Above all, those are most subject to envy, which carry the greatness of their fortunes, in an insolent and proud manner; being never well, but while they are showing how great they are, either by outward pomp, or by triumphing over all opposition or competition; whereas wise men will rather do sacrifice to envy, in suffering themselves sometimes of purpose to be crossed, and overborne in things that do not much concern them. Notwithstanding, so much is true, that the carriage of greatness, in a plain and open manner (so it be without arrogancy and vain glory) doth draw less envy, than if it be in a more crafty and cunning fashion. For in that course, a man doth but disavow fortune; and seemeth to be conscious of his own want in worth; and doth but teach others, to envy him.

Lastly, to conclude this part; as we said in the beginning, that the act of envy had somewhat in it of witchcraft, so there is no other cure of envy, but the cure of witchcraft; and that is, to remove the lot (as they call it) and to lay it upon another. For which purpose, the wiser sort of great persons, bring in ever upon the stage somebody upon whom to derive the envy, that would come upon themselves; sometimes upon ministers and servants; sometimes upon colleagues and associates; and the like; and for that turn there are never wanting, some persons of violent and undertaking natures, who, so they may have power and business, will take it at any cost.

Now, to speak of public envy. There is yet some good in public envy, whereas in private, there is none. For public envy, is as an ostracism, that eclipseth men, when they grow too great. And therefore it is a bridle also to great ones, to keep them within bounds

出身貴族者在升遷時(shí)較少遭人嫉妒，因?yàn)槟强瓷先o(wú)非是出身高貴的必然結(jié)果，再說(shuō)這種錦上添花似乎也不會(huì)給他們帶來(lái)更多的好處。且嫉妒猶如日光，它射在陡坡峭壁上比射在平地上更使人感覺(jué)其熱；與此同理，逐漸高升者比驟然騰達(dá)者較少遭人嫉妒。

那些一直把自己的顯赫與辛勞、焦慮或風(fēng)險(xiǎn)連在一起的人較少成為嫉妒的對(duì)象，因?yàn)槭廊藭?huì)覺(jué)得他們的高位顯取來(lái)之不易，甚至有時(shí)候還會(huì)可憐他們，而憐憫往往可以治愈嫉妒。故此世人可見(jiàn)，一些較老謀深算的政界人物在位高權(quán)重時(shí)常常向人家訴苦，說(shuō)自己活得多苦多累；其實(shí)他們并非真那樣感覺(jué)，而只是想減輕別人的嫉妒而已。不過(guò)人們能體諒的是那種依命行事的辛勞，而不是那種沒(méi)事找事的忙碌，因?yàn)樽钭屓硕噬霞佣实氖戮褪悄欠N毫無(wú)必要且野心勃勃的事必躬親；所以對(duì)位高權(quán)重者來(lái)說(shuō)，保證各級(jí)屬下的充分權(quán)利和應(yīng)有身份是消除嫉妒的最佳方法，因?yàn)橛眠@種方法不啻在自己與嫉妒之間筑起了一道道屏障。

因大富大貴而趾高氣揚(yáng)者尤其易遭妒忌，因?yàn)檫@種人不炫耀其富貴就不舒服，結(jié)果他們或是在舉止言談上神氣活現(xiàn)，或是總要壓倒一切相反意見(jiàn)或競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。可聰明人則寧愿吃點(diǎn)虧而給嫉妒者一點(diǎn)實(shí)惠，有時(shí)故意在某些與己關(guān)系不大的事情上讓對(duì)手占占上風(fēng)。但盡管如此，以下事實(shí)仍不謬：以直率坦蕩的態(tài)度對(duì)待富資比用虛偽狡詐的態(tài)度更少遭人妒忌，只要那直率坦蕩中沒(méi)有傲慢與自負(fù)的成分；因?yàn)橛煤笠环N態(tài)度者無(wú)非是否認(rèn)自己的幸運(yùn)，而那會(huì)讓人覺(jué)得他自己都感到他不配享受富貴，因此他恰好是教別人來(lái)嫉妒自己。

最后讓筆者贅言幾句來(lái)結(jié)束這個(gè)部分。如本文開(kāi)篇所言，嫉妒行為有幾分巫術(shù)的性質(zhì)，因此治嫉妒的最好方法就是治巫術(shù)的方法，也就是移開(kāi)世人所謂的“符咒”，使之鎮(zhèn)在別人頭上。為達(dá)到這一目的，有些聰明的大人物總是讓別人替自己拋頭露面，從而使本會(huì)降到自己身上的嫉妒降到他人身上，這種他人有時(shí)候是侍從仆役，有時(shí)候是同僚伙伴或諸如此類的角色；而要找這種替身，世間還真不乏一些雄心勃勃的冒昧之徒，只要能獲得權(quán)位，這種人不惜付出任何代價(jià)。

現(xiàn)在且來(lái)談?wù)劰姷募刀省ｋm說(shuō)私人間的嫉妒有百害而無(wú)一利，但公眾的嫉妒卻還有一點(diǎn)好處，因?yàn)樗拖裉掌胖鸱á伲沙ツ切┪桓邔?quán)者，所以它對(duì)其他大人物亦是一種制約，可使他們循規(guī)蹈矩。

Lastly, to conclude this part; as we said in the beginning, that the act of envy had somewhat in it of witchcraft, so there is no other cure of envy, but the cure of witchcraft; and that is, to remove the lot (as they call it) and to lay it upon another. For which purpose, the wiser sort of great persons, bring in ever upon the stage somebody upon whom to derive the envy, that would come upon themselves; sometimes upon ministers and servants; sometimes upon colleagues and associates; and the like; and for that turn there are never wanting, some persons of violent and undertaking natures, who, so they may have power and business, will take it at any cost.

Now, to speak of public envy. There is yet some good in public envy, whereas in private, there is none. For public envy, is as an ostracism, that eclipseth men, when they grow too great. And therefore it is a bridle also to great ones, to keep them within bounds.

This envy, being in the Latin word invidia, goeth in the modern language, by the name of discontentment; of which we shall speak, in hand-ling sedition. It is a disease, in a state, like to infection. For as infection spreadeth upon that which is sound, and tainteth it; so when envy is gotten once into a state, it traduceth even the best actions thereof, and turneth them into an ill odor. And therefore there is little won, by intermingling of plausible actions. For that doth argue but a weakness, and fear of envy, which hurteth so much the more, as it is likewise usual in infections; which if you fear them, you call them upon you.

This public envy, seemeth to beat chiefly uponprincipal officers or ministers, rather than upon kings, and estates themselves. But this is a surerule, that if the envy upon the minister be great, when the cause of it in him is small; or if the envy be general, in a manner upon all the ministers of an estate; then the envy (though hidden) is truly upon the state itself. And so much of public envy or discontentment, and the difference thereof from private envy, which was handled in the first place.

We will add this in general, touching the affection of envy; that of all other affections, it is the most importune and continual. For of other affections, there is occasion given, but now and then; and therefore it was well said, Invidia festos dies non agit: for it is ever working upon some or other. And it is also noted, that love and envy do make a man pine, which other affections do not, because they are not so continual. It is also the vilest affection, and the most depraved; for which cause it is the proper attribute of the devil, who is called, the envious man, that soweth tares amongst the wheat by night; as it always cometh to pass, that envy worketh subtilly, and in the dark, and to the prejudice of good things, such as is the wheat.

出最后讓筆者贅言幾句來(lái)結(jié)束這個(gè)部分。如本文開(kāi)篇所言，嫉妒行為有幾分巫術(shù)的性質(zhì)，因此治嫉妒的最好方法就是治巫術(shù)的方法，也就是移開(kāi)世人所謂的“符咒”，使之鎮(zhèn)在別人頭上。為達(dá)到這一目的，有些聰明的大人物總是讓別人替自己拋頭露面，從而使本會(huì)降到自己身上的嫉妒降到他人身上，這種他人有時(shí)候是侍從仆役，有時(shí)候是同僚伙伴或諸如此類的角色；而要找這種替身，世間還真不乏一些雄心勃勃的冒昧之徒，只要能獲得權(quán)位，這種人不惜付出任何代價(jià)。

現(xiàn)在且來(lái)談?wù)劰姷募刀省ｋm說(shuō)私人間的嫉妒有百害而無(wú)一利，但公眾的嫉妒卻還有一點(diǎn)好處，因?yàn)樗拖裉掌胖鸱á伲沙ツ切┪桓邔?quán)者，所以它對(duì)其他大人物亦是一種制約，可使他們循規(guī)蹈矩。

這種在拉丁語(yǔ)中寫作invidia的嫉妒在現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言中又叫“不滿情緒”，關(guān)于這點(diǎn)筆者將在談及叛亂時(shí)加以討論。公眾的嫉妒對(duì)國(guó)家來(lái)說(shuō)是一種可能蔓延的疾病，正如傳染病可侵入健全的肌體并使之犯疾一樣，國(guó)民一旦產(chǎn)生這種嫉妒，他們甚至?xí)磳?duì)最合理的國(guó)家行為，并使這些行為背上惡名；而為此采取寵絡(luò)民心的舉措也幾乎無(wú)濟(jì)于事，因?yàn)檫@正好表明當(dāng)局害怕嫉妒，軟弱可欺，結(jié)果造成的損害更大。這也像通常的傳染病一樣，你越怕它，它越要找上門來(lái)。

這種公眾的嫉妒似乎主要是針對(duì)高官大臣，而不是針對(duì)君王和國(guó)家本身。但有一條千真萬(wàn)確的規(guī)律，那就是如果某位大臣并無(wú)甚過(guò)失卻招來(lái)公眾強(qiáng)烈的嫉妒，或是公眾的嫉妒在某種程度上是針對(duì)一國(guó)之所有大臣，那嫉妒的矛頭（雖隱而不露）實(shí)際上就是指向國(guó)家本身了。以上所言便是公眾的嫉妒，或日公眾的不滿，以及它與私人間的嫉妒之不同，而關(guān)于后者前文已經(jīng)論及。

最后筆者再就嫉妒之情泛泛補(bǔ)充幾句。在人類所有情感中，嫉妒是一種最糾纏不休的感情，因其他感情的生發(fā)都有特定的時(shí)間場(chǎng)合，只是偶爾為之；所以古人說(shuō)得好：

嫉妒從不休假；
因?yàn)樗傇谀承┤诵闹凶魉睢Ｊ廊诉€注意到，愛(ài)情和嫉妒的確會(huì)使人衣帶漸寬，而其他感情卻不致如此，原因是其他感情都不像愛(ài)情和嫉妒那樣寒暑無(wú)間。嫉妒亦是最卑劣最墮落的一種感情，因此它是魔鬼的固有屬性，魔鬼就是那個(gè)趁黑夜在麥田里撒稗種的嫉妒者①；而就像一直所發(fā)生的那樣，嫉妒也總是在暗中施展詭計(jì)，偷偷損害像麥?zhǔn)蛑惖奶煜铝嘉铩?BR>