《先知》(The Prophet)買賣

And a merchant said, "Speak to us of Buying and Selling."

And he answered and said:

To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands.

It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied.

Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.

When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices, -

Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value.

And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labour.

To such men you should say,

"Come with us to the field, or go with our brothers to the sea and cast your net;

For the land and the sea shall be bountiful to you even as to us."

And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players, - buy of their gifts also.

For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul.

And before you leave the marketplace, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands.

For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied.

買賣

一位商賈說，請給我們談?wù)勝I賣。

他回答說：

大地為你們果實累累，如果你們不懂，就不要捧滿雙手。

你們應(yīng)當(dāng)在交換大地的饋贈中體會富裕與滿足。

但此種交換若非在愛心的仁善公平中進行，便會導(dǎo)致一些人貪得無厭，另一些人饑腸轆轆。

在市場上，你們這些在海上、田間和果園里辛勤勞作的人們，與織工、陶工和采集香料的人們相遇……

那就請求大地的主宰精神來到你們之中，為你們圣化度量衡器和計價法則。

勿讓空手而來的人加入你們的交易，他們會以空言換取你們的勞動。

你們當(dāng)對這些人說：

"與我們一同去耕田，或與我們的兄弟一同去海上撒網(wǎng);

因為土地和海洋對你們就像對我們一樣慷慨。"

如果歌者、舞者和吹笛者也來到市場，----請同樣買下他們的禮物。

因為他們也采集了果實和乳香，而他們所帶來的，盡管由夢幻織造，也是你們靈魂的衣食。

當(dāng)你們離開集市時，審視一下是否有人空手而歸。

因為大地的主宰精神不會安眠于風(fēng)中，直到你們中最低微之人的需求也得到滿足。