《君主论·第二十二章·君主的大臣》第1节
The choice of servants is of no little importance to a prince, and they are good or not according to the discrimination of the prince. And the first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of his understanding, is by observing the men he has around him; and when they are capable and faithful he may always be considered wise, because he has known how to recognize the capable and to keep them faithful. But when they are otherwise one cannot form a good opinion of him, for the prime error which he made was in choosing them. There were none who knew Messer Antonio da Venafro as the servant of Pandolfo Petrucci, Prince of Siena, who would not consider Pandolfo to be a very clever man in having Venafro for his servant. Because there are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehended; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, the third is useless. Therefore, it follows necessarily that, if Pandolfo was not in the first rank, he was in the second, for whenever one has judgment to know good and bad when it is said and done, although he himself may not have the initiative, yet he can recognize the good and the bad in his servant, and the one he can praise and the other correct; thus the servant cannot hope to deceive him, and is kept honest.
注释摘要
这一节的核心论证建立在一个看似简单却极为冷峻的判断上：臣仆的好坏，归根结底并不取决于臣仆自身，而是取决于君主有没有识人、用人的眼光。马基雅维利开篇就讲，选拔臣仆对于君主绝非细枝末节，因为外界对一位君主心智的第一印象，往往来自他身边围绕的是什么样的人。如果这些人能干又忠诚，人们便会认定君主是明智的，因为他懂得怎么发现人才，又懂得怎么让他们保持忠诚。反之，如果…