On the Instability of Human Glory

丹尼尔·笛福 /  Daniel Defoe

丹尼尔·笛福（1660—1731），英国著名且极具影响力的小说家与散文家。除了作为高产作家外，他同时是商人、政客、密探、冒险家、编辑、评论家等。他一生写了二百余部作品，其代表作《鲁滨逊漂流记》《辛格顿船长》等一系列主要描写中下层社会青年航海或其他冒险的小说，在世界各地广为流传，同时也开创了英国现实主义小说之先河。

Ace in the Hole

Understand these new words before you read this article.

1. alas [ə\'læs] int. 唉（表悲伤、遗憾、恐惧、关切等等）

2. hereafter [,hiə\'rɑ:ftə] n. 将来

What then is the work of life? What the business of great men, that pass the stage of the world in seeming triumph as these men we call heroes have done? Is it to grow great in the mouth of fame and take up so many pages in history? Alas! That is no more than making a tale for the reading of posterity till it turns into fable and romance. Is it to furnish subjects to the poets, and live in their immortal rhymes as they call them? That is, in short, no more than to be hereafter turned into ballad and song and be sung by old women to quiet children, or at the corner of the street to gather crowds in aid of the pickpocket and the poor. Or is their business rather to add virtue and piety to their glory, which alone will pass them into eternity and make them truly immortal? What is glory without virtue? A great man without religion is no more than a great beast without a soul. What is honour without merit? And what can be called true merit but that which makes a person be a good man as well as a great man?