Roosters keep harems, but it is by consent of their concubines; therefore no wrong is done. Men keep harems, but it is by brute force, privileged by atrocious laws which the other sex were allowed no hand in making. In this matter man occupies a far lower place than the rooster.
公鸡家里母鸡成群,但得到了其他母鸡的认可,因此公鸡没有过失。人妻妾成群,只是依靠暴力,由残暴的法律来授予特权,然而女性是无权参与制定这些法律的。在这个问题上,人的境界远不如公鸡。
Cats are loose in their morals, but not consciously so. Man, in his descent from the cat, has brought the cat's looseness with him but has left the unconsciousness behind—the saving grace which excuses the cat. The cat is innocent, man is not.
猫在道德方面放荡不羁,但并非有意识这样做。人从猫退化而来,继承了猫的放荡作风,却把无意识丢到了背后——这个使猫得到宽恕的唯一可取之处。猫是无辜的,而人不是。
Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity—these are strictly confined to man; he invented them. Among the higher animals there is no trace of them. They hide nothing; they are not ashamed. Man, with his soiled mind, covers himself. He will not even enter a drawing-room with his breast and back naked, so alive are he and his mates to indecent suggestion. Man is "The Animal that Laughs." But so does the monkey, as Mr Darwin pointed out; and so does the Australian bird that is called the laughing jackass. No—Man is the Animal that Blushes. He is the only one that does it—or has occasion to.
粗俗、下流、淫秽——这些是只有人类才具有的特点。人首创了这些特点,而在高级动物中没有这些特点的痕迹。高级动物不隐藏任何东西,无所谓羞愧。人因为有肮脏的思想,于是把自己包装了起来。他甚至不会袒胸露背走进客厅,但他和他的配偶对下流的暗示又十分敏感。人是“会笑的动物”,但正如达尔文先生所指出的那样,猴子也会笑;而叫做笑翠鸟的澳大 利亚鸟也会笑。不——人是会脸红的动物,是唯一会脸红的动物——或者说是唯一有理由脸红的动物。