1. Text

Der Weltraum (Lektion 15)
Der Weltraum ist unendlich. Unsere Erde ist ihm[1] nur ein kleines Gestirn[2] unter [3]Milliarden anderer[4] Gestirne. Der Weltraum heißt auch Weltall oder Kosmos[5].
Die Sonne ist eine brennende Kugel. Sie ist fast 150 Millionen Kilometer von der Erde entfernt[6]. Um sie kreisen unter anderem[7] die Erde, der Mars und die Venus.
Wir leben auf der Erde. Als[8] Ganzes sehen wir sie nicht. Wir sehen nur einen Teil. Sie gleicht[9] einer sehr großen Scheibe. An ihren Rand grenzt der Himmel, und man sieht dort am Tage[10] die Sonne auf – und untergehen, bald links, bald[11] rechts. Sie bringt Tag und Nacht, Sommer und Winter; und bei Nacht[12] kommen Mond und Sterne. In Wirklichkeit[13] ist die Erde eine Kugel. Ihr Durchmesser beträgt[14] in gerader Linie von einem Punkt der Oberfläche durch den Mittelpunkt hindurch bis zum[15] entgegengesetzten Punkt beinahe[16] 13000 Kilometer, und ihr Umkreis beträgt 40000 Kilometer.
Der Mond heißt Erdtrabant[17]. Er kreist um die Erde. Er ist nicht weit von der Erde entfernt. Das Sonnenlicht fällt auf ihn, und wir sehen ihn ganz deutlich.
Der Weltraum ist unendlich, und unendlich forscht man nach[18] ihm.
___________________________________

[1] ihm代表前文的Der Weltraum, 这里相当于Unsere Erde ist ein kleines Gestirn unter Milliarden anderer Gestirne für den Weltraum. 类似的Dieses Buch ist mir neu = Dieses Buch ist für mich neu.

[2] das Gestirn: [mhd. gestirne, ahd. gistirni = Sterne, Kollektivbildung zu 2Stern]: a) selbst leuchtender od. Licht von anderen Planeten reflektierender Himmelskörper: den Gang der -e verfolgen; b) (selten) 2Stern (1 b): aus den -en das Schicksal lesen. (Duden)

[3] unter在这里是“在…之间”的意思，支配第三格: Ist einer unter euch, der die Antwort kennt? 你们中间有人知道回答吗？Unter den Eiern waren zwei faule 这些鸡蛋中有两只臭了 (LG)

[4] ander: （另外还存在的人或物）另外的，其他的，别的。ander-: 用作定语形容词或名词如: andere Kinder 别的小孩; Andere behaupten, daß das nicht wahr sei 别人认为，这不对 (LG)

[5] das Weltall: der ganze Weltraum u. die Gesamtheit der darin existierenden materiellen Dinge, Systeme; Kosmos, Universum: das W. erforschen.
der Kosmos: [griech. kösmos= Weltall, Weltordnung, eigtl.= Ordnung, Schmuck] (bildungsspr.): a) Weltraum, Weltall: den K. erforschen; b) [die] Welt [als geordnetes Ganzes]: K. und Chaos. (Duden)
der Kosmos只有单数 (LG)

[6] entfernt: 离…远，相距… weit entfernt von hier, 20km von der Stadt entfernt 离这里很远，离城20公里 (LG)

[7] unter anderem: among others, among other things, between the remainder, amongst the rest; inter alia (Latin) (Babylon)

[8] als这里连接状语，意思是“作，作为，当作”，后面的名词格以相关名词或代词的格为准。如Ihm als erfahrenem Autofahrer hätte das nicht passieren dürfen 身为有经验的司机他本不该发生这类事; Wir werden ihn als guten Menschen in Erinnerung behalten 我们将把他作为好人保留在记忆中; 但多半以第一格代替第二格，如der Ruf meines Vaters als Arzt 我父亲作为医生的名声 (LG)
这里als后面接的是das Ganze的第二格。

[9] gleichen是不及物动词，只能支配第三格名词。

[10] am Tage = in the day time (Babylon)
des Tags, unter Tags也是这个意思 (LG)

[11] bald … bald … 时而…时而… (D3S)

[12] bei Nacht = at night, in the evening (Babylon)

[13] in Wirklichkeit 事实上，其实，实际上 (LG)

[14] betragen这里是及物动词，意思是“总数为，总共达，共计”，由物作主语，不能有被动语态，如Die Entfernung vom Hotel zum Strand beiträgt 500 Meter 从旅馆到海滩距离是500米。当它作“（以某种形式）表现，行为，举止”的意思时则是反身动词 (LG)

[15] von … durch … bis zu 从…穿过…直到 (D3S)

[16] beinahe意思是“几乎，差一点，将近”的意思，约等于前面的fast, 如Ich hätte heute schon beinahe einen Unfall ver verursacht 今天我差点惹出一起事故; Er ist beinahe so groß wie sie 他差不多和她一样高; Sie warteten beinahe drei Stunden 他们等了近三个小时。
在口语中尤其是与数字说明语连用时，一般用fast，如: Es ist schon fast drei Uhr 现在已经快三点了。
和fast可以使动词意思减弱，而nahezu则不行，如: Ich wäre beinahe / fast gefallen 我差点跌倒。 (LG)

[17] der Erdtrabant是合成词，地球卫星的意思，也可以写成der Erdsatellit.
注意der Trabant是个强变化名词, des, dem, den后都是Trabanten。 (Duden & LG)

[18] nach … forschen [书] 探求，探寻，查考，如: Er forscht in alten Archiven nach der Herkunft seiner Familie 他从旧档案中查考他家的祖籍 (LG)


Duden: Duden Deutsch – Deutsch Lexikon
LG: Langenscheidts Großwörterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache
Babylon: Babylon Deutsch – English
D3S: Deutsch 300 Stunden

不爽ing

下午北大科社中心的任大师来讲课，以一篇刚刚与其博士生合作完成的论文开头，大意是“中世纪砷的发现再研讨”，论敌是1982年清华两名先生的实验成果。该论文的好处是在材料上穷根究底，还比较严格地按照大阿尔伯特和帕拉塞尔苏斯、施罗德的方法做了实验（当然也有些折衷，例如没用马粪当燃料等等），最后得出一些结论，提出一些新问题。按理说这论文没啥理论深度，但令人奇怪的是前人就是没有认真查阅原始文献，不管是之前清华二生，还是国外各种权威工具书以及业余爱好者（清华二生甚至连雌黄都懒得去买），几乎都以讹传讹，或者互相征引而不注明出处。

袁大师评论说我们所已经很少再做这类研究了，好像确实如此，之前做化学史的几位老师现在都去研究中科院院史了，谁让那项目有经费呢，而且动手动脚找东西的结果经常是弄到一批用没几个人懂的语言写的文献，让人大伤胃口，像“百科全书式学者、托马斯阿奎那的老师”大阿尔伯特的原始文献有多少人看过？在国外已经催生两次萨顿奖章的帕拉塞尔苏斯在中国有几个人碰呢？虽然从这件事上看国际科学史界还很弱小，空白点很多，而中国科学史学科就更加孱弱，这并不仅仅表现在科学史研究的边缘性，也有研究者自身的问题啊。

对原始文献的考订的成果也许不会很引人注目，但这似乎是入门的好方法，也许像任大师所说，这样的论文让行外人看了，会以为是神经病发作吧。不过有志于学术的年轻人，总要经历一个癫狂的时期才可以……

不说了，明天还要考试，希望1月21日赶快到来，前提是我所有课都能过。

Glück

作为一名老师，最好的运气莫过于寻找到有前途的学生，这样的师生关系往往比父子还要亲密，因为在真正学者眼中，学术的地位一定是极为高上的，而“犬子”又往往背出家门，因此一生心血只能托付给可靠的学生，否则连去世后的小传都没人写。

很幸运，赵俪生教授找到了这样的学生，而且学生还在中国还算有名望的报纸上写了纪念文章，一写就是两大版，不可谓不风光。实际上我对赵俪生教授所知甚少，这极少的了解还没什么好印象（也就是前几年披露出来的与杨联陞之间的瓜葛），现在看来秦晖对恩师的感激之情还是极其真切的，两大版文章基本都是扎扎实实的学术成就综述。从文章来看，赵教授的研究领域是曾经极为热门而现在门可罗雀的“五朵金花”中的三朵：农民战争、土地制度、古史分期。对于现在的年轻学生来说，这些金花早就无可挽回的凋谢了，由于意识形态问题有时还让人觉得散发出令人不适的臭味，可见作为学者，赵教授已经“过气”。不过作为学生，秦晖还是尽力论证说，如果我们放弃诸如阶级斗争的教条，像农民战争之类的问题还是大有可做的，毕竟现在农民问题是如此紧迫……可是这些东西毕竟在历史学界已经很不流行了，或者说，除了特殊历史时期的中国大陆以外，它们根本没有正儿八经地成为主流过？秦晖文章的最后一节：具有汉学功底的宋学家，实际上要说宋学家完全不学无术那肯定是不公平的，据秦文说赵老先生年轻时做思想史也曾得到胡适、傅斯年的好评，不知道胡傅二人会如何评论这位投笔从戎，学术道路大变的后辈。

赵先生持“魏晋封建论”，这派观点现在被认为是“错的最少的”一种分期学说，但毕竟几乎没人再用这套东西来解释现象，中古史界早被京都学派等外来和尚征服了，所以即使有秦晖这样的托孤之人大力鼓吹，赵教授的学术依然要像20世纪初的旧史观学者那样，无可奈何花落去也。不过好在还有秦晖这样的好学生，赵教授不必像夏鼐大师那样，还要托付大洋彼岸的张光直写纪念文章。

但愿我的老师不要为我感到后悔。

[转载]先刚：德国古典哲学和我的人生

前言：这是一篇采访稿的录音整理版，当时我做后期整理。下面的是发表（发表在北大《学园》杂志第二十期）之前没有进行删除，整理的原始口语状态版。从编辑的角度看，原始版有点啰嗦，但从新一塌糊涂哲学版的角度看，原生态的先刚老师，可能更让人觉得亲近，真实。先刚老师的哲学观偏爱德国古典哲学一种形态，在这一点上我对他的观点有所保留。不过，每个人自有他自己的哲学立场，哲学观，所谓“有什么样的人就会选择什么样的哲学”，哲学上的偏爱和选择体现的是人的性格，所以，无所谓高下对错， 相反，是很有意思的事情。

《求学、人生与德国古典哲学》
采访者对象：北大哲学系外国哲学研究所先刚老师
采 访 者：王 鑫（2006级中国哲学硕士研究生）
张 梧（2004级哲学本科生）
时 间：2007年4月23日
地 点：北京大学外哲所227房间

一、求学之路

先：我看了一下，你们采访提纲内容有点多，有些也不太好阐述，我觉得不要把它当成一次严格的采访，就和两位聊聊。

张：因为先老师本科时期起就是我们系和学校里的传奇人物嘛！~

先：（笑）没这么夸张！我们班当时是92、93级合在一起上，我是92级的，在石家庄军 训了一年，当时军训一共4届，我们92级是最后一届，然后93级就不军训了。所以那时一 起上课。那时候，有30多个同学。后来我的那些同学纷纷转行，到现在为止我们那一届 ，92、93加起来还在从事哲学的只剩两个人了：一个我，还有另外一个在华中科技大学 ，去香港读的博士。

王：有一种说法是“92年前后是一个转折”。

先：对，92年的本科同学有相当多的人都去考了法律系、经济系的研究生，但是现在我觉得好像对哲学的气氛、感觉、尊重等都比我们上学的那个时候要好一点，而且要开放一点。像我们上本科的时候基本上都靠自学，现在分心的东西太多了。我主要和西哲的这些老师比较熟，尚新建老师就是我的启蒙老师。

王：那您怎么没有改行啊？

先：我没想着要改行。他们要改行无非是两个原因：一个是觉得哲学引不起兴趣，觉得这哲学没意思（我是觉得有意思的呵）；另一个原因是哲学挣不了钱，出去以后找工作有麻烦。我也没有多大考虑挣钱的问题，我的思想比较简单，觉得既然选择了哲学这条道路，将来就要在北大做老师，然后就以现在这些老师做榜样。我觉得他们的生活挺好 的啊！（笑）精神状况当然就不用说了，高度丰富的，物质上好像也不是很匮乏。我觉得最重要的是这样一种生活，作为一个学者，一种在大学教书的生活，这对我来说 就是最有魅力的，最有价值的生活。

王：那当时又是什么促使您一定要去德国的呢？

先：一开始我的兴趣也很广泛，很分散。 后来，经过比较我觉得西方哲学是最吸引我的 （不过我现在主张同学们本科的时候各门学科都应当学习，不仅是哲学，文学、历史、 政治、法律都可以多学习，在哲学内部也应该多方面学习，中哲、西哲、美学、伦理、 宗教都要学）。而德国哲学是西方哲学最主要和重要的骨干决定要向德语专业看齐。这样自己就树立一个“去德国学习”哲学的理想。有了这个理想，我就决定要学专业德语，要向德语专业看齐。所以从95年开始，95-98三年的时间跟着德语系95级同学学完了他们3年全部的专业课程。所以，我也可以看作大半个德语系培养出来的学生。

王：作为一个哲学系的学生，分掉这么多时间在语言学习上，又要保证哲学专业上的学习，您是怎么办到的呢？

先：------我这个人喜欢订计划。大一下学期的时候，我就定好了将来的研究方向以西 方哲学为主；二年级上学期的时候，我就定好了要去德国留学、学习德国哲学的目标。 所以这个时候，我就已经开始考虑学习德语的计划。我在二年级的时候就拼命的选课，一学期选七八门课，到二年级结束的时候我就已经将哲学系的专业课差不多都学完了。三年级的时候基本上就等于成了德语系的学生，每周要上十六节的德语课程。

张：那您是等于修了一个德语的双学位啊！

先：（笑）是啊！我的整个本科四年都很忙，前两年忙本专业的课程，后两年忙德语专 业的课程。但是这样下来学了很多东西，感觉很充实。语言能力就和“学二外”不可同 日而语。我当时去德语系旁听他们的专业课，这里面的曲折故事还真不少，如果这也算 “传奇”的话……

王：对，现在外院也是小班授课（即外系的同学基本上没有机会旁听）。

先：我当时经历了不少曲折。先去找西语系的教务处表明我要学德语。他们说，你去学 二外啊；我说学二外没用。教务处的秘书问为什么？我说：我的目的是去德国留学继续 深造我的专业哲学，只有通过专业的德语训练才能达到语言的要求。很可惜，这个秘书 不能理解我，拒绝了我的请求。 我当时很气馁， 在静园草坪徘徊了很久，觉得这个路我计划得挺顺当，竟然就给西语系一笔抹消了，不能作罢！于是后来我就一边和他们的教务秘书交涉，一边上课。老师看 我挺好学的，很乐意就把我也当成普通同学来对待。同时我动用了很多办法，比如去找 靳老师写了几封推荐信寄去西语系，说我们这个学生“很值得栽培”之类，希望你们允 许他学德语。其实这些都是我写好的，然后找赵老师、靳老师签字。不知道有没有效果 ，反正就用了这些手段（笑）。就和他们一直在磨，后来磨了他们一学期，教务没办法 ，因为我去听课已经成了既定事实，他就说：“唉，那你不能白学啊，你交修双学位费 吧。”第一学期是交了3200还是1600我记不太清了。交了两学期，我没钱了，就拖着不 交了。

张、王：（笑）反正也混熟了。

先：对呀。其实只交了一年，后面两年就赖掉了（笑）。所以后来靳老师还有其他系里 老师碰到我就说：“你赚了！” 当然这不是钱的问题，主要是知识就这么学到手了；至少去德国留学，我在语言方面的 障碍就基本上没有了。

王：先老师您觉得德语有什么特点呢？为什么有的同学英语那么好，德语却学不好呢？

先：我觉得这还是一个没有用心的问题。学德语的时候不太愿意在德语上投入像英语那 么大的精力和时间，那当然就学得不好了。 对于哲学专业的学生而言，我认为德语的帮 助要比英语等其他语言要大。当然，两样都精通了最好。

张：听您的意思，我觉得德国那边的古典学做得非常好。

先： 德国的古典学不纠缠于一些细枝末节的问题，而是一开始就能看到这里面的一些大 思想，既是在研究古典语言，也是在研究一种活生生的精神。在德国的“希腊学”里面 ，很难说他是研究语言学还是研究哲学的，研究柏拉图、色诺芬，更早的赫拉克里特、巴门尼德等，你可以说他是语言、文献学家，也可以说他是哲学家。哲学系的学生都知道学习德语很重要只是下决心肯去吃苦的人比较少而已。我比较早 就注意到这个问题，本科的时候就猛攻语言把德语这一关克服了。而现在很多同学上了研究生才意识到要学德语，但是这个时候压在他们身上的负担就比较重了。。。。。

王： 先老师，我觉得现在老师跟学生的联系比较少（我们很大程度上是靠自己慢慢摸索 地到研究生阶段，突然感觉某个东西很重要，可是已经晚了）比如我们中国哲学，小学 的功夫是一个基本的入门的途径。但是在本科的时候，就很少有老师给我们这样讲

先：对。我们那时候其实也面临相同的情况。所以我本科时经常去听研究生的课。首先老师不可能都管得到你，老师自己带的研究生、博士生都很多了，都不一定照顾得过来，怎么可能和本科生那么密切。但是，你可以主动一点去找老师，他也很乐意和你交流，谈问题。和老师的联系取决于学生自己的主动，老师是很乐意指点你的。而在大课里面，老师即使说了什么也不会说得很详细。

二、德国古典哲学
-------- 关于文科的家法、师传

先：我看一个人学哲学的路子正不正，首先一条就是看一个人有没有认真学习过西方哲学史。如果没有，他谈什么我都觉得是没有根子的。对于历史的把握，这是北大哲学系的传统，要在历史中发现精神性的东西。解放前北大哲学系走的就是德国哲学的那种史论结合的路线，而清华哲学系就重视实证、分析、逻辑，是英美的路线。最早的张颐，黑格尔的专家，牛津的博士，贺麟，还有郑昕、宗白华、齐良骥，这一批都是德国哲学路线的，就是在哲学史中考察哲学本身。

王：德国哲学给人感觉才像哲学，才有哲学味，英美的那个……

先：如果你发在内心地认定且感受到了这一点的话，你大可以坚持这种看法，你就认定德国哲学是最纯粹的，最拔尖的哲学

张：我认为德语赋予了哲学的一种经典形态。

先：这个我赞成。学过德语的人都知道，首先德语具有严密的结构与框架，它在要表达一个很复杂的意思的时候，是在一个很长的句子里面把它传达出来。这个思想是一环一环的扣着说出来而不是不是一段一段松散说出来（你在看第一个句子的时候，经过许多 逗号和分号直到句号，那里面的很多句子一个一个的就仿佛自然地活生生地涌现出来的，用各种从句联系起来）。给你一个思想，就是给你一个体系，微型的体系。学习德国哲学的时候就是在不知不觉地学习这种思维方式，这种整体的思维方式。而你个人是不是能够在思维建筑里大中见小、小中见大，是你个人的问题，不是这种语言或思维方式的问题。

张：德国哲学、德语表达法给人震撼的地方是作者不像是一个作者，而只是一个揭示-- ----我最近在读《小逻辑》，是贺麟先生的中译本看了之后，我有这样一种感觉：觉得 书里的话话不像是黑格尔自己说出来的，而像是“精神”自我展开而黑格尔只是把它（ 中立地记录和描述）出来一样！我觉得这是德国哲学、德语表达法给人震撼的地方。

先： 这不仅是德国古典哲学的风格，也是包括后来的海德格尔等的风格：要把你的个体 性尽可能地削弱或者消减，退到一边去，让伟大的精神、意识、存在自己来说话。它是另外一种展现个性的方式，或者说，我认为德国古典哲学始终追求的是一种整体与个别的辩证的关系。在什么意义上个体是伟大的，不可替代的，而在什么意义上个体又是渺不足道，根本就不值一提的，你必须从这两个层面看清楚个体的地位，这样才不会片面地鼓吹个体和个性。

王：我感到读德国哲学很多时候都能对我的专业中国哲学有启发 。比如德国哲学对“人”的理解，对“人”的自我和个性的理解、对于人在天地当中的位置的理解，二者都有很多可以相互参证和启发的地方。。此外，我们系的前辈，如贺麟先生，一方面他们接受德国哲学，另一方面他们中国文化的传统底子非常好，并把它作为他们哲学研究的最主要的内容，我想这可能具有某种思想上的亲缘性。

先：贺麟先生是个很好的例子。在我看来他绝对是以黑格尔和斯宾诺莎的思想来理解中国哲学的。他讲：黑格尔的绝对精神和朱熹的太极，其实就是一个东西，只不过黑格尔和朱熹采取了不同的表述方式而已。而在我看来，所谓的“存天理，灭人欲”，我觉得这就是真理：灭人欲灭的就是你的私我、私欲，那个所存的“天理”就是对普遍的“我”，普遍的“人”都适用的东西；而 那些可能危害到别人的东西就叫做人欲，因此这个要灭掉。德国古典哲学宣扬的和这套意识基本上是相同的。他们始终孜孜不倦地要纠正，或者说要让个体认识到自己在世界里的地位，不要把你的个体当成一种本原。哪个是最根本的，哪个是本质，你得弄清楚 。如果你说个体是本质、最根本的东西，那究竟是你“这个”个体还是他“那个”个体 呢？所以说如果泛泛地说任何一个“个体”的话，这还是以普遍性为原则的。总之，要么你跑到“你”的对立面上去，要么“你”就是走一种彻底的唯我论。而这样 做的话恰好是对个体的最大的伤害，因为你这样做的时候必然会侵害到其他的个体。我觉得这就是社会罪恶的根源，社会的罪恶在我看来都可以被归结于“个人”或"自我“的位置没有摆正上去。

张：哦，先老师，那您当初怎么会想到翻译那本书----我记得叫做------《个体的不可 消失性》。

先：那本书不是我挑选的，是出版社交给我的，和我导师的研究旨趣更相关一些。我导师比较重视个体性。坦率的讲，从哲学的路子来说我和我导师的路子之间是对抗的。他主张个体性的根本地位，因为他出自德国浪漫派的传统，而浪漫派就是德国古典哲学的敌人之一。现在浪漫派虽然听起来没什么名气，一点也不能跟康德黑格尔相提并论，但他们对现代社会的影响其实很大很大。你研究了德国浪漫派之后，就会看到现在哲学的各种思潮都是德国浪漫派的各种主张的翻版。在这些东西盛行的时候，你自然可以想象，德国古典哲学、德国唯心主义，处于一个如何不利的地位。推崇黑格尔、康德的很多，叶公好龙的人也不少，嘴巴上说这个、那个很重要，但他们并不真正受到康德黑格尔的感化，还是坚持着一套流行的或者说被包围在身边的各种“思潮”之中，并不一定真正回到过德国古典哲学的传统中去。甚至把这些“思潮”带入到对康德黑格尔的研究中，这是很可悲的。 最明显的例子就是，经常把康德的研究庸俗化，把康德庸俗为一个不可知论者、怀疑主义者、经验主义者。这就把康德的那些讲理念、上帝、理性的部分全都曲解了。斗争很激烈，为什么呢？因为康德研究在英美也很热烈，他们抓住的都是上述这些方面，从这些方面来解释康德。如果你站在德国哲学真正的传统上，就肯定不会承认他们这种解释 。对康德的研究这个领域是个很大的战场——像黑格尔这些德国特色特别明显的，还有谢林、费希特，包括后面的尼采、海德格尔，你没法歪曲他，只有理解不理解的问题。但康德是由于受洛克的影响，所以留下了一些理论上的经验主义的假象从而为他受到后人的误解埋下了伏笔。

张：我们今天的生活中的确多了很多流行的所谓“思潮”！而且似乎是一种普遍现象。 我觉得之所以导致“思潮”林立乃至泛滥，是因为这个时代的一种相对主义或虚无主义的心态。人们不再相信有某种普遍性，不再相信真理的实在性。 而这个现象从价值论方面说的话，就是每个人的生活都失去了对一种拥有实在性的价值本体的肯定：看上去每个人都很价值自觉，好像是自己价值的主人，但实际上也许正好相反，我们可能是自己那个追求的“价值”的奴隶！比如说现在特别流行的“后现代”主义，对“真理”、“绝对”这类范畴和语词是根本排斥的，老师您怎么看这个问题？ 先：我觉得德国古典哲学不热门在中国有在中国的特殊原因。比我们高一辈的学者，很 大程度上他们对德国古典哲学存在着逆反心理：在思想解放以前，德国古典哲学被片面 地推得太高了，仿佛一切都要因循马克思、黑格尔、康德、费尔巴哈这样的路子，这些 都被树为绝对的权威。思想一旦解放起来之后(编者按：指1978年我国关于真理的检验标准的大讨论)，大家就纷纷想，我们被你（德国古典哲学）这个权威压迫了这么多年，现在可以投入新的思潮 里面来反抗你了。这是我们上一代的学者容易出现的一种状况。他们这么做造成的影响是广泛的，毕竟现在哲学界的中坚力量很多都来自他们！他们宣扬的、主张的、推崇的那些东西，对于我们现在的学生也有很深的影响。

王：那看来到我们这一代已经又是一个“反动”了。

先：我们既然承认德国古典哲学是“最有生命力的”东西，那么我们自然会期待着它的光芒能够重新彰显的一天。不过不一定像在德国那个时代一样占据统治性的地位。 德国古典哲学的精神、它的一些核心思想还是会重新回来的。因为它也不是从天而降——它是整个哲学、整个精神或者说有史以来人类意识的一个结晶，或者说一种最充分的表现。它所继承所宣扬的那些东西，都是古代——不仅是西方，而且是中国和其他民族都主张的那些东西：和谐、统一、大同等；不仅仅是人与人之间的和谐，个体与集体之间的和谐，也是民族与民族之间的和谐、国家与国家之间的和谐。这些我们都必须站在一种整体的立场才能解释，不能立足于一些个体。民族是一个个体。你把这个个体放大了（比如说美国，就是一个放大的个体），这个个体不遵守人类普遍的基本行为，把它 这个民族的个体地位无限扩大，凌驾于其他民族其他文化之上，这样它可能就是现代社 会国际政治不安的根源。落实到哲学研究中，什么时候德国古典哲学会像现在的海德格尔这么流行，我想都没去 想，这个不重要。我们上大学时海德格尔没现在这么热，转瞬之间变化得多快啊。另一方面，从哲学史的整体看——看哲学史可以看出什么现象呢，就是在康德或者黑格 尔那些时代，也有很多号称很伟大的，很不可一世的思想家，但没多久就淹没在历史的 长河之中了。对这些流行的或者很热门的东西，我不去理会它，也不太关心它的命运，我只知道它可能是不长久的，而且我只知道我研究的、关注的东西可能是长久的。至于现在北大的学生对德国古典哲学有多大的兴趣，这不是我首先关注的问题：我最关注的是我自己能不能把这门学问做好，研究好。研究好了以后就自然地能对学生有一定的导引力和改造力，哪怕最后喜欢德国古典哲学的学生少一点也没关系！（笑）毕竟我 也没抱着一定要“扭转众生”的目的嘛！即使你很厉害，但时代的风气可不是那么轻易成型的……

三、关于传统

先：作为一个对哲学有热情或是进入到哲学的人，入了这个门，就自然而然地会沉浸到经典里。你只要在做这件事，你就是在继承哲学的传统。 我们不用刻意地强调德国古典哲学多么“牛”、多么“深刻”，多么“好”——虽然有时候我也在强调；但我强调它也是没办法。因为存在着各种思潮，思维之间的竞争，你再不说两句话你就被淹没了（笑）。等到自然而然地树立起起那种正规的、大部分人都能够进入到研究真正的哲学的时候，德国古典哲学自然而然地就有它的地位。

王： 在我们进入大学之后和成长的思想经历当中遇到的最大问题也许就是虚无主义。它带来种种价值导向和表象，各种个人价值的坍塌或者普世价值的不确性……以及我们身边观察到的那种个人自我的无限狂妄和个人自我的幻想这些问题。但同时很多人也在努力地做一种思想的自觉转变，他们也想回到某个“方向”。如果就我个人而言的话，在哲学方面德国古典哲学所代表的精神，就是我想回归的一种“方向”、“价值”，就是；在中国，就是儒家，就是这样一个古典的传统学问。

先：你能够意识到这一点，这很好。如果一些人还没反省到这一点，他们就还会执着于 一些在我们看来是错误的或者是本末倒置的东西，这个东西（感叹），研究哲学的人， 作为个体，你一时也没法扭转它！

王：您所说的——用最流行的斯特劳斯的理论来讲——恰恰是“现代性”问题中最大的 困难：你虽然意识到这个问题，但在别人看来那个只不过是你的一己之言；你的东西只 不过是“你的”东西——可能对“你”好，但不一定对“我”有价值；它没有绝对性或者普适性，我可以不接受你那个，甚至把你那个当成是最坏的也可以。

先：我们首先不能带着“论证”的态度，也不能抱着一定要别人接受的态度来做研究。也就是说你自己做好你自己，使自己彰显出来，真理之光照亮自己的时候自然也就把对方摆平了。所以我建议不要理会那些零散、肤浅的思潮。不过你总是忧心“这样做学问 下去怎么行啊！”、“咱们中国的学风怎么这样啊”也不行。你可以感叹感叹，但不能长久停留在这上面——作为一个认真的哲学事业从事者，我们最主要的工作还是在踏踏实实地做事上。

王：对，最扎实的工夫还是在专业的研究上面。

先：对，你做好了自然会有效果。康德，黑格尔在他们那个时代也并不是占据压倒性地位，那时绝大对数人还是被康德黑格尔所批判的庸俗错误思想所左右着。哲学家就像灯塔照亮着人类，使人意识到世界理性的、光明的一面。对于世界是怎样的判断取决于判断者持悲观主义还是乐观主义的态度：人类的将来究竟是理性占主导地位还是非理性，像愚昧，愚蠢之类的占主导地位？你可以像黑格尔那样乐观地认为理性终将统一世界，经过跌宕起伏的进程走向更高；你也可以像叔本华那样认为人是不可救药的，我把真理给你指出来了，你要接受你就解脱，你不接受你就永远在苦海中受罪。叔本华认为哲学家可以教你看清自己的本真，你能不能达到超脱是最重要的，至于别人，那些微不足道的现象就像大海泛起来的浪花和泡沫一样，一下去就没了；也不会有什么 改变，将来也永远是这样：少数的天才和绝大多数愚蠢的人。你要想让每个人都拥有哲学家、“智者”的立场是不可能的。但你可以在你的范围内影响到一部分人，然后再通过这一部分人影响到更大一部分人，这样就形成了一个用思想来指导的民族。但这只有少数人才能作到，像孔子，耶稣之类的才能作到。我们这些普通的哲学工作者所能作到的就是在精神的横流中拥有一种对自己的清醒的意识：别的人被精神洪流卷着，而哲学家要做到在精神的洪流中打一个漩涡，意识到精 神，意识到哪是主流，哪是支流。其实所谓的“哲学家”也好，普通群众也好，都是在时间的长流中，精神的长流中被卷着往前走的。哲学家也要死，再伟大的哲学家的思想隔了几百年也就下去了，唯有精神永存。总之，对精神要有一个认识和信念，至少对你个人来说，你的人生价值可以自己对自己加尺，至少你会意识到我的价值标准不是一大堆庸人强加给我的，而且你要对这个有信心——这就是所谓的“世界观和人生观”吧。

王：我们想请老师再谈一下在德国的学习和生活经历，德国的老师和同学，对那边的大学和生活印象比较深刻的地方。

先：这个说起来就比较琐碎了。留过学的人都知道，在国外的生活是比较枯燥无味的，没有什么享受和娱乐，不像电影上说的那样浪漫。国外的风土人情会对你有些熏陶和感受，但总体来说，就我个人而言，还是像在北大一样，就是早出晚归的学习生活。年复一年，日复一日。 我在德国是没有寒暑假的，每一天都在看书学习，反正图书馆和系里的那个门永远是开着的。学习方面，老师都是一些或多或少有些著名的哲学家。德国大学很重视经典，很多课程都是围绕一本原著，一本著作为对象来研讨，来阅读，从古到今各个时期的经典。他们研究的永远是那些经典的哲学家，这个对我的感触是很深的。虽然外面的思潮风起云涌，新思想不断涌现，但哲学系的课程永远都是柏拉图、亚里士多德、笛卡尔、康德、费希特、谢林、黑格尔。翻来覆去的，他们的每一本著作都可以当成一门课，同一个“柏拉图”可以开几十门课——他们基本上就是通过这样的方式来学习哲学的。对经典，对原著的重视是我们所缺乏的，虽然我们的课程也开设了什么什么原著选读，但感觉某些地方仍有欠缺。

王：现在北大在这方面好多了，原著选读课基本上就是以原著，以经典，以一本书为一门课。

先：这一点固然好，但严格说来远远不够。柏拉图的《理想国》，康德的《纯粹理性批判》，黑格尔的《精神现象学》，翻来覆去都是这几本。柏拉图写那么多，黑格尔写了那么多，《逻辑学》、《哲学全书》、《法哲学原理》都不用管了？康德也写那么多， 每一本都可以作为一门课的研究课题。我们在这方面就远远不及了。 我自己回来后也想遵循在德国的那种传统，但不是很容易，主要是我一个人在做这个事 情。即使我每学期开一门课程来研读康德的不同著作，可能都要花好几年的时间，那费希特怎么办，谢林怎么办，还有其他人怎么办？势单力薄。 一个人不行，必须有一批人来讲。比如我讲康德，另一个人讲费希特，还有其他人讲笛 卡尔、柏拉图等等，那学生就自然地接受到更充分的经典教育。在图宾根，最重视的三个哲学家就是柏拉图、康德、黑格尔，他们永远是主角。而且有很多老师可以同时讲他们，比如说这学期我讲柏拉图，另外一个老师也可以讲柏拉图，这学期我讲《精神现象学》，下学期另外一个老师也可以讲《精神现象学》，以这样一种很强迫很集中的方式 使你意识到这些哲学家的重要性以及他们问题的重要性。当然可能每个学校不一样，也有一些差别，但像图宾根是很注重古典哲学传统的，所以说这三个人具有压倒性的地位 ，再加上亚里士多德，是岿然不动永恒的主题。相比起来，北大学生学的太多了，还要学分析哲学等其他，还有必修课，在德国是没有必修课的。话说回来，谈到我们的传统。我们北大哲学系有没有传统？如果我们承认有，那又是什么样的传统？如果有这样的传统，我们又当持有什么样的态度？我觉得北大哲学系的传统很明显，就是哲学史、德国古典哲学的传统。中国近代以来，研究德国古典哲学的大家基本上都是在北大或从北大分流出去的。既然有了这个传统，我们就应该去坚持它， 要有意识地壮大它。但是现在，好象我们北大哲学系的强大主要体现在“全”，什么都 有，其他学校的哲学系望尘莫及。这是一个优势。但是你铺的太开，什么方面都想树起旗帜，什么方向都同等地扶持，这就没有凸显出自己的优势传统。我们老师需要反思一下，学生也应该想一想我们哲学系的传统，我们系建系也有九十多年了，我们的力量在哪，做过选择吗？虽然我不敢说德国古典哲学是我们系唯一的传统，但我可以说这是我们北大哲学系历史最悠久的传统，这是我们应该坚持的。而且我希望将来有更多的学生能够继承、发扬这个传统，不管他们将来是留在北大哲学系还是到别的学校，甚至是从事非教学活动，都能够发扬光大之。 在德国，就很重视自己的传统。图宾根和北大很像，文理双全，很多学科都是在国内名列前茅，特别是人文学科方面在德国占据首位，名气非常大。哲学系最初是在图宾根大学的神学院里面，谢林、黑格尔、荷尔德林在大学一二年级的时候都是在哲学系学习的 ，后面三年才学习神学。如今哲学系已经从神学院独立出来有两百多年了，有自己的传 统，甚至可以说继承了神学院的传统。这个传统就是重视历史、考据、批判，在历史中 考察思想。 你看神学院出来的大人物，黑格尔、谢林、荷尔德林就不用说了，包括写《耶稣传》的 大卫·斯特劳斯，写六卷本《古希腊哲学史》的爱德华·策勒，还有神学家 菲丁南·鲍尔，他们都重历史，考察历史中的思想，思想中的历史。哲学系独立出来以后仍然继承了这样的传统，有意识地以谢林、黑格尔的哲学作为自己的指导思想，这个传统一直没有变，包括费希特的儿子小费希特在图宾根哲学系任教期间也是如此。 到了20世纪维护传统的意识就更强了。他们始终认为先辈黑格尔、谢林、策勒、法辛格 尔等大师都是这么走出去的，这个传统不能丢，古希腊哲学和德国古典哲学的传统必须继承。 他们对传统的维护体现在课程设置和教授编制上，尤其是后者。在图宾根哲学系一共设有七个教授席位，这在德国大学中已经算比较多的了。七个当中前四个是固定教席（Lehrstuhl），是最牛的，这四把交椅排名不分先后，不过编了序号，规定了第一把只能由康德专家来坐，第二把只能由黑格尔专家来坐，第三、四把虽然没有没有明确规定，仍然要求在德国古典哲学或者古希腊哲学方面有卓越的建树。这些固定教席的设置保证这 个传统永远都不会丢。像研究海德格尔很有名的菲格尔，在图宾根哲学系任教期间，虽然是七个教授之一，但一直没能坐上第四把交椅，后来弗莱堡大学聘请他去作教席教授，一去就当了哲学系主任，成了第一把手。没办法，有一个现象学专家是可以的，但如果让他在图宾根有固定教席，就改变了哲学系的传统，这是不能允许的。其实在德国，历史悠久的大学都有自己的传统，像海德堡大学的传统是离不开黑格尔的，绝对有席位留给黑格尔专家；但它又是浪漫派的大本营，海德堡代表的德国浪漫派和图宾根代表的德国唯心主义严阵相对，形成思想的交锋。弗莱堡大学则是研究现象学（胡塞尔、海德格尔在这里建立的）、尼采的传统。你会特别感觉到德国人的敝帚自珍，他们觉得有几十年的东西就应该传下去，更不用说几百年的传统了。比较有趣的还有图宾根哲学系不分年级，所有人平等参加，但是这也是有利有弊，好处就是方便大家讨论，坏处就是无知者无畏，课堂经常被一些不怎么懂的人占据了，一堂课下来什么也学不到，所以后来我更喜欢听讲授课，系统的讲授让我觉得更有收获。 不过和在北大一样，最重要的还是自己读书。德国的大学都是宽进严出，导师给你开了书单，不会主动关心你的进度，到你想毕业的时候，就非常严格了，许多教授一句“不行”，就把你的论文打回来：也不给你讲哪里不行，你就自己改去吧。因为这个原因，许多学生一直就毕不了业，平时很轻松，到交论文了才知道有这么严。教授就是这么个态度。你从我们这里出去，不能毁我们的名头。每年图宾根哲学系毕业的博士只有三四个。

王：我们国内的大学每年都有三四十个吧：“批量生产”。

先：德国本身市场需求不大，控制也严。中国学生还好，比较刻苦，我看到一些韩国留学生在那里，孩子都生了几个了，还没毕业，特别辛苦（笑）。我大概比较幸运，我的导师虽然许多观点与我不完全一样，但尊重我的观点，还在课堂上跟别人讨论与我的分歧，有的同学很羡慕，因为觉得德国教授都不怎么理学生的。 但是苦还是苦，在德国很艰难，无论生活还是精神上，特别孤独，整天一个人埋头看书 ，和同学只有在课堂上聊聊，下课就各走各的，又不分年级，很难建立起友谊。在中国，大学同学感情要深得多。

四、哲学与人生

王：最后一个问题，想问问哲学对您的人生有什么影响？

先：哲学与我的人生是息息相关的。一开始我并不信服德国古典哲学。年轻人嘛总是很叛逆，有很多烦恼。上大学时已开始觉得萨特更吸引我，再一看，黑格尔谈概念、逻辑 、意识与我有什么关系呀？我想这也是许多这个年龄段的学生遇到的问题。 我感到“无聊”。我关心的就是怎么取消这种“无聊”。那个时候心理很阴郁，所以很喜欢某些存在主义的哲学家。但后来慢慢的就觉得一种理性的、真正的对生活、对人生的踏实感还是从古典哲学这里获得的。这方面对我影响比较大的就像斯宾诺莎等这些哲学家，以前看斯宾诺莎就觉得这是不能看的，但是慢慢的就觉得他谈生活啊等等娓娓道来，他也谈人生的烦恼之类的，但是他会谈一些给你的解决之道，我想这就是古典哲学和存在主义、浪漫派这些哲学的最大差异。大家都会描述一些生活的荒诞、滑稽、丑陋等等，但是古典哲学会给你一副从根本上解决问题的药方。

王：就是教导你怎样过一个好的生活。

先：对，他就是教你怎么克服这些东西。叔本华、斯宾诺莎之类的哲学家，让我感到学习哲学不仅仅是一种学习知识，同时也是不断的心灵感受的过程。包括我对曾经存在主义的喜欢，也是一种感受，他们确实说出了我的心里话，把我引导到比较冷静的哲学，理性的哲学。激动是容易的，但是理性思考就不容易了。痛苦是比较容易的，但是冷静地反思痛苦，反思其前因后果，则是不容易的。这个时候再来看康德、黑格尔等，你就觉得有路子了。他们把你带到了这样一种境界，首先不要把个体看得那么重，把个人的感受先抛到一边去，感受一种理性、冷静，在其指导下，你就觉得自己对哲学尤其对古典哲学的学习、体会走上正轨了。现在在反过来看，就会觉得萨特这些根本就不是正轨，而且我觉得那些都是很个人的一些东西。对个体来说，很容易把自己的痛苦、烦恼无限扩大，好像我一痛苦你们都要来关注我，但是没有人会关注你的，你有什么了不起，连伟人都很痛苦，或者说比你伟大的多的人都有很多痛苦，大家为什么要来关注你？而且这种东西没有 可传达性，可交流性。比如说萨特在《恶心》那部小说里，在《存在与虚无》描述了他的一些情感、情绪之类，探讨这些东西和以文学小说这样的方式探讨可能对别人适用，但是对我不适用，我个人认为对萨特以外的其他任何人也不适用；而斯宾诺莎所研究的痛苦、烦恼对每个人都适用，是铁的规则，消除这些的方法也是普遍有效的。我要关注这些对我来说有用的。斯宾诺莎在解决他的痛苦的时候必然也能解决我的痛苦，而萨特或者其他“玩弄”情绪 、情感的哲学家就做不到。我自从走上了古典哲学的正轨之后，人一下就有一种洗心革面了的感觉。认识到个体这些虚妄、狂妄的僭越。但是这样做，又容易走向另一个极端：有时候你要问我是否做到了个体与整体的辩证的统一？我也不敢打包票。但是我至少体会到、认识到个体同总体 的关系应该怎么摆正，部分地已经超脱了自我、小我。哲学家就应该不断的超越，或者达到真正的大哲学家的地步的时候，那就是真正的“物我同一”。人同此心，心同此理，达到这样一种超脱的境界。

王：------“与天地精神相往来。”

先：呵呵。个体并不重要，应该把这些消极的东西都削弱。这样对人生哲学的指导，就是把你从一些虚幻的名利中解救出来。对个人情绪的培养，而不是动辄发脾气、闹情绪等，使你成为一个古典的人——这就是我觉得哲学对生活、对我个人的一点作用吧。

王：哲学始终还是能和、要和人联系在一起的啊！《尚书》（按：这里指的是伪《古文尚书·大禹谟》）里讲，“人心惟微，道心惟微，惟精惟一，允执厥中”。就是说，人心和道心都是始终存在的，这样一个永恒的、辩证的斗争。 先：对人来说，谢林有一篇《论人类自由的本质》。他讲的核心思想就是人心是归顺道心，还是人心可以独立出来并获得一种和道心并驾齐驱或者比它还高的地位的问题。在后一种情况下，就是罪恶的开始。如果人心顺着道心的话，顺着普遍理性的话，那就是完美和谐的一种东西。但是人心可以顺从，也可以不顺从，这就是人的自由。这里就点出了人的特殊处境，我想绝大多数人都是不顺着天理、不顺着普遍的理性的。

王：这里有一种自然往下堕的一种惯性。

先：惯性是一种天然的东西。就像柏拉图所说，灵魂的三个部分，一部分是追求理性的，一部分是追求欲望的，一部分就是介于中间的可以调节的。没有一个哲学家说人就是纯粹的理性或者纯粹的兽欲，他总是一种介于中间的状态。无非就是有些哲学家认为理性应该制约欲望，而另外一些哲学家则认为理性应该为欲望服务。

张：我还有一个问题。先刚老师一直认为叔本华也属于德国古典哲学的传统，但是很多人都认为德国古典哲学到黑格尔就为止了。似乎叔本华、尼采被当作异类来处理的，不被纳入到德国古典哲学的家谱里面。您为什么认为叔本华也属于德国古典哲学的传统呢 ？

先：这就取决于你怎么来理解德国古典哲学。 比如按照那种最标准的说法，德国古典哲学就是康德、费希特、谢林、黑格尔加上费尔巴哈，但是我从来没有在这种狭义的概念上来理解德国古典哲学。这是一个很片面的线索，我想“古典”这个概念首先应该是“经典”的意思，不一定要很“古”。在这个意义上讲，叔本华首先是一个经典意义上的哲学家。 其次就像我在德国见到的，有些人把莱布尼茨也算进去了，这个我也承认，就像我把斯宾诺莎也算在德国古典哲学的范围之内。因为在这些哲学家里面，我首先看到的是他们的一贯性、家族相似性，在他们那里，从莱布尼茨或者说从斯宾诺莎一直到叔本华肯定是有一条线索的，但是我不坚持、不强调这条线索，不说从谁、经过了谁、又在谁那儿 达到了顶峰之类。我更强调的是他们的家族相似性，他们有共同的问题，有共同的思考 方法，有共同的思考路子，甚至在一定意义上有共同的解决办法。所以说，如果他满足了这一点的话，我就把他看作德国古典哲学。如果说叔本华在哲学史上的地位，我想就可以举出很多他们共同的特点：第一，他是一个体系哲学家，这是划清他和之后哲学家的一个界限。他说得很清楚，他的哲学是一个完整的体系，形而上学、伦理学、美学，把人类所要解决的知识、问题全都包进去了。第二，他坚持客观真理的意义。真理是能够认识的，存在着客观的真理，具有绝对指导性的放之四海皆准的真理，认识到这个真理之后就会对我们的人生观、世界观造成一种正面的影响，这正是德国古典哲学的精神。再次，他认为这种真理是通过理性而实现的。他不像其他一些哲学家在神秘的情感、关照中来认识真理，而是通过理性来认识真理，当然有些人说叔本华通过直觉、体悟来认识到世界的本质，我和世界是统一的之类的 。但是我说的通过理性来认识真理不是指狭义地通过某个认识官能，而是通过一套严密的哲学思考，一种体系的知识来认识到真理。叔本华并不是一开头就说：我体悟到了世界和我的同一。

王：这个有点像“心学”讲的“吾心即是宇宙”。

先：他（叔本华）实际上走过了柏拉图、康德哲学的一系列的道路。特别是接受了康德的先验唯心论的熏陶，首先是对世界现象、本质的划分，我们对现象怎么认识，然后说，如果这些方式都不能达到认识真理的话，我们是不是有一种超出认识现象之外的认识？这才达到了在我们看来是直觉的、体悟的认识。但这不是孤立的，而是整个通过理性来达到的。他一点都不比黑格尔更不理性，比如说关于认识世界的充足理由律怎么样在四种形式下怎么样来认识作为意志和表象的世界。这种划分是很细致、很深入的。这完全是一种很理性的态度，而不是采取一种箴言式或格言式的方式来讨论这些问题，因为格言之类主要面对的是理智和思维能力不够发达的人。从这种角度来说，他也和德国古典哲学的精神是一致的。如果把这些方面都考虑进来的话，再加上他的全面性，他的一个思想可以扩展开到精神的各个领域里，形而上学、美学、伦理学、宗教哲学、政治哲学、社会学，就像黑格尔一样，他能够将他的核心理念统一的灌输在这些各个领域里面。 综上所述，我觉得称他为德国古典哲学毫不过分。他和前面那些人的唯一差别就是那个本原究竟是意志还是其他什么东西。我们可以在保持这个差异的前提下，毅然将他归入到德国古典哲学的范围之内。你如果从我前面所说的这些特点再来看看，就会发现这些特点在叔本华之后的那些哲学家处都没有了。就以尼采为例，体系没有、真理没有、理性也没有。从价值观来说，叔本华和以前的哲学家是一致的，不像尼采要颠覆一切，什么东西都要重新来扭转。理性、上帝这些都是假的，都是骗局，这样的话就是彻底的颠覆性了，而叔本华从来没有达到这样极端的地步。在这个意义上，他还是很传统、很古典的。

王：在古典的框架下来点新东西。

先：对，叔本华不像尼采那么激进，要和以前的人、和整个哲学史断裂。而且从思想的深度来说，他也不亚于其他的那些哲学家，而且恰好他的这样一些特点是我很喜欢他的一个原因。我认为叔本华遭到了不公正的待遇。学院派的像黑格尔派这些人要攻击他，说你是我们的敌人，站在尼采那里，他也说叔本华有很多不彻底的残余，因此叔本华两面受敌，遭到了轻视。其实我不这么认为，在我看来叔本华基本上将人生需要的真理都讲完了。 如果要给一个人推荐黑格尔或者叔本华，我会选择后者，因为他会有更多的实践意义。叔本华对印度哲学也有很多借鉴，所以我认为他也是联系东方、西方哲学之间的一个桥梁，能够在他身上看到一些现在哲学家所缺乏的东西。他对东方哲学的推崇，后来没有几个人做到，而且他恰好找的是佛教、《奥义书》这样的思想，这些思想对我来说本来就是很喜欢的。当然他对佛教的理解还是有一定的局限性的，属于小乘，还没有达到大乘那么玄的地步。总的说来，我觉得叔本华是思想史上的一个枢纽，从他那里出来我们可以前后、左右的深入探究，前面可以挖到古希腊，后面还有尼采，左右还有黑格尔、谢林、费尔巴哈等重要的同时代哲学家。因为研究哲学家的话，你抓住一个末梢的东西研究完就到头了，要预防出现这样的情况。不过好在抓住任何一个经典哲学家都不会错。现在看来经典哲学家没有那么大的影响，这都是错觉。就像斯宾诺莎、莱布尼茨这些人 ，现在学习哲学的人谁把他们放在眼里啊，但是稍微认真地看看的话，你就会发现他们的影响不亚于康德、黑格尔。我们研究哲学都有一种从众心理，大家都说康德好、黑格尔好，究竟好在哪里？并不见得每个人都说得出来，但是没办法，这就是偶像崇拜。哲学家也有偶像崇拜，比如提起柏拉图，就觉得不得了，但是好在哪说不出来。

张：就像叔本华说的，一个思想家已经区分出了这个东西，但是像船渡一样，开过去了，水波又合上了。

先：是啊，人类不需要这么多天才，这么多真理。所以说我还是有一定的悲观主义情绪的，有时候容易走向愤世嫉俗的道路，好在学习这些哲学能够及时地使你平静下来。一方面，学习叔本华这样的哲学，很容易让你愤世嫉俗，比如感叹人类的愚蠢之类，但是他同时又教导你要学会同情，因为大家的本质都是同一的，他的愚昧就代表你的愚昧。这么想的话，你就突然收敛了，他立马就给你一个镇静剂，打消你那种自我膨胀的念头。如果你也能感受到别人乃至万物的感受，那你就离圣哲不远了。

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编后记：首先先刚老师对哲学感兴趣，怀着兴趣来制定自己的理想，很早就先行一步制定了自己是要从事学术道路的，以独立自主的意识为自己竖立理想，根据理想目标制定本科的学习规划，又矢志不渝地执行计划，为保证实现学术目标而克服各种阻力正确语言学习资源，以顽强的毅力用心的学习掌握了德语知识。为自己的留学清楚了语言障 碍。 先老师强调了对于有哲学志向的同学，学习德语等外语的极端重要性；同时告诉我们 只要用心学，德语同样可以学得和英语一样好； 先老师介绍了德国的古典学术，德国各著名大学哲学系的教学、编制、传统，在德国 完成博士学位的规则和艰辛，也反思和发表了对北大自己的哲学传统的看法和建议，以及哲学对于先刚老师人生的地位和意义。由于学者的性格、气质和学术经历，先刚老师有自己在哲学上的偏爱。他比较推崇德国古典哲学，大陆一派；不过既然现在学术界公 认大陆哲学（人本主义）和分析哲学（科学主义）其实并未截然对立和分开，而也存在交融互通（比如影响了分析哲学的前驱弗雷格实在欧洲完成他的工作的）的，因此我们在树立了哲学理想之后，在哲学方向上的具体选择，是会受到个人气质，性格，经历， 性别，爱好特长，家庭教育背景，乃至生平遭遇，等等多种因素的影响的，因此是一件 非常个人性的事情。 所以我们认为先刚老师的哲学立场只是大家的一种参考。但是无论大家在选择哲学，从事哲学上的感性差别有多大，正如先刚老师的一句话：“哲学是和我的生命息息相关的”，这句话代表了我们所有人的心声。
（后期文字编辑：江宁）

[长,慎入]Prometheus Bound

Prometheus Bound

By Aeschylus

Written ca. 430 B.C.E

Dramatis Personae

KRATOS
BIA
HEPHAESTUS
PROMETHEUS
CHORUS OF THE OCEANIDES
OCEANUS
IO


Scene

Mountainous country, and in the middle of a deep gorge a Rock, towards which KRATOS and BIA carry the gigantic form of PROMETHEUS. HEPHAESTUS follows dejectedly with hammer, nails, chains, etc.


KRATOS
Now have we journeyed to a spot of earth
Remote-the Scythian wild, a waste untrod.
And now, Hephaestus, thou must execute
The task our father laid on thee, and fetter
This malefactor to the jagged rocks
In adamantine bonds infrangible;
For thine own blossom of all forging fire
He stole and gave to mortals; trespass grave
For which the Gods have called him to account,
That he may learn to bear Zeus' tyranny
And cease to play the lover of mankind.

HEPHAESTUS
Kratos and Bia, for ye twain the hest
Of Zeus is done with; nothing lets you further.
But forcibly to bind a brother God,
In chains, in this deep chasm raked by all storms
I have not courage; yet needs must I pluck
Courage from manifest necessity,
For woe worth him that slights the Father's word.
O high-souled son of them is sage in counsel,
With heavy heart I must make thy heart heavy,
In bonds of brass not easy to be loosed,
Nailing thee to this crag where no wight dwells,
Nor sound of human voice nor shape of man
Shall visit thee; but the sun-blaze shall roast
Thy flesh; thy hue, flower-fair, shall suffer change;
Welcome will Night be when with spangled robe
She hides the light of day; welcome the sun
Returning to disperse the frosts of dawn.
And every hour shall bring its weight of woe
To wear thy heart away; for yet unborn
Is he who shall release Chee from thy pain.
This is thy wage for loving humankind.
For, being a God, thou dared'st the Gods' ill will,
Preferring, to exceeding honour, Man.
Wherefore thy long watch shall be comfortless,
Stretched on this rock, never to close an eye
Or bend a knee; and vainly shalt thou lift,
With groanings deep and lamentable cries,
Thy voice; for Zeus is hard to be entreated,
As new-born power is ever pitiless.

KRATOS
Enough! Why palter? Why wast idle pity?
Is not the God Gods loathe hateful to thee?
Traitor to man of thy prerogative?

HEPHAESTUS
Kindred and fellowship are dreaded names.

KRATOS
Questionless; but to slight the Father's word-
How sayest thou? Is not this fraught with more dread?

HEPHAESTUS
Thy heart was ever hard and overbold.

KRATOS
But wailing will not ease him! Waste no pains
Where thy endeavour nothing profiteth.

HEPHAESTUS
Oh execrable work! O handicraft!

KRATOS
Why curse thy trade? For what thou hast to do,
Troth, smithcraft is in no wise answerable.

HEPHAESTUS
Would that it were another's craft, not mine!

KRATOS
Why, all things are a burden save to rule
Over the Gods; for none is free but Zeus.

HEPHAESTUS
To that I answer not, knowing it true.

KRATOS
Why, then, make haste to cast the chains about him,
Lest glancing down on thee the Father's eye
Behold a laggard and a loiterer.

HEPHAESTUS
Here are the iron bracelets for his arms.

KRATOS
Fasten them round his arms with all thy strength!
Strike with thy hammer! Nail him to the rocks!

HEPHAESTUS
'Tis done! and would that it were done less well!

KRATOS
Harder-I say-strike harder-screw all tight
And be not in the least particular
Remiss, for unto one of his resource
Bars are but instruments of liberty.

HEPHAESTUS
This forearm's fast: a shackle hard to shift.

KRATOS
Now buckle this! and handsomely! Let him learn
Sharp though he be, he's a dull blade to Zeus.

HEPHAESTUS
None can find fault with this: -save him it tortures.

KRATOS
Now take thine iron spike and drive it in,
Until it gnaw clean through the rebel's breast.

HEPHAESTUS
Woe's me, Prometheus, for thy weight of woe!

KRATOS
Still shirking? still a-groaning for the foes
Of Zeus? Anon thou'lt wail thine own mishap.

HEPHAESTUS
Thou seest what eyes scarce bear to look upon!

KRATOS
I see this fellow getting his deserts!
But strap him with a gelt about his ribs.

HEPHAESTUS
I do what I must do: for thee-less words!

KRATOS
"Words," quotha? Aye, and shout 'em if need be.
Come down and cast a ring-bolt round his legs.

HEPHAESTUS
The thing is featly done; and 'twas quick work.

KRATOS
Now with a sound rap knock the bolt-pins home!
For heavy-handed is thy task-master.

HEPHAESTUS
So villainous a form vile tongue befits.

KRATOS
Be thou the heart of wax, but chide not me
That I am gruffish, stubborn and stiff-willed.

HEPHAESTUS
Oh, come away! The tackle holds him fast.

KRATOS
Now, where thou hang'st insult Plunder the Gods
For creatures of a day! To thee what gift
Will mortals tender to requite thy pains?
The destinies were out miscalling the
Designer: a designer thou wilt need
From trap so well contrived to twist thee free.
Exeunt.

PROMETHEUS
O divine air Breezes on swift bird-wings,
Ye river fountains, and of ocean-waves
The multitudinous laughter Mother Earth!
And thou all-seeing circle of the sun,
Behold what I, a God, from Gods endure!
Look down upon my shame,
The cruel wrong that racks my frame,
The grinding anguish that shall waste my strength,
Till time's ten thousand years have measured out their length!
He hath devised these chains,
The new throned potentate who reigns,
Chief of the chieftains of the Blest. Ah me!
The woe which is and that which yet shall be
I wail; and question make of these wide skies
When shall the star of my deliverance rise.
And yet-and yet-exactly I foresee
All that shall come to pass; no sharp surprise
Of pain shall overtake me; what's determined
Bear, as I can, I must, knowing the might
Of strong Necessity is unconquerable.
But touching my fate silence and speech alike
Are unsupportable. For boons bestowed
On mortal men I am straitened in these bonds.
I sought the fount of fire in hollow reed
Hid privily, a measureless resource
For man, and mighty teacher of all arts.
This is the crime that I must expiate
Hung here in chains, nailed 'neath the open sky. Ha! Ha!
What echo, what odour floats by with no sound?
God-wafted or mortal or mingled its strain?
Comes there one to this world's end, this mountain-girt ground,
To have sight of my torment? Or of what is he fain?
A God ye behold in bondage and pain,
The foe of Zeus and one at feud with all
The deities that find
Submissive entry to the tyrant's hall;
His fault, too great a love of humankind.
Ah me! Ah me! what wafture nigh at hand,
As of great birds of prey, is this I hear?
The bright air fanned
Whistles and shrills with rapid beat of wings.
There cometh nought but to my spirit brings
Horror and fear.
The DAUGHTERS OF OCEANUS draw near in mid-air in their winged chariot.

CHORUS
Put thou all fear away!
In kindness cometh this array
On wings of speed to mountain lone,
Our sire's consent not lightly won.
But a fresh breeze our convoy brought,
For loud the din of iron raught
Even to our sea-cave's cold recess,
And scared away the meek-eyed bashfulness.
I tarried not to tic my sandal shoe
But haste, post haste, through air my winged chariot flew.

PROMETHEUS
Ah me! Ah me!
Fair progeny
That many-childed Tethys brought to birth,
Fathered of Ocean old
Whose sleepless stream is rolled
Round the vast shores of earth
Look on me! Look upon these chains
Wherein I hang fast held
On rocks high-pinnacled,
My dungeon and my tower of dole,
Where o'er the abyss my soul,
Sad warder, her unwearied watch sustains!

CHORUS
Prometheus, I am gazing on thee now!
With the cold breath of fear upon my brow,
Not without mist of dimming tears,
While to my sight thy giant stature rears
Its bulk forpined upon these savage rocks
In shameful bonds the linked adamant locks.
For now new steersmen take the helm
Olympian; now with little thought
Of right, on strange, new laws Zeus stablisheth his realm,
Bringing the mighty ones of old to naught.

PROMETHEUS
Oh that he had conveyed me
'Neath earth, 'neath hell that swalloweth up the dead;
In Tartarus, illimitably vast
With adamantine fetters bound me fast-
There his fierce anger on me visited,
Where never mocking laughter could upbraid me
Of God or aught beside!
But now a wretch enskied,
A far-seen vane,
All they that hate me triumph in my pain.

CHORUS
Who of the Gods is there so pitiless
That he can triumph in thy sore distress?
Who doth not inly groan
With every pang of thine save Zeus alone?
But he is ever wroth, not to be bent
From his resolved intent
The sons of heaven to subjugate;
Nor shall he cease until his heart be satiate,
Or one a way devise
To hurl him from the throne where he doth monarchize.

PROMETHEUS
Yea, of a surety-though he do me wrong,
Loading my limbs with fetters strong-
The president
Of heaven's high parliament
Shall need me yet to show
What new conspiracy with privy blow
Attempts his sceptre and his kingly seat.
Neither shall words with all persuasion sweet,
Not though his tongue drop honey, cheat
Nor charm my knowledge from me; nor dures
Of menace dire, fear of more grievous pains,
Unseal my lips, till he have loosed these chains,
And granted for these injuries redress.

CHORUS
High is the heart of thee,
Thy will no whit by bitter woes unstrung,
And all too free
The licence of thy bold, unshackled tongue.
But fear hath roused my soul with piercing cry!
And for thy fate my heart misgives me! I
Tremble to know when through the breakers' roar
Thy keel shall touch again the friendly shore;
For not by prayer to Zeus is access won;
An unpersuadable heart hath Cronos' son.

PROMETHEUS
I know the heart of Zeus is hard, that he hath tied
Justice to his side;
But he shall be full gentle thus assuaged;
And, the implacable wrath wherewith he raged
Smoothed quite away, nor he nor I
Be loth to seal a bond of peace and amity.

CHORUS
All that thou hast to tell I pray unfold,
That we may hear at large upon what count
Zeus took thee and with bitter wrong affronts:
Instruct us, if the telling hurt thee not.

PROMETHEUS
These things are sorrowful for me to speak,
Yet silence too is sorrow: all ways woe!
When first the Blessed Ones were filled with wrath
And there arose division in their midst,
These instant to hurl Cronos from his throne
That Zeus might be their king, and these, adverse,
Contending that he ne'er should rule the Gods,
Then I, wise counsel urging to persuade
The Titans, sons of Ouranos and Chthon,
Prevailed not: but, all indirect essays
Despising, they by the strong hand, effortless,
Yet by main force-supposed that they might seize
Supremacy. But me my mother Themis
And Gaia, one form called by many names,
Not once alone with voice oracular
Had prophesied how power should be disposed-
That not by strength neither by violence
The mighty should be mastered, but by guile.
Which things by me set forth at large, they scorned,
Nor graced my motion with the least regard.
Then, of all ways that offered, I judged best,
Taking my mother with me, to support,
No backward friend, the not less cordial Zeus.
And by my politic counsel Tartarus,
The bottomless and black, old Cronos hides
With his confederates. So helped by me,
The tyrant of the Gods, such service rendered
With ignominious chastisement requites.
But 'tis a common malady of power
Tyrannical never to trust a friend.
And now, what ye inquired, for what arraigned
He shamefully entreats me, ye shall know.
When first upon his high, paternal throne
He took his seat, forthwith to divers Gods
Divers good gifts he gave, and parcelled out
His empire, but of miserable men
Recked not at all; rather it was his wish
To wipe out man and rear another race:
And these designs none contravened but me.
I risked the bord attempt, and saved mankind
From stark destruction and the road to hell.
Therefore with this sore penance am I bowed,
Grievous to suffer, pitiful to see.
But, for compassion shown to man, such fate
I no wise earned; rather in wrath's despite
Am I to be reformed, and made a show
Of infamy to Zeus.

CHORUS
He hath a heart
Of iron, hewn out of unfeeling rock
Is he, Prometheus, whom thy sufferings
Rouse not to wrath. Would I had ne'er beheld them,
For verily the sight hath wrung my heart.

PROMETHEUS
Yea, to my friends a woeful sight am I.

CHORUS
Hast not more boldly in aught else transgressed?

PROMETHEUS
I took from man expectancy of death.

CHORUS
What medicine found'st thou for this malady?

PROMETHEUS
I planted blind hope in the heart of him.

CHORUS
A mighty boon thou gavest there to man.

PROMETHEUS
Moreover, I conferred the gift of fire.

CHORUS
And have frail mortals now the flame-bright fire?

PROMETHEUS
Yea, and shall master many arts thereby.

CHORUS
And Zeus with such misfeasance charging thee-

PROMETHEUS
Torments me with extremity of woe.

CHORUS
And is no end in prospect of thy pains?

PROMETHEUS
None; save when he shall choose to make an end.

CHORUS
How should he choose? What hope is thine? Dost thou
Not see that thou hast erred? But how thou erredst
Small pleasure were to me to tell; to the
Exceeding sorrow. Let it go then: rather
Seek thou for some deliverance from thy woes.

PROMETHEUS
He who stands free with an untrammelled foot
Is quick to counsel and exhort a friend
In trouble. But all these things I know well.
Of my free will, my own free will, I erred,
And freely do I here acknowledge it.
Freeing mankind myself have durance found.
Natheless, I looked not for sentence so dread,
High on this precipice to droop and pine,
Having no neighbour but the desolate crags.
And now lament no more the ills I suffer,
But come to earth and an attentive ear
Lend to the things that shall befall hereafter.
Harken, oh harken, suffer as I suffer!
Who knows, who knows, but on some scatheless head,
Another's yet for the like woes reserved,
The wandering doom will presently alight?

CHORUS
Prometheus, we have heard thy call:
Not on deaf cars these awful accents fall.
Lo! lightly leaving at thy words
My flying car
And holy air, the pathway of great birds,
I long to tread this land of peak and scar,
And certify myself by tidings sure
Of all thou hast endured and must endure.
While the winged chariot of the OCEANIDES comes to ground their father OCEANUS enters, riding on a monster.

OCEANUS
Now have I traversed the unending plain
And unto thee, Prometheus, am I come,
Guiding this winghd monster with no rein,
Nor any bit, but mind's firm masterdom.
And know that for thy grief my heart is sore;
The bond of kind, methinks, constraineth me;
Nor is there any I would honour more,
Apart from kinship, than I reverence thee.
And thou shalt learn that I speak verity:
Mine is no smooth, false tongue; for do but show
How I can serve thee, grieved and outraged thus,
Thou ne'er shalt say thou hast, come weal, come woe,
A friend more faithful than Oceanus.

PROMETHEUS
How now? Who greets me? What! Art thou too come
To gaze upon my woes? How could'st thou leave
The stream that bears thy name, thine antres arched
With native rock, to visit earth that breeds
The massy iron in her womb? Com'st thou
To be spectator of my evil lot
And fellow sympathizer with my woes?
Behold, a thing indeed to gaze upon
The friend of Zeus, co-stablisher of his rule,
See, by this sentence with what pains I am bowed I

OCEANUS
Prometheus, all too plainly I behold:
And for the best would counsel thee: albeit
Thy brain is subtle. Learn to know thy heart,
And, as the times, so let thy manners change,
For by the law of change a new God rules.
But, if these bitter, savage, sharp-set words
Thou ventest, it may be, though he sit throned
Far off and high above thee, Zeus will hear;
And then thy present multitude of ills
Will seem the mild correction of a babe.
Rather, O thou much chastened one, refrain
Thine anger, and from suffering seek release.
Stale, peradventure, seem these words of mine:
Nevertheless, of a too haughty tongue
Such punishment, Prometheus, is the wage.
But thou, not yet brought low by suffering,
To what thou hast of ill would'st add far worse.
Therefore, while thou hast me for schoolmaster,
Thou shalt not kick against the pricks; the more
That an arch-despot who no audit dreads
Rules by his own rough will. And now I leave thee,
To strive with what success I may command
For thy deliv'rance. Keep a quiet mind
And use not over-vehemence of speech-
Knowest thou not, being exceeding wise,
A wanton, idle tongue brings chastisement?

PROMETHEUS
I marvel that thou art not in my case,
Seeing with me thou did'st adventure all.
And now, I do entreat thee, spare thyself.
Thou wilt not move him: he's not easy moved
Take heed lest thou find trouble by the way.

OCEANUS
Thou are a better counsellor to others
Than to thyself: I judge by deeds not words.
Pluck me not back when I would fain set forth.
My oath upon it, Zeus will grant my prayer
And free thee from these pangs.

PROMETHEUS
I tender the
For this my thanks and ever-during praise.
Certes, no backward friend art thou; and yet
Trouble not thyself; for at the best thy labour
Will nothing serve me, if thou mean'st to serve.
Being thyself untrammelled stand fast.
For, not to mitigate my own mischance,
Would I see others hap on evil days.
The thought be far from me. I feel the weight
Of Atlas' woes, my brother in the west
Shouldering the pillar that props heaven and earth,
No wieldy fardel for his arms to fold.
The giant dweller in Cilician dens
I saw and pitied-a terrific shape,
A hundred-headed monster-when he fell,
Resistless Typhon who withstood the Gods,
With fearsome hiss of beak-mouth horrible,
While lightning from his eyes with Gorgon-glare
Flashed for the ravage of the realm of Zeus.
But on him came the bolt that never sleeps,
Down-crashing thunder, with emitted fire,
Which shattered him and all his towering hopes
Dashed into ruin; smitten through the breast,
His strength as smoking cinder, lightning-charred.
And now a heap, a helpless, sprawling hulk,
He lies stretched out beside the narrow seas,
Pounded and crushed deep under Etna's roots.
But on the mountain-top Hephaestus sits
Forging the molten iron, whence shall burst
Rivers of fire, with red and ravening jaws
To waste fair-fruited, smooth, Sicilian fields.
Such bilious up-boiling of his ire
Shall Typho vent, with slingstone-showers red-hot,
And unapproachable surge of fiery spray,
Although combusted by the bolt of Zeus.
But thou art not unlearned, nor needest me
To be thy teacher: save thyself the way
Thou knowest and I will fortify my heart
Until the wrathfulness of Zeus abate.

OCEANUS
Nay then, Prometheus, art thou ignorant
Words are physicians to a wrath-sick soul?

PROMETHEUS
Yes, if with skill one soften the ripe core,
Not by rough measures make it obdurate.

OCEANUS
Seest thou in warm affection detriment
Or aught untoward in adventuring?

PROMETHEUS
A load of toil and a light mind withal.

OCEANUS
Then give me leave to call that sickness mine.
Wise men accounted fools attain their ends.

PROMETHEUS
But how if I am galled by thine offence?

OCEANUS
There very palpably thou thrustest home.

PROMETHEUS
Beware lest thou through pity come to broils.

OCEANUS
With one established in Omnipotence?

PROMETHEUS
Of him take heed lest thou find heaviness.

OCEANUS
I am schooled by thy calamity, Prometheus!

PROMETHEUS
Pack then! And, prithee, do not change thy mind!

OCEANUS
Thou criest "On" to one in haste to go.
For look, my dragon with impatient wings
Flaps at the broad, smooth road of level air.
Fain would he kneel him down in his own stall.
Exit OCEANUS.

CHORUS after alighting
I mourn for thee, Prometheus, minished and brought low,
Watering my virgin cheeks with these sad drops, that flow
From sorrow's rainy fount, to fill soft-lidded eyes
With pure libations for thy fortune's obsequies.
An evil portion that none coveteth hath Zeus
Prepared for thee; by self-made laws established for his use
Disposing all, the elder Gods he purposeth to show
How strong is that right arm wherewith he smites a foe.
There hath gone up a cry from earth, a groaning for the fall
Of things of old renown and shapes majestical,
And for thy passing an exceeding bitter groan;
For thee and for thy brother Gods whose honour was thine own:
These things all they who dwell in Asia's holy seat,
Time's minions, mourn and with their groans thy groans repeat.
Yea, and they mourn who dwell beside the Colchian shore,
The hero maids unwedded that delight in war,
And Scythia's swarming myriads who their dwelling make
Around the borders of the world, the salt Maeotian lake.
Mourns Ares' stock, that flowers in desert Araby,
And the strong city mourns, the hill-fort planted high,
Near neighbour to huge Caucasus, dread mountaineers
That love the clash of arms, the counter of sharp spears.
Beforetime of all Gods one have I seen in pain,
One only Titan bound with adamantine chain,
Atlas in strength supreme, who groaning stoops, downbent
Under the burthen of the earth and heaven's broad firmament.
Bellows the main of waters, surge with foam-seethed surge
Clashing tumultuous; for thee the deep seas chant their dirge;
And Hell's dark under-world a hollow moaning fills;
Thee mourn the sacred streams with all their fountain-rills.

PROMETHEUS
Think not that I for pride and stubbornness
Am silent: rather is my heart the prey
Of gnawing thoughts, both for the past, and now
Seeing myself by vengeance buffeted.
For to these younger Gods their precedence
Who severally determined if not I?
No more of that: I should but weary you
With things ye know; but listen to the tale
Of human sufferings, and how at first
Senseless as beasts I gave men sense, possessed them
Of mind. I speak not in contempt of man;
I do but tell of good gifts I conferred.
In the beginning, seeing they saw amiss,
And hearing heard not, but, like phantoms huddled
In dreams, the perplexed story of their days
Confounded; knowing neither timber-work
Nor brick-built dwellings basking in the light,
But dug for themselves holes, wherein like ants,
That hardly may contend against a breath,
They dwelt in burrows of their unsunned caves.
Neither of winter's cold had they fixed sign,
Nor of the spring when she comes decked with flowers,
Nor yet of summer's heat with melting fruits
Sure token: but utterly without knowledge
Moiled, until I the rising of the stars
Showed them, and when they set, though much obscure.
Moreover, number, the most excellent
Of all inventions, I for them devised,
And gave them writing that retaineth all,
The serviceable mother of the Muse.
I was the first that yoked unmanaged beasts,
To serve as slaves with collar and with pack,
And take upon themselves, to man's relief,
The heaviest labour of his hands: and
Tamed to the rein and drove in wheeled cars
The horse, of sumptuous pride the ornament.
And those sea-wanderers with the wings of cloth,
The shipman's waggons, none but I contrived.
These manifold inventions for mankind
I perfected, who, out upon't, have none-
No, not one shift-to rid me of this shame.

CHORUS
Thy sufferings have been shameful, and thy mind
Strays at a loss: like to a bad physician
Fallen sick, thou'rt out of heart: nor cans't prescribe
For thine own case the draught to make thee sound.

PROMETHEUS
But hear the sequel and the more admire
What arts, what aids I cleverly evolved.
The chiefest that, if any man fell sick,
There was no help for him, comestible,
Lotion or potion; but for lack of drugs
They dwindled quite away; until I taught them
To compound draughts and mixtures sanative,
Wherewith they now are armed against disease.
I staked the winding path of divination
And was the first distinguisher of dreams,
The true from false; and voices ominous
Of meaning dark interpreted; and tokens
Seen when men take the road; and augury
By flight of all the greater crook-clawed birds
With nice discrimination I defined;
These by their nature fair and favourable,
Those, flattered with fair name. And of each sort
The habits I described; their mutual feuds
And friendships and the assemblages they hold.
And of the plumpness of the inward parts
What colour is acceptable to the Gods,
The well-streaked liver-lobe and gall-bladder.
Also by roasting limbs well wrapped in fat
And the long chine, I led men on the road
Of dark and riddling knowledge; and I purged
The glancing eye of fire, dim before,
And made its meaning plain. These are my works.
Then, things beneath the earth, aids hid from man,
Brass, iron, silver, gold, who dares to say
He was before me in discovering?
None, I wot well, unless he loves to babble.
And in a single word to sum the whole-
All manner of arts men from Prometheus learned.

CHORUS
Shoot not beyond the mark in succouring man
While thou thyself art comfortless: for
Am of good hope that from these bonds escaped
Thou shalt one day be mightier than Zeus.

PROMETHEUS
Fate, that brinks all things to an end, not thus
Apportioneth my lot: ten thousand pangs
Must bow, ten thousand miseries afflict me
Ere from these bonds I freedom find, for Art
Is by much weaker than Necessity.

CHORUS
Who is the pilot of Necessity?

PROMETHEUS
The Fates triform, and the unforgetting Furies.

CHORUS
So then Zeus is of lesser might than these?

PROMETHEUS
Surely he shall not shun the lot apportioned.

CHORUS
What lot for Zeus save world-without-end reign?

PROMETHEUS
Tax me no further with importunate questions.

CHORUS
O deep the mystery thou shroudest there

PROMETHEUS
Of aught but this freely thou may'st discourse;
But touching this I charge thee speak no word;
Nay, veil it utterly: for strictly kept
The secret from these bonds shall set me free.

CHORUS
May Zeus who all things swayeth
Ne'er wreak the might none stayeth
On wayward will of mine;
May I stint not nor waver
With offerings of sweet savour
And feasts of slaughtered kine;
The holy to the holy,
With frequent feet and lowly
At altar, fane and shrine,
Over the Ocean marches,
The deep that no drought parches,
Draw near to the divine.
My tongue the Gods estrange not;
My firm set purpose change not,
As wax melts in fire-shine.
Sweet is the life that lengthens,
While joyous hope still strengthens,
And glad, bright thoughts sustain;
But shuddering I behold thee,
The sorrows that enfold thee
And all thine endless pain.
For Zeus thou hast despised;
Thy fearless heart misprized
All that his vengeance can,
Thy wayward will obeying,
Excess of honour paying,
Prometheus, unto man.
And, oh, beloved, for this graceless grace
What thanks? What prowess for thy bold essay
Shall champion thee from men of mortal race,
The petty insects of a passing day?
Saw'st not how puny is the strength they spend?
With few, faint steps walking as dreams and blind,
Nor can the utmost of their lore transcend
The harmony of the Eternal Mind.
These things I learned seeing thy glory dimmed,
Prometheus. Ah, not thus on me was shed
The rapture of sweet music, when I hymned
The marriage-song round bath and bridal bed
At thine espousals, and of thy blood-kin,
A bride thou chosest, wooing her to thee
With all good gifts that may a Goddess win,
Thy father's child, divine Hesione.
Enter IO, crazed and horned.

IO
What land is this? What people here abide?
And who is he,
The prisoner of this windswept mountain-side?
Speak, speak to me;
Tell me, poor caitiff, how did'st thou transgress,
Thus buffeted?
Whither am I, half-dead with weariness,
For-wandered?
Ha! Ha!
Again the prick, the stab of gadfly-sting!
O earth, earth, hide,
The hollow shape-Argus-that evil thing-
The hundred-eyed-
Earth-born-herdsman! I see him yet; he stalks
With stealthy pace
And crafty watch not all my poor wit baulks!
From the deep place
Of earth that hath his bones he breaketh bound,
And from the pale
Of Death, the Underworld, a hell-sent hound
On the blood-trail,
Fasting and faint he drives me on before,
With spectral hand,
Along the windings of the wasteful shore,
The salt sea-sand!
List! List! the pipe! how drowzily it shrills!
A cricket-cry!
See! See! the wax-webbed reeds! Oh, to these ills
Ye Gods on high,
Ye blessed Gods, what bourne? O wandering feet
When will ye rest?
O Cronian child, wherein by aught unmeet
Have I transgressed
To be yoke-fellow with Calamity?
My mind unstrung,
A crack-brained lack-wit, frantic mad am I,
By gad-fly stung,
Thy scourge, that tarres me on with buzzing wingl
Plunge me in fire,
Hide me in earth, to deep-sea monsters fling,
But my desire-
Kneeling I pray-grudge not to grant, O King!
Too long a race
Stripped for the course have I run to and fro;
And still I chase
The vanishing goal, the end of all my woe;
Enough have I mourned!
Hear'st thou the lowing of the maid cow-horned?

PROMETHEUS
How should I hear thee not? Thou art the child
Of Inachus, dazed with the dizzying fly.
The heart of Zeus thou hast made hot with love
And Hera's curse even as a runner stripped
Pursues thee ever on thine endless round.

IO
How dost thou know my father's name? Impart
To one like thee
A poor, distressful creature, who thou art.
Sorrow with me,
Sorrowful one! Tell me, whose voice proclaims
Things true and sad,
Naming by all their old, unhappy names,
What drove me mad-
Sick! Sick! ye Gods, with suffering ye have sent,
That clings and clings;
Wasting my lamp of life till it be spent!
Crazed with your stings!
Famished I come with trampling and with leaping,
Torment and shame,
To Hera's cruel wrath, her craft unsleeping,
Captive and tame
Of all wights woe-begone and fortune-crossed,
Oh, in the storm
Of the world's sorrow is there one so lost?
Speak, godlike form,
And be in this dark world my oracle I
Can'st thou not sift
The things to come? Hast thou no art to tell
What subtle shift,
Or sound of charming song shall make me well?
Hide naught of ill
But-if indeed thou knowest-prophesy-
In words that thrill
Clear-toned through air-what such a wretch as
Must yet abide-
The lost, lost maid that roams earth's kingdoms wide?

PROMETHEUS
What thou wouldst learn I will make clear to thee,
Not weaving subtleties, but simple sooth
Unfolding as the mouth should speak to friends.
I am Prometheus, giver of fire to mortals.

IO
Oh universal succour of mankind,
Sorrowful Prometheus, why art thou punished thus?

PROMETHEUS
I have but now ceased mourning for my griefs.

IO
Wilt thou not grant me then so small a boon?

PROMETHEUS
What is it thou dost ask? Thou shalt know all.

IO
Declare to me who chained thee in this gorge.

PROMETHEUS
The hest of Zeus, but 'twas Hephaestus' hand.

IO
But what transgression dost thou expiate?

PROMETHEUS
Let this suffice thee: thou shalt know no more.

IO
Nay, but the end of my long wandering
When shall it be? This too thou must declare.

PROMETHEUS
That it is better for thee not to know.

IO
Oh hide not from me what I have to suffer!

PROMETHEUS
Poor child! Poor child! I do not grudge the gift.

IO
Why then, art thou so slow to tell me all?

PROMETHEUS
It is not from unkindness; but I fear
'Twill break thy heart.

IO
Take thou no thought for me
Where thinking thwarteth heart's desire!

PROMETHEUS
So keen
To know thy sorrows! List I and thou shalt learn.

CHORUS
Not till thou hast indulged a wish of mine.
First let us hear the story of her grief
And she herself shall tell the woeful tale.
After, thy wisdom shall impart to her
The conflict yet to come.

PROMETHEUS
So be it, then.
And, Io, thus much courtesy thou owest
These maidens being thine own father's kin.
For with a moving story of our woes
To win a tear from weeping auditors
In nought demeans the teller.

IO
I know not
How fitly to refuse; and at your wish
All ye desire to know I will in plain,
Round terms set forth. And yet the telling of it
Harrows my soul; this winter's tale of wrong,
Of angry Gods and brute deformity,
And how and why on me these horrors swooped.
Always there were dreams visiting by night
The woman's chambers where I slept; and they
With flattering words admonished and cajoled me,
Saying, "O lucky one, so long a maid?
And what a match for thee if thou would'st wed
Why, pretty, here is Zeus as hot as hot-
Love-sick-to have thee! Such a bolt as thou
Hast shot clean through his heart And he won't rest
Till Cypris help him win thee! Lift not then,
My daughter, a proud foot to spurn the bed
Of Zeus: but get thee gone to meadow deep
By Lerna's marsh, where are thy father's flocks
And cattle-folds, that on the eye of Zeus
May fall the balm that shall assuage desire."
Such dreams oppressed me, troubling all my nights,
Woe's me! till I plucked courage up to tell
My father of these fears that walked in darkness.
And many times to Pytho and Dodona
He sent his sacred missioners, to inquire
How, or by deed or word, he might conform
To the high will and pleasure of the Gods.
And they returned with slippery oracles,
Nought plain, but all to baffle and perplex-
And then at last to Inachus there raught
A saying that flashed clear; the drift, that
Must be put out from home and country, forced
To be a wanderer at the ends of the earth,
A thing devote and dedicate; and if
I would not, there should fall a thunderbolt
From Zeus, with blinding flash, and utterly
Destroy my race. So spake the oracle
Of Loxias. In sorrow he obeyed,
And from beneath his roof drove forth his child
Grieving as he grieved, and from house and home
Bolted and barred me out. But the high hand
Of Zeus bear hardly on the rein of fate.
And, instantly-even in a moment-mind
And body suffered strange distortion. Horned
Even as ye see me now, and with sharp bite
Of gadfly pricked, with high-flung skip, stark-mad,
I bounded, galloping headlong on, until
I came to the sweet and of the stream
Kerchneian, hard by Lerna's spring. And thither
Argus, the giant herdsman, fierce and fell
As a strong wine unmixed, with hateful cast
Of all his cunning eyes upon the trail,
Gave chase and tracked me down. And there he perished
By violent and sudden doom surprised.
But I with darting sting-the scorpion whip
Of angry Gods-am lashed from land to land.
Thou hast my story, and, if thou can'st tell
What I have still to suffer, speak; but do not,
Moved by compassion, with a lying tale
Warm my cold heart; no sickness of the soul
Is half so shameful as composed falsehoods.

CHORUS
Off! lost one! off! Horror, I cry!
Horror and misery
Was this the traveller's tale I craved to hear?
Oh, that mine eyes should see
A sight so ill to look upon! Ah me!
Sorrow, defilement, haunting fear,
Fan my blood cold,
Stabbed with a two-edged sting!
O Fate, Fate, Fate, tremblingly I behold
The plight of Io, thine apportioning!

PROMETHEUS
Thou dost lament too soon, and art as one
All fear. Refrain thyself till thou hast heard
What's yet to be.

CHORUS
Speak and be our instructor:
There is a kind of balm to the sick soul
In certain knowledge of the grief to come.

PROMETHEUS
Your former wish I lightly granted ye:
And ye have heard, even as ye desired,
From this maid's lips the story of her sorrow.
Now hear the sequel, the ensuing woes
The damsel must endure from Hera's hate.
And thou, O seed of Inachaean loins,
Weigh well my words, that thou may'st understand
Thy journey's end. First towards the rising sun
Turn hence, and traverse fields that ne'er felt plough
Until thou reach the country of the Scyths,
A race of wanderers handling the long-bow
That shoots afar, and having their habitations
Under the open sky in wattled cotes
That move on wheels. Go not thou nigh to them,
But ever within sound of the breaking waver,
Pass through their land. And on the left of the
The Chalybes, workers in iron, dwell.
Beware of them, for they are savages,
Who suffer not a stranger to come near.
And thou shalt reach the river Hybristes,
Well named. Cross not, for it is ill to cross,
Until thou come even unto Caucasus,
Highest of mountains, where the foaming river
Blows all its volume from the summit ridge
That o'ertops all. And that star-neighboured ridge
Thy feet must climb; and, following the road
That runneth south, thou presently shall reach
The Amazonian hosts that loathe the male,
And shall one day remove from thence and found
Themiscyra hard by Thermodon's stream,
Where on the craggy Salmadessian coast
Waves gnash their teeth, the maw of mariners
And step-mother of ships. And they shall lead the
Upon thy way, and with a right good will.
Then shalt thou come to the Cimmerian Isthmus,
Even at the pass and portals of the sea,
And leaving it behind thee, stout of heart,
Cross o'er the channel of Maeotis' lake.
For ever famous among men shall be
The story of thy crossing, and the strait
Be called by a new name, the Bosporus,
In memory of thee. Then having left
Europa's soil behind thee thou shalt come
To the main land of Asia. What think ye?
Is not the only ruler of the Gods
A complete tyrant, violent to all,
Respecting none? First, being himself a God,
He burneth to enjoy a mortal maid,
And then torments her with these wanderings.
A sorry suitor for thy love, poor girl,
A bitter wooing. Yet having heard so much
Thou art not even in the overture
And prelude of the song.

IO
Alas! Oh! Oh!

PROMETHEUS
Thou dost cryout, fetching again deep groans:
What wilt thou do when thou hast heard in full
The evils yet to come?

CHORUS
And wilt thou tell
The maiden something further: some fresh sorrow?

PROMETHEUS
A stormy sea of wrong and ruining.

IO
What does it profit me to live! Oh, why
Do I not throw myself from this rough crag
And in one leap rid me of all my pain?
Better to die at once than live, and all
My days be evil.

PROMETHEUS
Thou would'st find it hard
To bear what I must bear: for unto me
It is not given to die,-a dear release
From pain; but now of suffering there is
No end in sight till Zeus shall fall.

IO
And shall
Zeus fall? His power be taken from him?
No matter when if true-

PROMETHEUS
'Twould make thee happy
Methinks, if thou could'st see calamity
Whelm him.

IO
How should it not when all my woes
Are of his sending? learn how
These things shall be.
The tyrant's rod?
And fond imaginings.

IO
But how? Oh, speak,
If the declaring draw no evil down I

PROMETHEUS
A marriage he shall make shall vex him sore.

IO
A marriage? Whether of gods or mortals?
Speak!
If this be utterable!

PROMETHEUS
Why dost thou ask
What I may not declare?

IO
And shall he quit
The throne of all the worlds, by a new spouse
Supplanted?

PROMETHEUS
She will bear to him a child,
And he shall be in might more excellent
Than his progenitor.

IO
And he will find
No way to parry this strong stroke of fate?

PROMETHEUS
None save my own self-when these bonds are loosed.

IO
And who shall loose them if Zeus wills not?
Of thine own seed.
How say'st thou? Shall a child
Of mine release thee?

PROMETHEUS
Son of thine, but son
The thirteenth generation shall beget.

IO
A prophecy oracularly dark.

PROMETHEUS
Then seek not thou to know thine own fate.

IO
Nay,
Tender me not a boon to snatch it from me.

PROMETHEUS
Of two gifts thou hast asked one shall be thine.

IO
What gifts? Pronounce and leave to me the choice.

PROMETHEUS
Nay, thou are free to choose. Say, therefore, whether
I shall declare to thee thy future woes
Or him who shall be my deliverer.

CHORUS
Nay, but let both be granted! Unto her
That which she chooseth, unto me my choice,
That I, too, may have honour from thy lips.
First unto her declare her wanderings,
And unto me him who shall set thee free;
'Tis that I long to know.

PROMETHEUS
I will resist
No further, but to your importunacy
All things which ye-desire to learn reveal.
And, Io, first to thee I will declare
Thy far-driven wanderings; write thou my words
In the retentive tablets of thy heart.
When thou hast crossed the flood that flows between
And is the boundary of two continents,
Turn to the sun's uprising, where he treads
Printing with fiery steps the eastern sky,
And from the roaring of the Pontic surge
Do thou pass on, until before thee lies
The Gorgonean plain, Kisthene called,
Where dwell the gray-haired three, the Phorcides,
Old, mumbling maids, swan-shaped, having one eye
Betwixt the three, and but a single tooth.
On them the sun with his brightbeams ne'er glanceth
Nor moon that lamps the night. Not far from them
The sisters three, the Gorgons, have their haunt;
Winged forms, with snaky locks, hateful to man,
Whom nothing mortal looking on can live.
Thus much that thou may'st have a care of these.
Now of another portent thou shalt hear.
Beware the dogs of Zeus that ne'er give tongue,
The sharp-beaked gryphons, and the one-eyed horde
Of Arimaspians, riding upon horses,
Who dwell around the river rolling gold,
The ferry and the frith of Pluto's port.
Go not thou nigh them. After thou shalt come
To a far land, a dark-skinned race, that dwell
Beside the fountains of the sun, whence flows
The river Ethiops: follow its banks
Until thou comest to the steep-down slope
Where from the Bibline mountains Nilus old
Pours the sweet waters of his holy stream.
And thou, the river guiding thee, shalt come
To the three-sided, wedge-shaped land of Nile,
Where for thyself, Io, and for thy children
Long sojourn is appointed. If in aught
My story seems to stammer and to er
From indirectness, ask and ask again
Till all be manifest. I do not lack
For leisure, having more than well contents me

CHORUS
If there be aught that she must suffer yet,
Or aught omitted in the narrative
Of her long wanderings, I pray thee speak.
But if thou hast told all, then grant the boon
We asked and doubtless thou wilt call to mind.

PROMETHEUS
Nay, she has heard the last of her long journey.
But, as some warrant for her patient hearing
I will relate her former sufferings
Ere she came hither. Much I will omit
That had detained us else with long discourse
And touch at once her journey's thus far goal.
When thou wast come to the Molossian plain
That lies about the high top of Dodona,
Where is an oracle and shrine of Zeus
Thesprotian, and-portent past belief-
The talking oaks, the same from whom the word
Flashed clear and nothing questionably hailed the
The destined spouse-ah! do I touch old wounds?-
Of Zeus, honoured above thy sex; stung thence
In torment, where the road runs by the sea,
Thou cam'st to the broad gulf of Rhea, whence
Beat back by a strong wind, thou didst retrace
Most painfully thy course; and it shall be
That times to come in memory of thy passage
Shall call that inlet the Ionian Sea.
Thus much for thee in witness that my mind
Beholdeth more than that which leaps to light.
Now for the things to come; what I shall say
Concerns ye both alike. Return we then
And follow our old track. There is a city
Yclept Canobus, built at the land's end,
Even at the mouth and mounded silt of Nile,
And there shall Zeus restore to thee thy mind
With touch benign and laying on of hands.
And from that touch thou shalt conceive and bear
Swarth Epaphus, touch-born; and he shall reap
As much of earth as Nilus watereth
With his broad-flowing river. In descent
The fifth from him there shall come back to Argos,
Thine ancient home, but driven by hard hap,
Two score and ten maids, daughters of one house,
Fleeing pollution of unlawful marriage
With their next kin, who winged with wild desire,
As hawks that follow hard on cushat-doves,
Shall harry prey which they should not pursue
And hunt forbidden brides. But God shall be
Exceeding jealous for their chastity;
And old Pelasgia, for the mortal thrust
Of woman's hands and midnight murder done
Upon their new-wed lords, shall shelter them;
For every wife shall strike her husband down
Dipping a two-edged broadsword in his blood.
Oh, that mine enemies might wed such wivesl
But of the fifty, one alone desire
Shall tame, as with the stroke of charming-wand,
So that she shall not lift her hands to slay
The partner of her bed; yea, melting love
Shall blunt her sharp-set will, and she shall choose
Rather to be called weak and womanly
Than the dark stain of blood; and she shall be
Mother of kings in Argos. 'Tis a tale
Were't told in full, would occupy us long.
For, of her sowing, there shall spring to fame
The lion's whelp, the archer bold, whose bow
Shall set me free. This is the oracle
Themis, my ancient Mother, Titan-born,
Disclosed to me; but how and in what wise
Were long to tell, nor would it profit thee.

IO
Again they come, again
The fury and the pain!
The gangrened wound! The ache of pulses dinned
With raging throes
It beats upon my brain-the burning wind
That madness blows!
It pricks-the barb, the hook not forged with heat,
The gadfly dart!
Against my ribs with thud of trampling feet
Hammers my heart!
And like a bowling wheel mine eyeballs spin,
And I am flung
By fierce winds from my course, nor can rein in
My frantic tongue
That raves I know not what!-a random tide
Of words-a froth
Of muddied waters buffeting the wide,
High-crested, hateful wave of ruin and God's wrath!
Exit raving.

CHORUS
I hold him wise who first in his own mind
This canon fixed and taught it to mankind:
True marriage is the union that mates
Equal with equal; not where wealth emasculates,
Or mighty lineage is magnified,
Should he who earns his bread look for a bride.
Therefore, grave mistresses of fate, I pray
That I may never live to see the day
When Zeus takes me for his bedfellow; or
Draw near in love to husband from on high.
For I am full of fear when I behold
Io, the maid no human love may fold,
And her virginity disconsolate,
Homeless and husbandless by Hera's hate.
For me, when love is level, fear is far.
May none of all the Gods that greater are
Eve me with his unshunnable regard;
Fir in that warfare victory is hard,
And of that plenty cometh emptiness.
What should befall me then I dare not guess;
Nor whither I should flee that I might shun
The craft and subtlety of Cronos' Son.

PROMETHEUS
I tell thee that the self-willed pride of Zeus
Shall surely be abased; that even now
He plots a marriage that shall hurl him forth
Far out of sight of his imperial throne
And kingly dignity. Then, in that hour,
Shall be fulfilled, nor in one tittle fail,
The curse wherewith his father Cronos cursed him,
What time he fell from his majestic place
Established from of old. And such a stroke
None of the Gods save me could turn aside.
I know these things shall be and on what wise.
Therefore let him secure him in his seat,
And put his trust in airy noise, and swing
His bright, two-handed, blazing thunderbolt,
For these shall nothing stead him, nor avert
Fall insupportable and glory humbled.
A wrestler of such might he maketh ready
For his own ruin; yea, a wonder, strong
In strength unmatchable; and he shall find
Fire that shall set at naught the burning bolt
And blasts more dreadful that o'er-crow the thunder.
The pestilence that scourgeth the deep seas
And shaketh solid earth, the three-pronged mace,
Poseidon's spear, a mightier shall scatter;
And when he stumbleth striking there his foot,
Fallen on evil days, the tyrant's pride
Shall measure all the miserable length
That parts rule absolute from servitude.

CHORUS
Methinks the wish is father to the thought
And whets thy railing tongue.

PROMETHEUS
Not so: the wish And the accomplishment go hand in hand.

CHORUS
Then must we look for one who shall supplant
And reign instead of Zeus?
Far, far more grievous shall bow down his neck.

CHORUS
Hast thou no fear venting such blasphemy?

PROMETHEUS
What should I fear who have no part nor lot
In doom of dying?

CHORUS
But he might afflict the
With agony more dreadful, pain beyond
These pains.

PROMETHEUS
Why let him if he will
All evils I foreknow.

CHORUS
Ah, they are wise
Who do obeisance, prostrate in the dust,
To the implacable, eternal Will.

PROMETHEUS
Go thou and worship; fold thy hands in prayer,
And be the dog that licks the foot of power!
Nothing care I for Zeus; yea, less than naught!
Let him do what he will, and sway the world
His little hour; he has not long to lord it
Among the Gods.
Oh here here runner comes
The upstart tyrant's lacquey! He'll bring news,
A message, never doubt it, from his master.
Enter HERMES.
Hermes. You, the sophistical rogue, the heart of gall,
The renegade of heaven, to short-lived men
Purveyor of prerogatives and tities,
Fire-thief! Dost hear me? I've a word for thee.
Thou'rt to declare-this is the Father's pleasure
These marriage-feasts of thine, whereof thy tongue
Rattles a-pace, and by the which his greatness
Shall take a fall. And look you rede no riddles,
But tell the truth, in each particular
Exact. I am not to sweat for thee, Prometheus,
Upon a double journey. And thou seest
Zeus by thy dark defiance is not moved.

PROMETHEUS
A very solemn piece of insolence
Spoken like an underling of the Gods! Ye are young!
Ye are young! New come to power And ye suppose
Your towered citadel Calamity
Can never enter! Ah, and have not
Seen from those pinnacles a two-fold fall
Of tyrants? And the third, who his brief "now"
Of lordship arrogates, I shall see yet
By lapse most swift' most ignominious,
Sink to perdition. And dost thou suppose
I crouch and cower in reverence and awe
To Gods of yesterday? I fail of that
So much, the total all of space and time
Bulks in between. Take thyself hence and count
Thy toiling steps back by the way thou camest,
In nothing wiser for thy questionings.

HERMES
This is that former stubbornness of thine
That brought thee hither to foul anchorage.

PROMETHEUS
Mistake me not; I would not, if I might,
Change my misfortunes for thy vassalage.

HERMES
Oh! better be the vassal of this rock
Than born the trusty messenger of Zeus

PROMETHEUS
I answer insolence, as it deserves,
With insolence. How else should it be answered?

HERMES
Surely; and, being in trouble, it is plain
You revel in your plight.

PROMETHEUS
Revel, forsooth!
I would my enemies might hold such revels
And thou amongst the first.

HERMES
Dost thou blame me
For thy misfortunes?

PROMETHEUS
I hate all the Gods,
Because, having received good at my hands,
They have rewarded me with evil.
Proves thee stark mad!

HERMES
This proves thee stark mad!

PROMETHEUS
Mad as you please, if hating
Your enemies is madness

HERMES
Were all well
With thee, thou'dst be insufferable!

PROMETHEUS
Alas!

HERMES
Alas, that Zeus knows not that word, Alas!

PROMETHEUS
But ageing Time teacheth all knowledge.

HERMES
Time
Hath not yet taught thy rash, imperious will
Over wild impulse to win mastery.

PROMETHEUS
Nay: had Time taught me that, I had not stooped
To bandy words with such a slave as thou.

HERMES
This, then, is all thine answer: thou'lt not
One syllable of what our Father asks.

PROMETHEUS
Oh, that I were a debtor to his kindness!
I would requite him to the uttermost!

HERMES
A cutting speech! You take me for a boy
Whom you may taunt and tease.

PROMETHEUS
Why art thou not
A boy-a very booby-to suppose
Thou wilt get aught from me? There is no wrong
However shameful, nor no shift of malice
Whereby Zeus shall persuade me to unlock
My lips until these shackles be cast loose.
Therefore let lightning leap with smoke and flame,
And all that is be beat and tossed together,
With whirl of feathery snowflakes and loud crack
Of subterranean thunder; none of these
Shall bend my will or force me to disclose
By whom 'tis fated he shall fall from power.

HERMES
What good can come of this? Think yet again!

PROMETHEUS
I long ago have thought and long ago
Determined.

HERMES
Patience! patience! thou rash fool
Have so much patience as to school thy mind
To a right judgment in thy present troubles.

PROMETHEUS
Lo, I am rockfast, and thy words are wave
That weary me in vain. Let not the thought
Enter thy mind, that I in awe of Zeus
Shall change my nature for a girl's, or beg
The Loathed beyond all loathing-with my hands
Spread out in woman's fashion-to cast loose
These bonds; from that I am utterly removed.

HERMES
I have talked much, yet further not my purpose;
For thou art in no whit melted or moved
By my prolonged entreaties: like a colt
New to the harness thou dost back and Plunge.
Snap at thy bit and fight against the rein.
And yet thy confidence is in a straw;
For stubbornness, if one be in the wrong,
Is in itself weaker than naught at all.
See now, if thou wilt not obey my words,
What storm, what triple-crested wave of woe
Unshunnable shall come upon thee. First,
This rocky chasm shall the Father split
With earthquake thunder and his burning bolt,
And he shall hide thy form, and thou shalt hang
Bolt upright, dandled in the rock's rude arms.
Nor till thou hast completed thy long term
Shalt thou come back into the light; and then
The hound of Zeus, the tawny eagle,
Shall violently fall upon thy flesh
And rend it as 'twere rags; and every day
And all day long shall thine unbidden guest
Sit at thy table, feasting on thy liver
Till he hath gnawn it black. Look for no term
To such an agony till there stand forth
Among the Gods one who shall take upon him
Thy sufferings and consent to enter hell
Far from the light of Sun, yea, the deep pit
And mirk of Tartarus, for thee. Be advised;
This is not stuffed speech framed to frighten the
But woeful truth. For Zeus knows not to lie

CHORUS
To our mind
The words of Hermes fail not of the mark.
For he enjoins thee to let self-will go
And follow after prudent counsels. Him
Harken; for error in the wise is shame.

PROMETHEUS
These are stale tidings I foreknew;
Therefore, since suffering is the due
A foe must pay his foes,
Let curled lightnings clasp and clash
And close upon my limbs: loud crash
The thunder, and fierce throes
Of savage winds convulse calm air:
The embowelled blast earth's roots uptear
And toss beyond its bars,
The rough surge, till the roaring deep
In one devouring deluge sweep
The pathway of the stars
Finally, let him fling my form
Down whirling gulfs, the central storm
Of being; let me lie
Plunged in the black Tartarean gloom;
Yet-yet-his sentence shall not doom
This deathless self to die!

HERMES
These are the workings of a brain
More than a little touched; the vein
Of voluble ecstasy!
Surely he wandereth from the way,
His reason lost, who thus can pray
A mouthing mad man he!
Therefore, O ye who court his fate,
Rash mourners-ere it be too late
And ye indeed are sad
For vengeance spurring hither fast-
Hence! lest the bellowing thunderblast
Like him should strike you mad I

CHORUS
Words which might work persuasion speak
If thou must counsel me; nor seek
Thus, like a stream in spate,
To uproot mine honour. Dost thou dare
Urge me to baseness! I will bear
With him all blows of fate;
For false forsakers I despise;
At treachery my gorge doth rise:
I spew it forth with hate!

HERMES
Only-with ruin on your track-
Rail not at fortune; but look back
And these my words recall;
Neither blame Zeus that he hath sent
Sorrow no warning word forewent!
Ye labour for your fall
With your own hands I Not by surprise
Nor yet by stealth, but with clear eyes,
Knowing the thing ye do,
Ye walk into the yawning net
That for the feet of is set
And Ruin spreads for you.
Exit.

PROMETHEUS
The time is past for words; earth quakes
Sensibly: hark! pent thunder rakes
The depths, with bellowing din
Of echoes rolling ever nigher:
Lightnings shake out their locks of fire;
The dust cones dance and spin;
The skipping winds, as if possessed
By faction-north, south, east and west,
Puff at each other; sea
And sky are shook together: Lo
The swing and fury of the blow
Wherewith Zeus smiteth me
Sweepeth apace, and, visibly,
To strike my heart with fear. See, see,
Earth, awful Mother! Air,
That shedd'st from the revolving sky
On all the light they see thee by,
What bitter wrongs I bear!
The scene closes with earthquake and thunder, in the midst of which PROMETHEUS and the DAUGHTERS OF OCEANUS sink into the abyss.

THE END