希腊罗马名人传

It must be borne in mind that my design is not to write histories, but lives. And the most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men; sometimes a matter of less moment, an expression or a jest, informs us better of their characters and inclinations, than the most famous sieges...

"我写的是传而非史, 一句俏皮话常比最著名的围城更显性情"——普鲁塔克的情节观: 以小轶事载大人格, plot 的密度因传而异, 给 78。

Theseus killed her, going out of his way on purpose to meet and engage her, so that he might not seem to perform all his great exploits out of mere necessity; being also of opinion that it was the part of a brave man to chastise villainous and wicked men when attacked by them, but to seek out and overcome the more noble wild beasts.

忒修斯特意绕道去杀母猪,"免得显得壮举皆出必要"——一个细节把"为勇名而勇"的英雄人格写活, cast 给 94。

It is agreed on by all hands, that on the father's side, Alexander descended from Hercules by Caranus, and from Aeacus by Neoptolemus on the mother's side. His father Philip, being in Samothrace...

谱系/战役/政制的编年铺陈是普鲁塔克的常态——人物特写之外的大量细节对现代读者是真实的慢, pace 给 68。

As geographers, Sosius, crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect, that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts... so, in this work of mine...

地理学家在地图边缘填未知之喻, 坦白迷人; 但此为 Dryden/Clough 英译, 庄重有余而希腊原文机趣打折, prose 针对译本给 72。

It being my purpose to write the lives of Alexander the king, and of Caesar, by whom Pompey was destroyed, the multitude of their great actions affords so large a field that I were to blame if I should not by way of apology forewarn my reader...

亚历山大与凯撒并置——普鲁塔克以"德与失"为经纬把希腊罗马五百年织成可对照的人格地图, 是理解古典世界的总入口, world 给 92。

Whom shall I set so great a man to face? Or whom oppose? who's equal to the place? (as Aeschylus expresses it), I found none so fit as him that peopled the beautiful and far-famed city of Athens...

"谁堪与罗慕路斯对垒?唯有建雅典的忒修斯"——平行配对的智识钩型迷人, 但吸引的是愿与伟人对话的读者, hook 给 76。

I found none so fit as him that peopled the beautiful and far-famed city of Athens, to be set in opposition with the father of the invincible and renowned city of Rome. Let us hope that Fable may, in what shall follow, so submit to the purifying processes of Reason as to take the character of exact history.

一希腊一罗马两两并置再加合论——平行列传的比较法是西方传记文学的奠基体例, 影响贯穿蒙田莎士比亚到近代, innov 给 93。

When he heard of his death, it is related he said these words, "Cato, I grudge you your death, as you have grudged me the preservation of your life." And, indeed, if Cato would have suffered himself to owe his life to Caesar, he would not so much have impaired his own honor, as augmented the other's glory.

加图宁自戕不欠凯撒一命, 凯撒"我吝惜你的死如你吝惜让我保全你"——不肯苟活于胜利者仁慈之下的人格为整部德性列传画上最硬的句号, ending 给 86。