“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

当我听说了这些事情以后，我仔细考虑了一下：

When I heard these things, I pondered them like this: 

”神说的究竟是什么？他提出的是怎样的谜语？

"What ever is the god saying, and what riddle is he posing? 

因为我非常清楚我一点都没有智慧，既不是非常有智慧也不是有一点点智慧。

For I am conscious that I am not at all wise, either much or little. 

可以确定的是神至少没有说假话，因为神不会说假话。”

Surely he is not saying something false, at least; for that is not sanctioned for him." 

很长一段时间以来我对神所说的内容无法理解，但是之后我很不情愿地用下面的方法来探究神的深意。

And for a long time I was at a loss about what ever he was saying, but then very reluctantly I turned to something like the following investigation of it. 

我去会见了一位公认的有智慧的人，因为在他那儿，我可以反驳神谕。

I went to one of those reputed to be wise, on the ground that there, I would refute the divination. 

当我考察了他并跟他进行了对话，雅典的公民们啊，我获得了下面的想法：

When I considered him and conversed with him, men of Athens, I was affected by something like this: 

在我看来这个人似乎对很多人来说确实是非常有智慧的，尤其是对他自己来说，但是他并没有智慧。

it seemed to me that this man seemed to be wise, both to many other human beings and most of all to himself, but that he was not. 

而且之后我还尝试向他展示他只是自认为有智慧，但事实并非如此。

And then I tried to show him that he supposed he was wise, but was not. 

所以因为这一点我遭到了他和其他很多在场的人的嫉恨。

So from this I became hateful both to him and to many of those present.  

对我来说，当我走的时候，我开始这样从我的角度思考问题：

For my part, as I went away, I reasoned with regard to myself:

“我比这个人要有智慧。

"I am wiser than this human being. 

因为可能我们俩都不了解那些高贵的山的真理，但是他认为自己知道其实他并不知道的事，而我，因为我不知道这些东西，我也不会假定我知道。

For probably neither of us knows anything noble and good, but he supposes he knows something when he does not know, while I, just as I do not know, do not even suppose that I do. 

我可能在这一点上比他要多一点智慧：

I am likely to be a little bit wiser than he in this very thing: 

我不知道的事情，我不假定我知道。”

that whatever I do not know, I do not even suppose I know."

在柏拉图的《申辩篇》这篇辩护词中，苏格拉底描述了当他听说有人问德尔斐神示所一个大胆的问题“有什么人比苏格拉底更聪明吗？”神示所回答说“没有人比他更聪明”时，他有多么惊讶和惶恐。苏格拉底说道，“当我听到这件事情时，我问自己，阿波罗可能是什么意思呢？因为我知道自己并不聪明；既不非常聪明，甚至也没有一点聪明。”由于苏格拉底觉得自己弄不清楚神示的裁决是何用意，他决定尽力反驳。于是他来到一个人们认为聪明的人那里——一位雅典政治家——去向他学习。和政治家谈过后，苏格拉底去诗人那里，然后他又去工匠那里。这些人确实不知道他不理解的那些事情，但是他们以为自己也知道其他许多事情，甚至是最伟大的事情，他们的傲慢完全抵消了他们的真知。因此苏格拉底最终得出了对德尔斐神示所的意图的如下解释：显然，神并不想对苏格拉底说什么话。他只是为着利用这个名字断言：“最聪明的人是像苏格拉底那样承认自己实际并不聪明的人。” 

When I heard these things, I pondered them like this: "What ever is the god saying, and what riddle is he posing? For I am conscious that I am not at all wise, either much or little. Surely he is not saying something false, at least; for that is not sanctioned for him." And for a long time I was at a loss about what ever he was saying, but then very reluctantly I turned to something like the following investigation of it. I went to one of those reputed to be wise, on the ground that there, I would refute the divination. 

When I considered him and conversed with him, men of Athens, I was affected by something like this: it seemed to me that this man seemed to be wise, both to many other human beings and most of all to himself, but that he was not. And then I tried to show him that he supposed he was wise, but was not. So from this I became hateful both to him and to many of those present.  For my part, as I went away, I reasoned with regard to myself:

"I am wiser than this human being. For probably neither of us knows anything noble and good, but he supposes he knows something when he does not know, while I, just as I do not know, do not even suppose that I do. I am likely to be a little bit wiser than he in this very thing: that whatever I do not know, I do not even suppose I know."

——节选自《柏拉图对话录－苏格拉底申辩篇》

▍生词好句

ponder:

vt. 思考；深思熟虑

riddle:

n. 谜语

conscious:

adj. 意识到的；有意识的

at a

loss about sth.: 对……感到费解

reluctantly:

adv. 不情愿地

investigation:

n. 调查；调查研究

reputed:

adj. 公认的

refute:

vt. 反驳；驳斥

divination:

n. 预测；占卜

converse

with: 与……对话

hateful:

adj. 可憎的；可恨的