The Praise of Folly 1

Latin original · 6 verses · some words can be tapped for a gloss

1:1

Utcunque de me loquuntur mortales (neque enim sum nescia quam male audiat Stultitia etiam apud stultissimos), tamen hanc esse, hanc inquam solam esse quae deos atque homines meo numine laetificet, vel hoc argumento satis liquere arbitror, quod simulatque in hunc coetum frequentissimum dictura prodii, repente nova quaedam laetitia omnium vultus illuxere, subito quaedam exhilaravit et arrident frontes.

However mortals may speak of me (for I am not unaware how ill Folly is spoken of, even among the most foolish), yet that it is I—I alone, I say—who by my divine power gladden both gods and men, I think is sufficiently plain even from this argument: that the moment I came forth to speak before this most crowded assembly, suddenly a certain new gladness lit up the faces of all, and on a sudden their brows were cheered and they smiled.

無論世人如何議論我（因為我並非不知道，連在最愚蠢的人當中，「愚拙」也被說得何等不堪），然而正是我——我說，唯獨是我——憑我神聖的能力使眾神和世人歡欣，這一點我認為單從這個論據就足夠明白了：就在我出來向這擠滿了人的會眾講話的那一刻，眾人的臉龐忽然被某種新的喜樂照亮，他們的眉頭頓時舒展，露出了笑容。

1:2

Nata sum in insulis Fortunatis, ubi omnia sponte nascuntur sine aratro, sine cultura; nulla ibi mors, nulla aetas, nullus morbus. In hortis ac pratis nihil erat asphodelon, malvam, allium, lupinos, fabas aliasque id genus, sed malache, costum, amomum, malobathron, et denique omnes aromatum fontes undique scatebant. Hanc beatitudinem ego relinquere nolui, nisi ad vos docendum venirem et haec veritatis monimenta vobiscum communicarem.

I was born in the Fortunate Isles, where all things grow of their own accord, without plough, without tillage; there is no death there, no old age, no disease. In the gardens and meadows there was no asphodel, mallow, garlic, lupines, beans, and others of that kind, but mallow-blossom, costmary, amomum, malobathrum, and in short the very founts of all spices gushed forth on every side. This blessedness I was unwilling to leave, save to come and instruct you and to share with you these memorials of truth.

我生在「福島」上，那裡萬物自然而生，無需犁耕，無需耕作；那裡沒有死亡，沒有衰老，沒有疾病。在那裡的園圃與草地上，沒有水仙、錦葵、大蒜、羽扇豆、蠶豆和其他這類東西，只有錦葵花、苦艾、豆蔻、零陵香葉，總之一切香料的源泉四處湧流。這份福樂我本不願捨棄，若非為了前來教導你們，並與你們分享這些真理的紀念。

1:3

Sed ante omnia illud constare oportet, nullam posse vitam esse iucundam sine Stultitiae adminiculo. Primum vero quid tam stultum quam Philautia, hoc est seipsum amare? Atqui, nemo aut amicos habet aut habere potest qui non prius est sibi amicus. Hic fons est omnis iucunditatis humanae. Quisque sibi placet, quisque sibi videtur lepidus, quisque sibi sapiens, et nemo unquam infelix, nisi qui Sapienti congruens seipsum despicere didicit.

But before all else, this must be established: that no life can be pleasant without the support of Folly. And first of all, what is so foolish as Philautia, that is, to love oneself? And yet no one has, or can have, friends who is not first a friend to himself. This is the fount of all human pleasantness. Each is pleased with himself, each seems to himself charming, each to himself wise, and no one is ever unhappy except him who, agreeing with the Wise Man, has learned to despise himself.

但首先必須確立這一點：沒有「愚拙」的扶持，任何人生都不可能愉悅。而首要的是，還有甚麼比「自愛」（即愛自己）更愚蠢的呢？然而，誰若不先作自己的朋友，就沒有、也不可能有朋友。這正是一切人間愉悅的泉源。各人都喜歡自己，各人都自覺討人喜歡，各人都自以為聰明，沒有誰會不幸，除非那認同「智者」、學會了輕看自己的人。

1:4

Quaeso vos, quae vita, quae suavitas sine Stultitia? Testis est Sophoclis sententia, vel felicissimi poëtae: Felicissimum esse nescire. Testis est ipse Christus, in Evangelio, dum Patri gratias agit, quod sapientes et prudentes celaverit haec, parvulis autem et infantibus revelaverit. Parvuli autem et infantes, quid aliud quam stulti? Ita ut nisi Stultitia adessit, nemo aut loqui posset, aut dicere, aut cogitare quicquam iucundum.

I ask you, what life, what sweetness is there without Folly? Witness the saying of Sophocles, that most fortunate of poets: 'It is most blessed to know nothing.' Witness Christ himself in the Gospel, when he gives thanks to the Father because he has hidden these things from the wise and prudent, but revealed them to the little ones and to infants. And what are the little ones and infants but fools? So that, unless Folly were present, no one could speak, or say, or think anything pleasant.

我問你們，沒有「愚拙」，還有甚麼人生，還有甚麼甘甜呢？有索福克勒斯——那最有福的詩人——的話為證：「一無所知乃是最有福的。」更有基督自己在福音書中為證，他感謝父，因為父把這些事向智慧通達人就藏起來，卻向嬰孩和小子顯明出來。而嬰孩和小子，豈不正是愚人嗎？因此，若沒有「愚拙」在場，無人能說、能講、能想出任何愉悅的事來。

1:5

Quid enim stultius, quam regem de rebus maximis, de legibus, de paupertate aut opulentia populi, de bello et pace, supercilium adducere et disputare, si unquam legit eos libros, quos Plato composuit, aut eos, quos Aristoteles de Republica? Si scierit vitam regis et opinionem a philosophis toto diversam esse caelo. Quam autem multi sunt qui sine ullis literis, nulla philosophia, sola quadam naturali stultitia vel fortunae beneficio regna nactisunt, eaque praeclare gubernarunt?

For what is more foolish than for a king to knit his brow and dispute about the greatest matters—about laws, about the poverty or wealth of the people, about war and peace—if he has ever read those books which Plato composed, or those which Aristotle wrote on the Republic? If he should know that the life and opinion of a king differs by a whole heaven from that of the philosophers. Yet how many are there who, without any letters, with no philosophy, by a certain natural folly alone, or by the favor of fortune, have obtained kingdoms, and have governed them splendidly?

因為還有甚麼比這更愚蠢的呢：一位君王皺起眉頭，就最重大的事務——關於律法、關於百姓的貧富、關於戰爭與和平——高談闊論，倘若他果真讀過柏拉圖所著的那些書，或亞里士多德論《政體》所寫的那些書的話？倘若他果真知道一位君王的生活與見解，與哲學家的相去有天壤之別的話？然而有多少人，毫無學問、毫無哲學，僅憑某種天生的愚拙，或憑命運的恩寵，便取得了王國，並把它們治理得極為出色呢？

1:6

Sed iam tempus est dicendi finem facere, atque a vobis discedere; etsi scio vos cupere plura. Memineritis tamen haec esse Stultitiae monimenta, de Stultitia dicta, non tamen stulte, ut nemo nesciat. Illud unum addam: si quis putat meam orationem nimis mordacem aut loquacem fuisse, cogitet velim, non modo Stultitiam istam loquutam esse, sed et Stultitia dignam esse orationem. Nisi forte putatis Socratem, de seipso loquentem tam multa, aut Demosthenen minus Stultae orationi simile aliquid edidisse.

But now it is time to make an end of speaking, and to depart from you—although I know you wish for more. Remember, however, that these are the memorials of Folly, spoken about Folly, yet not foolishly, as no one may fail to recognize. This one thing I will add: if anyone thinks my speech has been too biting or too garrulous, let him consider, I pray, that it was not only Folly who spoke, but also a speech worthy of Folly. Unless perhaps you suppose that Socrates, speaking so much about himself, or Demosthenes, produced anything less resembling a Foolish oration.

但如今是該結束講話、與你們告別的時候了——儘管我知道你們還想聽更多。然而請記住，這些乃是「愚拙」的紀念，是論「愚拙」而說的，卻並非愚蠢地說，這一點無人會認不出來。我只補上這一句：倘若有人認為我的言談過於尖刻或過於囉嗦，我求他想一想，不單是「愚拙」在說話，這篇講辭本身也配得上「愚拙」。除非你們以為，蘇格拉底大談自己，或德摩斯梯尼，所發表的，會比「愚拙」的講辭更不相像。