History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1 — Page 14
A second attentive and regular perusal of the entire work, of the notes of the author, and of those which I had thought it right to subjoin, showed me how much I had exaggerated the importance of the reproaches which Gibbon really deserved;
Una segunda lectura atenta y sistemática de la obra completa, de las notas del autor y de las que yo había considerado oportuno añadir, me mostró cuánto había exagerado la importancia de los reproches que Gibbon realmente merecía;
I was struck with the same errors, the same partiality on certain subjects;
me encontré con los mismos errores, la misma parcialidad en ciertos temas;
but I had been far from doing adequate justice to the immensity of his researches, the variety of his knowledge, and above all, to that truly philosophical discrimination (_justesse d'esprit_) which judges the past as it would judge the present;
pero estaba muy lejos de haber reconocido suficientemente la inmensidad de sus investigaciones, la variedad de sus conocimientos y, sobre todo, esa discriminación verdaderamente filosófica (_justesse d'esprit_) que juzga el pasado como juzgaría el presente;
which does not permit itself to be blinded by the clouds which time gathers around the dead, and which prevent us from seeing that, under the toga, as under the modern dress, in the senate as in our councils, men were what they still are, and that events took place eighteen centuries ago, as they take place in our days.
que no se permite ser cegada por las nubes que el tiempo acumula en torno a los muertos, y que nos impiden ver que, bajo la toga, al igual que bajo el traje moderno, en el senado como en nuestros consejos, los hombres eran lo que aún son, y que los acontecimientos ocurrían hace dieciocho siglos tal como ocurren en nuestros días.
I then felt that his book, in spite of its faults, will always be a noble work—and that we may correct his errors and combat his prejudices, without ceasing to admit that few men have combined, if we are not to say in so high a degree, at least in a manner so complete, and so well regulated, the necessary qualifications for a writer of history.
Entonces comprendí que su libro, a pesar de sus defectos, será siempre una obra notable, y que podemos corregir sus errores y combatir sus prejuicios sin dejar de reconocer que pocos hombres han reunido, si no en tan alto grado, al menos de manera tan completa y tan bien equilibrada, las cualidades necesarias para un escritor de historia.
Vocabulary
- segunda
- Second in order or position
- lectura
- The act of reading a text
- atenta
- Careful and attentive in focus
- sistemática
- Done in a methodical and organized way
- obra
- A literary or artistic work or creation
- completa
- Finished or whole in its entirety
- notas
- Written annotations or explanatory comments
- autor
- Person who writes or creates a work
- había
- Past perfect auxiliary verb 'had'
- considerado
- Judged or thought something to be appropriate
- oportuno
- Timely, appropriate, or fitting for the moment
- añadir
- To add or include something extra
- mostró
- Past tense of 'mostrar,' meaning revealed or showed
- cuánto
- How much or to what extent
- exagerado
- Overstated beyond what is accurate or fair
- importancia
- The quality of being significant or meaningful
- reproches
- Criticisms or expressions of blame toward someone
- realmente
- Truly or in actual fact
- merecía
- Deserved or was worthy of something
- encontré
- Past tense of 'encontrar,' meaning I found
- mismos
- The same ones, referring back to prior subjects
- errores
- Mistakes or incorrect statements
- misma
- Feminine form of 'same,' referring to identical thing
- parcialidad
- Bias or unfair favoritism toward one side
- ciertos
- Certain or specific, referring to particular things
- temas
- Topics or subjects under discussion
- lejos
- Far away in distance or degree
- haber
- Auxiliary infinitive verb meaning 'to have'
- reconocido
- Acknowledged or given proper credit to something
- suficientemente
- To a sufficient or adequate degree
- inmensidad
- Vastness or enormity of scope or size
- investigaciones
- Research studies or scholarly investigations
- variedad
- Diversity or range of different things
- conocimientos
- Areas of knowledge or learned information
- todo
- Everything or all; used in 'sobre todo' meaning 'especially'
- discriminación
- Here means discernment or critical judgment of things
- verdaderamente
- Truly or genuinely in a real sense
- filosófica
- Relating to philosophy or philosophical reasoning
- juzga
- Third-person singular of 'juzgar,' meaning judges or evaluates
- pasado
- The past; historical times gone before
- juzgaría
- Conditional of 'juzgar,' meaning 'would judge'
- presente
- The current time or present moment
- permite
- Allows or gives permission for something
- ser
- Infinitive of the verb 'to be' (permanent states)
- cegada
- Blinded or made unable to see clearly
- nubes
- Clouds in the sky; here used metaphorically
- tiempo
- Time or weather depending on context
- acumula
- Accumulates or gathers in increasing amounts
- torno
- Used in 'en torno a,' meaning 'around' or 'surrounding'
- muertos
- Dead people or the deceased
- impiden
- Prevent or obstruct from doing something
- ver
- To see or perceive visually
- bajo
- Under or beneath; below in position
- toga
- A Roman toga robe worn in ancient times
- igual
- Equal or the same; used in comparisons
- traje
- A suit or outfit worn as clothing
- moderno
- Contemporary or belonging to the modern era
- senado
- A senate or governing legislative assembly
- consejos
- Councils or advisory governing bodies
- hombres
- Men or human beings in general
- aún
- Still or yet; continuing up to the present
- acontecimientos
- Events or significant occurrences that take place
- ocurrían
- Past imperfect meaning 'used to occur' or 'were happening'
- hace
- Used with time expressions meaning 'ago'
- dieciocho
- The number eighteen
- siglos
- Centuries or periods of one hundred years
- tal
- Such or in the same way; similarly
- ocurren
- Happen or take place in the present
- días
- Days; periods of twenty-four hours
- Entonces
- Then or at that moment in time
- comprendí
- Past tense meaning 'I understood' or 'I realized'
- libro
- A book or written publication
- pesar
- Used in 'a pesar de,' meaning 'in spite of'
- defectos
- Flaws or shortcomings in a work or person
- será
- Future tense of 'ser,' meaning 'will be'
- siempre
- Always or at all times without exception
- notable
- Remarkable or worthy of special attention
- podemos
- First-person plural of 'poder,' meaning 'we can'
- corregir
- To correct or fix errors in something
- combatir
- To fight against or oppose something actively
- prejuicios
- Prejudices or preconceived unfair opinions
- sin
- Preposition meaning 'without'
- dejar
- To stop or to allow; to leave something
- reconocer
- To acknowledge or recognize something or someone
- pocos
- Few in number; not many people or things
- reunido
- Gathered or combined qualities together
- si
- Conditional conjunction meaning 'if'
- tan
- Adverb meaning 'so' or 'as' in comparisons
- alto
- High in degree or level; elevated
- grado
- Degree or level of something
- menos
- Less or fewer in amount or degree
- manera
- Manner or way of doing something
- bien
- Well; in a good or correct manner
- equilibrada
- Balanced or well-proportioned in composition
- cualidades
- Qualities or characteristic traits of a person
- necesarias
- Necessary or required for a particular purpose
- escritor
- A person who writes, especially professionally
- historia
- History or a story about past events
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