"Having proven that solitary¹ pleasures are as delicious as any others and much more likely to delight, it becomes perfectly² clear that this enjoyment³, taken in independence of the object we employ, is not merely of a nature very remote from what could be pleasurable to that object, but is even found to be inimical to that object's pleasure: what is more, it may become an imposed suffering, a vexation, or a torture, and the only thing that results from this abuse is a very certain increase of pleasure for the despot who does the tormenting⁴ or vexing⁵; let us attempt to demonstrate this.

 

"Voluptuous⁶ emotion is nothing but a kind of vibration⁷ produced in our soul by shocks which the imagination, inflamed⁸ by the remembrance of a lubricious object, registers upon our senses, either through this object's presence, or better still by this object's being exposed to that particular kind of irritation⁹ which most profoundly stirs us; thus, our voluptuous transport this indescribable convulsive needling which drives us wild, which lifts us to the highest pitch of happiness at which man is able to arrive is never ignited save by two causes: either by the perception in the object we use of a real or imaginary beauty, the beauty in which we delight the most, or by the sight of that object undergoing the strongest possible sensation; now, there is no more lively sensation than that of pain; its impressions are certain and dependable, they never deceive as may those of the pleasure women perpetually feign¹⁰ and almost never experience; and, furthermore, how much self-confidence, youth, vigor¹¹, health are not needed in order to be sure of producing this dubious¹² and hardly very satisfying impression of pleasure in a woman. To produce the painful impression, on the contrary, requires no virtues¹⁴ at all: the more defects a man may have, the older he is, the less lovable, the more resounding¹⁵ his success. With what regards the objective, it will be far more certainly attained¹⁶ since we are establishing the fact that one never better touches, I wish to say, that one never better irritates one's senses than when the greatest possible impression has been produced in the employed object, by no matter what devices; therefore, he who will cause the most tumultuous impression to be born in a woman, he who will most thoroughly¹⁸ convulse this woman's entire frame, very decidedly will have managed to procure¹⁹ himself the heaviest possible dose of voluptuousness²⁰, because the shock resultant upon us by the impressions others experience, which shock in turn is necessitated²¹ by the impression we have of those others, will necessarily be more vigorous if the impression these others receive be painful, than if the impression they receive be sweet and mild; and it follows that the voluptuous egoist, who is persuaded his pleasures will be keen only insofar as they are entire, will therefore impose, when he has it in his power to do so, the strongest possible dose of pain upon the employed object, fully²² certain that what by way of voluptuous pleasure he extracts will be his only by dint²³ of the very lively impression he has produced."

 

"Oh, Father," I said to Clement²⁴, "these doctrines²⁶ are dreadful, they lead to the cultivation²⁸ of cruel tastes, horrible tastes."

 

"Why, what does it matter?" demanded the barbarian²⁹; "and, once again, have we any control over our tastes? Must we not yield to the dominion³⁰ of those Nature has inserted in us as when before the tempest's force the proud oak bends its head? Were Nature offended by these proclivities³¹, she would not have inspired them in us; that we can receive from her hands a sentiment such as would outrage³² her is impossible, and, extremely certain of this, we can give ourselves up to our passions, whatever their sort and of whatever their violence, wholly sure that all the discomfitures their shock may occasion are naught³³ but the designs of Nature, of whom we are the involuntary instruments. And what to us are these passions' consequences? When one wishes to delight in any action whatsoever³⁴, there is never any question of consequences."

 

"I am not speaking to you of consequences," I put in abruptly³⁵, "but of the thing itself; if indeed you are the stronger and if through atrocious principles of cruelty you love to take your pleasure only by means of causing suffering with the intention of augmenting³⁷ your sensations, you will gradually come to the point of producing them with such a degree of violence that you will certainly risk killing³⁸ the employed object."

 

"So be it; that is to say that, by means of tastes given me by Nature, I shall have carried out the intentions of Nature who, never affecting her creations save through destructions, never inspires the thought of the latter in me save when she is in need of the former; that is to say that from an oblong portion of matter I shall have formed three or four thousand round or square ones. Oh Therese, is there any crime here? Is this the name with which to designate what serves Nature? Is it in man's power to commit crimes? And when, preferring his own happiness to that of others, he overthrows³⁹ or destroys whatever he finds in his path, has he done anything but serve Nature whose primary and most imperious inspirations enjoin⁴⁰ him to pursue his happiness at no matter whose expense? The doctrine²⁵ of brotherly love is a fiction we owe to Christianity and not to Nature; the exponent⁴¹ of the Nazarene's cult²⁷, tormented⁴², wretched and consequently in an enfeebled state which prompted him to cry out for tolerance⁴³ and compassion⁴⁴, had no choice but to allege⁴⁵ this fabulous⁴⁶ relationship between one person and another; by gaining acceptance for the notion he was able to save his life. But the philosopher does not acknowledge these gigantic rapports⁴⁷; to his consideration, he is alone in the universe, he judges everything subjectively⁴⁸, he only is of importance. If he is thoughtful of or caresses⁴⁹ another for one instant, it is never but in strait connection with what profit he thinks to draw from the business; when he is no longer in need of others, when he can forcefully assert his empire, he then abjures⁵⁰ forever those pretty humanitarian⁵¹ doctrines of doing good deeds to which he only submitted himself for reasons of policy; he no longer fears to be selfish, to reduce everyone about him, and he sates his appetites without inquiring to know what his enjoyments⁵² may cost others, and without remorse⁵³."#p#分页标题#e#

 

"But the man you describe is a monster."

 

"The man I describe is in tune⁵⁴ with Nature."

 

"He is a savage⁵⁵ beast."

 

"Why, is not the tiger or the leopard⁵⁶, of whom this man is, if you wish, a replica⁵⁷, like man created by Nature and created to prosecute⁵⁸ Nature's intentions? The wolf who devours⁶⁰ the lamb accomplishes what this common mother designs, just as does the malefactor⁶¹ who destroys the object of his revenge or his lubricity."

 

"Oh, Father, say what you will, I shall never accept this destructive lubricity."

 

"Because you are afraid of becoming its object there you have it: egoism. Let's exchange our roles and you will fancy it very nicely. Ask the lamb, and you will find he does not understand why the wolf is allowed to devour⁵⁹ him; ask the wolf what the lamb is for: to feed me, he will reply. Wolves which batten upon lambs, lambs consumed by wolves, the strong who immolate⁶² the weak, the weak victims of the strong: there you have Nature, there you have her intentions, there you have her scheme: a perpetual action and reaction, a host of vices¹⁷, a host of virtues, in one word, a perfect equilibrium⁶³ resulting from the equality of good and evil on earth; the equilibrium essential to the maintenance of the stars, of vegetation and, lacking which, everything would be instantly in ruins. O Therese, mightily⁶⁴ astonished she would be, this Nature, were she to be able to converse⁶⁵ with us for a moment and were we to tell her that these crimes which serve her, these atrocities⁶⁶ she demands and inspires in us are punished by laws they assure us are made in imitation of hers. 'Idiots' she would reply to us, 'sleep, eat, and fearlessly commit whatever crimes you like whenever you like: every one of those alleged⁶⁷ infamies⁶⁸ pleases me, and I would have them all, since it is I who inspire them in you. It is within your province to regulate what annoys me and what delights, indeed! be advised that there is nothing in you which is not my own, nothing I did not place in you for reasons it is not fitting you be acquainted with; know that the most abominable⁶⁹ of your deeds is, like the most virtuous⁷⁰ of some other, but one of the manners of serving me. So do not restrain yourself, flout⁷¹ your laws, a fig⁷² for your social conventions and your Gods; listen to me and to none other, and believe that if there exists a crime to be committed against me it is the resistance you oppose, in the forms of stubbornness or casuistries, to what I inspire in you."'

 

"Oh, Just Heaven!" I cried, "you make me shudder⁷³! Were there no crimes against Nature, whence would come that insurmountable loathing⁷⁴ we experience for certain misdeeds?"

 

"That loathing is not dictated⁷⁵ by Nature," the villain⁷⁶ replied with feeling, "its one source is in the total lack of habit; does not the same hold true for certain foods? Although they are excellent, is not our repugnance⁷⁷ merely caused by our being unaccustomed to them? would you dare say, upon the basis of your prejudices or ignorance, that they are good or bad? If we make the effort, we will soon become convinced and will find they suit our palate; we have a hostility⁷⁹ toward medicaments, do we not, although they are salutary; in the same fashion, let us accustom⁷⁸ ourselves to evil and it will not be long before we find it charming; this momentary⁸⁰ revulsion is certainly a shrewdness, a kind of coquetry on the part of Nature, rather than a warning that the thing outrages⁸¹ her: thus she prepares the pleasures of our triumph; she even manages thus to augment³⁶ those of the deed itself: better still, Therese, better still: the more the deed seems appalling⁸² to us, the more it is in contradiction with our manners and customs, the more it runs headlong against restraints and shatters them, the more it conflicts with social conventions and affronts⁸³ them, the more it clashes with what we mistake for Nature's laws, then the more, on the contrary, it is useful to this same Nature. It is never but by way of crimes that she regains⁸⁴ possession of the rights Virtue¹³ incessantly⁸⁵ steals away from her. If the crime is slight, if it is at no great variance⁸⁶ with Virtue, its weight will be less in re- establishing the balance indispensable to Nature; but the more capital the crime, the more deadly, the more it dresses the scales and the better it offsets⁸⁷ the influence of Virtue which, without this, would destroy everything. Let him then cease to be in a fright, he who meditates⁸⁸ a crime or he who has just committed one: the vaster his crime, the better it will serve Nature."

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