The controversial origins of the Encyclopedia - Addison Anderson

翻译人员: Qi Wang 校对人员: Gabriella Hu

Denis Diderot left a dungeon outside Paris on November 3, 1749.

1749年11月3日，Denis Diderot 从巴黎郊外的监狱出狱

He'd had his writing burned in public before,

过去他的文学作品曾当着公众的面被焚烧

but this time, he'd gotten locked up under royal order

但是这一次，因为一篇关于哲学家

for an essay about a philosopher's death bed rejection of God.

临终时对神的反抗的文章， 皇家下令把他锁起来

To free himself, Denis promised never to write things like that again.

为使自己自由，Denis保证再也不写这样的文章

So he got back to work on something a little like that,

因此他得以继续工作

only way worse,

完成比之前

and much bigger.

更加艰巨的工作

In 1745, publisher André le Breton had hired Diderot

在1745年，出版商 André le Breton，雇佣Diderot

to adapt the English cyclopedia,

按照英国百科全书改写，

or a universal dictionary of arts and sciences

也就是一个艺术与科学综合大辞典

for French subscribers.

供法国读者使用

A broke writer, Diderot survived by translating,

穷困潦倒的Diderot靠翻译

tutoring,

家教

and authoring sermons for priests,

为牧师创作布道维生

and a pornographic novel once.

甚至一度创作色情小说

Le Breton paired him with co-editor Jean le Rond d'Alembert,

Le Breton找来一个小时候在教堂门阶被发现的数学天才

a math genius found on a church doorstep as a baby.

Jean le Rond d'Alembert和Diderot一起工作

Technical dictionaries, like the cyclopedia, weren't new,

像百科全书这样的技术辞典并不是史无前例的

but no one had attempted one publication covering all knowledge,

但是从来没有人尝试完成一个包含所有知识的出版物

so they did.

所以他们完成了

The two men organized the French Enlightenment's brightest stars

这两个人组织起了法国启蒙运动最闪亮的新星人物

to produce the first encyclopedia,

共同编辑第一本百科全书

or rational dictionary of the arts, sciences, and crafts.

也就是对艺术科学和手工艺专业知识的合理解释

Assembling every essential fact and principle in, as it turned out,

书中收集了所有的重要事实和原理，最终，

over 70,000 entries,

在35卷书的文字和插图中

20,000,000 words

创造了超过70,000个条目

in 35 volumes of text and illustrations

20,000,000个单词

created over three decades of researching,

花费了超过三十年的时间去查阅资料

writing,

写作，

arguging,

探讨

smuggling,

走私偷运

backstabbing,

暗算与背叛，

law-breaking,

违反法律

and alphabetizing.

和最终排序完成

To organize the work,

为了组织这次工作

Diderot adapted Francis Bacon's "Classification of Knowledge"

Diderot借鉴了培根的 "知识分类"的思想

into a three-part system based on the mind's approaches to reality:

并将其应用于从思维方法到实现的三大系统

memory,

记忆

reason,

推理

and imagination.

和想象

He also emphasized the importance of commerce,

同时，通过走访商店学习巴黎劳动者的工具和技术

technology,

and crafts,

poking around shops to study the tools and techniques of Parisian laborers.

他也强调了商业

技术

和手工艺的发展

To spotlight a few of the nearly 150 philosoph contributers,

为了强调将近150位哲学家的贡献

Jean Jacques Rousseau, Diderot's close friend,

Diderot的好友卢梭

wrote much of the music section in three months,

在三个月的时间里创作了许多音乐片段

and was never reimbursed for copy fees.

并且从未要求报酬

His entry on political economy holds ideas he'd later develop further

卢梭在政治经济领域的涉足

in "The Social Contract."

最后发展为社会契约论

D'Alembert wrote the famous preliminary discourse,

D'Alembert 创作了著名的初步论

a key statement of the French Enlightenment,

成为法国启蒙的关键指导

championing independent investigative reasoning

支持将独立的调查推理

as the path to progress.

作为取得进步的方法

Louis de Jaucourt wrote a quarter of the encyclopedia,

Louis de Jaucourt 完成了百科全书的四分之一

18,000 articles,

共计18,000篇文章

5,000,000 words,

5,000,000个单词

unpaid.

没有收取报酬

Louis once spent 20 years writing a book on anatomy,

Louis曾花费20年写一本关于解剖学的书

shipped it to Amsterdam to be published uncensored,

为了这本书完整地出版， Louis将其海运到阿姆斯特丹

and the ship sank.

然后船沉了

Voltaire contributed entries,

Voltaire贡献了许多条目

among them history,

包括历史

elegance,

高雅，

and fire.

还有火

Diderot's entries sometimes exhibit slight bias.

Diderot的条目有时候带有轻微的偏见

In "political authority," he dismantled the divine right of kings.

在"政治的权力"中，他分散了国王神圣的权利

Under "citizen,"

在"公民"中

he argued a state was strongest without great disparity in wealth.

他认为最强大的州应该没有贫富差距

Not surprising from the guy who wrote poetry about mankind strangling its kings

从一个能够写诗讲述人类用牧师的大肠扼杀国王

with the entrails of a priest.

的家伙得到这种言论并没有什么惊讶的

So Diderot's masterpiece wasn't a hit with the king or highest priest.

所以Diderot的作品对国王或最高祭祀并不是一个打击

Upon release of the first two volumes,

在最早的两卷书发表的时候

Louie XV banned the whole thing but enjoyed his own copy.

路易十五禁止发行全书但是很喜欢关于自己的那一册

Pope Clement XIII ordered it burned.

教宗克莱门特十三下令将其焚烧

It was "dangerous,"

此书是"危险的"

"reprehensible,"

"该被谴责的"

as well as "written in French,"

也是"用法语写成"

and in "the most seductive style."

并且具有"最有诱导力的风格"

He declared readers excommunicated

他发表声明要将读者们逐出教会

and wanted Diderot arrested on sight.

并且将Diderot立即逮捕

But Diderot kept a step ahead of being shut down,

但是Diderot在被停止之前继续前进

smuggling proofs outside France for publication,

将样张走私出法国出版

and getting help from allies in the French Regime,

还在法国政体中得到了支持者的帮助

including the King's mistress, Madame de Pompadour,

包括国王路易十五的情妇，庞巴度夫人

and the royal librarian and censor, Malesherbes,

和王室的图书管理员，Malesherbes

who tipped Diderot off to impending raids,

他疏通关系让Diderot躲过了即将到来的袭击

and even hid Diderot's papers at his dad's house.

甚至把Diderot的材料藏在自己父亲的家中

Still, he faced years of difficulty.

然而，Diderot还是度过了许多年的艰难生活

D'Alembert dropped out.

D'Alembert退出了

Rousseau broke off his friendship over a line in a play.

Rousseau在关于戏剧中某行话的争吵中与Diderot闹翻

Worse yet, his publisher secretly edited some proofs

最糟的是 他的出版商偷偷地编辑了一些样张

to read less radically.

使它们读起来不那么激进

The uncensored pages reappeared in Russia in 1933,

Diderot认为竣工后，在饭桌上辞世了

long after Diderot had considered the work finished

很久之后，未经审查的部分于1933年

and died at lunch.

在俄罗斯再次出现

The encyclopedia he left behind is many things:

他留下的百科全书意味着很多

a cornerstone of the Enlightenment,

是启蒙的基石

a testament to France's crisis of authority,

是法国权威遭到危机的证明

evidence of popular opinions migration from pulpit and pew

是民众的意见从讲坛和皮尤研究中心迁移到

to cafe, salon, and press.

咖啡馆，沙龙和媒体的证据

It even has recipes.

它甚至包括食谱

It's also irrepressibly human,

它同时也是一个精力充沛的人类

as you can tell from Diderot's entry about a plant named aguaxima.

从Diderot的一条关于名为aguaxima的植物的条目就可以看出这一点

Read it yourself, preferably out loud in a French accent.

自己去阅读它吧，最好用法国口音大声朗读