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the essays of montaigne, v5-第3部分

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For a; boy of quality then; who pretends to letters not upon the account
of profit (for so mean an object is unworthy of the grace and favour
of the Muses; and moreover; in it a man directs his service to and
depends upon others); nor so much for outward ornament; as for his own
proper and peculiar use; and to furnish and enrich himself within; having
rather a desire to come out an accomplished cavalier than a mere scholar
or learned man; for such a one; I say; I would; also; have his friends
solicitous to find him out a tutor; who has rather a well…made than a
well…filled head; '〃'Tete bien faite'; an expression created by
Montaigne; and which has remained a part of our language。〃Servan。'
seeking; indeed; both the one and the other; but rather of the two to
prefer manners and judgment to mere learning; and that this man should
exercise his charge after a new method。

'Tis the custom of pedagogues to be eternally thundering in their pupil's
ears; as they were pouring into a funnel; whilst the business of the
pupil is only to repeat what the others have said: now I would have a
tutor to correct this error; and; that at the very first; he should
according to the capacity he has to deal with; put it to the test;
permitting his pupil himself to taste things; and of himself to discern
and choose them; sometimes opening the way to him; and sometimes leaving
him to open it for himself; that is; I would not have him alone to invent
and speak; but that he should also hear his pupil speak in turn。
Socrates; and since him Arcesilaus; made first their scholars speak; and
then they spoke to them 'Diogenes Laertius; iv。 36。'

               〃Obest plerumque iis; qui discere volunt;
               auctoritas eorum; qui docent。〃

     '〃The authority of those who teach; is very often an impediment to
     those who desire to learn。〃Cicero; De Natura Deor。; i。 5。'

It is good to make him; like a young horse; trot before him; that he may
judge of his going; and how much he is to abate of his own speed; to
accommodate himself to the vigour and capacity of the other。  For want of
which due proportion we spoil all; which also to know how to adjust; and
to keep within an exact and due measure; is one of the hardest things I
know; and 'tis the effect of a high and well…tempered soul; to know how
to condescend to such puerile motions and to govern and direct them。
I walk firmer and more secure up hill than down。

Such as; according to our common way of teaching; undertake; with one and
the same lesson; and the same measure of direction; to instruct several
boys of differing and unequal capacities; are infinitely mistaken; and
'tis no wonder; if in a whole multitude of scholars; there are not found
above two or three who bring away any good account of their time and
discipline。  Let the master not only examine him about the grammatical
construction of the bare words of his lesson; but about the sense and let
him judge of the profit he has made; not by the testimony of his memory;
but by that of his life。  Let him make him put what he has learned into a
hundred several forms; and accommodate it to so many several subjects; to
see if he yet rightly comprehends it; and has made it his own; taking
instruction of his progress by the pedagogic institutions of Plato。  'Tis
a sign of crudity and indigestion to disgorge what we eat in the same
condition it was swallowed; the stomach has not performed its office
unless it have altered the form and condition of what was committed to it
to concoct。  Our minds work only upon trust; when bound and compelled to
follow the appetite of another's fancy; enslaved and captivated under the
authority of another's instruction; we have been so subjected to the
trammel; that we have no free; nor natural pace of our own; our own
vigour and liberty are extinct and gone:

                    〃Nunquam tutelae suae fiunt。〃

          '〃They are ever in wardship。〃Seneca; Ep。; 33。'

I was privately carried at Pisa to see a very honest man; but so great an
Aristotelian; that his most usual thesis was: 〃That the touchstone and
square of all solid imagination; and of all truth; was an absolute
conformity to Aristotle's doctrine; and that all besides was nothing but
inanity and chimera; for that he had seen all; and said all。〃 A position;
that for having been a little too injuriously and broadly interpreted;
brought him once and long kept him in great danger of the Inquisition at
Rome。

Let him make him examine and thoroughly sift everything he reads; and
lodge nothing in his fancy upon simple authority and upon trust。
Aristotle's principles will then be no more principles to him; than those
of Epicurus and the Stoics: let this diversity of opinions be propounded
to; and laid before him; he will himself choose; if he be able; if not;
he will remain in doubt。

               〃Che non men the saver; dubbiar m' aggrata。〃

     '〃I love to doubt; as well as to know。〃Dante; Inferno; xi。 93'

for; if he embrace the opinions of Xenophon and Plato; by his own reason;
they will no more be theirs; but become his own。  Who follows another;
follows nothing; finds nothing; nay; is inquisitive after nothing。

          〃Non sumus sub rege; sibi quisque se vindicet。〃

          '〃We are under no king; let each vindicate himself。〃
          Seneca; Ep。;33'

Let him; at least; know that he knows。  It will be necessary that he
imbibe their knowledge; not that he be corrupted with their precepts;
and no matter if he forget where he had his learning; provided he know
how to apply it to his own use。  Truth and reason are common to every
one; and are no more his who spake them first; than his who speaks them
after: 'tis no more according to Plato; than according to me; since both
he and I equally see and understand them。  Bees cull their several sweets
from this flower and that blossom; here and there where they find them;
but themselves afterwards make the honey; which is all and purely their
own; and no more thyme and marjoram: so the several fragments he borrows
from others; he will transform and shuffle together to compile a work
that shall be absolutely his own; that is to say; his judgment:
his instruction; labour and study; tend to nothing else but to form that。
He is not obliged to discover whence he got the materials that have
assisted him; but only to produce what he has himself done with them。
Men that live upon pillage and borrowing; expose their purchases and
buildings to every one's view: but do not proclaim how they came by the
money。  We do not see the fees and perquisites of a gentleman of the long
robe; but we see the alliances wherewith he fortifies himself and his
family; and the titles and honours he has obtained for him and his。  No
man divulges his revenue; or; at least; which way it comes in but every
one publishes his acquisitions。  The advantages of our study are to
become better and more wise。  'Tis; says Epicharmus; the understanding
that sees and hears; 'tis the understanding that improves everything;
that orders everything; and that acts; rules; and reigns: all other
faculties are blind; and deaf; and without sou
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