公民Ben的七大美德（8/13）

Or gig its tormentors. When he went to England to lobby for the American cause, he made his point with another widely reprinted hoax, "An Edict by the King of Prussia." In it the King declared that the Germans had colonized Britain years ago, protected it during wars and had now decided they had the right to levy taxes and restrict British trade. The edict added that the felons in German jails "shall be emptied out" and sent to England "for the better peopling of that country." Lest anyone be so thick as to miss the point, it concluded by noting that all of these measures should be considered "just and reasonable" in England because they were "copied" from the rules imposed by the British Parliament on the American colonies.

Or gig its tormentors．当他出使英国为美国事务游说的时候，另一篇广为传看的讽刺小品《普鲁士国王的公告》（An Edict by the King of Prussia）替他大肆宣讲了自己的观点。文章里，国王称德国殖民英国若干年了，并在战争中对其给予保护，现在决定向英国征税，并限制其贸易。布告还补充说德国监狱里的罪犯“应该全数出狱”，并遣送到英格兰“这样能在那个国家更好的生活。”为了避免人们不接受这项决定，它在结尾指出这些条款已经被英格兰证实是“公正和合理的”，因为具体条目都是“照搬”英国议会对美国殖民地政策的条款。

When his "Edict" appeared, Franklin had the pleasure of being a guest at the country estate of a friend. Another guest "came running in to us out of breath" with the morning papers, Franklin recounted in a letter to his son. "Here's the King of Prussia claiming a right to this kingdom!" Franklin feigned innocence as the story was read aloud.

当他的“公告”出炉以后，Franklin有幸参加了该国一个朋友的宴会。其中一位客人拿着早报“上气不接下气地跑过来”，Franklin在给儿子的信里写道，“普鲁士国王向我国发布了一个公告！”当公告被大声朗读时，Franklin装作毫不知情。

"Damn his impudence," one of those present proclaimed.

“这太无耻了！”嘉宾们议论纷纷。

But as the reading neared its end, another guest began to sense the hoax. "I'll be hanged if this is not some of your American jokes upon us," he said to Franklin. The reading, Franklin noted, "ended with abundance of laughing and a general verdict that it was a fair hit."

但是当公告的宣读接近尾声的时候，宾客意识到这是个恶作剧。“如果不是你这美国佬搞鬼的话，我会被绞死的。”他对Franklin说。Franklin对这次朗读会做了个记录：“最后，大家都乐得不行，认为这篇文章还是有点道理的。”

4 HUMILITY 4 谦逊

When Franklin made his list of personal virtues he was intent on acquiring, he very proudly showed it around to his friends, one of whom, a Quaker, pointed out that he had left one off. Franklin was often guilty of "pride," the friend said, citing many examples. So Franklin added "humility" to his list.

一次Franklin把他试图具备的优点列了张表格，并且很自豪的让他朋友欣赏。其中一位教徒指出他忘了一项。他说，Franklin常常过于“骄傲”，并举了几个例子。所以Franklin在名单里添加了“谦逊”。

He never quite perfected the virtue. "There is perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride; disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive and will every now and then peep out and show itself." This battle against pride would challenge him--and amuse him--for the rest of his life. "Even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I would probably be proud of my humility."

对于这项美德的坚持，Franklin并没有做到最好。“可能我们的天性是不善于抑制自己骄傲的欲望的；掩藏它，与它斗争，打败它，控制它，应尽所能地抑制它，它还是会活蹦乱跳的，可能在这里也可能在那里窥视着我们，并不时挑衅。”这场针对骄傲的战斗是个难题——也是种消遣——在他的余生里。“即使我以为我已经完全打败它了，但我又开始为我的谦逊而自豪了。”

But as he cheerily admitted, he learned how to fake the virtue. "I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue, but I had a good deal with regard to the appearance of it," he wrote. In showing off his feigned humility, Franklin was America's first great imagemaker. Even after he became successful, he made a display of personally carting the rolls of paper he bought in a wheelbarrow down the street to his shop rather than having a hired hand do it.

但是正如他的玩笑，他称自己学会了如何模拟这项美德。“我不能自夸自己多么成功的延续了这项美德，但是我对应付这个问题还是有一套的。”他写道。在如何谦虚上，Franklin可是美国第一位形象大使。即使成为成功人士以后，他依然自己推着手推车沿街派送报纸，而不是雇佣工人。