西方經典閱讀（簡體書）

本教材為湖北大學“大學英語拓展系列課程”之一，旨在幫助非英語專業本科學生在通用英語學習的基礎上，通過進一步閱讀大量的西方經典作品，提高語言素養，開闊視野，陶冶情操
? 按照博雅教育的原則，教材所選經典篇目涉及哲學、文學、經濟、政治、歷史、文化等方方面面，有助于拓展學生視野，激發學習興趣
? 兼具人文性和工具性，提高文化素養和語言能力并重，幫助學生加深對西方文化的了解，并提升用英語進行文化交流的有效性和適切性

1 史詩篇 Odyssey ........................................................... 1
2 哲學篇 The Republic .................................................15
3 悲劇篇 Oedipus the King ..........................................31
4 神話篇 Greek Mythology ......................................... 57
5 戲劇篇 Hamlet ...........................................................71
6 散文篇 Essays ............................................................83
7 歷史篇 The History of England .............................. 91
8 政治篇Manifesto of the Communist Party .......109
9 經濟篇 An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of
the Wealth of Nations ........................................... 125
10 小說篇 Pride and Prejudice ....................................139
11 童話篇 Cinderella ....................................................153
12 語言篇 Course in General Linguistics ..................163
13 教育篇 The Idea of a University ............................177
14 詩歌篇 Poetry .......................................................... 199
15 偵探篇 A Scandal in Bohemia ...............................207

史·詩·篇　Odyssey
and customs he was acquainted; mor eover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own
life and brin g his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they
perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the S un-god Hyperion4; so the god
prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter of Jove5, from
whatsoever sourc e you may know them.
So now all who escaped death in battle or by shipwreck ha d got safely home except Ulysses6, and
he, though he was longing to retu rn to his wife and country, was detained by the goddess Calypso7,
who ha d got him into a large cave and wanted to marry him. But as years went by, there came a
time when the gods settled that he should go back to Ithaca8; even then, however, when he was
among his own people, his troubles wer e not yet over; nevertheless all the gods had now begun
to pity him except Neptu ne9, who still persecuted him without ceasing and would not let hi m get
home.
Now Neptune had gone off to the Ethiopians, who are at the wo rld’s end, and lie in two
halves, the one looking West and the other Eas t. He had gone there to accept a hecatomb of
sheep and oxen, and was enj oying himself at his festival; but the other gods met in the house
of Oly mpian Jove, and the sire of gods and men spoke fi rst. At that moment he was thi nking of
Aegisthus10, who had been killed by Agamemnon’s son Orestes11; so he said to the other gods:
“See now, how men lay blame upon us gods for what is afte r all nothing but their own folly.
Look at Aegisthus; he must needs make love to Agamemnon’s wife unrighteously and then kill
4 Hyperion：亥帕瑞恩。他是希臘神話中的一位提坦神，為大地女神蓋亞（Gaia）與天神烏拉諾斯（Uranus）所生，
專司光亮，是最早的太陽神，也是太陽神赫利俄斯、月亮女神塞勒涅和曙光女神厄俄斯的父親。“but do
what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle
of the Sun-god Hyperion”這句中，“do what he might” 意思是“although he tried all that he could”，
后半句解釋了他費盡心力仍無法使兄弟們免受責罰的原因。這句話可以譯為：“但無論他如何費盡心力，仍
無法使他的兄弟們免受責罰，因為這些兄弟們出于自身的愚鈍和莽撞，把太陽神亥帕瑞恩的牧牛吃掉了。”（注：
譯文為編者自譯，下同。）
5 Jove：朱庇特。羅馬統治希臘后，將宙斯（Zeus）之名改為朱庇特，他是羅馬神話中的主神，第三任神王。
他以雷電為武器，維持著天地間的秩序，公牛和鷹是他的標志。他的妻子是女神朱諾。
6 Ulysses：尤利西斯。希臘伊薩卡之王。在特洛伊戰爭中，他獻計使用木馬，攻克特洛伊。在回國途中，遭遇
千難萬險，終與妻兒團聚。希臘神話中對應人物為Odysseus，譯為“奧德修斯”或“俄底修斯”。
7 Calypso：卡魯普索。希臘神話中的女神，掌管海洋，她的父親是扛起了天穹的阿特拉斯（Atlas）。
8 Ithaca：伊薩卡
9 Neptune：涅普頓。古羅馬神話中的海神。希臘名為波塞冬（Poseidon）。相傳他以三叉戟為武器，威嚴無比。
他是宙斯的哥哥，權力僅次于宙斯。
10 Aegisthus：埃吉索斯。希臘神話中克呂太涅斯特拉（Clytemnestra）的情人。他同克呂太涅斯特拉一起謀殺
了她的丈夫阿伽門農（Agamemnon）。八年后，阿伽門農的兒子俄瑞斯特斯（Orestes）替父報仇，殺死了
埃吉索斯。
11 Agamemnon’s son Orestes：阿伽門農的兒子俄瑞斯特斯
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3
4
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西方經典閱讀
Agamemnon, though he knew it would be the death of him; for I sent Mercury12 to warn him not to
do either of these things, inasmuch as Orestes would be sure to take his re venge when he grew up
and wanted to return home. Mercury told him this i n all good will but he would not listen, and now
he has paid for everythi ng in f ull.”
Then Minerva13 said, “Father, son of Saturn14, King of kings, it s erved Aegisthus right, and so
it would any one else who does as he did;15 but Aegi sthus is neither here nor there; it is for Ulysses
that my heart bleeds, when I think of his sufferings in that lonely sea-girt island, far away, poor
man, from all his friends. It is an island covered with forest, i n the very middle of the sea, and a
goddess lives there, daughter of the mag ician Atlas16, who looks after the bottom of the ocean, and
carries the great co lumns that keep heaven and earth asunder. This daughter of Atlas has got hold
of poor unhappy Ulysses, and keeps trying by every kind of blandis hment to make him forget his
home, so that he is tired of life, and thin ks of nothing but how he may once more see the smoke
of his own chimneys. You, sir, take no heed of this, and yet when Ulysses was before Troy d id he
not propitiate you with many a burnt sacrifi ce? Why then should you keep on being so angry with
him?”
And Jove said, “My child, what are you talking about? How can I forget Ulysses than whom
there is no more capable man on earth, nor more liberal in his offerings to the immortal gods that
live in heaven? 17 Bear in mind, however, that Neptune is still furious with Ulysses for h aving
blinded an eye of Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes.18 Polyphemus is s on to Neptune by the nymph
Thoosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys;19 ther efore though he will not kill Ulysses outright, he
torments him by preve nting him from getting home. Still, let us lay our heads together and se e how
we can help him to return; Neptune will then be pacifi ed, for if w e are all of a mind he can hardly
stand out against us.”
12 Mercury：墨丘利，為眾神傳信并司掌商業、道路、科學、發明、口才、幸運的神。希臘名為赫爾墨斯（Hermes）。
13 Minerva：密涅瓦。古羅馬神話中的智慧女神，為朱庇特最寵愛的女兒，具有威力與聰慧，是勇氣和謀略的雙
重象征。傳說是她把紡織、縫紉、制陶、園藝等技藝傳給了人類。希臘名為雅典娜（Athena），三大處女神之一。
14 Saturn：薩圖恩。古羅馬神話中的天神，提坦神。希臘名為克洛諾斯（Cronus）。
15 “it served Aegisthus right, and so it would any one else who does as he did”一句中，“so it would”后省
略了“serve”，句末省略了“right”，“who does as he did”是定語從句，限定修飾“any one else”。這
句話可以譯為：“埃吉索斯罪有應得，任何人重蹈覆轍，都會落得此番下場。”
16 Atlas：阿特拉斯，卡魯普索（Calypso）的父親，扛起了天穹。
17 “How can I forget Ulysses than whom there is no more capable man on earth, nor more liberal in his
offerings to the immortal gods that live in heaven?”這句話中，“whom”指代的是“Ulysses”。該句中的
兩個比較級“more capable”和“more liberal”與前半句中的“than whom” 構成了比較結構。這句話可以
譯為：“我怎能忘了他，尤利西斯，世間誰能比他更有能力，為天界的不朽眾神供奉祭品，誰能比他更慷慨？”
18 Polyphemus king of the Cyclopes：庫克洛普斯之王波魯菲摩斯
19 “Polyphemus is son to Neptune by the nymph Thoosa, daughter to the sea-king Phorcys”：這句話譯為“波
魯菲摩斯是涅普頓與海王福耳庫斯的女兒——仙女蘇莎之子。”