He earned a fortune and lived a wildly extravagant life.

他賺了一筆錢，過著瘋狂奢侈的生活。

Rembrandt van Rijn - Self-portrait with Saskia

倫勃朗-凡-賴恩--與薩斯基婭的自畫像

But by his early fifties, he was all but bankrupt: he had to sell his house and all the beautiful

但到了50年代初，他幾乎破產了：他不得不賣掉他的房子和所有美麗的東西。

objects he had accumulated. In the world of respectable, prudent Dutch merchants, his

他所積累的物品。在可敬、謹慎的荷蘭商人的世界裡，他的

economic ruin was regarded as deeply shameful - and, self-evidently, it was entirely his

經濟崩潰被認為是非常可恥的--而且，不言而喻，這完全是他自己的問題。

own fault.

自己的錯。

Rembrandt, Self-portrait, aged 51, circa 1657 (National gallery of Scotland)

倫勃朗，自畫像，51歲，約1657年（蘇格蘭國家畫廊）。

Around the time financial disaster struck, Rembrandt painted a self-portrait, burdened

在金融災難發生的前後，倫勃朗畫了一幅自畫像，負擔著

with an honest, deeply sorrowful awareness of his own idiocy and folly: it is evident

他對自己的白痴和愚蠢有一種誠實的、深深的悲哀的認識：很明顯

in his eyes that he knows he doesn't deserve anyone's sympathy.

在他的眼中，他知道自己不值得任何人的同情。

Fittingly, given what he had gone through, his culminating masterpiece, painted at the

恰如其分的是，考慮到他所經歷的一切，他的巔峰傑作，在

very end of his life relates to another, more famous character who has behaved in a clearly

在他生命的最後一刻，他與另一個更著名的人物有關，他的行為明顯地與他自己有關。

appalling way.

駭人聽聞的方式。

Rembrandt, The Return of the prodigal Son, 1669

倫勃朗，《浪子回頭》，1669年

The picture illustrates a parable from the New Testament known as The Prodigal Son. The

這幅畫說明了《新約》中的一個寓言，即《浪子》。浪子回頭

kneeling man has been prodigal - in the sense of profligate; he took his father's money,

跪在地上的人一直是個浪子--在揮霍的意義上；他拿了他父親的錢。

ran away and spent it all on wine, women and song. The prodigal son stands in for Rembrandt

逃跑了，把錢都花在了酒、女人和歌上。浪蕩子為倫勃朗站臺

himself - the waster who has brought ruin and disgrace upon himself. The son deserves

他自己--那個給自己帶來毀滅和恥辱的浪費者。兒子應得的

to be hounded and humiliated. But this is not the reception he gets. In the painting,

被圍攻和羞辱。但這並不是他得到的接待。在畫中。

the elderly father-figure greets his son with great compassion and gentleness. Instead of

這位年長的父親形象以極大的同情心和溫和的態度迎接他的兒子。而不是

giving his son the stern condemnation that he deserves, the father provides the love,

在給予兒子應有的嚴厲譴責的同時，父親提供了愛。

warmth and forgiveness the son needs.

兒子需要的溫暖和寬恕。

The picture conveys Rembrandt's moving and very intimate realisation about the true nature

這幅畫傳達了倫勃朗對真實性質的動人和非常親密的認識。

of love: it reaches out to the selfish idiot, to the wastrel, to the passion-driven fool.

它向自私的白痴、浪費者、受激情驅使的傻瓜伸出援手。

Love properly understood is destined also for the undeserving.

正確理解的愛也註定是為不值得的人準備的。

Perhaps Rembrandt's most moving work is a modest looking print entitled Christ Preaching.

也許倫勃朗最感人的作品是一幅看起來並不高大的印刷品，名為《基督傳道》。

Significantly, it isn't set in Galilee or Jerusalem in the 1st century AD. Instead the

重要的是，它的背景不是在公元1世紀的加利利或耶路撒冷。相反，該書

message of kindness is being preached in a back street of a Dutch town, in other words,

換句話說，善良的資訊是在荷蘭小鎮的一條后街被宣揚的。

to Rembrandt's contemporaries.

對倫勃朗的同時代人來說。

The message can be boiled down to three words: 'I love you' and it's being beamed out

這個資訊可以歸結為三個字。我愛你"，它被傳送出去。

to precisely the kinds of people who - in Rembrandt's day - were viewed (with some

在倫勃朗的時代，這些人恰恰被視為（在某些情況下是）"不受歡迎的人"。

justification) as particularly odious: they are, we can guess, thieves, layabouts, drunks,

理由）特別可惡：我們可以猜測，他們是小偷、遊手好閒者、酒鬼。

pimps and people who lent money at terrifying rates of interest; mean employers and con-artists.

皮條客和以可怕的利率借錢的人；卑鄙的僱主和金光黨。

If Rembrandt were creating this work today, we might see - ranged around the alleyway

如果倫勃朗今天在創作這幅作品，我們可能會看到--在巷子裡的範圍內

- the representative unloveable figures of our times: a politician who incites conflict,

- 我們這個時代有代表性的不可愛的人物：一個煽動衝突的政治家。

the owner of a newspaper that puts profit above truth; someone who is proud of their

一個將利益凌駕於真理之上的報社老闆；一個為自己所做的事情感到驕傲的人。

vulgarity; a snobbish socialite, an arms trader, a feral youth, a sexual deviant or the kind

庸俗；一個勢利的社會名流，一個軍火商，一個野蠻的年輕人，一個性變態者，或者那種

of person who seems to take satisfaction in distressing others. It is to them that the

他們似乎以困擾他人為樂。對他們來說，這就是

message of love is being directed.

導致愛的資訊被引導。

Rembrandt's key insight is that everyone needs love - whether they deserve it or not.

倫勃朗的關鍵見解是，每個人都需要愛--無論他們是否值得愛。

If we wait to be kind only to those who deserve kindness, we will be waiting for a very long

如果我們只等待對那些值得善待的人善待，我們將等待很長時間。

time; in fact, we'll have turned into monsters.

時間；事實上，我們會變成怪物。