雙語智慧書·容許自己有無傷大雅之過

83．容許自己有無傷大雅之過
　　容許自己有無傷大雅之過。有時，此類不經(jīng)意的疏忽，反而顯示了你最優(yōu)秀的才智。嫉妒常常表現(xiàn)為對人的排斥，越是斯文有禮就越是惡毒。嫉妒把每個完美都當(dāng)成是錯誤，那是因?yàn)橥昝辣旧聿]有錯誤，因?yàn)榻^對完美，嫉妒心才對之譴責(zé)。嫉妒心就像神話中的百眼巨人阿格斯(1)，所有的眼睛都用來尋瑕摘疵，以安慰自己。指責(zé)如同閃電一般，專挑那些最高的東西襲擊。讓荷馬(2)也偶有敗筆吧，甚至還可讓他貌似缺乏勇氣或智慧，但不要缺乏謹(jǐn)慎，以使他人的惡意消除，或者至少阻止惡意的毒液蔓延。這樣，你便可像斗牛士一樣，把披風(fēng)留給嫉妒的牛角去頂撞，而你不朽的名聲則得以保全。


83．Allow yourself some venial fault
　Allow yourself some venial fault. Some such carelessness is often the greatest recommendation of talent. For envy exercises ostracism, most envenomed when most polite. Envy counts it to perfection as a failing that it has no faults; for being perfect in all it condemns it in all. It becomes an Argus, all eyes for imperfection, only for its own consolation. Blame is like the lightning; it hits the highest. Let Homer nod now and then and affect some negligence in valour or in intellect-not in prudence-so as to disarm malevolence, or at least to prevent its bursting with its own venom. You thus leave your cloak on the horns of Envy in order to save your immortality.
　　
(1) 希臘神話中的阿格斯，有一百只眼睛遍布全身，即便在睡著的時候，也有兩只眼睛始終警惕地睜著。
(2) 荷馬：希臘史詩《伊利亞特》和《奧德賽》的作者。賀拉斯在《詩藝》中說："高明如荷馬有時也瞌睡"，是指荷馬這樣的大詩人也有敗筆之就。