恪守諾言

Peter MacLean age 16

彼得·麥克林 16歲

IT WAS A COLD NIGHT and I was breathing heavily as we climbed above the tree line towards the top of the mountain.

When we reached the summit， we sat down and looked towards the canopy of stars that glittered above us.Every star held in place by the laws of nature， each kept on its course by principles that even the greatest mathematician and the most powerful computer could not calculate.

Newton had tried;he had discovered the laws of gravity. Einstein and Schroedinger had tried.Yet still the universe held its secrets; still its laws were not understood.

Yet as we sat there， looking towards the sky we were sure that there were laws that governed the motion of the starry heavens above， as surely as there were laws that governed the action and interaction of atoms and molecules.

I am a Scout.I was at Glen kin， camping with my friends of the 4th Port Glasgow troop.As we made our way back down the mountain I was thinking about what we had seen.Living in town we don't normally see the stars very clearly， but out here in the wilderness of mountains and locks the whole sky seemed ablaze with tiny pricks of light. \"The starry heavens above， and the moral order within\"(Kant).

I don't know what put these words in my thoughts， but somehow they struck home and my friends and I began to talk about the Scout law and promise， and wondered whether they were like the efforts of physicists to unlock the laws of the universe.

What if the Scout law and promise was an effort to unlock the laws that govern human society. \"Put some force here and the effect will be seen over there.\" In science cause and effect are direct， often predictable.We wondered whether society worked like that: \"Act kindly here and the effect will be seen somewhere else.\" Or even， \"Do an unkind thing here and the effect will be seen in suffering somewhere else.\"

Sometimes ideas float in and out of my mind without leaving any footprint， but this idea wouldn't go away.When I became a Scout I made a promise:

On my honour I promise that I will do

my best to do my duty to God and to

the Queen， to help other people and to

keep the Scout Law.

I remember having thought how important it was to be making a promise that would be the basis of decisions I would make， possibly for the rest of my life.

Not all Scouts have a Queen， but they still promise to fulfill their duty to the nation and to God and to live in obedience to the Scout Law.Sometimes Scouts find the principles hard to keep， but the promise is \"to do my best.\" Even if a Scout fails， if he has done his best he has done enough.

\"The starry heavens above and the moral within.\" Unlike the laws of the universe， this law of life lives not in the stars， but in me.I am bound to the promise， because I chose to be.The promise refers to Scout Law and this sets out seven standards by which each Scout is able to judge his success or failure as a Scout. Maybe these also set a standard by which everybody can judge their success or failure as human beings.

A Scout is to be trusted--A Scout is loyal--A Scout is friendly and considerate --A Scout belongs to the worldwide family of Scouts--A Scout has courage in all difficulties--A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property--A Scout has self respect and respect for others.

I threw myself around in my sleeping bag， unable to sleep. Still these words went through my mind，\"The starry heavens above and the moral order within.\" I got to thinking about the laws in the Bible.The Ten Commandments are respected by Christians， Jews and Muslims as the laws given by God.

It is as if God had done two things: He had placed a knowledge of what is right in the centre of everybody， and then He had given a law that is outside each of us so that we could judge how well we understood what it ought to be like to be completely human， completely in touch with the \"moral order within.\"

Back at home， I flicked through the encyclopedia and found that some Hindus also believed in a God-given law.They call it the Law of Manu， and it shares much of the Ten Commandments， even including a rule \"to honour your father and mother so that your days in the land may be long.\"

My mind again raced back to the hillside and I remembered the Scout promise \"to do my duty...\"

那是一個(gè)寒冷的夜晚，我們已爬過樹帶，不停地喘著粗氣繼續(xù)往山頂攀登。

到了山頂之后，我們坐下來，仰望頭頂?shù)拈W爍星空，只見每一顆星星都按照自然法則有序地排列著，并遵循一定的規(guī)律運(yùn)行，而這些規(guī)律是無法推算的，數(shù)學(xué)家和最先進(jìn)的計(jì)算機(jī)也無能為力。

牛頓曾努力過，他發(fā)現(xiàn)了萬有引力定律；愛因斯坦和舒諾丁杰也曾努力過，但是宇宙的奧妙依然未能揭開，人們也就無從了解它的規(guī)律。

可是，我們坐在那里，朝著深邃的天空望去的時(shí)候，不自覺地會(huì)相信有什么規(guī)律控制著閃爍星空的運(yùn)行，就像我們相信有規(guī)律控制著原子和分子的作用力與反作用力一樣。

我是一名童子軍，格倫血統(tǒng)，野營時(shí)與格拉斯哥港第四小組的朋友們?cè)谝黄?。在我們從山上返回的途中，我老是琢磨親眼所見的一切。住在城里，通常是看不清星星的，可是，在這山中，在這片曠野上，整個(gè)天空就像萬點(diǎn)燈火一樣，閃閃發(fā)光。“頭上燦爛的星空，內(nèi)心崇高的道德”（康德）。

我不知道為什么會(huì)想起這幾句話，但我們都為之所動(dòng)，我和朋友們便開始談?wù)撏榆娬鲁桃约靶牡氖?，也想搞清楚這些東西是否跟物理學(xué)家所付出的辛苦一樣，能揭示宇宙的規(guī)律。

如果童子軍章程以及宣誓能夠揭開人類社會(huì)的規(guī)律，那又如何呢？“此處用力，別處受影響?！笨茖W(xué)上，因果關(guān)系是很直觀的，往往可以預(yù)測(cè)得到。我們想知道社會(huì)是否也是如此，即：“在這里做點(diǎn)好事，其影響力也會(huì)波及到別的地方。”或者說：“在這里干壞事，別處必將受苦?！?/p>

有時(shí)，這些想法在腦海里時(shí)隱時(shí)現(xiàn)，卻無論如何也擺脫不掉。我入童子軍時(shí)，立下這樣的誓言：

我發(fā)誓堅(jiān)決聽從上帝和女王的旨意，全力做

好一切，竭力幫助別人，嚴(yán)守童子軍章程。

我始終記著自己有過這種想法，認(rèn)為發(fā)這樣的誓非常重要，因?yàn)闊o論做任何決定，都可以以誓言為依據(jù)，來指導(dǎo)自己今后的生活。

并非所有的童子軍都有女王，但他們?nèi)匀粸橥瓿蓢液蜕系鬯x予的責(zé)任而宣誓，嚴(yán)守童子軍章程。有時(shí)，童子軍們會(huì)覺得要一貫做到遵守章程是很難的，但誓言上說：“要盡力而為。”即使某個(gè)童子軍未能做到哪一條，只要他盡了力，也就足夠了。

“頭上燦爛的星空，內(nèi)心崇高的道德?！边@條“人生法則”留存在我的內(nèi)心，而宇宙的規(guī)律則是存在于星際間的。我嚴(yán)守自己的誓言，因?yàn)槲矣芍缘叵脒@樣做。誓言就是童子軍章程，它規(guī)定了七條標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，以此來評(píng)判每個(gè)童子軍的成功與否。也許這些條款也為每個(gè)人規(guī)定了一個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，以此來評(píng)判自己做人的成功與否。

童子軍會(huì)讓人信任——童子軍忠誠可靠——童子軍友好且善解人意——每個(gè)童子軍都是整個(gè)童子軍大家庭中的一員——童子軍有勇氣克服一切困難——童子軍能很好地利用時(shí)間，珍惜一切財(cái)物——童子軍有自尊并能尊重他人。

我一頭扎進(jìn)睡袋，卻睡不著。這些話語一直在我的腦海里回響，“頭上燦爛的星空，內(nèi)心崇高的道德?！蔽议_始想到《圣經(jīng)》戒律，《十誡》作為上帝頒布的戒律受到基督教、猶太教和伊斯蘭教教徒們的重視。

上帝似乎做了兩件事情：一是將對(duì)正確事物的悟性置于每個(gè)人的心中；二是在每個(gè)人身外設(shè)置了戒律，這樣我們就可以評(píng)判完全人性化的、完全符合我們“內(nèi)心道德準(zhǔn)則”的東西是什么，我們理解得透徹與否。

回到家以后，我翻開百科全書，發(fā)現(xiàn)一些信奉印度教的人也信仰上帝的戒律。他們稱其為《摩奴法典》，與《十誡》有許多共同之處，甚至“孝順父母才能長壽”也是“法典”的內(nèi)容之一。

我的思緒又一次回到山坡，想起了童子軍宣言“要盡職盡責(zé)……”