這是最好的時代,也是最壞的時代;
這是智慧的時代,也是愚蠢的時代;
這是信仰的時期,也是懷疑的時期;
這是光明的季節,也是黑暗的季節;
這是希望之春,也是失望之冬;
人們面前有著各樣事物,人們面前也一無所有;
人們正在直登天堂,人們也在直下地獄
——簡而言之,那時跟現在非常相像,
某些最喧囂的權威堅持要用形容詞的最高級來形容它。
說它好,是最高級的;說它不好,也是最高級的。
──狄更斯《雙城記》
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 epoch of belief,it was the epoch of incredulity,
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 to 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 superlative degree of comparison only.
──A Tale of Two Cities
狄更斯(Charles John Huffam Dickens, 1812-1870),英國作家。