旅行的艺术:Ⅵ 壮阔-7

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上帝和壮阔景致的联系在圣经中的一章里写得最具体，其情境相当特别。一个正直但却沮丧万分的人质问，为什么他的生活中有那么多磨难。上帝的回答是，他应当去想想天地间的山川河流等自然景观。在这里，壮阔的景观承担了如此迫切且沉重的问题，这的确是罕见的。

The link between God and sublime landscapes is made most explicit in one book of the Bible. The circumstances are peculiar. God is asked by a righteous but desperate man to explain why his life has grown full of suffering. And God answers him by bidding him to contemplate the deserts and the mountains, rivers and icecaps, oceans and skies. Seldom have sublime places been asked to bear the burden of such a weighty, urgent question.

伯克把《约伯记》描绘为《旧约》中气象最壮阔的篇章。该篇章的开头说到有一个名为约伯的富人，他非常虔诚，住在乌斯这块土地上。他有7个儿子、3个女儿、7000只羊、3000只骆驼、500对牛和500头驴子。他本来事事顺心，德行也得到了回报。然而，有一天，灾难降临了。示巴人偷走了约伯的牛和驴子，他的羊被闪电击毙，而骆驼也被迦勒底人掠夺了。沙漠吹起了一阵飓风，将他长子的寓所给吹毁、同时夺走了大儿子和他弟妹们的生命。接着，约伯从脚掌到头顶全都长出了毒疮，他呆坐在被毁房子的灰烬中，用陶器碎片刮着自己的身体，并痛哭一场。

At the beginning of the Book of Job, described by Edmund Burke as the most sublime book of the Old Testament, we hear that Job was a wealthy, devout man from the land of Uz. He had seven sons, three daughters, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys. His wishes were obeyed and his virtue rewarded. Then one day disaster struck. The Sabaeans stole Job's oxen and asses, lightning killed his sheep and the Chaldeans raided his camels. A hurricane blew in from the desert and wrecked the house of his eldest son, killing him and his siblings. Painful sores developed from the soles of Job's feet to the top of his head and, as he sat in the ashes of his house, he scratched them with a piece of broken pottery and wept.

为什么约伯会遭受到磨难？他的朋友提供了答案：他一定是做了什么罪大恶极的事。书亚人比勒达告诉约伯，如果他和孩子没做过坏事，上帝是不会杀死他的孩子的。比勒达说：“上帝不会遗弃正直的人。”拿玛人琐法则认为，上帝对约伯已经够好了，他说：“你必须知道，上帝给予你的惩罚，少于你的罪行所应得的果报。”

Why had Job been so afflicted? Job's friends had the answer. He had sinned. Bildad the Shuhite told Job that his children could not have been killed by God unless they and Job had done wrong. 'God will not reject a righteous man,' said Bildad. Zophar the Naamathite ventured that God must have been generous in his treatment of Job: 'Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.'

但约伯却不能接受这些解释。他称之为“灰烬的箴言”和“淤泥的堡垒”。他从不是个坏人，为什么会遭遇不幸？

But Job could not accept these words. He called them 'proverbs of ashes' and 'defences of clay'. He had not been a bad man-why therefore had bad things occurred to him?

在整部《旧约》中，这是上帝面临的最尖锐的一个问题。沙漠刮起了一阵旋风，而愤怒的上帝从中给予了约伯这样的回答：

It is one of the most acute questions asked of God in all the books of the Old Testament. And from a whirlwind in the desert, a furious God answered Job as follows:

谁用无知的言语使我的旨意暗昧不明？

你要如勇士束腰；

我问你，你可以指示我。

我立大地根基的时候，你在哪里呢？

你若有聪明，只管说吧！

你若晓得就说，是谁定地的尺度？

是谁把准绳拉在其上？

光亮从何路分开？

东风从何路分散遍地？

谁为雨水分道？

谁为雷电开路？

冰出于谁的胎？

天上的霜是谁生的呢？

你知道天的定例吗？

能使地归在天的权下吗？

你能向云彩扬起声来，

使倾盆的雨遮盖你吗？

鹰雀飞翔，展开翅膀一直向南，

岂是藉你的智慧吗？

你有神那样的膀臂吗？

你能像他发雷声吗？

你能用鱼钩钓上鳄鱼吗？

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou has understanding.

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? …

By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?

Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; …

Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? …

Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?

Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? …

Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? …

Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south? …

Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook?

当上帝被问及为什么约伯没做坏事却遭受祸害时，他把约伯的注意力引向伟大的自然现象。不要因为事与愿违而感到惊讶，因为这个宇宙比你大得多。当无法理解为什么会发生事与愿违的情况时不要惊讶，因为你根本不能彻底理解宇宙的逻辑。站在群山之前，你就知道自己有多么渺小。接受比自己伟大的事物，也接受自己不了解的道理。这个世界对约伯而言可能缺乏逻辑性，但是这不表示世界本身缺乏逻辑。我们不能用自己的人生去衡量一切，而应该通过壮阔的景致提醒我们人类的渺小和脆弱。

Asked to explain to Job why he has been made to suffer though he has been good, God draws Job's attention to the mighty phenomena of nature. Do not be surprised that things have not gone your way: the universe is greater than you. Do not be surprised that you do not understand why they have not gone your way: for you cannot fathom the logic of the universe. See how small you are next to the mountains. Accept what is bigger than you and you do not understand. The world may appear illogical to Job, but it does not follow that it is illogical per se. Our lives are not the measure of all things: consider sublime places for a reminder of human insignificance and frailty.

这里当然有非常清楚的宗教讯息。上帝向约伯保证，即使他不是所有事件的焦点人物，甚至命运多舛，上帝还是会把他放在心上。当神圣的智慧远离人们的理解力时，正直的人因为看到壮阔的自然景象而体会到自己的有限性，也就必须继续相信上帝为宇宙作出的安排。

There is a strictly religious message here. God assures Job that he has a place in his heart, even if all events do not centre around him and may at times appear to run contrary to his interest. When divine wisdom eludes human understanding, the righteous, made aware of their limitations by the spectacle of sublime nature, must continue to trust in God's plans for the universe.