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第14章

君主论-the prince(英文版)-第14章

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 and half man; so it is necessary for a prince to know how to makeuse of both natures; and that one without the other is not durable。 Aprince; therefore; being pelled knowingly to adopt the beast; oughtto choose the fox and the lion; because the lion cannot defend himselfagainst snares and the fox cannot defend himself against wolves。Therefore; it is necessary to be a fox to discover the snares and a lionto terrify the wolves。 Those who rely simply on the lion do notunderstand what they are about。 Therefore a wise lord cannot; nor oughthe to; keep faith when such observance may be turned against him; andwhen the reasons that caused him to pledge it exist no longer。 If menwere entirely good this precept would not hold; but because they arebad; and will not keep faith with you; you too are not bound to observeit with them。 Nor will there ever be wanting to a prince legitimatereasons to excuse this nonobservance。 Of this endless modern examplescould be given; showing how many treaties and engagements have been madevoid and of no effect through the faithlessness of princes; and he whohas known best how to employ the fox has succeeded best。But it is necessary to know well how to disguise this characteristic;and to be a great pretender and dissembler; and men are so simple; andso subject to present necessities; that he who seeks to deceive willalways find someone who will allow himself to be deceived。 One recentexample I cannot pass over in silence。 Alexander VI did nothing else butdeceive men; nor ever thought of doing otherwise; and he always foundvictims; for there never was a man who had greater power in asserting;or who with greater oaths would affirm a thing; yet would observe itless; nevertheless his deceits always succeeded according to his wishes;because he well understood this side of mankind。Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualitiesI have enumerated; but it is very necessary to appear to have them。 AndI shall dare to say this also; that to have them and always to observethem is injurious; and that to appear to have them is useful; to appearmerciful; faithful; humane; religious; upright; and to be so; but with amind so framed that should you require not to be so; you may be able andknow how to change to the opposite。And you have to understand this; that a prince; especially a new one;cannot observe all those things for which men are esteemed; being oftenforced; in order to maintain the state; to act contrary to faith;friendship; humanity; and religion。 Therefore it is necessary for him tohave a mind ready to turn itself accordingly as the winds and variationsof fortune force it; yet; as I have said above; not to diverge from thegood if he can avoid doing so; but; if pelled; then to know how toset about it。For this reason a prince ought to take care that he never lets anythingslip from his lips that is not replete with the above…named fivequalities; that he may appear to him who sees and hears him altogethermerciful; faithful; humane; upright; and religious。 There is nothingmore necessary to appear to have than this last quality; inasmuch as menjudge generally more by the eye than by the hand; because it belongs toeverybody to see you; to few to e in touch with you。 Every one seeswhat you appear to be; few really know what you are; and those few darenot oppose themselves to the opinion of the many; who have the majestyof the state to defend them; and in the actions of all men; andespecially of princes; which it is not prudent to challenge; one judgesby the result。For that reason; let a prince have the credit of conquering and holdinghis state; the means will always be considered honest; and he will bepraised by everybody because the vulgar are always taken by what a thingseems to be and by what es of it; and in the world there are only thevulgar; for the few find a place there only when the many have no groundto rest on。One prince '1' of the present time; whom it is not well to name; neverpreaches anything else but peace and good faith; and to both he is mosthostile; and either; if he had kept it; would have deprived him ofreputation and kingdom many a time。1。 Maximilian I; Holy Roman Emperor。CHAPTER XIXTHAT ONE SHOULD AVOID BEING DESPISED AND HATEDNow; concerning the characteristics of which mention is made above; Ihave spoken of the more important ones; the others I wish to discussbriefly under this generality; that the prince must consider; as hasbeen in part said before; how to avoid those things which will make himhated or contemptible; and as often as he shall have succeeded he willhave fulfilled his part; and he need not fear any danger in otherreproaches。It makes him hated above all things; as I have said; to be rapacious;and to be a violator of the property and women of his subjects; fromboth of which he must abstain。 And when neither their property norhonour is touched; the majority of men live content; and he has only tocontend with the ambition of a few; whom he can curb with ease in manyways。It makes him contemptible to be considered fickle; frivolous;effeminate; mean…spirited; irresolute; from all of which a prince shouldguard himself as from a rock; and he should endeavour to show in hisactions greatness; courage; gravity; and fortitude; and in his privatedealings with his subjects let him show that his judgments areirrevocable; and maintain himself in such reputation that no one canhope either to deceive him or to get round him。That prince is highly esteemed who conveys this impression of himself;and he who is highly esteemed is not easily conspired against; for;provided it is well known that he is an excellent man and revered by hispeople; he can only be attacked with difficulty。 For this reason aprince ought to have two fears; one from within; on account of hissubjects; the other from without; on account of external powers。 Fromthe latter he is defended by being well armed and having good allies;and if he is well armed he will have good friends; and affairs willalways remain quiet within when they are quiet without; unless theyshould have been already disturbed by conspiracy; and even shouldaffairs outside be disturbed; if he has carried out his preparations andhas lived as I have said; as long as he does not despair; he will resistevery attack; as I said Nabis the Spartan did。But concerning his subjects; when affairs outside are disturbed he hasonly to fear that they will conspire secretly; from which a prince caneasily secure himself by avoiding being hated and despised; and bykeeping the people satisfied with him; which it is most necessary forhim to acplish; as I said above at length。 And one of the mostefficacious remedies that a prince can have against conspiracies is notto be hated and despised by the people; for he who conspires against aprince always expects to please them by his removal; but when theconspirator can only look forward to offending them; he will not havethe courage to take such a course; for the difficulties that confront aconspirator are infinite。 And as experience shows; many have been theconspiracies; but few have been successful; because he who conspirescannot act alone; nor can he take a panion except from those whom hebelieves to be malcontents; and as soon as you have opened your mind toa malcontent you have given him the material with which to contenthimself; for by denouncing you he can look for every advantage; so that;seeing the gain from this course to be assured; and seeing the other tobe doubtful and full of dangers; he must be a very rare friend; or athoroughly obstinate enemy of the prince; to keep faith with you。And; to reduce the matter into a small pass; I say that; on the sideof the conspirator; there is nothing but fear; jealousy; prospect ofpunishment to terrify him; but on the side of the prince there is themajesty of the principality; the laws; the protection of friends and thestate to defend him; so that; adding to all these things the populargoodwill; it is impossible that any one should be so rash as toconspire。 For whereas in general the conspirator has to fear before theexecution of his plot; in this case he has also to fear the sequel tothe crime; because on account of it he has the people for an enemy; andthus cannot hope for any 

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