第23章 Ironical Eulogy on Debt 债务讽诵

Debt is of the very highest antiquity. The first debt in the history of man is the debt of nature, and the first instinct is to put off the payment of it to the last moment. Many persons, it will be observed, following the natural procedure, would die before they would pay their debts.

Society is composed of two classes, debtors and creditors. The creditor class has been erroneously supposed the more enviable. Never was there a greater misconception; and the hold it yet maintains upon opinion is a remarkable example of the obstinacy of error, notwithstanding the plainest lessons of experience. The debtor has the sympathies of mankind. He is seldom spoken of but with expressions of tenderness and compassion—"the poor debtor! "—and "the unfortunate debtor! " On the other hand, "harsh" and "hard-hearted" are the epithets allotted to the creditor. Who ever heard the "poor creditor, " the"unfortunate creditor" spoken of? No, the creditor never becomes the object of pity, unless he passes into the debtor class. A creditor may be ruined by the poor debtor, but it is not until he becomes unable to pay his own debts, that he begins to be compassionated.

A debtor is a man of mark. Many eyes are fixed upon him; many have interest in his well-being; his movements are of concern; he can not disappear unheeded; his name is in many mouths; his name is upon many books; he is a man of note—of promissory note;he fills the speculation of many minds; men conjecture about him, wonder about him, —wonder and conjecture whether he will pay. He is a man of consequence, for many are running after him. His door is thronged with duns. He is inquired after every hour of the day. Judges hear of him and know him. Every meal he swallows, every coat he puts upon his back, every dollar he borrows, appears before the country in some formal document. Compare his notoriety with the obscure lot of the creditor, —of the man who has nothing but claims on the world; a landlord, or fundholder, or some such disagreeable, hard character.

The man who pays his way is unknown in his neighborhood. You ask the milkman at his door, and he can not tell his name. You ask the butcher where Mr. Payall lives, and he tells you he knows no such name, for it is not in his books. You shall ask the baker, and he will tell you there is no such person in the neighborhood. People that have his money fast in their pockets, have no thought of his person or appellation. His house only is known. No. 31 is good pay. No. 31 is ready money. Not a scrap of paper is ever made out for No. 31. It is an anonymous house; its owner pays his way to obscurity. No one knows anything about him, or heeds his movements. If a carriage be seen at his door, the neighborhood is not full of concern lest he be going to run away. If a package be removed from his house, a score of boys are not employed to watch whether it be carried to the pawnbroker. Mr. Payall fills no place in the public mind; no one has any hopes or fears about him.

The creditor always figures in the fancy as a sour, single man, with grizzled hair, a scowling countenance, and a peremptory air, who lives in a dark apartment, with musty deeds about him, and an iron safe, as impenetrable as his heart, grabbing together what he does not enjoy, and what there is no one about him to enjoy. The debtor, on the other hand, is always pictured with a wife and six fair-haired daughters, bound together in affection and misery, full of sensibility, and suffering without a fault. The creditor, it is never doubted, thrives without a merit. He has no wife and children to pity. No one ever thinks it desirable that he should have the means of living. He is a brute for insisting that he must receive, in order to pay. It is not in the imagination of man to conceive that his creditor has demands upon him which must be satisfied, and that he must do to others as others must do to him. A creditor is a personification of exaction. He is supposed to be always taking in, and never giving out.

People idly fancy that the possession of riches is desirable. What blindness! Spend and regale. Save a shilling and you lay it by for a thief. The prudent men are the men that live beyond their means. Happen what may, they are safe. They have taken time by the forelock. They have anticipated fortune. "The wealthy fool, with gold in store, " has only denied himself so much enjoyment, which another will seize at his expense. Look at these people in a panic. See who are the fools then. You know them by their long faces. You may say, as one of them goes by in an agony of apprehension, "There is a stupid fellow who fancied himself rich, because he had fifty thousand dollars in bank." The history of the last ten years has taught the moral, "spend and regale." Whatever is laid up beyond the present hour, is put in jeopardy. There is no certainty but in instant enjoyment. Look at schoolboys sharing a plum cake. The knowing ones eat, as for a race; but a stupid fellow saves his portion; just nibbles a bit, and "keeps the rest for another time." Most provident blockhead! The others, when they have gobbled up their shares, set upon him, plunder him, and thrash him for crying out.

Before the terms "depreciation, " "suspension, " and "going into liquidation, " were heard, there might have been some reason in the practice of "laying up; " but now it denotes the darkest blindness. The prudent men of the present time, are the men in debt. The tendency being to sacrifice creditors to debtors, and the debtor party acquiring daily new strength, everyone is in haste to get into the favored class. In any case, the debtor is safe. He has put his enjoyments behind him; they are safe; no turns of fortune can disturb them. The substance he has eaten up, is irrecoverable. The future can not trouble his past. He has nothing to apprehend. He has anticipated more than fortune would ever have granted him. He has tricked fortune; and his creditors—bah! who feels for creditors? What are creditors? Landlords; a pitiless and unpitiable tribe; all griping extortioners! What would become of the world of debtors, if it did not steal a march upon this rapacious class?

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

在古代的习俗中，债务受到人们的高度重视。人类历史上的首笔债务就是人类对大自然欠下的，人类在欠下这笔债务之后的本能反应就是无限期推迟偿还的期限，直到最后一秒。不妨留意一下我们身边的人，你会发现，他们中绝大多数都会遵循这一自然法则，在有能力偿还债务之前就死了。

人类社会包含了两个阶层：一个是借债人，一个是债权人。债权人被错误地看作更令人嫉妒的人。这是一个极其严重的误解。硬要坚持和维护这种观念，是对错误固执己见的最好范例，尽管经验是人生最简单的教训。借债人往往会博得人们的同情。人们在谈论借债人的时候，总是不经意间流露出温柔且同情的神情，情不自禁地说：“噢！那个可怜的借债人！”或者是“噢！那个不幸的借债人！”而从另一个角度来看，“冷血”和“铁石心肠”则是对债权人的“爱称”。你们有谁听过哪个债权人被人们称为“可怜的债权人”或“不幸的债权人”的？我敢打赌，你们肯定没听到过。从常理来看，债权人永远也不会成为被同情的对象，除非他改变自己的身份，摇身一变成为借债人。一个债权人极有可能被一个借债人给毁掉，但是，这样的事情只有在借债人实在没有能力偿还巨额债务，而债权人此时又对借债人产生怜悯的情况下才会发生。

借债人往往会有某种标志和特点。许多人都把目光集中在他身上，都对他的生活产生浓厚的兴趣。人们对他的行动了如指掌，他无法轻松地摆脱众人的目光；他的名字在大家口中流传；他的名字会出现在很多账本里面；他是一个能引起人们关注的人——对承诺的关注。很多人都在绞尽脑汁的猜测他，人们对他大肆猜疑——猜疑和质疑他是否能够偿还债务。他的安危关系到许多人的命运，因为许多人都在他屁股后面追他。他家门口的门廊都被人踩烂了。每个小时都会有人来问他还钱的事。法官知道他的鼎鼎大名，对他的事情也了如指掌，包括他吃的每一顿饭、穿的每一件大衣、借的每一分钱，都会出现在某些正规的记录文档内。我们可以拿臭名昭著的他和默默无闻的债权人做一个对比，债权人是一个无事可做的人，他唯一能做的事情就是追借债人欠下的钱款。他是地主或放贷人，总之就是那种毫无怜悯之心、很不好对付的人。

一般情况下，债权人的邻居并不知道债权人是通过什么方式挣钱和放贷的。你可以问一问给他家送牛奶的人，他都未必能叫出他的名字。你去问屠夫是否知道债权先生在哪里住，他肯定会对你说，他从来没听说过这样的名字，因为他的账单里没有像债务先生这样的名字。你可以去问问烤面包师，他会告诉你，在他居住的附近不存在叫这个名字的人。冲他借钱的人，会快速地把钱放进自己的口袋，绝不会多想一下这个人或是他的鼎鼎大名。他们唯一知道的就是他家的具体地址。找31号门牌的房主借钱，肯定没有问题。如果你跟31号门牌的房主借钱，他一定会借给你的。没有任何一张纸上不印有31号门牌的字样。这是一栋隐逸的房子，房子的主人行事非常低调，人们对他一无所知，没人留意他的行动，关于他的一切都是个谜。如果有人在他家门口看见一辆马车，也不会太过于忧虑，除非他驾着马车逃走。如果他把行李从家里搬出来，也不会有人雇孩子去盯着，看他会不会把这些东西送到当铺去。债权先生并不被大众所看重，他是个极为普通的人，人们既不希望他做什么，也不畏惧他。

在大家心目中，债权人一直都被看作是脾气古怪的人，他是个孤家寡人，花白的头发，总是一副无精打采的样子，住在一个缺少光线的小房子里，屋子里十分昏暗，日子过得毫无生气，家里有一个铁柜，那个柜子就如同他的内心一样无法窥见，装满了他特别不喜欢的事物和跟他有关的人。另一方面，借债人则永远都是有着幸福家庭的人，在人们的印象里，借债人都有一个漂亮的老婆和六个含苞待放的女儿，爱和悲痛将他们紧紧联系在一起，他们对事物高度敏感，不给自己留任何犯错的机会，为此他们需要承受很多的苦难。毋庸置疑，债权人就是毫无道德的小偷。他没有漂亮的老婆，也没有可爱的、值得怜悯的孩子。人们普遍认为，他这么有钱，根本就不会为了谋求生计而苦恼。他的手段极其没有人性，他坚持收回所有的款项，因为只有这样他才能够支付自己的日常开销和费用。令人难以想象的是，他的债权人已经给他下达了令他满意的硬性指标，他要像别人对待他那样去对待别人。债权人是敲诈勒索的化身。他只懂得榨取别人，而从不去施舍。

人们都愚蠢地认为拥有财富是可取的。这样的想法实在是太盲目了！这就是奢侈消费和热情款待的小把戏而已。你省吃俭用存下一个先令，结果却被小偷偷走。精明、节俭的人会量力而行，他们往往能够过上比现有条件更好的生活。不论发生什么事，他们都能安然无恙地度过。他们会事先做好充分准备。他们能够预感好运即将到来。“富有的傻蛋，保险柜里藏满黄金。”这句格言主要是用来提醒自己不要太过兴奋，以免乐极生悲，让别人因为嫉妒而偷走自己的财产。你看！这些人脸上都挂着悲痛欲绝的表情。你现在能够明白谁是真正的傻瓜了吧！你可以通过他们的大长脸来辨认他们，当一个人的脸上浮现出懊恼的神情时，“这里有一个傻瓜，他总是认为自己非常有钱，因为他在银行里有五万美元的存款。”过去十年告诉我们奢侈消费和热情款待的道德含义。当人活着的时候，不管他怎么存钱，都存在相当大的风险。除了能给自己带来愉悦，没有什么是确定的。看看那些分享葡萄干糕饼的学生。明智的孩子会把它当作一场比赛，快速地把自己的那份吃掉，而愚笨的孩子会把自己那份留起来，每次都只吃一小口，“把剩下的留起来下次再吃。”多么愚蠢的节俭啊！其他的孩子在吃完了他们自己那一份之后，就会想办法抢他的，还打得他直哭。

我们在听到“贬值”、“中止借贷”、“企业清算”这样的术语之前，谈论存钱或许还有某些理由，但是现在的储蓄却是最黑暗、最盲目的。在现阶段，那些谨慎、高瞻远瞩的人都是负债累累的借债人。这样的大趋势会让债权人付出惨痛的代价，他们极有可能从债权人变成借债人，借债人每天都要给自己注入新的活力，每个人都想快速转变为令人眼红的借债阶层。从以往的案例来看，当借债人是非常安全的。他会把自身的快乐享受置于身后，他们不会受到财运转变的干扰。他吞噬的资产已经无可挽救，未来不会影响他的过去。他无可担忧，不用为任何事劳神。财富已经比预期的让他受益得多。他已经把财富“骗过来了”。当然还有他的债权人——呸！谁会在乎债权人的感受？谁是债权人？他们都是地主，是毫无怜悯之心、内心冰冷的人。那些敲诈勒索的人都应该被抓起来！如果不向这个贪婪阶层悄悄进军的话，那么，借债人的世界将会变成什么样子呢？