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rasselas, prince of abyssinia-第6章

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 one may have remarked and another  have neglected; for those characteristics which are alike obvious  to vigilance and carelessness。
〃But the knowledge of nature is only half the task of a poet; he  must be acquainted likewise with all the modes of life。  His  character requires that he estimate the happiness and misery of  every condition; observe the power of all the passions in all their  combinations; and trace the changes of the human mind; as they are  modified by various institutions and accidental influences of  climate or custom; from the sprightliness of infancy to the  despondence of decrepitude。  He must divest himself of the  prejudices of his age and country; he must consider right and wrong  in their abstracted and invariable state; he must disregard present  laws and opinions; and rise to general and transcendental truths;  which will always be the same。  He must; therefore; content himself  with the slow progress of his name; contemn the praise of his own  time; and commit his claims to the justice of posterity。  He must  write as the interpreter of nature and the legislator of mankind;  and consider himself as presiding over the thoughts and manners of  future generations; as a being superior to time and place。
〃His labour is not yet at an end。  He must know many languages and  many sciences; and; that his style may be worthy of his thoughts;  must by incessant practice familiarise to himself every delicacy of  speech and grace of harmony。〃

CHAPTER XI … IMLAC'S NARRATIVE (CONTINUED) … A HINT OF PILGRIMAGE。

IMLAC now felt the enthusiastic fit; and was proceeding to  aggrandise his own profession; when then Prince cried out:   〃Enough! thou hast convinced me that no human being can ever be a  poet。  Proceed with thy narration。〃
〃To be a poet;〃 said Imlac; 〃is indeed very difficult。〃
〃So difficult;〃 returned the Prince; 〃that I will at present hear  no more of his labours。  Tell me whither you went when you had seen  Persia。〃
〃From Persia;〃 said the poet; 〃I travelled through Syria; and for  three years resided in Palestine; where I conversed with great  numbers of the northern and western nations of Europe; the nations  which are now in possession of all power and all knowledge; whose  armies are irresistible; and whose fleets command the remotest  parts of the globe。  When I compared these men with the natives of  our own kingdom and those that surround us; they appeared almost  another order of beings。  In their countries it is difficult to  wish for anything that may not be obtained; a thousand arts; of  which we never heard; are continually labouring for their  convenience and pleasure; and whatever their own climate has denied  them is supplied by their commerce。〃
〃By what means;〃 said the Prince; 〃are the Europeans thus powerful?  or why; since they can so easily visit Asia and Africa for trade or  conquest; cannot the Asiatics and Africans invade their coast;  plant colonies in their ports; and give laws to their natural  princes?  The same wind that carries them back would bring us  thither。〃
〃They are more powerful; sir; than we;〃 answered Imlac; 〃because  they are wiser; knowledge will always predominate over ignorance;  as man governs the other animals。  But why their knowledge is more  than ours I know not what reason can be given but the unsearchable  will of the Supreme Being。〃
〃When;〃 said the Prince with a sigh; 〃shall I be able to visit  Palestine; and mingle with this mighty confluence of nations?  Till  that happy moment shall arrive; let me fill up the time with such  representations as thou canst give me。  I am not ignorant of the  motive that assembles such numbers in that place; and cannot but  consider it as the centre of wisdom and piety; to which the best  and wisest men of every land must be continually resorting。〃
〃There are some nations;〃 said Imlac; 〃that send few visitants to  Palestine; for many numerous and learned sects in Europe concur to  censure pilgrimage as superstitious; or deride it as ridiculous。〃
〃You know;〃 said the Prince; 〃how little my life has made me  acquainted with diversity of opinions; it will be too long to hear  the arguments on both sides; you; that have considered them; tell  me the result。〃
〃Pilgrimage;〃 said Imlac; 〃like many other acts of piety; may be  reasonable or superstitious; according to the principles upon which  it is performed。  Long journeys in search of truth are not  commanded。  Truth; such as is necessary to the regulation of life;  is always found where it is honestly sought。  Change of place is no  natural cause of the increase of piety; for it inevitably produces  dissipation of mind。  Yet; since men go every day to view the  fields where great actions have been performed; and return with  stronger impressions of the event; curiosity of the same kind may  naturally dispose us to view that country whence our religion had  its beginning; and I believe no man surveys those awful scenes  without some confirmation of holy resolutions。  That the Supreme  Being may be more easily propitiated in one place than in another  is the dream of idle superstition; but that some places may operate  upon our own minds in an uncommon manner is an opinion which hourly  experience will justify。  He who supposes that his vices may be  more successfully combated in Palestine; will perhaps find himself  mistaken; yet he may go thither without folly; he who thinks they  will be more freely pardoned; dishonours at once his reason and  religion。〃
〃These;〃 said the Prince; 〃are European distinctions。  I will  consider them another time。  What have you found to be the effect  of knowledge?  Are those nations happier than we?〃
〃There is so much infelicity;〃 said the poet; 〃in the world; that  scarce any man has leisure from his own distresses to estimate the  comparative happiness of others。  Knowledge is certainly one of the  means of pleasure; as is confessed by the natural desire which  every mind feels of increasing its ideas。  Ignorance is mere  privation; by which nothing can be produced; it is a vacuity in  which the soul sits motionless and torpid for want of attraction;  and; without knowing why; we always rejoice when we learn; and  grieve when we forget。  I am therefore inclined to conclude that if  nothing counteracts the natural consequence of learning; we grow  more happy as out minds take a wider range。
〃In enumerating the particular comforts of life; we shall find many  advantages on the side of the Europeans。  They cure wounds and  diseases with which we languish and perish。  We suffer inclemencies  of weather which they can obviate。  They have engines for the  despatch of many laborious works; which we must perform by manual  industry。  There is such communication between distant places that  one friend can hardly be said to be absent from another。  Their  policy removes all public inconveniences; they have roads cut  through the mountains; and bridges laid over their rivers。  And; if  we descend to the privacies of life; their habitations are more  commodious and their possessions are more secure。〃
〃They are surely happy;〃 said the Prince; 〃who have all these  conveniences; of which I envy none so much as the facility with  which separated friends interchange their thoughts。〃
〃The Europeans;〃 answered Imlac; 〃are less unhappy than we; but  they are not happy。  Human life is everywhere a state in which much  is to be endured and little to be enjoyed。〃

CHAPTER XII … THE STORY OF IMLAC (CONTINUED)。

〃I AM not willing;〃 said the Prince; 〃to suppose that happiness is  so parsimoniously distributed to mortals; nor can I believe but  that; if I had the choice of life; I should be able to fill every  day with pleasure。  I would injure no man; and should provoke no  resentments; I would relieve every distress; and should enjoy the  benedictions of gratitude。  I would choose my friends among the  wise and my wife among the virtuous; and therefore should be in no  danger from treachery or unkindness。  My children should by my care  be learned and pious; and would repay to my age what their  childhood had received。  What would dare to molest him who might  call on every side to thousands enriched by his bounty or assisted  by his power?  And why should not life glide away in the soft  reciprocation of protection and reverence?  All this may be done  without the help of European refinements; which appear by their  effects to be rather specious than useful。  Let us leave them and  pursue our journey。〃
〃From Palestine;〃 said Imlac; 〃I passed through many regions of  Asia; in the more civilised kingdoms as a trader; and among the  barbarians of the mountains as a pilgrim。  At last I began to long  for my native country; that I might repose after my travels and  fatigues in the places where I had spent my earliest years; and  gladden my old companions with the recital of my adventures。  Often  did I figure to myself those with whom I had sported away the gay  hours of dawning life; sitting round me in its evening; wondering  at my tales and listening to my counsels。
〃When this thought had taken possession of my mind; I considered  every moment as wasted which did not bring me nearer to Abyssinia。   I hastened into Egypt; and; notwithstanding my 
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