CAPUT XXVII. Quod sensualitatis appetitus non temperatur, si imaginationis evagatio non restringitur
约束想象力先行
正如拉结的使女先于利亚的使女被带入丈夫的权下，约束感官欲望必须先约束想象力的漫游。
But when, I ask you, would Leah hand her maidservant over to her husband, or adopt such sons, unless she had been spurred by her sister's example? For it's always the case that Rachel's maidservant is brought under the husband's authority before Leah's maidservant is. For if the wandering of the imagination that comes from useless thoughts isn't held in check first, then without a doubt the unrestrained appetite of the senses is scarcely tempered at all. So anyone who wants to moderate the desires for bodily pleasures should first get used to never thinking of carnal delights—or at least thinking of them only rarely. For the truth is, the more rarely you think of such things, the more rarely—and, of course, the more lukewarmly—you'll desire them. This, unless I'm mistaken, is why Bilhah is bent under the husband's rule before Zilpah.
默想来世以生忍耐
通过持续默想来世的惩罚和奖赏，人心得以轻视现世福乐并自愿忍受苦难，正如但和拿弗他利先于迦得和亚设出生。
It's clear all the same that she would never make adoptive sons of Gad and Asher—that is, of abstinence and patience—unless she continually saw her sister Rachel's adopted offspring.1 For who could ever persuade the heart's affection to despise this world's good fortunes and to dread its hardships, unless, with Dan and Naphtali prompting him, he were compelled to look not only often but almost without stopping at the torments of the life to come, or at the eternal rewards?2 But now, through steady reflection on the evils yet to come, it's easily persuaded to hold present goods in contempt. And again, through continual contemplation of eternal happiness, it's set on fire for the willing endurance of temporal hardship. This, as I see it, is why Dan and Naphtali are born first, and why Gad and Asher are brought forth later.
Read the original Latin
Sed quando, quaeso, Lia ancillam suam viro suo traderet, vel tales filios adoptaret, nisi sororis suae exemplo provocata fuisset? Prius enim semper est ut ancilla Rachel redigatur sub viri potestate quam ancilla Liae. Si enim imaginationis evagatio quae fit per inutiles cogitationes prius non reprimitur, absque dubio sensualitatis appetitus immoderatus minime temperatur. Qui igitur vult corporalium voluptatum desideria temperare, prius assuescat carnales delicias nunquam, vel saltem raro cogitare. Profecto namque quanto talia rarius cogitaveris, tanto rarius, tanto tepidius nimirum ea desiderabis. Haec, nisi fallor, est causa cur sub virili dominio prior incurvetur Bala quam Zelpha. Patet nihilominus quod de Gad et Aser abstinentia, videlicet et patientia, nunquam adoptivos filios faceret, nisi sororis suae Rachel adoptivam sobolem assidue cerneret. Quis enim unquam affectioni cordis posset persuadere mundi hujus prospera contemnere, et ejus adversa formidare, nisi suggerentibus Dan et Nephtalim futurae vitae tormenta, vel praemia aeterna, non solum frequenter, imo pene indesinenter cogeretur aspicere?
Nunc autem per assiduam considerationem futurorum malorum facile ei persuadetur contemptus praesentium bonorum. Et iterum per jugem contemplationem aeternae felicitatis inflammatur ad voluntariam tolerantiam pressurae temporalis. Hoc est, ut arbitror, cur Dan et Nephtalim prius nascantur, et cur Gad et Aser posterius generentur.
Notes
- 1 ↩Subject is Leah (from the surrounding allegory): she adopts Gad and Asher through Zilpah only after seeing Rachel's prior adoptive sons through Bilhah.
- 2 ↩Rendered formidare literally as 'dread.' The next section pairs fear of future evils with contempt for present goods, and hope of eternal happiness with voluntary endurance of temporal pressure; if formidare is meant as 'not fear' adversities, that would require an unstated non.
Benjamin Minor (The Twelve Patriarchs / Preparation of the Mind for Contemplation) companion
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