113
Of late I have been studying the four prose-poems about Christ with some diligence. At Christmas I managed to get hold of a Greek Testament, and every morning, after I have cleaned my cell and polished my tins, I read a little of the Gospels, a dozen verses taken by chance anywhere. It is a delightful way of opening the day. To you, in your turbulent ,ill-disciplined life, it would be a capital thing if you would do the same. It would do you no end of good, and the Greek is quite simple. Endless repetition, in and out of season, has spoiled for us the na?veté, the freshness, the simple romantic charm of the Gospels. We hear them read far too often, and far too badly, and all repetition is anti-spiritual. When one returns to the Greek it is like going into a garden of lilies out of some narrow and dark house[113a].
近来我下了点功夫钻研了关于基督的那四部散文诗。圣诞节时想法弄到了一本希腊语的《新约》，每天早晨洗好牢房刷好盆罐，就读一点福音书，随手翻他十几节读读。这样来开始一天很愉快的。对于你，在那纷纷攘攘、没有节制的生活中，要能这么做那简直是天大的一件事。那对你可是有说不完的好处，而希腊语也挺简单的。一年到头没完没了的重复，已经败坏了我们对福音书那份率真、清新，那份朴实无华的浪漫神韵的感受。我们听别人读太多太多遍了，读得也太糟太糟了，而所有的重复都是反精神的。当你回到希腊文本时，感觉就像从一所狭窄黑暗的房子里走进一个百合花花园似的[113a]。
113