4Septemberсентября · 4-е сентября
Истинное благо приобретается не сразу, а постоянными усилиями, потому что истинное благо только во всё большем и большем совершенствовании.
The true good is gained not all at once, but by constant efforts, because the true good lies only in ever greater and greater perfecting.
Translation note. The Russian italic is broken only at the comma; it is set here as one span.
1. Когда мы обучаемся грамоте, то мы учимся, как читать и писать. Но грамота не научит нас, нужно ли написать нашему другу письмо, или не нужно. Точно так же и музыка научает нас петь или играть на инструменте, но она не научит нас, когда можно петь и играть.
Один только разум указывает нам то, что следует делать и чего не следует.
Наделив нас разумом, бог дал нам в распоряжение то, что нам нужнее всего и с чем мы можем справиться.
Создав меня таким, каков я есть, бог как бы сказал мне так: «Эпиктет! Я мог бы даровать гораздо больше твоему ничтожному телу и твоей маленькой судьбе. Но не упрекай меня в том, что я этого не сделал. Я не хотел даровать тебе полной свободы делать всё, что тебе вздумается, но я вселил в тебя божественную частицу себя самого. Я даровал тебе способность стремиться к добру и избегать зла; я вселил в тебя свободное разумение. Если будешь прикладывать свой разум ко всему тому, что случается с тобою, то ничто в мире не будет служить тебе препятствием или стеснением на том пути, который я тебе назначил; ты никогда не будешь плакаться ни на свою судьбу, ни на людей; не станешь осуждать их или подделываться к ним. Не считай, что этого мало для тебя. Неужели мало для тебя того, чтобы прожить всю твою жизнь разумно, спокойно и радостно? Так довольствуйся же этим!»
1. When we learn our letters, we learn how to read and write. But knowing our letters will not teach us whether we ought to write a letter to our friend or not. In just the same way music teaches us to sing or to play an instrument, but it will not teach us when we may sing and play.
Reason alone shows us what we ought to do and what we ought not.
In endowing us with reason, God has put in our control what we need most of all and what we are able to manage.
Having made me such as I am, God said to me, as it were: “Epictetus! I could have granted much more to your paltry body and your little lot. But do not reproach me for not having done so. I did not wish to grant you full freedom to do whatever you please, but I have placed in you a divine particle of my very self. I have granted you the capacity to strive toward good and to shun evil; I have placed in you free understanding. If you apply your reason to everything that happens to you, then nothing in the world will be an obstacle or a constraint to you on the path that I have appointed for you; you will never complain either of your lot or of people; you will not condemn them or curry favor with them. Do not think that this is little for you. Is it really too little for you to live your whole life reasonably, calmly, and joyfully? Then be content with this!”
From Discourses · reworded by Tolstoy .
What changedZeus, who says he could do no more (“since I was not able”), becomes God, who says he did not wish to: “I did not wish to grant you full freedom”; “a small portion of us” becomes “a divine particle of my very self,” and “the right use of appearances,” the one thing the gods put in our power, becomes “what we need most of all and what we are able to manage.” †
† An intermediate translation may have made this change.
Original · Ancient Greek… πότερον δὲ γραπτέον τῷ ἑταίρῳ ἢ οὐ γραπτέον, ἡ γραμματικὴ οὐκ ἐρεῖ.
… ὥσπερ οὖν ἦν ἄξιον, τὸ κράτιστον ἁπάντων καὶ κυριεῦον οἱ θεοὶ μόνον ἐφʼ ἡμῖν ἐποίησαν, τὴν χρῆσιν τὴν ὀρθὴν ταῖς φαντασίαις, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα οὐκ ἐφʼ ἡμῖν. ἆρά γε ὅτι οὐκ ἤθελον;
… καὶ τὸ σωμάτιον ἄν σου καὶ τὸ κτησίδιον ἐποίησα ἐλεύθερον καὶ ἀπαραπόδιστον.
… ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῦτο οὐκ ἠδυνάμην, ἐδώκαμέν σοι μέρος τι ἡμέτερον, τὴν δύναμιν ταύτην τὴν ὁρμητικήν τε καὶ ἀφορμητικὴν καὶ ὀρεκτικήν τε καὶ ἐκκλιτικὴν καὶ ἁπλῶς τὴν χρηστικὴν ταῖς φαντασίαις, ἧς ἐπιμελούμενος καὶ ἐν ᾗ τὰ σαυτοῦ τιθέμενος οὐδέποτε κωλυθήσῃ, οὐδέποτʼ ἐμποδισθήσῃ, οὐ στενάξεις, οὐ μέμψῃ, οὐ κολακεύσεις οὐδένα.
Source text: raw.githubusercontent.comIn English · George Long, 1890But when you must write something to your friend, grammar will tell you what words you should write; but whether you should write or not, grammar will not tell you.
As then it was fit to be so, that which is best of all and supreme over all is the only thing which the gods have placed in our power, the right use of appearances; but all other things they have not placed in our power. Was it because they did not choose? I indeed think that, if they had been able, they would have put these other things also in our power, but they certainly could not.
Epictetus, if it were possible, I would have made both your little body and your little property free and not exposed to hindrance.
And since I was not able to do for you what I have mentioned, I have given you a small portion of us, …
Source text: raw.githubusercontent.comTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньТочно так же и музыка научает нас петь или играть на инструменте, но она не научит нас, когда можно петь и своевременно ли играть.
Я не хотел даровать тебе полной свободы делать всё, что тебе вздумается, но я вселил в тебя божественную частицу себя самого.
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Discourses, I.1.3–4, 7–12.
Thoughts of Wise Men (1903), 5 March, with small changes: «когда можно петь и играть» (when one may sing and play) for «когда можно петь и своевременно ли играть» (when one may sing and whether it is the time to play), and «Если будешь» for «Если ты будешь». The 1903 Epictetus came from V. G. Chertkov's «Римский мудрец Эпиктет» (Posrednik, 1889; Jubilee vol. 40 commentary), not consulted; the text is a free version of the opening of the Discourses. Epictetus: grammar will tell you how to write to your friend, "but whether you should write or not, grammar will not tell you", nor music whether to sing; only the rational faculty judges itself and the rest. Then: "that which is best of all ... is the only thing which the gods have placed in our power, the right use of appearances; but all other things they have not placed in our power. Was it because they did not choose? I indeed think that, if they had been able, they would have put these other things also in our power, but they certainly could not." And Zeus: "Epictetus, if it were possible, I would have made both your little body and your little property free and not exposed to hindrance ... since I was not able ..., I have given you a small portion of us." The Russian reverses this: «Я мог бы даровать гораздо больше твоему ничтожному телу и твоей маленькой судьбе ... Я не хотел даровать тебе полной свободы» (I could have given much more to your paltry body and your small fortune ... I did not wish to give you full freedom), where Zeus says he could not (οὐκ ἠδυνάμην). "A small portion of us" (μέρος τι ἡμέτερον) becomes «божественную частицу себя самого» (a divine particle of myself); "the faculty of pursuing and avoiding ... of using appearances" becomes «способность стремиться к добру и избегать зла ... свободное разумение» (the power to strive for good and shun evil ... free reason); "the right use of appearances" becomes «то, что нам нужнее всего и с чем мы можем справиться» (what we need most and can manage); and Epictetus's "Well, do these seem to you small matters? I hope not. Be content with them" is expanded with «прожить всю твою жизнь разумно, спокойно и радостно» (to live your whole life reasonably, calmly, and joyfully). Left out: that the body is "clay finely tempered", and the prayer to the gods.
2. На ванне короля Чинг-Чанг были вырезаны следующие слова: «Каждый день возобновляй себя совершенно; делай это снова, снова и опять снова».
2. On the bath of King Ching-Chang these words were carved: “Renew yourself completely every day; do it again, again, and yet again.”
From The Great Learning · close to the original .
What Tolstoy read · G. Pauthier, Confucius et Mencius: Les quatre livres de philosophie morale et politique …Des caractères gravés sur la baignoire du roi _Tching-thang_ disaient: Renouvelle-toi complètement chaque jour; fais-le de _nouveau_, encore de _nouveau_, et toujours de _nouveau_.
Source text: gutenberg.orgIn English · James Legge, 1895On the bathingtub of T'ang, the following words were engraved : …
If you can one day renovate yourself, do so from day to day.
Source text: archive.orgTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньНа ванне короля Чинг-Чанг были вырезаны следующие слова: «Каждый день возобновляй себя совершенно; делай это снова, снова и опять снова».
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. The Great Learning (Daxue), commentary, ch. II, § 1 (Zhu Xi's arrangement; Pauthier, Explication de Thsêng-tseu, ch. II, § 1).
Pauthier's French, in Tolstoy's own Russian of Thoughts of Wise Men (1903), 3 August, signed «Китайская мудрость («Та-Хио»)», the Ta Hio or Great Learning; the Circle repeats it word for word, as it repeats the next 1903 thought (9-4.3). Close to Pauthier: «Renouvelle-toi complètement chaque jour; fais-le de nouveau, encore de nouveau, et toujours de nouveau» (renew thyself completely each day; do it anew, again anew, and always anew), with «Tching-thang» as «Чинг-Чанг». Pauthier is freer than the Chinese, 苟日新，日日新，又日新 (Legge: 'If you can one day renovate yourself, do so from day to day. Yea, let there be daily renovation'); 'completely' is his. The words are the inscription on the bath of Tang, founder of the Shang, which the Great Learning quotes; «Китайская мудрость» stands.
Translation note. The name is given as Tolstoy wrote it, «Чинг-Чанг»; the king is Tang, the founder of the Shang dynasty.
3. Добродетель мудрецов напоминает собою путешествие в дальнюю страну и восхождение на высоту: идущие в дальнюю страну начинают свою ходьбу с первого шага; восходящие на высоту начинают с подошвы горы.
3. The virtue of the wise is like a journey to a distant land and an ascent to a height: those who go to a distant land begin their walk with the first step; those who climb to a height begin at the foot of the mountain.
From The Doctrine of the Mean · close to the original .
In English · James Legge, 1895The way of the superior man may be compared …
… to what takes place in travelling, when to go to a distance we must first traverse the space that is near, and in ascending a height, when we must begin from the lower ground.
Source text: archive.orgTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньДобродетель мудрецов напоминает собою путешествие в дальнюю страну и восхождение на высоту: идущие в дальнюю страну начинают свою ходьбу с первого шага; восходящие на высоту начинают с подошвы горы.
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong), ch. XV, § 1 (Legge; Pauthier ch. XV, § 1).
Thoughts of Wise Men (1903), 3 August, word for word, the thought after 9-4.2. There, the Jubilee vol. 40 commentary says, «Конфуций» marks D. Konissi's Russian Great Learning and Doctrine of the Mean, this one «Средина и постоянство» (Вопросы философии и психологии, 1895, кн. 4 (29), pp. 381–402); it was not found online (the two volumes of the journal on archive.org, 1893 and 1894, do not hold it). The Russian is close to the Chinese, 君子之道，辟如行遠必自邇，辟如登高必自卑 ('the way of the superior man is like travelling far, which must start from what is near, and like climbing high, which must start from what is low'): 'the way of the superior man' is «Добродетель мудрецов» (the virtue of the wise), and 'from what is near' «с первого шага» (from the first step). Pauthier's French is another wording («la route du voyageur, qui doit commencer à lui pour s'éloigner ensuite»), as the 1903 signature leads one to expect. The sentence opens a chapter of the Zhongyong and is not marked as the Master's words; the book is ascribed to Zisi, Confucius's grandson, and «Конфуций» here is the 1903 book's name for Konissi's two translations.
4. Чтобы правильно и хорошо сделать какое-нибудь дело, нужно научиться делать его. Это понимает всякий. Так же точно для того, чтобы правильно и хорошо жить, нужно научиться жить правильно и хорошо.
4. To do any task rightly and well, one must learn to do it. Everyone understands this. In just the same way, to live rightly and well, one must learn to live rightly and well.
From Discourses · reworded by Tolstoy .
What changedEpictetus’s carpenter and pilot become “any task” done “rightly and well,” his question, whether in philosophy too it may not be enough “to wish to be wise and good,” becomes a statement, “one must learn to live rightly and well,” and “Everyone understands this” is added. †
† An intermediate translation may have made this change.
Original · Ancient Greek… ὁρῶμεν οὖν ὅτι ὁ τέκτων μαθών τινα γίνεται τέκτων, ὁ κυβερνήτης μαθών τινα γίνεται κυβερνήτης. μή ποτʼ οὖν καὶ ἐνθάδε οὐκ ἀπαρκεῖ τὸ βούλεσθαι καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν γενέσθαι, χρεία δὲ καὶ μαθεῖν τινα;
… εἰ ἐλεύθερον, καὶ τοῦτον ἐλεύθερον·
Source text: raw.githubusercontent.comIn English · George Long, 1890… the pilot by learning certain things becomes a pilot. May it not then in philosophy also not be sufficient to wish to be wise and good, and that there is also a necessity to learn certain things?
… if it is free, man also must be free; …
Source text: raw.githubusercontent.comTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньЧтобы правильно и хорошо сделать какое-нибудь дело, нужно уметь сделать его. Это понимает всякий. Так же точно для того, чтобы правильно и хорошо жить, нужно уметь и хотеть жить свободно.
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Discourses, II.14.10 (with II.14.13).
Epictetus to Naso: "We see then that the carpenter when he has learned certain things becomes a carpenter; the pilot by learning certain things becomes a pilot. May it not then in philosophy also not be sufficient to wish to be wise and good, and that there is also a necessity to learn certain things?" The Russian turns the carpenter and the pilot into any task done rightly and well, adds «Это понимает всякий» (everyone understands this), and makes the conclusion a statement. In Thoughts of Wise Men (1903, 31 May; Chertkov's «Римский мудрец Эпиктет» behind it, not consulted) it ends «нужно уметь и хотеть жить свободно» (one must know how and wish to live freely), keeping Epictetus's "wish" (τὸ βούλεσθαι) and bringing in his freedom of II.14.13 ("if it is free, man also must be free"); the Circle rewrites the ending as «нужно научиться жить правильно и хорошо» (one must learn to live rightly and well), and the first clause as «нужно научиться делать его» (one must learn to do it) for 1903 «нужно уметь сделать его» (one must know how to do it), so both halves now turn on learning, as Epictetus's μαθών (having learned) and μαθεῖν (to learn) do.
5. Никто, возложивший руку свою на плуг и озирающийся назад, не благонадежен для царствия божия.
5. No one who has put his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
From Luke · close to the original .
The Russian Bible (Synodal translation)Но Иисус сказал ему: никто, возложивший руку свою на плуг и озирающийся назад, не благонадежен для Царствия Божия.
Source text: ru.wikisource.orgIn English · King James Version, 1611And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Source text: gutenberg.orgTolstoy’s own version · Мысли мудрых людей на каждый деньНо Иисус сказал ему: никто, возложивший руку свою на плуг и озирающийся назад, не благонадежен для царствия божия.
Source text: tolstoy.ruDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Luke, 9:62.
The Synodal text word for word, without its opening words «Но Иисус сказал ему:» (but Jesus said to him), and with «царствия божия» (the kingdom of God) in lower case. Thoughts of Wise Men (1903), December 26, keeps the opening words.
Translation note. Tolstoy’s wording; the KJV has “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
6. Человек счастлив только тогда, когда он может сказать, что исполнил свою собственную работу, что вложил душу в труд свой и довел его до конца, насколько мог лучше. Если же он поступит иначе, то и покончив с трудом, он не почувствует ни отрады, ни облегчения.
6. A man is happy only when he can say that he has done his own work, that he has put his soul into his labor and carried it through to the end as well as he could. But if he acts otherwise, then even when he has finished his labor he will feel neither gladness nor relief.
From Self-Reliance, in Essays, First Series · reworded by Tolstoy .
What changed“Relieved and gay” becomes “happy only when he can say that he has done his own work,” and Emerson’s paradox, “It is a deliverance which does not deliver,” is spelled out: “even when he has finished his labor he will feel neither gladness nor relief.” †
† An intermediate translation may have made this change.
Emerson’s own wordsA man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace.
It is a deliverance which does not deliver.
Source text: gutenberg.orgDetails
The words shown were found, word for word, in the saved source text. Self-Reliance, in Essays, First Series (1841), the paragraph before 'Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string'.
Changed and expanded. 'A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best' becomes «Человек счастлив только тогда, когда он может сказать, что исполнил свою собственную работу, что вложил душу в труд свой и довел его до конца, насколько мог лучше» (A man is happy only when he can say that he has done his own work, put his soul into his labor, and carried it through to the end as well as he could): 'relieved and gay' becomes «счастлив» (happy), and 'only', 'can say', 'his own work', and 'to the end' are added. 'But what he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver' becomes «Если же он поступит иначе, то и покончив с трудом, он не почувствует ни отрады, ни облегчения» (If he acts otherwise, then even when he has finished the work he will feel neither joy nor relief). Coit's The Message of Man (p. 170) and Tileston's Daily Strength for Daily Needs print the first sentence alone; Tolstoy's relief that does not come follows Emerson's third sentence, so his text came from the essay itself. The Jubilee list of the Circle's sources names a Russian Self-Reliance, «О доверии к себе» (Posrednik, 1904), which was not looked for online; it may account for the added words.
Не жди не только быстрого, но никакого видимого тебе успеха от твоих усилий к добру. Ты не увидишь плодов своих усилий, потому что насколько ты подвинулся, настолько подвинулось перед тобой и совершенство, к которому ты стремишься. Усилия — не средство достижения блага, но сами усилия дают благо.
Expect from your efforts toward good not only no quick success, but no success visible to you at all. You will not see the fruits of your efforts, because however far you have moved forward, the perfection you strive toward has moved forward before you just as far. Efforts are not the means of attaining the good, but the efforts themselves give the good.
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