2010年4月29日 星期四

春天的恕道 (下)


Our village life would stagnate if it were not for the unexplored forests and meadows which surround it. We need the tonic of wildness — to wade sometimes in marshes where the bittern and the meadow-hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wilder and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground. At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-coast with its wrecks, the wilderness with its living and its decaying trees, the thunder-cloud, and the rain which lasts three weeks and produces freshets. We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander. We are cheered when we observe the vulture feeding on the carrion which disgusts and disheartens us, and deriving health and strength from the repast. There was a dead horse in the hollow by the path to my house, which compelled me sometimes to go out of my way, especially in the night when the air was heavy, but the assurance it gave me of the strong appetite and inviolable health of Nature was my compensation for this. I love to see that Nature is so rife with life that myriads can be afforded to be sacrificed and suffered to prey on one another; that tender organizations can be so serenely squashed out of existence like pulp — tadpoles which herons gobble up, and tortoises and toads run over in the road; and that sometimes it has rained flesh and blood! With the liability to accident, we must see how little account is to be made of it. The impression made on a wise man is that of universal innocence. Poison is not poisonous after all, nor are any wounds fatal. Compassion is a very untenable ground. It must be expeditious. Its pleadings will not bear to be stereotyped.


四月二十八日午夜,零時過後,我照例帶著兩隻狗出去散步。老爹已經三歲,出生不久就帶過來了;貝莉則是朋友託我照顧的。老爹跟了我之後,我很老實的帶他去打預防針,一直打到剩下最後一項的心絲蟲檢查,因為發現這一項目在檢查完後還要每月吃藥預防,就決定不作檢查了。之後,我的收入就只夠我一個人生活跟買狗飼料,所以儘管老爹時常因與其他小狗鬥毆,有皮肉傷,我也隨他自行痊癒,未再找過獸醫。


這日在經過四維路及光華路口時,正好遇上一人騎著機車載了一隻狗,老爹就趕了上去,一直追到光華路上接近五權街口才折回。此時,看到一輛車往他開去,他閃開了,但到了另一方向的車道,卻沒逃過。車頭撞到他的右眼角處,碰的一聲悶響,老爹在地上滾了二圈才停,但他馬上爬了起來,可能受到驚嚇,往住處方向狂奔。我牽著貝莉回去找他,卻沒有找到他。一直到早上才聽到他在門外的叫聲,趕忙爬起來幫他開門。此時才發現他右眼角處的傷口,推測應該是撞到的點。開車的司機當時有停下車並走回去查看,但老爹早已跑遠,我看司機的表情無法知道他是否清楚撞到了什麼。


第一天情況還好,回來後也有吃東西,與過去受傷回來後差不多。4/29凌晨要出去時,他也要跟著出去,我也帶著出去了。但是到了4/29早上,情況卻有惡化的情形。身體會顫抖,眼角上方也因抓扯而脫皮紅腫。

下午我出門去,晚上回來時似乎穩定一點。我端了飼料到他前面地下,他就著吃似乎有困難,我便把盤子端到一個高度讓他吃。4/30凌晨出門散步時,卻又似生龍活虎,感覺是上了他的當。


梭羅說,我們對於大自然,永不饜足;我們必須被那無盡生機的景象所更新 -- 走山的景象,大地震後的殘骸,水災後的荒蕪...。我們需要看到我們的界限被超越,看到某些生物在我們沒有涉足過的地方自由自在的吃草。我們埋怨媒體的嗜血,其實那反應人的本性。對照宇宙性的純潔天真,同情是一種難以站得住腳的立場,一瞬即過;嗜血的媒體卻是長存。人們總是說上天自有安排,然而無常的到來如此迅捷,可知上天從未認真地把意外的發生當一回事。

梭羅從他兩年多的實驗中至少認識到一件事:如果一個人有信心的向著他夢想的方向前進,努力去過他所想像的生活,他就會在平凡的時刻遇到出乎意料的成功。台灣的死刑犯被害者家屬無法原諒加害者,堅持不能廢除死刑;巧的是,死刑犯的家屬也不能原諒政府執行死刑的作為,連事先通知也做不到,以致在行刑前不能見到最後一面。最兩全的作法也許是兩造家屬好好談談,如果被害者家屬依舊堅持執行死刑,就由執法人員協助讓被害者家屬行刑。這樣執法單位也不用兩邊不討好;死刑犯也死的心甘情願(若不甘願他也知道要找誰)。以怨止怨終究是不可能,但是要以法律的途徑來化解喪親之痛所造成的怨恨也一樣是掾木求魚。廢死聯盟不該以為最文明的方式就是解決問題的最好方法,每一個死刑犯的處決都值得以個案處理,值得去把舊的法則擴充,以更為自由的精神加以解釋,使得任何決定的不正當性可以暴露出來。如此,罪惡就不再是罪惡,寬恕也不再是寬恕,死亡也不再是死亡。 (下篇完)






黃金年代


"A return to goodness produced each day in the tranquil and beneficent breath of the morning, causes that in respect to the love of virtue and the hatred of vice, one approaches a little the primitive nature of man, as the sprouts of the forest which has been felled. In like manner the evil which one does in the interval of a day prevents the germs of virtues which began to spring up again from developing themselves and destroys them.

"After the germs of virtue have thus been prevented many times from developing themselves, then the beneficent breath of evening does not suffice to preserve them. As soon as the breath of evening does not suffice longer to preserve them, then the nature of man does not differ much from that of the brute. Men seeing the nature of this man like that of the brute, think that he has never possessed the innate faculty of reason. Are those the true and natural sentiments of man?"

"The Golden Age was first created, which without any avenger
Spontaneously without law cherished fidelity and rectitude.
Punishment and fear were not; nor were threatening words read
On suspended brass; nor did the suppliant crowd fear
The words of their judge; but were safe without an avenger.
Not yet the pine felled on its mountains had descended
To the liquid waves that it might see a foreign world,
And mortals knew no shores but their own.
. . . . . . .

There was eternal spring, and placid zephyrs with warm
Blasts soothed the flowers born without seed."

奧維德 Ovid (43 B.C.-7 A.D.) Roman poet


孟子曰:“牛山之木嘗美矣,以其郊於大國也,斧斤伐之,可以為美乎?是其日夜之所息,雨露之所潤,非無萌櫱之生焉,牛羊又從而牧之,是以若彼濯濯也。人見其濯濯也,以為未嘗有材焉,此豈山之性也哉?雖存乎人者,豈無仁義之心哉?其所以放其良心者,亦猶斧斤之於木也,旦旦而伐之,可以為美乎?其日夜之所息,平旦之氣,其好惡與人相近也者幾希,則其旦晝之所為,有梏亡之矣。梏之反覆,則其夜氣不足以存;夜氣不足以存,則其違禽獸不遠矣。人見其禽獸也,而以為未嘗有才焉者,是豈人之情也哉?故苟得其養,無物不長;苟失其養,無物不消。孔子曰:‘操則存,舍則亡;出入無時,莫知其鄉。’惟心之謂與?”



在那個尚未有山老鼠的黃金年代,人內心的良善亦未嘗遭砍伐。所以人們沒有任何仇敵,也無需法律規範,忠誠及正直的德性自然就能培育滋養。沒有懲罰,也沒有恐懼,不用害怕法官的威脅與恐嚇。



古印度的韋達經典記載金器年代由眾神統治世界,所有的人事物都純真至善。這個時期沒有嫉妒、憎恨、驕傲、邪惡,也沒有恐懼及悲傷。人們沒有物質欲望,懷有純粹的靈性真我意識。經典中以公牛來比喻宗教:牛之四足好比宗教四大支柱,即仁慈、苦行、潔淨、真實。在金器年代,牛之四足完整,牛也得到人們小心看顧,正如未曾遭砍伐的牛山之木。




2010年4月26日 星期一

春天的恕道 (上)


A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts. We should be blessed if we lived in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it; and did not spend our time in atoning for the neglect of past opportunities, which we call doing our duty. We loiter in winter while it is already spring. In a pleasant spring morning all men's sins are forgiven. Such a day is a truce to vice. While such a sun holds out to burn, the vilest sinner may return. Through our own recovered innocence we discern the innocence of our neighbors. You may have known your neighbor yesterday for a thief, a drunkard, or a sensualist, and merely pitied or despised him, and despaired of the world; but the sun shines bright and warm this first spring morning, recreating the world, and you meet him at some serene work, and see how it is exhausted and debauched veins expand with still joy and bless the new day, feel the spring influence with the innocence of infancy, and all his faults are forgotten. There is not only an atmosphere of good will about him, but even a savor of holiness groping for expression, blindly and ineffectually perhaps, like a new-born instinct, and for a short hour the south hill-side echoes to no vulgar jest. You see some innocent fair shoots preparing to burst from his gnarled rind and try another year's life, tender and fresh as the youngest plant. Even he has entered into the joy of his Lord. Why the jailer does not leave open his prison doors — why the judge does not dismis his case — why the preacher does not dismiss his congregation! It is because they do not obey the hint which God gives them, nor accept the pardon which he freely offers to all.




2008年4月11日《消費者債務清理條例》正式施行,一個在當律師的朋友打電話問我要不要去他那邊幫忙,心想這是一個作散工的好機會,在電話中就答應了下來。

  三年前(2005)台灣發生卡債風暴,二十二萬人,三千三百億的無擔保債款透過所謂的「一致性協商」機制暫時把問題緩了一緩。這已是2006年底的事。但是才不到二年就已經有逼近五成的卡奴毀諾,原因是當初簽下那一紙協議書多半是出於不得已。第一代的協商機制一開始銀行就沒有打算去作,完全是採抗拒的態度。等到立法院迫於民意祭出修法限制雙卡利率的手段,銀行的高姿態才不得不軟化。但即使是第二代的協商機制債務人也討不到任何便宜,僅只是利率稍低而已,而且完全不考量債務人的收支狀況,其中將近一半(48%)的協議甚至要求每月還款高於債務人的收入。這種「普遍的、不公義的壓迫」激化了卡債族結合的力量,於是才有了《消費者債務清理條例》的催生。

台灣五十萬卡債族也是努力在過日子,但是卻過著比奴隸還不如的生活。一天八小時的工作,到了月底扣掉三分之一的法院執行扣薪,往往只剩下一萬出頭。我看著他們的薪資單,心情實在沉重。奴隸還有喘口氣的機會,但他們沒有;奴隸不必遭人恥笑,卡奴卻要背著過度消費以及欠錢不還的罪名。人在打倒了所有的王公貴族之後,卻出現了「貨幣」這個絕對的君主。資本家就是這個王朝的管理者。只要活在市民社會中,就無法不成為它的臣僕。正如夏傳位先生說:「卡奴是現代經濟運作不可或缺的副產品。」若是沒有奴隸又如何稱其為暴虐呢?

據說卡債風暴以及次級性房貸的產生都是所謂的市場失敗(market failure) ── 自由競爭的壓力愈大,需求者反而愈是需要付出更高的代價來得到他所需要的;反倒是對於同樣商品所得邊際效益較少的人,需求不這麼迫切的人,可以以較低的代價獲得。就好像古董商要買一件中意的東西之前要假裝自已對該物品並沒有興趣,才能用較低的價格購得 ── 這種市場扭曲其實也是人性,但前者卻是因市場機制的失敗產生的,因為其他供給的競爭者若不跟進,會有被市場淘汰之虞。古董交易與金融交易有相同的特性,即不完整的資訊(imperfect information) ── 賣方在交易那一刻無法得知買方的能力及意向。此時,賣方最保險的方式就是漫天要價,因而只有有能力討價還價的人才佔上風。對那些需求緊迫的人來說,不管賣方出多少價,他都只好接受。在我看來,這其實也是市場的成功,只是當初亞當史密斯沒有想到而已。電影〈駭客任務〉中電腦人在逼問莫斐斯時說出一段很富哲理的話。他說,原本母體所創造的虛擬世界是一個完美的世界,人人都過著幸福快樂的日子。但後來發現這樣的世界並不成功,人類會無故大批的死亡。經過一次次的實驗升級改良,才發展成今天這樣一個不完美的版本;似乎人類必須從痛苦的掙扎中找到生活下去的理由。


從市場失敗的教訓,不知那些在政治上主張自由主義的人是否得到一些啟示。現代的自由主義者所一致認同的目標是讓所有的人儘可能的有機會去發揮自身的潛能,包括透過政治力制定必要的政策。而《消費者債務清理條例》的通過正是這種主張的體現。如果有一天真能如此,是否會發生像市場失敗同樣的事?在這個「市場」裡,所要達到的均衡是全體人類的幸福(唯一的商品)。因為每個人對幸福的定義不同,於是在不妨害別人追求幸福的前提下讓每個人自由追求自身幸福,不論是政治的或社會的力量都不應對其有所限制 ── 應該要防範的反倒是社會力的專制。自由主義者假定這樣就能讓所有人皆能得到最大的利益,就如完全競爭市場一樣。自由主義者也都是人道主義者,這些人立意雖都良善,但就好像牙醫師一樣,可能替一個年近古稀的老者安了一副千年不壞的牙齒。電腦人也說了,人類其實是地球上的癌細胞,地球上的生物沒有一種像人類一樣貪婪地濫用地球的資源,漫無限制的增生。這個市場的需求者當然是每個個人,那供給者呢?誰能提供我們幸福呢?這個提供者是否對他的需求者有充分的認知呢?人們在未得到幸福時也許會怪政府,或者怨天尤人。但明白的人知道,只有自己才能給自己幸福。但是人們對於幸福的定義總是被物慾及肉慾所左右。由於對自己的認知不足,於是向自己漫天要價,若不是像古董商那樣假裝自己並不是這麼需要,就是接受自己所開的價。問題是這個價錢是沒有人付的起的。結果不但沒有人得到幸福,而且最終將無法滿足所有人類的需求;市場不但會因對需求者的資訊不足而失敗 ── 因為自己對自己的橫征暴斂,沒有人因自由競爭而得利 ──,也會因資源的有限性而失敗。也許再過幾年,自由主義者除了認同安樂死,也會贊成一胎化政策,或者類似人類生存年限或自殺條款之類的東西吧!亦或者有一天他們終將覺悟,要達到這個市場的均衡唯一的方法就是放任人類自生自滅?回到過去讓所有的暴君可以恣行他們的苛政,人們可以再次從對抗暴政中找到生命的意義及幸福。


離題了。《消費者債務清理條例》施行二年後,卡奴的噩夢並未結束。台灣法院對卡奴的態度反應社會大眾對卡奴的觀感,對於弱勢的輕視跟歧視,還有冷漠。梭羅說,這是因為台灣的法官或者說一般民眾不服從神給他們的諭示,亦不接受祂無私地給予一切人的寬宥;正如春天給予大地的寬宥一般。 (未完)




2010年4月15日 星期四

時 運


At length the sun's rays have attained the right angle, and warm winds blow up mist and rain and melt the snowbanks, and the sun, dispersing the mist, smiles on a checkered landscape of russet and white smoking with incense, through which the traveller picks his way from islet to islet, cheered by the music of a thousand tinkling rills and rivulets whose veins are filled with the blood of winter which they are bearing off.


梭羅說,之所以會吸引我到林中生活的原因之一便是,我可以有閑情及機會去看著春天的到來。


他說,此時陽光將冰雪銷溶,淙淙流水中充滿冬天的血液,將冬載走。

陶淵明有《時運》詩四首,描寫春天來時,到東郊獨游時的景物心情。欣慨交心,不必悲欣交集也!


《時 運》並序

時運,遊暮春也。春服既成,景物斯和,偶景獨遊,欣慨交心。


其一
邁邁時運,穆穆良朝。
襲我春服,薄言東郊。 (春天來時,應買件新衣服穿。)
山滌餘靄,宇曖微霄。
有風自南,翼彼新苗。


其二
洋洋平潭,乃漱乃濯。
邈邈遐景,載欣載矚。
人亦有言,稱心易足。
揮茲一觴,陶然自樂。


其三
延目中流,悠想清沂。
童冠齊業,閑詠以歸。
我愛其掙,寤寐交揮。
但恨殊世,邈不可追。


其四
斯晨斯夕,言息其廬。
花藥分列,林竹翳如。
清琴橫床,濁酒半壺。
黃唐莫逮,慨獨在余。




2010年4月12日 星期一

人間四月天


At length the winter set in good earnest, just as I had finished plastering, and the wind began to howl around the house as if it had not had permission to do so till then. Night after night the geese came lumbering in the dark with a clangor and a whistling of wings, even after the ground was covered with snow, some to alight in Walden, and some flying low over the woods toward Fair Haven, bound for Mexico. Several times, when returning from the village at ten or eleven o'clock at night, I heard the tread of a flock of geese, or else ducks, on the dry leaves in the woods by a pond-hole behind my dwelling, where they had come up to feed, and the faint honk or quack of their leader as they hurried off. In 1845 Walden froze entirely over for the first time on the night of the 22d of December, Flint's and other shallower ponds and the river having been frozen ten days or more; in '46, the 16th; in '49, about the 31st; and in '50, about the 27th of December; in '52, the 5th of January; in '53, the 31st of December. The snow had already covered the ground since the 25th of November, and surrounded me suddenly with the scenery of winter. I withdrew yet farther into my shell, and endeavored to keep a bright fire both within my house and within my breast. My employment out of doors now was to collect the dead wood in the forest, bringing it in my hands or on my shoulders, or sometimes trailing a dead pine tree under each arm to my shed.



從這段文字可以看出,梭羅一直到1853年,即本書初版的前一年,仍在修改書中的內容。而他是在付梓九年前,即1845年三月就開始他的實驗的。根據後人研究,本書的初稿,寫於梭羅在湖邊生活的兩年間,而其份量不到成書時的二分之一。所以有些學者認為本書不過是一本散文小說。從 Brute Neighbors 之後的幾章到 Spring 之前有關冬天的部份都是在1851年後才寫就的。


現在已經是春天,我決定暫時將冬天的部份跳過,直接從 Spring 讀起。這樣也許更貼近梭羅的實驗。