Pleasure

3 min

Then a hermit, who visited the city once a year, came forth and said, Speak to us of Pleasure.

Then a hermit who visited the city once a year stepped forward and said, Tell us about Pleasure.

And he answered, saying:

And he answered:

Pleasure is a freedom-song,

Pleasure is a song of freedom,

But it is not freedom.

It is the blossoming of your desires,

It is the flowering of your desires,

But it is not their fruit.

It is a depth calling unto a height,

It is a depth calling to a height,

But it is not the deep nor the high.

But it is neither the depth nor the height.

It is the caged taking wing,

It is the caged taking flight,

But it is not space encompassed.

But it is not space fully grasped.

Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom-song.

Yes, pleasure truly is a song of freedom.

And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart; yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing.

And I would gladly have you sing it with all your heart. Yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing.

Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it were all, and they are judged and rebuked. I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek.

Some of your young people seek pleasure as if it were everything, and they are judged and scolded. I would not judge or scold them. I would want them to seek.

For they shall find pleasure, but not her alone;

For they will find pleasure, but not pleasure alone.

Seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure.

She has seven sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure.

Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure?

Have you heard of the man who was digging for roots and found a treasure?

And some of your elders remember pleasures with regret like wrongs committed in drunkenness.

And some of your elders regret past pleasures as if they were wrongs they had committed while drunk.

But regret is the beclouding of the mind and not its chastisement.

But regret clouds the mind rather than punishing it.

They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, as they would the harvest of a summer.

They should remember their pleasures with gratitude, just as they would remember a summer's harvest.

Yet if it comforts them to regret, let them be comforted.

But if they find comfort in regret, let them find comfort in it.

And there are among you those who are neither young to seek nor old to remember;

And some of you are neither young enough to seek nor old enough to remember.

And in their fear of seeking and remembering they shun all pleasures, lest they neglect the spirit or offend against it.

And because they fear seeking and remembering, they avoid all pleasures, afraid they might neglect or offend the spirit.

But even in their foregoing is their pleasure.

But they even find pleasure in giving things up.

And thus they too find a treasure though they dig for roots with quivering hands.

And so they too find a treasure, though they dig for roots with trembling hands.

But tell me, who is he that can offend the spirit?

But tell me, who can offend the spirit?

Shall the nightingale offend the stillness of the night, or the firefly the stars?

Would the nightingale disturb the quiet of the night, or the firefly offend the stars?

And shall your flame or your smoke burden the wind?

And will your flame or your smoke weigh down the wind?

Think you the spirit is a still pool which you can trouble with a staff?

Do you think the spirit is a still pool you can stir with a stick?

Oftentimes in denying yourself pleasure you do but store the desire in the recesses of your being.

Often, when you deny yourself pleasure, you only store the desire deep within yourself.

Who knows but that which seems omitted today, waits for tomorrow?

Who can say that what seems left out today is not waiting for tomorrow?

Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful need and will not be deceived.

Even your body knows its heritage and what it rightfully needs, and it cannot be deceived.

And your body is the harp of your soul,

And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.

And you can bring sweet music or confused sounds out of it.

And now you ask in your heart, “How shall we distinguish that which is good in pleasure from that which is not good?”

And now you ask in your heart, “How can we tell what is good in pleasure from what is not?”

Go to your fields and your gardens, and you shall learn that it is the pleasure of the bee to gather honey of the flower,

Go to your fields and gardens, and you will learn that the bee delights in gathering honey from the flower,

But it is also the pleasure of the flower to yield its honey to the bee.

But the flower also takes pleasure in giving its honey to the bee.

For to the bee a flower is a fountain of life,

For a bee, a flower is a fountain of life,

And to the flower a bee is a messenger of love,

And to the flower, a bee is a messenger of love,

And to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy.

And for both the bee and the flower, giving and receiving pleasure is a need and a joy.

People of Orphalese, be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees.

People of Orphalese, enjoy your pleasures as flowers and bees do.