Rhetoricae 修辭學

自昨天早上起﹐我便像入了魔似的在看修辭學。的確是一門很......費時的功夫。初初看到 Logos, Pathos, Ethos, 心想: 能有多深? 哪知看下去便似踏進無底深潭﹐figures of speech, figures of diction, figure of thoughts, figures of amplification...一門接一門。就是說影響文章的壞規則﹐也列有28項之多: macrologia 長氣﹐hyperbole 浮誇﹐bomphiologia 自大﹐aschematiston 粗鄙....等﹐盡令人眼花瞭亂。其實每看新一門的科目﹐首先第一件頭痛的事便是專有名稱﹐電腦的 RAM, ROM, drive; 經濟的 micro, macro, supply, demand; 心理的 ego, id; 哲學的 virtue, vice, ontology, axiology; 總像沒個新的深字便不夠專業﹐有些專有名詞的確難以代替﹐但是有些明明很簡單的事也要剎有其事的整個專有名詞。好像律師永遠要說: I concur, Overrule, Vox populi; 卻不說: I agree, I don't think so, 我們人多呀- 吹咩!?...可能就是現在的風氣﹐間間單單的話就不像有道理﹐但是活在世上﹐我們唯有迎合社會吧。Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis. - Ovid ( Times are changing, and we're changing within them.) Omnia dicta fortiora si dicta Latina. ( Everything sounds more impressive when sound in latin. )

我已用了十五﹑六個鐘的時間﹐筋疲力竭﹐雖然還未能盡讀﹐但總算也摸清了個大概。在此大作文章﹐宣揚自己的孤陋寡聞﹐正是一顯黔驢之技。想起了句說話:"Rather remain silent and be thought a fool, then to open your mouth and proof them right." Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.( if you had keep your silence, you'd have stayed a philosopher. )