of beauty(论 美）

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VIRTUE is like a rich stone, best plain set; and surely virtue is best, in a body that is comely ,though not of delicate features; and that hath ( H- o6 u% q2 ~& ^! n; I* ?8 S0 Q8 srather dignity of presence, than beauty of aspect. Neither is it almost # c) F" h$ `2 z6 Dseen, that very beautiful persons are otherwise of great virtue; as if ; g+ l4 l* R6 s) E* }nature were rather busy, not to err, than in labor to produce excellency. 5 ~3 b9 s' R4 o* f And therefore they prove accomplished, but not of great spirit; and study " E, @- R& E, X$ u! j* Urather behavior, than virtue. But this holds not always: for Augustus % G! `) Z, C* A( P3 L8 WCaesar, Titus Vespasianus, Philip le Belle of France, Edward the Fourth of England, Alcibiades of Athens, Ismael the Sophy of Persia, were all high and great spirits; and yet the most beautiful men of their times. 2 ?( X( F' N. K9 F" I In beauty, that of favor, is more than that of color; and that of decent and gracious motion, more than that of favor. That is the best part of 9 ]# r$ e$ ~# Qbeauty, which a picture cannot express; no, nor the first sight of the life. There is no excellent beauty, that hath not some strangeness in 1 I$ a0 L8 Z, Othe proportion. A man cannot tell whether Apelles, or Albert Durer, were the more trifler; whereof the one, would make a personage by geometrical proportions; the other, by taking the best parts out of divers faces, to make one excellent. Such personages, I think, would please nobody, but 5 ]/ n8 t" B0 p0 rthe painter that made them. Not but I think a painter may make a better face than ever was; but he must do it by a kind of felicity (as a musician 1 F0 u2 c1 C4 t5 c) Q# hthat maketh an excellent air in music), and not by rule. A man shall see 0 h4 N' y0 _0 `faces, that if you examine them part by part, you shall find never a good; * j( s7 t, W* E5 m+ p7 k: Yand yet altogether do well. If it be true that the principal part of beauty is in decent motion, certainly it is no marvel, though persons in years ' C9 G& s8 e+ u% useem many times more amiable; pulchrorum autumnus pulcher; for no youth ! \" R8 S2 A8 k! Gcan be comely but by pardon, and considering the youth, as to make up the 7 S s6 w& R* \, Pcomeliness. Beauty is as summer fruits,) which are easy to corrupt, and & ^: D% T' C9 o% Y( X) `0 pcannot last; and for the most part it makes a dissolute youth, and an age * D e; `. N' b# h" \a little out of countenance; but yet certainly again, if it light well, 7 Q7 O+ l) q `( @% h. @it maketh virtue shine,and vices blush.

美德好比宝石，在朴素背景的衬托下反而更华丽。同样，一个打扮并不华贵，却端庄严肃而有美德的人是令人肃然起敬的。 美貌的人并不都有其他方面的才能。许多容貌俊秀的人却一无所有，他们过于追求外形的美而放弃了内在的美。

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仔细分析起来，形体之美要胜于颜色之美，而优雅行为之美又胜于形体之美。最高的美是画家所无法表现的。因为它是难以直观的。这是一种奇妙的美，曾经有两位画家――阿皮雷斯和丢勒滑稽地认为，可以按照几何比例，或者通过摄取不同人身上最美的特点，加以合成的方法，画出最完美的人像。

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其实像这样画出来的美人，恐怕只有画家才喜欢。

有些老人显得很可爱，因为他们的作风优雅而美。“美人的迟暮也是美的。”而尽管有的年轻人具有美貌，却由于缺乏优美的修养而不配得到赞美。

美有如盛夏的水果，而容易腐烂而难保持的,世上有许多美人,他们有过放荡青春，却迎受着愧悔的晚年。

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因此，把美的形貌与美的德行结合起来吧。只有这样，美会放射出真正的光辉。