弗朗西斯培根《論財(cái)富》（中英文互譯）

弗朗西斯·培根（FrancisBacon，1561—1626），第一代圣阿爾本子爵（1stViscountStAlban），英國文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期的散文家、唯物主義哲學(xué)家、實(shí)驗(yàn)科學(xué)和近代歸納法的創(chuàng)始人，為科學(xué)研究程序進(jìn)行邏輯組織化的先驅(qū)。OfRiches論財(cái)富

ByFrancisBacon

ICANNOTcallrichesbetterthanthebaggageofvirtue.TheRomanwordisbetter,impedimenta.Forasthebaggageistoanarmy,soisrichestovirtue.Itcannotbespared,norleftbehind,butithindereththemarch;yea,andthecareofit,sometimeslosethordisturbeththevictory.Ofgreatrichesthereisnorealuse,exceptitbeinthedistribution;therestisbutconceit.SosaithSolomon,Wheremuchis,therearemanytoconsumeit;andwhathaththeowner,butthesightofitwithhiseyes?Thepersonalfruitioninanyman,cannotreachtofeelgreatriches:thereisacustodyofthem;orapowerofdole,anddonativeofthem;orafameofthem;butnosolidusetotheowner.Doyounotseewhatfeignedprices,aresetuponlittlestonesandrarities?andwhatworksofostentationareundertaken,becausetheremightseemtobesomeuseofgreatriches?Butthenyouwillsay,theymaybeofuse,tobuymenoutofdangersortroubles.AsSolomonsaith,Richesareasastronghold,intheimaginationoftherichman.Butthisisexcellentlyexpressed,thatitisinimagination,andnotalwaysinfact.Forcertainlygreatriches,havesoldmoremen,thantheyhaveboughtout.Seeknotproudriches,butsuchasthoumayestgetjustly,usesoberly,distributecheerfully,andleavecontentedly.Yethavenoabstractnorfriarlycontemptofthem.Butdistinguish,asCicerosaithwellofRabiriusPosthumus,Instudioreiamplificandaeapparebat,nonavaritiaepraedam,sedinstrumentumbonitatiquaeri.HarkenalsotoSolomon,andbewareofhastygatheringofriches;Quifestinataddivitias,noneritinsons.筆者認(rèn)為財(cái)富不過是德行的包袱。包袱一詞用拉丁字眼impedimenta更好，因?yàn)樨?cái)富之于德行，不啻輜重之于軍隊(duì)。輜重不可缺少，亦不可滯后，但它每每有礙行軍，有時(shí)為顧輜重甚至?xí)O誤戰(zhàn)機(jī)或妨礙勝利。巨額財(cái)富無什么真正的用處，除修齋布施之外，其他用途均屬幻想。因此所羅門有言：財(cái)物越多，食者越眾；除了飽飽眼福，財(cái)主得何益呢？任何人的個(gè)人享用都不可能達(dá)到非要巨額錢財(cái)?shù)牡夭?，有巨額錢財(cái)者只是保管著錢財(cái)，或擁有施舍捐贈(zèng)的權(quán)利，或享有富豪的名聲，但錢財(cái)于他們并無實(shí)用的用處。君不見有人為幾粒石子或罕見之物開出天價(jià)？君不見有人為使巨額財(cái)富顯得有用而著手某些鋪張的工程？不過讀者也許會(huì)說，錢財(cái)可以替人消災(zāi)化難，正如所羅門之言：錢財(cái)在富人心里就像一座城堡。然此言正好道破天機(jī)，那城堡是在心里，而絕非在現(xiàn)實(shí)之中；因?yàn)椴豢煞裾J(rèn)，錢財(cái)替人招災(zāi)致禍的時(shí)候遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)多于替人消災(zāi)化難的時(shí)候。別為炫耀而追求財(cái)富，只掙你取之有道、用之有度、施之有樂且遺之有慰的錢財(cái)。但也別像修道士那樣不食人間煙火，對(duì)金錢全然不屑一顧。只是掙錢要分清有道無道，就像西賽羅當(dāng)年替波斯圖穆斯辯護(hù)時(shí)所說：他追求財(cái)富增加顯然不是為滿足其貪婪之心，而是為了得到行善的資力。還應(yīng)聽從所羅門的教誨，別急欲發(fā)財(cái)，“急欲發(fā)財(cái)者將失去其清白”。Thepoetsfeign,thatwhenPlutus(whichisRiches)issentfromJupiter,helimpsandgoesslowly;butwhenheissentfromPluto,heruns,andisswiftoffoot.Meaningthatrichesgottenbygoodmeans,andjustlabor,paceslowly;butwhentheycomebythedeathofothers(asbythecourseofinheritance,testaments,andthelike),theycometumblinguponaman.ButitmoughtbeappliedlikewisetoPluto,takinghimforthedevil.Forwhenrichescomefromthedevil(asbyfraudandoppression,andunjustmeans),theycomeuponspeed.Thewaystoenricharemany,andmostofthemfoul.Parsimonyisoneofthebest,andyetisnotinnocent;foritwithholdethmenfromworksofliberalityandcharity.Theimprovementoftheground,isthemostnaturalobtainingofriches;foritisourgreatmother’sblessing,theearth’s;butitisslow.Andyetwheremenofgreatwealthdostooptohusbandry,itmultipliethrichesexceedingly.IknewanoblemaninEngland,thathadthegreatestauditsofanymaninmytime;agreatgrazier,agreatsheep-master,agreattimberman,agreatcollier,agreatcorn-master,agreatlead-man,andsoofiron,andanumberofthelikepointsofhusbandry.Soastheearthseemedaseatohim,inrespectoftheperpetualimportation.在詩人的虛構(gòu)中，財(cái)神普路圖斯受天帝朱庇特派遣時(shí)總是磨磨蹭蹭，而受冥王普路托差遣時(shí)卻跑得飛快。這段虛構(gòu)的寓意是，靠誠實(shí)和汗水致富通常很慢，但靠他人的死亡發(fā)財(cái)（如繼承遺產(chǎn)之類）則快如錢財(cái)從天而降。但若把普路托視為魔鬼，這種虛構(gòu)也恰如其分；因?yàn)楫?dāng)財(cái)富來自魔鬼時(shí)（如靠欺詐、壓迫和其他不公正的手段獲取財(cái)富），的確來得很快。致富的途徑千條萬條，可多半都是邪路歪道；其中吝嗇最為清白，但也并非清白無瑕，因?yàn)樗柚故廊藰飞坪檬＠猛恋刂赂皇亲詈侠淼纳?cái)之道，因土地提供的財(cái)富乃大地之母的恩賜，只是走這條路致富較慢。但已有萬貫家財(cái)者若肯屈尊經(jīng)營土地，其家財(cái)定會(huì)成倍增加。筆者曾識(shí)一位英格蘭貴族，他當(dāng)時(shí)需審計(jì)的賬目為全國之最，因?yàn)樗麚碛写笃柠溙?、林?chǎng)、牧場(chǎng)和羊群，還擁有巨大的煤礦、鉛礦、鐵礦和諸如此類的產(chǎn)業(yè)，所以大地于他就像是一片財(cái)源滾滾且永不枯竭的海洋。

Itwastrulyobservedbyone,thathimselfcameveryhardly,toalittleriches,andveryeasily,togreatriches.Forwhenaman’sstockiscometothat,thathecanexpecttheprimeofmarkets,andovercomethosebargains,whichfortheirgreatnessarefewmen’smoney,andbepartnerintheindustriesofyoungermen,hecannotbutincreasemainly.Thegainsofordinarytradesandvocationsarehonest;andfurtheredbytwothingschiefly:bydiligence,andbyagoodname,forgoodandfairdealing.Butthegainsofbargains,areofamoredoubtfulnature;whenmenshallwaituponothers’necessity,brokebyservantsandinstrumentstodrawthemon,putoffotherscunningly,thatwouldbebetterchapmen,andthelikepractices,whicharecraftyandnaught.Asforthechoppingofbargains,whenamanbuysnottoholdbuttoselloveragain,thatcommonlygrindethdouble,bothupontheseller,anduponthebuyer.Sharingsdogreatlyenrich,ifthehandsbewellchosen,thataretrusted.Usuryisthecertainestmeansofgain,thoughoneoftheworst;asthatwherebyamandotheathisbread,insudorevultusalieni;andbesides,dothploughuponSundays.Butyetcertainthoughitbe,ithathflaws;forthatthescrivenersandbrokersdovalueunsoundmen,toservetheirownturn.Thefortuneinbeingthefirst,inaninventionorinaprivilege,dothcausesometimesawonderfulovergrowthinriches;asitwaswiththefirstsugarman,intheCanaries.Thereforeifamancanplaythetruelogician,tohaveaswelljudgment,asinvention,hemaydogreatmatters;especiallyifthetimesbefit.Hethatrestethupongainscertain,shallhardlygrowtogreatriches;andhethatputsalluponadventures,dothoftentimesbreakandcometopoverty:itisgood,therefore,toguardadventureswithcertainties,thatmayupholdlosses.Monopolies,andcoemptionofwaresforre-sale,wheretheyarenotrestrained,aregreatmeanstoenrich;especiallyifthepartyhaveintelligence,whatthingsareliketocomeintorequest,andsostorehimselfbeforehand.Richesgottenbyservice,thoughitbeofthebestrise,yetwhentheyaregottenbyflattery,feedinghumors,andotherservileconditions,theymaybeplacedamongsttheworst.Asforfishingfortestamentsandexecutorships(asTacitussaithofSeneca,testamentaetorbostamquamindaginecapi),itisyetworse;byhowmuchmensubmitthemselvestomeanerpersons,thaninservice.有人說他掙小錢很難賺大錢卻很容易，此話一點(diǎn)不假。因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)人若像他那樣擁有雄厚的資金，便可囤積居奇，恃強(qiáng)凌弱并與人合伙經(jīng)營年輕人的行當(dāng)，這樣他非賺大錢不可。一般行當(dāng)和職業(yè)掙的是老實(shí)錢，其掙錢手段主要有二：一是勤勞奮勉，二是童叟無欺。但靠講盤議價(jià)而盈利，其公道就令人生疑；凡乘人急需而漫天要價(jià)，凡賄賂雇員和代理人而招攬生意，或是耍手腕排擠其他可能更公平的商人等等，都是奸詐卑劣之舉。至于做投機(jī)買賣，即購物并非為自己所用，而是為了再高價(jià)出售，這對(duì)原賣主和二手顧客都可謂敲詐。如果選擇的搭檔可靠，合伙經(jīng)營通常有大利可圖。放債取息乃最可靠的發(fā)財(cái)之路，但也是最有害的邪路，因放債取息者不僅讓別人流汗自己吃面包，而且還在安息日盈利。不過放債取息雖說可靠，但也并非沒有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，因公證人和中間人常常為了私利替沒有償還能力的人作信譽(yù)擔(dān)保。若有幸率先獲得某項(xiàng)發(fā)明或某項(xiàng)專利，有時(shí)候也可大發(fā)橫財(cái)，如最先在加那利群島建糖廠的那人。因此，一個(gè)人若能充當(dāng)真正的邏輯學(xué)家，即善于發(fā)現(xiàn)又善于判斷，那他就可以大撈一把，尤其是遇上走運(yùn)得幸之時(shí)?？抗潭ㄊ杖肷钫呓K歸難成巨富，而傾其所有投機(jī)者又往往會(huì)傾家蕩產(chǎn)；所以最好是有份固定收入作投機(jī)冒險(xiǎn)的后盾，這樣即使投機(jī)失敗也有退路。在沒有法律限制的地方，壟斷商品并囤積待售乃發(fā)財(cái)之重要手段，在當(dāng)事者能預(yù)見何種商品將供不應(yīng)求，從而事先囤積時(shí)更是如此。出仕受祿固然最為風(fēng)光，但若俸祿之獲取是靠阿諛奉承、偷合茍容或其它奴顏婢膝的行徑，那這種錢亦可列為最卑污之類。至于攫取遺囑及遺囑執(zhí)行人身份（像塔西佗所說的塞內(nèi)加那樣用網(wǎng)捕撈遺囑和遺孤監(jiān)護(hù)權(quán)），這比前者更為卑污，因前者討好的畢竟是公侯君王，而后者得討好一些卑鄙小人。Believenotmuch,themthatseemtodespiseriches;fortheydespisethem,thatdespairofthem;andnoneworse,whentheycometothem.Benotpenny-wise;richeshavewings,andsometimestheyflyawayofthemselves,sometimestheymustbesetflying,tobringinmore.Menleavetheirriches,eithertotheirkindred,ortothepublic;andmoderateportions,prosperbestinboth.Agr