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Chapter 14
第十四章
The Greek cities
古希臘城邦
The Greek cities that were really states.
古希臘的城市其實是獨立的國家
We modern people love the sound of the word "big." We pride ourselves upon the fact that we belong to the "biggest" country in the world and possess the "biggest" navy and grow the "biggest" oranges and potatoes, and we love to live in cities of "millions" of inhabitants and when we are dead we are buried in the "biggest cemetery of the whole state."
我們現(xiàn)代人總喜歡"大"這個字眼。我們?yōu)樽约簩儆谑澜缟?quot;最大"的國家、擁有"最大"的海軍、出產(chǎn)"最大'的柑橘和馬鈴薯而自豪不已。我們喜歡住在數(shù)百萬人口的"大城市"，死后被葬在"全國最大的公墓"。
A citizen of ancient Greece, could he have heard us talk, would not have known what we meant. "Moderation in all things" was the ideal of his life and mere bulk did not impress him at all. And this love of moderation was not merely a hollow phrase used upon special occasions: it influenced the life of the Greeks from the day of their birth to the hour of their death. It was part of their literature and it made them build small but perfect temples. It found expression in the clothes which the men wore and in the rings and the bracelets of their wives. It followed the crowds that went to the theatre and made them hoot down any playwright who dared to sin against the iron law of good taste or good sense.
如果一個古希臘公民聽見我們諸如此類的說法，他很可能一頭霧水，根本不明白我們的意思。"萬事追求適度"，這是他們對理想生活的準則。單純的數(shù)量與體積的龐大根本引不起他們的興趣。并且，這種對適度與節(jié)制的熱愛并非特定場會的空洞說辭，它滲入了古希臘人由生到死的全部日常生活。它是他們文學的一個組成部分；它使他們造出了小巧而完美的神廟；它在男人穿著的服裝和女人佩戴的手鐲里，也表現(xiàn)出自己的特性；它還隨公眾來到劇場，使他們對任何膽敢違反高雅趣味和優(yōu)良理性的劇作家報以一片噓聲。
The Greeks even insisted upon this quality in their politicians and in their most popular athletes. When a powerful runner came to Sparta and boasted that he could stand longer on one foot than any other man in Hellas the people drove him from the city because he prided himself upon an accomplishment at which he could be beaten by any common goose.
希臘人甚至要他們的政治家和最受歡迎的運動員也具備這種平衡與適度感。當一位著名的長跑手來到斯巴達，吹噓自己能夠用單腳長時間站立，比希臘的任何人都來得久，這時人們會不留情面地把他趕出城市，因為任何一只普通的鵝都能做到他引以為豪的"壯舉"。
