Good and Evil 善与恶

约翰·弥尔顿(John Milton)

Good and evil we know in the field of this world grow up together almost inseparably; and the knowledge of good is so involved and interwoven with the knowledge of evil, and in so many cunning resemblances hardly to be discerned, that those confused seeds which were imposed on Psyche as an incessant labour to cull out and sort asunder , were not more intermixed. It was from out the rind of one apple tasted that the knowledge of good and evil, as two twins cleaving together, leaped forth into the world. And perhaps this is that doom which Adam fell into of knowing good and evil; that is to say, of knowing good by evil. As therefore the state of man now is, what wisdom can there be to choose, what continence to forbear, without the knowledge of evil? He that can apprehend and consider vice with all her baits and seeming pleasures, and yet abstain, and yet distinguish, and yet prefer that which is truly better, he is the true warfaring Christian. I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and seeks her adversary, but slinks out of the race, where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. Assuredly we bring not innocence into the world, we bring impurity much rather: that which purifies us is trial, and trial is by what is contrary.

interwoven with 使紧密结合，使混杂

- psyche [ˈsaɪkɪ] n. 灵魂，心灵

cull out 分拣，挑选出

- asunder [əˈsʌndə] v. 分开，拆开

- fugitive [ˈfjuːdʒɪtɪv] a. 逃亡的；易变的

- cloistered [ˈklɔɪstəd] a. 与尘世隔绝的，隐居的

slink out 溜走，临阵逃脱

- garland [ˈɡɑːlənd] n. 花环，花冠

我们在这个世界上了解的善与恶几乎不可分割地在一起发展生长，善的与恶的交织在一起，诡诈的诸多相似变得不好识别；那些强加在心灵上的混乱的种子需要无休止的甄别分类，真是混杂得无以复加了。正是从尝过一只苹果的外皮之后，善与恶的知识就像孪生儿一样相拥着一下子进入了这个世界，也许亚当进入了能明辨善与恶的境界，也就是能通过邪恶了解这个美好世界之后，就是倒霉末日的到来。所以，人类的现状如此，如果没有对恶的认识，还有什么智慧可以选择，还有什么克制可以容忍？一个人能真正理解并把邪恶和诱饵以及表面愉快的事一起考虑，又能约束自己，又能区别好坏，并且喜欢上那些真正好的东西，那他就是真正的基督徒。我不会赞扬一种短暂而幽闭的美德，从没施行过，自我封闭，从不出去寻找对手，而是偷偷地逃离人类的战场，在那里，不朽的花环要用辛劳和汗水赢得。肯定无疑，我们给世界带来的不是无辜，而是不纯，使我们纯洁的是磨难，而磨难又是与纯洁的东西相反的。

约翰·弥尔顿(1608—1674)，英国诗人、政治家，其父是清教徒。政论文有《论出版自由》(Areopagitica ，1644)，《论国王与官吏的职权》(Tenure of Kings and Magistrates ，1649)，《为英国人民声辩》(Defensio Pro Populo Anglicano ，1651)，《再为英国人民声辩》(Defensio Secunda ，1654)，三部不朽长诗《失乐园》(Paradise Lost ，1667)（最著名的作品，被认为是英国文学的杰作之一，它探讨了人类堕落的原因和救赎的可能性，以及对上帝的信仰和对自由意志的探索），《复乐园》(Paradise Regained ，1671)和《力士参孙》(Samson Agonistes ，1671)。

他在英国文学史上的重要地位仅次于莎士比亚。除了作为作家，弥尔顿还是一位政治活动家，支持共和主义并反对斯图亚特王朝的复辟。他的政治立场和文学成就使他成为当时英格兰文化和政治生活中备受关注的人物。