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The Republic — Page 4

English → Chinese INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS. Level 9/10

We can only guess why the great design was abandoned; perhaps because Plato became sensible of some incongruity in a fictitious history, or because he had lost his interest in it, or because advancing years forbade the completion of it;

我们只能猜测为何这一宏大的构想被放弃了;也许是因为柏拉图意识到虚构的历史叙述中存在某些不协调之处,或者是因为他对此失去了兴趣,又或者是因为年岁渐长而无力完成它;

and we may please ourselves with the fancy that had this imaginary narrative ever been finished, we should have found Plato himself sympathising with the struggle for Hellenic independence (cp. Laws, iii. 698 ff.), singing a hymn of triumph over Marathon and Salamis,

我们不妨自娱自乐地设想,若这部虚构的叙事最终得以完成,我们或许会发现柏拉图本人对希腊独立斗争抱有深切同情(参见《法律篇》第三卷第698节及以下),为马拉松和萨拉米斯的胜利高唱凯歌,

perhaps making the reflection of Herodotus (v. 78) where he contemplates the growth of the Athenian empire—'How brave a thing is freedom of speech, which has made the Athenians so far exceed every other state of Hellas in greatness!'

也许还会引用希罗多德(第五卷第78节)在思索雅典帝国的崛起时所发出的感叹——'言论自由是何等壮丽的事业,它使雅典人的伟大远远超越了希腊的其他一切城邦!'

or, more probably, attributing the victory to the ancient good order of Athens and to the favor of Apollo and Athene (cp. Introd. to Critias).

或者,更有可能的是,将这一胜利归因于雅典古老的优良秩序以及阿波罗与雅典娜的庇佑(参见《克里底亚篇》导言)。

Again, Plato may be regarded as the 'captain' ('arhchegoz') or leader of a goodly band of followers;

此外,柏拉图可被视为一众追随者的'领袖'('arhchegoz')或先导;

for in the Republic is to be found the original of Cicero's De Republica, of St. Augustine's City of God, of the Utopia of Sir Thomas More, and of the numerous other imaginary States which are framed upon the same model.

因为在《理想国》中,可以找到西塞罗《论共和国》、圣奥古斯丁《上帝之城》、托马斯·莫尔爵士《乌托邦》以及其他众多以此为蓝本所构建的虚构国家的原型。

The extent to which Aristotle or the Aristotelian school were indebted to him in the Politics has been little recognised, and the recognition is the more necessary because it is not made by Aristotle himself.

亚里士多德或亚里士多德学派在《政治学》中对他的借鉴程度鲜少得到承认,而这种承认尤为必要,因为亚里士多德本人从未作出这样的说明。

Vocabulary

我们
wǒmen — We; us; first-person plural pronoun.
只能
zhǐ néng — Can only; have no choice but to.
猜测
cāicè — To guess; to speculate about something uncertain.
为何
wèi hé — Why; for what reason.
这一
zhè yī — This one; referring to a specific item or idea.
宏大
hóngdà — Grand; magnificent; of great scale or ambition.
de — Structural particle indicating possession or modification.
构想
gòuxiǎng — Conception; a plan or vision for something.
bèi — Passive marker; indicates action done to subject.
放弃
fàngqì — To abandon; to give up on something.
le — Particle indicating completed action or new situation.
也许
yěxǔ — Perhaps; maybe; expressing possibility or uncertainty.
shì — To be; linking verb indicating identity or state.
因为
yīnwèi — Because; introducing the reason for something.
柏拉图
Bólātú — Plato; ancient Greek philosopher, student of Socrates.
意识到
yìshi dào — To realize; to become aware of something.
虚构
xūgòu — Fictional; invented; not based on real events.
历史
lìshǐ — History; the record of past events.
叙述
xùshù — Narration; an account or description of events.
zhōng — Within; in the middle of; inside.
存在
cúnzài — To exist; existence; presence of something.
某些
mǒuxiē — Certain; some unspecified things or aspects.
bù — Not; negation particle in Chinese.
协调
xiétiáo — Harmonious; coordinated; consistent and balanced.
之处
zhī chù — Aspect; point; place where something is found.
或者
huòzhě — Or; alternatively; presenting another possibility.
tā — He; him; third-person masculine singular pronoun.
对此
duì cǐ — Regarding this; with respect to this matter.
失去
shīqù — To lose; to no longer have something.
兴趣
xìngqù — Interest; curiosity or enthusiasm toward something.
yòu — Also; again; furthermore; adding another point.
年岁
niánsùi — Age; years of life; advancing years.
渐长
jiàn zhǎng — Gradually growing older; advancing in age.
ér — And; yet; conjunction linking contrasting clauses.
无力
wúlì — Powerless; lacking the strength or ability.
完成
wánchéng — To complete; to finish a task or work.
tā — It; third-person pronoun for objects or things.
不妨
bùfáng — May as well; there is no harm in doing.
自娱自乐
zì yú zì lè — To amuse oneself; entertain oneself for fun.
de — Adverbial particle linking adverb to verb.
设想
shèxiǎng — To imagine; to envision a hypothetical scenario.
ruò — If; supposing that; conditional conjunction.
这部
zhè bù — This volume; this work; referring to a text.
叙事
xùshì — Narrative; storytelling; account of events.
最终
zuìzhōng — Ultimately; in the end; finally.
得以
déyǐ — To be able to; to have the opportunity to.
或许
huòxǔ — Perhaps; possibly; expressing uncertainty.
huì — Will; can; expressing ability or future action.
发现
fāxiàn — To discover; to find out; to realize.
本人
běnrén — Oneself; the person in question; personally.
duì — Toward; regarding; preposition indicating direction.
希腊
Xīlà — Greece; ancient and modern country in southeastern Europe.
独立
dúlì — Independence; self-governing; free from control.
斗争
dòuzhēng — Struggle; fight; conflict for a goal.
抱有
bào yǒu — To hold; to harbor a feeling or attitude.
深切
shēnqiè — Deep; heartfelt; profound and sincere.
同情
tóngqíng — Sympathy; compassion for another's situation.
参见
cānjiàn — See also; refer to another source or section.
法律
fǎlǜ — Law; legal rules governing society.
piān — Chapter; section; classifier for written works.
第三卷
dì sān juàn — Volume three; the third volume of a work.
dì — Ordinal prefix; used before numbers to indicate order.
jié — Section; paragraph; clause in a text.
jí — And; as well as; reaching to.
以下
yǐxià — Following; below; the sections that come after.
wèi — For; on behalf of; preposition indicating purpose.
马拉松
Mǎlāsōng — Marathon; ancient battle site and modern long race.
hé — And; together with; connecting two elements.
胜利
shènglì — Victory; triumph; winning in a conflict.
高唱凯歌
gāo chàng kǎi gē — To sing triumphantly; to celebrate a great victory.
还会
hái huì — Would also; will furthermore do something.
引用
yǐnyòng — To quote; to cite a source or passage.
第五卷
dì wǔ juàn — Volume five; the fifth volume of a work.
zài — At; in; existing at a location or time.
思索
sīsuǒ — To ponder; to think deeply about something.
雅典
Yǎdiǎn — Athens; capital city of ancient and modern Greece.
帝国
dìguó — Empire; a large state ruled by an emperor.
崛起
juéqǐ — To rise; to emerge as a powerful force.
shí — When; at the time of; temporal marker.
suǒ — Particle indicating the object of an action.
发出
fāchū — To emit; to issue; to utter a sound or statement.
感叹
gǎntàn — Exclamation; emotional sigh expressing strong feeling.
言论
yánlùn — Speech; expression of opinion; freedom of expression.
自由
zìyóu — Freedom; liberty; the state of being free.
何等
héděng — What a; how great; expressing admiration or intensity.
壮丽
zhuànglì — Magnificent; grand and beautiful; splendid.
事业
shìyè — Cause; enterprise; a great undertaking or career.
使
shǐ — To cause; to make; to enable someone to do.
rén — Person; people; human beings.
伟大
wěidà — Great; magnificent; of outstanding importance.
远远
yuǎnyuǎn — Far; by far; greatly exceeding others.
超越
chāoyuè — To surpass; to transcend; to go beyond limits.
其他
qítā — Other; the rest; besides the one mentioned.
一切
yīqiè — Everything; all; the entirety of things.
城邦
chéngbāng — City-state; an independent political unit of antiquity.
gèng — Even more; still more; to a greater degree.
yǒu — To have; there is; indicating existence.
可能
kěnéng — Possible; likely; expressing probability.
jiāng — Will; future marker; about to do something.
归因于
guī yīn yú — To attribute to; to ascribe a cause to something.
古老
gǔlǎo — Ancient; very old; having existed for a long time.
优良
yōuliáng — Excellent; good; of high quality or virtue.
秩序
zhìxù — Order; an organized and stable arrangement.
以及
yǐjí — As well as; and also; connecting multiple items.
yǔ — And; with; together with.
庇佑
bìyòu — To bless; divine protection and favor.
导言
dǎoyán — Preface; introduction to a text or speech.
此外
cǐwài — Besides; furthermore; in addition to this.
kě — Can; may; expressing permission or possibility.
视为
shì wéi — To regard as; to consider something to be.
一众
yī zhòng — A group of; a number of people together.
追随者
zhuīsuí zhě — Followers; people who follow a leader or idea.
领袖
lǐngxiù — Leader; a person who leads a group.
huò — Or; either; presenting an alternative option.
先导
xiāndǎo — Forerunner; pioneer; one who leads the way.
理想国
Lǐxiǎng Guó — The Republic; Plato's famous philosophical dialogue.
可以
kěyǐ — Can; may; to be allowed to do something.
找到
zhǎodào — To find; to locate something sought.
lùn — On; concerning; a discourse or treatise about.
共和国
gònghéguó — Republic; a state governed by elected representatives.
shèng — Saint; holy; sacred person or title.
上帝
Shàngdì — God; the supreme deity in Christianity.
之城
zhī chéng — City of; the city belonging to something.
爵士
juéshì — Sir; a knight; British honorific title.
乌托邦
Wūtuōbāng — Utopia; an imagined perfect ideal society.
众多
zhòngduō — Numerous; many; a large number of things.
以此
yǐ cǐ — With this; using this as a basis.
蓝本
lánběn — Blueprint; model; original template for something.
构建
gòujiàn — To construct; to build; to establish a structure.
国家
guójiā — Country; nation; state as a political entity.
原型
yuánxíng — Prototype; archetype; original model or template.
学派
xuépài — School of thought; an academic tradition or movement.
政治学
zhèngzhìxué — Politics; political science; study of governance.
借鉴
jièjiàn — To draw lessons from; to use as a reference.
程度
chéngdù — Degree; extent; level to which something occurs.
鲜少
xiǎnshǎo — Rarely; seldom; happening very infrequently.
得到
dédào — To receive; to obtain; to get something.
承认
chéngrèn — To acknowledge; to admit; to recognize something.
这种
zhè zhǒng — This kind of; this type of thing or situation.
尤为
yóuwéi — Especially; particularly; to a greater degree.
必要
bìyào — Necessary; essential; required for a purpose.
从未
cóng wèi — Never; at no time in the past has something occurred.
作出
zuòchū — To make; to produce; to issue a statement.
这样
zhèyàng — Such; like this; in this manner or way.
说明
shuōmíng — Explanation; clarification; to explain something.
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