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;
Uma segunda leitura atenta e regular de toda a obra, das notas do autor, e daquelas que eu havia julgado correto acrescentar, mostrou-me o quanto eu havia exagerado a importância das censuras que Gibbon realmente merecia;
I was struck with the same errors, the same partiality on certain subjects;
Fiquei impressionado com os mesmos erros, a mesma parcialidade em certos assuntos;
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;
mas eu estava longe de fazer justiça adequada à imensidão de suas pesquisas, à variedade de seu conhecimento, e acima de tudo, àquela discriminação verdadeiramente filosófica (_justesse d'esprit_) que julga o passado como julgaria o 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 não se permite ser cegada pelas nuvens que o tempo acumula ao redor dos mortos, e que nos impedem de ver que, sob a toga, assim como sob a vestimenta moderna, no senado como em nossos conselhos, os homens eram o que ainda são, e que os acontecimentos se deram há dezoito séculos atrás, assim como se dão em nossos dias.
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.
Senti então que seu livro, apesar de seus defeitos, será sempre uma obra nobre — e que podemos corrigir seus erros e combater seus preconceitos, sem deixar de reconhecer que poucos homens reuniram, se não em tão alto grau, ao menos de maneira tão completa e tão bem ordenada, as qualificações necessárias para um escritor de história.
Vocabulary
- segunda
- seh-GOON-dah — Second; ordinal number following first
- leitura
- lay-TOO-rah — The act of reading a text
- atenta
- ah-TEN-tah — Attentive, careful, paying close attention
- regular
- heh-goo-LAR — Regular, consistent, done at steady intervals
- toda
- TOH-dah — All, entire, the whole of something
- obra
- OH-brah — A literary or artistic work or composition
- notas
- NOH-tahz — Notes, written annotations or remarks
- autor
- ow-TOR — The person who wrote a text or work
- daquelas
- dah-KEH-lahz — Contraction meaning 'of those' (feminine plural)
- havia
- ah-VEE-ah — Past tense of 'haver'; had, there had been
- julgado
- zhool-GAH-doo — Past participle of julgar; judged or deemed appropriate
- correto
- koh-HEH-too — Correct, right, accurate, proper
- acrescentar
- ah-kreh-sen-TAR — To add, to append, to include something additional
- mostrou-me
- moh-STROH-meh — Showed me; revealed something to the speaker
- quanto
- KWAHN-too — How much, to what degree or extent
- exagerado
- eh-zah-zheh-RAH-doo — Exaggerated, overstated beyond what is accurate
- importância
- im-por-TAHN-see-ah — Importance, significance, the quality of mattering
- censuras
- sen-SOO-rahz — Criticisms, censures, formal expressions of disapproval
- realmente
- heh-al-MEN-teh — Really, truly, in actual fact or reality
- merecia
- meh-reh-SEE-ah — Deserved, was worthy of receiving something
- Fiquei
- fee-KAY — First-person past tense of ficar; I became or remained
- impressionado
- im-preh-see-oh-NAH-doo — Impressed, struck by admiration or strong feeling
- mesmos
- MEZ-mooz — Same ones; identical things previously mentioned (masculine plural)
- erros
- EH-hooz — Errors, mistakes, inaccuracies in a work
- mesma
- MEZ-mah — Same; identical to something previously mentioned (feminine)
- parcialidade
- par-see-ah-lee-DAH-deh — Partiality, bias, unfair favouring of one side
- certos
- SER-tooz — Certain, some particular things or subjects
- assuntos
- ah-SOON-tooz — Subjects, topics, matters under discussion
- estava
- eh-STAH-vah — Was; imperfect tense of estar indicating a state
- longe
- LON-zheh — Far, distant, a long way from something
- fazer
- fah-ZER — To do or to make; infinitive of a core verb
- justiça
- zhoos-TEE-sah — Justice, fairness, giving something its due recognition
- adequada
- ah-deh-KWAH-dah — Adequate, sufficient, appropriate for the purpose
- imensidão
- ee-men-see-DOWN — Immensity, vastness, an enormous scale or extent
- pesquisas
- peh-SKEE-zahz — Research, investigations, systematic scholarly inquiries
- variedade
- vah-ree-eh-DAH-deh — Variety, diversity, a wide range of different things
- conhecimento
- koh-nyeh-see-MEN-too — Knowledge, understanding, accumulated learning about a subject
- acima
- ah-SEE-mah — Above, higher than, surpassing in rank or degree
- tudo
- TOO-doo — Everything, all things without exception
- àquela
- ah-KEH-lah — Contraction of 'a' and 'aquela'; to that (feminine)
- discriminação
- deez-kree-mee-nah-SOW — Discernment, discrimination; here meaning critical judgment ability
- verdadeiramente
- ver-dah-day-rah-MEN-teh — Truly, genuinely, in an authentic or real manner
- filosófica
- fee-loh-ZOH-fee-kah — Philosophical, relating to reasoned analytical thinking
- julga
- ZHOOL-gah — Judges, evaluates, forms an opinion about something
- passado
- pah-SAH-doo — The past; events or times that have already occurred
- julgaria
- zhool-gah-REE-ah — Would judge; conditional tense of julgar
- presente
- preh-ZEN-teh — The present time; current, happening now
- permite
- per-MEE-teh — Allows, permits, gives permission for an action
- ser
- ser — To be; permanent or essential state infinitive
- cegada
- seh-GAH-dah — Blinded, made unable to see or judge clearly
- nuvens
- NOO-venz — Clouds, masses of water vapour in the sky
- tempo
- TEM-poo — Time; also weather, depending on context
- acumula
- ah-koo-MOO-lah — Accumulates, gathers, builds up over a period
- redor
- heh-DOR — Around, surrounding area; used in 'ao redor de'
- mortos
- MOR-tooz — The dead; deceased persons no longer living
- impedem
- im-PEH-den — Prevent, hinder, stop us from doing something
- ver
- ver — To see; to perceive visually or to understand
- sob
- sob — Under, beneath, below something else
- toga
- TOH-gah — Toga, the draped garment worn in ancient Rome
- assim
- ah-SEEN — Thus, so, in this way or manner
- vestimenta
- veh-stee-MEN-tah — Clothing, garment, attire worn by a person
- moderna
- moh-DER-nah — Modern, contemporary, belonging to the present era
- senado
- seh-NAH-doo — Senate, a legislative or governing deliberative assembly
- nossos
- NOH-sooz — Our, belonging to us (masculine plural possessive)
- conselhos
- kon-SEH-lyooz — Councils, deliberative bodies, or pieces of advice
- homens
- OH-menz — Men, adult male human beings
- eram
- EH-ron — Were; third-person plural imperfect of ser
- ainda
- ah-EEN-dah — Still, yet, even now or up to this point
- são
- sow — Are; third-person plural present tense of ser
- acontecimentos
- ah-kon-teh-see-MEN-tooz — Events, occurrences, things that happen in history
- deram
- DEH-ron — Gave; third-person plural simple past of dar
- há
- ah — There is/are; also expresses time ago
- dezoito
- deh-ZOY-too — Eighteen; the number 18
- séculos
- SEH-koo-looz — Centuries, periods of one hundred years each
- atrás
- ah-TRAHS — Behind, ago; indicating time or position past
- dão
- dow — Give; third-person plural present tense of dar
- dias
- DEE-ahz — Days; units of time equal to twenty-four hours
- Senti
- sen-CHEE — I felt; first-person past tense of sentir
- então
- en-TOW — Then, therefore, at that time or consequently
- livro
- LEE-vroo — Book, a written or printed literary publication
- apesar
- ah-peh-ZAR — Despite, in spite of; used in 'apesar de'
- defeitos
- deh-FAY-tooz — Faults, defects, flaws present in a work
- será
- seh-RAH — Will be; third-person singular future of ser
- sempre
- SEM-preh — Always, at all times, without exception
- nobre
- NOH-breh — Noble, distinguished, of admirable or elevated quality
- podemos
- poh-DEH-mooz — We can, we are able to do something
- corrigir
- koh-hee-ZHEER — To correct, to fix errors or inaccuracies
- combater
- kom-bah-TER — To combat, to fight against or oppose something
- preconceitos
- preh-kon-SAY-tooz — Prejudices, biases, preconceived unfair opinions
- sem
- sen — Without, lacking, in the absence of something
- deixar
- day-SHAR — To let, to allow, to leave or stop doing
- reconhecer
- heh-koh-nyeh-SER — To recognize, to acknowledge or identify something
- poucos
- POH-kooz — Few, a small number of people or things
- reuniram
- heh-oo-nee-RON — Gathered, united, brought together in one place
- tão
- tow — So, as, such a degree of a quality
- alto
- AL-too — High, tall, elevated in degree or physical height
- grau
- grow — Degree, grade, level of intensity or quality
- menos
- MEH-nooz — Less, fewer, a smaller amount or degree
- maneira
- mah-NAY-rah — Manner, way, method of doing something
- completa
- kom-PLEH-tah — Complete, whole, lacking nothing essential
- bem
- ben — Well, in a good or satisfactory manner
- ordenada
- or-deh-NAH-dah — Ordered, organised, arranged in a systematic way
- qualificações
- kwah-lee-fee-kah-SOYZ — Qualifications, skills, credentials needed for a task
- necessárias
- neh-seh-SAH-ree-ahz — Necessary, required, indispensable for a purpose
- escritor
- eh-skree-TOR — Writer, a person who composes literary works
- história
- ee-STOR-ee-ah — History, the study of past events; also a story
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