S02E14-句读《中国哲学的故事》---The Wise Delight in Water; The Good Delight in Mountains

The Wise Delight in Water; The Good Delight in Mountains

知者乐水，仁者乐山

With the merchants of a maritime country conditions are otherwise. 

处身在海洋国家的商人们，情况迥然不同。

They have greater opportunity to see different people with different customs and different languages; they are accustomed to change and are not afraid of novelty. 

他们有更多的机会见到语言、风俗都不同的他族人民。他们习惯于变化，对新奇事物并不惧怕。

Nay, in order to have a good sale for their goods, they have to encourage novelty in the manufacture of what they are going to sell. 

而且为了货物得以销售，他们必须对所制造的货物不断创新。

It is no accident that in the West, the industrial revolution was first started in England, which is also a maritime country maintaining her prosperity through commerce. 

西方的工业革命首先发生在英国这样一个靠贸易维持繁荣的海洋国家，不是偶然的。

What was quoted earlier in this chapter from the Lv-shih Ch'un-ch'iu about merchants can also be said of the people of maritime countries, provided that, instead of saying that they are corrupt and treacherous, we say that they are refined and intelligent. 

在本章前面援引的《吕氏春秋》中对商人的评论，也可以用来形容海洋国家的人民，只是要作一点修正，把抨击商人奸诈、不讲道德，改为赞许他们聪明精巧。

We can also paraphrase Confucius by saying that the people of maritime countries are the wise, while those of continental countries are the good. 

我们还可以仿效孔子的话说：海洋国家的人聪明，大陆国家的人善良。

And so we repeat what Confucius said: "The wise delight in water; the good delight in mountains. The wise move; the good stay still. The wise are happy; the good endure." 

然后照孔子的话说：“知者乐水，仁者乐山。知者动，仁者静。知者乐，仁者寿。”

It is beyond the scope of this chapter to enumerate evidences to prove the relationship between the geographic and economic conditions of Greece and England on the one hand, and the development of Western scientific thought and democratic institutions on the other. 

由于篇幅所限，这里不能详细论证希腊和英国在地理、经济条件上的相似之处，以及科学思想与民主政治之何以在西方兴起。

But the fact that the geographic and economic conditions of Greece and England are quite different from those of China suffices to constitute a negative proof for my thesis in regard to Chinese history as mentioned in this chapter. 

但希腊和英国的地理、经济条件与中国迥然不同，就足以从反面论证我在本章对中国历史的论点。

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From YLYK《中国哲学的故事》专辑S02E14