歷史迴圈之週期與文化之發揚 |「英文觀止」

選篇導讀

每一個歷史週期迴圈，都伴有文化與文明的興衰。那雄偉的萬里長城，華麗的阿房宮以及寬闊的大運河，它們的興盛與衰敗又處於哪一個歷史週期中呢？且看今日之《英文觀止》。

賞析批註

The parallelism of events within each cycle unfolded itself with an unreasonable mechanical exactness as to time and sequence。 Dr。 Lee mentions， for instance， the undertaking of a great engineering feat which was repeated with fatal regularity and at the exact stage in each cycle， namely， immediately at the beginning of a new bloom of culture： for the first cycle， the building of the Great Wall under the Ch’in Dynasty and the colossal palaces， the Ofangkung， which were soon subjected to a conflagration lasting three months； for the second cycle， the building of the Grand Canal under the Sui Emperor， who had also magnificent palaces， noted for their grandeur and luxury； and for the third cycle， the rebuilding of the Great Wall， in which form it has survived to the present day。

1

The parallelism of events within each cycle unfolded itself with an unreasonable mechanical exactness as to time and sequence。

parallelism

， 指“相似”，e。g。 I think he exaggerates the parallelism between the two cases。 我認為他誇大了兩件事的相似之處。

exactness

， 指“精確”，e。g。 This method has the advantage of high exactness。 這種方法具有運算精度高的優點。

as to

， 指“關於”，e。g。 We have found some drivers clueless as to the law。 我們發現有些司機對這一法規一無所知。

句子分析：

此句總體概述了每種事件的“迴圈”在歷史演進過程中所呈現出的一些規律。由with引導一個伴隨狀語，更清楚地向我們解釋了每個迴圈在其時間和因果上向我們展現了一種怎樣的狀態。

本句譯為：

每一個迴圈，其史蹟之演進，在它的時間上與前後的因果上，表現出一種不可理解的機械式的合同性，故上一迴圈與下一迴圈，其形貌如出一轍。

2

Dr。 Lee mentions， for instance， the undertaking of a great engineering feat which was repeated with fatal regularity and at the exact stage in each cycle， namely， immediately at the beginning of a new bloom of culture： for the first cycle， the building of the Great Wall under the Ch’in Dynasty and the colossal palaces， the Ofangkung， which were soon subjected to a conflagration lasting three months； for the second cycle， the building of the Grand Canal under the Sui Emperor， who had also magnificent palaces， noted for their grandeur and luxury； and for the third cycle， the rebuilding of the Great Wall， in which form it has survived to the present day。

feat，

指“功績”，e。g。 The tunnel is a brilliant feat of engineering。 這條隧道是工程方面的光輝業績。

colossal

， 指“巨大的”，e。g。 This is indeed a colossal success。 這確實是個巨大的成功。

be subjected to， 指“遭受”，e。g。 He was subjected to severe criticism。 他受到了嚴厲的批評。

conflagration

，指“大火”，e。g。 The light of that conflagration will fade away。 這場大火會漸漸熄滅。

grandeur

， 指“宏偉” e。g。 The ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place。這些遺蹟充分證明此處昔日的宏偉。

句子分析：

此句首先引用李博士的話總結了歷史迴圈週期與文化發揚的關係——初期有偉大工程之修建，而末期偉大工程必遭不幸之毀滅。接著列舉了中國歷史上三個週期的雄偉建築——長城、阿房宮、大運河——都是興建於歷史迴圈初期，毀滅於歷史迴圈末期，強有力地支撐了李博士的觀點。該句句式乍看複雜冗長，實則簡明易懂。“Dr。 Lee mentions。。。bloom of culture：”總領下文，接著透過排比句式，即“for the first cycle。。。；for the second cycle。。。；for the third cycle。。。”，呈現出三個週期迴圈的共性，直觀而清晰。

本句譯為：

像李博士所說：每一迴圈的相當時期，大約是當文化發揚期之初期，總有一次偉大工程之興築，然每度必遭不幸之毀滅。第一週期中，有秦始皇的雄偉的萬里長城，以及華麗的阿房宮，曾幾何時，阿房宮便毀於火，延燒綿延三月之久；第二週期，則隋代有運河之開鑿，隋煬帝也建築過瑰偉的離宮，窮奢而極侈；第三週期，則有長城之改築，此改築之形式，即遺留至今之面目。