頂好和頂壞的菜

頂好和頂壞的菜 古代希臘的那個善於講寓言的伊索，他早先是人家的奴隸。有一回，他的主人請客，叫他預備一桌頂好的菜，別人家所辦不到的。 客人來了。賓主入席之後伊索送上來第一道菜，是一盤紅燒的豬舌頭。隔了一會，第二道菜送上來了，又是一盤舌頭，不過是羊的不是豬的，燒法改了幹炸。接著送上來第三，四道菜，那是一盤舌頭，不過是其他獸類的了，燒法又改了花樣。 主人再也忍不住了，責問伊索道：“我沒有對你說過，叫你預備一桌頂好的菜嗎？為什麽送上來的隻是一些豬舌頭，羊舌頭？” 伊索回答道：“世間還有比舌頭更好的東西嗎？舌頭是知識學問的泉水。靠著舌頭，一切知識學問都會在世間傳來傳去。” 主人聽了伊索的答辯覺得滿意，但不再說什麽話。 散席的時候，主人約客人明天再來聚餐。又吩咐伊索道：“今天的菜你以為頂好的了。明天我要你預備一桌頂壞的菜別人家所辦不到的。” 第二天，客人來了。賓主入席之後，伊索送上來第一道菜，仍舊是一盤燒的豬舌頭。接著送上來第二，第三，第四道菜，也完全和上一天相同。席上的客人都覺著奇怪。主人呢，不但覺得奇怪，簡直生氣了。 主人對伊索嗬斥道：“怎麽又隻是一些舌頭！你說舌頭是頂好的菜，為什麽到了今天便變成頂壞的菜呢？” 伊索回答道：“世間還有比舌頭更壞的東西嗎？凡是頂壞的事情，哪一件沒有舌頭的份？奸謀，詭計，說謊，營私，哪一件不是舌頭的罪惡？” 主人聽了伊索的答辯，又覺得滿意，於是賓主盡歡而散。￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥ Aesop’s FablesAesopi LinguaHere is today's distich by John Owen, with an English translation by Thomas Harvey, 4:214. The poem refers to a famous incident from the folkloric Life of Aesop, when Aesop's master tells him to serve the best food for every course at a feast; Aesop serves a dish of tongues for the first course, and tongues for the next course and then tongues again. When his master challenges him, Aesop explains that the tongue is the best thing because of all the good things that can be accomplished through the power of human language. Frustrated, his master orders Aesop to do just the opposite for the next feast; he asks Aesop to serve the worst food. Again, Aesop brings out a dish of tongues, and then tongues for the next course, and tongues again. His master is enraged, but Aesop then explains about all the dreadful things that are brought about as a result of human language. So Aesop proved that the human tongue is the best thing and the worst, too.Aesopi LinguaHumano membrum non est in corpore linguaNobiliusve bona, mobiliusve mala.AESOP’S TONGUENo Member is, that doth to man belongMore Noble, or Ignoble, than the Tongue.Here is the vocabulary:Aesopus - Aesoplingua - tongue, languagehumanus - humanmembrum - membernon - not, nosum - be, existin - in, intocorpus - bodynobilis - nobleve - orbonus - goodmobilis - moving, ficklemalus - bad