龍源-黃藥師的相機世界

因果

Cause and Effect

356.

惟上帝弗常，作善降之百祥，作不善降之百殃。_{祥，善也，天之禍福，唯善惡所在，不常在一家也。}爾惟德罔小，萬邦惟慶；_{修德無小，則天下賴慶也。}爾惟弗德罔大，墜厥宗。_{苟為不德無大，必墜失宗廟，此伊尹至忠之訓也。}

（卷二　尚書）

356.

The Divine being will not bestow blessings or cast curses on one family alone. Those who do good deeds will be blessed with luck and fortune, while those who do bad deeds will be plagued with misfortune. Even small virtuous deeds can cause the whole nation to rejoice; while bad deeds, even if they are just minor offenses, may cause the whole nation to crumble.

Scroll 2: Shang Shu

【註釋】

①墜：喪失。　

②宗：宗廟，這裡代指國家。

【白話】

上帝沒有親疏貴賤的分別，所以賜福、降災沒有一定，對行善的人就賜給各種吉祥，對作惡的人就降給各種災禍。你們行善修德不怕小，即使是小善小德，天下人也會感到慶幸；你們只要所行不善，即使不大，也可能導致亡國。

357.

存亡禍福，皆在己而已。天災地妖，弗能加也。

（卷十　孔子家語）

357.

Life or death, fortune or misfortune, are all but the result of our own doings. When people accumulate a multitude of meritorious deeds, no natural catastrophe will befall them.

Scroll 10: Kong Zi Jia Yu

【註釋】

①地妖：大地上所發生的反常怪異之事。語本《左傳‧宣公十五年》：「天反時為災，地反物為妖。」杜預注：「群物失性。」孔穎達疏：「言其怪異謂之妖。」

【白話】

國家的存亡禍福，都決定於國君自己。自然的災害怪異，是不能強加給人的。由此可知，禍福皆由自身造成，天災地變是在警示我們，應當改惡向善才能轉禍為福。

358.

故見祥而為不可，祥必為禍！

（卷四十　賈子）

358.

When people behave badly upon the learning of good omens, the good omens will change to become disasters.

Scroll 40: Jia Zi

【白話】

見到吉祥的瑞兆卻去做惡事，吉祥反而會變成災禍！

359.

天作孽猶可違，自作孽弗可逭_{（ㄏㄨㄢˋ）}。_{孽，災也。逭，逃也。言天災可避，自作災不可逃也。}

（卷二　尚書）

359.

Natural disasters can be averted as long as people are willing to abandon their devious ways and do more good instead. But if they continue to commit bad deeds without remorse, they will never be able to escape the onslaught of misfortunes.

Scroll 2: Shang Shu

【註釋】

①逭：逃避。

【白話】

自然的災害是可以避免的，只要人棄惡揚善；自身造作罪孽，不知悔改，災禍就不可能逃脫。

360.

聖人執左契，_{古者聖人無文書法律，刻契合符，以為信也。}而不責於人。_{但執刻契信，不責人以他事也。}有德司契，_{有德之君，司察契信而已。}無德司徹。_{無德之君，背其契信，司人所失也。}天道無親，常與善人。_{天道無有親疏，唯與善人，則與司契者也。}

（卷三十四　老子）

360.

The sages are like creditors who hold on to the left side of a contract, but who do not use it to pressure debtor to return the borrowed goods. The virtuous, just like the sages, are always giving but not collecting. On the other hand, unscrupulous people are like tax collectors who are always collecting but not giving. In the way of heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always on the side of the good man. *

Scroll 34: Lao Zi

* In ancient China, the “contract” was a bamboo piece divided into half, with the list of borrowed items engraved on each half—the left half with the debtor’s name is retained by the creditor, the right half with the creditor’s name is retained by the debtor. When goods are returned, both halves are matched to authenticate the contract.

【註釋】

①聖人執左契，而不責於人：古代借貸財物時所用的契券，竹木制成，劈為兩片。左片叫左契，刻著負債人姓名，由債權人保存；右片叫右契，刻著債權人的姓名，由負債人保存。索物還物時，以兩契相合為憑據。此句是說聖明的君主只是施惠於民，而不求回報。契，契約。責，索取、求取。

【白話】

聖人待人守柔處下，就好像掌握左契，只給與人而不向人索取。有德者待人如同聖人執左契一樣；無德者待人就如同執掌賦稅，只向人索取而不給與人。天道毫無偏私，永遠降福給與而不取，完全合於天道的善人。