有晚上，有早晨

原文

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.

And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water."
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.
God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day.

And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so.
God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.
The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so.
God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.
God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth,
to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day.
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day.

And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

翻译

起初，神创造天地。
地是空虚混沌；深渊上一片黑暗；神的灵运行在水面上。
神说：「要有光！」就有了光。
神看光是好的，他就把光暗分开了。
神称光为昼，称暗为夜。
有晚上，有早晨；这是第一日。

神说：「众水之间要有穹苍，把水和水分开！」事就这样成了。
神造了穹苍，把穹苍以下的水和穹苍以上的水分开了。
神称穹苍为天。
有晚上，有早晨；这是第二日。

神说：「天下的水要聚在一处，使旱地露出来！」事就这样成了。
神称旱地为地，称水的聚处为海。神看这是好的。
神说：「地上要长出青草、结种子的蔬菜和结果子的树木，各从其类，在地上的果子都包着核！」事就这样成了。
于是，地上长出了青草和结种子的蔬菜，各从其类；又长出结果子的树木，各从其类，果子都包着核。神看这是好的。
有晚上，有早晨；这是第三日。

神说：「在天上穹苍中，要有光体来分昼夜；这些光体要作为记号，定节令、日子和年岁；
它们要在天上穹苍中发光，照耀地上！」事就这样成了。
于是，神造了两个大光体，大的管昼，小的管夜；又造了星星。
神把这些光体安放在天上穹苍中，照耀地上，
管昼夜，分光暗。神看这是好的。
有晚上，有早晨；这是第四日。

神说：「水要滋长生物；地上和天空之中，要有雀鸟飞翔！」
于是，神创造了大鱼和在水中滋生各种能活动的生物，各从其类；又创造了各种有翅膀的飞鸟，各从其类。神看这是好的。
神就赐福给它们，说：「要繁殖增多，充满海洋；雀鸟也要在地上增多！」
有晚上，有早晨；这是第五日。

神说：「地上要生出活物来，各从其类；牲畜、昆虫和地上的野兽，各从其类！」事就这样成了。
于是，神造了地上的野兽，各从其类；牲畜，各从其类；地上的各种昆虫，各从其类。神看这是好的。
神说：「我们要照着我们的形象，按着我们的样式造人；使他们管理海里的鱼、空中的鸟、地上的牲畜，以及全地，和地上所有爬行的生物！」
于是，神照着自己的形象创造人；就是照着他的形象创造了人；他所创造的有男有女。
神就赐福给他们，对他们说：「要繁殖增多，充满这地，征服它；也要管理海里的鱼、空中的鸟和地上爬行的所有生物。」
神说：「看哪！我把全地上结种子的各样蔬菜，和一切果树上有种子的果子，都赐给你们作食物。
至于地上的各种野兽，空中的各种飞鸟，和地上爬行有生命的各种活物，我把一切青草蔬菜赐给它们作食物。」事就这样成了。
神看他所造的一切都很好。
有晚上，有早晨；这是第六日。

这样，天地万物都造齐了。
第七日，神完成了他所作的工；在第七日神歇了他所作的一切工。
神赐福第七日，把它分别为圣，因为在这一日，神停了他一切所创造的工，歇息了。

翻译选自「新译本」。

出处

《圣经（The Bible）》旧约（The Old Testament）中的「创世纪（Genesis）」1:1~2:3。

解读

《圣经》是西方世界文化的源头，而「创世纪（Genesis）」，则是整本《圣经》的起点，它是基督教文明世界观的基石。

基督教神话，源于美索不达米亚神话，创世之前，没有物质、没有时间、没有概念，一切都是混沌、混淆、不可名状的，神所做的第一件事，就是创造了「光」，区分了「暗」，创造了「白天」与「夜晚」。

从这里就能够看到，黑白分明、二元对立的世界观，根植于西方世界最底层的文化之中，是一切的背景，亦是最基本的底色。

其实，聊这些东西方文化的差异，分析来分析去，并没什么意思。当我很冷静地分析它时，它就死了，而当我用心去读它、感受它，它常常会在心中回响，时不时在脑海里出现，如同有着自己的生命。

我真正想聊的，是那些蕴藏在文字背后，打动我、改变我、启发我的东西，是文字中所拥有的生命。

最开始，我最喜欢这一句话：

神说：要有光！于是就有了光

因为通过「语言」创造世界，简直是太有意思了，比什么印度的梦中创世、埃及的生育创世、中国的斧劈创世显得高级多了、也有趣多了，真正的神，就应该是这个样子。

这一句话，也常常在自己遭遇困境、内心消沉的时候突然蹦出来，在冰冷黑暗的内心世界里，洒下一点温暖与光辉，不至于彻底沉沦。

但是后来，我渐渐喜欢上了其中的另一句话：

有晚上，有早晨。

初看起来，并没有什么特别的意思，但是，它在这一段开篇的文本里总共出现了六次，这不得不让我多想，当初作者写下它们的时候，到底在想写什么。

于是我怀揣着疑问，不断胡思乱想，去探索隐藏在其背后的含义。虽然我也明白，这很有可能我只是自作多情，其实作者根本没有任何想法。但这仍然阻挡不了我的胡思乱想，因为这真的很有趣，不是么？

第一个想法，来自于晚上与早晨的顺序，我们常常把早晨作为一天的开始，把夜晚作为一天的结束，可是这里却正好相反，先有夜晚，然后才是早晨。这似乎是另一种看待世界与时间的观念，在这样的观念里，夜晚才是世界的底色与常态，一切皆从沉寂中开始，光明、温暖、热闹都只是在这个背景中发生的事件。

第二个想法，来自于黑夜与白天的循环，第一日、第二日，直到第六日，每一天都是如此，所有一切的诞生，都从这个最基本的循环开始。这么想来，循环是一件非常有意思的事情，一方面，它是动态的，因为它在不停地变；另一方面，它是确定性的，因为它变的方式有着自己的规律。万物从循环的动态中汲取能量，又从循环的确定性中形成稳定的结构，没有这样的循环，就不可能有生命。

第三个想法，来自于黑夜与白天的起伏，有夜晚，就有白天；有白天，就有夜晚，对于世界是这样，对于我自己而言，也是这样。在自我感觉极差的时候，这句话能够安慰到我，有夜晚，有白天，它告诉我自己一切其实没有那么糟，我会好的；在我自我感觉不错的时候，这句话也能提醒我，有白天，有夜晚，它告诉我坏事总会发生，要做好准备，迎接黑夜的降临。

很美的句子，不是么？

总结

有晚上，有早晨。

拓展阅读

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.
There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.
我是光，我到世上来，叫所有信我的不住在黑暗里。
人若听见我的话却不遵守的，我不审判他，因为我来不是要审判世人，而是要拯救世人。
弃绝我又不接受我的话的人，自有审判他的。我所讲的道在末日要定他的罪。
《圣经》新约约翰福音 12:46~12:48

For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning--
though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.
在你看来，千年如已过的昨日，又如夜间的一更。
你像洪水一般把我们冲走；我们的生命短暂如梦。
我们像早晨发芽生长的草，早晨发芽生长，夜里干枯凋萎。
《圣经》旧约诗篇 90:4~90:6

Then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.
You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by.
Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning.
You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
那时，你必仰起脸来，毫无愧色；
你也必坚固，无所惧怕。
你必忘记你的苦楚，回忆好像逝去的流水。
你在世的日子要比正午更明，
虽有黑暗，仍像早晨。
你因有指望，就必稳固，也必四围巡查，坦然安息。
《圣经》旧约约伯记 11:15~11:18

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.
早晨要撒你的种，晚上也不要歇你的手，因为你不知道哪一样发旺：或是早撒的，或是晚撒的，或是两样都好。
光本是佳美的，眼见日光也是可悦的。
人活多年，就当快乐多年；然而也当想到黑暗的日子。因为这日子必多，所要来的都是虚空。
《圣经》旧约传道书 11:6~11:8