魔晶仆从,第3篇序言,小崔对比阿恩和札克
小崔的说教…,好难翻呢…
望指点……英文在下面~
第三篇
序言
将会是什么?
恶魔纯粹的丑陋中存在着简单的美。没有含混,没有质疑,没有误解,关于如何对待这些创造物。你不与恶魔赌博。你不听他们的谎言。你驱逐他们,摧毁他们,使这世界摆脱他们,即使诱惑在于利用它们的力量保护你认同的良善。
召唤恶魔的法师和牧师总抱着一种错误的观点。这些施法者恶魔从他们原来的界域召唤来,也许为了某个谜题的答案,或可能被他们的力量蒙蔽。他们认为控制这些恶魔使之站在自己一方,对他们的事业,他们的军队会很有利。有什么错呢?他们想,只要最后的结果都是好的。英明的国王在当地精威胁到他的领土时不是也会慎重地使用这些“被束缚的”恶魔?
但我不这么认为,如果良善需要这些绝对的邪恶相互争斗才得以存活,那根本没有任何能保留的,能挽救的。
恶魔只有在决不可能脱逃的情况下,为摧毁他们的邪恶谋密才能被短时召唤。我很确信许多牧师与法师都有像凯德立在高飞之灵的召唤室。即使召唤法阵完美无缺,当面对有着强大力量的六臂蛇魔或是巴洛也不是没有风险。
诱惑的谎言不会被兑现。无以挽救。希望全无。救赎是交涉中决定性的关键。将你的刀剑回火当救赎存在可能,将它握紧等待救赎的到来,当远离任何挽救的可能时,将它深深地刺入你的敌手,绝无怜悯。
阿提密斯·恩崔立的准则究竟架构在什么之上?我思索。这个人真的远离任何帮助与希望吗?
是的,我相信先前如此,但今后决不。没有帮助是因为阿提密斯·恩崔立从不接受。他最大的缺点是他的自尊―――并不是众多比他弱的战士的骄傲,而是完全的独立自主,绝对的自信。我可以像以任何途径了解他的人一样告诉他所犯的错误,但他不会听进我的话。
或许现在这个人还有被挽救的余地。我不清楚他愤怒的源起,它一直在增长。我无法原谅这个人所做过的。自恩崔立的标志匕首与剑滴淌的是他自己的血。
我相信,他承受这些并不好过。就像是黑龙的喷吐烧灼着他的肌肤,啃噬着他的内心。在我与他最后的遭遇,我看到了他黑色双眼中那持久的痛苦。我击败了他,我可以杀了他,我相信他期望我这么做,期望我结束他施加给自己的痛苦。
这使我止住了我的刀,我希望阿提密斯·恩崔立终于能够意识到他的道路需要改变,现在他选择的路空虚且最终令人绝望。我站在那里思索着这些可能,双刀在手,他无防备地站在我面前。当我看到他眼中的痛苦,这救赎的前迹,我怎么能挥下我的刀?可如果我不,如果让阿提密斯·恩崔立走出魔晶塔,他又会给多少人带来厄运?
这令我难以抉择,一个道德的转折或是平衡。在那个决定性的时刻,我自我对我父亲――札克纳梵的记忆中找到答案。我知道恩崔立和札克纳梵并不是如此的不同,他们有许多相似之处。他们都自逆境中生还。以他们的判断,他们没有杀过任何一个不该杀的人。为卡林港肮脏的帕夏们工作的杀手与卓尔家族的士兵有很大的差别吗?因此,从许多方面看,札克纳梵与阿提密斯·恩崔立非常相像。两人都生活在一个充满诡计、危险、邪恶的世界。两人都幸免于束缚他们的残酷法则。恩崔立环顾他的世界,他的牢狱,就像札克纳梵看着魔索布莱城。
我将他们两人进行比较是当我第一次踏上卡林港为追击绑架瑞吉斯的恩崔立意识到的(我必须承认,恩崔立的行为有正当的理由),它困扰着我。他们是多么的相近,精深的战技,以及对杀戮的渴求。是这些我对札克纳梵的真切感受在我可以击倒恩崔立时使我止住了我的刀吗?
不,我说不,我相信札克纳梵对于该杀谁、谁不该杀更有辨识能力。我洞悉扎克纳梵的真实内心。我清楚扎克纳梵拥有爱的能力,而阿提密斯·恩崔立在这一点上没法与他相比。
至少现在的他不是,但伪装在他的杀手装束下,他能找到一丝光明吗?
也许吧,我会很高兴他能拥抱那束光。但我怀疑事实是,能否有任何人任何事能使已经熄灭的同情的火焰穿透阿提密斯·恩崔立现在所着的厚重、看起来难以进入的由冷漠拼装的甲胄。
――――崔斯特·杜垩登
Part 3
NOW WHAT?
There is a simple beauty in the absolute ugliness of
demons. There is no ambiguity there, no hesitation, no
misconception, about how one must deal with such creatures.
You do not parlay with demons. You do not hear their lies.
You cast them out, destroy them, rid the world of them-even
if the temptation is present to utilize their powers to save
what you perceive to be a little corner of goodness.
This is a difficult concept for many to grasp and has
been the downfall of many wizards and priests who have
errantly summoned demons and allowed the creatures to move
beyond their initial purpose-the answering of a question,
perhaps-because they were tempted by the power offered by
the creature. Many of these doomed spellcasters thought they
would be doing good by forcing the demons to their side, by
bolstering their cause, their army, with demonic soldiers.
What ill, they supposed, if the end result proved to the
greater good? Would not a goodly king be well advised to add
"controlled" demons to his cause if goblins threatened his
lands?
I think not, because if the preservation of goodness
relies upon the use of such obvious and irredeemable evil to
defeat evil, then there is nothing, truly, worth saving.
The sole use of demons, then, is to bring them forth
only in times when they must betray the cause of evil, and
only in a setting so controlled that there is no hope of
their escape. Cadderly has done this within the secure
summoning chamber of the Spirit Soaring, as have, I am sure,
countless priests and wizards. Such a summoning is not
without peril, though, even if the circle of protection is
perfectly formed, for there is always a temptation that goes
with the manipulation of powers such as a balor or a
nalfeshnie.
Within that temptation must always lie the realization
of irredeemable evil. Irredeemable. Without hope. That
concept, redemption, must be the crucial determinant in any
such dealings. Temper your blade when redemption is
possible, hold it when redemption is at hand, and strike
hard and without remorse when your opponent is beyond any
hope of redemption.
Where on that scale does Artemis Entreri lie, I wonder?
Is the man truly beyond help and hope?
Yes, to the former, I believe, and no to the latter.
There is no help for Artemis Entreri because the man would
never accept any. His greatest flaw is his pride- not the
boasting pride of so many lesser warriors, but the pride of
absolute independence and unbending self-reliance. I could
tell him his errors, as could anyone who has come to know
him in any way, but he would not hear my words.
Yet perhaps there may be hope of some redemption for the
man. I know not the source of his anger, though it must have
been great. And yet I will not allow that the source,
however difficult and terrible it might have been, in any
way excuses the man from his actions. The blood on Entreri's
sword and trademark dagger is his own to wear.
He does not wear it well, I believe. It burns at his
skin as might the breath of a black dragon and gnaws at all
that is within him. I saw that during our last encounter, a
quiet and dull ache at the side of his dark eyes. I had him
beaten, could have killed him, and I believe that in many
ways he hoped I would finish the task and be done with it,
and end his mostly self-imposed suffering.
That ache is what held my blade, that hope within me
that somewhere deep inside Artemis Entreri there is the
understanding that his path needs to change, that the road
he currently walks is one of emptiness and ultimate despair.
Many thoughts coursed my mind as I stood there, weapons in
hand, with him defenseless before me. How could I strike
when I saw that pain in his eyes and knew that such pain
might well be the precursor to redemption? And yet how could
I not, when I was well
aware that letting Artemis Entreri walk out of that
crystalline tower might spell the doom of others?
Truly it was a dilemma, a crisis of conscience and of
balance. I found my answer in that critical moment in the
memory of my father, Zaknafein. To Entreri's thinking, I
know, he and Zaknafein are not so different, and there are
indeed similarities. Both existed in an environment hostile
and to their respective perceptions evil. Neither, to their
perceptions, did either go out of his way to kill anyone who
did not deserve it. Are the warriors and assassins who fight
for the wretched pashas of Calimport any better than the
soldiers of the drow houses? Thus, in many ways, the actions
of Zaknafein and those of Artemis Entreri are quite similar.
Both existed in a world of intrigue, danger, and evil. Both
survived their imprisonment through ruthless means. If
Entreri views his world, his prison, as full of wretchedness
as Zaknafein viewed Menzoberranzan, then is not Entreri as
entitled to his manner as was Zaknafein, the weapons master
who killed many, many dark elves in his tenure as patron of
House Do'Urden?
It is a comparison I realized when first I went to
Calimport, in pursuit of Entreri, who had taken Regis as
prisoner (and even that act had justification, I must
admit), and a comparison that truly troubled me. How close
are they, given their abilities with the blade and their
apparent willingness to kill? Was it, then, some inner
feelings for Zaknafein that stayed my blade when I could
have cut Entreri down?
No, I say, and I must believe, for Zaknafein was far
more discerning in whom he would kill or would not kill. I
know the truth of Zaknafein's heart. I know that Zaknafein
was possessed of the ability to love, and the reality of
Artemis Entreri simply cannot hold up against that.
Not in his present incarnation, at least, but is there
hope that the man will find a light beneath the murderous
form of the assassin?
Perhaps, and I would be glad indeed to hear that the man
so embraced that light. In truth, though, I doubt that
anyone or anything will ever be able to pull that lost
flame of compassion through the thick and seemingly
impenetrable armor of dispassion that Artemis Entreri now
wears.
-Drizzt Do'Urden