於是一個農夫說，請給我們談工作。
他回答說：
你工作為的是要與大地和大地的精神一同前進。
因為情逸使你成為一個時代的生客，一個生命大隊中的落伍者，這大隊是莊嚴的，高傲而服從的，向著無窮前進。
在你工作的時候，你是一管笛，從你心中吹出時光的微語，變成音樂。
你們誰肯做一根蘆管，在萬物合唱的時候，你獨癡呆無聲呢？
你們常聽人說，工作是禍殃，勞動是不幸。
我卻對你們說，你們工作的時候，你們完成了大地深遠的夢之一部，他指示你那夢是從何時開頭的。
而在你勞動不息的時候，你確實愛了生命。
在工作裡愛了生命，就是通徹了生命最深的秘密。
倘然在你的辛苦裡，將有身之苦惱和養身之詛咒，寫上你的眉間，則我將回答你，只有你眉間的汗，能洗去這些字句。
你們也聽見人說，生命是黑暗的。在你疲勞之中，你附和了那疲勞的人所說的話。
我說生命的確是黑暗的，除非是有了激勵；
一切的知識都是徒然的，除非是有了工作；
一切的工作都是空虛的，除非是有了愛。
當你仁愛地工作的時候，你便與自己、與人類、與上帝聯繫為一。
怎樣才是仁愛的工作呢？
從你的心中抽絲織成布帛，彷彿你的愛者要來穿此衣裳。
熱情地蓋造房屋，彷彿你的愛者要住在其中。
溫存地播種，歡樂地收刈，彷彿你的愛者要來吃這產物。
這就是用你自己靈魂的氣息，來充滿你所製造的一切。
要知道一切受福的古人，都在你上頭看視著。
我常聽見你們彷彿在夢中說：「那在蠟石上表現出他自己靈魂的形象的人，是比耕地的人高貴多了。
那捉住虹霓，傳神地畫在布帛上的人，是比織履的人強多了。」
我卻要說，不在夢中，而在正午清醒的時候，風對大橡樹說話的聲音，並不比對纖小的草葉所說的更甜柔。
只有那用他的愛心，把風聲變成甜柔的歌曲的人，是偉大的。
工作是眼能看見的愛。
倘若你不是歡樂地卻厭惡地工作，那還不如撇下工作，坐在大殿的門邊，去乞求那些歡樂地工作的人的周濟。
倘若你無精打采地烤著麵包，你烤成的麵包是苦的，只能救半個人的飢餓。
你若是怨重地壓搾著葡萄酒，你的怨望，在酒裡滴下了毒液。
倘若你能像天使一般地唱，卻不愛唱，那你就把人們能聽到白天和黑夜的聲音的耳朵都塞住了。
■ 聽真理的並不弱於講真理的人。
■ 生活是黑暗的，除非有了激勵；一切激勵是盲目的，除非有了知識；一切知識都是徒然的，除非有了工作；一切工作是虛空的，除非有了愛。
07
On Work
Then a ploughman said, "Speak to us of Work."
And he answered, saying:
You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?
Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born,
And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,
And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life's inmost secret.
But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.
You have been told also life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.
Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, "he who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is a nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
"And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet."
But I say, not in sleep but in the over-wakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.
