On the Method of Zadig: Essay #1 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition" — Page 14
At the present day, it would probably be impossible to find any sane advocate of this opinion; and the fact is rather surprising, that among the people from whom the circle-squarers, perpetual-motioners, flat-earthed men and the like, are recruited, to say nothing of table-turners and spirit-rappers, somebody has not perceived the easy avenue to nonsensical notoriety open to any one who will take up the good old doctrine, that fossils are all _lusus naturae._
在当今之世，大概已不可能找到任何一个神志清醒的人来为这种观点辩护；而令人颇为惊讶的是，在那些化圆为方者、永动机信徒、平地说鼓吹者之流的圈子里——更遑论桌子旋转者和灵魂叩击者——居然没有人发现，只要拾起"化石皆为自然游戏"这一古老学说，便可轻而易举地获得荒诞的声名。
The position would be impregnable, inasmuch as it is quite impossible to prove the contrary.
这一立场将是无懈可击的，因为要证明其反面实属绝无可能。
If a man choose to maintain that a fossil oyster shell, in spite of its correspondence, down to every minutest particular, with that of an oyster fresh taken out of the sea, was never tenanted by a living oyster, but is a mineral concretion, there is no demonstrating his error.
倘若有人坚持认为，一枚化石牡蛎壳尽管与刚从海中捞出的牡蛎壳在每一细微之处都完全吻合，却从未有活牡蛎栖居其中，不过是一块矿物凝结体，那么便无法证明他的错误。
All that can be done is to show him that, by a parity of reasoning, he is bound to admit that a heap of oyster shells outside a fishmonger's door may also be "sports of nature," and that a mutton bone in a dust-bin may have had the like origin.
所能做的，不过是以同样的推理向他指出，他必须承认，鱼贩门外的一堆牡蛎壳也可能是"自然的游戏"，垃圾桶里的一块羊骨也可能有同样的来历。
And when you cannot prove that people are wrong, but only that they are absurd, the best course is to let them alone.
而当你无法证明一个人是错的，只能证明他是荒谬的，最好的办法便是任其自去。
Vocabulary
- 在
- zài — at, in, on; indicating location or time
- 当今
- dāngjīn — nowadays, in the present age
- 大概
- dàgài — probably, roughly, approximate estimate
- 已
- yǐ — already, no longer (literary)
- 不可能
- bù kěnéng — impossible, cannot possibly happen
- 找到
- zhǎodào — to find, to locate something successfully
- 任何
- rènhé — any, whatever, whichever
- 一个
- yī gè — one, a single (general measure word)
- 神志
- shénzhì — mental state, consciousness, presence of mind
- 清醒
- qīngxǐng — clear-headed, lucid, sober-minded
- 的
- de — structural particle indicating possession or modification
- 人
- rén — person, human being, people
- 来
- lái — to come; used to introduce an action
- 为
- wèi — for, on behalf of
- 这种
- zhè zhǒng — this kind of, this type of
- 观点
- guāndiǎn — viewpoint, perspective, opinion
- 辩护
- biànhù — to defend, to argue in defense of
- 而
- ér — and yet, but, however (conjunction)
- 令人
- lìng rén — causing people to feel, making one feel
- 颇为
- pōwéi — quite, rather, considerably
- 惊讶
- jīngyà — surprised, astonished, amazed
- 是
- shì — is, are, to be
- 那些
- nàxiē — those (plural demonstrative pronoun)
- 者
- zhě — one who, person who (literary suffix)
- 永动机
- yǒngdòngjī — perpetual motion machine, impossible mechanical device
- 信徒
- xìntú — believer, follower, devotee
- 鼓吹者
- gǔchuīzhě — advocate, promoter, one who propagates ideas
- 之流
- zhī liú — and their ilk, and such people (derogatory)
- 圈子
- quānzi — circle, clique, social group
- 里
- lǐ — inside, within, in
- 更
- gèng — even more, still more
- 遑论
- huánglùn — let alone, not to mention (literary)
- 桌子
- zhuōzi — table, desk
- 和
- hé — and, together with
- 灵魂
- línghún — soul, spirit
- 居然
- jūrán — surprisingly, unexpectedly, to one's amazement
- 没有
- méiyǒu — do not have, there is not, without
- 发现
- fāxiàn — to discover, to find, to realize
- 只要
- zhǐyào — as long as, provided that
- 拾起
- shí qǐ — to pick up, to retrieve from the ground
- 化石
- huàshí — fossil, petrified remains of ancient organisms
- 自然
- zìrán — nature, natural; naturally, of course
- 游戏
- yóuxì — game, play; sport or amusement
- 这一
- zhè yī — this one, this particular (emphatic)
- 古老
- gǔlǎo — ancient, very old, age-old
- 学说
- xuéshuō — theory, doctrine, academic hypothesis
- 轻而易举
- qīng ér yì jǔ — effortlessly, with ease, very easily done
- 地
- de — adverbial particle linking adverb to verb
- 获得
- huòdé — to obtain, to gain, to acquire
- 荒诞
- huāngdàn — absurd, preposterous, bizarre, ridiculous
- 声名
- shēngmíng — reputation, fame, renown
- 立场
- lìchǎng — standpoint, position, stance on an issue
- 将是
- jiāng shì — will be, shall be (future tense)
- 无懈可击
- wú xiè kě jī — unassailable, flawless, impossible to attack
- 因为
- yīnwèi — because, for the reason that
- 要
- yào — to want; must, need to
- 证明
- zhèngmíng — to prove, to demonstrate, proof
- 其
- qí — its, his, her, their (literary pronoun)
- 反面
- fǎnmiàn — the opposite side, the reverse, contrary
- 绝无可能
- jué wú kěnéng — absolutely impossible, no possibility whatsoever
- 倘若
- tǎngruò — if, supposing that, in the event that
- 有人
- yǒu rén — someone, there is a person who
- 坚持
- jiānchí — to insist, to persist, to maintain firmly
- 认为
- rènwéi — to think, to believe, to consider
- 一枚
- yī méi — one piece of (coins, shells, small objects)
- 尽管
- jǐnguǎn — even though, despite, although
- 与
- yǔ — with, and (literary conjunction)
- 捞出
- lāo chū — to fish out, to dredge up from water
- 每一
- měi yī — every single, each one
- 细微
- xìwēi — minute, subtle, fine, tiny detail
- 都
- dōu — all, both, every (adverb)
- 完全
- wánquán — completely, entirely, totally
- 吻合
- wěnhé — to match perfectly, to coincide, to tally
- 却
- què — yet, but, however (adversative)
- 从未
- cóng wèi — never, at no time, not ever
- 有
- yǒu — to have, there is/are
- 活
- huó — alive, living, live
- 牡蛎
- mǔlì — oyster, a bivalve shellfish
- 栖居
- qījū — to inhabit, to dwell, to reside
- 其中
- qízhōng — among them, within it, therein
- 不过是
- bùguò shì — merely is, nothing more than
- 一块
- yī kuài — a piece of, a chunk of
- 矿物
- kuàngwù — mineral, inorganic natural substance
- 那么
- nàme — then, in that case, so
- 便
- biàn — then, thereupon (literary adverb)
- 无法
- wúfǎ — unable to, cannot, no way to
- 他的
- tā de — his, belonging to him
- 错误
- cuòwù — mistake, error, wrong
- 以
- yǐ — by means of, using, with (literary)
- 同样
- tóngyàng — same, similarly, in the same way
- 推理
- tuīlǐ — reasoning, deduction, logical inference
- 指出
- zhǐchū — to point out, to indicate, to show
- 他
- tā — he, him (third person male pronoun)
- 必须
- bìxū — must, have to, obligatory
- 承认
- chéngrèn — to admit, to acknowledge, to recognize
- 门外
- mén wài — outside the door, beyond the entrance
- 一堆
- yī duī — a pile of, a heap of
- 也
- yě — also, too, as well
- 可能
- kěnéng — possible, possibly, maybe
- 垃圾桶
- lājītǒng — trash can, garbage bin, rubbish container
- 来历
- láilì — origin, background, history, provenance
- 当
- dāng — when, at the time of
- 你
- nǐ — you (second person singular pronoun)
- 一个人
- yī gè rén — a person, alone, by oneself
- 错的
- cuò de — wrong, mistaken, in error
- 只能
- zhǐ néng — can only, the only option is
- 荒谬
- huāngmiù — absurd, preposterous, utterly ridiculous
- 最好
- zuìhǎo — best, it would be best to
- 办法
- bànfǎ — method, way, means to solve a problem
- 便是
- biàn shì — is precisely, that is exactly (literary)
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