----中文待译----
1203. And a second time they said, Alleluia.- That this signifies the joy and gladness of the angels of the lower heavens, and the glorification of the Lord on account of liberation from those signified by Babylon, and by the beasts of the dragon, is evident from the things explained above (n. 1195, 1196). The reason why joy, gladness, and the glorification of the Lord by the angels of the lower heavens is signified, is, that it is said "a second time," and that "their smoke ascending unto ages of ages" is spoken of; and also from this that glorifications of the Lord commence with the angels of the higher heavens, and reach to the angels of the lower heavens. That Alleluia signifies praise and glorification, may be seen above (n. 1197).
[2] [CONCERNING THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM AND ITS SOUL.]
Continuation [concerning the Life of Plants].- We shall now make some observations respecting the vegetable kingdom, and its soul, which is called the vegetative soul; since it is not known in the world that this soul also is spiritual. By the vegetative soul is meant the conatus or effort to produce a plant from seed, through all the progressive stages, to new seeds, and by this means to multiply itself to infinity, and propagate itself for ever. For there is in every plant an idea, as it were, of the Infinite and Eternal; since one seed might be multiplied for a number of years so as to fill the whole earth, and also propagated from seed to seed in endless succession. This power, associated as it is with the wonderful process of growing from a root into a shoot, then into a stalk, next into branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits, until the plant arrives at new seeds, is not natural, but spiritual. In a similar manner again this spiritual power is manifested by the resemblance which plants bear in many respects to the objects belonging to the animal kingdom. That they exist, for instance, from seed; that there is in them, as it were, a prolific principle; that they produce a shoot as their infant, with the stalk as its body, the branches as its arms, the top as its head, the bark as its skins, and the leaves as its lungs; that they reach a state of adolescence in the course of years; that they then bloom like brides before their nuptials, and afterwards, causing as it were their wombs or eggs to expand, they bring forth fruits as their offspring; that there are in these again new seeds, from which, as in the animal kingdom, there is a reproduction of the same species or family. These and many other particulars observed by botanists, who have traced a parallel between these two kingdoms, indicate that the conatus or effort to produce such results does not originate from the natural but the spiritual world. From the sequel it will be seen, that the living force, as the principal cause, is spiritual; and that the dead force, as the instrumental cause, is natural.
1203. Verse 3. And a second time they said, Alleluia, signifies the joy and gladness of the angels of the lower heavens, and the glorification of the Lord because of their deliverance from those signified by "Babylon" and by "the beasts of the dragon." This is evident from what has been explained above (n. 1195-1196). Joy, gladness, and glorification of the Lord by the angels of the lower heavens is what is here meant, because it is said "a second time," and because it is added that "their smoke goeth up unto the ages of the ages," also because glorifications of the Lord are begun by angels of the higher heavens and proceed to angels of the lower heavens. That "Alleluia" signifies praise and glorification may be seen above (n. 1197).
(Continuation)
[2] Something shall now be said about the vegetable kingdom, and its soul, which is called the plant soul. That this, too, is spiritual is not known in the world. By the plant soul is meant the tendency and effort to produce a plant from its seed progressively even to new seeds, and thereby to multiply itself to infinity, and to propagate itself to eternity; for there is as it were in every plant an idea of what is infinite and eternal; for a single seed can be so multiplied during a certain number of years as to fill the whole earth, and can also be propagated from seed to seed without end. This, with the wonderful process of growth from the root into a sprout, then into a stalk, also into branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, even into new seeds, is not a natural but a spiritual power. Likewise, plants have in many respects a relation to such things as belong to the animal kingdom, as that they exist from seed, in which there is as it were a prolific power, they produce a sprout like an infant, a stalk like a body, branches like arms, a top like a head, barks like skins, leaves like lungs, they grow in years, and afterwards blossom like maidens before their nuptials, and after these they expand like wombs or eggs, and bring forth fruit like offspring, in which are contained new seeds, from which, as in the animal kingdom, spring new prolifications or fructifications of the same kind or stock. These and many other things that are observed by those skilled in the art of botany who have traced a parallel between the two kingdoms, indicate that the tendency and effort to such things are not from the natural world but from the spiritual. That the living force as the principal cause is the spiritual, and that the dead force as the instrumental cause is the natural, will be seen in what follows.
1203. [Vers. 3.] "Et secundo dixerunt, Alleluia." - Quod significet gaudium et laetitiam angelorum inferiorum caelorum, et glorificationem Domini propter liberationem ad illis qui per "Babylonem" et per "bestias draconis" significantur, constare potest ex illis quae supra (n. 1195, 1196) explicata sunt. Quod sit gaudium, laetitia et glorificatio Domini ab angelis inferiorum caelorum, est quia dicitur "secundo", et quia sequitur de "fumo eorum ascendente in saecula saeculorum", et ex eo quod glorificationes Domini incohent ab angelis superiorum caelorum, ac pergant ad angelos inferiorum caelorum: quod "Alleluia" significet laudem et glorificationem, videatur supra (n. 1197 1
).
[2] (Continuatio.) [De Regno Vegetabili et de Ejus Anima.]
Nunc aliquid dicetur de Regno Vegetabili, et de ejus anima quae vocatur Anima Vegetativa. Quod etiam haec sit spiritualis, nescitur in mundo. Per animam vegetativam intelligitur conatus et nisus producendi vegetabile a semine progressive usque ad semina, et per id multiplicandi se in infinitum, ac propagandi se in aeternum; est enim sicut idea infiniti ac aeterni in omni vegetabili; nam unum semen per certum annorum numerum multiplicari potest ut impleat universam tellurem, et quoque propagari a semine ad semina absque fine: hoc una eum mirabili progressione crescendi a radice in germen, dein in caulem, tum in ramos, folia, flores, fructus, usque in nova semina, non est natura] e, sed est spirituale: similiter quod vegetabilia in multis referant talia quae animalis regni sunt; sicut quod ex semine existant, quod in illo sicut prolificum sit, quod producant germen sicut infantem, caulem sicut corpus, ramos sicut brachia, verticem sicut caput, cortices sicut cutes, folia sicut pulmones; quod adolescant in annos, et dein efflorescant sicut nymphae ante nuptias, ac post illas expandant sicut uteros aut ova, ac pariant fructus sicut fetus, quibus insunt nova semina, ex quibus sicut in animali regno prolificationes aut fructificationes ejusdem speciei aut prosapiae, dantur: haec cum multis aliis, quae a peritis in arte botanica, qui parallelismum inter bina illa regna instituerunt, observata sunt, indicant quod conatus et nisus ad talia non sit ex mundo naturali, sed ex spirituali. Quod vis viva ut causa principalis sit spirituale, ac vis mortua ut causa instrumentalis sit naturale ex sequentibus videbitur.
Footnotes:
1. The editors made a correction or note here.