那是希望之春，也是失望之冬

文/查尔斯·狄更斯 绘/迷失嘟嘟

那是希望之春，也是失望之冬

It Was the Spring of Hope，It Was the Winter of Despair

文/查尔斯·狄更斯 绘/迷失嘟嘟

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch①epoch 英 ［'iːpɒk; 'epɒk］ 美 ［'ɛpək］ n. ［地质］ 世；新纪元；新时代；时间上的一点of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity②incredulity 英 ［ɪnkrə'djuːlətɪ］ 美 ［,ɪnkrə'djʊləti］ n. 怀疑；不轻信，不易相信, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to③go direct 直接；直销方式eg. On this， as on other matters， I could go direct to. 你可以直接从伦敦到巴黎去。Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the super lative④lative ［'leitiv］ n. 方向格 adj. 方向格的degree of comparison only.

Wonderf ul f act t o ref lect upon, that every human creature is constituted⑤constituted constitute 的过去分词 constitute 英 ［'kɒnstɪtjuːt］ 美 ［'kɑnstətut］ vt. 组成，构成；建立；任命to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn⑥solemn 英 ［'sɒləm］ 美 ［'sɑləm］ adj. 庄严的，严肃的；隆重的，郑重的consideration, when enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered⑦clustered 英 ［'klʌstəd］ 美 ［'klʌstɚd］ adj. 成群的；聚集成群的houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, if some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it! Something of the awfulness, even of Death itself, is referable⑧referable ［rɪ'fɝəbl］ adj. 可归因于……；可参考的；可交付的；可涉及的to this.

那是最美好的时代，那是最糟糕的时代；那是智慧的年头，那是愚昧的年头；那是信仰的时期，那是怀疑的时期；那是光明的季节，那是黑暗的季节；那是希望的春天，那是失望的冬天；我们全都在直奔天堂，我们全都在直奔相反的方向——简而言之，那时跟现在非常相象，某些最喧嚣的权威坚持要用形容词的最高级来形容它。说它好，是最高级的；说它不好，也是最高级的。

每个人对别的人都是天生的奥秘和奇迹——此事细想起来确实有些玄妙。晚上在大城市里我总要郑重其事地沉思，那些挤成一片一片的黑洞洞的房屋，每一幢都包含着它自己的秘密，每一幢的每一间也包含着它自己的秘密；那数以十万计的胸膛中每一颗跳动的心所想象的即使对最靠近它的心也都是秘密！从此我们可以领悟到一些令人悚然的东西，甚至死亡本身。

——节选自《双城记》