The Prince — Page 15
马基雅维利无疑是一个极具观察力、敏锐性和勤奋精神的人；他以欣赏的眼光注意着眼前发生的一切，并凭借其卓越的文学才华，在被迫退出政坛期间将这些经历化为文字。
Machiavelli was undoubtedly a man of great observation, acuteness, and industry; noting with appreciative eye whatever passed before him, and with his supreme literary gift turning it to account in his enforced retirement from affairs.
他既没有以那种罕见的结合体——成功的政治家兼作家——来展示自己，他的同时代人也没有将他描绘成这样的形象，因为他在数次出使和政治任职中似乎只取得了平平的成就。
He does not present himself, nor is he depicted by his contemporaries, as a type of that rare combination, the successful statesman and author, for he appears to have been only moderately prosperous in his several embassies and political employments.
他被卡特琳娜·斯福尔扎所误导，被路易十二所忽视，被切萨雷·博尔贾所震慑；他的数次出使几乎毫无成果；他试图加固佛罗伦萨防御的努力以失败告终，而他所训练的士兵因懦弱无能令众人大为震惊。
He was misled by Catherina Sforza, ignored by Louis XII, overawed by Cesare Borgia; several of his embassies were quite barren of results; his attempts to fortify Florence failed, and the soldiery that he raised astonished everybody by their cowardice.
在处理自身事务时，他胆小怯懦，奉行明哲保身之道；他不敢出现在对他恩重如山的索德里尼身旁，唯恐连累自身；他与美第奇家族的关系令人生疑，而朱利亚诺似乎也看透了他真正的长处，让他去撰写《佛罗伦萨史》，而非委以国事重任。
In the conduct of his own affairs he was timid and time-serving; he dared not appear by the side of Soderini, to whom he owed so much, for fear of compromising himself; his connection with the Medici was open to suspicion, and Giuliano appears to have recognized his real forte when he set him to write the "History of Florence," rather than employ him in the state.
唯有在其性格的文学层面，也只有在这一方面，我们找不到任何弱点与失败。
And it is on the literary side of his character, and there alone, that we find no weakness and no failure.
尽管近四个世纪的时光已聚焦于《君主论》之上，其中的问题至今仍具争议性且引人入胜，因为它们是被统治者与统治者之间永恒的命题。
Although the light of almost four centuries has been focused on The Prince, its problems are still debatable and interesting, because they are the eternal problems between the ruled and their rulers.
Vocabulary
- was
- 是（动词be的过去式）
- undoubtedly
- 毫无疑问地；确实地；肯定地
- man
- 男人；人；人类
- of
- 表示所属关系的介词
- great
- 伟大的；重要的；程度深的
- observation
- 观察；观察力；所作的观察或评论
- acuteness
- 敏锐；尖锐；严重程度
- and
- 和；与；并且
- industry
- 勤奋；工业；产业
- noting
- 注意到；记下；记录
- with
- 和...一起；用；具有
- appreciative
- 欣赏的；赞美的；感谢的
- eye
- 眼睛；视力；观点；注意力
- whatever
- 无论什么；任何；究竟什么
- passed
- 经过；通过；去世
- before
- 在...之前；面前；以前
- him
- 他（宾语形式）
- his
- 他的
- supreme
- 最高的；至高的；最后的
- literary
- 文学的；文学方面的；有文化的
- gift
- 礼物；天赋；才能
- turning
- 转动；转向；转变
- it
- 它；这
- to
- 到；向；对于；用来
- account
- 账户；解释；说明；叙述
- in
- 在...里面；用；穿着
- enforced
- 强制的；被迫的；加强的
- retirement
- 退休；隐退；偏远地方
- from
- 来自；从；出发
- affairs
- 事务；事情；关系
- He
- 他
- does
- 做；从事（动词do的第三人称单数）
- not
- 不；没有
- present
- 呈现；提交；现在的；赠送
- himself
- 他自己
- nor
- 也不；既不
- is
- 是（动词be的第三人称单数）
- he
- 他
- depicted
- 描绘；描述；刻画
- by
- 被；由；通过；在...旁边
- contemporaries
- 同时代的人；同代人
- as
- 作为；像；如；当...时
- type
- 类型；类别；典型
- that
- 那；那个；那样的
- rare
- 稀有的；罕见的；半熟的
- combination
- 结合；组合；联合
- the
- 定冠词
- successful
- 成功的；顺利的
- statesman
- 政治家；国务家
- author
- 作者；著者；创始人
- for
- 为了；因为；对于
- appears
- 出现；显得；似乎
- have
- 有；拥有；经历
- been
- 是（动词be的过去分词）
- only
- 仅仅；只有；唯一的
- moderately
- 适度地；温和地；中等程度地
- prosperous
- 繁荣的；成功的；兴隆的
- several
- 几个；若干；多个
- embassies
- 大使馆；使馆
- political
- 政治的；政治性的
- employments
- 工作；雇用；就业
- misled
- 误导；欺骗；引入歧途
- ignored
- 忽视；不理睬；装作不知道
- overawed
- 使敬畏；使惧怕；压倒
- were
- 是（动词be的过去式复数）
- quite
- 相当；完全；非常
- barren
- 贫瘠的；不毛的；无结果的
- results
- 结果；后果；效果
- attempts
- 尝试；企图；试图
- fortify
- 加强；堡垒化；增强
- failed
- 失败；失效；不及格
- soldiery
- 士兵；军队；武装部队
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →