1623、关于彩虹，有一种天堂彩虹，那里的整个大气似乎都是由一连串小彩虹构成的。那些属于内眼区域的人就住在那里，在右前方稍向上一点。那里的整个大气或氛围都是由这类闪光构成的，因此可以说从不同的“灯塔”中放射出来。一条大得多，且最美丽的彩虹在周围形成一条华丽的带子；它是由类似的小彩虹组成的，这些小彩虹都是大彩虹的精致缩影。每种颜色都是由无数光线构成的，所以无数光线构成一道包罗万象的可见彩虹。彩虹是对光点的一种修改；属天和属灵事物产生了这种修改，创造了彩虹，并在这个过程中将代表性观念呈现在眼前。彩虹的种类和变化是无数的，我有幸看到其中的几种。为了在某种程度上理解它们所表现的那种变化，并清楚看到有多少光线构成一条可见光线，我只描述其中一两条。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]1623. As for rainbows, there is a kind of iridescent heaven, in which the whole atmosphere seems to be made of tiny rainbows, one after another.{*1} The people who live there belong to the region of the inner eye and are stationed off to the right, out in front and a little bit up above. The entire atmosphere there 钬?all the air 钬?consists of these gleams of light and therefore radiates out of each individual "beacon," so to speak.
A much larger rainbow (compounded of similar smaller ones that are exquisite miniatures of the big one) forms a gorgeous belt around the outside.
Each color, then, consists of many, many rays, so that millions of rays make up a single, all-inclusive rainbow visible to the eye. The rainbow is a modification of the points of light, a modification produced by the heavenly and spiritual forces that create the rainbow and in the process present before the observer's eyes a picture full of representative meaning.
There is no limit to the different types and varieties of rainbows, several of which I was privileged to see. To grasp in some measure the kind of variation they display, and to see how very many rays of light go into a single visible one, let me describe just one or two.
Footnotes:
{*1} Rainbows were the subject of considerable interest to such luminaries of Enlightenment science as Ren茅 Descartes (1596-1650) and Sir Isaac Newton, and the ongoing debate about their origins may account for Swedenborg's investigative curiosity about the nature of rainbows that follows in 搂搂1623-1625. It should be noted that the rainbows Swedenborg describes are at odds with natural rainbows in several respects. For example, unlike the rainbows in 搂1623, natural rainbows are not discrete physical objects that can be combined, but are instead simply refracted and reflected images of the sun; unlike those in 搂1624, all natural rainbows are the same angular size, though they may appear to be of differing absolute dimensions depending on the backdrop against which they are seen; and unlike those in 搂1625, natural solar rainbows appear only opposite the sun and require its presence in the sky. For more on the history of rainbow science, see Boyer 1987 and Lee and Fraser 2001. See also note 1 in 搂1624. [SS]
Potts(1905-1910) 1623
1623. As regards the rainbow scenes, there is as it were a rainbow heaven, where the whole atmosphere throughout appears to be made up of minute rainbows. Those who belong to the province of the interior eye are there, at the right in front, a little way up. There the whole atmosphere, or aura, is made up of such flashes of light, irradiated thus, as it were, in all its origins. Around is the encompassing form of an immense rainbow, most beautiful, composed of similar smaller ones that are the beauteous images of the larger. Every color is thus made up of innumerable rays, so that myriads enter into the constitution of one general perceptible ray; and this is as it were a modification of the origins of the light from the celestial and spiritual things that produce it; and which at the same time present before the sight the representative idea. The varieties and varyings of the rainbows are innumerable; some of them I have been permitted to see; and that some idea may be conceived of their variety, and that it may be seen of what innumerable rays one visible ray consists, one or two of the varieties may be described.
Elliott(1983-1999) 1623
1623. As regards rainbows, there is a kind of rainbow heaven where the whole sky seems to be made up of a succession of tiny rainbows In that region are those who belong to the province of the inner eye They are on the right, in front, and a little way up. The entire sky or air there consists of such sparkling forms, with rays emanating so to speak from separate sources Around runs a very beautiful large-scale rainbow, composed of similar smaller rainbows, each of which is a very beautiful likeness of the larger one Each colour consists of countless rays, so that myriads make up one perceptible and general whole This is a kind of modification of the sources of light by the celestial and spiritual things which produce them, and at the same time present before the eyes an idea that is representative of themselves. The differences and the variations in rainbows are countless, some of which I have been allowed to witness. To convey some idea of the ways in which they differ, and to make it clear how one visible band consists of countless rays, let just one or two of them be described.
Latin(1748-1756) 1623
1623. Quod iridea attinet, est quasi caelum irideum ubi tota atmosphaera ex minimis iridibus continua apparet; sunt ibi qui ad provinciam oculi interioris pertinent, ad dextrum antrorsum paulo superius; ibi universa atmosphaera seu aura ex talibus fulgurationibus constat, radiata sic in singulis quasi originibus: circum est iridis maximae forma circumcingens, pulcherrima, ex similibus minoribus conflata, quae majoris pulcherrimae imagines sunt: unusquisque color constat ita a radiis innumeris sic ut myriades constituant unum commune perceptibile, quod est quasi modificatio originum lucis a caelestibus et spiritualibus quae producunt, et simul ideam repraesentativam sistunt coram visu. Iridum varietates et variationes sunt indefinitae; aliquas videre datum; utque capi aliqua idea possit quali varietate sunt, utque constet, ex quam innumeris radiis unum visibile consistit, licet modo unam et alteram describere.