softkitty
3 min readFeb 7, 2020
  • Here is the rose, dance here /這裡有玫瑰花,就在這裡跳舞吧!

德國哲學家黑格爾在其《法哲學原理‧序言》中引用了一段文字:
「Hic Rhodus, hic saltus!」[註]
(這裡是羅得斯島,就在這裡跳吧!)

這段文字出自《伊索寓言》,

(Aesop’s Fables (Gibbs 209; Perry 33: Chambry 51))

There was a man who had been away on a journey and had then come back home. He strutted about town, talking loudly and at great length about the brave deeds he had accomplished in the various lands he had visited. In Rhodes, the man said, he had jumped such a long jump that no man alive could equal it, and he claimed that there were witnesses who could back up his story. A bystander then remarked, ‘Alright! If you’re telling the truth, here is your Rhodes: go on and jump!’ (Hic Rhodus, hic saltus)

故事是:有一位旅行者每到一處就向人誇耀說他在羅得斯島曾經跳得多遠多遠,不信去問羅得斯島的人。由於無法查證,所以沒有人能戳破他的謊言。有一次這位旅行者故技重施的時候,有一位聽眾就說:「那你就當這裡是羅得斯島,當場跳給我們看呀!」

然而黑格爾引用時卻改變了用法:他說:「就個人來說,每個人都是他那個時代的產兒,哲學也是一樣,它是被把握在思想中的它的時代。妄想一種哲學可以超出它那個時代,這與個人可以跳出他的時代,跳出羅得斯島,是同樣愚蠢的。」所以他就把上述成語改成:

Hier ist die Rose, hier tanze!
Here is the rose, dance here /(這裡有薔薇,就在這裡跳舞吧!)

黑格爾在這兒玩了一點文字遊戲:
將「羅得斯」(Rhodus改成德文的「薔薇」(Rose)。
將「跳」改成「跳舞」(不過那個「跳」字本來就兼有「跳舞」的意思)。

黑格爾把羅得斯島比喻成每個人所處的世界,沒有人跳得出來;既然跳不出來,就好好在這裡跳舞吧!(意思是要把握此時此地;當下即是。)

softkitty

做個單純的人, 走一段幸福的路, 過一段美好的人生~♪