第4章 天路历程 (1)

　　The Pilgrim’s Progress

　　《天路历程》开始是作者的一个梦，梦中有个“基

　　督徒”在诵读《圣经》，当他从书中得知他的城市将

　　要毁于大火时，他将这个灾难告知别人，但是人们都

　　不予理睬。最后他和“柔顺”先行逃走，在路上，他

　　们跌入“绝望深渊”。“柔顺”无法坚持，打道回府了。

　　后来，“基督徒”被“万事通”误导，被“福音传道”

　　带回正路。后来他又与“忠诚”一同前行。在经历一

　　番激烈的搏斗后，他们来到名利场，在这里“忠诚”

　　被判处死刑，“基督徒”想办法逃了出来，并得到“希

　　望”的帮助，由于厌倦了艰辛的旅途，他们选择了一

　　条轻松的路，却不幸落入“绝望”之手。最后他们终

　　于抵达天国，永享长生不老和上帝的福音。

　　[ 英] 约翰·班扬（John Bunyan）

　　Then I saw in my dream，that when they were got out of the

　　wilderness，they presently saw a town before them，and the name

　　of that town is Vanity ；and at the town there is a fair kept，called

　　Vanity Fair ；it is kept all the year long ；it bearth the name of Vanity

　　Fair because the town where it is kept is lighter than vanity ；and

　　also because all that is there sold，or that cometh thither，is vanity.

　　As is the saying of the wise，“All that cometh is vanity”.

　　This fair is no new-erected business，but a thing of ancient

　　standing ；I will show you the original of it.

　　Almost five thousand years agone，there were pilgrims

　　walking to the Celestial City，as these two honest persons are ；

　　and Beelzebub，Apollyon，and Legion，with their companions，

　　perceiving by the path that the pilgrims made，that their way to

　　the city lay through this town of Vanity，they contrived to set up

　　a fair ；a fair wherein should be sold all sorts of vanity，and that

　　it should last all the year long. Therefore at this fair are all such

　　merchandise sold，as houses，lands，trades，places，honors，

　　preferments，titles，countries，kingdoms，lusts，pleasures，

　　and delights of all sorts，as whores，bawds，wives，husbands，

　　children，masters，servants，lives，blood，bodies，souls，silver，

　　gold，pearls，precious stones，and what not.

　　And，moreover，at this fair there is at all times to be seen

　　jugglings，cheats，games，plays，fools，apes，knaves，and

　　rogues，and that of every kind. Here are to be seen，too，and that

　　for nothing，thefts，murders，adulteries，false swearers，and that

　　of a blood-red colour.

　　And as in other fairs of less moment，there are the several rows

　　and streets，under their proper names，where such and such

　　wares are vended ；so here likewise you have the proper places，

　　rows，streets (viz. countries and kingdoms)，where the wares

　　of this fair are soonest to be found. Here is the Britain Row，the

　　French Row，the Italian Row，the Spanish Row，the German

　　Row，where several sorts of vanities are to be sold. But，as in

　　other fairs，some one commodity is as the chief of all the fair，so

　　the ware of Rome and her merchandise is greatly promoted in

　　this fair ；only our English nation，with some others，have taken a

　　dislike thereat.

　　Now，as I said，the way to the Celestial City lies just through

　　this town where this lusty fair is kept ；and he that will go to the

　　city，and yet not go through this town，must needs go out of the

　　world. The Prince of princes himself，when here，went through

　　this town to his own country，and that upon a fair-day，too，yea，

　　and as I think，it was Beelzebup，the chief lord of this fair，that

　　invited him to buy of his vanities ；yea，would have made him lord

　　of the fair，would he but have done him reverence as he went

　　through the town. Yea，because he was such a man of honour，

　　Beelzebub had him from street to street，and showed him all the

　　kingdoms of the world in a little time，that he might，if possible，

　　allure the Blessed One to cheapen and buy some of his vanities ；

　　but he had no mind to the merchandise，and therefore left the town，

　　without laying so much as one farthing upon these vanities. This fair，

　　therefore，is an ancient thing，of long standing，and a very great fair.

　　Now these pilgrims，as I said，must needs go through the

　　fair. Well，so they did ；but behold，even as they entered into the

　　fair，all the people in the fair were moved，and the town itself as

　　it were in a hubbub about them ；and that for several reasons: for

　　First，The pilgrims were clothed with such kind of raiment as

　　was diverse from the raiment of any that traded in the fair. The

　　people，therefore，of the fair，made a great gazing upon them:

　　some said they were fools，some they were bedlams，and some

　　they were outlandish men.

　　Secondly，And as they wondered at their apparel，so they

　　did likewise at their speech ；for few could understand what they

　　said ；they naturally spoke the language of Canaan ，but they that

　　kept the fair were the men of this world ；so that，from one end

　　of the fair to the other，they seemed barbarians each to the other.

　　Thirdly，But that which did not a little amuse the merchandisers

　　was that these pilgrims set very light by all their wares ；they

　　cared not so much as to look upon them ；and if they called upon

　　them to buy，they would put their fingers in their ears，and cry，

　　“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity，”and look upwards，