章节正文
whatever has parts may be destroyed."
"Consider your own conceptions," replied Imlac, "and the difficulty
will be less. You will find substance without extension. An ideal
form is no less real than material bulk; yet an ideal form has no
extension. It is no less certain, when you think on a pyramid,
that your mind possesses the idea of a pyramid, than that the
pyramid itself is standing. What space does the idea of a pyramid
occupy more than the idea of a grain of corn? or how can either
idea suffer laceration? As is the effect, such is the cause; as
thought, such is the power that thinks, a power impassive and
indiscerptible."
"But the Being," said Nekayah, "whom I fear to name, the Being
which made the soul, can destroy it."
"He surely can destroy it," answered Imlac, "since, however
imperishable, it receives from a superior nature its power of
duration. That it will not perish by any inherent cause of decay
or principle of corruption, may be shown by philosophy; but
philosophy can tell no more. That it will not be annihilated by
Him that made it, we must humbly learn from higher authority."
The whole assembly stood awhile silent and collected. "Let us
return," said Rasselas, "from this scene of mortality. How gloomy
would be these mansions of the dead to him who did not know that he
should never die; that what now acts shall continue its agency, and
what now thinks shall think on for ever. Those that lie here
stretched before us, the wise and the powerful of ancient times,
warn us to remember the shortness of our present state; they were
perhaps snatched away while they were busy, like us, in the CHOICE
OF LIFE."
"To me," said the Princess, "the choice of life is become less
important; I hope hereafter to think only on the choice of
eternity."
They then hastened out of the caverns, and under the protection of
their guard returned to Cairo.
CHAPTER XLIX - THE CONCLUSION, IN WHICH NOTHING IS CONCLUDED.
IT was now the time of the inundation of the Nile. A few days
after their visit to the catacombs the river began to rise.
They were confined to their house. The whole region being under
water, gave them no invitation to any excursions; and being well
supplied with materials for talk, they diverted themselves with
comparisons of the different forms of life which they had observed,
and with various schemes of happiness which each of them had
formed.
Pekuah was never so much charmed with any place as the Convent of
St. Anthony, where the Arab restored her to the Princess, and
wished only to fill it with pious maidens and to be made prioress
of the order. She was weary of expectation and disgust, and would
gladly be fixed in some unvariable state.
The Princess thought that, of all sublunary things, knowledge was
the best. She desired first to learn all sciences, and then
proposed to found a college of learned women, in which she would
preside, that, by conversing with the old and educating the young,
she might divide her time between the acquisition and communication
of wisdom, and raise up for the next age models of prudence and
patterns of piety.
The Prince desired a little kingdom in which he might administer
justice in his own person and see all the parts of government with
his own eyes; but he could never fix the limits of his dominion,
and was always adding to the number of his subjects.
Imlac and the astronomer were contented to be driven along the
stream of life without directing their course to any particular
port.
Of those wishes that they had formed they well knew that none could
be obtained. They deliberated awhile what was to be done, and
resolved, when the inundation should cease, to return to Abyssinia.
End
"Consider your own conceptions," replied Imlac, "and the difficulty
will be less. You will find substance without extension. An ideal
form is no less real than material bulk; yet an ideal form has no
extension. It is no less certain, when you think on a pyramid,
that your mind possesses the idea of a pyramid, than that the
pyramid itself is standing. What space does the idea of a pyramid
occupy more than the idea of a grain of corn? or how can either
idea suffer laceration? As is the effect, such is the cause; as
thought, such is the power that thinks, a power impassive and
indiscerptible."
"But the Being," said Nekayah, "whom I fear to name, the Being
which made the soul, can destroy it."
"He surely can destroy it," answered Imlac, "since, however
imperishable, it receives from a superior nature its power of
duration. That it will not perish by any inherent cause of decay
or principle of corruption, may be shown by philosophy; but
philosophy can tell no more. That it will not be annihilated by
Him that made it, we must humbly learn from higher authority."
The whole assembly stood awhile silent and collected. "Let us
return," said Rasselas, "from this scene of mortality. How gloomy
would be these mansions of the dead to him who did not know that he
should never die; that what now acts shall continue its agency, and
what now thinks shall think on for ever. Those that lie here
stretched before us, the wise and the powerful of ancient times,
warn us to remember the shortness of our present state; they were
perhaps snatched away while they were busy, like us, in the CHOICE
OF LIFE."
"To me," said the Princess, "the choice of life is become less
important; I hope hereafter to think only on the choice of
eternity."
They then hastened out of the caverns, and under the protection of
their guard returned to Cairo.
CHAPTER XLIX - THE CONCLUSION, IN WHICH NOTHING IS CONCLUDED.
IT was now the time of the inundation of the Nile. A few days
after their visit to the catacombs the river began to rise.
They were confined to their house. The whole region being under
water, gave them no invitation to any excursions; and being well
supplied with materials for talk, they diverted themselves with
comparisons of the different forms of life which they had observed,
and with various schemes of happiness which each of them had
formed.
Pekuah was never so much charmed with any place as the Convent of
St. Anthony, where the Arab restored her to the Princess, and
wished only to fill it with pious maidens and to be made prioress
of the order. She was weary of expectation and disgust, and would
gladly be fixed in some unvariable state.
The Princess thought that, of all sublunary things, knowledge was
the best. She desired first to learn all sciences, and then
proposed to found a college of learned women, in which she would
preside, that, by conversing with the old and educating the young,
she might divide her time between the acquisition and communication
of wisdom, and raise up for the next age models of prudence and
patterns of piety.
The Prince desired a little kingdom in which he might administer
justice in his own person and see all the parts of government with
his own eyes; but he could never fix the limits of his dominion,
and was always adding to the number of his subjects.
Imlac and the astronomer were contented to be driven along the
stream of life without directing their course to any particular
port.
Of those wishes that they had formed they well knew that none could
be obtained. They deliberated awhile what was to be done, and
resolved, when the inundation should cease, to return to Abyssinia.
End
- whatever [wɔt´evə]
pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词) - standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- perish [´periʃ] v.灭亡；消灭；(使)死去 (初中英语单词)
- philosophy [fi´lɔsəfi] n.哲学；人生观 (初中英语单词)
- assembly [ə´sembli] n.集会；装配；与会者 (初中英语单词)
- awhile [ə´wail] ad.少顷；片刻 (初中英语单词)
- agency [´eidʒənsi] n.代理商；机构；代理 (初中英语单词)
- princess [,prin´ses] n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人 (初中英语单词)
- protection [prə´tekʃən] n.警戒；护照；通行证 (初中英语单词)
- conclusion [kən´klu:ʒən] n.结束；结论；推论 (初中英语单词)
- invitation [,invi´teiʃən] n.邀请；请帖；吸引 (初中英语单词)
- disgust [dis´gʌst] n.厌恶 vt.令(人)作呕 (初中英语单词)
- wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)
- prince [´prins] n.王子；亲王；君主 (初中英语单词)
- driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- extension [ik´stenʃən] n.延长；扩展；延期 (高中英语单词)
- hereafter [hiər´ɑ:ftə] ad.&n.将来；来世 (高中英语单词)
- convent [´kɔnvənt] n.女修道院；女修道会 (高中英语单词)
- expectation [,ekspek´teiʃən] n.期待(望)；预期 (高中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- astronomer [ə´strɔnəmə] n.天文学家 (高中英语单词)
- contented [kən´tentid] a.满足的；心满意足的 (高中英语单词)
- corruption [kə´rʌpʃən] n.腐化；贪污；贿赂 (英语四级单词)
- humbly [´hʌmbli] ad.恭顺地，谦卑地 (英语四级单词)
- mortality [mɔ:´tæliti] n.致命性；死亡率 (英语四级单词)
- prudence [´pru:dəns] n.谨慎；慎重；节俭 (英语四级单词)
- inherent [in´hiərənt] a.固有的，天生的 (英语六级单词)
- acquisition [,ækwi´ziʃən] n.获得；获得物 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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