英語(yǔ)短文名人故事 哲學(xué)思想家 第25期:弗朗西斯·培根

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6 Francis Bacon 6 弗朗西斯·培根

Francis Bacon's words "knowledge is power" are well-known to us. 我們都知道弗朗西斯·培根的名言"知識(shí)就是力量"。

This talented boy is so clever that he entered the Trinity College, Cambridge, at the age of twelve and lived for three years there with his older brother. 這位極富才華的少年天資聰穎，十二歲便進(jìn)入劍橋大學(xué)三一學(xué)院，和他哥哥一起在那度過(guò)了三年時(shí)光。

At Cambridge he met the Queen for the first time. 在劍橋時(shí)，他第一次見(jiàn)到女王，

The Queen was impressed by his precocious intellect, and was accustomed to call him "the young Lord Keeper". 女王對(duì)他早熟的才華印象深刻，并習(xí)慣地稱他為"小掌璽大臣"。

He began to study law at Gray's Inn, but his studies were interrupted for two and a half years while he served with the English ambassador to France. 他在葛萊學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)法律。但是他中途中斷了兩年半學(xué)業(yè)，為英國(guó)駐巴黎大使工作。

The sudden death of his father in February 1579 prompted Bacon to return to England. 1579年2月，培根的父親尼古拉斯猝死，使他提前回到英國(guó)。

Sir Nicholas had laid up a considerable sum of money to purchase an estate for his youngest son, 他父親生前為他最小的兒子準(zhǔn)備了一大筆購(gòu)買不動(dòng)產(chǎn)的錢，

but he died before doing so, and Francis was left with only a fifth of that money. 可惜他在購(gòu)買前去世了，培根只得到了那筆錢的五分之一。

Having borrowed money, Bacon got into debt. 因?yàn)榻杩?，培根債?wù)纏身。

To support himself, he reentered Gray's Inn. 為養(yǎng)活自己，他重新回到葛萊學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)。

He made rapid progress. He was admitted to the bar in 1582. 此后他取得了快速的進(jìn)步，于1582年成為一名律師。

Bacon's goals were threefold: discovery of truth, service to his country, and service to the church. 培根有三個(gè)方面的目標(biāo)：發(fā)現(xiàn)真理，為國(guó)盡忠，服務(wù)教會(huì)。

Knowing that a prestigious post would aid him toward these ends, in 1580 he applied, through his uncle, for a post at court. 他知道一個(gè)顯赫的職位有助于他實(shí)現(xiàn)這些目標(biāo)，于是1580年他就通過(guò)叔叔申請(qǐng)了一個(gè)在法院的職位，

It's a pity that his application failed. 但申請(qǐng)失敗了。

However, Bacon's fortune soared in the next dozen years. 然而培根的運(yùn)氣在接下來(lái)的十多年里迅速好轉(zhuǎn)。

In 1613 he was appointed attorney general and in 1618 lord chancellor. 1613年，他被任命為檢察長(zhǎng)，1618年晉 升為大法官。

Disaster struck soon after. 但是災(zāi)難很快降臨。

He was convicted by the High Court of Parliament for accepting bribes. Then he was sentenced to a fine and imprisonment. 他被英國(guó)上議院法庭認(rèn)定犯有受賄罪，判處罰金和監(jiān)禁。

From then on, Bacon devoted himself to study and writing. 從那以后，培根將精力放在了學(xué)術(shù)和寫(xiě)作上。

Some historians believe Bacon may have been innocent of the bribery charges; 一些歷史學(xué)家認(rèn)為，關(guān)于受賄的指控，培根可能是無(wú)辜的。

Bacon himself said that he pleaded guilty by force deliberately so to save the king from a worse political scandal. 培根自己說(shuō)為了避免國(guó)王涉入更嚴(yán)重的政治丑聞，他不得不承認(rèn)有罪。

By the end of March 1626, Bacon came to the suburb of North London through the snow. 1626年3月底的一天，培根踏著積雪去倫敦北郊。

Suddenly he wanted to do an experiment concerning the possibility of using the snow to preserve meat. 他突發(fā)奇想，決定做一個(gè)關(guān)于用雪來(lái)保存肉的可能性的實(shí)驗(yàn)，

At that time he was studying hot and cold theory and its practical application. 當(dāng)時(shí)他正在研究冷熱理論及其實(shí)際應(yīng)用問(wèn)題。

However, because of his frail body, he could not withstand the invasion of cold. 然而，他身體虛弱，沒(méi)能經(jīng)受住風(fēng)寒的侵襲，

His bronchitis relapsed and conditions deteriorated. 導(dǎo)致他支氣管炎復(fù)發(fā)。隨后，他病情惡化，

Soon he died in April 9, 1626 early morning, leaving assets of about 7,000 and debts to the amount of 22,000. 于1626年4月9日的清晨病逝，留下了 7，000英鎊財(cái)產(chǎn)和22，000英鎊的債務(wù)。