134、很快，我的视觉被打开，于是我能在某种程度上看见这个星球本身。只见那里有许多草地、带有枝繁叶茂树木的树林，以及毛茸茸的绵羊。后来，我又看见一些居民，他们出身低层，身上穿的衣服和欧洲农民所穿的差不多。我还看见一个男人和他的女人；女人身材优美、举止得体，男人也一样。不过，令我惊讶的是，男人走起路来很威严，几乎趾高气昂。相反，那女人走起路却很谦恭。天使告诉我说，这是该星球的习俗。这种男人之所以被爱，是因为他们仍是善良的。我进一步被告知，他们不可以有数个妻子，因为这违反他们的律法。我所看到的这个女人胸前披着一件宽大的衣服，能把她遮住。如此制作的衣服使得她能把手臂插进去，把自己包裹起来，从而回避。衣服的下半部分能拉上去；当被拉上去贴在身上时，它看似披在胸部的上衣，就像我们地球女人所穿的那种紧身衣。男人也穿这样的衣服，只见他从女人那里取下衣服，披在后背，松开下面部分，然后这衣服便直垂到脚，就像一件长袍；他就这样穿着它走动。我在那个星球所看到的，不是用我的肉眼，而是用我的灵眼看的。主若允许，灵人就能看见一个星球的事物。
134. After a little while my sight was opened so that I could look at their actual planet to some extent, and I saw multiple meadows, deciduous forests, and woolly sheep.
Then I saw some of the people who lived there, of the more lowly sort, who were dressed quite similarly to country people in Europe. I saw a husband and wife. She was good-looking and graceful, and so was her husband; but what surprised me was that he strode with an air of nobility as if there were pride in his step, but his wife walked humbly. I was told by angels that this was the custom on that planet and that men like that are well loved there because they are nonetheless good people. I was further told that they are not allowed to have more than one wife, because this is against the law.
The woman I saw wore over her chest a garment wide enough to allow her to conceal the rest of her body by inserting her arms through it and wrapping it around herself. She could then go on her way. The lower part of it could be folded up and fastened so that the garment looked like the stomachers 1that women on our planet wear. The same garment also served as clothing for the man, though. I saw him take it from the woman and put it on his back, loosening the lower part so that it hung down to his feet like a toga, and walking around in it.
What I saw on that planet I did not see with my physical eyes but with the eyes of my spirit; and our spirit can see things that are on a physical planet when allowed to do so by the Lord. 2
Footnotes:
1. A stomacher (Latin pectorale, “chestpiece”) was, despite its misleading English name, a long, often V-shaped ornamental covering or panel worn by women over the chest and held in place by busks (long, flat pieces of wood or other material) that passed through tabs or loops along the edges (Calasibetta and Portora 2003, 436). Though at the lower, narrower end, the stomacher might in fact extend over the abdomen, its primary purpose was to cover the chest, as the Latin term implies. (In older English, the word “stomach” was used to signify the chest; see the Oxford English Dictionary, under “stomach” and “stomacher.”) For a photograph of a stomacher of 1730, see Cumming, Cunnington, and Cunnington 2010, 196; for a drawing of a stomacher, see Picken 1985, 336. [SS]
2. Contrast this statement (that Swedenborg saw physical things with the eyes of his spirit) with the statement in Other Planets 135 and its parallel passage in Secrets of Heaven 1880, that angels and spirits cannot see anything in the material world with their own (spiritual) eyes. In accordance with the latter rule, the typical manner in which spirits see material objects is through the eyes of someone still living physically on earth. However, here Swedenborg makes it clear that there are exceptions to this rule and that spiritual eyes can indeed see material objects directly if the Lord allows it. Compare Swedenborg’s statement in Last Judgment 24[2] that “what is earthly cannot see what is spiritual. What is spiritual can see what is earthly, though-this is in keeping with the divine design, while the reverse is not.” [LSW, SS]
134. After a while my sight was opened so that I could to some extent look at the world itself. There were many meadows to be seen, and woods with leafy trees, as well as sheep with woolly fleeces. Later I saw a few of the inhabitants; they were of the lower classes, dressed in very much the same kind of costume as peasants in Europe. I also saw a gentleman with his lady; she had a fine figure and behaved becomingly. So did the man; but I was surprised to see he had a lordly, almost haughty, walk. The lady, however, walked humbly. The angels told me that this is the custom in that world, and that such men are loved because they are none the less good. I was further told that they are not allowed to have more than one wife, because this is against their laws.
The lady whom I saw had a broad garment covering her chest, behind which she could hide. It was made so that one could put one's arms into it and so put it on, and thus be lost to view. Its lower part could be tucked up; when tucked up and held close to the body it looked like the bodices worn by women in our world. But the same garment could also be worn by a man. A gentleman was seen to take one from a lady and put it round his back, and when he unfastened the lower part it fell to his feet like a gown, and he walked off wearing it like this. What I saw in that world, I saw not with my bodily eyes, but with the eyes of my spirit. A spirit is able to see things in a world, when permitted to do so by the Lord.
134. Presently my sight was opened, so that I could look somewhat into that earth itself; and there appeared many meadows and woods with leafy trees, and also woolly sheep. I afterward saw some of the inhabitants, who were of the lower class, clothed in a dress much like that of peasants in Europe. There was also seen a man with his woman. She appeared of handsome figure and graceful carriage, and the man likewise. But, what I wondered at, he had a pompous gait, with a rather haughty step; while the woman, on the contrary, walked with a humble step. It was said by the angels that such is the custom on that earth, and that the men who are such are loved, because nevertheless they are good. I was further told that it is not permitted them to have many wives, because it is contrary to their laws. The woman whom I saw had before her breast a broad garment, with which she could screen herself, while it was so made that she could insert her arms and wrap it about herself, and so walk away. The lower part of it could be drawn up, and when drawn up and applied to the body, it appeared like an upper garment covering the chest, such as is worn by the women of our earth. But the same garment served also for the man, who was seen to take it from the woman and apply it to his back, loosening the lower part, which then flowed down to his feet, like a toga, and thus clothed he walked about. What I saw on that earth, was not seen with the eyes of my body, but with the eyes of my spirit; and the spirit can see the things that are on an earth, when it is granted by the Lord.
134. Postmodum aperiebatur mihi visus, ut aliquantum spectare possem in ipsam Tellurem; et apparebant prata plura, ac sylvae cum arboribus foliaceis; tum lanigerae oves. Postea videbam aliquot incolas, qui ex viliore sorte erant, amicti vestitu poene quali rustici in Europa. Visus etiam est vir cum sua muliere; haec apparebat pulchra statura, et gestu decoro; vir similiter; sed quod mirabar, ille ambulabat magnificus, gressu quasi fastuoso; sed mulier vicissim gressu humili: dicebatur ab angelis, quod talis mos in illa Tellure sit, et quod viri, qui tales, amentur, quia usque boni sunt. Dictum porro, quod non liceat illis plures uxores habere, quia id contra leges. Mulier quae visa, ante pectus habebat latum indumentum, post quod se abscondere potuit, quod ita factum erat, ut inserere brachia posset, ac illo se induere, et sic abire; id quoad inferiorem partem subduci potuit, et subductum et corpori applicatum apparuit instar pectoralis, quale foeminis nostrae Telluris: sed idem etiam inserviebat viro pro indumento; visum quod sumeret id a muliere, et applicaret tergo suo, et solveret inferiorem partem, quae sic defluebat ad pedes sicut toga, et ita ambulabat vestitus. Quae visa sunt in Tellure illa, non visa sunt oculis corporis mei, sed oculis spiritus mei, et spiritus potest videre illa quae in Tellure sunt, quando id datur a Domino.