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| 2010/11/18 18:26:03瀏覽1086｜回應4｜推薦5 | |
謹按：最近閱讀1921年美國房龍〔Hendrik van Loon〕所著《人類的故事》〔The Story of Mankind 〕一書，書中提及古羅馬帝國尼祿帝在位時，西元62年，羅馬一位內科醫生寫信給正在帝國東邊敘利亞步兵團服役的姪子，談及他與耶穌基督的門徒保羅一面之緣的經過，請求他姪子在路過耶路薩冷時探聽一下有關耶穌基督其人其事的傳說是否真實。六週後，他的姪子回信報告其調查的結果。此一故事，引人入勝。特將兩封信件的英譯文下載〔筆者注：古羅馬帝國通用拉丁文，原函應是以拉丁文書寫〕，並譯為中文，以供日後參用。
尼祿帝〔37-68AD〕〔統治期：54-68AD〕 NAZARETH人約書亞的故事，希臘人稱他為耶穌 羅馬建城第783年秋〔西元62年〕，羅馬內科醫師 AEsculapius Cultellus寫信給他在敘利亞軍隊服役的姪子，內容如下： 親愛的姪子， 數日前，我被請去為一個名叫保羅的病人開藥方。他似是一位猶太裔的羅馬公民〔筆者注：就如同今日的華裔美國公民一樣〕，受過良好教育，態度和善。據說，他在此地是為了一件法律訟案，一件來自東地中海的Caesarea〔筆者注：該撒利亞，今以色列濱海城市；新約聖經使徒行傳〔The Acts〕保羅第2次啟程出發的城市〕或像這樣地方的我們羅馬行省的一個法庭上訴案。有人向我描述他是一個“狂野暴戾的”傢伙，到處演講，反對羅馬人民與法律。我發現他很聰明而且誠實。 我的一個朋友，過去曾於駐紮在小亞細亞的軍隊中服務，告訴我說：他在以弗所〔筆者注：今土耳其西部濱海城市；新約聖經使徒行傳保羅第2,3次都去過的地方〕曾聽過有關保羅的事，他正在當地宣揚佈道有關一個奇特的新上帝。我問我的病人，這是否真實，且他是否曾要人民起來反叛違逆受吾人愛戴的皇帝的意志。保羅回答我說，他所談論的王國不是這個現世世界的王國，而且他又說了許多我不了解的奇怪話語，但這也許是因為他生病發燒的關係。 他的人格特質給了我深刻的印象，而且我很遺憾地得悉他於幾天前在Ostian路上被人殺死了。因此，我給你寫這封信。當你下次造訪耶路薩冷時，請你調查一下有關我的朋友保羅及那一位似乎曾是他老師的奇特猶太先知的事。我們的奴隸對於這位所謂的救世主彌賽亞日漸過於興奮，而且有若干公開談論這個新王國〔不管它代表何種意義〕的人已被釘死在十字架上。我想知道有關這些謠言的真實情況。 你忠實的叔叔 AESCULAPIUS CULTELLUS 敬上 THE STORY OF JOSHUA OF NAZARETH, WHOM THE GREEKS CALLED JESUS 六週之後，在VII Gallic步兵隊當上尉的姪子Gladius Ensa回覆說：
親愛的叔叔， 我接到您的來信，且已遵從您的指示。 兩週前，我們的旅被派往耶路薩冷。上個世紀，那兒發生了數次革命暴亂，老城區受到破壞已所剩無幾。我們現已在此停留了一個月，明天將繼續前往佩脫拉城，在那裏有一些阿拉伯部落的麻煩事。我將利用今晚的時間回覆您的問題，但請不要期望會是一個詳盡的報告。 我已經跟該城許多老一輩的人談過，但極少人能給我任何確切的訊息。幾天前，一個小販來到我們的營區。我向他購買了一些橄欖，並問他是否曾聽過這個著名的在年輕時被殺死的彌賽亞。他說，他非常清楚地記得，因為他的父親曾帶他去各各他﹝耶路薩冷城外的小山丘﹞觀看死刑的執行，並讓他見識作為猶太地人民的法律的敵人的下場。他給了我一個名叫約瑟夫的人的地址，這個人曾是彌賽亞的朋友，並建議說，若我想知道得更多的話，最好去見他。 今天上午，我去拜訪約瑟夫。他是相當老的一個老人。他曾是某一淡水湖的漁夫。他的記憶相當清晰，而最後我從他那裏得到一個有關我出生前那個麻煩年代所發生的事情的相當確切的描述。 泰比瑞烏斯，我們偉大光榮的皇帝，那時在位，而一位名叫彼拉多的官員是猶太地和Samaria兩地的總督。約瑟夫對有關這個彼拉多的事所知甚少。他似乎曾是一個相當誠實的官員，作為這個行省的長官，他留下了一個正直的名聲。在羅馬建城第755 或756年﹝約瑟夫已忘記何時﹞ ﹝筆者註：西元34或35年﹞，因為一項暴動，彼拉多被找去耶路薩冷城。據報，一個年輕人﹝Nazareth的一個木匠之子﹞計謀革命反對羅馬政府。奇怪的是，我們自己的情報官員，他們通常消息靈通，但似乎未曾聽聞此事，而且，當他們調查此事後，他們報告說，這個木匠是個極好的公民，而且沒有理由對他採取行動。但據約瑟夫說，猶太信仰的老一輩領袖對他是相當不滿。他們極不喜他在窮苦希伯來大眾間的普孚眾望。﹝筆者註：猶太教上層階級當權的司祭與教士，在羅馬政權下，是既得利益者。新約聖經福音書中提到的希律王Herod，猶太的﹝自治？﹞長官，當初即因係羅馬大將﹝埃及豔后的情夫﹞安東尼的好友而當權。耶穌出生時，殺男嬰的人即是希律王﹞。這個“拿撒勒人”﹝他們這樣告訴彼拉多﹞曾公開宣稱，一個希臘人、或一個羅馬人、或甚至一個巴勒斯坦人，只要試著過一個高尚正當的生活，就能像終生研讀古代摩西律法的猶太人一般的善。彼拉多對於這樣的說法似乎並未覺得有何了不起的，但當聚集在廟四週的群眾威脅要對耶穌處以私刑並殺死所有的追隨者時，他決定將木匠收押，以保全其性命。 他似乎並未瞭解這場爭執的真正性質。無論何時，他要猶太祭司們說明他們抱怨的原因，他們就叫喊說：“異端”和“叛徒”，且愈發極度激昂。最後，約瑟夫告訴我，彼拉多派人把約書亞﹝這是那個拿撒勒人的名字，但住在世界這個地方的希臘人稱他為耶穌﹞找去，親自審問他。他跟他談了數個小時。他詢問他有關據說他在加利利海邊傳教的“危險教義”的內容。但耶穌回答說，他從不涉及到政治。他比較關注人的靈魂，而非肉體。他希望所有人視鄰人如兄弟，且愛唯一的神，祂是一切眾生之父。 彼拉多，似乎極熟諳斯多葛及其他希臘哲學家的學說，似乎並未發現耶穌的談話中有任何涉及煽動妨害治安的情事。依據我的消息來源者，他又作了別的嚐試，以保全這位仁慈的先知的性命。他不斷避開死刑的執行。然而同時猶太人，被他們的祭司煽動激怒，變得憤怒瘋狂。之前，在耶路撒冷曾發生過許多暴動，而只有若干羅馬士兵可立即趕往。有若干報告正送往Caesarea﹝筆者註：位於耶路撒冷城西北方，靠海邊的一個城市﹞的羅馬當局，說彼拉多被這個拿撒勒人的學說所迷惑﹝``fallen a victim to the teachings of the Nazarene.'' ﹞。請願活動正在整個城市串聯，要求召回彼拉多，理由是他是皇帝的敵人。您知道的，我們的總督有嚴格禁令，避免與他們屬地的人民公開決裂。為了挽救屬地猶太地免於內戰，彼拉多終於犧牲他的人犯，約書亞，約書亞他舉止極為高貴且原諒了所有那些恨他的人。他在耶路撒冷的下層暴民的哄囔嘲笑中，被釘死在十字架上。 這就是約瑟夫老淚縱橫地告訴我的。當我離去時送給他一枚金幣，但他婉拒了，並要求我送給一個比他更貧窮的人。我也問了他一些有關您的朋友保羅的問題。他對他不太熟悉。他似曾為帳蓬製造業，放棄了這個工作，以便傳佈有一位慈愛並寬恕人的神的話語，這個神與猶太祭司一直向我們宣講的耶和華神﹝筆者註：舊約聖經中的耶和華，是從部落的戰神演變而來的，是會發怒、殺人、毀滅敵人，會........的神﹞是如此的不同。後來，保羅似曾旅行過小亞細亞﹝今土耳其﹞及希臘的許多地方，告訴奴隸們，他們全是一位慈父﹝指天父﹞的孩子，而且幸福等著所有人，不論貧富，只要他們試著過誠實的生活，而且對正在受苦及可憐的人施以援手。 結語﹝略﹞ Six weeks later, Gladius Ensa, the nephew, a captain of the My dear Uncle, I received your letter and I have obeyed your instructions. Two weeks ago our brigade was sent to Jerusalem. There have been several revolutions during the last century and there is not much left of the old city. We have been here now for a month and to-morrow we shall continue our march to Petra, where there has been trouble with some of the Arab tribes. I shall use this evening to answer your questions, but pray do not expect a detailed report. I have talked with most of the older men in this city but few have been able to give me any definite information. A few days ago a pedler came to the camp. I bought some of his olives and I asked him whether he had ever heard of the famous Messiah who was killed when he was young. He said that he remembered it very clearly, because his father had taken him to Golgotha (a hill just outside the city) to see the execution, and to show him what became of the enemies of the laws of the people of Judaea. He gave me the address of one Joseph, who had been a personal friend of the Messiah and told me that I had better go and see him if I wanted to know more. This morning I went to call on Joseph. He was quite an old man. He had been a fisherman on one of the fresh-water lakes. His memory was clear, and from him at last I got a fairly definite account of what had happened during the troublesome days before I was born. Tiberius, our great and glorious emperor, was on the throne, and an officer of the name of Pontius Pilatus was governor of Judaea and Samaria. Joseph knew little about this Pilatus. He seemed to have been an honest enough official who left a decent reputation as procurator of the province. In the year 755 or 756 (Joseph had forgotten when) Pilatus was called to Jerusalem on account of a riot. A certain young man (the son of a carpenter of Nazareth) was said to be planning a revolution against the Roman government. Strangely enough our own intelligence officers, who are usually well informed, appear to have heard nothing about it, and when they investigated the matter they reported that the carpenter was an excellent citizen and that there was no reason to proceed against him. But the old-fashioned leaders of the Jewish faith, according to Joseph, were much upset. They greatly disliked his popularity with the masses of the poorer Hebrews. The ``Nazarene'' (so they told Pilatus) had publicly claimed that a Greek or a Roman or even a Philistine, who tried to live a decent and honourable life, was quite as good as a Jew who spent his days studying the ancient laws of Moses. Pilatus does not seem to have been impressed by this argument, but when the crowds around the temple threatened to lynch Jesus, and kill all his followers, he decided to take the carpenter into custody to save his life. He does not appear to have understood the real nature of the quarrel. Whenever he asked the Jewish priests to explain their grievances, they shouted ``heresy'' and ``treason'' and got terribly excited. Finally, so Joseph told me, Pilatus sent for Joshua (that was the name of the Nazarene, but the Greeks who live in this part of the world always refer to him as Jesus) to examine him personally. He talked to him for several hours. He asked him about the ``dangerous doctrines'' which he was said to have preached on the shores of the sea of Galilee. But Jesus answered that he never referred to politics. He was not so much interested in the bodies of men as in Man's soul. He wanted all people to regard their neighbours as their brothers and to love one single God, who was the father of all living beings. Pilatus, who seems to have been well versed in the doctrines of the Stoics and the other Greek philosophers, does not appear to have discovered anything seditious in the talk of Jesus. According to my informant he made another attempt to save the life of the kindly prophet. He kept putting the execution off. Meanwhile the Jewish people, lashed into fury by their priests, got frantic with rage. There had been many riots in Jerusalem before this and there were only a few Roman soldiers within calling distance. Reports were being sent to the Roman authorities in Caesarea that Pilatus had ``fallen a victim to the teachings of the Nazarene.'' Petitions were being circulated all through the city to have Pilatus recalled, because he was an enemy of the Emperor. You know that our governors have strict instructions to avoid an open break with their foreign subjects. To save the country from civil war, Pilatus finally sacrificed his prisoner, Joshua, who behaved with great dignity and who forgave all those who hated him. He was crucified amidst the howls and the laughter of the Jerusalem mob. That is what Joseph told me, with tears running down his old cheeks. I gave him a gold piece when I left him, but he refused it and asked me to hand it to one poorer than himself. I also asked him a few questions about your friend Paul. He had known him slightly. He seems to have been a tent maker who gave up his profession that he might preach the words of a loving and forgiving God, who was so very different from that Jehovah of whom the Jewish priests are telling us all the time. Afterwards, Paul appears to have travelled much in Asia Minor and in Greece, telling the slaves that they were all children of one loving Father and that happiness awaits all, both rich and poor, who have tried to live honest lives and have done good to those who were suffering and miserable. I hope that I have answered your questions to your satisfaction. The whole story seems very harmless to me as far as the safety of the state is concerned. But then, we Romans never have been able to understand the people of this province. I am sorry that they have killed your friend Paul. I wish that I were at home again, and I am, as ever, Your dutiful nephew, GLADIUS ENSA. |
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| ( 知識學習｜隨堂筆記 ) |
