pagan and christian creeds-第34节
按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
quite gymnastic exercise in which the performers took a special pride in striking their own buttocks with their heels！ or others wilder still； which it would perhaps not be convenient to describe。
＇1＇ ： hymns sung over the winepress （Dictionary）。
We must see how important a part Dancing played in that great panorama of Ritual and Religion （spoken of in the last chapter） which； having originally been led up to by the 'Fall of Man；' has ever since the dawn of history gradually overspread the world with its strange procession of demons and deities； and its symbolic representations of human destiny。 When it is remembered that ritual dancing was the matrix out of which the Drama sprang； and further that the drama in its inception （as still to…day in India） was an affair of religion and was acted in； or in connection with； the Temples； it becomes easier to understand how all this mass of ceremonial sacrifices； expiations； initiations； Sun and Nature festivals； eucharistic and orgiastic communions and celebrations； mystery…plays； dramatic representations； myths and legends； etc。； which I have touched upon in the preceding chapterstogether with all the emotions； the desires； the fears； the yearnings and the wonderment which they representedhave practically sprung from the same root： a root deep and necessary in the psychology of Man。 Presently I hope to show that they will all practically converge again in the end to one meaning； and prepare the way for one great Synthesis to comean evolution also necessary and inevitable in human psychology。
In that truly inspired Ode from which I quoted a few pages back； occur those well…known words whose repetition now will； on account of their beauty； I am sure be excused：
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting： The Soul that rises with us； our life's Star； Hath had elsewhere its setting； And cometh from afar； Not in entire forgetfulness； And not in utter nakedness； But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God； who is our home： Heaven lies about us in our infancy！ Shades of the prison…house begin to close Upon the growing Boy； But He beholds the light and whence it flows He sees it in his joy； The youth who daily farther from the east Must travel； still is Nature's Priest； And by the vision splendid Is on his way attended； At length the man perceives it die away And fade into the light of common day。
Wordsworththough he had not the inestimable advantage of a nineteenth…century education and the inheritance of the Darwinian philosophydoes nevertheless put the matter of the Genius of the Child in a way which （with the alteration of a few conventional terms） we scientific moderns are quite inclined to accept。 We all admit now that the Child does not come into the world with a mental tabula rasa of entire forgetfulness but on the contrary as the possessor of vast stores of sub…conscious memory； derived from its ancestral inheritances； we all admit that a certain grace and intuitive insight and even prophetic quality； in the child…nature； are due to the harmonization of these racial inheritances in the infant； even before it is born； and that after birth the impact of the outer world serves rather to break up and disintegrate this harmony than to confirm and strengthen it。 Some psychologists indeed nowadays go so far as to maintain that the child is not only 'Father of the man；' but superior to the man；＇1＇ and that Boyhood and Youth and Maturity are attained to not
by any addition but by a process of loss and subtraction。 It will be seen that the last ten lines of the above quotation rather favor this view。
＇1＇ Man in the course of his life falls away more and more from the specifically HUMAN type of his early years； but the Ape in the course of his short life goes very much farther along the road of degradation and premature senility。〃 （Man and Woman； by Havelock Ellis； p。 24）。
But my object in making the quotation was not to insist on the truth of its application to the individual Child； but rather to point out the remarkable way in which it illustrates what I have said about the Childhood of the Race。 In fact； if the quotation be read over again with this interpretation （which I do not say Wordsworth intended） that the 'birth' spoken of is the birth or evolution of the distinctively self… conscious Man from the Animals and the animal…natured； unself…conscious human beings of a preceding age； then the parable unfolds itself perfectly naturally and convincingly。 THAT birth certainly was sleep and a forgetting； the grace and intuition and instinctive perfection of the animals was lost。 But the forgetfulness was not entire； the memory lingered long of an age of harmony； of an Eden… garden left behind。 And trailing clouds of this remembrance the first tribal men； on the edge of but not yet WITHIN the civilization…period； appear in the dawn of History。
As I have said before； the period of the dawn of Self… consciousness was also the period of the dawn of the practical and inquiring Intellect； it was the period of the babyhood of both； and so we perceive among these early people （as we also do among children） that while in the main the heart and the intuitions were right； the intellect was for a long period futile and rambling to a degree。 As soon as the mind left the ancient bases of instinct and sub…conscious racial experience it fell into a hopeless bog； out of which it only slowly climbed by means of the painfully…gathered stepping…stones of logic and what we call Science。 〃Heaven lies about us in our infancy。〃 Wordsworth perceived that wonderful world of inner experience and glory out of which the child emerges； and some even of us may perceive that similar world in which the untampered animals STILL dwell； and OUT of which self…regarding Man in the history of the race was long ago driven。 But a curse went with the exile。 As the Brain grew； the Heart withered。 The inherited instincts and racially accumulated wisdom； on which the first men thrived and by means of which they achieved a kind of temporary Paradise； were broken up； delusions and disease and dissension set in。 Cain turned upon his brother and slew him； and the shades of the prison… house began to close。 The growing Boy； however； （by whom we may understand the early tribes of Mankind） had yet a radiance of Light and joy in his life； and the Youththough travelling daily farther from the Eaststill remained Nature's priest； and by the vision splendid was on his way attended： but
At length the Man perceived it die away。 And fade into the light of common day。
What a strangely apt picture in a few words （if we like to take it so） of the long pilgrimage of the Human Race； its early and pathetic clinging to the tradition of the Eden… garden； its careless and vigorous boyhood； its meditative youth； with consciousness of sin and endless expiatory ritual in Nature's bosom； its fleeting visions of salvation； and finally its complete disillusionment and despair in the world… slaughter and unbelief of the twentieth century！
Leaving Wordsworth； however； and coming back to our main line of thought； we may point out that while early peoples were intellectually mere babieswith their endless yarns about heroes on horseback leaping over wide rivers or clouds of monks flying for hundreds of miles through the air； and their utter failure to understand the general concatenations of cause and effectyet practically and in their instinct of life and destiny they were； as I have already said； by no means fools； certainly not such fools as many of the arm…chair students of these things delight to represent them。 For just as； a few years ago； we modern civilizees studying outlying nations； the Chinese for instance； rejoiced （in our vanity） to pick out every quaint peculiarity and absurdity and monstrosity of a supposed topsyturvydom； and failed entirely to see the real picture of a great and eminently sensible people； so in the case of primitive men we have been； and even still are； far too prone to catalogue their cruelties and obscenities and idiotic superstitions； and to miss the sane and balanced setting of their actual lives。
Mr。 R。 R。 Marett； who has a good practical acquaintance with his subject； had in the Hibbert Journal for October 1918 an article on 〃The Primitive Medicine Man〃 in which he shows that the latter is as a rule anything but a fool and a knavealthough like 'medicals' in all ages he hocuspocuses his patients occasionally！ He instances the medicine… man's excellent management； in most cases； of childbirth； or of wounds and fractures； or his primeval skill in trepanning or trephiningall of which operations； he admits； may be accompanied with grotesque and superstitious ceremonies； yet show real perception and ability。 We all knowthough I think the article does not mention the matter what a considerable list there is of drugs and herbs which the modern art of healing owes to the ancient medicine…man； and it may be again mentioned that one of the most up…to… date treatmentsthe use of a prolonged and exclusive diet of MILK as a means of giving the organism a new start in severe caseshas really come down to us through the
