Seven times have I despised my soul:
——Kahlil Gibran

  • The first time when I saw her being meek that she might attain height.
  • The second time when I saw her limping before the crippled.
  • The third time when she was given to choose between the hard and the easy, and she chose the easy.
  • The fourth time when she committed a wrong, and comforted herself that others also commit wrong.
  • The fifth time when she forbore for weakness, and attributed her patience to strength.
  • The sixth time when she despised the ugliness of a face, and knew not that it was one of her own masks.
  • And the seventh time when she sang a song of praise, and deemed it a virtue.

译文

——卡里·纪伯伦

  • 第一次，当它本可进取时，却故作谦卑；
  • 第二次，当它在空虚时，用爱欲来填充；
  • 第三次，在困难和容易之间，它选择了容易；
  • 第四次，它犯了错，却借由别人也会犯错来宽慰自己；
  • 第五次，它自由软弱，却把它认为是生命的坚韧；
  • 第六次，当它鄙夷一张丑恶的嘴脸时，却不知那正是自己面具中的一副；
  • 第七次，它侧身于生活的污泥中，虽不甘心，却又畏首畏尾。