Plato : APOLOGY OF SOCRATES 柏拉图：《苏格拉底的申辩》中、英文对照全部

《苏格拉底的申辩》柏拉图

雅典的人们啊，听到我的原告们的发言，你们有何感受，我无从知晓；但我知道，他们那些颇具说服力的言辞几乎让我忘了自己是谁，其效果便是如此。然而，他们几乎没说一句真话。不过，在他们诸多谎言中，有一点着实让我惊讶：那就是他们告诉你们要提高警惕，别被我的能言善辩所欺骗。他们说这话真该感到羞耻，因为我一开口，暴露了自己言辞上的不足，他们立马就会被揭穿。他们说这话时，无疑显得极其厚颜无耻，除非他们所说的“能言善辩”指的是“说真话的力量”，若是那样，我倒确实承认自己善于言辞。但我的方式与他们截然不同！好了，正如我所说，他们几乎没说一句真话，即便有，也寥寥无几。而你们将会从我这里听到全部真相，不过，我的陈述不会像他们那样，是精心修饰、辞藻华丽的整篇演说。绝非如此！我只会用当下涌上心头的话语和论点，因为我确信这是正确的。而且，到了我这般年纪，雅典的人们啊，我不该以一个年轻演说家的姿态出现在你们面前，也请大家不要对我有这样的期待。我还得恳请你们帮我一个忙：如果你们听到我在辩护中使用的还是我惯常的那些话语——你们多数人或许在市集上、在钱庄里，或是别的什么地方听过——请不要惊讶，也不要打断我。因为我已年过七旬，这还是我生平第一次出庭，对这里的规矩一无所知。所以，恳请你们把我当成一个真正的异乡人，若是异乡人用母语、按自己国家的方式说话，你们总会原谅他的吧。我想这个请求并不过分。不必在意我的说话方式好不好，只需关注我案子的公正性，认真听我说的内容就行：让法官公正裁决，让说话人讲出真相。

《APOLOGY OF SOCRATES》Plato

How you have felt, O men of Athens, at hearing the speeches of my accusers, I cannot tell; but I know that their persuasive words almost made me forget who I was, such was the effect of them; and yet they have hardly spoken a word of truth. But many as their falsehoods were, there was one of them which quite amazed me: I mean when they told you to be upon your guard, and not to let yourself be deceived by the force of my eloquence. They ought to have been ashamed of saying this, because they were sure to be detected as soon as I opened my lips and displayed my deficiency; they certainly did appear to be most shameless in saying this, unless by the force of eloquence they mean the force of truth: for then I do indeed admit that I am eloquent. But in how different a way from theirs! Well, as I was saying, they have hardly uttered a word, or not more than a word, of truth; but you shall hear from me the whole truth: not, however, delivered after their manner, in a set oration duly ornamented with words and phrases. No, indeed! but I shall use the words and arguments which occur to me at the moment; for I am certain that this is right, and that at my time of life I ought not to be appearing before you, O men of Athens, in the character of a juvenile orator: let no one expect this of me. And I must beg of you to grant me one favor, which is this- if you hear me using the same words in my defence which I have been in the habit of using, and which most of you may have heard in the agora, and at the tables of the money-changers, or anywhere else, I would ask you not to be surprised at this, and not to interrupt me. For I am more than seventy years of age, and this is the first time that I have ever appeared in a court of law, and I am quite a stranger to the ways of the place; and therefore I would have you regard me as if I were really a stranger, whom you would excuse if he spoke in his native tongue, and after the fashion of his country: that I think is not an unfair request. Never mind the manner, which may or may not be good; but think only of the justice of my cause, and give heed to that: let the judge decide justly and the speaker speak truly.

首先，我必须回应那些更早的指控和最初的原告，然后再处理后来的指控。因为指控我的人很多，他们很早就开始指控我，而且他们的不实指控已经持续了很多年。比起阿尼图斯及其同伙，我更害怕这些人——尽管阿尼图斯他们以自己的方式来说也很危险。但更危险的是那些人，他们在你们还是孩子的时候就开始行动，用谎言占据了你们的思想，说有一个叫苏格拉底的聪明人，他钻研天上的事物，探究地下的奥秘，还能把坏的说成好的。 我所畏惧的正是这些原告，因为他们是这些谣言的传播者，而听了这些谣言的人很容易认为这类好思辨的人是不相信神的。他们人数众多，对我的指控由来已久，而且是在你们最容易受影响的时候提出的——那时你们还是孩子，或者可能刚步入青年——而当时这个案子根本无人辩护，因为没有人站出来回应。最困难的是，我不知道他们的名字，也说不出是谁，除非偶尔提到某个喜剧诗人。但这些诽谤者中的大多数，是出于嫉妒和恶意而影响你们的——其中有些人自己也深信不疑，并把这种想法灌输给别人——我说，所有这些人都是最难对付的，因为我不能把他们带到这里来盘问，所以我只能在辩护时和影子作战，在没有人回应的情况下进行申辩。 那么，正如我刚才所说，请你们和我一起假定，我的反对者有两类——一类是近期的，另一类是 ancient 的。我希望你们能理解我先回应后者的合理性，因为你们早就听到了这些指控，而且听到的次数也多得多。

And first, I have to reply to the older charges and to my first accusers, and then I will go to the later ones. For I have had many accusers, who accused me of old, and their false charges have continued during many years; and I am more afraid of them than of Anytus and his associates, who are dangerous, too, in their own way. But far more dangerous are these, who began when you were children, and took possession of your minds with their falsehoods, telling of one Socrates, a wise man, who speculated about the heaven above, and searched into the earth beneath, and made the worse appear the better cause. These are the accusers whom I dread; for they are the circulators of this rumor, and their hearers are too apt to fancy that speculators of this sort do not believe in the gods. And they are many, and their charges against me are of ancient date, and they made them in days when you were impressible- in childhood, or perhaps in youth- and the cause when heard went by default, for there was none to answer. And, hardest of all, their names I do not know and cannot tell; unless in the chance of a comic poet. But the main body of these slanderers who from envy and malice have wrought upon you- and there are some of them who are convinced themselves, and impart their convictions to others- all these, I say, are most difficult to deal with; for I cannot have them up here, and examine them, and therefore I must simply fight with shadows in my own defence, and examine when there is no one who answers. I will ask you then to assume with me, as I was saying, that my opponents are of two kinds- one recent, the other ancient; and I hope that you will see the propriety of my answering the latter first, for these accusations you heard long before the others, and much oftener.

那么，我将为自己辩护，我会尽力在有限的时间里，消除你们长久以来对我抱有的这种不良看法。我希望我能成功，若这对你们和我都有益处，也希望我的话能得到你们的认可。但我知道，要做到这一点并不容易——我十分清楚这项任务的性质。就让结果听从神的安排吧：我将遵照法律为自己辩护。

Well, then, I will make my defence, and I will endeavor in the short time which is allowed to do away with this evil opinion of me which you have held for such a long time; and I hope I may succeed, if this be well for you and me, and that my words may find favor with you. But I know that to accomplish this is not easy- I quite see the nature of the task. Let the event be as God wills: in obedience to the law I make my defence.

我将从头说起，先问问是什么指控引发了对我的这种诽谤，又是什么促使美勒托起诉我。那些诽谤者说了些什么呢？他们将成为我的原告，我会把他们的话概括成一份宣誓证词：“苏格拉底是个作恶者，是个爱管闲事的人，他探究地下和天上的事物，还能把坏的说成好的；他把上述这些学说教给别人。” 这就是指控的实质，你们在阿里斯托芬的喜剧里也见过类似的场景——他塑造了一个名叫苏格拉底的人，四处游荡，说自己能在空中行走，还对一些我根本谈不上懂多懂少的事情大放厥词——我这么说，并非想贬低任何研究自然哲学的人。要是美勒托能拿这一点来指控我，我会非常遗憾。但事实很简单，雅典人啊，我和这些研究毫无关系。在座的很多人都能为这一点作证，我向他们求助。那么，你们这些听过我说话的人，告诉你们的邻座，你们是否曾听过我或多或少地谈论过这类事情……你们听到他们的回答了。从他们对这一点的说法，你们就能判断其余指控的真实性了。

I will begin at the beginning, and ask what the accusation is which has given rise to this slander of me, and which has encouraged Meletus to proceed against me. What do the slanderers say? They shall be my prosecutors, and I will sum up their words in an affidavit: “Socrates is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others.” That is the nature of the accusation, and that is what you have seen yourselves in the comedy of Aristophanes; who has introduced a man whom he calls Socrates, going about and saying that he can walk in the air, and talking a deal of nonsense concerning matters of which I do not pretend to know either much or little- not that I mean to say anything disparaging of anyone who is a student of natural philosophy. I should be very sorry if Meletus could lay that to my charge. But the simple truth is, O Athenians, that I have nothing to do with these studies. Very many of those here present are witnesses to the truth of this, and to them I appeal. Speak then, you who have heard me, and tell your neighbors whether any of you have ever known me hold forth in few words or in many upon matters of this sort… You hear their answer. And from what they say of this you will be able to judge of the truth of the rest.

有报道说我是一名教师，还收费授课，这一说法同样毫无根据，与其他谣言一样不实。不过，要是有人确实有教学能力，我倒赞赏他收费授课的做法。莱昂提尼的高尔吉亚、开俄斯的普罗迪科斯，还有埃利斯的希庇亚斯，他们在各个城邦游走，能说动年轻人离开本可以免费教他们的同胞，转而投奔自己。这些年轻人不仅要向他们付费，甚至能获准付费都心怀感激。 雅典其实住着一位来自帕罗斯岛的哲学家，我是这样听说他的：我遇到了希波尼库斯的儿子卡利亚斯，他在智者身上花了大笔钱。我知道他有儿子，就问他：“卡利亚斯，要是你的两个儿子是马驹或牛犊，要找个人照看他们并不难，我们大可以雇个驯马师或农夫，他们或许能把马驹和牛犊的固有美德与优点培养得尽善尽美。但他们是凡人，你打算请谁来教导他们呢？有没有人懂得人的美德和政治美德？你有儿子，肯定考虑过这个问题吧，有这样的人吗？” 他说：“有。” 我又问：“他是谁？来自哪个国家？收费多少？” 他回答：“是帕罗斯岛的埃维努斯，就是他，收费五明那。” 我心里想，埃维努斯真幸运，要是他真有这般智慧，还收费这么公道。要是我也有这本事，定会非常骄傲自大。但事实是，我根本没有这方面的知识，雅典的公民们。

As little foundation is there for the report that I am a teacher, and take money; that is no more true than the other. Although, if a man is able to teach, I honor him for being paid. There is Gorgias of Leontium, and Prodicus of Ceos, and Hippias of Elis, who go the round of the cities, and are able to persuade the young men to leave their own citizens, by whom they might be taught for nothing, and come to them, whom they not only pay, but are thankful if they may be allowed to pay them. There is actually a Parian philosopher residing in Athens, of whom I have heard; and I came to hear of him in this way: I met a man who has spent a world of money on the Sophists, Callias the son of Hipponicus, and knowing that he had sons, I asked him: “Callias,” I said, “if your two sons were foals or calves, there would be no difficulty in finding someone to put over them; we should hire a trainer of horses or a farmer probably who would improve and perfect them in their own proper virtue and excellence; but as they are human beings, whom are you thinking of placing over them? Is there anyone who understands human and political virtue? You must have thought about this as you have sons; is there anyone?” “There is,” he said. “Who is he?” said I, “and of what country? and what does he charge?” “Evenus the Parian,” he replied; “he is the man, and his charge is five minae.” Happy is Evenus, I said to myself, if he really has this wisdom, and teaches at such a modest charge. Had I the same, I should have been very proud and conceited; but the truth is that I have no knowledge of the kind, O Athenians.

我敢说，总会有人问我：“苏格拉底，这到底是怎么回事？这些针对你的指控源于何处呢？你一定是做了些非同寻常的事吧？要是你跟其他人没什么两样，也不会闹出这么大的名声，引来这么多议论。那就跟我们说说吧，为什么会这样，我们可不想草率地评判你。”我觉得这个质问很合理，我会尽力向你们解释“智慧”这个名号的由来，以及这坏名声的根源。请大家听好了。尽管你们中有些人可能觉得我在开玩笑，但我声明，我会把全部真相告诉你们。雅典的同胞们，我的这份名声，源于我所拥有的某种智慧。要是你们问我是哪种智慧，我会回答，是人类所能达到的那种智慧，因为就这一点而言，我倾向于认为自己是有智慧的。而我之前提到的那些人，他们拥有的是超凡的智慧，我或许无法对其加以描述，因为我自己并没有这种智慧。谁说我有，那他就是在说谎，是在损害我的名声。还有，雅典的同胞们，我恳请你们，即便我所说的话听起来有些离谱，也不要打断我。因为我接下来要说的并非我自己的话。我会请一位值得信赖的证人来为你们讲讲我的智慧——我到底有没有智慧，有什么样的智慧——这位证人就是德尔斐的神。你们一定认识凯勒丰，他早年就是我的朋友，也是你们的朋友，因为他曾和民众一起被流放，后来又和你们一同返回。大家都知道，凯勒丰做什么事都很急躁，他曾去德尔斐，大胆地求神谕告诉他——正如我刚才所说，恳请你们不要打断我——他求神谕告诉他，是否有人比我更有智慧，而皮提亚女祭司回答说，没有人比我更有智慧。凯勒丰本人已经过世了，但他的兄弟现在就在法庭上，他会证实这件事的真实性。

I dare say that someone will ask the question, “Why is this, Socrates, and what is the origin of these accusations of you: for there must have been something strange which you have been doing? All this great fame and talk about you would never have arisen if you had been like other men: tell us, then, why this is, as we should be sorry to judge hastily of you.” Now I regard this as a fair challenge, and I will endeavor to explain to you the origin of this name of “wise,” and of this evil fame. Please to attend then. And although some of you may think I am joking, I declare that I will tell you the entire truth. Men of Athens, this reputation of mine has come of a certain sort of wisdom which I possess. If you ask me what kind of wisdom, I reply, such wisdom as is attainable by man, for to that extent I am inclined to believe that I am wise; whereas the persons of whom I was speaking have a superhuman wisdom, which I may fail to describe, because I have it not myself; and he who says that I have, speaks falsely, and is taking away my character. And here, O men of Athens, I must beg you not to interrupt me, even if I seem to say something extravagant. For the word which I will speak is not mine. I will refer you to a witness who is worthy of credit, and will tell you about my wisdom- whether I have any, and of what sort- and that witness shall be the god of Delphi. You must have known Chaerephon; he was early a friend of mine, and also a friend of yours, for he shared in the exile of the people, and returned with you. Well, Chaerephon, as you know, was very impetuous in all his doings, and he went to Delphi and boldly asked the oracle to tell him whether- as I was saying, I must beg you not to interrupt- he asked the oracle to tell him whether there was anyone wiser than I was, and the Pythian prophetess answered that there was no man wiser. Chaerephon is dead himself, but his brother, who is in court, will confirm the truth of this story.

我为什么要提到这个呢？因为我要向你们解释，我为什么会有这样一个难听的名声。当我听到这个答案时，我对自己说，神的意思究竟是什么呢？这个谜语又该如何解读？因为我知道，我没有任何智慧，无论大小。他说我是全人类中最有智慧的，这到底是什么意思呢？可他是神，不会说谎，这违背他的本性。经过长时间的思索，我终于想到了一个验证这个问题的方法。我想，如果我能找到一个比我更有智慧的人，那我就可以拿着反驳的证据去找神了。我会对他说：“这里有一个人比我更有智慧，可你却说我是最有智慧的。”于是，我去找了一个素有智慧之名的人——他的名字我就不必提了，他是一位政客，我选中他来进行考察，结果如下：当我开始和他交谈时，我不禁觉得他并非真的有智慧，尽管很多人认为他有智慧，他自己更是觉得自己智慧过人。我试着跟他解释，他自认为有智慧，实则不然。结果是，他恨上了我，当时在场听到我说话的好几个人也一起敌视我。于是我离开了他，走的时候心里想：好吧，虽然我觉得我们俩谁都算不上真正懂得什么是美和好，但我比他还是强一点——因为他一无所知，却以为自己无所不知。而我既不知道，也不认为自己知道。在这一点上，我似乎比他略胜一筹。之后，我又去找了另一个人，他在哲学方面的自负更高，可我的结论完全一样。我又多了一个敌人，除此之外，还有很多人也因此敌视我。

Why do I mention this? Because I am going to explain to you why I have such an evil name. When I heard the answer, I said to myself, What can the god mean? and what is the interpretation of this riddle? for I know that I have no wisdom, small or great. What can he mean when he says that I am the wisest of men? And yet he is a god and cannot lie; that would be against his nature. After a long consideration, I at last thought of a method of trying the question. I reflected that if I could only find a man wiser than myself, then I might go to the god with a refutation in my hand. I should say to him, “Here is a man who is wiser than I am; but you said that I was the wisest.” Accordingly I went to one who had the reputation of wisdom, and observed to him-his name I need not mention; he was a politician whom I selected for examination and the result was as follows: When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and wiser still by himself; and I went and tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise; and the consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me. So I left him, saying to myself, as I went away: Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is-for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows. I neither know nor think that I know. In this latter particular, then, I seem to have slightly the advantage of him. Then I went to another, who had still higher philosophical pretensions, and my conclusion was exactly the same. I made another enemy of him, and of many others besides him.

此后，我挨个拜访了一个又一个人，并非没有意识到自己激起了多少敌意，对此我深感痛心和担忧。但我身不由己——我认为，神的旨意必须放在首位。我对自己说，我必须去拜访所有那些看起来有学问的人，弄清楚神谕的含义。雅典人啊，我向你们发誓，我以狗的名义发誓！——因为我必须告诉你们真相——我的调查结果是这样的：我发现那些声名最盛的人，其实差不多是最愚蠢的；而有些名声不如他们的人，反倒确实更有智慧、更为优秀。我来给你们讲讲我四处寻访的经历，还有我那些堪称“赫拉克勒斯式”的辛劳吧，我忍受这一切，最终只是为了证明神谕是无可辩驳的。 离开政客们之后，我去拜访了诗人们，包括悲剧诗人、酒神颂诗人，以及其他各种诗人。我对自己说，到了这儿，你就会被揭穿了；现在你会发现自己比他们还要无知。于是，我选了他们作品中一些最精妙的段落，问他们这些段落是什么意思——以为他们能教我点什么。你们会相信吗？说起来我都有些不好意思，但我还是得说，在座的各位中，几乎随便哪个人对他们诗歌的解读，都比他们自己说得好。这立刻让我明白，诗人写诗靠的不是智慧，而是某种天赋和灵感；他们就像占卜师或预言家，虽然能说出很多动听的话，却不明白其中的含义。在我看来，诗人们的情况大抵也是如此。我还进一步发现，他们仗着自己的诗歌才华，就认为自己在其他方面也是最有智慧的人，可在那些方面他们其实并无智慧。于是我离开了，觉得自己比他们高明，原因就和我觉得自己比政客们高明一样。

After this I went to one man after another, being not unconscious of the enmity which I provoked, and I lamented and feared this: but necessity was laid upon me- the word of God, I thought, ought to be considered first. And I said to myself, Go I must to all who appear to know, and find out the meaning of the oracle. And I swear to you, Athenians, by the dog I swear!- for I must tell you the truth- the result of my mission was just this: I found that the men most in repute were all but the most foolish; and that some inferior men were really wiser and better. I will tell you the tale of my wanderings and of the “Herculean” labors, as I may call them, which I endured only to find at last the oracle irrefutable. When I left the politicians, I went to the poets; tragic, dithyrambic, and all sorts. And there, I said to myself, you will be detected; now you will find out that you are more ignorant than they are. Accordingly, I took them some of the most elaborate passages in their own writings, and asked what was the meaning of them- thinking that they would teach me something. Will you believe me? I am almost ashamed to speak of this, but still I must say that there is hardly a person present who would not have talked better about their poetry than they did themselves. That showed me in an instant that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration; they are like diviners or soothsayers who also say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them. And the poets appeared to me to be much in the same case; and I further observed that upon the strength of their poetry they believed themselves to be the wisest of men in other things in which they were not wise. So I departed, conceiving myself to be superior to them for the same reason that I was superior to the politicians.

最后，我去拜访了工匠们，因为我意识到自己可以说一无所知，而我确信他们懂得许多精妙的东西。在这一点上，我没有错，因为他们确实知道许多我所不知道的事情，在这方面，他们无疑比我更有智慧。但我发现，即便是优秀的工匠也犯了和诗人同样的错误：因为他们手艺精湛，就认为自己也通晓各种高深的学问，而这种缺陷掩盖了他们的智慧。因此，我代表神谕问自己，我是愿意保持现在的样子，既没有他们的知识，也没有他们的无知，还是愿意像他们那样两者兼具。我对自己和神谕做出了回答：我还是保持现在的样子更好。

At last I went to the artisans, for I was conscious that I knew nothing at all, as I may say, and I was sure that they knew many fine things; and in this I was not mistaken, for they did know many things of which I was ignorant, and in this they certainly were wiser than I was. But I observed that even the good artisans fell into the same error as the poets; because they were good workmen they thought that they also knew all sorts of high matters, and this defect in them overshadowed their wisdom- therefore I asked myself on behalf of the oracle, whether I would like to be as I was, neither having their knowledge nor their ignorance, or like them in both; and I made answer to myself and the oracle that I was better off as I was.

这项调查让我树了许多最坏且最危险的敌人，也招致了诸多诽谤。人们称我聪慧，因为听众总以为我自身拥有那些我在别人身上发现缺失的智慧。但事实是，雅典的人们啊，唯有神才是智慧的。神谕的意思是，人类的智慧微不足道，甚至一钱不值。神说的并非苏格拉底，只是以我的名字为例，仿佛在说：“世人啊，像苏格拉底这般知晓自己的智慧实则毫无价值的人，才是最有智慧的。” 于是，我遵从神的旨意行事，去探究任何看似聪慧之人的智慧，无论其是公民还是外乡人。若对方并非真有智慧，为了印证神谕，我便会让他明白这一点。这份差事耗尽了我的精力，我既无暇参与任何公共事务，也顾不上自己的私事，只因全心侍奉神，如今一贫如洗。 还有一事：那些家境富裕、无所事事的年轻人，会主动来到我身边。他们喜欢听我盘问那些自命不凡者，还常常模仿我，去盘问别人。他们很快便发现，有太多人自以为懂得些什么，实则所知甚少，甚至一无所知。而那些被他们盘问的人，非但不反思自己，反而迁怒于我，说道：“这个该死的苏格拉底，这个毒害青年的恶棍！”要是有人问他们：“他究竟做了什么坏事，教了什么坏东西？”他们一无所知，答不上来。但为了不显得理屈词穷，他们便搬出那些用来攻击所有哲学家的现成罪名——说哲学家空谈天上地下的事物，不信神灵，还能把坏的说成好的。他们不愿承认自己自诩有知的假象已被揭穿，而这正是事实。这些人数量众多，野心勃勃，精力充沛，又能言善辩，还联合起来，用冗长而根深蒂固的诽谤填满了你们的耳朵。 这便是我的三个指控者——美勒托、阿尼图斯和吕孔——攻击我的缘由：美勒托为诗人出头与我为敌，阿尼图斯代表工匠们，吕孔则是为修辞学家们。正如我一开始所说，我无法指望顷刻间摆脱这堆积如山的诽谤。雅典的人们啊，这就是全部的真相，我毫无隐瞒，也未曾掩饰。我深知，这种直言不讳让他们憎恨我，而他们的憎恨不正是我所言为实的证明吗？这便是他们诽谤我的缘由，无论你们现在调查，还是将来探究，都会发现这一点。

This investigation has led to my having many enemies of the worst and most dangerous kind, and has given occasion also to many calumnies, and I am called wise, for my hearers always imagine that I myself possess the wisdom which I find wanting in others: but the truth is, O men of Athens, that God only is wise; and in this oracle he means to say that the wisdom of men is little or nothing; he is not speaking of Socrates, he is only using my name as an illustration, as if he said, He, O men, is the wisest. who, like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing. And so I go my way, obedient to the god, and make inquisition into the wisdom of anyone, whether citizen or stranger, who appears to be wise; and if he is not wise, then in vindication of the oracle I show him that he is not wise; and this occupation quite absorbs me, and I have no time to give either to any public matter of interest or to any concern of my own, but I am in utter poverty by reason of my devotion to the god. There is another thing:- young men of the richer classes, who have not much to do, come about me of their own accord; they like to hear the pretenders examined, and they often imitate me, and examine others themselves; there are plenty of persons, as they soon enough discover, who think that they know something, but really know little or nothing: and then those who are examined by them instead of being angry with themselves are angry with me: This confounded Socrates, they say; this villainous misleader of youth!- and then if somebody asks them, Why, what evil does he practise or teach? they do not know, and cannot tell; but in order that they may not appear to be at a loss, they repeat the ready-made charges which are used against all philosophers about teaching things up in the clouds and under the earth, and having no gods, and making the worse appear the better cause; for they do not like to confess that their pretence of knowledge has been detected- which is the truth: and as they are numerous and ambitious and energetic, and are all in battle array and have persuasive tongues, they have filled your ears with their loud and inveterate calumnies. And this is the reason why my three accusers, Meletus and Anytus and Lycon, have set upon me; Meletus, who has a quarrel with me on behalf of the poets; Anytus, on behalf of the craftsmen; Lycon, on behalf of the rhetoricians: and as I said at the beginning, I cannot expect to get rid of this mass of calumny all in a moment. And this, O men of Athens, is the truth and the whole truth; I have concealed nothing, I have dissembled nothing. And yet I know that this plainness of speech makes them hate me, and what is their hatred but a proof that I am speaking the truth?- this is the occasion and reason of their slander of me, as you will find out either in this or in any future inquiry.

关于第一类指控者的指控，我已经为自己做了充分的辩护；现在我要转向第二类指控者，他们以美勒托为首——他自称是个善良且爱国的人。如今，我会尽力为自己针对他们的指控进行辩护：这些新的指控者的证词也得拿出来审视一番。他们说了些什么呢？大致是这样的：苏格拉底是个作恶之人，是腐蚀青年的人，他不信仰国家所信奉的神，还自创了其他新的神灵。这就是他们指控的内容，现在我们来逐条分析。 他说我是作恶者，腐蚀青年；但我要说，雅典的人们啊，美勒托才是作恶者，他的恶行在于拿严肃的事情开玩笑，还动辄就凭着虚假的热情起诉他人，而对于这些事情，他其实根本毫无兴趣。对此，我会努力加以证明。

I have said enough in my defence against the first class of my accusers; I turn to the second class, who are headed by Meletus, that good and patriotic man, as he calls himself. And now I will try to defend myself against them: these new accusers must also have their affidavit read. What do they say? Something of this sort: That Socrates is a doer of evil, and corrupter of the youth, and he does not believe in the gods of the State, and has other new divinities of his own. That is the sort of charge; and now let us examine the particular counts. He says that I am a doer of evil, who corrupt the youth; but I say, O men of Athens, that Meletus is a doer of evil, and the evil is that he makes a joke of a serious matter, and is too ready at bringing other men to trial from a pretended zeal and about matters in which he really never had the smallest interest. And the truth of this I will endeavor to prove.

过来，米莱特斯，我来问你一个问题。你很关心年轻人的成长，是吗？

Come hither, Meletus, and let me ask a question of you. You think a great deal about the improvement of youth?

是的，我是这么认为的。

Yes, I do.

那么，告诉法官们，谁是他们的改良者吧；因为你肯定知道，既然你费尽心机找出了他们的败坏者，还在他们面前传讯我、指控我。那你就说吧，告诉法官们谁是他们的改良者。你看，米利都，你沉默不语，无话可说。但这难道不是很丢脸吗？这难道不是我刚才所说的话的一个相当有力的证明，证明你对这件事根本不感兴趣吗？说出来吧，朋友，告诉我们谁是他们的改良者。

Tell the judges, then, who is their improver; for you must know, as you have taken the pains to discover their corrupter, and are citing and accusing me before them. Speak, then, and tell the judges who their improver is. Observe, Meletus, that you are silent, and have nothing to say. But is not this rather disgraceful, and a very considerable proof of what I was saying, that you have no interest in the matter? Speak up, friend, and tell us who their improver is.

但“先生，这并非我的意思。我想知道，究竟是谁，首先知晓这些法律。

But “hat, my good sir, is not my meaning. I want to know who the person is, who, in the first place, knows the laws.

苏格拉底，是出席法庭的法官们。

The judges, Socrates, who are present in court.

梅勒图斯，你这话是什么意思？难道他们有能力教导并改善年轻人吗？

What do you mean to say, Meletus, that they are able to instruct and improve youth?

当然是的。

Certainly they are.

怎么，是所有人，还是只有一部分人，而不是其他人？

What, all of them, or some only and not others?

所有法官都能。

All of them.

以赫拉女神的名义，这可真是个好消息！这么说来，有不少能改进的地方啊。那你觉得观众们呢——他们会改进这些吗？

By the goddess Here, that is good news! There are plenty of improvers, then. And what do you say of the audience- do they improve them?

是的，他们会。

Yes, they do. 

那么参议员们呢？

And the Senators?

是的，参议员们对他们有促进作用。

Yes, the Senators improve them.

但或许是神职人员在腐蚀他们？——还是他们也在改善他们？

But perhaps the ecclesiasts corrupt them?- or do they too improve them?

他们改进了它们。

They improve them.

那么每个雅典人都在改进和提升他们，除了我之外所有人都是如此，只有我一个人在腐蚀他们？这就是你所断言的吗？

Then every Athenian improves and elevates them; all with the exception of myself; and I alone am their corrupter? Is that what you affirm?

如果真是这样，那我就太不幸了。但请允许我问你一个问题：你觉得这一点也适用于马吗？难道是一个人会伤害它们，而全世界的人都对它们有益吗？事实难道不恰恰相反吗？只有一个人能对它们有益，或者说至少没几个人能做到；也就是说，驯马师能给它们带来好处，而其他与马打交道的人多半会伤害它们，难道不是这样吗，梅勒图斯？对于马或者其他任何动物来说，情况难道不都是如此吗？没错，肯定是这样的。不管你和安尼图斯是否认同，这都无关紧要。如果年轻人只有一个败坏者，而世界上其他人都在帮助他们进步，那他们的处境可就太幸运了。而你，梅勒图斯，已经充分表明你从未关心过年轻人：你对这份诉状中所提及的事情毫不在意，这足以看出你的疏忽。

I am very unfortunate if that is true. But suppose I ask you a question: Would you say that this also holds true in the case of horses? Does one man do them harm and all the world good? Is not the exact opposite of this true? One man is able to do them good, or at least not many; the trainer of horses, that is to say, does them good, and others who have to do with them rather injure them? Is not that true, Meletus, of horses, or any other animals? Yes, certainly. Whether you and Anytus say yes or no, that is no matter. Happy indeed would be the condition of youth if they had one corrupter only, and all the rest of the world were their improvers. And you, Meletus, have sufficiently shown that you never had a thought about the young: your carelessness is seen in your not caring about matters spoken of in this very indictment.

那么现在，米莱图斯，我必须再问你一个问题：是生活在坏公民之中更好，还是生活在好公民之中更好？回答我，朋友，我说；因为这个问题很容易回答。难道好人不会给邻人带来益处，坏人不会给邻人带来害处吗？

And now, Meletus, I must ask you another question: Which is better, to live among bad citizens, or among good ones? Answer, friend, I say; for that is a question which may be easily answered. Do not the good do their neighbors good, and the bad do them evil?

当然。

Certainly. 

那么，有谁愿意被和自己一起生活的人伤害，而不是受益呢？回答我，我的好朋友；法律要求你回答——有人喜欢被伤害吗？

And is there anyone who would rather be injured than benefited by those who live with him? Answer, my good friend; the law requires you to answer- does anyone like to be injured?

当然不是。

Certainly not.

当你指控我腐蚀和败坏青年时，你是说我是故意腐蚀他们，还是无意为之？

And when you accuse me of corrupting and deteriorating the youth, do you allege that I corrupt them intentionally or unintentionally?

我说是故意的。

Intentionally, I say. 

但你刚刚承认，好人对邻居行善，坏人对邻居作恶。那么，这难道是你凭借过人的智慧在人生早期就认清的真理，而我，在我这个年纪，却如此愚昧无知，竟不知道如果一个我必须与之共处的人被我带坏了，我很可能会被他伤害，可我还是去腐蚀他，而且是故意的？这就是你所说的，而你永远也无法说服我，或是其他任何人相信这一点。要么我没有腐蚀他们，要么我是无意之中腐蚀了他们，所以无论从哪种情况来看，你都是在撒谎。如果我的过错是无意的，法律对无意之过是不予追究的：你本该私下找到我，对我提出警告和劝诫；因为要是我能得到更好的指点，我就会停止那些只是无意犯下的行为——毫无疑问我会的；然而你却不愿与我交谈或教导我，反而把我告上了这个法庭，这里不是教化人的地方，而是惩罚人的地方。雅典人啊，正如我刚才所说，我已经表明，梅勒图斯对这件事根本毫不在意，无论事情大小。但我还是想知道，梅勒图斯，你说我腐蚀青年，具体是指什么。我想，从你的诉状来看，你是说我教导他们不承认城邦所认可的诸神，而是用其他新的神灵或灵体取而代之。正如你所说，这些就是腐蚀青年的教导。

But you have just admitted that the good do their neighbors good, and the evil do them evil. Now is that a truth which your superior wisdom has recognized thus early in life, and am I, at my age, in such darkness and ignorance as not to know that if a man with whom I have to live is corrupted by me, I am very likely to be harmed by him, and yet I corrupt him, and intentionally, too? that is what you are saying, and of that you will never persuade me or any other human being. But either I do not corrupt them, or I corrupt them unintentionally, so that on either view of the case you lie. If my offence is unintentional, the law has no cognizance of unintentional offences: you ought to have taken me privately, and warned and admonished me; for if I had been better advised, I should have left off doing what I only did unintentionally- no doubt I should; whereas you hated to converse with me or teach me, but you indicted me in this court, which is a place not of instruction, but of punishment. I have shown, Athenians, as I was saying, that Meletus has no care at all, great or small, about the matter. But still I should like to know, Meletus, in what I am affirmed to corrupt the young. I suppose you mean, as I infer from your indictment, that I teach them not to acknowledge the gods which the State acknowledges, but some other new divinities or spiritual agencies in their stead. These are the lessons which corrupt the youth, as you say.

是的，我断然这么说。

Yes, that I say emphatically. 

那么，以诸神的名义，米莱特斯，我们正在谈论的这个人，你就用稍微明白点的话告诉我和法庭，你到底是什么意思！因为我到现在还不明白，你是不是在说我教别人承认某些神，因此我自己是信神的，并非一个彻底的无神论者——这一点你并没有指控我；你指控我的仅仅是，这些神并非城邦所认可的那些神——指控的是他们是不同的神。或者，你是不是想说我就是个彻头彻尾的无神论者，而且还教别人无神论？

Then, by the gods, Meletus, of whom we are speaking, tell me and the court, in somewhat plainer terms, what you mean! for I do not as yet understand whether you affirm that I teach others to acknowledge some gods, and therefore do believe in gods and am not an entire atheist- this you do not lay to my charge; but only that the, are not the same gods which the city recognizes- the charge is that they are different gods. Or, do you mean to say that I am an atheist simply, and a teacher of atheism?

我指的是后者——你是个彻底的无神论者。

I mean the latter- that you are a complete atheist.

那是个很不寻常的说法，美勒托。你为什么这么说？你是指我不相信太阳或月亮的神性吗？这可是所有人的共同信仰啊。

That is an extraordinary statement, Meletus. Why do you say that? Do you mean that I do not believe in the god-head of the sun or moon, which is the common creed of all men?

法官们，我向你们保证，他并不相信这些说法；因为他说太阳是一块石头，月亮是土块。

I assure you, judges, that he does not believe in them; for he says that the sun is stone, and the moon earth.

迈勒图斯朋友，你以为你在指控阿那克萨戈拉吗？如果你觉得法官们愚昧到连克拉佐门尼人阿那克萨戈拉的著作里满是这些学说都不知道，那你对他们的看法也太差劲了。而且，据说年轻人是从苏格拉底这里学到这些学说的，可剧院里常常会上演宣扬这些学说的剧目（门票最多不过一德拉克马）；他们大可以花点小钱去买来看看，要是苏格拉底还敢把这些怪论说成是自己的，他们大可嘲笑他。所以，迈勒图斯，你当真认为我不信任何神灵吗？

Friend Meletus, you think that you are accusing Anaxagoras; and you have but a bad opinion of the judges, if you fancy them ignorant to such a degree as not to know that those doctrines are found in the books of Anaxagoras the Clazomenian, who is full of them. And these are the doctrines which the youth are said to learn of Socrates, when there are not unfrequently exhibitions of them at the theatre (price of admission one drachma at the most); and they might cheaply purchase them, and laugh at Socrates if he pretends to father such eccentricities. And so, Meletus, you really think that I do not believe in any god?

我以宙斯的名义起誓，你根本什么神都不相信。

I swear by Zeus that you believe absolutely in none at all.

你是个骗子，美勒托斯，连你自己都不相信自己说的话。雅典的人们啊，我不禁觉得，美勒托斯鲁莽又无礼，他写下这份诉状，纯粹是出于肆意妄为和年轻人的逞能。他难道不是编了个谜语，想试探我吗？他心里肯定在想：我倒要看看，这个聪明的苏格拉底能不能发现我这巧妙的矛盾，还是说我能骗过他和其他人。因为在我看来，他的诉状里显然自相矛盾，简直就像是在说苏格拉底既犯了不相信神的罪，又犯了相信神的罪——这无疑是件可笑的事。

You are a liar, Meletus, not believed even by yourself. For I cannot help thinking, O men of Athens, that Meletus is reckless and impudent, and that he has written this indictment in a spirit of mere wantonness and youthful bravado. Has he not compounded a riddle, thinking to try me? He said to himself: I shall see whether this wise Socrates will discover my ingenious contradiction, or whether I shall be able to deceive him and the rest of them. For he certainly does appear to me to contradict himself in the indictment as much as if he said that Socrates is guilty of not believing in the gods, and yet of believing in them- but this surely is a piece of fun.

雅典的人们啊，我希望你们能和我一起审视一下我所认为的他的矛盾之处；米利都斯，请你回答。我必须提醒你，如果我以惯常的方式说话，你不要打断我。

I should like you, O men of Athens, to join me in examining what I conceive to be his inconsistency; and do you, Meletus, answer. And I must remind you that you are not to interrupt me if I speak in my accustomed manner.

梅勒图斯，有谁会相信人类事务的存在，却不相信人类的存在呢？……雅典的人们啊，我希望他能回答，而不是总想着打断我。有谁会相信马术的存在，却不相信马的存在呢？或者相信吹笛技艺的存在，却不相信吹笛人的存在呢？不，我的朋友，既然你不愿为自己作答，我就来对你和法庭作答。从来没有这样的人。不过现在请回答下一个问题：一个人可能相信有灵界的和神圣的力量，却不相信有神灵或半神吗？

Did ever man, Meletus, believe in the existence of human things, and not of human beings?… I wish, men of Athens, that he would answer, and not be always trying to get up an interruption. Did ever any man believe in horsemanship, and not in horses? or in flute-playing, and not in flute-players? No, my friend; I will answer to you and to the court, as you refuse to answer for yourself. There is no man who ever did. But now please to answer the next question: Can a man believe in spiritual and divine agencies, and not in spirits or demigods?

他不能。

He cannot.

我很高兴在法庭的协助下得到了这个答案；不过，你们在起诉书中宣誓说我传授并相信神灵或精神存在（不管是新的还是旧的）；无论如何，就像你们在证词中所说和宣誓的那样，我相信精神存在；但如果我相信神灵，那我就必定相信精灵或半神，难道不是这样吗？是的，这是事实，因为我可以认为你们的沉默就是对此表示同意。那么，精灵或半神究竟是什么呢？他们难道不就是神或者神的儿子吗？是不是这样？

I am glad that I have extracted that answer, by the assistance of the court; nevertheless you swear in the indictment that I teach and believe in divine or spiritual agencies (new or old, no matter for that); at any rate, I believe in spiritual agencies, as you say and swear in the affidavit; but if I believe in divine beings, I must believe in spirits or demigods; is not that true? Yes, that is true, for I may assume that your silence gives assent to that. Now what are spirits or demigods? are they not either gods or the sons of gods? Is that true?

是的，那是真的。

Yes, that is true.

但这恰恰是我刚才所说的那个巧妙的谜题：半神或精灵都是神，而你先是说我不相信神，接着又说我相信神；也就是说，如果我相信半神的话。因为如果半神是神与宁芙或其他任何母亲所生的私生子——正如人们所认为的那样——那么，正如所有人都会认同的，这必然意味着他们父母的存在。你这就好比断言有骡子存在，却否认有马和驴存在一样。梅勒图斯啊，你说这种荒唐话，只能是为了试探我。你把这一点写进诉状，是因为你没有任何实在的东西可以指控我。但任何稍有理智的人，都绝不会被你说服，认为同一个人既相信神圣的和超自然的事物，却又不相信有神、半神和英雄存在。

But this is just the ingenious riddle of which I was speaking: the demigods or spirits are gods, and you say first that I don’t believe in gods, and then again that I do believe in gods; that is, if I believe in demigods. For if the demigods are the illegitimate sons of gods, whether by the Nymphs or by any other mothers, as is thought, that, as all men will allow, necessarily implies the existence of their parents. You might as well affirm the existence of mules, and deny that of horses and asses. Such nonsense, Meletus, could only have been intended by you as a trial of me. You have put this into the indictment because you had nothing real of which to accuse me. But no one who has a particle of understanding will ever be convinced by you that the same man can believe in divine and superhuman things, and yet not believe that there are gods and demigods and heroes.

关于米利都斯的指控，我已经说得够多了：不需要什么详尽的辩护。但就像我之前说的，我确实有很多敌人，而如果我遭遇不测，那一定是这些敌人造成的，对此我深信不疑。不是米利都斯，也不是安尼图斯，而是世人的嫉妒和诋毁。这种嫉妒和诋毁已经害死了很多好人，而且很可能还会害死更多人，我恐怕也不会是其中的最后一个。

I have said enough in answer to the charge of Meletus: any elaborate defence is unnecessary; but as I was saying before, I certainly have many enemies, and this is what will be my destruction if I am destroyed; of that I am certain; not Meletus, nor yet Anytus, but the envy and detraction of the world, which has been the death of many good men, and will probably be the death of many more; there is no danger of my being the last of them.

有人会说：苏格拉底，你难道不为这种可能让你英年早逝的生活方式感到羞耻吗？对此，我可以公正地回答：你错了。一个有所作为的人不应该算计生死的概率，他只应该考虑自己所做的事是对是错，是在扮演一个好人还是坏人的角色。 然而，按照你的观点，那些战死在特洛伊的英雄们都没什么了不起，尤其是忒提斯的儿子（阿喀琉斯），他把耻辱看得比危险重要得多。当他急切地想要杀死赫克托耳时，他的女神母亲对他说，如果他为同伴帕特洛克罗斯报仇，杀死赫克托耳，他自己也会丧命——正如她所说，“赫克托耳一死，命运就会降临到你头上”。听到这话，阿喀琉斯完全蔑视危险和死亡，他不惧怕这些，反而害怕苟且偷生而不为朋友报仇。他回答说：“让我接着死去吧，向敌人复仇，总好过留在带喙的战船旁，成为大地的耻辱和负担。” 阿喀琉斯会考虑死亡和危险吗？因为无论一个人身在何处，无论是自己选择的位置，还是指挥官安排的位置，在危险来临时，他都应该坚守在那里。他不应该考虑死亡或其他任何事情，只应该考虑耻辱。雅典的人们啊，这才是真理。

Someone will say: And are you not ashamed, Socrates, of a course of life which is likely to bring you to an untimely end? To him I may fairly answer: There you are mistaken: a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong- acting the part of a good man or of a bad. Whereas, according to your view, the heroes who fell at Troy were not good for much, and the son of Thetis above all, who altogether despised danger in comparison with disgrace; and when his goddess mother said to him, in his eagerness to slay Hector, that if he avenged his companion Patroclus, and slew Hector, he would die himself- “Fate,” as she said, “waits upon you next after Hector”; he, hearing this, utterly despised danger and death, and instead of fearing them, feared rather to live in dishonor, and not to avenge his friend. “Let me die next,” he replies, “and be avenged of my enemy, rather than abide here by the beaked ships, a scorn and a burden of the earth.” Had Achilles any thought of death and danger? For wherever a man’s place is, whether the place which he has chosen or that in which he has been placed by a commander, there he ought to remain in the hour of danger; he should not think of death or of anything, but of disgrace. And this, O men of Athens, is a true saying.

雅典的人们啊，我的行为若是那样，的确会显得很奇怪。当年，你们推选的将军们命令我去波提狄亚、安菲波利斯和德利乌姆服役，我就在他们指定的地方坚守，和其他人一样，直面死亡。可如今，我深信不疑，神命令我履行哲学家的使命，去探究自己和他人。倘若我因为怕死，或是出于其他什么恐惧而放弃这一使命，那才真是怪事一桩。要是我因为怕死就违背神谕，那在法庭上被指控否认神灵存在，就是理所当然的了。那样的话，我就会愚蠢地以为自己很有智慧，实则不然。 其实，对死亡的恐惧不过是装作有智慧，并非真正的智慧。这只是看似知晓了未知之事，因为没人知道，死亡——他们在恐惧中认定是最大的恶——或许恰恰是最大的善。这种自认为知晓一切的想法，不正是一种可耻的无知吗？我想，在这一点上，我比常人要高明一些，或许也正因此，我可以认为自己比别人更有智慧。我对冥界的事知之甚少，就不会装作了如指掌；但我清楚，对优于自己的存在——无论是神还是人——行不义之事、拒不服从，都是邪恶且不光彩的。我绝不会因为害怕可能存在的善，而逃避确凿无疑的恶。 所以，要是你们现在放了我，并且不听从安尼图斯的建议——他说要是不处死我，当初就不该起诉我，还说我要是现在逃脱了，你们的儿子们都会因为听了我的话而彻底堕落——要是你们对我说：“苏格拉底，这次我们不听安尼图斯的，放你一马，但有一个条件，你不准再这样探究和思辨了，要是再被抓到，就处死你。” 倘若这是你们放我走的条件，我会回答：“雅典的人们啊，我尊敬你们，也爱你们，但我必须服从神，而不是你们。只要我一息尚存、还有力气，就绝不会停止哲学实践和教学。我会像往常一样，劝说我遇到的每一个人，跟他们讲道理：‘我的朋友，你身为这座伟大、强盛且充满智慧的雅典城邦的公民，为何如此热衷于积累大量的金钱、荣誉和声望，却对智慧、真理以及灵魂的最大提升漠不关心，从不放在心上呢？难道你不为此感到羞耻吗？’ 要是和我争辩的人说：‘不，我是在乎的。’ 我也不会就此罢休，不会放他走。我会盘问他、审视他、反驳他。要是我觉得他并无美德，却口口声声说自己有，我就会指责他轻视更重要的东西，而看重次要的东西。 我会对每一个我遇到的人说这些话，无论老少，无论公民还是外邦人，但尤其会对公民说，因为他们是我的同胞。你们要知道，这是神的命令。我相信，直到今天，这座城邦发生过的最大的好事，就是我为神效力。我所做的，无非是四处劝说你们所有人，无论老少，不要只关心自己的身体和财产，而要首先且主要关心灵魂的最大提升。我告诉你们，美德并非来自金钱，相反，美德会带来金钱以及人类的其他一切善，无论是公共的还是私人的。这就是我的教义。要是这教义会腐蚀青年，那我的影响的确是毁灭性的。但要是有人说这不是我的教义，那他就是在说谎。 因此，雅典的人们啊，我对你们说，你们可以听安尼图斯的，也可以不听；可以判我无罪，也可以判我有罪。但无论你们怎么做，都要知道，我绝不会改变我的行事方式，即便要我死很多次也一样。

Strange, indeed, would be my conduct, O men of Athens, if I who, when I was ordered by the generals whom you chose to command me at Potidaea and Amphipolis and Delium, remained where they placed me, like any other man, facing death- if, I say, now, when, as I conceive and imagine, God orders me to fulfil the philosopher’s mission of searching into myself and other men, I were to desert my post through fear of death, or any other fear; that would indeed be strange, and I might justly be arraigned in court for denying the existence of the gods, if I disobeyed the oracle because I was afraid of death: then I should be fancying that I was wise when I was not wise. For this fear of death is indeed the pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being the appearance of knowing the unknown; since no one knows whether death, which they in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good. Is there not here conceit of knowledge, which is a disgraceful sort of ignorance? And this is the point in which, as I think, I am superior to men in general, and in which I might perhaps fancy myself wiser than other men- that whereas I know but little of the world below, I do not suppose that I know: but I do know that injustice and disobedience to a better, whether God or man, is evil and dishonorable, and I will never fear or avoid a possible good rather than a certain evil. And therefore if you let me go now, and reject the counsels of Anytus, who said that if I were not put to death I ought not to have been prosecuted, and that if I escape now, your sons will all be utterly ruined by listening to my words- if you say to me, Socrates, this time we will not mind Anytus, and will let you off, but upon one condition, that you are not to inquire and speculate in this way any more, and that if you are caught doing this again you shall die- if this was the condition on which you let me go, I should reply: Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you, and while I have life and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching of philosophy, exhorting anyone whom I meet after my manner, and convincing him, saying: O my friend, why do you who are a citizen of the great and mighty and wise city of Athens, care so much about laying up the greatest amount of money and honor and reputation, and so little about wisdom and truth and the greatest improvement of the soul, which you never regard or heed at all? Are you not ashamed of this? And if the person with whom I am arguing says: Yes, but I do care; I do not depart or let him go at once; I interrogate and examine and cross-examine him, and if I think that he has no virtue, but only says that he has, I reproach him with undervaluing the greater, and overvaluing the less. And this I should say to everyone whom I meet, young and old, citizen and alien, but especially to the citizens, inasmuch as they are my brethren. For this is the command of God, as I would have you know; and I believe that to this day no greater good has ever happened in the State than my service to the God. For I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons and your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue come money and every other good of man, public as well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine which corrupts the youth, my influence is ruinous indeed. But if anyone says that this is not my teaching, he is speaking an untruth. Wherefore, O men of Athens, I say to you, do as Anytus bids or not as Anytus bids, and either acquit me or not; but whatever you do, know that I shall never alter my ways, not even if I have to die many times.

雅典的人们，请不要打断我，听我说；我们有约在先，你们要听我把话说完。我想我接下来要说的话对你们是有益的：因为我还有些话要说，你们听了或许会想要叫喊；但我恳求你们不要这样做。我希望你们知道，要是你们杀死像我这样的人，你们伤害自己会比伤害我更深。美勒托和安尼图斯伤害不了我：他们做不到；因为按事物的本性，坏人是伤害不了比自己好的人的。我不否认，他或许可以杀死我，或者把我驱逐出境，或者剥夺我的公民权利；他可能会以为，别人也可能会以为，他正在对我施加巨大的伤害：但对此我并不认同他；因为像安尼图斯这样做的恶行——不公正地夺走另一个人的生命——要严重得多。 现在，雅典人啊，我不是为了我自己才争辩，或许你们会这么想，但我是为了你们，为了你们不至于冒犯神灵，不至于轻率地拒绝他的恩赐而判我有罪。因为如果你们杀死我，你们将很难再找到像我这样的人了。要是我可以用这么一个可笑的比喻的话，我就像是神灵赐给这个城邦的一只牛虻，而这个城邦就像一匹伟大而高贵的骏马，只因身形庞大而行动迟缓，需要被刺痛才能焕发生机。我就是那只神灵赐给城邦的牛虻，整天无处不在地叮着你们，唤醒你们，说服你们，责备你们。既然你们很难再找到像我这样的人，我劝你们还是放过我吧。 我敢说，当你们在打盹时被突然唤醒，或许会感到恼怒；你们可能会想，要是听从安尼图斯的建议，把我杀死——这对你们来说易如反掌——那么你们余生就可以一直睡下去了，除非神灵眷顾你们，再给你们派来一只牛虻。我是神灵赐给你们的，这一点有证据可以证明：如果我像其他人一样，我就不会忽略自己所有的事情，也不会这么多年来眼睁睁看着自己的事被荒废，却一直为你们操劳，一个个地找到你们，像父亲或兄长一样，劝你们要重视美德；我说，这可不是人之常情。要是我从中得到了什么好处，或者我的劝告得到了报酬，那还说得过去：但现在，你们也看得出来，即便是我的控告者再厚颜无耻，也不敢说我曾向任何人索取或寻求过报酬；他们没有这方面的证据。而我说的话是否属实，我有一个证人：我的贫穷就是充分的证明。

Men of Athens, do not interrupt, but hear me; there was an agreement between us that you should hear me out. And I think that what I am going to say will do you good: for I have something more to say, at which you may be inclined to cry out; but I beg that you will not do this. I would have you know that, if you kill such a one as I am, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me. Meletus and Anytus will not injure me: they cannot; for it is not in the nature of things that a bad man should injure a better than himself. I do not deny that he may, perhaps, kill him, or drive him into exile, or deprive him of civil rights; and he may imagine, and others may imagine, that he is doing him a great injury: but in that I do not agree with him; for the evil of doing as Anytus is doing- of unjustly taking away another man’s life- is greater far. And now, Athenians, I am not going to argue for my own sake, as you may think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the God, or lightly reject his boon by condemning me. For if you kill me you will not easily find another like me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the State by the God; and the State is like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly which God has given the State and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. And as you will not easily find another like me, I would advise you to spare me. I dare say that you may feel irritated at being suddenly awakened when you are caught napping; and you may think that if you were to strike me dead, as Anytus advises, which you easily might, then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives, unless God in his care of you gives you another gadfly. And that I am given to you by God is proved by this: that if I had been like other men, I should not have neglected all my own concerns, or patiently seen the neglect of them during all these years, and have been doing yours, coming to you individually, like a father or elder brother, exhorting you to regard virtue; this, I say, would not be like human nature. And had I gained anything, or if my exhortations had been paid, there would have been some sense in that: but now, as you will perceive, not even the impudence of my accusers dares to say that I have ever exacted or sought pay of anyone; they have no witness of that. And I have a witness of the truth of what say; my poverty is a sufficient witness.

或许有人会疑惑，我为何总在私下里活动，为人提供建议，忙于他人的事务，却不敢公开站出来为国家出谋划策。我来告诉你们其中的缘由。你们常常听到我说，我身上有个神谕或征兆，也就是米利都在诉状中嘲讽的那个神灵。我从孩童时代起就有了这个征兆。这征兆是一种声音，它降临到我身上，总是禁止我去做我打算做的事情，却从不命令我去做任何事，而这正是阻碍我涉足政治的原因。我认为，这是合情合理的。雅典的人们啊，我敢肯定，如果我投身政治，早就没命了，对你们和我自己都不会有任何益处。请不要因为我说出真相而生气，因为事实是，无论是谁，若与你们或其他民众为敌，真诚地竭力反对国家中不义与错误的行径，都无法保全自己的性命。真正为正义而战的人，若想哪怕多活片刻，就必须处于私人的位置，而非公共的职位。

Someone may wonder why I go about in private, giving advice and busying myself with the concerns of others, but do not venture to come forward in public and advise the State. I will tell you the reason of this. You have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me, and is the divinity which Meletus ridicules in the indictment. This sign I have had ever since I was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always forbids me to do something which I am going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this is what stands in the way of my being a politician. And rightly, as I think. For I am certain, O men of Athens, that if I had engaged in politics, I should have perished long ago and done no good either to you or to myself. And don’t be offended at my telling you the truth: for the truth is that no man who goes to war with you or any other multitude, honestly struggling against the commission of unrighteousness and wrong in the State, will save his life; he who will really fight for the right, if he would live even for a little while, must have a private station and not a public one.

关于这一点，我可以给你们提供证明，不光是言辞，还有行动——你们向来更看重行动而非言辞。让我给你们讲讲我自己生活中的一段经历，这会向你们证明，我绝不会因为害怕死亡而屈服于不公，而且如果我当时不屈服，我早就死了。我要讲的这个故事，或许平淡无奇，甚至有些乏味，但却是千真万确的。雅典的人们啊，我在城邦里担任过的唯一公职就是议事会成员。当时，我的部落安提奥chis部落负责主持对阿吉纽西战役后那些未打捞阵亡将士遗体的将军们的审判。你们当时提议要集体审判他们，这是违法的，后来你们也都意识到了这一点。但在当时，我是所有议事会主席中唯一反对这种违法行为的人，我投了反对你们的票。当那些演说家威胁要弹劾我、逮捕我、把我带走，而你们也在下面呼喊起哄的时候，我下定决心要冒这个险，因为我秉持着法律和正义，绝不愿因为害怕监禁和死亡而参与你们的不义之举。这件事发生在民主政体时期。 但当三十僭主寡头政权掌权时，他们把我和另外四个人叫到圆形大厅，命令我们去萨拉米斯把萨拉米斯人莱昂带回来，因为他们想处死他。这正是他们一贯的做法，通过下达这类命令，让尽可能多的人卷入他们的罪行中。而那时，我用行动——不只是言辞——表明了，如果允许我这么说的话，我根本毫不在乎死亡，我唯一害怕的是做不义或不神圣的事。那个压迫性政权的强权并没有吓倒我，让我去做坏事。当我们走出圆形大厅后，另外四个人去了萨拉米斯，把莱昂带了回来，而我则平静地回了家。要不是三十僭主的政权不久后就垮台了，我当时可能就没命了。这一点，很多人都可以作证。

I can give you as proofs of this, not words only, but deeds, which you value more than words. Let me tell you a passage of my own life, which will prove to you that I should never have yielded to injustice from any fear of death, and that if I had not yielded I should have died at once. I will tell you a story- tasteless, perhaps, and commonplace, but nevertheless true. The only office of State which I ever held, O men of Athens, was that of Senator; the tribe Antiochis, which is my tribe, had the presidency at the trial of the generals who had not taken up the bodies of the slain after the battle of Arginusae; and you proposed to try them all together, which was illegal, as you all thought afterwards; but at the time I was the only one of the Prytanes who was opposed to the illegality, and I gave my vote against you; and when the orators threatened to impeach and arrest me, and have me taken away, and you called and shouted, I made up my mind that I would run the risk, having law and justice with me, rather than take part in your injustice because I feared imprisonment and death. This happened in the days of the democracy. But when the oligarchy of the Thirty was in power, they sent for me and four others into the rotunda, and bade us bring Leon the Salaminian from Salamis, as they wanted to execute him. This was a specimen of the sort of commands which they were always giving with the view of implicating as many as possible in their crimes; and then I showed, not in words only, but in deed, that, if I may be allowed to use such an expression, I cared not a straw for death, and that my only fear was the fear of doing an unrighteous or unholy thing. For the strong arm of that oppressive power did not frighten me into doing wrong; and when we came out of the rotunda the other four went to Salamis and fetched Leon, but I went quietly home. For which I might have lost my life, had not the power of the Thirty shortly afterwards come to an end. And to this many will witness.

那么你真的以为，我能在这些年里安然无恙，还过着公开的生活吗？要是我像个好人那样，始终坚持正义，把公正当作首要之事，那我还能活到现在？不，真的不会，雅典的人们，我不会，其他人也不会。但我在所有行为中始终如一，无论公共事务还是私人生活，从未对那些被污蔑为我的门徒的人，或是其他任何人，做出过卑劣的妥协。事实是，我根本没有固定的门徒：但如果有人愿意在我践行使命时来听我说话，无论年轻还是年老，都可以自由前来。我也不会只和付费的人交谈，而不理会不付费的人；无论贫富，任何人都可以来向我提问、回答我的问题，听我讲话；至于他最终是变好还是变坏，都不能公正地归咎于我，因为我从未教过他任何东西。如果有人说他曾私下从我这里学到或听到过一些世人未曾听闻的东西，我希望你们知道，他说的是假话。

Now do you really imagine that I could have survived all these years, I had led a public life, supposing that like a good man I had always supported the right and had made justice, as I ought, the first thing? No, indeed, men of Athens, neither I nor any other. But I have been always the same in all my actions, public as well as private, and never have I yielded any base compliance to those who are slanderously termed my disciples or to any other. For the truth is that I have no regular disciples: but if anyone likes to come and hear me while I am pursuing my mission, whether he be young or old, he may freely come. Nor do I converse with those who pay only, and not with those who do not pay; but anyone, whether he be rich or poor, may ask and answer me and listen to my words; and whether he turns out to be a bad man or a good one, that cannot be justly laid to my charge, as I never taught him anything. And if anyone says that he has ever learned or heard anything from me in private which all the world has not heard, I should like you to know that he is speaking an untruth.

但人们会问我，为什么大家乐于不停地和你交谈呢？雅典人啊，关于这一点，我已经把全部真相告诉过你们了：他们喜欢听我盘问那些自诩有智慧的人，这其中有一种乐趣。而这是神赋予我的使命，神谕、幻象，以及任何能向人传达神力意志的方式，都向我证实了这一点。雅典人啊，这是真的；如果不是真的，很快就会被驳斥。因为如果我真的在腐蚀青年，并且已经腐蚀了其中一些人，那么那些已经长大成人、意识到自己年轻时我给了他们坏建议的人，就应该站出来指控我，报复我；如果他们自己不愿意来，他们的一些亲属，父亲、兄弟或其他亲属，也应该说说他们的家人在我手里遭受了什么不幸。现在正是他们站出来的时候。我看到法庭上有很多这样的人。克里托就在这里，他和我同龄，来自同一个德莫；我还看到了他的儿子克里托布卢斯。还有斯斐图斯的吕萨尼亚斯，他是埃斯基涅斯的父亲——他也在场；还有凯菲苏斯的安提丰，他是埃皮格涅斯的父亲；此外，还有好几个和我交往过的人的兄弟。有西奥多托斯的儿子尼科斯特拉图斯，他是西奥多图斯的兄弟（现在西奥多图斯本人已经去世，所以他无论如何都不会阻止尼科斯特拉图斯）；还有德谟多库斯的儿子帕拉卢斯，他有个兄弟叫塞亚格斯；还有阿里斯同的儿子阿德曼托斯，他的兄弟柏拉图也在场；还有埃安托多罗斯，他是阿波罗多罗斯的兄弟，我也看到阿波罗多罗斯了。我还可以举出很多人，米莱托斯在发言时本应该把他们请来当证人的；如果他忘了，现在还可以请他们来，我会给他让地方。让他说说看，他是否能拿出这类证据。不，雅典人啊，事实恰恰相反。因为所有这些人都准备为我这个所谓的“腐蚀者”、“他们亲属的毁灭者”作证——这是米莱托斯和安尼图斯对我的称呼；不仅仅是那些被腐蚀的青年（他们为我作证或许还有别的动机），还有他们那些未被腐蚀的年长亲属。他们为什么也要用自己的证词支持我呢？说真的，除了为了真相和正义，除了因为他们知道我说的是实话，而米莱托斯在撒谎，还能有什么别的原因呢？

But I shall be asked, Why do people delight in continually conversing with you? I have told you already, Athenians, the whole truth about this: they like to hear the cross-examination of the pretenders to wisdom; there is amusement in this. And this is a duty which the God has imposed upon me, as I am assured by oracles, visions, and in every sort of way in which the will of divine power was ever signified to anyone. This is true, O Athenians; or, if not true, would be soon refuted. For if I am really corrupting the youth, and have corrupted some of them already, those of them who have grown up and have become sensible that I gave them bad advice in the days of their youth should come forward as accusers and take their revenge; and if they do not like to come themselves, some of their relatives, fathers, brothers, or other kinsmen, should say what evil their families suffered at my hands. Now is their time. Many of them I see in the court. There is Crito, who is of the same age and of the same deme with myself; and there is Critobulus his son, whom I also see. Then again there is Lysanias of Sphettus, who is the father of Aeschines- he is present; and also there is Antiphon of Cephisus, who is the father of Epignes; and there are the brothers of several who have associated with me. There is Nicostratus the son of Theosdotides, and the brother of Theodotus (now Theodotus himself is dead, and therefore he, at any rate, will not seek to stop him); and there is Paralus the son of Demodocus, who had a brother Theages; and Adeimantus the son of Ariston, whose brother Plato is present; and Aeantodorus, who is the brother of Apollodorus, whom I also see. I might mention a great many others, any of whom Meletus should have produced as witnesses in the course of his speech; and let him still produce them, if he has forgotten; I will make way for him. And let him say, if he has any testimony of the sort which he can produce. Nay, Athenians, the very opposite is the truth. For all these are ready to witness on behalf of the corrupter, of the destroyer of their kindred, as Meletus and Anytus call me; not the corrupted youth only- there might have been a motive for that- but their uncorrupted elder relatives. Why should they too support me with their testimony? Why, indeed, except for the sake of truth and justice, and because they know that I am speaking the truth, and that Meletus is lying.

好吧，雅典人，这差不多就是我能做的全部辩护了。不过，我还有一句话要说。或许会有人对我感到不满，因为他会想起，自己在类似的甚至没这么严重的场合，会声泪俱下地祈求哀告，还会把孩子带到法庭上——那场面确实感人——身边还跟着一大群亲戚朋友；而我呢，明明可能面临生命危险，却绝不会做这些事。或许他想到这些，就会对我产生反感，因为不满而愤怒地投下反对票。要是你们当中真有这样的人（我绝非肯定有），我可以理直气壮地回应他：朋友，我是个人，和其他人一样，是血肉之躯，而非荷马所说的木石之身。我也有家庭，没错，还有儿子，雅典人啊，我有三个儿子，一个已经长大，另外两个还年幼。可我不会把他们中的任何一个带到这里来，祈求你们判我无罪。为什么呢？不是因为我固执己见，也不是因为我轻视你们。我是否害怕死亡，那是另一回事，现在我不想谈这个。我之所以不这么做，只是觉得这种行为会让我自己、让你们，还有整个城邦蒙羞。一个到了我这把年纪，又被认为有智慧（不管这名声该不该有）的人，不应该自贬身份。无论如何，世人都认为苏格拉底在某些方面比其他人要高明些。要是你们当中那些被说成在智慧、勇气或其他美德方面出众的人，做出这种事来，那他们的行为该有多丢人啊！我见过一些有名望的人，当他们被判有罪时，行为举止简直荒唐：他们好像觉得自己一旦死了，就会遭受可怕的折磨，而只要你们允许他们活下去，他们就能长生不老似的。我认为他们是城邦的耻辱，任何一个外来的陌生人看到这种情况，都会说雅典那些最杰出的人——那些雅典人自己给予荣誉和职权的人——竟然还不如女人。我想说，我们当中有名望的人不应该做这种事；要是他们做了，你们也不该容忍；你们更应该表明，你们倾向于谴责的不是那些安安静静的人，而是那些在法庭上上演悲戚戏码、让城邦蒙羞的人。

Well, Athenians, this and the like of this is nearly all the defence which I have to offer. Yet a word more. Perhaps there may be someone who is offended at me, when he calls to mind how he himself, on a similar or even a less serious occasion, had recourse to prayers and supplications with many tears, and how he produced his children in court, which was a moving spectacle, together with a posse of his relations and friends; whereas I, who am probably in danger of my life, will do none of these things. Perhaps this may come into his mind, and he may be set against me, and vote in anger because he is displeased at this. Now if there be such a person among you, which I am far from affirming, I may fairly reply to him: My friend, I am a man, and like other men, a creature of flesh and blood, and not of wood or stone, as Homer says; and I have a family, yes, and sons, O Athenians, three in number, one of whom is growing up, and the two others are still young; and yet I will not bring any of them hither in order to petition you for an acquittal. And why not? Not from any self-will or disregard of you. Whether I am or am not afraid of death is another question, of which I will not now speak. But my reason simply is that I feel such conduct to be discreditable to myself, and you, and the whole State. One who has reached my years, and who has a name for wisdom, whether deserved or not, ought not to debase himself. At any rate, the world has decided that Socrates is in some way superior to other men. And if those among you who are said to be superior in wisdom and courage, and any other virtue, demean themselves in this way, how shameful is their conduct! I have seen men of reputation, when they have been condemned, behaving in the strangest manner: they seemed to fancy that they were going to suffer something dreadful if they died, and that they could be immortal if you only allowed them to live; and I think that they were a dishonor to the State, and that any stranger coming in would say of them that the most eminent men of Athens, to whom the Athenians themselves give honor and command, are no better than women. And I say that these things ought not to be done by those of us who are of reputation; and if they are done, you ought not to permit them; you ought rather to show that you are more inclined to condemn, not the man who is quiet, but the man who gets up a doleful scene, and makes the city ridiculous.

但是，先不谈不光彩的问题，向法官请愿，从而获得无罪判决，而非告知并说服他，这似乎是不对的。因为法官的职责不是随意施舍正义，而是作出裁决；他已宣誓要依法判决，而非凭个人喜好；无论是他还是我们，都不应养成作伪证的习惯——这绝无虔诚可言。因此，不要要求我去做那些我认为不光彩、不虔诚且错误的事，尤其是现在，我正因米利都的指控而面临不敬神的审判。雅典的人们啊，如果我能凭借劝说和恳求迫使你们违背誓言，那我就是在教导你们相信无神，并且在为自己辩护时，证明自己不信神。但事实并非如此；因为我确实相信有神，而且比我的任何指控者所相信的程度都要深得多。我把我的案子交给你们和神，由你们来裁决，无论结果对你们和我来说是最好的。——

But, setting aside the question of dishonor, there seems to be something wrong in petitioning a judge, and thus procuring an acquittal instead of informing and convincing him. For his duty is, not to make a present of justice, but to give judgment; and he has sworn that he will judge according to the laws, and not according to his own good pleasure; and neither he nor we should get into the habit of perjuring ourselves- there can be no piety in that. Do not then require me to do what I consider dishonorable and impious and wrong, especially now, when I am being tried for impiety on the indictment of Meletus. For if, O men of Athens, by force of persuasion and entreaty, I could overpower your oaths, then I should be teaching you to believe that there are no gods, and convict myself, in my own defence, of not believing in them. But that is not the case; for I do believe that there are gods, and in a far higher sense than that in which any of my accusers believe in them. And to you and to God I commit my cause, to be determined by you as is best for you and me. – –

雅典的人们啊，对于这项判我有罪的表决，我并不感到悲伤，原因有很多。我对此早有预料，只是惊讶于票数如此接近；因为我原本以为反对我的多数会多得多。但现在，只要有三十票倒向另一边，我就会被无罪释放了。我可以说，我已经摆脱了美勒托。我还可以说得更多；因为要是没有安尼图斯和吕孔的帮助，他连法律要求的五分之一票数都得不到，那样的话，他显然就得缴纳一千德拉克马的罚款了。

THERE are many reasons why I am not grieved, O men of Athens, at the vote of condemnation. I expected this, and am only surprised that the votes are so nearly equal; for I had thought that the majority against me would have been far larger; but now, had thirty votes gone over to the other side, I should have been acquitted. And I may say that I have escaped Meletus. And I may say more; for without the assistance of Anytus and Lycon, he would not have had a fifth part of the votes, as the law requires, in which case he would have incurred a fine of a thousand drachmae, as is evident.

所以，他提议判处我死刑。那么，雅典的公民们，我该提议什么作为我的惩罚呢？显然，应该是我应得的。对于一个一生从未有过闲情逸致，从不关心多数人所在乎的——财富、家庭利益、军职、在公民大会上发言、担任官职、阴谋和党派之争的人，该给予怎样的对待呢？我深知，以我的耿直，若走寻常路是无法安身立命的，所以我没有去那些对你们和我自己都毫无益处的地方，而是去了能为你们每个人私下带来最大益处的地方。我努力劝说你们每一个人，要先关注自身，追求美德与智慧，再考虑个人利益；要先关注国家，再考虑国家的利益，并且在所有行动中都遵循这样的次序。这样的人该得到怎样的对待呢？雅典的公民们，若他应得奖赏，那无疑是某种美好的东西，且这种美好要与他相匹配。对于一个贫穷却又是你们恩人的人，一个渴望闲暇以便教导你们的人，什么样的奖赏才合适呢？雅典的公民们，再没有比在普律塔尼姆（雅典的市政厅，用于款待有功之臣）获得一席之地更合适的奖赏了。他比那些在奥林匹亚赛马或赛车比赛中获奖的公民更配得上这份荣誉，无论他们的战车是两匹马拉的还是多匹马拉的。因为我一贫如洗，而他们丰衣足食；他们给你们的只是幸福的表象，而我给你们的是幸福的实质。如果让我公正地评估应得的惩罚，我认为在普律塔尼姆获得供养才是公正的回报。

And so he proposes death as the penalty. And what shall I propose on my part, O men of Athens? Clearly that which is my due. And what is that which I ought to pay or to receive? What shall be done to the man who has never had the wit to be idle during his whole life; but has been careless of what the many care about- wealth, and family interests, and military offices, and speaking in the assembly, and magistracies, and plots, and parties. Reflecting that I was really too honest a man to follow in this way and live, I did not go where I could do no good to you or to myself; but where I could do the greatest good privately to everyone of you, thither I went, and sought to persuade every man among you that he must look to himself, and seek virtue and wisdom before he looks to his private interests, and look to the State before he looks to the interests of the State; and that this should be the order which he observes in all his actions. What shall be done to such a one? Doubtless some good thing, O men of Athens, if he has his reward; and the good should be of a kind suitable to him. What would be a reward suitable to a poor man who is your benefactor, who desires leisure that he may instruct you? There can be no more fitting reward than maintenance in the Prytaneum, O men of Athens, a reward which he deserves far more than the citizen who has won the prize at Olympia in the horse or chariot race, whether the chariots were drawn by two horses or by many. For I am in want, and he has enough; and he only gives you the appearance of happiness, and I give you the reality. And if I am to estimate the penalty justly, I say that maintenance in the Prytaneum is the just return.

或许你们会认为，我现在说这些话是在顶撞你们，就像我之前谈到眼泪和祈祷时那样。但事实并非如此。我之所以说这些，是因为我确信自己从未故意冤枉过任何人，尽管我无法让你们相信这一点——毕竟我们的交谈时间很短。要是雅典有这样一条法律，就像其他城邦那样，规定死刑案件不能在一天内判决，那我相信我是能说服你们的。可现在时间太紧迫了，我没办法在片刻之间驳倒这些严重的诽谤。而且，既然我确信自己从未伤害过他人，那我也绝不会委屈自己。我不会说自己罪有应得，也不会提议任何惩罚。我为什么要这么做呢？难道是因为我害怕迈雷托斯提议的死刑吗？当我都不知道死亡究竟是好事还是坏事的时候，我又为什么要提议一种显然是坏事的惩罚呢？ 我该说监禁吗？我为什么要住在监狱里，做一年任期的地方官——也就是那十一位狱卒的奴隶呢？或者，惩罚是罚款，并且在缴清罚款前要被监禁？这同样有问题。我会被困在监狱里，因为我身无分文，缴不起罚款。要是我说流放（这或许可能是你们会施加的惩罚），那我一定是被求生的欲望冲昏了头脑。因为如果连你们这些我本邦的公民都无法忍受我的言论，觉得它们如此令人厌恶，想要摆脱它们，那么其他地方的人就更不可能容忍我了。真的不会，雅典的人们，这可能性不大。我都这把年纪了，要是过着四处漂泊、不断流亡的生活，总是被人驱逐，那日子该怎么过啊？我很清楚，无论我去到哪个地方，就像在这里一样，年轻人都会来找我。如果我赶走他们，他们的长辈会因为他们的请求而把我驱逐；如果我让他们来，他们的父亲和朋友又会因为他们而把我赶走。 有人会说：“是啊，苏格拉底，你就不能闭上嘴吗？那样你就可以去别的城邦，没人会打扰你了。”要让你们明白我对这个问题的回答，我真是太困难了。因为如果我告诉你们，这会是对神的命令的违抗，所以我不能闭嘴，你们不会相信我是认真的；如果我再说说，人最大的善就是每天都探讨美德，以及所有你们听到我在审视自己和他人的那些事，并且未经省察的人生是不值得过的——你们就更不可能相信了。然而，我说的都是真话，尽管要让你们信服并非易事。 此外，我不觉得自己该受任何惩罚。要是我有钱，我或许会提议把我所有的钱都给你们，而这对我也没什么损失。但你们也看到了，我身无分文，只能请你们根据我的经济能力来定罚款数额。不过，我想我能拿出一明那，所以我提议罚款一明那。我的朋友们，柏拉图、克里托、克里托布卢斯和阿波罗多洛斯，他们让我说罚三十明那，并且他们会做担保。那好吧，就说三十明那，这就是惩罚，因为他们会给你们充分的担保。

Perhaps you may think that I am braving you in saying this, as in what I said before about the tears and prayers. But that is not the case. I speak rather because I am convinced that I never intentionally wronged anyone, although I cannot convince you of that- for we have had a short conversation only; but if there were a law at Athens, such as there is in other cities, that a capital cause should not be decided in one day, then I believe that I should have convinced you; but now the time is too short. I cannot in a moment refute great slanders; and, as I am convinced that I never wronged another, I will assuredly not wrong myself. I will not say of myself that I deserve any evil, or propose any penalty. Why should I? Because I am afraid of the penalty of death which Meletus proposes? When I do not know whether death is a good or an evil, why should I propose a penalty which would certainly be an evil? Shall I say imprisonment? And why should I live in prison, and be the slave of the magistrates of the year- of the Eleven? Or shall the penalty be a fine, and imprisonment until the fine is paid? There is the same objection. I should have to lie in prison, for money I have none, and I cannot pay. And if I say exile (and this may possibly be the penalty which you will affix), I must indeed be blinded by the love of life if I were to consider that when you, who are my own citizens, cannot endure my discourses and words, and have found them so grievous and odious that you would fain have done with them, others are likely to endure me. No, indeed, men of Athens, that is not very likely. And what a life should I lead, at my age, wandering from city to city, living in ever-changing exile, and always being driven out! For I am quite sure that into whatever place I go, as here so also there, the young men will come to me; and if I drive them away, their elders will drive me out at their desire: and if I let them come, their fathers and friends will drive me out for their sakes. Someone will say: Yes, Socrates, but cannot you hold your tongue, and then you may go into a foreign city, and no one will interfere interfere with you? Now I have great difficulty in no one wi making making you understand my answer to this. For if I tell you that this would be a disobedience to a divine command, and therefore that I cannot hold my tongue, you will not believe that I am serious; and if I say again that the greatest good of man is daily to converse about virtue, and all that concerning which you hear me examining myself and others, and that the life which is unexamined is not worth living- that you are still less likely to believe. And yet what I say is true, although a thing of which it is hard for me to persuade you. Moreover, I am not accustomed to think that I deserve any punishment. Had I money I might have proposed to give you what I had, and have been none the worse. But you see that I have none, and can only ask you to proportion the fine to my means. However, I think that I could afford a mina, and therefore I propose that penalty; Plato, Crito, Critobulus, and Apollodorus, my friends here, bid me say thirty minae, and they will be the sureties. Well then, say thirty minae, let that be the penalty; for that they will be ample security to you. – –

雅典人啊，你们从那些诋毁城邦的人那里只会得到一个恶名作为回报，而不会有多少好处，他们会说你们杀死了苏格拉底，一个智者；因为当他们想指责你们的时候，即便我并非智者，他们也会称我为智者。要是你们再等一小会儿，你们的愿望自然就会实现。因为你们看得出来，我年事已高，离死亡不远了。 我现在只对那些判我死刑的人说几句话。我还有一件事要对他们讲：你们认为我被定罪是因为言辞不足——我的意思是，要是我当初认为适宜不择手段、言无不尽，或许就能获得无罪释放。并非如此；导致我被定罪的并非言辞上的不足——绝非如此。而是我没有那种胆量、厚颜无耻的态度，也没有那种意愿，用你们希望的方式来对你们说话，没有哭泣、哀号、悲叹，也没有说那些、做那些你们听惯了别人会做的事，而那些事，正如我所说，是与我不相称的。 但我认为，在危难时刻，我不应该做任何平庸或卑劣的事；我现在也不后悔我辩护的方式，我宁愿以自己的方式说完话后死去，也不愿用你们的方式说话而苟活。因为无论是在战争中还是在法庭上，任何人都不应该用尽一切手段来逃避死亡。因为在战场上，毫无疑问，要是一个人扔掉武器，跪在追捕者面前，他或许能逃脱死亡；在其他危险中，要是一个人愿意说任何话、做任何事，也有其他逃避死亡的办法。 朋友们，困难不在于逃避死亡，而在于逃避不义；因为不义比死亡跑得更快。我年老体衰，行动迟缓，那跑得较慢的（死亡）追上了我，而指控我的人却身手敏捷，那跑得更快的（不义）追上了他们。 如今我要离开这里了，被你们判处死刑；而他们也将离去，被真理判处恶行与不义的惩罚。我必须接受我的判决——让他们也接受他们的吧。我想这些事情或许是命中注定的——而且我认为这样也很好。

Not much time will be gained, O Athenians, in return for the evil name which you will get from the detractors of the city, who will say that you killed Socrates, a wise man; for they will call me wise even although I am not wise when they want to reproach you. If you had waited a little while, your desire would have been fulfilled in the course of nature. For I am far advanced in years, as you may perceive, and not far from death. I am speaking now only to those of you who have condemned me to death. And I have another thing to say to them: You think that I was convicted through deficiency of words- I mean, that if I had thought fit to leave nothing undone, nothing unsaid, I might have gained an acquittal. Not so; the deficiency which led to my conviction was not of words- certainly not. But I had not the boldness or impudence or inclination to address you as you would have liked me to address you, weeping and wailing and lamenting, and saying and doing many things which you have been accustomed to hear from others, and which, as I say, are unworthy of me. But I thought that I ought not to do anything common or mean in the hour of danger: nor do I now repent of the manner of my defence, and I would rather die having spoken after my manner, than speak in your manner and live. For neither in war nor yet at law ought any man to use every way of escaping death. For often in battle there is no doubt that if a man will throw away his arms, and fall on his knees before his pursuers, he may escape death; and in other dangers there are other ways of escaping death, if a man is willing to say and do anything. The difficulty, my friends, is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death. I am old and move slowly, and the slower runner has overtaken me, and my accusers are keen and quick, and the faster runner, who is unrighteousness, has overtaken them. And now I depart hence condemned by you to suffer the penalty of death, and they, too, go their ways condemned by the truth to suffer the penalty of villainy and wrong; and I must abide by my award- let them abide by theirs. I suppose that these things may be regarded as fated- and I think that they are well.

现在，你们这些判我有罪的人啊，我想给你们预言一番。因为我即将死去，而人在临死之际往往会获得预言的能力。我要对你们这些杀害我的人预言，在我死后，你们必将面临比你们加诸于我身上的惩罚沉重得多的报应。你们杀了我，是因为你们想逃避指责，不想为自己的生活负责。但事情不会如你们所想的那样，完全相反。我要说，将来指责你们的人会比现在多得多。这些人我一直都在约束着，而他们因为年轻，会对你们更加严厉，你们也会更痛恨他们。如果你们认为杀死别人就能避免有人指责你们的生活，那你们就错了。这种逃避方式既不可能，也不光彩。最容易也最高尚的做法不是去压制别人，而是去完善自己。这就是我在离开之前，对那些判我有罪的法官们所发出的预言。

And now, O men who have condemned me, I would fain prophesy to you; for I am about to die, and that is the hour in which men are gifted with prophetic power. And I prophesy to you who are my murderers, that immediately after my death punishment far heavier than you have inflicted on me will surely await you. Me you have killed because you wanted to escape the accuser, and not to give an account of your lives. But that will not be as you suppose: far otherwise. For I say that there will be more accusers of you than there are now; accusers whom hitherto I have restrained: and as they are younger they will be more severe with you, and you will be more offended at them. For if you think that by killing men you can avoid the accuser censuring your lives, you are mistaken; that is not a way of escape which is either possible or honorable; the easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves. This is the prophecy which I utter before my departure, to the judges who have condemned me.

朋友们，那些原本会判我无罪的人，我也想趁官差们正忙着，在我去往那必赴的死地之前，和你们聊聊刚才发生的这件事。那就再留一会儿吧，既然还有时间，我们不妨互相聊聊。你们是我的朋友，我想让你们明白发生在我身上这件事的意义。哦，我的法官们——我确实可以这样称呼你们——我想告诉你们一件不可思议的事。 迄今为止，我内心那个熟悉的神谕，即便在琐事上也常常反对我，要是我打算在什么事上犯错的话。可现在，如你们所见，我遭遇了那件可以被认为，也普遍被认为是最末且最可怕的灾祸。但神谕却没有给出任何反对的迹象，无论是我早上离家出门时，还是我走进这个法庭时，或是我发言时，无论我说什么，它都没反对。而我以前常常在发言中途被它打断，可如今，在我关于这件事的所言所行中，神谕从未反对过我。 我该如何解释这一点呢？我来告诉你们。我把这看作是一个证明，证明发生在我身上的是好事，而我们中那些认为死亡是灾祸的人都错了。这对我所说的话是个有力的证明，因为要是我即将遭遇的是灾祸而非好事，那惯常的神谕迹象肯定会反对我的。

Friends, who would have acquitted me, I would like also to talk with you about this thing which has happened, while the magistrates are busy, and before I go to the place at which I must die. Stay then awhile, for we may as well talk with one another while there is time. You are my friends, and I should like to show you the meaning of this event which has happened to me. O my judges- for you I may truly call judges- I should like to tell you of a wonderful circumstance. Hitherto the familiar oracle within me has constantly been in the habit of opposing me even about trifles, if I was going to make a slip or error about anything; and now as you see there has come upon me that which may be thought, and is generally believed to be, the last and worst evil. But the oracle made no sign of opposition, either as I was leaving my house and going out in the morning, or when I was going up into this court, or while I was speaking, at anything which I was going to say; and yet I have often been stopped in the middle of a speech; but now in nothing I either said or did touching this matter has the oracle opposed me. What do I take to be the explanation of this? I will tell you. I regard this as a proof that what has happened to me is a good, and that those of us who think that death is an evil are in error. This is a great proof to me of what I am saying, for the customary sign would surely have opposed me had I been going to evil and not to good.

让我们换个角度思考，就会发现有充分的理由相信死亡是一件好事，原因有二：要么死亡是一种虚无状态，完全没有意识；要么，正如人们所说，灵魂会发生转变，从这个世界迁移到另一个世界。 假设死亡是没有意识的状态，就像一个人睡得毫无波澜，连梦都不会做，那么死亡将是一种难以言喻的收获。试想，若有人要从他一生的日日夜夜里，选出一个睡得安稳、连梦都没有的夜晚，然后跟其他的日日夜夜做比较，接着告诉我们他一生中能有多少个日夜比这个夜晚过得更好、更愉快。我想，无论是普通人，甚至是伟大的国王，都找不出多少这样的日夜。如果死亡就像这样，那我说死亡是一种收获，因为永恒不过是这样一个夜晚罢了。 但如果死亡是通往另一个地方的旅程，而且正如人们所说，所有逝去的人都在那里，那么，我的朋友和法官们，还有什么能比这更好呢？要是朝圣者抵达下界后，能摆脱这个世界上那些自封的正义之士，找到传说中在那里审判的真正法官——米诺斯、拉达曼提斯、埃阿科斯、特里普托勒摩斯，以及其他生前正直的神之子，那么这场朝圣之旅就是值得的。 若能与俄耳甫斯、缪塞俄斯、赫西俄德和荷马交谈，人们还有什么是不愿付出的呢？不，如果这是真的，我愿意一次次死去。我也会对那个可以与帕拉墨得斯、忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯，以及其他因遭受不公审判而死去的古代英雄交谈的地方充满浓厚兴趣。而且我想，把自己所受的苦难和他们的做比较，也会是一件乐事。 最重要的是，我能继续探寻知识的真伪，就像在这个世界上一样，在那个世界也能如此。我会去弄清楚谁是真正有智慧的，谁只是装作有智慧，实则不然。法官们啊，若能去审视特洛伊远征的统帅，或是奥德修斯、西西弗斯，还有无数其他的男男女女，人们还有什么是不愿付出的呢？能和他们交谈、向他们发问，该是何等无尽的乐趣啊！ 因为在那个世界，他们不会因此就把人处死，这是肯定的。而且，如果人们所说的是真的，他们在那个世界不仅比在这个世界更幸福，还能获得永生。

Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great reason to hope that death is a good, for one of two things: either death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if you suppose that there is no consciousness, but a sleep like the sleep of him who is undisturbed even by the sight of dreams, death will be an unspeakable gain. For if a person were to select the night in which his sleep was disturbed even by dreams, and were to compare with this the other days and nights of his life, and then were to tell us how many days and nights he had passed in the course of his life better and more pleasantly than this one, I think that any man, I will not say a private man, but even the great king, will not find many such days or nights, when compared with the others. Now if death is like this, I say that to die is gain; for eternity is then only a single night. But if death is the journey to another place, and there, as men say, all the dead are, what good, O my friends and judges, can be greater than this? If indeed when the pilgrim arrives in the world below, he is delivered from the professors of justice in this world, and finds the true judges who are said to give judgment there, Minos and Rhadamanthus and AEacus and Triptolemus, and other sons of God who were righteous in their own life, that pilgrimage will be worth making. What would not a man give if he might converse with Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer? Nay, if this be true, let me die again and again. I, too, shall have a wonderful interest in a place where I can converse with Palamedes, and Ajax the son of Telamon, and other heroes of old, who have suffered death through an unjust judgment; and there will be no small pleasure, as I think, in comparing my own sufferings with theirs. Above all, I shall be able to continue my search into true and false knowledge; as in this world, so also in that; I shall find out who is wise, and who pretends to be wise, and is not. What would not a man give, O judges, to be able to examine the leader of the great Trojan expedition; or Odysseus or Sisyphus, or numberless others, men and women too! What infinite delight would there be in conversing with them and asking them questions! For in that world they do not put a man to death for this; certainly not. For besides being happier in that world than in this, they will be immortal, if what is said is true.

所以，各位法官，请你们对死亡抱有乐观的态度，并坚信这一点——善良的人无论生前死后，都不会遭遇不幸。神不会抛弃他和他的家人；我即将到来的结局也并非偶然。但我清楚地知道，死亡和解脱对我而言是更好的选择；因此神谕没有给出任何指示。也正因如此，我并不怨恨我的指控者和判我有罪的人；他们并未伤害我，尽管他们谁也没想过要对我行善；对此，我或许可以温和地责备他们几句。

Wherefore, O judges, be of good cheer about death, and know this of a truth- that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death. He and his are not neglected by the gods; nor has my own approaching end happened by mere chance. But I see clearly that to die and be released was better for me; and therefore the oracle gave no sign. For which reason also, I am not angry with my accusers, or my condemners; they have done me no harm, although neither of them meant to do me any good; and for this I may gently blame them.

不过，我还有个请求要向他们提出。朋友们啊，等我的儿子们长大成人，我希望你们能责罚他们；如果他们看重财富或其他任何东西胜过看重美德，或者他们名不副实、自命不凡，那就请你们像我烦扰你们一样去烦扰他们——要像我斥责你们那样去斥责他们，斥责他们不关心自己本该关心的事，斥责他们本就一无是处却还自视甚高。如果你们能这么做，那我和我的儿子们就算从你们这里得到公正的对待了。

Still I have a favor to ask of them. When my sons are grown up, I would ask you, O my friends, to punish them; and I would have you trouble them, as I have troubled you, if they seem to care about riches, or anything, more than about virtue; or if they pretend to be something when they are really nothing- then reprove them, as I have reproved you, for not caring about that for which they ought to care, and thinking that they are something when they are really nothing. And if you do this, I and my sons will have received justice at your hands.

离别之时已至，我们将各奔前程——我将死去，而你们将活下去。哪一种更好，只有上帝知道。

The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways- I to die, and you to live. Which is better, God only knows.