第69篇 原始的人類制度
69:0.1 (772.1) EMOTIONALLY, man transcends his animal ancestors in his ability to appreciate humor, art, and religion. Socially, man exhibits his superiority in that he is a toolmaker, a communicator, and an institution builder.
69:0.1 (772.1) 在情感上，人憑藉對幽默、藝術與宗教的鑑賞力，超越了其動物祖先。在社會上，人則以工具製造者、溝通者，以及制度建立者的身份，展現出自身的優越性。
69:0.2 (772.2) When human beings long maintain social groups, such aggregations always result in the creation of certain activity trends which culminate in institutionalization. Most of man’s institutions have proved to be laborsaving while at the same time contributing something to the enhancement of group security.
69:0.2 (772.2) 當人類存有長期維持社會群體時，這種聚集總會衍生出特定的活動趨勢，並最終走向制度化。事實證明，人的大多數制度不僅能節省勞力，同時也有助於增強群體的安全感。
69:0.3 (772.3) Civilized man takes great pride in the character, stability, and continuity of his established institutions, but all human institutions are merely the accumulated mores of the past as they have been conserved by taboos and dignified by religion. Such legacies become traditions, and traditions ultimately metamorphose into conventions.
69:0.3 (772.3) 文明人對其既定制度的特質、穩定性與延續性深感自豪，但所有人類制度不過是過去累積而來的禮俗，這些禮俗經由禁忌得以保存，並因宗教而顯得莊嚴。這類歷史遺留逐漸變成傳統，而傳統最終則蛻變為慣例。
69:1.1 (772.4) All human institutions minister to some social need, past or present, notwithstanding that their overdevelopment unfailingly detracts from the worth-whileness of the individual in that personality is overshadowed and initiative is diminished. Man should control his institutions rather than permit himself to be dominated by these creations of advancing civilization.
69:1.1 (772.4) 所有人類制度皆服務於某些社會需求，無論是過去還是現在；儘管如此，這些制度的過度發展無可避免地會削弱個體的價值感，因為個體的人格因此被掩蓋，主動性也隨之減弱。人類應當掌控這些制度，而非任由自己受制於這些不斷發展的文明所催生的產物。
69:1.2 (772.5) Human institutions are of three general classes:
69:1.2 (772.5) 人類制度大致可分為三類：
69:1.3 (772.6) 1. The institutions of self-maintenance. These institutions embrace those practices growing out of food hunger and its associated instincts of self-preservation. They include industry, property, war for gain, and all the regulative machinery of society. Sooner or later the fear instinct fosters the establishment of these institutions of survival by means of taboo, convention, and religious sanction. But fear, ignorance, and superstition have played a prominent part in the early origin and subsequent development of all human institutions.
69:1.3 (772.6) 1. 自我維持的制度。 這些制度涵蓋源於飢餓及其相關的自我保存本能的各種行為。其中包括產業、財產、為獲利而發動的戰爭，以及社會的一切調節機制。遲早，恐懼本能會通過禁忌、習俗及宗教制裁，推動這些生存制度的建立。然而，恐懼、無知與迷信，在所有人類制度的早期發源及其後續發展中，都扮演了重要的角色。
69:1.4 (772.7) 2. The institutions of self-perpetuation. These are the establishments of society growing out of sex hunger, maternal instinct, and the higher tender emotions of the races. They embrace the social safeguards of the home and the school, of family life, education, ethics, and religion. They include marriage customs, war for defense, and home building.
69:1.4 (772.7) 2. 自我延續的制度。 這些是源於性慾、母性本能以及各種族更高尚、更溫柔的情感而發展出來的社會建制。它們涵蓋了家園與學校、家庭生活、教育、道德及宗教等社會保障機制。其中包括婚姻習俗、防衛性戰爭以及營建家園。
69:1.5 (772.8) 3. The institutions of self-gratification. These are the practices growing out of vanity proclivities and pride emotions; and they embrace customs in dress and personal adornment, social usages, war for glory, dancing, amusement, games, and other phases of sensual gratification. But civilization has never evolved distinctive institutions of self-gratification.
69:1.5 (772.8) 3. 自我滿足的制度。 這些是源於虛榮癖好和驕傲情緒的行為；其中包括服飾與個人裝扮的習俗、社交禮儀、為榮耀而戰、舞蹈、娛樂、遊戲，以及其他形式的感官滿足。然而，文明從未發展出特有的自我滿足制度。
69:1.6 (773.1) These three groups of social practices are intimately interrelated and minutely interdependent the one upon the other. On Urantia they represent a complex organization which functions as a single social mechanism.
69:1.6 (773.1) 這三類社會行為彼此密切相關，且極其緊密地相互依存。在玉苒廈，它們構成了一個複雜的體系，運作上如同一個單一社會機制。
69:2.1 (773.2) Primitive industry slowly grew up as an insurance against the terrors of famine. Early in his existence man began to draw lessons from some of the animals that, during a harvest of plenty, store up food against the days of scarcity.
69:2.1 (773.2) 原始產業作為抵禦饑荒威脅的一種保障，逐漸發展起來。人類在早期便開始向某些動物學習——這些動物會在豐收之際儲存食物，以備荒年之需。
69:2.2 (773.3) Before the dawn of early frugality and primitive industry the lot of the average tribe was one of destitution and real suffering. Early man had to compete with the whole animal world for his food. Competition-gravity ever pulls man down toward the beast level; poverty is his natural and tyrannical estate. Wealth is not a natural gift; it results from labor, knowledge, and organization.
69:2.2 (773.3) 在早期節儉與原始產業誕生之前，一般部落的處境是貧困潦倒且飽受苦難。早期人類必須與整個動物界競爭以獲取食物。競爭的引力總將人類拉向獸類的層次；貧困是人類自然而殘酷的處境。財富並非與生俱來的恩賜；它是勞動、知識與組織的成果。
69:2.3 (773.4) Primitive man was not slow to recognize the advantages of association. Association led to organization, and the first result of organization was division of labor, with its immediate saving of time and materials. These specializations of labor arose by adaptation to pressure—pursuing the paths of lessened resistance. Primitive savages never did any real work cheerfully or willingly. With them conformity was due to the coercion of necessity.
69:2.3 (773.4) 原始人很快便意識到結社的優點。結社導向了組織，而組織帶來的首要成果便是勞動分工，這立即節省了時間和材料。這種勞動專業化是因應壓力而產生的——即循著阻力較小的途徑前進。原始野蠻人從未樂意或自願地從事任何實質的勞動。對他們而言，這種順從皆出於生存的強制。
69:2.4 (773.5) Primitive man disliked hard work, and he would not hurry unless confronted by grave danger. The time element in labor, the idea of doing a given task within a certain time limit, is entirely a modern notion. The ancients were never rushed. It was the double demands of the intense struggle for existence and of the ever-advancing standards of living that drove the naturally inactive races of early man into avenues of industry.
69:2.4 (773.5) 原始人厭惡辛勞，除非面臨重大危險，否則絕不匆忙行事。勞動中的「時間」要素——即在特定時限內完成某項任務的概念——完全是現代的觀念。古人從不匆忙。正是激烈的生存鬥爭與不斷提高的生活水準這雙重需求，驅使了早期人類中那些天性懶散的族群走上了實業之途。
69:2.5 (773.6) Labor, the efforts of design, distinguishes man from the beast, whose exertions are largely instinctive. The necessity for labor is man’s paramount blessing. The Prince’s staff all worked; they did much to ennoble physical labor on Urantia. Adam was a gardener; the God of the Hebrews labored—he was the creator and upholder of all things. The Hebrews were the first tribe to put a supreme premium on industry; they were the first people to decree that “he who does not work shall not eat.” But many of the religions of the world reverted to the early ideal of idleness. Jupiter was a reveler, and Buddha became a reflective devotee of leisure.
69:2.5 (773.6) 勞動——即有目的的努力——使人類有別於野獸；後者的活動大多源於本能。勞動的必要性是人類至高的恩賜。君王的屬員們皆辛勤工作；他們在玉苒廈為提升體力勞動的尊嚴做出了巨大貢獻。亞當是一位園丁；希伯來人的神亦在勞作——祂是萬物的創造者與支撐者。希伯來人是第一個極力推崇勤勞的族群；他們是第一個頒布「不勞者不得食」這項誡命的民族。然而，世上許多宗教卻回歸到了早期那種安於閒散的理想。朱庇特是個縱情享樂者，而佛陀則成為了一位沉思冥想、鍾情閒適的修行者。
69:2.6 (773.7) The Sangik tribes were fairly industrious when residing away from the tropics. But there was a long, long struggle between the lazy devotees of magic and the apostles of work—those who exercised foresight.
69:2.6 (773.7) 桑吉克各部落在遠離熱帶地區居住時，相當勤勞。然而，在懶惰的魔法愛好者與勞動的使徒——也就是那些懂得未雨綢繆的人——之間，曾有一場漫長的鬥爭。
69:2.7 (773.8) The first human foresight was directed toward the preservation of fire, water, and food. But primitive man was a natural-born gambler; he always wanted to get something for nothing, and all too often during these early times the success which accrued from patient practice was attributed to charms. Magic was slow to give way before foresight, self-denial, and industry.
69:2.7 (773.8) 人類最初的未雨綢繆，在於保存火、水和食物。但原始人天生就是賭徒；他總是想不勞而獲，而在那些早期時代，人們往往將耐心勞動所帶來的成功歸因於魔力。魔法在遠見、克己與勤奮面前，遲遲不肯退讓。
69:3.1 (773.9) The divisions of labor in primitive society were determined first by natural, and then by social, circumstances. The early order of specialization in labor was:
69:3.1 (773.9) 原始社會中的勞動分工，首先是由自然條件決定的，其次才是社會條件。早期勞動專門化的順序如下：
69:3.2 (774.1) 1. Specialization based on sex. Woman’s work was derived from the selective presence of the child; women naturally love babies more than men do. Thus woman became the routine worker, while man became the hunter and fighter, engaging in accentuated periods of work and rest.
69:3.2 (774.1) 1. 基於性別的專門化。 女性的勞作源於哺育孩童的自然牽絆；女性天生比男性更愛嬰兒。因此，女性成為日常勞作者，而男性則成為獵人和戰士，處於極度勞作和徹底休息交替的狀態。
69:3.3 (774.2) All down through the ages the taboos have operated to keep woman strictly in her own field. Man has most selfishly chosen the more agreeable work, leaving the routine drudgery to woman. Man has always been ashamed to do woman’s work, but woman has never shown any reluctance to doing man’s work. But strange to record, both men and women have always worked together in building and furnishing the home.
69:3.3 (774.2) 自古以來，各種禁忌一直起著作用，將女性嚴格限制在她們自己的領域內。男性極其自私地選擇了較為合意的工作，將日常的繁重勞作留給女性。男性向來以從事女性的工作為恥，但女性卻從未對從事男性的工作表現出任何抗拒。然而奇怪的是，無論男女，在建造和布置家園方面，始終都是攜手合作。
69:3.4 (774.3) 2. Modification consequent upon age and disease. These differences determined the next division of labor. The old men and cripples were early set to work making tools and weapons. They were later assigned to building irrigation works.
69:3.4 (774.3) 2. 因年齡與疾病所導致的變化。 這些差異決定了隨後的勞動分工。年長者與殘疾者很早就被安排去製作工具和武器。後來，他們則被指派負責建造灌溉設施。
69:3.5 (774.4) 3. Differentiation based on religion. The medicine men were the first human beings to be exempted from physical toil; they were the pioneer professional class. The smiths were a small group who competed with the medicine men as magicians. Their skill in working with metals made the people afraid of them. The “white smiths” and the “black smiths” gave origin to the early beliefs in white and black magic. And this belief later became involved in the superstition of good and bad ghosts, good and bad spirits.
69:3.5 (774.4) 3. 基於宗教的分化。 巫醫是首批免除體力勞動的人類；他們是專業階層的先驅。鐵匠是一小群人，他們與巫醫在巫術方面相互競爭。他們精湛的金屬鍛造技藝，使人們對他們心生畏懼。「白鐵匠」與「黑鐵匠」催生了早期關於白魔法與黑魔法的信仰。而這種信仰後來演變為關於好鬼與壞鬼、善靈與惡靈的迷信。
69:3.6 (774.5) Smiths were the first nonreligious group to enjoy special privileges. They were regarded as neutrals during war, and this extra leisure led to their becoming, as a class, the politicians of primitive society. But through gross abuse of these privileges the smiths became universally hated, and the medicine men lost no time in fostering hatred for their competitors. In this first contest between science and religion, religion (superstition) won. After being driven out of the villages, the smiths maintained the first inns, public lodginghouses, on the outskirts of the settlements.
69:3.6 (774.5) 鐵匠是第一個享有特殊優待的非宗教群體。在戰爭期間，他們被視為中立者，而這份額外的閒暇使他們作為一個階級，逐漸成為原始社會中的從政者。然而，由於嚴重濫用這些特權，鐵匠們遭到了普遍的憎恨，而巫醫們也不失時機地煽動人們對這些競爭對手的仇恨。在這場科學與宗教之間的首次較量中，宗教（迷信）獲勝了。鐵匠們被驅逐出村莊後，便在聚落邊緣經營了最早的客棧——也就是公共旅舍。
69:3.7 (774.6) 4. Master and slave. The next differentiation of labor grew out of the relations of the conqueror to the conquered, and that meant the beginning of human slavery.
69:3.7 (774.6) 4. 主人與奴隸。 隨後的勞動分工源於征服者與被征服者之間的關係，這也標誌著人類奴役的開端。
69:3.8 (774.7) 5. Differentiation based on diverse physical and mental endowments. Further divisions of labor were favored by the inherent differences in men; all human beings are not born equal.
69:3.8 (774.7) 5. 基於不同體能與心智稟賦的分化。 人類與生俱來的差異促進了進一步的勞動分工；並非所有人類生而平等。
69:3.9 (774.8) The early specialists in industry were the flint flakers and stone masons; next came the smiths. Subsequently group specialization developed; whole families and clans dedicated themselves to certain sorts of labor. The origin of one of the earliest castes of priests, apart from the tribal medicine men, was due to the superstitious exaltation of a family of expert swordmakers.
69:3.9 (774.8) 產業中最早的專業人士是燧石工匠與石匠；接著是鐵匠。隨後，群體專業化應運而生；整個家族和氏族都致力於某種特定的勞作。除了部落的巫醫之外，最早的祭司階級之一，其起源在於人們對某個精通製劍的家族所抱持的迷信崇拜。
69:3.10 (774.9) The first group specialists in industry were rock salt exporters and potters. Women made the plain pottery and men the fancy. Among some tribes sewing and weaving were done by women, in others by the men.
69:3.10 (774.9) 產業中最早的群體專業人員是岩鹽出口商和陶工。女性負責製作素面陶器，男性則負責製作花式陶器。在某些部落中，縫紉和織布由女性承擔；而在其他部落中，則由男性承擔。
69:3.11 (774.10) The early traders were women; they were employed as spies, carrying on commerce as a side line. Presently trade expanded, the women acting as intermediaries—jobbers. Then came the merchant class, charging a commission, profit, for their services. Growth of group barter developed into commerce; and following the exchange of commodities came the exchange of skilled labor.
69:3.11 (774.10) 早期的貿易商多為女性；她們被僱用為探子，並將經商作為副業。隨後貿易逐漸擴展，這些女性開始擔任中間人——即經紀人。接著出現了商人階層，他們為所提供的服務收取佣金，即利潤。群體物物交換的增長逐漸發展為商業；而在商品交換之後，又出現了熟練勞動力的交換。
69:4.1 (775.1) Just as marriage by contract followed marriage by capture, so trade by barter followed seizure by raids. But a long period of piracy intervened between the early practices of silent barter and the later trade by modern exchange methods.
69:4.1 (775.1) 正如擄婚之後出現了契約婚姻，突襲掠奪之後，也隨之出現了以物易物的貿易。然而，在早期靜默以物易物的做法與後來通過現代交易方式進行的貿易之間，曾有一段漫長的海盜橫行時期。
69:4.2 (775.2) The first barter was conducted by armed traders who would leave their goods on a neutral spot. Women held the first markets; they were the earliest traders, and this was because they were the burden bearers; the men were warriors. Very early the trading counter was developed, a wall wide enough to prevent the traders reaching each other with weapons.
69:4.2 (775.2) 最早的以物易物是由攜帶武器的交易者進行的，他們會將貨物留在中立地點。最初的市場是由女人經營的；她們是最早的商人，這是因為她們是負責搬運重物的人；而男人則是戰士。交易檯面很早便發展起來了，這是一道寬度足以防止商人用武器互相攻擊的隔牆。
69:4.3 (775.3) A fetish was used to stand guard over the deposits of goods for silent barter. Such market places were secure against theft; nothing would be removed except by barter or purchase; with a fetish on guard the goods were always safe. The early traders were scrupulously honest within their own tribes but regarded it as all right to cheat distant strangers. Even the early Hebrews recognized a separate code of ethics in their dealings with the gentiles.
69:4.3 (775.3) 人們會使用一種神物來守護用於靜默以物易物的貨物存放處。這類市場能有效防盜；除非透過以物易物或購買，否則任何物品都無法被帶走；在神物的守護下，貨物始終安全無虞。早期的商人在自己部落內部恪守誠信，但認為欺騙遠方的陌生人並無不妥。就連早期的希伯來人，在與外邦人往來時，也承認存在另一套道德準則。
69:4.4 (775.4) For ages silent barter continued before men would meet, unarmed, on the sacred market place. These same market squares became the first places of sanctuary and in some countries were later known as “cities of refuge.” Any fugitive reaching the market place was safe and secure against attack.
69:4.4 (775.4) 歷經漫長歲月，靜默以物易物一直持續著，直到人們終於願意放下武器，在神聖的市集上彼此相見。正是這些市集廣場成為了最早的庇護所，在某些國家後來更被稱為「庇護城」。任何逃亡者只要抵達市集廣場，便能安全無虞，免受攻擊。
69:4.5 (775.5) The first weights were grains of wheat and other cereals. The first medium of exchange was a fish or a goat. Later the cow became a unit of barter.
69:4.5 (775.5) 最早的計量標準是小麥和其他穀物的顆粒。最早的交換媒介是一條魚或一隻山羊。後來，牛成為了易物單位。
69:4.6 (775.6) Modern writing originated in the early trade records; the first literature of man was a trade-promotion document, a salt advertisement. Many of the earlier wars were fought over natural deposits, such as flint, salt, and metals. The first formal tribal treaty concerned the intertribalizing of a salt deposit. These treaty spots afforded opportunity for friendly and peaceful interchange of ideas and the intermingling of various tribes.
69:4.6 (775.6) 現代書寫起源於早期的貿易紀錄；人類最早的文學作品是一份貿易推廣文書，即一則鹽的廣告。早期許多戰爭都是為了爭奪天然礦藏而爆發的，例如燧石、鹽和金屬。第一份正式的部落條約，便是關於某處鹽礦的部落間共享問題。這些締約地點，為各部落之間提供了友好和平地交流思想及彼此交融的機會。
69:4.7 (775.7) Writing progressed up through the stages of the “message stick,” knotted cords, picture writing, hieroglyphics, and wampum belts, to the early symbolic alphabets. Message sending evolved from the primitive smoke signal up through runners, animal riders, railroads, and airplanes, as well as telegraph, telephone, and wireless communication.
69:4.7 (775.7) 書寫歷經「傳信棍」、結繩、圖畫文字、象形文字及貝殼串珠帶等階段，最終發展出早期的符號字母。訊息的傳遞則從原始的煙霧信號開始，經過徒步信使、騎畜信使、鐵路與飛機，以及電報、電話和無線電通訊等階段，不斷演進。
69:4.8 (775.8) New ideas and better methods were carried around the inhabited world by the ancient traders. Commerce, linked with adventure, led to exploration and discovery. And all of these gave birth to transportation. Commerce has been the great civilizer through promoting the cross-fertilization of culture.
69:4.8 (775.8) 古代商人將新觀念與更好的方法帶到了居住世界的各個角落。商業與冒險結合，引發了探索與發現。這一切又催生了運輸。商業透過促進文化的相互交融，一直以來都是推動文明的偉大力量。
69:5.1 (775.9) Capital is labor applied as a renunciation of the present in favor of the future. Savings represent a form of maintenance and survival insurance. Food hoarding developed self-control and created the first problems of capital and labor. The man who had food, provided he could protect it from robbers, had a distinct advantage over the man who had no food.
69:5.1 (775.9) 資本是勞動，是為成全未來而捨棄當下的勞動。儲蓄是一種維生與續存的保險。囤積食物培養了自制力，也帶來了資本與勞動的最早問題。只要能保住食物，不被強盜搶走，有食物的人便比沒有食物的人占有明顯優勢。
69:5.2 (775.10) The early banker was the valorous man of the tribe. He held the group treasures on deposit, while the entire clan would defend his hut in event of attack. Thus the accumulation of individual capital and group wealth immediately led to military organization. At first such precautions were designed to defend property against foreign raiders, but later on it became the custom to keep the military organization in practice by inaugurating raids on the property and wealth of neighboring tribes.
69:5.2 (775.10) 早期的銀行家是部落中的勇士。他受託保管該團體的財寶，一旦遭遇攻擊，整個氏族便會共同保衛他的棚屋。因此，個人資本與集體財富的累積，隨即催生了軍事組織。起初，這類防禦措施旨在保護財產不受外來掠奪者侵襲，但後來逐漸形成一種慣例，即透過對鄰近部落的財產與財富發動襲擊，以保持軍事組織的作戰能力。
69:5.3 (776.1) The basic urges which led to the accumulation of capital were:
69:5.3 (776.1) 促使資本積累的基本驅動力包括：
69:5.4 (776.2) 1. Hunger—associated with foresight. Food saving and preservation meant power and comfort for those who possessed sufficient foresight thus to provide for future needs. Food storage was adequate insurance against famine and disaster. And the entire body of primitive mores was really designed to help man subordinate the present to the future.
69:5.4 (776.2) 1. 飢餓——與遠見連接。 對那些具備足夠遠見、能以此為未來需求做準備的人來說，食物的儲蓄與保存意味著力量與安逸。儲存食物是抵禦饑荒與災難的充分保障。而整個原始禮俗體系，其實都是為了幫助人類將當下服從於未來而設計的。
69:5.5 (776.3) 2. Love of family—desire to provide for their wants. Capital represents the saving of property in spite of the pressure of the wants of today in order to insure against the demands of the future. A part of this future need may have to do with one’s posterity.
69:5.5 (776.3) 2. 對家庭的愛——渴望滿足家人的需求。資本代表著儘管面臨當下的需求壓力，仍將財產儲蓄起來，以保障未來之需。這種對未來的需求，有一部分可能與個人的後代有關。
69:5.6 (776.4) 3. Vanity—longing to display one’s property accumulations. Extra clothing was one of the first badges of distinction. Collection vanity early appealed to the pride of man.
69:5.6 (776.4) 3. 虛榮心——渴望炫耀自己積累的財產。多餘的衣物是最早的身份標誌之一。對收藏的虛榮心，很早就迎合了人類的自豪感。
69:5.7 (776.5) 4. Position—eagerness to buy social and political prestige. There early sprang up a commercialized nobility, admission to which depended on the performance of some special service to royalty or was granted frankly for the payment of money.
69:5.7 (776.5) 4. 地位——渴望購買社會與政治的聲望。當時便迅速湧現了一種商業化的貴族階層，能否躋身其中，取決於是否曾為王室提供某種特殊服務，或是直接以金錢換取。
69:5.8 (776.6) 5. Power—the craving to be master. Treasure lending was carried on as a means of enslavement, one hundred per cent a year being the loan rate of these ancient times. The moneylenders made themselves kings by creating a standing army of debtors. Bond servants were among the earliest form of property to be accumulated, and in olden days debt slavery extended even to the control of the body after death.
69:5.8 (776.6) 5. 權力——對成為主人的渴望。放貸被用作奴役他人的手段，古時貸款利率高達每年百分之百。放債人透過建立一支由債務人組成的常備軍，將自己塑造成王者。契約奴隸是人類早期積累的財產形式之一，而在古代，債務奴役甚至延伸至死後對其遺體的控制。
69:5.9 (776.7) 6. Fear of the ghosts of the dead—priest fees for protection. Men early began to give death presents to the priests with a view to having their property used to facilitate their progress through the next life. The priesthoods thus became very rich; they were chief among ancient capitalists.
69:5.9 (776.7) 6. 對亡靈的恐懼——祭司的護佑費。人類很早便開始向祭司獻上「死亡禮物」，期望藉此讓自己的財產能助其在來世順利前行。祭司階級因此變得極為富有；他們是古代資本家中的佼佼者。
69:5.10 (776.8) 7. Sex urge—the desire to buy one or more wives. Man’s first form of trading was woman exchange; it long preceded horse trading. But never did the barter in sex slaves advance society; such traffic was and is a racial disgrace, for at one and the same time it hindered the development of family life and polluted the biologic fitness of superior peoples.
69:5.10 (776.8) 7. 性衝動——渴望購買一位或多位妻子。人類最早的交易形式是交換女人；這遠在買賣馬匹之前。然而，以性奴隸為對象的以物易物從未推動社會進步；此類交易過去是、現在仍是種族的恥辱，因為它既阻礙了家庭生活的發展，又污染了優越民族的生物適存度。
69:5.11 (776.9) 8. Numerous forms of self-gratification. Some sought wealth because it conferred power; others toiled for property because it meant ease. Early man (and some later-day ones) tended to squander his resources on luxury. Intoxicants and drugs intrigued the primitive races.
69:5.11 (776.9) 8. 各種形式的自我滿足。有些人追求財富，是因為財富賦予人權力；另一些人則為財產辛勞，因為財產意味著安逸。早期人類（以及某些後世的人）往往將資源揮霍在奢侈物上。致醉物與藥物令原始民族著迷。
69:5.12 (776.10) As civilization developed, men acquired new incentives for saving; new wants were rapidly added to the original food hunger. Poverty became so abhorred that only the rich were supposed to go direct to heaven when they died. Property became so highly valued that to give a pretentious feast would wipe a dishonor from one’s name.
69:5.12 (776.10) 隨著文明的發展，人們獲得了儲蓄的新動力；在最初對食物的飢渴之外，新的需求也迅速增加。貧困變得如此令人厭惡，以致於據說只有富人死後才能直接上天堂。財產的價值變得如此之高，以致於舉辦一場排場盛大的宴會，便能洗刷名譽上的污點。
69:5.13 (777.1) Accumulations of wealth early became the badge of social distinction. Individuals in certain tribes would accumulate property for years just to create an impression by burning it up on some holiday or by freely distributing it to fellow tribesmen. This made them great men. Even modern peoples revel in the lavish distribution of Christmas gifts, while rich men endow great institutions of philanthropy and learning. Man’s technique varies, but his disposition remains quite unchanged.
69:5.13 (777.1) 財富的累積很早便成為社會地位的象徵。某些部落的成員會花數年時間積攢財產，只是為在某個節日將其焚毀，或慷慨分贈給族人，藉此給人留下印象。這使他們成為大人物。即便是現代人，也沉醉於聖誕禮物的慷慨餽贈之中；而富人則捐資興辦大型的慈善與學術機構。人類的手法雖有不同，但其稟性卻絲毫未變。
69:5.14 (777.2) But it is only fair to record that many an ancient rich man distributed much of his fortune because of the fear of being killed by those who coveted his treasures. Wealthy men commonly sacrificed scores of slaves to show disdain for wealth.
69:5.14 (777.2) 但公平起見，應當指出，許多古代富人之所以將大部分財富分贈出去，是因為害怕被覬覦其財寶的人殺害。富人通常會獻祭數十名奴隸，以此展現對財富的蔑視。
69:5.15 (777.3) Though capital has tended to liberate man, it has greatly complicated his social and industrial organization. The abuse of capital by unfair capitalists does not destroy the fact that it is the basis of modern industrial society. Through capital and invention the present generation enjoys a higher degree of freedom than any that ever preceded it on earth. This is placed on record as a fact and not in justification of the many misuses of capital by thoughtless and selfish custodians.
69:5.15 (777.3) 儘管資本向來有解放人類的傾向，但它也使人類的社會與產業組織變得極為複雜。不公平的資本家濫用資本，並不能抹殺資本是現代產業社會基礎這一事實。憑藉資本與發明，當代人享有比地球上任何前代人更高的自由度。此點作為事實記錄下來，並非為了替那些輕率且自私的資本托管者的諸多資本濫用行為辯解。
69:6.1 (777.4) Primitive society with its four divisions—industrial, regulative, religious, and military—rose through the instrumentality of fire, animals, slaves, and property.
69:6.1 (777.4) 原始社會及其四個部門——產業、規管、宗教與軍事——憑藉火、動物、奴隸與財產的助力而興起。
69:6.2 (777.5) Fire building, by a single bound, forever separated man from animal; it is the basic human invention, or discovery. Fire enabled man to stay on the ground at night as all animals are afraid of it. Fire encouraged eventide social intercourse; it not only protected against cold and wild beasts but was also employed as security against ghosts. It was at first used more for light than heat; many backward tribes refuse to sleep unless a flame burns all night.
69:6.2 (777.5) 取火，僅憑這一躍，便永遠將人類與動物區分開來；這是人類最基礎的發明或發現。火使人類得以在夜間留在地表，因為所有動物都怕火。火促進了傍晚的社交互動；它不僅能抵禦寒冷與野獸，還被用來作為抵禦鬼魂的防護。起初，火更多是用來照明而非取暖；許多落後的部落，除非有火焰整夜燃燒，否則無法安然入睡。
69:6.3 (777.6) Fire was a great civilizer, providing man with his first means of being altruistic without loss by enabling him to give live coals to a neighbor without depriving himself. The household fire, which was attended by the mother or eldest daughter, was the first educator, requiring watchfulness and dependability. The early home was not a building but the family gathered about the fire, the family hearth. When a son founded a new home, he carried a firebrand from the family hearth.
69:6.3 (777.6) 火是偉大的教化者，它讓人類得以在不蒙受損失的情況下實踐利他主義——透過將燃燒的炭火分贈鄰居，而自己卻不會因此受損。由母親或長女看管的家庭爐火，是最初的教育者，要求人必須保持警醒與盡責。早期的家並非一棟建築，而是家人圍聚在火堆旁——也就是家族的爐灶。當兒子建立新家時，他會從家族的爐灶中取出一塊帶火的柴薪。
69:6.4 (777.7) Though Andon, the discoverer of fire, avoided treating it as an object of worship, many of his descendants regarded the flame as a fetish or as a spirit. They failed to reap the sanitary benefits of fire because they would not burn refuse. Primitive man feared fire and always sought to keep it in good humor, hence the sprinkling of incense. Under no circumstances would the ancients spit in a fire, nor would they ever pass between anyone and a burning fire. Even the iron pyrites and flints used in striking fire were held sacred by early mankind.
69:6.4 (777.7) 儘管發現火的安東並未將火視為崇拜對象，但他的許多後代卻將火焰視為神物或神靈。由於他們拒絕焚燒廢棄物，因此未能從火中獲得衛生上的益處。原始人畏懼火，總是設法讓火保持和悅，因此才會灑下香料。古人絕不會對著火吐唾沫，也不會從任何人與燃燒的火堆之間穿過。就連用於打火的黃鐵礦和燧石，在早期人類眼中也被視為神聖之物。
69:6.5 (777.8) It was a sin to extinguish a flame; if a hut caught fire, it was allowed to burn. The fires of the temples and shrines were sacred and were never permitted to go out except that it was the custom to kindle new flames annually or after some calamity. Women were selected as priests because they were custodians of the home fires.
69:6.5 (777.8) 熄滅火焰被視為一種罪；若茅屋起火，則只能任其燃燒。廟宇和神龕中的火是神聖的，絕不允許熄滅，惟每年或遭遇災難後，依慣例點燃新火。女性之所以被選為祭司，正是因為她們是家中爐火的守護者。
69:6.6 (778.1) The early myths about how fire came down from the gods grew out of the observations of fire caused by lightning. These ideas of supernatural origin led directly to fire worship, and fire worship led to the custom of “passing through fire,” a practice carried on up to the times of Moses. And there still persists the idea of passing through fire after death. The fire myth was a great bond in early times and still persists in the symbolism of the Parsees.
69:6.6 (778.1) 關於火如何從神明那裡降臨人間的早期神話，源於人們對閃電引發之火的觀察。這些關於超自然起源的觀念直接催生了火崇拜，而火崇拜又衍生出「穿火而過」的習俗，這種做法一直延續到摩西時代。此外，關於死後穿火而過的觀念至今仍存。火的神話曾是早期人類的重要紐帶，至今仍體現在帕西人的象徵體系中。
69:6.7 (778.2) Fire led to cooking, and “raw eaters” became a term of derision. And cooking lessened the expenditure of vital energy necessary for the digestion of food and so left early man some strength for social culture, while animal husbandry, by reducing the effort necessary to secure food, provided time for social activities.
69:6.7 (778.2) 火催生了烹飪，「生食者」一詞因而成了嘲弄之詞。烹飪減少了消化食物所需耗費的生命能，使早期人類尚有餘力發展社會文化；而畜牧業則透過降低獲取食物所需的勞力，為社會活動騰出了時間。
69:6.8 (778.3) It should be remembered that fire opened the doors to metalwork and led to the subsequent discovery of steam power and the present-day uses of electricity.
69:6.8 (778.3) 必須記住，正是火開啟了金屬加工的大門，並進而促成了蒸汽動力的發現以及當今電力的應用。
69:7.1 (778.4) To start with, the entire animal world was man’s enemy; human beings had to learn to protect themselves from the beasts. First, man ate the animals but later learned to domesticate and make them serve him.
69:7.1 (778.4) 一開始，整個動物界都是人類的敵人；人類必須學會自保，免受野獸的侵害。起初，人類獵食動物，但後來學會馴化它們，並讓它們為他效力。
69:7.2 (778.5) The domestication of animals came about accidentally. The savage would hunt herds much as the American Indians hunted the bison. By surrounding the herd they could keep control of the animals, thus being able to kill them as they were required for food. Later, corrals were constructed, and entire herds would be captured.
69:7.2 (778.5) 動物的馴化是偶然發生的。原始人獵捕獸群的方式，與美洲印第安人獵捕野牛的方式極為相似。他們透過包圍獸群來控制它們，從而能在需要食物時將它們宰殺。後來，人們建造了圍欄，並將整個獸群捕獲。
69:7.3 (778.6) It was easy to tame some animals, but like the elephant, many of them would not reproduce in captivity. Still further on it was discovered that certain species of animals would submit to man’s presence, and that they would reproduce in captivity. The domestication of animals was thus promoted by selective breeding, an art which has made great progress since the days of Dalamatia.
69:7.3 (778.6) 馴服某些動物相當容易，但許多動物，如大象，在圈養環境下無法繁殖。隨後人們進一步發現，某些物種的動物不僅容忍人類的接近，還能適應圈養繁殖。因此，動物的馴化是透過選擇性育種來推動的，這項技藝自達拉馬希亞時代以來，已取得了長足的進步。
69:7.4 (778.7) The dog was the first animal to be domesticated, and the difficult experience of taming it began when a certain dog, after following a hunter around all day, actually went home with him. For ages dogs were used for food, hunting, transportation, and companionship. At first dogs only howled, but later on they learned to bark. The dog’s keen sense of smell led to the notion it could see spirits, and thus arose the dog-fetish cults. The employment of watchdogs made it first possible for the whole clan to sleep at night. It then became the custom to employ watchdogs to protect the home against spirits as well as material enemies. When the dog barked, man or beast approached, but when the dog howled, spirits were near. Even now many still believe that a dog’s howling at night betokens death.
69:7.4 (778.7) 狗是人類最早馴化的動物，而馴服它的艱難歷程，始於某隻狗在跟隨獵人一整天後，竟隨他一同回家。長久以來，狗被用作食物、狩獵、運輸及伴侶。起初狗只會嚎叫，但後來學會了吠叫。狗敏銳的嗅覺讓人們認為它能看見靈體，因而催生了犬類拜物教派。看門狗的出現，使整個氏族得以在夜間安然入睡。此後，人們便養成一種習俗，利用看門狗來保護家園，既防範靈體，也抵禦凡俗之敵。當狗吠叫時，表示有人或獸類靠近；但當狗嚎叫時，則意味著靈體近在咫尺。即使在今天，仍有許多人相信，狗在夜間嚎叫兆示著死亡。
69:7.5 (778.8) When man was a hunter, he was fairly kind to woman, but after the domestication of animals, coupled with the Caligastia confusion, many tribes shamefully treated their women. They treated them altogether too much as they treated their animals. Man’s brutal treatment of woman constitutes one of the darkest chapters of human history.
69:7.5 (778.8) 當人類還是獵人時，他們對女人頗為寬厚；但在馴化動物之後，再加上卡裡迦夏造成的混亂，許多部落便以可恥的方式對待女人。他們對待女人的方式，簡直就像對待自己的牲畜一樣。男人對女人的殘暴對待，構成了人類歷史上最黑暗的篇章之一。
69:8.1 (778.9) Primitive man never hesitated to enslave his fellows. Woman was the first slave, a family slave. Pastoral man enslaved woman as his inferior sex partner. This sort of sex slavery grew directly out of man’s decreased dependence upon woman.
69:8.1 (778.9) 原始人從不猶豫奴役自己的同類。女人是最早的奴隸，即家庭奴隸。遊牧的男人將女人當作處於從屬地位的性伴侶加以奴役。這種性奴役直接源於男人對女人依賴程度的降低。
69:8.2 (779.1) Not long ago enslavement was the lot of those military captives who refused to accept the conqueror’s religion. In earlier times captives were either eaten, tortured to death, set to fighting each other, sacrificed to spirits, or enslaved. Slavery was a great advancement over massacre and cannibalism.
69:8.2 (779.1) 不太久遠之前，那些拒絕接受征服者宗教的戰俘，其命運便是淪為奴隸。在更早的時代，戰俘不是被吃掉、被折磨致死、被迫互相廝殺、作為祭品獻給神靈，就是淪為奴隸。相較於大屠殺和食人行為，奴隸制無疑是一大進步。
69:8.3 (779.2) Enslavement was a forward step in the merciful treatment of war captives. The ambush of Ai, with the wholesale slaughter of men, women, and children, only the king being saved to gratify the conqueror’s vanity, is a faithful picture of the barbaric slaughter practiced by even supposedly civilized peoples. The raid upon Og, the king of Bashan, was equally brutal and effective. The Hebrews “utterly destroyed” their enemies, taking all their property as spoils. They put all cities under tribute on pain of the “destruction of all males.” But many of the contemporary tribes, those having less tribal egotism, had long since begun to practice the adoption of superior captives.
69:8.3 (779.2) 將戰俘變為奴隸，是對戰俘仁慈對待方面的一項進步。艾城的伏擊戰中，男女老幼遭大規模屠殺，唯獨國王被留活口以滿足征服者的虛榮心，這正是連所謂文明民族都會實施的野蠻屠殺的真實寫照。對巴珊王噩的突襲同樣殘酷且有效。希伯來人「徹底殲滅」了敵人，並將其所有財產作為戰利品掠奪一空。他們迫使所有城鎮繳納貢稅，違者便「屠盡所有男性」。然而，同時代的許多部落——特別是那些部落自大較弱的族群——早已開始實行收養優異俘虜的做法。
69:8.4 (779.3) The hunter, like the American red man, did not enslave. He either adopted or killed his captives. Slavery was not prevalent among the pastoral peoples, for they needed few laborers. In war the herders made a practice of killing all men captives and taking as slaves only the women and children. The Mosaic code contained specific directions for making wives of these women captives. If not satisfactory, they could be sent away, but the Hebrews were not allowed to sell such rejected consorts as slaves—that was at least one advance in civilization. Though the social standards of the Hebrews were crude, they were far above those of the surrounding tribes.
69:8.4 (779.3) 獵人，就像美洲紅種人一樣，並未奴役他人。他們要麼收養俘虜，要麼將其處死。奴隸制在遊牧民族中並不普遍，因為他們對勞動力需求甚少。在戰爭中，牧民通常會殺死所有男性俘虜，僅將婦女和兒童擄為奴隸。摩西律法中載有將這些女性俘虜娶為妻子的具體指示。若不滿意，可以將她們遣走，但希伯來人不得將這些被休棄的妻子賣為奴隸——這至少是文明的一項進步。儘管希伯來人的社會規範尚顯粗陋，但仍遠高於周邊部落的水平。
69:8.5 (779.4) The herders were the first capitalists; their herds represented capital, and they lived on the interest—the natural increase. And they were disinclined to trust this wealth to the keeping of either slaves or women. But later on they took male prisoners and forced them to cultivate the soil. This is the early origin of serfdom—man attached to the land. The Africans could easily be taught to till the soil; hence they became the great slave race.
69:8.5 (779.4) 牧民是最早的資本家；他們的畜群代表著資本，而他們則靠著利息——即自然增殖——維生。他們不願將這筆財富託付給奴隸或女人來保管。但後來，他們抓了男性俘虜，並強迫他們耕作土地。這就是農奴制的早期起源——人依附於土地。非洲人很容易就能學會耕作土地；因此，他們便成了主要的奴隸種族。
69:8.6 (779.5) Slavery was an indispensable link in the chain of human civilization. It was the bridge over which society passed from chaos and indolence to order and civilized activities; it compelled backward and lazy peoples to work and thus provide wealth and leisure for the social advancement of their superiors.
69:8.6 (779.5) 奴隸制是人類文明鏈條中不可或缺的一環。它是社會從混亂與懶惰邁向秩序與文明活動的橋樑；它迫使那些落後且懶惰的人民去勞動，從而為其上層階級的社會進步提供財富與閒暇。
69:8.7 (779.6) The institution of slavery compelled man to invent the regulative mechanism of primitive society; it gave origin to the beginnings of government. Slavery demands strong regulation and during the European Middle Ages virtually disappeared because the feudal lords could not control the slaves. The backward tribes of ancient times, like the native Australians of today, never had slaves.
69:8.7 (779.6) 奴隸制度迫使人類發明出原始社會的調節機制；它開啟了政府制度的濫觴。奴隸制度需要嚴格的規管，而在歐洲中世紀時期，由於封建領主無法控制奴隸，奴隸制度幾乎消失殆盡。古代那些落後的部落，就像今天的澳洲原住民一樣，從來沒有奴隸。
69:8.8 (779.7) True, slavery was oppressive, but it was in the schools of oppression that man learned industry. Eventually the slaves shared the blessings of a higher society which they had so unwillingly helped create. Slavery creates an organization of culture and social achievement but soon insidiously attacks society internally as the gravest of all destructive social maladies.
69:8.8 (779.7) 誠然，奴隸制是壓迫性的，但正是在這些壓迫的學校中，人類學會了勤勞。最終，奴隸們也分享到了他們曾極不情願地協助建立起來的、更高層次社會所帶來的福祉。奴隸制雖能塑造出文化與社會成就的體制，但很快便會如最嚴重的社會痼疾般，從內部悄無聲息地侵蝕社會。
69:8.9 (779.8) Modern mechanical invention rendered the slave obsolete. Slavery, like polygamy, is passing because it does not pay. But it has always proved disastrous suddenly to liberate great numbers of slaves; less trouble ensues when they are gradually emancipated.
69:8.9 (779.8) 現代機械發明使奴隸走向淘汰。奴隸制，就像一夫多妻制一樣，正逐漸消亡，因為它無利可圖。但歷史一再證明，突然解放大量奴隸往往會造成災難性後果；若能逐步賦予他們自由，後續的動盪便會較小。
69:8.10 (780.1) Today, men are not social slaves, but thousands allow ambition to enslave them to debt. Involuntary slavery has given way to a new and improved form of modified industrial servitude.
69:8.10 (780.1) 如今，人類已不再是社會的奴隸，但仍有成千上萬的人任由抱負將自己束縛於債務之中。非自願的奴隸制已讓位於一種全新的、更臻完善的改良型產業奴役形式。
69:8.11 (780.2) While the ideal of society is universal freedom, idleness should never be tolerated. All able-bodied persons should be compelled to do at least a self-sustaining amount of work.
69:8.11 (780.2) 雖然社會的理想是普遍自由，但絕不應容忍閒散。應強制所有身體健全的人都至少完成能自給自足的工作量。
69:8.12 (780.3) Modern society is in reverse. Slavery has nearly disappeared; domesticated animals are passing. Civilization is reaching back to fire—the inorganic world—for power. Man came up from savagery by way of fire, animals, and slavery; today he reaches back, discarding the help of slaves and the assistance of animals, while he seeks to wrest new secrets and sources of wealth and power from the elemental storehouse of nature.
69:8.12 (780.3) 現代社會正在逆轉。奴隸制已幾乎消失；馴養動物也正在退場。文明正回溯至火——即無機世界——以尋求力量。人類曾藉著火、動物與奴隸制從野蠻狀態中崛起；而今，人類卻再次回歸，拋棄奴隸的勞力與動物的協助，試圖從自然界這座元素寶庫中，榨取新的秘密以及財富與權力的來源。
69:9.1 (780.4) While primitive society was virtually communal, primitive man did not adhere to the modern doctrines of communism. The communism of these early times was not a mere theory or social doctrine; it was a simple and practical automatic adjustment. Communism prevented pauperism and want; begging and prostitution were almost unknown among these ancient tribes.
69:9.1 (780.4) 雖然原始社會實質上是公有的，但原始人並未遵循現代共產主義的學說。早期那個時代的共產制並非單純的理論或社會學說；而是一種簡單且務實的自然調整。共產制杜絕了赤貧與匱乏；在這些古代部落中，乞討與賣淫幾乎不曾出現。
69:9.2 (780.5) Primitive communism did not especially level men down, nor did it exalt mediocrity, but it did put a premium on inactivity and idleness, and it did stifle industry and destroy ambition. Communism was indispensable scaffolding in the growth of primitive society, but it gave way to the evolution of a higher social order because it ran counter to four strong human proclivities:
69:9.2 (780.5) 原始共產制並未特別將人向下拉平，也未曾推崇平庸，但它確實助長了不作為與懶惰，並扼殺了勤奮精神，摧毀了進取心。共產制是原始社會發展過程中不可或缺的腳手架，但它最終讓位於更高級社會秩序的演進，因為它違背了人類的四種強烈傾向：
69:9.3 (780.6) 1. The family. Man not only craves to accumulate property; he desires to bequeath his capital goods to his progeny. But in early communal society a man’s capital was either immediately consumed or distributed among the group at his death. There was no inheritance of property—the inheritance tax was one hundred per cent. The later capital-accumulation and property-inheritance mores were a distinct social advance. And this is true notwithstanding the subsequent gross abuses attendant upon the misuse of capital.
69:9.3 (780.6) 1. 家庭。 人類不僅渴望累積財產；更希望將自己的資本財物傳給後代。但在早期的公有社會中，一個人的資本在他死亡時要麼被立即消耗，要麼分配給群體成員。當時並不存在財產繼承——遺產稅率高達百分之百。後來形成的資本積累與財產繼承禮俗，無疑是一項顯著的社會進步。儘管後續伴隨資本濫用而出現嚴重的弊端，但這一點依然成立。
69:9.4 (780.7) 2. Religious tendencies. Primitive man also wanted to save up property as a nucleus for starting life in the next existence. This motive explains why it was so long the custom to bury a man’s personal belongings with him. The ancients believed that only the rich survived death with any immediate pleasure and dignity. The teachers of revealed religion, more especially the Christian teachers, were the first to proclaim that the poor could have salvation on equal terms with the rich.
69:9.4 (780.7) 2. 宗教傾向。 原始人同樣希望積攢財產，作為開始來世生活的核心。這種動機解釋了為何把死者的個人物品隨葬的習俗如此久遠。古人相信，唯有富人才能在死後立即獲得愉悅與尊嚴。啟示宗教的導師，特別是基督教的導師，是最早宣稱窮人能與富人享有同等救贖機會的人。
69:9.5 (780.8) 3. The desire for liberty and leisure. In the earlier days of social evolution the apportionment of individual earnings among the group was virtually a form of slavery; the worker was made slave to the idler. This was the suicidal weakness of communism: The improvident habitually lived off the thrifty. Even in modern times the improvident depend on the state (thrifty taxpayers) to take care of them. Those who have no capital still expect those who have to feed them.
69:9.5 (780.8) 3. 對自由與閒暇的渴望。在社會演化的早期階段，將個人收入在群體中均攤，實質上是一種奴役形式；勞動者淪為遊手好閒者的奴隸。這正是共產制的致命弱點：不善儲蓄者總是靠著勤儉者生活。即使在現代，不善儲蓄者仍依賴國家（即勤儉的納稅人）來供養他們。那些無資本者，依然期望有資本者來供養他們。
69:9.6 (780.9) 4. The urge for security and power. Communism was finally destroyed by the deceptive practices of progressive and successful individuals who resorted to diverse subterfuges in an effort to escape enslavement to the shiftless idlers of their tribes. But at first all hoarding was secret; primitive insecurity prevented the outward accumulation of capital. And even at a later time it was most dangerous to amass too much wealth; the king would be sure to trump up some charge for confiscating a rich man’s property, and when a wealthy man died, the funeral was held up until the family donated a large sum to public welfare or to the king, an inheritance tax.
69:9.6 (780.9) 4. 對安全與權力的渴求。共產制最終被那些進取且成功之人的欺騙行徑所摧毀，為了擺脫部落中那些無所事事的懶漢所帶來的奴役，他們不惜採取各種詭計。但起初，所有囤積行為都是秘密進行的；原始的不安全感阻礙了資本的公開積累。即使在後來，積累過多財富依然極為危險；國王必定會捏造某些罪名來沒收富人的財產，而當富人去世時，葬禮會被擱置，直到家屬向公共福利或國王捐獻一大筆款項為止，這便是遺產稅。
69:9.7 (781.1) In earliest times women were the property of the community, and the mother dominated the family. The early chiefs owned all the land and were proprietors of all the women; marriage required the consent of the tribal ruler. With the passing of communism, women were held individually, and the father gradually assumed domestic control. Thus the home had its beginning, and the prevailing polygamous customs were gradually displaced by monogamy. (Polygamy is the survival of the female-slavery element in marriage. Monogamy is the slave-free ideal of the matchless association of one man and one woman in the exquisite enterprise of home building, offspring rearing, mutual culture, and self-improvement.)
69:9.7 (781.1) 在遠古時代，女人是社群的財產，而母親在家庭中佔據主導地位。早期的酋長擁有所有土地，並是所有女人的擁有者；結婚必須獲得部落統治者的同意。隨著共產制的消亡，女人成為個人財產，父親逐漸接管了家庭的控制權。家便由此而生了，而當時盛行的多妻制習俗也逐漸被一夫一妻制所取代。（一夫多妻制是婚姻中女性奴役元素的殘餘；一夫一妻制則是無奴役的理想，體現於一男一女之間無與倫比的結合，共同致力於建立美滿家庭、撫育子女、相互教化及自我完善這項精妙的事業。）
69:9.8 (781.2) At first, all property, including tools and weapons, was the common possession of the tribe. Private property first consisted of all things personally touched. If a stranger drank from a cup, the cup was henceforth his. Next, any place where blood was shed became the property of the injured person or group.
69:9.8 (781.2) 起初，所有財產——包括工具和武器——皆為部落的共同所有物。私有財產最初僅指個人曾接觸過的所有物品。倘若陌生人用某個杯子喝了水，該杯子自此便歸他所有。接下來，任何曾發生流血事件的地方，便會成為受傷者或該群體的財產。
69:9.9 (781.3) Private property was thus originally respected because it was supposed to be charged with some part of the owner’s personality. Property honesty rested safely on this type of superstition; no police were needed to guard personal belongings. There was no stealing within the group, though men did not hesitate to appropriate the goods of other tribes. Property relations did not end with death; early, personal effects were burned, then buried with the dead, and later, inherited by the surviving family or by the tribe.
69:9.9 (781.3) 因此，私有財產最初之所以受到尊重，是因為人們認為它蘊含了所有者人格的一部分。對財產的誠信正是穩固建立在這種迷信之上；無需守衛來保護個人財物。群體內部絕無偷盜，儘管人們毫不猶豫地掠奪其他部落的財物。財產關係不會因死亡而終止；早期，個人物品會被焚燒，隨後與死者一同埋葬；到了後期，則由倖存的家人或部落繼承。
69:9.10 (781.4) The ornamental type of personal effects originated in the wearing of charms. Vanity plus ghost fear led early man to resist all attempts to relieve him of his favorite charms, such property being valued above necessities.
69:9.10 (781.4) 裝飾性個人物品，起源於佩戴護身符的習慣。虛榮心加上對鬼神的恐懼，促使早期人類抵制一切奪走其心愛護身符的企圖，因為這類財產在他們心中比生活必需品更珍貴。
69:9.11 (781.5) Sleeping space was one of man’s earliest properties. Later, homesites were assigned by the tribal chiefs, who held all real estate in trust for the group. Presently a fire site conferred ownership; and still later, a well constituted title to the adjacent land.
69:9.11 (781.5) 睡眠場所是人類最早擁有的財產之一。後來，部落酋長會分配宅基地，他們以信託方式為族群持有所有不動產。隨後，營火地便賦予了所有權；到了更晚的時期，一口水井便足以確定對毗鄰土地的所有權。
69:9.12 (781.6) Water holes and wells were among the first private possessions. The whole fetish practice was utilized to guard water holes, wells, trees, crops, and honey. Following the loss of faith in the fetish, laws were evolved to protect private belongings. But game laws, the right to hunt, long preceded land laws. The American red man never understood private ownership of land; he could not comprehend the white man’s view.
69:9.12 (781.6) 水坑和水井是首批私人財產之一。整個物神崇拜儀式被用來守護水坑、水井、樹木、農作物和蜂蜜。隨著人們對物神信仰的消退，保護私人財產的法律便逐漸演化出來。然而，狩獵法，即狩獵權，遠早於土地法。美洲紅種人從未理解土地的私有制；他們無法理解白人的觀點。
69:9.13 (781.7) Private property was early marked by family insignia, and this is the early origin of family crests. Real estate could also be put under the watchcare of spirits. The priests would “consecrate” a piece of land, and it would then rest under the protection of the magic taboos erected thereon. Owners thereof were said to have a “priest’s title.” The Hebrews had great respect for these family landmarks: “Cursed be he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.” These stone markers bore the priest’s initials. Even trees, when initialed, became private property.
69:9.13 (781.7) 私有財產早期常以家族徽記作為標記，這便是家族紋章的早期起源。地產亦可置於神靈的庇護之下。祭司會「祝聖」一塊土地，此後該土地便處於其上設立的魔法禁忌保護之下。據說該土地的所有者擁有「祭司產權」。希伯來人對這些家族地標極為尊重：「凡挪移鄰舍地界標記的，必受詛咒。」這些石碑上刻有祭司的姓名首字母。即使是樹木，只要刻上首字母，便成為私有財產。
69:9.14 (782.1) In early days only the crops were private, but successive crops conferred title; agriculture was thus the genesis of the private ownership of land. Individuals were first given only a life tenureship; at death land reverted to the tribe. The very first land titles granted by tribes to individuals were graves—family burying grounds. In later times land belonged to those who fenced it. But the cities always reserved certain lands for public pasturage and for use in case of siege; these “commons” represent the survival of the earlier form of collective ownership.
69:9.14 (782.1) 在早期，只有農作物屬於私有，但連續的收成賦予了土地產權；因此，農業是土地私有制的起源。個人最初僅被授予土地的終身使用權；死亡後，土地便歸還給部落。部落最初授予個人的土地產權，正是墳墓——即家族墓地。在後來的時期，土地歸屬於將其圍起的人。但城市總是保留某些土地作為公共牧場，並供遭圍城時使用；這些「公地」代表了早期集體所有制形式的遺存。
69:9.15 (782.2) Eventually the state assigned property to the individual, reserving the right of taxation. Having made secure their titles, landlords could collect rents, and land became a source of income—capital. Finally land became truly negotiable, with sales, transfers, mortgages, and foreclosures.
69:9.15 (782.2) 最終，國家將地產分配給個人，並保留徵稅的權利。地主在確保產權無虞後，便能收取地租，土地也因此成為收入來源——即資本。到了最後階段，伴隨著買賣、轉讓、抵押和止贖，土地終於真正成為可自由流通的資產。
69:9.16 (782.3) Private ownership brought increased liberty and enhanced stability; but private ownership of land was given social sanction only after communal control and direction had failed, and it was soon followed by a succession of slaves, serfs, and landless classes. But improved machinery is gradually setting men free from slavish toil.
69:9.16 (782.3) 私有制帶來了更大的自由與更高的穩定性；然而，土地私有制只有在公有制的控制與指導失效之後，才獲得社會的認可，隨後便相繼出現了奴隸、農奴及無地階層。不過，機械的改良正逐漸將人們從奴隸般的苦役中解放出來。
69:9.17 (782.4) The right to property is not absolute; it is purely social. But all government, law, order, civil rights, social liberties, conventions, peace, and happiness, as they are enjoyed by modern peoples, have grown up around the private ownership of property.
69:9.17 (782.4) 財產權並非絕對的；它純粹是社會賦予的。然而，現代各民族所享有的一切政府、法律、秩序、公民權利、社會自由、慣例、和平與幸福，皆是圍繞著私有財產權而逐漸形成的。
69:9.18 (782.5) The present social order is not necessarily right—not divine or sacred—but mankind will do well to move slowly in making changes. That which you have is vastly better than any system known to your ancestors. Make certain that when you change the social order you change for the better. Do not be persuaded to experiment with the discarded formulas of your forefathers. Go forward, not backward! Let evolution proceed! Do not take a backward step.
69:9.18 (782.5) 當前的社會秩序未必是正確的——既非神性的，亦非不容改變的——但人類在推動變革時，宜緩慢而審慎。你們所擁有的，遠比你們的祖先所知的任何體制都要好得多。請務必確保，當你們改變社會秩序時，所做的改變是為了讓社會變得更好。切勿被說服去嘗試你們祖先早已棄用的模式。向前邁進，不要倒退！讓演化繼續！千萬不要後退一步。
69:9.19 (782.6) [Presented by a Melchizedek of Nebadon.]
69:9.19 (782.6) [由一位内巴頓的默基瑟德所呈獻。]