the sounding line has been touching bottom; and the nature of what it brings to the surface seems a good sign to me. Toward evening, the clouds around the sun appear different in form and in color from those of the past days. The air, as you can feel, has become a little milder and warmer than in the past. The wind has no longer been blowing so full, and straight, and steady, but rather uncertain and variable as if it were interrupted by some obstacle. Add to this that reed floating in the sea which has apparently been recently cut and that little branch with its fresh red berries. And then the flocks of birds ... they have misled me before, but there are so many of them now and so large and they grow so much in number from day to day that I feel we can somewhat rely on them, especially because there are among them some birds which do not seem to be shaped like marine birds. In short, as much as I try to restrain myself, all these signs together give me great and good expectations.

GUTIERREZ. This time God grant that it come true.

forts.