我翻译的〈编辑前言〉第一节

[danee...@gmail.com]

刚才看了grimace贴出的译文，我也译了下，贴出来，大家指点校正。

The great work of Gibbon is indispensable to the student of history.The
literature of Europe offers no substitute for "The Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire." It has obtained undisputed possession, as rightful
occupant, of the vast period which it comprehends. However some
subjects, which it embraces, may have undergone more complete
investigation, on the general view of the whole period, this history is
the sole undisputed authority to which all defer, and from which few
appeal to the original writers, or to more modern compilers. The
inherent interest of the subject, the inexhaustible labor employed upon
it; the immense condensation of matter; the luminous arrangement; the
general accuracy; the style, which, however monotonous from its uniform
stateliness, and sometimes wearisome from its elaborate art., is
throughout vigorous, animated, often picturesque always commands
attention, always conveys its meaning with emphatic energy, describes
with singular breadth and fidelity, and generalizes with unrivalled
felicity of expression; all these high qualifications have secured, and
seem likely to secure, its permanent place in historic literature.

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编者前言

吉本（Gibbon）的这本巨著对于学习历史的人来说是不言而喻的，已经出版的欧洲文献中，还没有一本书能取代《罗马帝国衰亡史》。在漫长的时间里，它获得了公正、无可置疑的声誉。尽管某些细枝末节仍待进一步考证，但就对罗马时代的整体关照而言，这本书拥有独一无二的权威性，相对随后出现的历史撰写者是如此，相对现代的编辑者更是如此。出版人员不辞辛劳正是基于这项工作内在的乐趣，这部书取材精练，编织精巧，叙述精准，尽管作者行文威严而缺少变化，过于饱满的笔调使人感到困乏，但这种雄壮、健旺的风格，却独具风采。这种风格不仅饱含力量地传承内涵，以非凡的视野和真实来叙述历史，也以巧夺天工的概括来展现历史。所有这些优点，确立这本书在历史著作中永恒的地位，并将一直保持下去。

[grimace]

比我的好，更符合汉语遣词用语的习惯。希望继续。
我有一个问题，“健旺”这种词汇总看着有些别扭，elaborate在韦伯字典上的解释是
planned or carried out with great care and exactness : worked out in
detail
似乎还是翻译为“雕琢、精致”更为合适。不知是否同意。
还有希望今后能把对译文的讨论作为“回复”放在第一个帖子的后面，以便于阅读。
谢谢。

[我爱玫瑰]

不好意思提醒一下：有几句你译错了：
１。t has obtained undisputed possession, as rightful

occupant, of the vast period which it comprehends.

说的是这本书已无可置疑地“拥有”了那段历史。“the　vast　period”指的是书里记录的历史时期。大致意思是本书写得实在太好，以致大家一讲罗马衰亡就要提到此书。

２。 this history is

the sole undisputed authority to which all defer, and from which few
appeal to the original writers, or to more modern compilers.

the original writers　指的是最先写这段历史的人，
这句话是说此书成为这段历史的唯一权威，很少人再去参考那些原始记载或其他（关于这段历史的）编著。

３。The inherent interest of the subject, the inexhaustible labor
employed upon it
说的还是这本书，是跟”取材精练，编织精巧，叙述精准“　平行的

[Daneen]

非常感谢您指出的错误，你的不断指正，正是对我们这些后学之辈最大的鞭策。这段翻译的错误，已经在另一个帖子里面更正过了，请您查看。谢谢。如果您觉得使用中文交流不太方便，您大可使用英文。

[我爱玫瑰]

哇您太客气了。我可不是什么前辈　－－　还不够老。大家这么热心，我也想尽一分力。　我在国外太久，文笔早丢光了，所以只能帮忙看看比较难翻的地方。您有什么问题，可以email我。谢谢您谅解我用英文。
您提的另一个贴子，在哪儿？我怎么找不到。