![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
romikchefПереводить некогда, а потерять жалко. Прям "И не вкусишь хлеба насущного с котлетою" Шекли/Евдокимовой. (Кстати, в поисках точной цитаты выяснил, что канонический-то перевод на треть меньше оригиналу!)
I am inclined to the view that with the other churches the excellence
of the results depends primarily upon the individual at any particular
place, but that the Church of Rome has a system which produces
results to some degree independent of the personality of the man.
One weakness of other missionaries in general is that they come from
cities and other places with crystallized notions of exactly what must
be done and exactly how every one must live and act under no matter
what conditions. The fundamental precepts of Christianity ap-
parently seem to many of them to be linked with certain purely
local customs of the city from which they happen to come, and they
emphasize both equally. The three commandments, "Love thy
neighbor as thyself," " Thou shalt keep the Sabbath holy, " and " Thou
shalt eat thy potatoes with thy fork," impress themselves with equal
vividness upon the aborigines and are likely to be considered by them
to be means of grace of coordinate value. But the missionaries of the
Church of Rome seem less concerned about these inessentials. They
are no less concerned than the missionaries of other churches about
getting the Indian to change his religious views, but they seem less
inclined to waste their strength in trying to persuade him to change
the color of his coat.
My favorite thesis is that an adventure is a sign of incompetence.
Few have disputed the Greek, or whoever it was, that said, " Blessed
is the country whose history is uninteresting," and no one (unless it be
some journalist) will dispute the statement that "blessed is the ex-
ploring expedition the story of which is monotonous." If everything
is well managed, if there are no miscalculations or mistakes, then the
things that happen are only the things you expected to happen, and
for which you are ready and with which you can therefore deal.
Being thoroughly alive to the truth of this principle, I am also
thoroughly ashamed of owning up to such adventures as we have had,
for they always reflect either on me, or the companions whom I have
chosen, and therefore on me indirectly. By keeping steadily in view
the two maxims, "Better be safe than sorry" and "Do in Rome as
the Romans do," Dr. Anderson and I managed to conduct for nearly
five years a satisfactorily monotonous expedition, and one the interest
of which, so far as it has any interest, is in having attained the
results which we set out to attain.
I am inclined to the view that with the other churches the excellence
of the results depends primarily upon the individual at any particular
place, but that the Church of Rome has a system which produces
results to some degree independent of the personality of the man.
One weakness of other missionaries in general is that they come from
cities and other places with crystallized notions of exactly what must
be done and exactly how every one must live and act under no matter
what conditions. The fundamental precepts of Christianity ap-
parently seem to many of them to be linked with certain purely
local customs of the city from which they happen to come, and they
emphasize both equally. The three commandments, "Love thy
neighbor as thyself," " Thou shalt keep the Sabbath holy, " and " Thou
shalt eat thy potatoes with thy fork," impress themselves with equal
vividness upon the aborigines and are likely to be considered by them
to be means of grace of coordinate value. But the missionaries of the
Church of Rome seem less concerned about these inessentials. They
are no less concerned than the missionaries of other churches about
getting the Indian to change his religious views, but they seem less
inclined to waste their strength in trying to persuade him to change
the color of his coat.
My favorite thesis is that an adventure is a sign of incompetence.
Few have disputed the Greek, or whoever it was, that said, " Blessed
is the country whose history is uninteresting," and no one (unless it be
some journalist) will dispute the statement that "blessed is the ex-
ploring expedition the story of which is monotonous." If everything
is well managed, if there are no miscalculations or mistakes, then the
things that happen are only the things you expected to happen, and
for which you are ready and with which you can therefore deal.
Being thoroughly alive to the truth of this principle, I am also
thoroughly ashamed of owning up to such adventures as we have had,
for they always reflect either on me, or the companions whom I have
chosen, and therefore on me indirectly. By keeping steadily in view
the two maxims, "Better be safe than sorry" and "Do in Rome as
the Romans do," Dr. Anderson and I managed to conduct for nearly
five years a satisfactorily monotonous expedition, and one the interest
of which, so far as it has any interest, is in having attained the
results which we set out to attain.
