"Natura enim non nisi parendo vincitur."

At first men try with magic charm
To fertilize the earth,
To keep their flocks and herds from harm
And bring new young to birth.

Then to capricous gods they turn
To save from fire or flood;
Their smoking sacrifices burn
On altars red with blood.

Next bold philosopher and sage
A settled plan decree,
And prove by thought or sacred page
What Nature ought to be.

But Nature smiles--a Sphinx-like smile--
Watching their little day
She waits in patience for a while--
Their plans dissolve away.

Then come those humbler men of heart
With no completed scheme,
Content to play a modest part,
To test, observe, and dream,

Till out of chaos come in sight
Clear fragments of a Whole;
Man, learning Nature's ways aright,
Obeying, can control.

The changing Pattern glows afar;
But yet its shifting scenes
Reveal not what the Pieces are
Nor what the Puzzle means.

And Nature smiles--still unconfessed
The secret thought she thinks--
Inscrutable she guards unguessed
The Riddle of the Sphinx.

W.C. Dampier at Hilfield, Dorset,  September, 1929

“自然如不能被目证那就不能被征服”

最初，人们尝试用魔咒，
来使大地丰产，
来使家禽牲畜不受摧残，
来使幼小者降生时平平安安。

接着，他们又祈求反复无常的天神，
不要降下大火与洪水的灾难；
他们的烟火缭绕的祭品，
在鲜血染红的祭坛上焚燃。

后来又有大胆的哲人和圣贤，
制定了一套固定不变的方案，
想用思维或神圣的书卷，
来证明大自然应该如此这般。

但是大自然在微笑——斯芬克斯式的笑脸，
注视着好景不长的哲人和圣贤，
她耐心地等了一会——
他们的方案就烟消云散。
接着就来了一批热心人，地位比较卑贱，
他们并没有什么完整的方案，
满足于扮演跑龙套的角色，
只是观察、幻想和检验。

从此，在混沌一团中，
字谜画的碎片就渐次展现；
人们摸清了大自然的脾气，
服从大自然，又能控制大自然。

变化不已的图案在远方闪光；
但它的景象不断变幻，
却没有揭示出碎片的底细，
更没有揭示出字谜画的意义。

大自然在微笑——
仍然没有供出她内心的秘密；
她不可思议地保护着，
猜不透的斯芬克斯之谜。

1929年9月 W.C.Dampier 于多塞特郡希尔费尔德

A little feeling after reading:

For thousands of years, people have been trying to convince ourselves our existence is legitimate such that we have religion, philosophy and science. They all claim that they are able access to the truth, and even read the mind of great Nature. However, the truth may be just a direction which can not be reached but can be followed. The tough course to pursue the truth, resulting in the vast and imposing structure of the civilizations is perhaps the greatest triumph of our human-being.