培根散文隨筆集第43章:Of Beauty 論美

Irtue is like a rich stone,best plain set;and surely vitue is best,in a body that is comely,though not of delicate features;and that hath rather dignity of presence,than beauty of aspect.

美德好比寶石，它在樸素背景的襯托下反而更華麗。同樣，一個打扮並不華貴卻端莊嚴肅而有美德者是令人肅然起敬的。

Neither is it Almost seen,that very beautiful persons are otherwise of great virtue;as if nature were rather busy,not to err,than in labor to produce therefore they prove accomplished,but not of great spirit;and study rather behavior,than this holds not always:for Augustus Caesar,Titus Vespasianus,Philip le Belle of France,Edward the Fourth of England,Alcibiades of Athens,Ismael the Sophy of Persia,were all high and great spirits;and yet the most beautiful men of their beauty,that of favor,is more than that of color;and that of decent and gracious motion,more than that of favor.

外表美麗的人，未必也具有內在的美。因爲造物主似乎是吝嗇的，他給了此就不再予彼。所以許多容顏俊秀的人卻不足爲訓，他們過於追求外形美麗而忽略了內心的美。但這也許不全對，因爲奧古斯都·撒、菲斯帕斯、法蘭西的菲力普王、英格蘭的愛德華四世、雅典的阿爾西巴蒂斯、波斯的伊斯梅爾等既是大丈夫，又是美男子。就形貌而言，自然之美要勝過粉飾之美，而優雅行爲之美又勝於單純禮儀之美。

That is the best part of beauty,which a picture cannot express;no nor the first sight of the e is no excellent beauty,that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.A man cannot tell whether Apelles,or Albert Durer,were the more trifler;whereof the one ,would make a personage by geometrical proportions;the other,by taking the best parts out of divers faces,to make one personages,I think,would please nobody,but the painter that made them.

最高的美是畫家說無法表現的，因爲它是難於直觀的。沒有哪種美能極致到不存在比例上的瑕疵。曾經有兩位畫家——阿皮雷斯和艾伯特·丟勒滑稽地認爲，可以按照幾何比例，或者通過攝取不同人身上最美的特點，用畫合成一張最完美的人像。其實像這樣畫出來的美人，恐怕只表現了畫家本人的某種偏愛。

Not but I think a painter may make a better face than ever was;but he must do it by a kind of felicity(as a musician that maketh an excellent air in music),and not by rule.A man shall see faces, that if you examine them part by part,you shall find never a good;and yet altogether do well.

畫家不能通過這樣畫出更好看的臉，（正如爲曲子營造氛圍的音樂家），創造它的常常是構思，而不是公式。有許多的臉，就他們的部分看並不優美，但作爲整體卻非常動人。

If it be true that the principal part of beauty is in decent motion,certainly it is no marvel,though persons in years seem many times more amiable;pulchrorum autumnus pulcher;for no youth can be comely but by pardon,and considering the youth,as to make up the comeliness.

雖然美之菁華無疑在於優雅的舉止，但有些老人更顯得可愛，這印證了一句拉丁諺語：“暮色之色更美。”而儘管有的年輕人具有美貌，卻由於缺乏完美的修養而不配得到最好的讚美。

Beauty is as summer fruits,which are easy to corrupt,and cannot last;and for the most part it makes a dissolute youth,and an age a little out of countenance;but yet certainly again,if it light well,it maketh virtue shine,and vices blush.

美猶如盛夏的水果，是容易腐爛而難保持的。世上有許多美人，他們有過放蕩的青春，卻迎受着愧悔的晚年。因此，應該把美的形貌與美的德行結合起來。這樣，美才會發出奪目的光輝。