双语智慧书·容许自己有无伤大雅之过

83．容许自己有无伤大雅之过
　　容许自己有无伤大雅之过。有时，此类不经意的疏忽，反而显示了你最优秀的才智。嫉妒常常表现为对人的排斥，越是斯文有礼就越是恶毒。嫉妒把每个完美都当成是错误，那是因为完美本身并没有错误，因为绝对完美，嫉妒心才对之谴责。嫉妒心就像神话中的百眼巨人阿格斯(1)，所有的眼睛都用来寻瑕摘疵，以安慰自己。指责如同闪电一般，专挑那些最高的东西袭击。让荷马(2)也偶有败笔吧，甚至还可让他貌似缺乏勇气或智慧，但不要缺乏谨慎，以使他人的恶意消除，或者至少阻止恶意的毒液蔓延。这样，你便可像斗牛士一样，把披风留给嫉妒的牛角去顶撞，而你不朽的名声则得以保全。


83．Allow yourself some venial fault
　Allow yourself some venial fault. Some such carelessness is often the greatest recommendation of talent. For envy exercises ostracism, most envenomed when most polite. Envy counts it to perfection as a failing that it has no faults; for being perfect in all it condemns it in all. It becomes an Argus, all eyes for imperfection, only for its own consolation. Blame is like the lightning; it hits the highest. Let Homer nod now and then and affect some negligence in valour or in intellect-not in prudence-so as to disarm malevolence, or at least to prevent its bursting with its own venom. You thus leave your cloak on the horns of Envy in order to save your immortality.
　　
(1) 希腊神话中的阿格斯，有一百只眼睛遍布全身，即便在睡着的时候，也有两只眼睛始终警惕地睁着。
(2) 荷马：希腊史诗《伊利亚特》和《奥德赛》的作者。贺拉斯在《诗艺》中说："高明如荷马有时也瞌睡"，是指荷马这样的大诗人也有败笔之就。