(中英)現(xiàn)代散文:《師說》解 My Interpretation of On the Teacher

My Interpretation of On the Teacher

《師說》解①

◎ Liao Mosha

◎　廖沫沙

Elderly people aged over fifty must have read Han Yu's On the Teacher. Quite a few remarks in this essay are worthy of contemplation by present-day teachers and pupils. Take the following for example:

年過五十的老先生，大概總讀過韓愈的《師說》。這篇文章里很有幾句話值得今天當老師和學生的想一想。例如他說：

Confucius says: 'Out of three men, there must be one who can teach me.' So pupils are not necessarily inferior to their teachers, nor teachers better than their pupils. Some learn the truth earlier than others, and some have special skills — that is all.

“孔子曰：三人行，則必有我?guī)?。是故弟子②不必不如師，師不必賢于弟子。聞道有先后，術業(yè)有專攻，如是而已。”

Han Yu wrote this essay to defend himself against the attack of his time on his having accepted some disciples. In his opinion, having disciples was not something to be surprised at because, as a teacher, he was not necessarily better than his disciples in every way, nor his disciples always inferior to him. As a matter of fact, one who has learned the truth earlier than you, no matter who he is, should be acknowledged as a teacher. You need not ask whether he was born before or after you because what matters is the knowledge that he can impart to you. Nor should you presume him to be omniscient. So long as he excels you in one respect, you should learn from him and call him your teacher. This advice of mine is addressed to pupils, and teachers as well — teachers whose duty it is "to pass on the truth, impart knowledge and dispel ignorance".

韓愈的原意，是因為自己接受了門徒，為了抵制當時輿論的非議，所以寫這篇文章自解。他的意思是說，自己雖是作了先生，并不一定樣樣賢于弟子，從他學的人也不一定不如他，人們不必因此而大驚小怪。本來，只要是一個人聞道在先，不管他是什么人，都可以拜為老師。要學習的是知識，用不著問他“生乎我前”或“生乎吾后”；也用不著要求老師精通百般武藝，只要他有一門是比自己好的，就應該認他為師，向他學習。這是講給求學的人聽的。但也可以反過來講給“傳道授業(yè)解惑”的老師們聽。

Pupils are not necessarily inferior to their teachers, nor teachers better than their pupils — that is a truth, not a fallacy. There is no impassable demarcation line between teacher and pupil. While a teacher may be superior to his pupil in one branch of knowledge, the latter may be superior to the former in another. While the teacher may be superior to his pupil today, the latter may be superior to the former tomorrow. That demonstrates the law of dialectics and the unity of opposites. A kind of interplay exists between teacher and pupil. The pupil should learn from his teacher, but sometimes there may also be something the teacher has to learn from his pupil.

“弟子不必不如師，師不必賢于弟子”，這是一個真理，并不是瞎說。老師和學生并沒有什么不可逾越的界限。在這門知識上老師高于學生，在另一門知識上，學生也可能高于老師；今天老師高于學生，明天學生可能高過老師。這也是辯證法，對立面的統(tǒng)一。老師和學生可以互相轉(zhuǎn)換，學生要向老師學習，老師也有需要向?qū)W生學習之處。

A similar idea is expressed by the following well-known passage quoted from Xueji (The Subject of Education), a chapter of the ancient book Liji (The Book of Rites): "However nice the food may be, if one does not eat it, he does not know its taste; however perfect the doctrine may be, if one does not learn it, he does not know its value. Therefore, when he learns, one knows his own deficiencies; when he teaches, one knows where the difficulty lies. After he knows his deficiencies, one is able to examine himself; after he knows where the difficulty lies, one is able to improve himself. Hence, 'teaching and learning help each other;' as it is said in Yue Ming, 'Teaching is the half of learning.'" The above quotation from Liji, which lays emphasis on self-examination and self-improvement, is less thoroughgoing than what Han Yu says about education. Nevertheless, its remarks such as "When he teaches one knows where the difficulty lies", "Teaching benefits teachers as well as pupils" and "Teaching is the half of learning" (a quotation meaning teaching and learning are opposite and complementary to each other) all remain irrefutable to this day.

《禮記》③的《學記》④有一段著名的話，意思也和這相近：“雖有佳肴，弗食，不知其旨也。雖有至道，弗學，不知其善也。是故學然后知不足，教然后知困。知不足，然后能自反也。知困，然后能自強也。故曰：教學相長也。‘說命’⑤曰：‘學半’⑥。其此之謂乎！”《禮記》的話著重在自反自強，不如韓愈說得更徹底。但是它所說的“教然后知困”，“教學相長”，所引的“學半”（就是說教學各居其半，相反而相成），就是在今天說來，也還是顛撲不破的。

To be a teacher, one must at the same time be a student, or be a student first, just as Carl Marx says, "Educators must themselves be educated first." Though this is plain truth, yet people in their practical life seldom recognize it. It is especially hard for teachers of long standing or those with "special skills", as Han Yu says, to look at this matter dialectically.

做先生的必然同時做學生，或者首先做學生，像馬克思所說的“教育者必先受教育”，這個道理說來很淺顯，但是人們在實際生活中卻很不容易承認。特別是當老師當久了的人⑦，或者像韓愈所說的“術業(yè)有專攻”的人，就很不容易接受這個辯證法。

It is not without reason or cause that teachers fail to be readily receptive to the above-mentioned concept. The viewpoint "Pupils are not necessarily inferior to their teachers, nor teachers better than their pupils", though put forward by Han Yu, himself a feudal-minded scholar typical of his time, was by no means popular in the feudal age. On the contrary, as teachers were ranked high up along with "Heaven, Earth, Sovereign and Parents" as objects of worship in the feudal age, pupils could never be on an equal footing with their teachers to form a unity of opposites. After all, a teacher was a teacher. His teaching profession was dignified, sacred and inviolable. A pupil was a pupil. He was never expected to surpass his teacher. The practice has come down from the past and become customary.

老師們不容易接受這個道理⑧，倒也事出有因。“弟子不必不如師，師不必賢于弟子”，雖是封建思想的代表者韓愈所提出來的一個觀點，但是在封建時代卻并不通行。正好相反，“天地君親師”，在封建時代，老師是同“天地君親”在一起，居高而臨下，弟子哪里能同老師上下平等而又矛盾統(tǒng)一呢？老師畢竟是老師，師道尊嚴，神圣不可侵犯，弟子畢竟是弟子，怎可以超過老師？這個觀點相沿成習。

The new relationship between teacher and pupil should be that of, in the words of Han Yu, "not (being) ashamed to learn from each other." That is to say, teacher and pupil should teach each other and learn from each other. They should teach each other as equals regardless of seniority, so that, as Han Yu says, "Whoever knows the truth can be a teacher."

新的師生關系，倒真像韓愈所說的，是“不恥相師”。就是互為老師，互為學生，彼此平等，不分尊卑，真正是“道之所存，師之所存”，誰有學問誰就是老師。

Pupils should show the spirit of respecting the truth, learning from whoever knows. Teachers should be so open-minded as to be ready to learn from anyone who knows, just as Confucius says, "Out of three men, there must be one who can teach me."

從學生方面來說，應該有“道之所存，師之所存”的尊重真理的精神；從老師方面來說，也應該像孔夫子那樣，有一點“三人行，則必有我?guī)?rdquo;的雅量。

Han Yu, going by Confucius' teaching, asserts that "a sage has no definite teacher", meaning that a really wise and learned person has no fixed teacher and that he learns from whoever knows. I think I may as well add, "No teacher is all-knowing," meaning that no teacher is infallible. A teacher should have the courage not only to hold firmly to the truth but also to admit his mistake. All devoted teachers might as well put this into practice so that they can strive, together with their pupils, for scientific knowledge and the truth.

韓愈援引孔子的先例⑨，作出判斷說，“圣人無常師”。這句話的意思，是說真正聰明有學問的人，沒有一定的老師；見人有學問，不管是誰，就認他為師。我想還得給他添一句：“師亦無常道，”就是當老師的并不經(jīng)常等于真理。一個當老師的人，既要勇于堅持自己的真理，又要勇于承認自己的非真理。要保持師位的⑩，不妨試一試這條方案，同學生們一道來為科學真理奮斗。

On the other hand, however, pupils should also understand this: when they discover a teacher's weak point in a certain respect, they should not jump to the conclusion that he is no longer qualified as a teacher, because the weak point in one respect does not mean the weak point in all respects and, likewise, the strong point in a certain point does not mean the strong point in all respects. Students of today, shouldering a great historical task, should deeply understand how limited their knowledge is and how important it is for them to learn modestly from all those who have knowledge and strong points, especially teachers who "have special skills"! That is all I can say about On the Teacher.

在另一方面，當學生的也應當了解；既然師和弟子的關系并不以師必賢于弟子、弟子必不如師為條件，那末，今天的學生在看到老師的某一方面的短處以后，也就不應該馬上得到結(jié)論說，老師再不能作老師了。某一方面的短處并不等于一切方面的短處；反之，某一方面的長處也并不等于一切方面的長處。今天的學生擔負著重大的使命，應該深切地認識自己知識的還很有限，必須虛心地向一切有所知、有所長的人學習，特別是向“術業(yè)有專攻”的老師們學習！這就是我的《師說》解。

現(xiàn)代著名雜文家廖沫沙（1907—1990）的這篇短文寫于1959年1月，旨在推動當時社會上正在進行的教學改革。文章雖然題為《〈師說〉解》，卻并不止于解說，而是借題發(fā)揮，闡述新時代應有的師生關系，其論點在今天不無參考價值。