On Listening to Lectures (chapters 1–4, 17–18)
论听讲（第一至四章，第十七至十八章）
原题：Περὶ τοῦ ἀκούειν（古希腊语）
普鲁塔克 Πλούταρχος（约 46–119 年以后）
译者：Frank Cole Babbitt（1867–1935），1927 年
公元一世纪末或二世纪初；1927 年英译

冷冻图书馆 · 开架书库 · S-005205 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/005205
权利：公元一或二世纪用希腊文写成。译者弗兰克·科尔·巴比特卒于 1935 年；他的译本 1927 年出版。已按澳大利亚、欧盟、英国、中国大陆和美国的规则核对（截至 2026 年 10 月 11 日）。仅供参考，不是法律意见。
来源：LacusCurtius (Bill Thayer)，https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/De_auditu*.html（取于 2026-10-11）
中文译文：Claude（AI），2026 · CC0 1.0
生成于 2026-10-14，来自 https://coldlibrary.com/open-stacks/plutarch-on-listening-to-lectures

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1

The discourse which I gave on the subject of listening to lectures I have written out and sent to you, my dear Nicander, so that you may know how rightly to listen to the voice of persuasion, now that you are no longer subject to authority, having assumed the garb of a man. Now absence of control, which some of the young men, for want of education, think to be freedom, establishes the sway of a set of masters, harsher than the teachers and attendants of childhood, in the form of the desires, which are now, as it were, unchained. And just as Herodotus says that women put off their modesty along with their undergarments, so some of our young men, as soon as they lay aside the garb of childhood, lay aside also their sense of modesty and fear, and, undoing the habit that invests them, straightway become full of unruliness. But you have often heard that to follow God and to obey reason are the same thing, and so I ask you to believe that in persons of good sense the passing from childhood to manhood is not a casting off of control, but a recasting of the controlling agent, since instead of some hired person or slave purchased with money they now take as the divine guide of their life reason, whose followers alone may deservedly be considered free. For they alone, having learned to wish for what they ought, live as they wish; but in untrained and irrational impulses and actions there is something ignoble, and changing one's mind many times involves but little freedom of will.


2

We may find a comparison in the case of newly naturalized citizens; those among them who were alien born and perfect strangers find fault with many of the things that are done, and are discontented; whereas those who come from the class of resident aliens, having been brought up under our laws and grown to be well acquainted with them, have no difficulty in accepting what devolves upon them and are content. And so you, who have been brought up for a long time in contact with philosophy, and have from the beginning been accustomed to philosophic reasoning as an ingredient in every portion of early instruction and information, ought to feel like an old friend and familiar when you come to philosophy, which alone can array young men in the manly and truly perfect adornment that comes from reason.

I think you may not find unwelcome some preliminary remarks about the sense of hearing, which Theophrastus asserts is the most emotional of all the senses. For nothing which can be seen or tasted or touched brings on such distractions, confusions, and excitements, as take possession of the soul when certain crashing, clashing, and roaring noises assail the hearing. Yet this sense is more rational than emotional. For while many places and parts of the body make way for vice to enter through them and fasten itself upon the soul, virtue's only hold upon the young is afforded by the ears, if they be uncontaminated and kept from the outset unspoiled by flattery and untouched by vile words. For this reason Xenocrates advised putting ear-protectors on children rather than on athletes, on the ground that the latter have only their ears disfigured by the blows they receive, while the former have their characters disfigured by the words they hear; not that he would thus court heedlessness or deafness, but he advises vigilance against vile words, until such time as other words, of good sort, fostered in the character by philosophy, should, like watchmen, have taken under their charge the post chiefly exposed to influence and persuasion. And Bias of old, on receiving orders to send to Amasis the portion of the sacrificial animal which was at the same time the best and the worst, cut out the tongue and sent it to him, on the ground that speech contains both injuries and benefits in the largest measure. Most people in bestowing an affectionate kiss on little children not only take hold of the children by the ears but bid the children to do the same by them, thus insinuating in a playful way that they must love most those who confer benefit through the ears. For surely the fact is plain, that the young man who is debarred from hearing all instruction and gets no taste of speech not only remains wholly unfruitful and makes no growth towards virtue, but may also be perverted towards vice, and the product of his mind, like that of a fallow and untilled piece of ground, will be a plentiful crop of wild oats. For if the impulses towards pleasure and the feelings of suspicion towards hard work (which are not of external origin nor imported products of the spoken word, but indigenous sources, as it were, of pestilent emotions and disorders without number) be allowed to continue unconstrained along their natural channels, and if they be not either removed or diverted another way through the agency of goodly discourse, thus putting the natural endowments in a fit condition, there is not one of the wild beasts but would be found more civilized than man.


3

Therefore, since listening to lectures is attended by great benefit, but by no less danger, to the young, I think it is a good thing to discuss the matter continually both with oneself and with another person. The reason for so doing is because we observe that a poor use is made of this by the great majority of persons, who practise speaking before they have acquired the habit of listening. They think that there must be study and practice in discourse, but as for hearing, benefit will come however it be used. It is true that, in the case of persons playing ball, learning to throw and learning to catch take place at the same time; but in the use of discourse its proper reception comes before its delivery, just as conception and pregnancy come before parturition. It is said that when fowls labour and bring forth wind-eggs, these result from some imperfect and infertile residue from conception; and if young men have not the power to listen, or the habit of getting some profit through listening, the speech brought forth by them is windy indeed, and

Void of repute and unheeded beneath the clouds it is scattered.

For although they can incline and turn vessels properly to receive any liquid which is being poured into them, in order that there may actually be a filling and not a spilling, they never learn to apply themselves to a speaker and to accord attention to his lecture so that none of its good points may escape them. But here is the most ridiculous thing in the world: if they chance upon somebody who is giving an account of a dinner or a procession or a dream or a wordy brawl which he has had with another man, they listen in silence, and importune him to continue; yet if anybody draws them to one side and tries to impart something useful, or to advise them of some duty, or to admonish them when in the wrong, or to mollify them when incensed, they have no patience with him; but, eager to get the better of him if they can, they fight against what he says, or else they beat a hasty retreat in search of other foolish talk, filling their ears like worthless and rotten vessels with anything rather than the things they need. As skilful horse-trainers give us horses with a good mouth for the bit, so too skilful educators give us children with a good ear for speech, by teaching them to hear much and speak little. Indeed, Spintharus declared in commendation of Epameinondas that it was not easy to find a man who knew more and spoke less. And it is a common saying that nature has given to each of us two ears and one tongue, because we ought to do less talking than listening.


4

In all cases, then, silence is a safe adornment for the young man, and especially so, when in listening to another he does not get excited or bawl out every minute, but even if the remarks be none too agreeable, puts up with them, and waits for the speaker to pause, and, when the pause comes, does not at once interpose his objection, but, as Aeschines puts it, allows an interval to elapse, in case the speaker may desire to add something to what he has said, or to alter or unsay anything. But those who instantly interrupt with contradictions, neither hearing nor being heard, but talking while others talk, behave in an unseemly manner; whereas the man who has the habit of listening with restraint and respect, takes in and masters a useful discourse, and more readily sees through and detects a useless or false one, showing himself thus to be a lover of truth and not a lover of disputation, nor froward and contentious. Wherefore it is sometimes said not unaptly that it is even more necessary to take the wind of self-opinion and conceit out of the young, than to deflate wine-skins, if you wish to fill them with something useful; otherwise, being full of bombast and inflation, they have no room to receive it.


17

Moreover, just as in learning to read and write, or in taking up music or physical training, the first lessons are attended with much confusion, hard work, and uncertainty, but later, as the learner makes progress, by slow degrees, just as in his relations with human beings, a full familiarity is engendered and knowledge which renders everything attractive, feasible, and easy, both to say and to do, so also is it with philosophy, which undoubtedly has something knotty and unfamiliar in its terms and subject matter at the outset; yet one ought not to take fright at its beginnings, and to abandon it in timorous and craven fashion; rather should he examine each point, and persist and stick to the task of getting on, while awaiting that familiarity which makes every noble thing a pleasure. For come it will without long delay, bringing with it abundant light for the subject of study; it will inspire also a passionate love for virtue; and anyone who could endure to pass the rest of his life without this passion, because he has exiled himself from philosophy for want of true manliness, brands himself either as a very presumptuous man or else a coward.

It is quite possible that the subject of philosophy contains some matter which is difficult for young and inexperienced students to apprehend at the outset. But, at the same time, they must hold themselves responsible for most of the uncertainty and misunderstanding in which they find themselves involved, since quite opposite characters come to fall into the same error. Some, because of a feeling of shame and a desire to spare the speaker, hesitate to ask questions and to get the argument firmly fixed in their minds, nodding their heads in assent as though they comprehended it; others, led by an unseasonable ambition and inane rivalry with their fellow-students, to show off their acuteness and their ability to learn easily, avow that they have the meaning before they have grasped it, and so do not grasp it at all. Then the result is that those modest and silent persons, after leaving the lecture, distress themselves over their difficulties, and finally, driven by necessity, with even greater shame this time, they trouble the lecturers with questions which they should have asked before, and try to catch up; but with the ambitious and self-confident young men, the result is that they are all the time trying to cover up and conceal the ignorance that abides with them.


18

Let us therefore put from us all such foolishness and pretension, and, as we go onward to the task of learning, let us take pains thoroughly to comprehend all profitable discourses; let us submit with patience to the laughter of those reputed to be clever, as did Cleanthes and Xenocrates, who, although they seemed to be slower than their schoolmates, yet did not try to escape learning or give it up in despair, but were the first to make jokes at themselves by comparing themselves to narrow-necked bottles and bronze tablets, as much as to say that they found great difficulty in taking in what was said, yet they kept it safely and securely. For not only is one bound, as Phocylides says,

Many a time to be cheated of hope when he seeks to be noble,

but he is bound also many a time to be laughed at and to be in disrepute, and to put up with joking and buffoonery as he struggles with might and main against his ignorance and overthrows it.

On the other hand, however, we certainly must not neglect the mistake that leads to the opposite extreme, which some persons are led to commit by laziness, thus making themselves unpleasant and irksome. For when they are by themselves they are not willing to give themselves any trouble, but they give trouble to the speaker by repeatedly asking questions about the same things, like unfledged nestlings always agape toward the mouth of another, and desirous of receiving everything ready prepared and predigested. There is another class, who, eager to be thought astute and attentive out of due place, wear out the speakers with loquacity and officiousness, by continually propounding some extraneous and unessential difficulty and asking for demonstrations of matters that need no demonstration, and so, as Sophocles puts it,

Much time it takes to go a little way,

not only for themselves but for the rest of the company too. For holding back the speaker on every possible occasion by their inane and superfluous questions, as in a company of persons travelling together, they impede the regular course of the lecture, which has to put up with halts and delays. Now such persons are, according to Hieronymus, like cowardly and persistent puppies which, at home, bite at the skins of wild animals, and tear off what bits they can, but never touch the animals themselves. But as for those lazy persons whom we have mentioned, let us urge them that, when their intelligence has comprehended the main points, they put the rest together by their own efforts, and use their memory as a guide in thinking for themselves, and, taking the discourse of another as a germ and seed, develop and expand it. For the mind does not require filling like a bottle, but rather, like wood, it only requires kindling to create in it an impulse to think independently and an ardent desire for the truth. Imagine, then, that a man should need to get fire from a neighbour, and, upon finding a big bright fire there, should stay there continually warming himself; just so it is if a man comes to another to share the benefit of a discourse, and does not think it necessary to kindle from it some illumination for himself and some thinking of his own, but, delighting in the discourse, sits enchanted; he gets, as it were, a bright and ruddy glow in the form of opinion imparted to him by what is said, but the mouldiness and darkness of his inner mind he has not dissipated nor banished by the warm glow of philosophy.

Finally, if there be need of any other instruction in regard to listening to a lecture, it is that it is necessary to keep in mind what has here been said, and to cultivate independent thinking along with our learning, so that we may acquire a habit of mind that is not sophistic or bent on acquiring mere information, but one that is deeply ingrained and philosophic, as we may do if we believe that right listening is the beginning of right living.

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中文译文 · Claude（AI）译

1

我关于听讲这个题目所作的那篇讲话，已经写出来寄给你了，亲爱的尼坎德，好让你知道怎样正确地倾听劝导的声音，因为你已经穿上了成年人的衣袍，不再受人管束了。有些年轻人由于缺乏教养，以为没有约束就是自由；其实没有约束，只会让一群比童年时的老师和侍从更严厉的主人建立起统治，那就是现在仿佛挣脱了锁链的种种欲望。正像希罗多德说女人脱下内衣，也就一并脱下了羞耻心，我们有些年轻人也是这样，一旦脱下童年的衣服，也就一并脱下了羞耻和敬畏之心，解开了裹在身上的那件习惯的外衣，立刻变得放纵不羁。可是你常常听人说，追随神和服从理性是同一回事，所以我请你相信：在明理的人那里，从童年进入成年，不是抛弃约束，而是更换约束者；因为他们不再以某个雇来的人或花钱买来的奴隶为向导，而是以理性作为他们生活的神圣向导，只有追随理性的人，才配被认为是自由的。因为只有他们，学会了希望自己应当希望的东西，才能按照自己的希望生活；而在未经训练、不合理性的冲动和行为中，有某种卑下的东西，一再改变主意，也谈不上有多少意志的自由。


2

我们可以拿新入籍的公民来作个比较：他们当中那些生在外邦、完全陌生的人，对许多做法都挑剔不满；而那些出身于侨居者阶层、在我们的法律下长大、对这些法律十分熟悉的人，则毫不困难地接受落到自己身上的义务，并且心满意足。你也是这样：你长期在哲学的熏陶下长大，从一开始就习惯了让哲学的推理成为早年每一部分教导和知识中的一种成分，所以当你走向哲学时，应当觉得自己像一位老朋友、老相识；只有哲学，才能用来自理性的那种有男子气概的、真正完美的装饰来装扮年轻人。

我想，你也许不会嫌我先就听觉说几句话。忒奥弗拉斯托斯断言，听觉是所有感官中最易动情的。因为凡是能看见、能尝到、能触摸到的东西，都不会引起那样的心神迷乱、慌乱和激动，像某些轰响、撞击、咆哮的声音冲击听觉时占据灵魂的那样。然而这种感官与其说是动情的，不如说是理性的。因为身体上有许多部位和器官，都给恶习让出了道路，让它从那里进入，缠住灵魂；而德性对年轻人唯一的把握，却是通过耳朵，只要耳朵没有受到污染，从一开始就没有被谄媚败坏，没有沾染下流的言语。因此，色诺克拉底主张给孩子们而不是给运动员戴上护耳，理由是运动员只是耳朵被拳头打得变了形，孩子们却是品格被听到的话弄得变了形；他并不是要借此鼓励漫不经心或者耳聋，而是劝人提防下流的言语，直到另一些好的言语，由哲学在品格中培育起来，像守夜人一样，接管这个最容易受影响、受劝诱的岗位。古时的比亚斯，接到命令，要把祭牲身上既是最好又是最坏的那一部分送给阿马西斯，他就割下舌头送了去，理由是言语包含着最大量的伤害，也包含着最大量的益处。大多数人亲吻小孩子以示疼爱时，不仅揪着孩子的耳朵，还叫孩子也照样揪着他们的耳朵，以开玩笑的方式暗示：他们最应当爱那些通过耳朵给人益处的人。因为事实显然是这样：一个被禁止听一切教导、尝不到言语滋味的年轻人，不仅始终毫无收获，在德性上毫无长进，而且还可能被引向恶习；他心里长出的东西，就像一块荒废未耕的土地，会是满地的野燕麦。因为对快乐的冲动、对辛劳的猜疑（它们不是从外面来的，也不是言语输入的产物，而可以说是本地生长的源泉，产生出无数有害的情感和紊乱），如果听任它们沿着天然的河道不受约束地流下去，如果不借助美好言语的作用，或者把它们除掉，或者把它们引向别处，从而使天赋处于适当的状态，那么，没有一种野兽不会显得比人更开化。


3

所以，既然听讲给年轻人带来很大的益处，也带来同样大的危险，我认为最好是不断地讨论这件事，既和自己讨论，也和别人讨论。之所以要这样做，是因为我们看到，绝大多数人在这件事上用得很糟：他们还没有养成听的习惯，就先练习说。他们认为说话需要学习和练习，至于听，无论怎样听都会有益处。诚然，在打球的人那里，学扔和学接是同时进行的；但是在运用言语的时候，正确地接受要先于说出，就像受孕和怀胎要先于分娩一样。据说母鸡费力生下风蛋，是受孕之后某种不完全、不能生育的残余所致；年轻人如果没有听的能力，或者没有从听中得到益处的习惯，他们生出来的话就真是一阵空风，而且

无声无闻、无人理会，消散在云层之下。

因为，他们虽然懂得把容器倾斜、转动得当，好接住倒进来的任何液体，使它真正装满而不是洒掉，却从来学不会专心对着讲话的人，留意他的讲解，不让其中任何一个好的论点从自己身边溜走。可是世上最可笑的事情是这样的：如果他们碰巧遇到一个人在讲述一次宴会、一次游行、一个梦，或者他和别人的一场口角，他们就默默地听，还缠着他讲下去；然而如果有人把他们拉到一边，想教给他们一些有用的东西，或者提醒他们某种责任，或者在他们做错时规劝他们，在他们发怒时安抚他们，他们就没有耐心听了；他们一心想尽可能占上风，同他所说的话作对，要不然就匆匆撤退，去找别的无聊的话，像没用的、腐坏的容器一样，往耳朵里装什么都行，就是不装他们需要的东西。正像高明的驯马师交给我们的马，嘴对嚼子很顺服，高明的教育者交给我们的孩子，耳朵对言语也很顺服，因为他们教孩子多听少说。的确，斯平塔罗斯称赞伊巴密浓达时说过，不容易找到一个知道得比他多、说得比他少的人。俗话也说，自然给了我们每个人两只耳朵、一条舌头，因为我们应当少说多听。


4

所以，无论在什么情况下，沉默对年轻人都是一种稳妥的装饰，尤其是当他听别人讲话时，不激动，不时时刻刻大声嚷嚷，即使话不太中听，也能忍着，等讲话的人停顿下来；停顿到来时，也不立刻插进自己的反驳，而是像埃斯基涅斯所说的，留出一段间隔，以防讲话的人想对说过的话有所补充，或者有所修改、有所收回。那些立刻用反驳打断别人的人，既听不见别人，也不被别人听见，别人说话时他们也在说话，这样的举止是不得体的；而惯于有节制、有礼貌地倾听的人，能够接受并掌握有用的讲话，也更容易看穿、识破无用的或虚假的讲话，从而表明自己是爱真理的人，而不是爱争辩的人，不是乖戾好斗的人。所以有时人们说得不无道理：如果你想往年轻人身上装进一些有用的东西，那么放掉他们的自负和自大之气，比给酒囊放气还更有必要；否则，他们满是夸夸其谈和虚胀之气，就没有地方接受它了。


17

此外，正像学读书写字、学音乐或体育时，最初的功课总是伴随着许多困惑、辛劳和不确定，但后来，随着学习者的进步，一点一点地，就像他和人交往时那样，生出了完全的熟悉，以及使一切都变得有吸引力、可以做到、说起来做起来都很容易的知识；哲学也是这样，它在起初，无论术语还是题材，无疑都有一些艰涩和陌生的地方；然而人不应该被它的开头吓住，胆怯、懦弱地放弃它；而应该把每一点都仔细考察，坚持下去，咬定前进的任务不放，等待那种使一切高贵的事物都成为乐事的熟悉。因为它是会到来的，不会拖延太久，它会给所研究的题目带来充足的光明；它还会激发对德性的热爱；如果有谁能忍受在余生中没有这种热爱，因为缺乏真正的男子气概而把自己放逐于哲学之外，那他就给自己打上了烙印：不是一个非常狂妄的人，就是一个懦夫。

哲学的题材中，很可能有一些东西是年轻而缺乏经验的学生起初难以领会的。但是同时，他们必须为自己陷入的大部分不确定和误解负责，因为性格截然相反的人，却陷入了同一个错误。有些人出于羞怯，想要照顾讲话人的面子，不敢提问，不敢把论证在心里牢牢地确定下来，只是点头赞同，好像已经懂了似的；另一些人则受不合时宜的好胜心和同学之间无聊的竞争驱使，为了炫耀自己的敏锐和学得快，还没有掌握意思，就声称已经懂了，结果根本没有掌握。于是，那些谦逊沉默的人，离开讲堂之后，为自己的疑难苦恼，最后迫于需要，带着更大的羞愧，拿本该早问的问题去麻烦讲课的人，努力追赶；而那些好胜、自信的年轻人，结果总是在设法掩盖、隐藏那始终伴随着他们的无知。


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所以，让我们抛开这一切愚蠢和虚饰，在走向学习任务的时候，用心透彻地理解一切有益的讲话；让我们耐心忍受那些被认为聪明的人的嘲笑，就像克勒安忒斯和色诺克拉底那样：他们虽然看来比同学迟钝，却没有逃避学习，也没有绝望地放弃，而是最先拿自己开玩笑，把自己比作细颈瓶和青铜板，意思是说，他们觉得把听到的东西装进去很困难，但是装进去以后，就保存得安全牢靠。因为，正像福库利德斯所说，一个人不仅

在追求高尚的时候，必然屡屡希望落空，

而且必然屡屡被人嘲笑，名声扫地，在他竭尽全力与自己的无知搏斗、并且把它打倒的时候，还得忍受种种玩笑和戏弄。

另一方面，我们当然也不能忽视走向相反极端的那种错误，有些人由于懒惰而犯了这种错误，弄得自己惹人讨厌、令人厌烦。因为他们独自一人时不肯费任何力气，却一再就同样的事情发问，给讲话的人添麻烦，就像羽毛未丰的雏鸟，总是对着别的鸟的嘴张着嘴，想要接受一切预先准备好、预先消化好的东西。还有一类人，急于在不适当的场合显得精明、留心，用喋喋不休和多管闲事把讲话的人弄得精疲力竭，不断地提出一些离题的、无关紧要的疑难，要求证明那些无需证明的事情，于是，正像索福克勒斯所说，

走一点点路，要花很多时间，

不仅他们自己如此，同座的其他人也是如此。因为他们一有机会就用空洞多余的问题拖住讲话的人，就像一群结伴旅行的人那样，妨碍了讲课的正常进程，讲课不得不忍受停顿和延误。按照希罗尼摩斯的说法，这样的人就像怯懦而纠缠不休的小狗，在家里咬野兽的皮，能撕下几块就撕几块，却从来不碰野兽本身。至于我们提到的那些懒惰的人，让我们劝他们：当他们的理智领会了要点之后，要靠自己的努力把其余的部分拼合起来，把记忆当作独立思考的向导，把别人的讲话当作胚芽和种子，去发展它，扩充它。因为心灵并不需要像瓶子那样被装满，而是像木柴一样，只需要点燃，好在它里面产生独立思考的冲动和对真理的热烈渴望。那么，设想一个人需要到邻居家去取火，在那里发现一堆又大又亮的火，就一直待在那里烤火；如果一个人来到别人那里分享讲话的益处，却不认为有必要从中为自己点燃一点光亮、引出一点自己的思考，而只是喜爱那些话，坐在那里入了迷，情形就正是这样：他从所说的话里得到了意见，就像脸上被烤出一层明亮红润的光彩，但他内心的霉腐和黑暗，却没有被哲学的温暖光焰驱散、赶走。

最后，如果关于听讲还需要别的什么教导，那就是：必须记住这里所说的话，在学习的同时培养独立思考，这样我们才能养成一种心灵的习惯，它不是诡辩家式的，也不是一心只求获取见闻的，而是根深蒂固、富于哲学精神的；只要我们相信，正确的倾听是正确的生活的开端，我们就能做到这一点。