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"Thou wouldst go into the world, and art going
with empty hands, with some promise of freedom,
which men in their simplicity and their natural
unruliness cannot even understand,
which they fear and dread-

For nothing has ever been more insupportable
for a man and a human society than freedom.

But seest Thou these stones in this parched
and barren wilderness?

Turn them into bread, and mankind will run after
Thee like a flock of sheep, grateful and obedient,
though for ever trembling, lest Thou withdraw
Thy hand and deny them Thy bread
" But Thou wouldst not deprive man of freedom
and didst reject the offer, thinking,

what is that freedom worth
if obedience is bought with bread?

Thou didst reply that man lives not by bread alone.


Σκοτεινό δωμάτιο, ένα τραπέζι, τρείς καρέκλες,
ο ζόφος να τυλίγει τα πάντα, να καταβροχθίζει
σκέψεις, ανάσες, ματιές

Τι είναι ελευθερία?

For they will come back to us after a thousand
years of agony with their tower.
Τhey will seek us again,
hidden underground in the catacombs,
for we shall be again persecuted and tortured.
They will find us and cry to us,

"Feed us, for those who have promised us fire
from heaven haven't given it!" And then
we shall finish building their tower,
for he finishes the building who feeds them.
And we alone shall feed them in Thy name,
declaring falsely that it is in Thy name.

Oh, never, never can they feed themselves
without us!
No science will give them bread so long
as they remain free.
Ιn the end they will lay their freedom
at our feet, and say to us,
"Make us your slaves, but feed us."

They will understand themselves, at last,
that freedom and bread enough for all
are inconceivable together, for never,
never will they be able to share between them!
They will be convinced, too, that they can never
be free, for they are weak,
vicious, worthless, and rebellious.

Thou didst promise them the bread of Heaven, but,
I repeat again, can it compare with earthly bread
in the eyes of the weak, ever sinful and ignoble
race of man?
And if for the sake of the bread of Heaven
thousands shall follow Thee, what is to become
of the millions and tens of thousands
of millions of creatures who will not have
the strength to forego the earthly bread
for the sake of the heavenly?

Αναπάντητα ερωτήματα


Απόψε όποιος κατάλαβε, κατάλαβε…
κορυφαίο κείμενο της λογοτεχνίας
που με συνθλίβει, με προβληματίζει,
με ηρεμεί, με ταρακουνάει,
με ακολουθεί σα σκιά…


Thou=you(ονομαστική)
wouldst=would
art=are
thee=you(αιτιατική)
thy=the
didst=did

«…Τίποτα πιο δελεαστικό από την ελευθερία
της συνείδησης,
αλλά και τίποτα πιο σπαρακτικό

Τι φταίει η αδύναμη ψυχή που δεν μπορεί
να χωρέσει μέσα της τα τόσο τρομερά δώρα?»