Meditation XVII

Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill
as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I
may think myself so much better than I am, as that they
who are about me and see my state may have caused it to
toll for me, and I know not that. The church is catholic,	5
universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to
all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me;
for that child is thereby connected to that body which is
my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a
member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns	10
me: all mankind is of one author and is one volume; when
one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but
translated into a better language, and every chapter must
be so translated. God employs several translators; some
pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by	15
war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation,
and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves
again for that library where every book shall lie open to
one another. As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon
calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation	20
to come, so this bell calls us all; but how much more me,
who am brought so near the door by this sickness. There
was a contention as far as a suit (in which piety and
dignity, religion and estimation, were mingled) which of
the religious orders should ring to prayers first in the	25
morning; and it was determined that they should ring first
that rose earliest. If we understand aright the dignity of
this bell that tolls for our evening prayer, we would be
glad to make it ours by rising early, in that application,
that it might be ours as well as his whose indeed it is.	30
The bell doth toll for him that thinks it doth; and though
It intermit again, yet from that minute that that occasion
Wrought upon him, he is united to God. Who casts not
up his eye to the sun when it rises? but who takes off his
eye from a comet when that breaks out? Who bends not	35
his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings? But who
can remove who it from that bell which is passing a piece
of himself out of this world? ? No man is an island, entire
of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of
the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe	40
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as
if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any
man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in
mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Neither can we call this a	45
begging of misery or a borrowing of misery, as though we
were not miserable enough of ourselves but must fetch in
more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery
of our neighbors. Truly it were an excusable covetousness
if we did; for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man	50
hath enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is
not matured and ripened by it and made fir for God by
that affliction. If a man carry treasure in bullion, or in
a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current
money, his treasure will not defray him as he travels.	55
Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not
Current money in the use of it. except we get nearer and
Nearer our home, heaven, by it. Another man may be sick
too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his
bowels as gold in a mine and be of no use to him; but	60
this bell that tells me of his affliction digs out and
applies that gold to me, if by this consideration of another’s
danger I take mine own into contemplation and so
secure myself by making my recourse to my God, who is
our only security.

1	Perchance 或許；偶然。
7	baptize 施行洗禮。
8	that body 該團。這裏指的是教會。
9	ingrafted ＝engrafted，結合；接（枝）；有時引申灌輸（思想）。
11-19	all mankind is of one author … shall lie open to one another. 在這一段裏，人類被比喻做一本書。人類即然是書，那麼作者可能指的是上帝，死亡被喻為一章被翻組成更好的語言，翻譯者是死亡的原因，上帝的手是命運；圖書館指的該是宇宙了。
20	congregation （教堂做禮拜的）聽眾。
22	the door ＝the door of death；死亡之間。
23	contention 爭論；論戰。 suit 訴訟；控告。
24	estimation ＝self-esteem自尊。
25	religious orders 宗教儀式。
27	aright 正確地。
32	intermit 中止；間斷。
33	wrought upon ＝worked upon
35	comet 彗星。
38-45	No man is an island…it tolls for thee. 海明威在他的名小說「單地鐘聲」（*For Whom the Bell Tolls*）用了這一段，意指任何人之死都與你有關。
40	main ＝mainland. clod 土塊；喻（對靈魂而言之）肉體。
41	promontory 海角；岬。
42	manor 采邑；領地；莊園。 thine own ＝your own.
49	covetousness 貪婪；貪心。
50	affliction 苦惱；哀傷；憂傷。
53	bullion 金銀塊。
54	current money 通貨。
55	defray 支付；支給；付出。
56	tribulation 苦難；災難。
64	make recourse to 求助於。

一九二三年，鄧約翰（John Donne）生了一場大病，其間他寫了二十三篇散文，題名為Devotions Upon emergent Occasions.「沉思第十七篇」（Meditation XVII）就是其中的一篇佳作。美國大文豪海明威（Hemingway）的名小說「戰地鐘聲」（For Whom the Bell Tolls），書名就是出自這篇文章。

主　　題

「沉思第十七篇」的主題是在闡明人與宗教，或人與人之間的關係，藉以發揚宗教與大我之精神；人與人之間的關係憑藉著宗教的媒介將更趨密切。從文中，我們可明顯的看出作者不時被「死亡」的問題困擾，他一再的強調人與之間，憑藉宗教的關係，應有一體的感覺，因此他人之死必與我有關。人若能體驗到這一點，他便與上帝結合在一起，與神同在。

譬如說，他把人類比喻成一本書，而把死亡比喻做一章被翻譯成更佳的文字。換句話說，人生雖然渺小，但人一生的工作必有些貢獻於整個人類文化之推動，人是小我，而整部人類的歷史是大我，從這形而上的觀點看來，人之死亡實形同再生，循環不息。又譬如說，他把人類比喻做一個大陸，人並非一個獨立的島嶼而是大陸一部份，人死了就好像一塊土地被海水衝擊流失。他又認為受苦的經驗是一種寶藏，從受苦中人方能真正體會出生的意義。

類　　型

「沉思第十七篇」討論玄虛的抽象概念──如何才能與上帝同在。顯然這是一篇散文，但從作者文字的運用上看來，我們覺得這是一篇詩意極為濃厚的散文，文字中充滿詩的韻律與意象。從文章的內容上看來，這是一篇討論形而上生死問題的宗教哲理散文。但從作者的推理方式看來，我們又覺得這篇文章與傳統的哲理散文大異其趣。他並非用邏輯的分析方法來推理，他的推理方法全然訴諸於感情。換句話說，他把想要表達的哲理思想與感情融合為一。我們無法用推理的方法去理解，只能用感情去體會。因為他的主題有關宗教，我們也可以說這是一篇極動人的證道文章。

結構與推理方式

這篇散文的結構非常簡單。頭一句作者先指出人的無知；喪鐘為他敲，而他不知道；喪鐘為我敲而我也不知道。這句話顯然是在說明人類的自私與無知。接著作者說教會的一舉一動都與大家有關。為了證明這句話作者接著舉了大約六七個例子來說明，而每個例子都可以歸納入同一公式。這個公式是：

(action)

particular→general→particular

(third person) (first person)

When she (church) baptizes a child, that action

Concerns me; for that child is thereby connected

to that body which is my head too; and ingrafted

to that body whereof I am a member.

這句話也就是說“a child”(particular)與“that body”(general)有關，所以“a child”與我有關，因為我是“that body”的一份子。這樣的推論方法只能訴諸於感情而不能訴諸於理智。換句話說，他的推理方法一直在同樣一個圈子中打轉。全文便是這樣的例子重疊堆積而成。