The Madman

         You ask me how I became a madman. It happened thus: One day, long before many gods were born, I woke from a deep sleep and found all my masks were stolen - the seven masks I have fashioned and worn in seven lives – I ran maskless through the crowded streets shouting, “Thieves,thieves, the cursed thieves."

        Men and women laughed at me and some ran to their houses in fear of me.

        And when I reached the market place, a youth standing on a house-top cried, “He is a madman.”  I looked up to behold him; the sun kissed my own naked face for the first time. For the first time the sun kissed my own naked face and my soul was inflamed with love for the sun, and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance I cried, “Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks.”

        Thus I became a madman.

        And I have found both freedom and safety in my madness; the freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us. 

        But let me not be too proud of my safety. Even a thief in a jail is safe from another thief.

狂人

    你若问起我”狂人“的由来，我便告诉你：一日，远在众神降生之际，从沉睡中醒来的我发现面具不翼而飞 - 那是七张为七种生活而塑造的面具 - 我裸露着脸在拥挤的街道里奔跑着，大吼着，”贼，贼，这该死的贼。“

    男男女女啊，嘲笑着我；躲避的人啊，惧怕着我。

    当我跑至集市时，一个站在房顶的年轻人喊叫到，”他疯了。“我抬起头望向他，阳光第一次照耀在了我毫无遮挡的脸庞上。我的脸首次接受了阳光的洗礼，我的灵魂为它热情如焚。此刻面具已不再重要。恍惚间我突然大喊道，”感激啊，感激这偷走面具的贼。“

    就这样，我成为了一个狂人。

    在疯狂中我找到了自由和安全；自由，那种孤独的自由，安全，那种不用被理解的安全，而那些自诩了解我们的人，总是在冥冥中束缚着我们。

    这份安全感并不太牢靠，再厉害的贼也偷不了牢笼里的贼；