History: The Prophet: On Good and Evil

Source of version: 2 (current)

||On Good & Evil| And one of the elders of the city said, "Speak to us of Good and Evil."| And he answered:| Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.| For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?| Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters.| You are good when you are one with yourself.| Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.| For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house.| And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.| You are good when you strive to give of yourself.| Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.| For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.| Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, "Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance."| For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.| You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,| Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose.| And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.| You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.| Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.| Even those who limp go not backward.| But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.| You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good,| You are only loitering and sluggard.| Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.| In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.| But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.| And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.| But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, "Wherefore are you slow and halting?"| For the truly good ask not the naked, "Where is your garment?" nor the houseless, "What has befallen your house?"| || ||((The Prophet|The Prophet)) |le prije ctuca / le pijyctu (the wise teacher) ((The Prophet: The Coming of the Ship)) |.i nu selklama le bloti ((The Prophet: On Love)) |lo ka prami ((The Prophet: On Marriage)) |lo nu speni ((The Prophet: On Children)) |lo panzi ((The Prophet: On Giving)) |lo nu dunda ((The Prophet: On Eating and Drinking)) |lo nu citka je pinxe ((The Prophet: On Work)) |lo zu'o gunka ((The Prophet: On Joy and Sorrow)) |lo li'i gleki je badri ((The Prophet: On Houses)) |lo zdani ((The Prophet: On Clothes)) |lo taxfu ((The Prophet: On Buying and Selling)) |lo nu tevecnu je vecnu ((The Prophet: On Crime and Punishment)) |lo zekri .e lo nu sfasa ((The Prophet: On Laws)) |lo flalu ((The Prophet: On Freedom)) |lo za'i zifre ((The Prophet: On Reason and Passion)) | lo nu krinu pensi .e lo se cinmo ((The Prophet: On Pain)) | lo nu dunku ((The Prophet: On Self-Knowledge)) | lo nu sevzi djuno ((The Prophet: On Teaching)) | lo nu ctuca ((The Prophet: On Friendship)) | lo nu pendo ((The Prophet: On Talking)) | lo nu tavla ((The Prophet: On Time)) | lo temci ((The Prophet: On Good and Evil)) | lo ka vrude .e lo ka pacna ((The Prophet: On Prayer)) | lo nu jdaselsku ((The Prophet: On Pleasure)) | lo za'i pluka ((The Prophet: On Beauty)) | lo ka melbi ((The Prophet: On Religion)) | lo lijde ((The Prophet: On Death)) | lo nu morsi ((The Prophet: The Farewell)) | le nu cusku zo co'o||