玻璃海

Ｂｏｏｋ１

Chap. 2.—What a thing is, and what a sign

2. All instruction is either about things or about signs; but things are learnt by means of signs. I now use the word "thing" in a strict sense, to signify that which is never employed as a sign of anything else: for example, wood, stone, cattle, and other things of that kind. Not, however, the wood which we read Moses cast into the bitter waters to make them sweet, nor the stone which Jacob used as a pillow, nor the ram which Abraham offered up instead of his son; for these, though they are things, are also signs of other things. There are signs of another kind, those which are never employed except as signs: for example, words. No one uses words except as signs of something else; and hence may be understood what I call signs: those things, to wit, which are used to indicate something else. Accordingly, every sign is also a thing; for what is not a thing is nothing at all. Every thing, however, is not also a sign. And so, in regard to this distinction between things and signs, I shall, when I speak of things, speak in such a way that even if some of them may be used as signs also, that will not interfere with the division of the subject according to which I am to discuss things first and signs afterwards. But we must carefully remember that what we have now

Ｂｏｏｋ２

Chap. 1.—Signs, their nature and variety 

當我描述一件事物時，我總是在一開始警告不要處理任何它們內在本身之外的東西，即使它們是其他東西的記號；而現在當我要討論「記號」這個主題時，我放下這個方向，不去處理它們內在本身是什麼，而是著重於「它們是記號」這個事實，也就是它們所表示(signify)的是什麼。因為「記號」在其意義上是超越了它所製造的印象並在該印象之上，讓其他東西因著它而隨之被聯想到：如同看到一個腳印就知道有動物經過、看到菸就知道下面有火、聽到一個人的聲音就可以想像它的心情、或者就像士兵聽到號角聲就知道該前進、撤退或在此戰爭階段所要求的任何事。

1. As when I was writing about things, I introduced the subject with a warning against attending to anything but what they are in themselves, even though they are signs of something else, so now, when I come in its turn to discuss the subject of signs, I lay down this direction, not to attend to what they are in themselves, but to the fact that they are signs, that is, to what they signify. For a sign is a thing which, over and above the impression it makes on the senses, causes something else to come into the mind as a consequence of itself( Signum est enim res, praeter speciem quam ingerit sensibus, aliud aliquid ex se faciens in cogitationem venire): as when we see a footprint, we conclude that an animal whose footprint this is has passed by; and when we see smoke, we know that there is fire beneath; and when we hear the voice of a living man, we think of the feeling in his mind; and when the trumpet sounds, soldiers know that they are to advance or retreat, or do whatever else the state of the battle requires.

有些記號是自然的；有些則是約定俗成的。自然的記號並不包含任何意欲將之作為記號的意圖，然而確實導致對其他事物的認知，例如煙指出火的存在。由於並非來自任何將之作為記號的意圖而是由於參與的經驗，我們開始知道火就在下面，即使只看得到煙。腳印代表有動物經過也屬於這類型的記號。憤怒或悲傷者的面容指出當事者內心的感受，獨立於其意志；同樣的，其他內心的感覺也會被面容所背叛，即使我們沒有任何公告週知的意圖與行動。然而這類的記號並非我當前要討論的部分，只是在這個主題之下不能整個省略，對這部分的關注就到此為止。

2. Now some signs are natural, others conventional. Natural signs are those which, apart from any intention or desire of using them as signs, do yet lead to the knowledge of something else, as, for example, smoke when it indicates fire. For it is not from any intention of making it a sign that it is so, but through attention to experience we come to know that fire is beneath, even when nothing but smoke can be seen. And the footprint of an animal passing by belongs to this class of signs. And the countenance of an angry or sorrowful man indicates the feeling in his mind, independently of his will: and in the same way every other emotion of the mind is betrayed by the telltale countenance, even though we do nothing with the intention of making it known. This class of signs however, it is no part of my design to discuss at present. But as it comes under this division of the subject, I could not altogether pass it over. It will be enough to have noticed it thus far.

Chap. 2.—Of the kind of signs we are now concerned with

另一方面，約定俗成的記號是生物之間互相交換，為了盡量展現他們內心的感覺、認知或思想，甚至拉近並且傳遞給他人自己內心所想之事。因此我們希望來思考並且討論這類的記號，因為那些被給予我們的記號即使是關於上帝的、即使包含於聖經之中，仍是透過人－－也就是那些寫下聖經的人－－來讓我們知道。野獸在牠們之間也有特定的記號讓對方知道自己的渴望，例如家禽－公雞發現食物時用聲音來吸引母雞靠近；鴿子也會發出咕咕聲呼叫他的同伴或被呼叫，許多這類的記號同樣是一般觀察的問題。至於這些記號，比如一個悲傷者的哭泣，是否直覺地跟隨心靈的運動，而不同於其他任何目的？或者確實用於意指作用(signification)的目的？是另外一個問題。這也不屬於這部作品要處理的問題。

3. Conventional signs, on the other hand, are those which living beings mutually exchange for the purpose of showing, as well as they can, the feelings of their minds, or their perceptions, or their thoughts. Nor is there any reason for giving a sign except the desire of drawing forth and conveying into another's mind what the giver of the sign has in his own mind. We wish, then, to consider and discuss this class of signs so far as men are concerned with it, because even the signs which have been given us of God, and which are contained in the Holy Scriptures, were made known to us through men—those, namely, who wrote the Scriptures. The beasts, too, have certain signs among themselves by which they make known the desires in their mind. For when the poultry-cock has discovered food, he signals with his voice for the hen to run to him, and the dove by cooing calls his mate, or is called by her in turn; and many signs of the same kind are matters of common observation. Now whether these signs, like the expression or the cry of a man in grief, follow the movement of the mind instinctively and apart from any purpose, or whether they are really used with the purpose of signification, is another question, and does not pertain to the matter in hand. And this part of the subject I exclude from the scope of this work as not necessary to my present object.

在所有記號中，話語居首位

透過記號，人們藉以彼此溝通思想，有些關聯於視覺、有些關聯於聽覺，也有少數關聯於其他感覺。當我們點頭時，只給予眼睛這個記號來傳達我們的渴望；有些則透過手部動作；演員透過所有肢體的動作給出特定記號來開始，接著說話，強調其對話的視覺性；軍隊的標準和旗幟傳達了指揮官的意志，所有這些記號都是可見的話語(visible words)。而針對聽覺的記號，如我所言，更多且大部分由話語組成。儘管號角、長笛、豎琴給予的通常不只是甜美而更是具有意義的聲音，然而這些記號的數量和話語相比仍然非常稀少。因為對人而言，話語做為指示內心思想的手段，佔有遠高於其他記號的地位。我們真實的主透過倒在祂腳前的油膏的香氣給予我們一個記號；在祂身體和血的犧牲中祂透過味覺來表彰其意志；而觸摸祂長袍下襬的女人因此完整了，這個行動在意義上並不是被期待的。然而眾多人們藉以表達其思想的無數記號由話語所組成，因為我能夠將所有這些記號化為話語，這些不同的類型我可以稍微觸及，但我用盡一切努力也無法以這些記號表達「話語」(words)。

Chap. 3.—Among signs, words hold the chief place

4. Of the signs, then, by which men communicate their thoughts to one another, some relate to the sense of sight, some to that of hearing, a very few to the other senses. For, when we nod, we give no sign except to the eyes of the man to whom we wish by this sign to impart our desire. And some convey a great deal by the motion of the hands: and actors by movements of all their limbs give certain signs to the initiated, and, so to speak, address their conversation to the eyes: and the military standards and flags convey through the eyes the will of the commanders. And all these signs are as it were a kind of visible words. The signs that address themselves to the ear are, as I have said, more numerous, and for the most part consist of words. For though the bugle and the flute and the lyre frequently give not only a sweet but a significant sound, yet all these signs are very few in number compared with words. For among men words have obtained far and away the chief place as a means of indicating the thoughts of the mind. Our Lord, it is true, gave a sign through the odour of the ointment which was poured out upon His feet; and in the sacrament of His body and blood He signified His will through the sense of taste; and when by touching the hem of His garment the woman was made whole, the act was not wanting in significance. But the countless multitude of the signs through which men express their thoughts consist of words. For I have been able to put into words all those signs, the various classes of which I have briefly touched upon, but I could by no effort express words in terms of those signs.

BOOK3

Chap. 9.—Who is in bondage to signs, and who not

13. Now he is in bondage to a sign who uses, or pays homage to, any significant object without knowing what it signifies: he, on the other hand, who either uses or honours a useful sign divinely appointed, whose force and significance he understands, does not honour the sign which is seen and temporal, but that to which all such signs refer. Now such a man is spiritual and free even at the time of his bondage, when it is not yet expedient to reveal to carnal minds those signs by subjection to which their carnality is to be overcome. To this class of spiritual persons belonged the patriarchs and the prophets, and all those among the people of Israel through whose instrumentality the Holy Spirit ministered unto us the aids and consolations of the Scriptures. But at the present time, after that the proof of our liberty has shone forth so clearly in the resurrection of our Lord, we are not oppressed with the heavy burden of attending even to those signs which we now understand, but our Lord Himself, and apostolic practice, have handed down to us a few rites in place of many, and these at once very easy to perform, most majestic in their significance, and most sacred in the observance; such, for example, as the Sacrament of baptism, and the celebration of the body and blood of the Lord. And as soon as any one looks upon these observances he knows to what they refer, and so reveres them not in carnal bondage, but in spiritual freedom. Now, as to follow the letter, and to take signs for the things that are signified by them, is a mark of weakness and bondage; so to interpret signs wrongly is the result of being misled by error. He, however, who does not understand what a sign signifies, but yet knows that it is a sign, is not in bondage. And it is better even to be in bondage to unknown but useful signs than, by interpreting  them wrongly, to draw the neck from under the yoke of bondage only to insert it in the coils of error.

原文來源：http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/Augustine%20doctrine.pdf