历史循环之周期与文化之发扬｜「英文观止」

选篇导读

每一个历史周期循环，都伴有文化与文明的兴衰。那雄伟的万里长城，华丽的阿房宫以及宽阔的大运河，它们的兴盛与衰败又处于哪一个历史周期中呢？且看今日之《英文观止》。

赏析批注

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. 我认为他夸大了两件事的相似之处。

exactness, 指“精确”，e.g. This method has the advantage of high exactness. 这种方法具有运算精度高的优点。

as to, 指“关于”，e.g. We have found some drivers clueless as to the law. 我们发现有些司机对这一法规一无所知。

句子分析：此句总体概述了每种事件的“循环”在历史演进过程中所呈现出的一些规律。由with引导一个伴随状语，更清楚地向我们解释了每个循环在其时间和因果上向我们展现了一种怎样的状态。

本句译为：每一个循环，其史迹之演进，在它的时间上与前后的因果上，表现出一种不可理解的机械式的合同性，故上一循环与下一循环，其形貌如出一辙。

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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“功绩”，e.g. The tunnel is a brilliant feat of engineering. 这条隧道是工程方面的光辉业绩。

colossal, 指“巨大的”，e.g. This is indeed a colossal success. 这确实是个巨大的成功。

be subjected to, 指“遭受”，e.g. He was subjected to severe criticism. 他受到了严厉的批评。

conflagration，指“大火”，e.g. The light of that conflagration will fade away. 这场大火会渐渐熄灭。

grandeur, 指“宏伟” e.g. The ruins sufficiently attest to the former grandeur of the place。这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

句子分析：此句首先引用李博士的话总结了历史循环周期与文化发扬的关系——初期有伟大工程之修建，而末期伟大工程必遭不幸之毁灭。接着列举了中国历史上三个周期的雄伟建筑——长城、阿房宫、大运河——都是兴建于历史循环初期，毁灭于历史循环末期，强有力地支撑了李博士的观点。该句句式乍看复杂冗长，实则简明易懂。“Dr. Lee mentions...bloom of culture:”总领下文，接着通过排比句式，即“for the first cycle...; for the second cycle...; for the third cycle...”，呈现出三个周期循环的共性，直观而清晰。

本句译为：像李博士所说：每一循环的相当时期，大约是当文化发扬期之初期，总有一次伟大工程之兴筑，然每度必遭不幸之毁灭。第一周期中，有秦始皇的雄伟的万里长城，以及华丽的阿房宫，曾几何时，阿房宫便毁于火，延烧绵延三月之久；第二周期，则隋代有运河之开凿，隋炀帝也建筑过瑰伟的离宫，穷奢而极侈；第三周期，则有长城之改筑，此改筑之形式，即遗留至今之面目。