ONE / “I Turned to See”
第一章／「我转过身来要看」
THE SENSE AMID THE STRANGENESS
在怪异之中寻出头绪
THOSE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS were the easier part. Most Catholics, after all, have at least a glancing awareness of the Mass. They’re familiar with the prayers and gestures, even if they’ve only endured them sleepily. With this chapter, however, we turn to see (Rev 1:12) what many Catholics have turned away from—sometimes in terror, sometimes in frustration.
前四章相对容易。毕竟多数公教徒多少对弥撒有所了解；就算是半梦半醒，也对那些祈祷与动作不陌生。但从本章开始，我们要转身来看（启1:12）许多公教徒曾回避的东西——有时是出于恐惧，有时是出于挫败。
The Book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible, seems a weird book indeed: full of frightening wars and consuming fires, rivers of blood, and streets paved with gold. In all of its parts, the book seems to defy common sense and good taste. Let’s take just one famous example, the plague of locusts. John reports that “from the smoke came locusts . . . like horses arrayed for battle; on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots. . . . They have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power of hurting men for five months lies in their tails” (Rev 9:3, 7–10).
圣经的最后一卷《启示录》，的确显得离奇：充满可怕的战争与吞噬的火焰、血河与金街。整卷书的方方面面，都似乎挑战常识与品味。就拿一个著名的例子来说——蝗虫之灾。约翰这样记载：「有蝗虫从烟中出来，飞到地上，有能力赐给它们，好像地上蝎子的能力一样……蝗虫的形状好像预备出战的马，头上戴的好像金冠冕，脸面好像男人的脸面，头发像女人的头发，牙齿像狮子的牙，胸前有甲，好像铁甲，它们翅膀的声音像许多车马奔跑上阵的声音……有尾巴像蝎子，尾巴上的毒钩能伤人五个月。」（启9:3，7—10）
We hardly know whether to laugh or scream with fright. With all due respect, we want to ask St. John, “Okay, let me get this straight: you saw long-haired locusts with lion’s teeth and human faces . . . and they were wearing golden crowns and armor?” The great temptation is just to excuse ourselves from reading the Apocalypse, reminding God that we have pressing appointments here on earth.
我们简直不知道该笑还是该吓得尖叫。恕我冒昧，我们很想问圣约翰：「好吧，让我弄清楚：你看见了留着长发、长着狮牙、人脸的蝗虫……还戴着金冠冕、披着铠甲？」最大的诱惑，就是借口不再读启示录，提醒神我们在地上还有许多紧要的事要做。
I am not going to deny that the details of the Book of Revelation are exceedingly strange. Instead, I’ll invite you to come with me on an investigation, so that you can discover, as I did, that there is sense amid the strangeness.
我不会否认启示录的细节的确非常奇特。相反，我要邀请你跟我一起去探究，好让你像我一样发现：在这些怪异之中，其实自有道理。