← History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1

History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1 — Page 13

English → Chinese Full Text Level 9/10

Guizot goes on to state his own impressions on reading Gibbon's history, and no authority will have greater weight with those to whom the extent and accuracy of his historical researches are known:—

基佐继续陈述他自己阅读吉本历史著作时的印象，对于那些了解他历史研究之广度与准确性的人来说，没有任何权威能比他更具分量：——

"After a first rapid perusal, which allowed me to feel nothing but the interest of a narrative, always animated, and, notwithstanding its extent and the variety of objects which it makes to pass before the view, always perspicuous, I entered upon a minute examination of the details of which it was composed; and the opinion which I then formed was, I confess, singularly severe.

「在第一次快速通读之后，我所感受到的不过是叙事的趣味——那叙述始终生动活泼，尽管篇幅宏大、所涉及的对象纷繁多样，却始终条理清晰——随后我便对其所包含的细节进行了逐一细察；而我当时所形成的见解，我承认，是异常严苛的。

I discovered, in certain chapters, errors which appeared to me sufficiently important and numerous to make me believe that they had been written with extreme negligence; in others, I was struck with a certain tinge of partiality and prejudice, which imparted to the exposition of the facts that want of truth and justice, which the English express by their happy term _misrepresentation_.

我在某些章节中发现了错误，这些错误在我看来既重要又繁多，足以令我相信那些章节是以极度疏忽的态度写就的；而在另一些章节中，我则深感某种偏颇与偏见的色彩，这种色彩使得对史实的阐述缺乏真实与公正，正如英国人用其贴切的词语所表达的那样——_misrepresentation_（失实陈述）。

Some imperfect (_tronquées_) quotations; some passages, omitted unintentionally or designedly cast a suspicion on the honesty (_bonne foi_) of the author; and his violation of the first law of history—increased to my eye by the prolonged attention with which I occupied myself with every phrase, every note, every reflection—caused me to form upon the whole work, a judgment far too rigorous.

一些不完整（_tronquées_）的引文；一些无意或故意省略的段落，使人对作者的诚实（_bonne foi_）产生怀疑；而他对历史第一法则的违背——在我长时间逐字逐句、逐条注释、逐处思考的细察之下愈发显得突出——使我对整部著作形成了过于严苛的判断。

After having finished my labors, I allowed some time to elapse before I reviewed the whole.

在完成我的研究工作之后，我让一段时间过去，然后再重新审阅全书。

Vocabulary

继续: jìxù — To continue doing something
陈述: chénshù — To state or describe something formally
他: tā — He, him (third person masculine pronoun)
自己: zìjǐ — Oneself, one's own
阅读: yuèdú — To read written material
历史: lìshǐ — History, past events
著作: zhùzuò — Written works, scholarly publications
时: shí — When, at the time of
的: de — Structural particle indicating possession or modification
印象: yìnxiàng — Impression, mental image formed
对于: duìyú — Regarding, with respect to something
那些: nàxiē — Those, referring to plural things
了解: liǎojiě — To understand, know about something
研究: yánjiū — To research, study a subject thoroughly
之: zhī — Classical possessive or structural particle
广度: guǎngdù — Breadth, scope, extent of something
与: yǔ — And, with (formal conjunction)
准确性: zhǔnquèxìng — Accuracy, correctness of information
人: rén — Person, people, human being
来说: lái shuō — Speaking from a perspective, for someone
没有: méiyǒu — Do not have, there is no
任何: rènhé — Any, whatsoever
权威: quánwēi — Authority, authoritative person or source
能: néng — Can, to be able to
比: bǐ — Than, compared to
更: gèng — Even more, still more
具: jù — To possess, have (formal)
分量: fènliàng — Weight, importance, significance
在: zài — At, in, on (location or time)
第一次: dì yī cì — The first time
快速: kuàisù — Fast, rapid, quick
通读: tōngdú — To read through completely from start
之后: zhīhòu — After, afterwards, following something
我: wǒ — I, me (first person pronoun)
所: suǒ — Classical particle preceding verb phrases
感受到: gǎnshòu dào — To feel, perceive, experience something
不过: búguò — Only, merely, however
是: shì — To be, is, am, are
叙事: xùshì — Narrative, storytelling, recounting events
趣味: qùwèi — Interest, charm, enjoyment, flavor
那: nà — That (demonstrative pronoun)
叙述: xùshù — Narration, account, description of events
始终: shǐzhōng — Always, consistently from start to finish
生动活泼: shēngdòng huópō — Vivid and lively, full of vitality
尽管: jǐnguǎn — Even though, despite, although
篇幅: piānfú — Length of a written piece, space
宏大: hóngdà — Grand, vast, magnificent in scale
涉及: shèjí — To involve, concern, touch upon
对象: duìxiàng — Subject, object, target being discussed
纷繁多样: fēnfán duōyàng — Varied and numerous, complex and diverse
却: què — Yet, but, however (contrast conjunction)
条理清晰: tiáolǐ qīngxī — Well-organized, clearly structured and logical
随后: suíhòu — Subsequently, soon after, then
便: biàn — Then, thereupon (formal connective)
对: duì — Toward, regarding, directed at
其: qí — Its, their, his/her (formal pronoun)
包含: bāohán — To contain, include, encompass
细节: xìjié — Details, particulars, fine points
进行: jìnxíng — To carry out, conduct, undertake
了: le — Aspect particle indicating completed action
逐一: zhúyī — One by one, individually, in turn
细察: xìchá — To examine carefully, scrutinize closely
而: ér — And, but, yet (formal conjunction)
当时: dāngshí — At that time, then, back then
形成: xíngchéng — To form, develop, take shape
见解: jiànjiě — Opinion, view, understanding of something
承认: chéngrèn — To admit, acknowledge, recognize
异常: yìcháng — Unusually, exceptionally, abnormally
严苛: yánkē — Harsh, strict, excessively demanding
某些: mǒuxiē — Some, certain (unspecified) ones
章节: zhāngjié — Chapters and sections of a book
中: zhōng — In, within, among
发现: fāxiàn — To discover, find, notice something
错误: cuòwù — Errors, mistakes, inaccuracies
这些: zhèxiē — These (plural demonstrative pronoun)
看来: kànlái — It seems, apparently, it appears
既: jì — Both...and, already (formal conjunction)
重要: zhòngyào — Important, significant, crucial
又: yòu — Also, again, moreover
繁多: fánduō — Numerous, many and varied
足以: zúyǐ — Enough to, sufficient to do something
令: lìng — To cause, make someone do something
相信: xiāngxìn — To believe, trust, have confidence in
以: yǐ — With, using, by means of (formal)
极度: jídù — Extreme degree, utmost, extremely
疏忽: shūhu — Negligence, carelessness, oversight
态度: tàidu — Attitude, manner, approach to something
写就: xiě jiù — Written and completed, composed
另一些: lìng yīxiē — Other ones, some others
则: zé — Then, on the other hand (formal)
深感: shēn gǎn — To deeply feel, strongly sense something
某种: mǒu zhǒng — A certain kind of, some type of
偏颇: piānpō — Biased, one-sided, partial in judgment
偏见: piānjiàn — Prejudice, bias, preconceived opinion
色彩: sècǎi — Color, hue, tone, tinge of something
这种: zhè zhǒng — This kind of, this type of
使得: shǐde — To cause, result in, make happen
史实: shǐshí — Historical facts, actual events in history
阐述: chǎnshù — To expound, elaborate, explain in detail
缺乏: quēfá — To lack, be deficient in something
真实: zhēnshí — Truthful, genuine, authentic, real
公正: gōngzhèng — Fair, just, impartial
正如: zhèngrú — Just as, exactly as
英国人: Yīngguórén — English person, British person
用: yòng — To use, employ, utilize
贴切: tiēqiè — Apt, fitting, appropriate expression
词语: cíyǔ — Words, terms, vocabulary items
表达: biǎodá — To express, convey meaning or feelings
那样: nàyàng — Like that, in that way
失实: shīshí — Untruthful, inaccurate, departing from facts
一些: yīxiē — Some, a few, a number of
不完整: bù wánzhěng — Incomplete, not whole, lacking parts
引文: yǐnwén — Quoted text, citation, quotation
无意: wúyì — Unintentional, not meaning to, inadvertent
或: huò — Or, either, alternatively
故意: gùyì — Deliberately, intentionally, on purpose
省略: shěnglüè — To omit, leave out, abbreviate
段落: duànluò — Paragraph, passage, section of text
使人: shǐ rén — To cause someone, make people
作者: zuòzhě — Author, writer of a work
诚实: chéngshí — Honest, truthful, sincere
产生: chǎnshēng — To produce, generate, give rise to
怀疑: huáiyí — To doubt, suspect, be skeptical
第一: dìyī — First, number one, primary
法则: fǎzé — Rule, law, principle to follow
违背: wéibèi — To violate, go against, breach
长时间: cháng shíjiān — For a long time, extended duration
逐字逐句: zhú zì zhú jù — Word by word and sentence by sentence
逐条: zhú tiáo — Point by point, item by item
注释: zhùshì — Annotation, footnote, explanatory note
逐处: zhú chù — In each place, throughout, everywhere
思考: sīkǎo — To think deeply, reflect, ponder
之下: zhīxià — Under, beneath, below (formal)
愈发: yùfā — Increasingly, even more so
显得: xiǎnde — To appear, seem, look like
突出: tūchū — Prominent, outstanding, conspicuous
使: shǐ — To cause, make, enable
整部: zhěng bù — The entire work, whole volume
过于: guòyú — Excessively, too much, overly
判断: pànduàn — To judge, make a judgment, assess
完成: wánchéng — To complete, finish, accomplish
工作: gōngzuò — Work, job, task
让: ràng — To let, allow, cause someone to
一段: yī duàn — A period, a stretch of time
时间: shíjiān — Time, period, duration
过去: guòqù — To pass, go by (of time)
然后: ránhòu — Then, after that, subsequently
再: zài — Again, once more, then
重新: chóngxīn — Anew, again, afresh
审阅: shěnyuè — To review, examine, read over carefully
全书: quán shū — The entire book, whole work

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