第16章 盐 Salt

亨利·凡·戴克/Henry Van Dyke

“You are the salt of the earth.”Matthew 5: 13.

This figure of speech is plain and pungent. Salt is savory, purifying, preservative. It is one of those superfluities which the great French wit defined as“things that are very necessary”. From the very beginning of human history men have set a high value upon salt and sought for it in caves and by the seashore. The nation that had a good supply was counted rich. A bag of salt, among the barbarous tribes, was worth more than a man. The Jews prized it especially, because they lived in a warm climate where food was difficult to keep, and because their religion laid particular emphasis on cleanliness, and because salt was largely used in their sacrifices.

Christ chose an image which was familiar, when He said to His disciples,“You are the salt of the earth.”This was his conception of their mission, their influence. They were to cleanse and sweeten the world in which they lived, to keep it from decay, to give a new and more wholesome flavor to human existence. Their function was not to be passive, but active. The sphere of its action was to be this present life. There is no use in saving salt for heaven. It will not be needed there, its mission is to permeate, season, and purify things on earth.

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Men of privilege without power are waste material. Men of enlightenment without influence are the poorest kind of rubbish. Men of intellectual and moral and religious culture, who are not active forces for good in society, are not worth what it costs to produce and keep them.

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You college students are men of privilege. It costs ten times as much, in labor and care and money, to bring you out where you are today, as it costs to educate the average man, and a hundred times as much as it costs to raise a boy without any education. This fact brings you to face with a question: are you going to be worth your salt?

“你们是人间的盐。”——《马太福音》第五章，第十三节

这是个简单而尖锐的比喻。盐不仅可以调味，还可以清洁、防腐。盐被法国一位伟大的智者誉为“极其必要”的奢侈品之一。盐自人类历史的初期起，就被奉为珍品。人们在岩洞、海边四处寻找。哪个国家储盐量高就一定是个富国。在原始部落，一个人的价值还不如一包盐。犹太人对盐特别珍惜，因为他们生活的地带气候温暖，食物难以保存，而他们的宗教又对清洁格外重视，在加工供品时就需要大量的盐。

基督耶稣选用了这个常见事物作比喻，对他的门徒说：“你们是人间的盐。”他把他们的使命和影响归结为这句话。他们要清除他们所在世界的堕落，为人类的生活增加一种清新而又健康的味道。他们将积极而非消极地作用于世间。他们的行为只在凡间，因为天堂无需净化，不用储藏盐。渗透、调味、净化世间的一切成了盐的使命。

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徒有其名的人不如一块废料，聪明而起不到什么起作用的人是一堆败絮。那些有知识、有道德、有宗教信仰，却不能为社会起到积极作用的人，是不值得培养和留存的。

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你们大学生有不同于一般人的优势。人们付出了十倍于普通人的代价，一百倍于未受过教育的男孩的劳力、心神及财力，才成就了你今天的地位。这个事实使你必须面对一个问题：你真的能名副其实吗？

记忆填空

1.From the very____________of human history men have set a high value upon____________and sought for it in caves and by the seashore. The nation that had a good____________was counted rich.

2.They were to____________and sweeten the world in which they lived, to keep it____________decay, to give a new and more wholesome flavor to human existence. Their____________was not to be passive, but active.

3.____________of intellectual and moral and religious culture, who are not active forces for good in____________, are not worth what it____________to produce and keep them.

佳句翻译

1.盐不仅可以调味，还可以清洁、防腐。

译___________________________________________________

2.他们的行为只在凡间，因为天堂无需净化，不用储藏盐。

译___________________________________________________

3.人们付出了十倍于普通人的代价，一百倍于未受过教育的男孩的劳力、心神及财力，才成就了你今天的地位。

译___________________________________________________

短语应用

1.They were to cleanse and sweeten the world in which they lived, to keep it from decay...

keep from：隐瞒；阻止；抑制

造___________________________________________________

2.It costs ten times as much, in labor and care and money, to bring you out where you are today...

bring out：出版，生产；使显示；说出

造___________________________________________________