世界小史 第80期:活著

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 Boys were beaten just to harden them to pain.

人們打男孩只是為了讓他們變得堅(jiān)強(qiáng)，習(xí)慣疼痛。

A harsh upbringing is still called 'Spartan1' today,

今天人們?nèi)园堰@種嚴(yán)格的教育稱之為“斯巴達(dá)式教育”，

and as you know, it worked: at Thermopylae, in 480 BC, in obedience2 to their law, the Spartans3 allowedthemselves to be massacred by the Persians.

你知道，這種教育卓有成效：在公元前480年的溫泉關(guān)戰(zhàn)役中，為服從他們的法律，斯巴達(dá)人寧愿被波斯人殺害。

Knowing how to die like that isn't easy.

知道這樣去死，并不容易。

But knowing how to live is, perhaps, even harder. And this is what the Athenians aimed to do.

但是知道如何活著，也許更艱難。這就是雅典人力求的。

They weren't looking for an easy, comfortable life, but one which had meaning.

不謀求一種好的、安逸的生活，而是謀求一種有意義的生活。

A life of which something remained after one's death. Something of benefit to those who came after.

謀求一種人死后會留下點(diǎn)什么的生活。會讓后人有所得益的生活。

You shall see how they succeeded.

你將會看到，他們成功地做到了這一點(diǎn)。

Had they not lived in fear – fear of their own slaves – the Spartans might never have become so warlike and brave.

要不是斯巴達(dá)人生活在害怕之中——害怕他們自己的奴仆——斯巴達(dá)人也許不會變得如此好戰(zhàn)和勇敢。

Athenians had fewer reasons to be afraid and they didn't live under the same pressures.

雅典人卻沒有多少理由害怕，他們生活在不同的壓力下。

Things were different for them even though, as in Sparta, the nobles who once ruled Athens imposed harsh laws drawn4 up by an Athenian named Draco.

盡管他們的情況和斯巴達(dá)不同，但和斯巴達(dá)一樣，貴族曾統(tǒng)治雅典，實(shí)施嚴(yán)厲的法律，一個(gè)名叫德拉古的雅典人制定這些法律。