22、又有一次，我看见一大群这类灵人，离我有一定距离，在前方向右一点。他们从那里与我交谈，不过是通过中间灵人；因为他们的言语和思维一样快，若不通过其他中间灵人，就无法翻译成人类语言。令我惊讶的是，他们的言语给人一种波浪翻滚的印象，却又轻松又迅捷。由于他们许多人同时说话，所以他们的言语感觉就像波浪。值得注意的是，它却滑向我的左眼，尽管他们站在我右边。这是因为，左眼对应于从物质事物抽象出来的概念知识，因而对应于诸如属于聪明的那类事物；而右眼对应于诸如属于智慧的那类事物。他们领悟并判断他们所听到的，和他们说话一样迅速。他们不住地说：“是的，这是正确的；不，这是不正确的。”他们的判断可以说是瞬间的。眼睛之所以对应于理解力，是因为理解力是内视的官能，涉及非物质事物(AC 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569)。左眼的视觉对应于真理，因而对应于聪明；右眼的视觉对应于真理之良善，因而对应于智慧(AC 4410)。
22. On another occasion I saw a large group of the same kind of spirits, but at some distance from me-in front and a little to the right. They communicated with me from there, but had to use other spirits as intermediaries to do so, because their speech is as quick as thought and is not expressible in normal human language except through the mediation of other spirits. To my surprise, they all spoke together as a group, 1and yet their communication was extremely fast and well timed. Because many were talking at once, I experienced their speech as coming in waves. It was also striking that even though they were to my right, their communication seemed to glide toward my left eye. This was because the left eye corresponds to concepts that are separate from matter; the left eye, then, has to do with intelligence, while the right eye has to do with wisdom. 2
They grasped and evaluated what they heard with the same quickness with which they spoke, saying, “Yes, that’s right” or “No, that’s not correct.” They made up their minds almost instantly.
Footnotes:
1. The Latin here translated “as a group” is volumatim, which seems to appear only in late Latin. The meaning “as a group” (or “as a mass”) is clear from a passage in Revelation Explained (= Swedenborg 1994-1997a) 726:3, where the word is opposed to singillatim, “singly.” [SS]
2. [Swedenborg note] The eye corresponds to our power of understanding because our understanding is our inner sight and sees things that are not made of matter: 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569. The sight of the left eye corresponds to seeing truths and therefore corresponds to intelligence, while the sight of the right eye corresponds to seeing the good actions that truth teaches, and therefore corresponds to wisdom: 4410.
22. On another occasion I saw a large number of spirits of this kind, but at some distance from myself, in front and a little to the right. From there they talked with me, but using spirits as intermediaries, for their speech is as rapid as thought and can only be translated into human language by using other spirits as intermediaries. What surprised me was that their speech gave an impression of a rolling wave, 1but was still so ready and quick. Since there were many of them speaking at once their speech reached me in waves. A remarkable feature was that it slipped towards my left eye, though they were standing to my right. This was because the left eye corresponds to knowledge of abstract ideas, matters, that is, which are in the province of intelligence; the right eye corresponds to matters which are in the province of wisdom. 2They displayed the same quickness in grasping what they had heard and in taking decisions as they did in speaking. They kept saying: 'Yes, that's right; no, that isn't,' making virtually instantaneous judgments.
[
Footnotes:
1 The precise meaning of this word is not clear, but a parallel passage in Spiritual Diary 3233 adds: 'there was as it were a roll of them talking at once'.-TR.]
2. The eye corresponds to the intellect, since the intellect is the faculty of inner sight and concerned with non-material objects (Arcana Caelestia 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569). The sight of the left eye corresponds to truths, that is, matters of intelligence, the sight of the right eye to the kinds of good belonging to truth, that is, matters of wisdom (Arcana Caelestia 4410).
22. At another time I saw a multitude of such spirits, but at some distance from me, in front a little to the right, and thence they discoursed with me, but through intermediate spirits; for their speech was as quick as thought, which does not fall into human speech, but by means of other spirits. And what surprised me, they spoke in a volume 1, and yet readily and rapidly. Their speech was perceived as undulatory, because of many together, and what is remarkable, it was conveyed towards my left eye, although they were to the right. The reason was, because the left eye corresponds to the knowledges of things abstracted from what is material, consequently to such things as appertain to intelligence: whereas the right eye corresponds to such things as appertain to wisdom. 1They likewise perceived and judged of what they heard with the same promptitude with which they discoursed, saying of such a thing that it was so, and of such a thing that it was not so; their judgment was as it were instantaneous.
Footnotes:
1. The eye corresponds to the understanding, because the understanding is the internal sight, and the sight of things immaterial (Arcana Coelestia 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569). The sight of the left eye corresponds to truths, consequently to intelligence; and the sight of the right eye corresponds to the goods of truth, consequently to wisdom (Arcana Coelestia 4410).
1. A more accurate translation would be "in a rolling fashion."
22. Alio tempore vidi multitudinem talium spirituum, sed ad aliqualem distantiam a me, antrorsum paulo ad dextrum, et inde loquebantur mecum, sed per spiritus intermedios; nam loquela eorum tam cita est sicut cogitatio, quae in loquelam humanam non cadit, nisi mediantibus aliis spiritibus; et quod miratus sum, loquebantur volumatim, et usque tam prompte et cito: appercipiebatur loquela, quia plurium simul, ut undulatoria: et quod memorabile, labebatur illa versus sinistrum meum oculum, tametsi illi erant ad dextrum; causa erat, quia sinister oculus correspondet cognitionibus rerum a materialibus abstractarum, ita talibus quae sunt intelligentiae, dexter autem oculus talibus quae sunt sapientiae. 1Simili promptitudine, qua loquebantur, etiam res auditas percipiebant, et de illis judicabant, dicendo hoc ita esse, hoc non ita; judicium eorum quasi instantaneum est.
Footnotes:
1. Quod oculus correspondeat Intellectui, quia Intellectus est visus internus et rerum non materialium, Arcana Coelestia 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569. Quod visus Oculi sinistri correspondeat veris, ita intelligentiae, et visus oculi dextri bonis veri, ita sapientiae, Arcana Coelestia 4410.