Chapter VIII: State Of Persia And Restoration Of The Monarchy.—Part I. 第八章 波斯的状况与王朝的复兴——第一节
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Of The State Of Persia After The Restoration Of The Monarchy By Artaxerxes.
阿尔达希尔（Artaxerxes）复兴王朝之后的波斯状况
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Whenever Tacitus indulges himself in those beautiful episodes, in which he relates some domestic transaction of the Germans or of the Parthians, his principal object is to relieve the attention of the reader from a uniform scene of vice and misery. From the reign of Augustus to the time of Alexander Severus, the enemies of Rome were in her bosom—the tyrants and the soldiers; and her prosperity had a very distant and feeble interest in the revolutions that might happen beyond the Rhine and the Euphrates. But when the military order had levelled, in wild anarchy, the power of the prince, the laws of the senate, and even the discipline of the camp, the barbarians of the North and of the East, who had long hovered on the frontier, boldly attacked the provinces of a declining monarchy. Their vexatious inroads were changed into formidable irruptions, and, after a long vicissitude of mutual calamities, many tribes of the victorious invaders established themselves in the provinces of the Roman Empire. To obtain a clearer knowledge of these great events, we shall endeavor to form a previous idea of the character, forces, and designs of those nations who avenged the cause of Hannibal and Mithridates.
塔西佗每每信笔宕开，插入几段优美的旁叙，讲述日耳曼人或帕提亚人（Parthians）内部的某桩事务；他这样做，主要是想让读者暂离千篇一律的罪恶与苦难场景，心神稍得纾解。从奥古斯都在位到亚历山大·塞维鲁（Alexander Severus）的时代，罗马的敌人始终就在自己的腹心之中，那便是历代暴君与军人；莱茵河与幼发拉底河以外即便发生什么变乱，与罗马的兴衰安危也相去甚远，干系甚微。然而，一旦军人集团无法无天、肆意作乱，把君主的权威、元老院的法度乃至军营自身的纪律统统夷为平地，那些久已在边境徘徊觊觎的北方与东方蛮族，便放胆向这日益衰颓的帝国各行省大举来攻。昔日恼人的零星劫掠，如今化作了声势浩大的入侵；双方彼此为祸，此起彼伏，历时既久，许多得胜的入侵部族终于在罗马帝国的行省里落脚定居。要把这些重大事件看得更清楚，我们且先设法勾勒一番：那些替汉尼拔与米特拉达梯（Mithridates）一雪前仇的民族，究竟秉性如何、实力几何、又怀着怎样的图谋。
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In the more early ages of the world, whilst the forest that covered Europe afforded a retreat to a few wandering savages, the inhabitants of Asia were already collected into populous cities, and reduced under extensive empires the seat of the arts, of luxury, and of despotism. The Assyrians reigned over the East, 1 till the sceptre of Ninus and Semiramis dropped from the hands of their enervated successors. The Medes and the Babylonians divided their power, and were themselves swallowed up in the monarchy of the Persians, whose arms could not be confined within the narrow limits of Asia. Followed, as it is said, by two millions of men, Xerxes, the descendant of Cyrus, invaded Greece.
远在上古，欧洲还覆盖着莽莽森林，只有寥寥几个流荡的野人藏身其间；亚洲的居民却早已聚居于人烟稠密的城邦，臣属于幅员辽阔的帝国，那里正是百工技艺、豪奢之风与专制统治的渊薮。亚述人（Assyrians）曾君临东方，1后来尼努斯（Ninus）与塞米拉米斯（Semiramis）的后嗣孱弱无能，王笏便从他们手中失落了。米底人（Medes）与巴比伦人（Babylonians）瓜分了亚述（Assyria）的权柄，转眼间自己又被波斯帝国一口吞并；而区区亚洲，已困不住波斯的兵锋。据说，居鲁士的后裔薛西斯（Xerxes），率领着号称两百万的芸芸众庶，大举入侵希腊。
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Thirty thousand soldiers, under the command of Alexander, the son of Philip, who was intrusted by the Greeks with their glory and revenge, were sufficient to subdue Persia. The princes of the house of Seleucus usurped and lost the Macedonian command over the East. About the same time, that, by an ignominious treaty, they resigned to the Romans the country on this side Mount Tarus, they were driven by the Parthians, 1001 an obscure horde of Scythian origin, from all the provinces of Upper Asia. The formidable power of the Parthians, which spread from India to the frontiers of Syria, was in its turn subverted by Ardshir, or Artaxerxes; the founder of a new dynasty, which, under the name of Sassanides, governed Persia till the invasion of the Arabs. This great revolution, whose fatal influence was soon experienced by the Romans, happened in the fourth year of Alexander Severus, two hundred and twenty-six years after the Christian era. 2 201
希腊人把本民族的荣耀与复仇之责一并托付给腓力（Philip）之子亚历山大；而在他的统率之下，区区三万名真正的士卒，便足以征服波斯。塞琉古（Seleucus）家族的君主们，先是攫取了马其顿对东方的统治权，随后又将它丧失殆尽。大约就在他们以一纸屈辱的条约，把托罗斯山以西的土地割让给罗马人的时候，帕提亚人1001这支出身斯基泰、名不见经传的游牧部落，也把他们逐出了上亚细亚（Upper Asia）的全部行省。帕提亚人势力雄厚，其疆域自印度一直伸展到叙利亚边境；然而到头来，这股势力又被阿尔达希尔（Ardshir，亦作 Artaxerxes）所颠覆。他开创的新王朝以萨珊（Sassan）为名，此后一直统治波斯，直到阿拉伯人入侵为止。这场巨变发生在亚历山大·塞维鲁在位的第四年，亦即基督纪元后 226 年；2 201不久，罗马人便亲身领教了它的致命影响。
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Artaxerxes had served with great reputation in the armies of Artaban, the last king of the Parthians, and it appears that he was driven into exile and rebellion by royal ingratitude, the customary reward for superior merit. His birth was obscure, and the obscurity equally gave room to the aspersions of his enemies, and the flattery of his adherents. If we credit the scandal of the former, Artaxerxes sprang from the illegitimate commerce of a tanner’s wife with a common soldier. 3 The latter represent him as descended from a branch of the ancient kings of Persian, though time and misfortune had gradually reduced his ancestors to the humble station of private citizens. 4 As the lineal heir of the monarchy, he asserted his right to the throne, and challenged the noble task of delivering the Persians from the oppression under which they groaned above five centuries since the death of Darius. The Parthians were defeated in three great battles. 401 In the last of these their king Artaban was slain, and the spirit of the nation was forever broken. 5 The authority of Artaxerxes was solemnly acknowledged in a great assembly held at Balch in Khorasan. 501 Two younger branches of the royal house of Arsaces were confounded among the prostrate satraps. A third, more mindful of ancient grandeur than of present necessity, attempted to retire, with a numerous train of vessels, towards their kinsman, the king of Armenia; but this little army of deserters was intercepted, and cut off, by the vigilance of the conqueror, 6 who boldly assumed the double diadem, and the title of King of Kings, which had been enjoyed by his predecessor. But these pompous titles, instead of gratifying the vanity of the Persian, served only to admonish him of his duty, and to inflame in his soul the ambition of restoring in their full splendor, the religion and empire of Cyrus.
阿尔达希尔曾在帕提亚末代国王阿尔达班（Artaban）麾下从军，素著声望；看来，正是君王的忘恩负义把他逼上了流亡与反叛之路——而这种忘恩，恰是盖世之才历来所得的惯常回报。他出身微贱，来历不明；正因如此，敌人有了肆意诋毁的余地，党羽也有了极力谄谀的空间。若采信前者散布的丑闻，阿尔达希尔乃是一名鞣皮匠之妻与一介寻常士兵苟合所生。3而后者则把他说成古波斯列王一支的后裔，只不过岁月流转、家道中落，才使他的祖辈渐渐沦落到寻常百姓的卑微境地。4他以王统嫡嗣自居，宣称王位理当归他，并毅然担起解救波斯人的崇高使命：自大流士（Darius）殒身以来，波斯人在压迫之下呻吟，已有五百余年。帕提亚人在三场大会战中相继落败。401末一战中，他们的国王阿尔达班阵亡，举国士气也就此一蹶不振、永难复起。5在呼罗珊（Khorasan）的巴尔赫（Balch）召开的一次盛大集会上，阿尔达希尔的王权得到了庄严的承认。501阿尔撒息（Arsaces）王室的两个幼支，混杂在俯首归降的众总督之中，再难分辨。第三支念念不忘昔日的荣光，却不顾眼下的处境，竟携着大批扈从，企图投奔亲族亚美尼亚国王；然而这支小小的叛逃之师，还是被警觉的征服者拦截歼灭，无一漏网。6阿尔达希尔遂放胆戴上了双重王冠，并僭称起他前朝君主曾享有的“万王之王（King of Kings）”尊号。然而这些煊赫的名号，非但没有满足这位波斯人的虚荣心，反倒时时提醒他肩上的职责，并在他胸中点燃了一股雄心：要让居鲁士当年的宗教与帝国，重现昔日的全部辉煌。
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I. During the long servitude of Persia under the Macedonian and the Parthian yoke, the nations of Europe and Asia had mutually adopted and corrupted each other’s superstitions. The Arsacides, indeed, practised the worship of the Magi; but they disgraced and polluted it with a various mixture of foreign idolatry. 601 The memory of Zoroaster, the ancient prophet and philosopher of the Persians, 7 was still revered in the East; but the obsolete and mysterious language, in which the Zendavesta was composed, 8 opened a field of dispute to seventy sects, who variously explained the fundamental doctrines of their religion, and were all indifferently devided by a crowd of infidels, who rejected the divine mission and miracles of the prophet. To suppress the idolaters, reunite the schismatics, and confute the unbelievers, by the infallible decision of a general council, the pious Artaxerxes summoned the Magi from all parts of his dominions. These priests, who had so long sighed in contempt and obscurity obeyed the welcome summons; and, on the appointed day, appeared, to the number of about eighty thousand. But as the debates of so tumultuous an assembly could not have been directed by the authority of reason, or influenced by the art of policy, the Persian synod was reduced, by successive operations, to forty thousand, to four thousand, to four hundred, to forty, and at last to seven Magi, the most respected for their learning and piety. One of these, Erdaviraph, a young but holy prelate, received from the hands of his brethren three cups of soporiferous wine. He drank them off, and instantly fell into a long and profound sleep. As soon as he waked, he related to the king and to the believing multitude, his journey to heaven, and his intimate conferences with the Deity. Every doubt was silenced by this supernatural evidence; and the articles of the faith of Zoroaster were fixed with equal authority and precision. 9 A short delineation of that celebrated system will be found useful, not only to display the character of the Persian nation, but to illustrate many of their most important transactions, both in peace and war, with the Roman empire. 10
一、波斯长期在马其顿人（Macedonians）与帕提亚人的枷锁下受奴役，这期间，欧亚两洲各民族的迷信彼此吸纳，也彼此败坏。阿尔撒息诸王固然奉行麻葛（Magi）的祭仪，却又掺入形形色色的外来偶像崇拜，把它玷污得不成体统。601波斯古代的先知兼哲人琐罗亚斯德（Zoroaster），7身后在东方依然备受景仰；然而《阿维斯塔》（Zendavesta）所用的语言早已废弃，古奥晦涩，8给多达七十个教派留下了争辩的余地。这些教派对本教的根本教义各执一词、众说纷纭，而一大批不信者对它们一概加以讥嘲，根本否认这位先知负有神授的使命，也不信他行过种种神迹。虔诚的阿尔达希尔想借一次公会议不容置疑的裁决，压服偶像崇拜者，弥合分裂的各派，驳倒不信之徒，于是从治下各地召来了麻葛。这些祭司久遭轻蔑、湮没无闻，正暗自嗟叹，一闻此召，无不欣然应命；到了约定之日，前来聚集者竟多达约八万人。然而如此喧闹嘈杂的大会，辩论既不可能凭理性的权威来主导，也不是权谋手腕所能左右；于是这场波斯宗教会议经过一轮轮的筛汰，先减到四万人，再减到四千人、四百人、四十人，最后只剩下七位学识与虔诚最受敬重的麻葛。七人之中有一位年轻却圣洁的高阶祭司，名叫埃尔达维拉夫（Erdaviraph）；他从同侪手中接过三杯催眠的药酒。他将三杯一饮而尽，随即沉沉睡去，久久不醒。一觉醒来，他便向国王和满堂虔信的众人讲述自己如何游历天界，又如何与神灵促膝密谈。有了这番超乎自然的凭证，一切疑问从此噤声；琐罗亚斯德信仰的各项信条，也随之一一厘定，既具权威，又极精确。9在此把这套著名的教义体系略加勾勒，对读者当不无裨益：借此不仅能看出波斯民族的性情，日后波斯人与罗马帝国时和时战，其间许多至关紧要的事件，也能得到说明。10
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The great and fundamental article of the system was the celebrated doctrine of the two principles; a bold and injudicious attempt of Eastern philosophy to reconcile the existence of moral and physical evil with the attributes of a beneficent Creator and Governor of the world. The first and original Being, in whom, or by whom, the universe exists, is denominated in the writings of Zoroaster, Time without bounds; 1001a but it must be confessed, that this infinite substance seems rather a metaphysical abstraction of the mind than a real object endowed with self-consciousness, or possessed of moral perfections. From either the blind or the intelligent operation of this infinite Time, which bears but too near an affinity with the chaos of the Greeks, the two secondary but active principles of the universe were from all eternity produced, Ormusd and Ahriman, each of them possessed of the powers of creation, but each disposed, by his invariable nature, to exercise them with different designs. 1002 The principle of good is eternally aborbed in light; the principle of evil eternally buried in darkness. The wise benevolence of Ormusd formed man capable of virtue, and abundantly provided his fair habitation with the materials of happiness. By his vigilant providence, the motion of the planets, the order of the seasons, and the temperate mixture of the elements, are preserved. But the malice of Ahriman has long since pierced Ormusd’s egg; or, in other words, has violated the harmony of his works. Since that fatal eruption, the most minute articles of good and evil are intimately intermingled and agitated together; the rankest poisons spring up amidst the most salutary plants; deluges, earthquakes, and conflagrations attest the conflict of Nature, and the little world of man is perpetually shaken by vice and misfortune. Whilst the rest of human kind are led away captives in the chains of their infernal enemy, the faithful Persian alone reserves his religious adoration for his friend and protector Ormusd, and fights under his banner of light, in the full confidence that he shall, in the last day, share the glory of his triumph. At that decisive period, the enlightened wisdom of goodness will render the power of Ormusd superior to the furious malice of his rival. Ahriman and his followers, disarmed and subdued, will sink into their native darkness; and virtue will maintain the eternal peace and harmony of the universe. 11 1101
这一体系中最重大、最根本的一条，便是著名的“二元本原”之说。这是东方哲学一次大胆却失之轻率的尝试，意在调和两件事：一边是道德之恶与自然之恶的存在，一边是仁慈的造物主（Creator）兼世界主宰所具的种种属性。琐罗亚斯德的著述把最初的本原称作无穷之时，1001a宇宙或寓于其中，或赖它而存在；但不得不承认，这无限的本体看来不像是有自我意识、道德完满的真实实体，倒更像心灵中形而上的抽象。这无限之“时”，与希腊人所说的“混沌”未免过于相近。它或盲目、或明智地运作，自亘古以来便生出了宇宙间两个次一等、却具能动之力的本原：奥尔穆兹德（Ormusd）与阿里曼（Ahriman）。二者都握有创造之力，却各依一成不变的本性，怀着截然不同的用意去施展。1002善的本原永远沐浴于光明之中，恶的本原则永远埋没于黑暗之内。奥尔穆兹德睿智而仁厚，他造出的人天生能够向善，又在人所栖居的美好天地里，备下了丰足的幸福之资。全赖他明察秋毫的护佑，诸行星的运转、四季的更替、以及各元素之间冷暖调和的配比，才得以维系不乱。然而阿里曼心怀恶意，早已刺穿了奥尔穆兹德之卵，换言之，就是破坏了奥尔穆兹德造化之功原有的和谐。自那致命的迸裂以后，善与恶连最细微的成分都紧紧交织在一起，一同翻腾激荡：最恶毒的毒草，偏偏长在最有益的草木之间；洪水、地震与大火，处处印证着自然界的这场角力；而人这一方寸小天地，也永远在邪恶与灾祸中动荡不安。世上其余的人，都被阴间的仇敌套上镣铐，掳作俘虏牵引而去；唯有虔诚的波斯人，把宗教上的崇敬专留给自己的友伴与保护者奥尔穆兹德，在他光明的旗帜下奋战，坚信到了末日，自己必将分享他大获全胜的荣耀。到了那决定命运的时刻，奥尔穆兹德将凭借善的睿智之光，以自身的力量压倒对手狂暴的恶意。阿里曼及其党羽将被缴械制伏，重新沉入本来的黑暗；而善德则将永葆宇宙的太平与和谐。11 1101
Notes 注释
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An ancient chronologist, quoted by Valleius Paterculus, (l. i. c. 6,) observes, that the Assyrians, the Medes, the Persians, and the Macedonians, reigned over Asia one thousand nine hundred and ninety-five years, from the accession of Ninus to the defeat of Antiochus by the Romans. As the latter of these great events happened 289 years before Christ, the former may be placed 2184 years before the same æra. The Astronomical Observations, found at Babylon, by Alexander, went fifty years higher.
维莱伊乌斯·帕特尔库鲁斯（Valleius Paterculus, l. i. c. 6）曾援引一位古代编年史家的说法：亚述人、米底人、波斯人与马其顿人先后君临亚洲，自尼努斯即位到安条克（Antiochus）为罗马人所败，共计一千九百九十五年。后一件大事既然发生在基督诞生前 289 年，前一件便可推定在基督诞生前 2184 年。至于亚历山大在巴比伦所获的那批天文观测记录，其年代还要再往上推五十年。
1001
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The Parthians were a tribe of the Indo-Germanic branch which dwelt on the south-east of the Caspian, and belonged to the same race as the Getæ, the Massagetæ, and other nations, confounded by the ancients under the vague denomination of Scythians. Klaproth, Tableaux Hist. d l’Asie, p. 40. Strabo (p. 747) calls the Parthians Carduchi, i.e., the inhabitants of Curdistan.—M.
帕提亚人是印欧族系中的一个部落，居住在里海东南，与格泰人（Getæ）、马萨格泰人（Massagetæ）以及其他一些民族同属一族；古人把这些民族混为一谈，笼统地称作斯基泰人（Scythian）。克拉普罗特（Klaproth），Tableaux Hist. d l’Asie, p. 40. 斯特拉波（Strabo, p. 747）则把帕提亚人称作卡尔杜克人（Carduchi），也就是库尔德斯坦（Curdistan）的居民。—M
2
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In the five hundred and thirty-eighth year of the æra of Seleucus. See Agathias, l. ii. p. 63. This great event (such is the carelessness of the Orientals) is placed by Eutychius as high as the tenth year of Commodus, and by Moses of Chorene as low as the reign of Philip. Ammianus Marcellinus has so servilely copied (xxiii. 6) his ancient materials, which are indeed very good, that he describes the family of the Arsacides as still seated on the Persian throne in the middle of the fourth century.
此事发生在塞琉古纪元第五百三十八年。参见 Agathias, l. ii. p. 63。欧提基乌斯（Eutychius）竟把这一重大事件上推到康茂德（Commodus）在位的第十年，科列纳齐的摩西（Moses Chorenensis）又把它下移到腓力当政之时；东方人的疏忽草率，于此可见一斑。阿米阿努斯·马尔切利努斯（xxiii. 6）所依据的古代材料其实相当可靠，可他照抄照搬、亦步亦趋，以致在书中竟把阿尔撒息家族说成直到四世纪中叶仍安坐于波斯王位之上。
201
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The Persian History, if the poetry of the Shah Nameh, the Book of Kings, may deserve that name mentions four dynasties from the earliest ages to the invasion of the Saracens. The Shah Nameh was composed with the view of perpetuating the remains of the original Persian records or traditions which had survived the Saracenic invasion. The task was undertaken by the poet Dukiki, and afterwards, under the patronage of Mahmood of Ghazni, completed by Ferdusi. The first of these dynasties is that of Kaiomors, as Sir W. Jones observes, the dark and fabulous period; the second, that of the Kaianian, the heroic and poetical, in which the earned have discovered some curious, and imagined some fanciful, analogies with the Jewish, the Greek, and the Roman accounts of the eastern world. See, on the Shah Nameh, Translation by Goerres, with Von Hammer’s Review, Vienna Jahrbuch von Lit. 17, 75, 77. Malcolm’s Persia, 8vo. ed. i. 503. Macan’s Preface to his Critical Edition of the Shah Nameh. On the early Persian History, a very sensible abstract of various opinions in Malcolm’s Hist. of Persian.—M.
波斯的历史——如果《列王纪》（Shah Nameh）（即《王书》（Book of Kings））这部诗作也配称作历史的话——记载了自远古直到萨拉森人（Saracens）入侵之间的四个王朝。《列王纪》的编撰，本意在于把萨拉森人入侵后残存下来的波斯原始典籍与传说保存于后世。这桩事业先由诗人达吉吉（Dukiki）着手，其后又在加兹尼的马哈茂德（Mahmood of Ghazni）庇护之下，由菲尔多西（Ferdusi）续成。据威廉·琼斯爵士所论，其中第一个王朝是凯尤马尔斯（Kaiomors）王朝，属幽昧而荒诞的时代；第二个是凯扬王朝（Kaianian），属英雄而富于诗意的时代。学者们在这一时代的传说里，指出了一些与犹太、希腊、罗马人关于东方世界的记述相类比之处：有的是真有发现，颇为奇特；有的则是凭空臆想，流于附会。关于《列王纪》，参见格雷斯（Goerres）的译本及冯·哈默（Von Hammer）的书评，Vienna Jahrbuch von Lit. 17, 75, 77；马尔科姆（Malcolm）《波斯史》，8vo. ed. i. 503；以及马坎（Macan）为其《列王纪》校勘本所作的序言。关于波斯早期史，马尔科姆《波斯史》中对各家意见有一篇十分通达的概述。—M
3
↩
The tanner’s name was Babec; the soldier’s, Sassan: from the former Artaxerxes obtained the surname of Babegan, from the latter all his descendants have been styled Sassanides.
那位鞣皮匠名叫巴贝克（Babec），那名士兵名叫萨珊：阿尔达希尔的“巴贝甘（Babegan）”这一别号得自前者，而他所有后裔被称作“萨珊”（Sassanides），则得自后者。
4
↩
D’Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, Ardshir.
埃尔布洛（D’Herbelot）《东方文库》（D’Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale），Ardshir 条。
401
↩
In the plain of Hoormuz, the son of Babek was hailed in the field with the proud title of Shahan Shah, king of kings—a name ever since assumed by the sovereigns of Persia. Malcolm, i. 71.—M.
在霍尔木兹平原上，巴贝克之子于阵前被众人拥戴，冠以“沙汗沙（Shahan Shah）”（Shahan Shah）即“万王之王”这一尊崇的称号——此后波斯历代君主便一直沿用此号。马尔科姆，i. 71.—M
5
↩
Dion Cassius, l. lxxx. Herodian, l. vi. p. 207. Abulpharagins Dynast. p. 80.
狄奥·卡西乌斯（Dion Cassius），l. lxxx.；希罗狄安（Herodian），l. vi. p. 207.；阿布·法拉杰《王朝史》（Abulpharagius Dynast.），p. 80.
501
↩
See the Persian account of the rise of Ardeschir Babegan in Malcolm l 69.—M.
参见马尔科姆 l. 69 所载波斯方面关于阿尔达希尔·巴贝甘（Ardeschir Babegan）崛起的记述。—M
6
↩
See Moses Chorenensis, l. ii. c. 65—71.
参见科列纳齐的摩西（Moses Chorenensis），l. ii. c. 65—71。
601
↩
Silvestre de Sacy (Antiquites de la Perse) had proved the neglect of the Zoroastrian religion under the Parthian kings.—M.
西尔维斯特·德萨西（Silvestre de Sacy）在《波斯古迹》（Antiquites de la Perse）中已证明，帕提亚诸王治下琐罗亚斯德的宗教备受冷落。—M
7
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Hyde and Prideaux, working up the Persian legends and their own conjectures into a very agreeable story, represent Zoroaster as a contemporary of Darius Hystaspes. But it is sufficient to observe, that the Greek writers, who lived almost in the age of Darius, agree in placing the æra of Zoroaster many hundred, or even thousand, years before their own time. The judicious criticisms of Mr. Moyle perceived, and maintained against his uncle, Dr. Prideaux, the antiquity of the Persian prophet. See his work, vol. ii. * Note: There are three leading theories concerning the age of Zoroaster: 1. That which assigns him to an age of great and almost indefinite antiquity—it is that of Moyle, adopted by Gibbon, Volney, Recherches sur l’Histoire, ii. 2. Rhode, also, (die Heilige Sage, &c.,) in a very ingenious and ably-developed theory, throws the Bactrian prophet far back into antiquity 2. Foucher, (Mem. de l’Acad. xxvii. 253,) Tychsen, (in Com. Soc. Gott. ii. 112), Heeren, (ldeen. i. 459,) and recently Holty, identify the Gushtasp of the Persian mythological history with Cyaxares the First, the king of the Medes, and consider the religion to be Median in its origin. M. Guizot considers this opinion most probable, note in loc. 3. Hyde, Prideaux, Anquetil du Perron, Kleuker, Herder, Goerres, (Mythen-Geschichte,) Von Hammer. (Wien. Jahrbuch, vol. ix.,) Malcolm, (i. 528,) De Guigniaut, (Relig. de l’Antiq. 2d part, vol. iii.,) Klaproth, (Tableaux de l’Asie, p. 21,) make Gushtasp Darius Hystaspes, and Zoroaster his contemporary. The silence of Herodotus appears the great objection to this theory. Some writers, as M. Foucher (resting, as M. Guizot observes, on the doubtful authority of Pliny,) make more than one Zoroaster, and so attempt to reconcile the conflicting theories.— M.
海德（Hyde）与普里多（Prideaux），把波斯的种种传说连同他们自己的臆测敷演成一个十分动听的故事，将琐罗亚斯德描绘成大流士·希斯塔斯佩斯（Darius Hystaspes）的同时代人。然而只需指出一点便足够了：那些几乎与大流士同世的希腊作家，都一致把琐罗亚斯德的年代，置于他们自己所处时代之前数百年、甚至数千年。莫伊尔（Moyle）先生考辨审慎，看出这位波斯先知年代古远，并坚持此说，与他的舅父普里多博士意见相左。参见其著作第二卷。* 编者按：关于琐罗亚斯德所处的年代，主要有三种学说：其一，把他推到一个极为古远、几乎渺不可考的时代——此即莫伊尔之说，为吉本所采纳，另见 Volney, Recherches sur l’Histoire, ii；罗德（Rhode，见 die Heilige Sage 等）在一套构思精巧、论证有力的学说中，也把这位巴克特里亚的先知远远推入上古。其二，富歇（Foucher, Mem. de l’Acad. xxvii. 253）、蒂克森（Tychsen, in Com. Soc. Gott. ii. 112）、赫伦（Heeren, Ideen. i. 459）以及晚近的霍尔蒂（Holty），把波斯神话史中的古什塔斯普（Gushtasp）与米底（Media）王基亚克萨雷斯（Cyaxares）一世（Cyaxares）视为同一人，认为这一宗教起源于米底。基佐（Guizot）先生认为此说最为可信（见其相应之注）。其三，海德、普里多、昂克蒂尔·迪佩龙（Anquetil du Perron）、克洛伊克（Kleuker）、赫尔德（Herder）、格雷斯（Mythen-Geschichte）、冯·哈默（Wien. Jahrbuch, vol. ix.）、马尔科姆（i. 528）、德吉尼奥（De Guigniaut, Relig. de l’Antiq. 第二部分第三卷）、克拉普罗特（Tableaux de l’Asie, p. 21）等人，则认定古什塔斯普即大流士·希斯塔斯佩斯，而琐罗亚斯德是他的同时代人。此说的最大障碍，似乎在于希罗多德对此只字未提。另有一些作者，如富歇（据基佐先生所言，他所依凭的乃是普林尼那并不可靠的说法），主张历史上不止一位琐罗亚斯德，借此调和上述相互抵牾的诸说。—M
8
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That ancient idiom was called the Zend. The language of the commentary, the Pehlvi, though much more modern, has ceased many ages ago to be a living tongue. This fact alone (if it is allowed as authentic) sufficiently warrants the antiquity of those writings which M d’Anquetil has brought into Europe, and translated into French. * Note: Zend signifies life, living. The word means, either the collection of the canonical books of the followers of Zoroaster, or the language itself in which they are written. They are the books that contain the word of life whether the language was originally called Zend, or whether it was so called from the contents of the books. Avesta means word, oracle, revelation: this term is not the title of a particular work, but of the collection of the books of Zoroaster, as the revelation of Ormuzd. This collection is sometimes called Zendavesta, sometimes briefly Zend. The Zend was the ancient language of Media, as is proved by its affinity with the dialects of Armenia and Georgia; it was already a dead language under the Arsacides in the country which was the scene of the events recorded in the Zendavesta. Some critics, among others Richardson and Sir W. Jones, have called in question the antiquity of these books. The former pretended that Zend had never been a written or spoken language, but had been invented in the later times by the Magi, for the purposes of their art; but Kleuker, in the dissertations which he added to those of Anquetil and the Abbé Foucher, has proved that the Zend was a living and spoken language.—G. Sir W. Jones appears to have abandoned his doubts, on discovering the affinity between the Zend and the Sanskrit. Since the time of Kleuker, this question has been investigated by many learned scholars. Sir W. Jones, Leyden, (Asiat. Research. x. 283,) and Mr. Erskine, (Bombay Trans. ii. 299,) consider it a derivative from the Sanskrit. The antiquity of the Zendavesta has likewise been asserted by Rask, the great Danish linguist, who, according to Malcolm, brought back from the East fresh transcripts and additions to those published by Anquetil. According to Rask, the Zend and Sanskrit are sister dialects; the one the parent of the Persian, the other of the Indian family of languages.—G. and M.——But the subject is more satisfactorily illustrated in Bopp’s comparative Grammar of the Sanscrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Gothic, and German languages. Berlin. 1833-5. According to Bopp, the Zend is, in some respects, of a more remarkable structure than the Sanskrit. Parts of the Zendavesta have been published in the original, by M. Bournouf, at Paris, and M. Ol. shausen, in Hamburg.—M.——The Pehlvi was the language of the countries bordering on Assyria, and probably of Assyria itself. Pehlvi signifies valor, heroism; the Pehlvi, therefore, was the language of the ancient heroes and kings of Persia, the valiant. (Mr. Erskine prefers the derivation from Pehla, a border.—M.) It contains a number of Aramaic roots. Anquetil considered it formed from the Zend. Kleuker does not adopt this opinion. The Pehlvi, he says, is much more flowing, and less overcharged with vowels, than the Zend. The books of Zoroaster, first written in Zend, were afterwards translated into Pehlvi and Parsi. The Pehlvi had fallen into disuse under the dynasty of the Sassanides, but the learned still wrote it. The Parsi, the dialect of Pars or Farristan, was then prevailing dialect. Kleuker, Anhang zum Zend Avesta, 2, ii. part i. p. 158, part ii. 31.—G.——Mr. Erskine (Bombay Transactions) considers the existing Zendavesta to have been compiled in the time of Ardeschir Babegan.—M.
那种古老的语言称为曾德语（Zend）。用于注疏的语言巴列维语（Pehlvi），虽然要晚近得多，却也早在许多世代以前便不再是活的语言了。单凭这一事实（倘若承认它确凿可信），便足以印证昂克蒂尔（Anquetil）先生带回欧洲、并译成法文的那些典籍之古远。* 编者按：Zend（曾德）意为“生命”“活着”。此词或指琐罗亚斯德信徒的正典总集，或指这些经典所用的语言本身。这种语言原本就叫曾德语也好，因经典的内容才得了这个名字也好，名为“曾德”的这些经典，载的正是生命之道。Avesta（阿维斯塔）意为“言语”“神谕”“启示”；此词并非某一部书的名称，而是琐罗亚斯德诸经作为奥尔穆兹德启示的总集之名。这套总集有时称《曾德-阿维斯塔》，有时简称《曾德》。曾德语是米底的古语，这从它与亚美尼亚、格鲁吉亚（Georgia）方言的亲缘关系即可证明；早在阿尔撒息诸王之时，在《阿维斯塔》所记事迹发生的那片土地上，它就已是死语言了。有些批评家，如理查森（Richardson）和威廉·琼斯爵士，曾对这些典籍的古远提出质疑。前者声称曾德语从来不是一种书面或口头语言，而是后世麻葛为其法术之用杜撰出来的；然而克洛伊克在他为昂克蒂尔与富歇神父二人之论所增补的若干论文中，已经证明曾德语是一种活的、可供口说的语言。—G 威廉·琼斯爵士在发现曾德语与梵语（Sanskrit）之间的亲缘之后，看来已放弃了他的疑虑。自克洛伊克以来，这一问题又经许多博学之士探究。威廉·琼斯、莱顿（Leyden, Asiat. Research. x. 283）与厄斯金（Erskine）先生（Bombay Trans. ii. 299）都认为曾德语派生自梵语。丹麦大语言学家拉斯克（Rask）也主张《阿维斯塔》年代古远；据马尔科姆所言，拉斯克从东方带回了新的抄本，以及昂克蒂尔刊本之外的增补。据拉斯克之见，曾德语与梵语乃是姊妹方言：前者是波斯语系之母，后者是印度语系之母。—G、M——不过这一课题在波普（Bopp）的《梵语、曾德语、希腊语、拉丁语、立陶宛语、哥特语与德语比较语法》（柏林（Berlin），1833—5 年）中得到了更为圆满的阐发。据波普所论，曾德语在某些方面的结构比梵语更为奇特。《阿维斯塔》的部分内容已由布尔努夫（Bournouf）先生在巴黎、奥尔斯豪森先生在汉堡以原文刊行。—M ——巴列维语是与亚述接壤诸地、大概也包括亚述本土的语言。Pehlvi（巴列维）意为“勇武”“英豪”；因此巴列维语乃是波斯古代那些英雄与列王——即勇武之人——的语言。（厄斯金先生更倾向于从 Pehla“边地”一词溯其语源。—M）它含有大量阿拉姆语（Aramaic）词根。昂克蒂尔认为它是由曾德语衍生而来。克洛伊克不采此说；他说巴列维语远比曾德语流畅，元音也不像曾德语那样繁重累赘。琐罗亚斯德的经典最初以曾德语写成，其后又译为巴列维语与帕西语（Parsi）。在萨珊王朝（Sassanides）治下，巴列维语已经废弃不用，但学者们仍以之著述。帕西语是帕尔斯（即法里斯坦）一带的方言，当时乃是通行的方言。Kleuker, Anhang zum Zend Avesta, 2, ii. part i. p. 158, part ii. 31.—G——厄斯金先生（Bombay Transactions）认为现存的《阿维斯塔》是在阿尔达希尔·巴贝甘时代编成的。—M
9
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Hyde de Religione veterum Pers. c. 21.
海德《古代波斯人的宗教》（Hyde, de Religione veterum Pers.），c. 21.
10
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I have principally drawn this account from the Zendavesta of M. d’Anquetil, and the Sadder, subjoined to Dr. Hyde’s treatise. It must, however, be confessed, that the studied obscurity of a prophet, the figurative style of the East, and the deceitful medium of a French or Latin version may have betrayed us into error and heresy, in this abridgment of Persian theology. * Note: It is to be regretted that Gibbon followed the post-Mahometan Sadder of Hyde.—M.
我这段叙述，主要取材于昂克蒂尔先生的《阿维斯塔》，以及附于海德博士论著之后的《萨达尔》（Sadder）。不过不得不承认：一位先知刻意为之的晦涩、东方特有的譬喻笔法、再加上法文或拉丁文译本这层靠不住的中介，都可能使我在这篇波斯神学的节略里，堕入谬误乃至异端而不自知。* 编者按：可惜吉本所依据的，乃是海德那部成书于伊斯兰教兴起之后的《萨达尔》。—M
1001a
↩
Zeruane Akerene, so translated by Anquetil and Kleuker. There is a dissertation of Foucher on this subject, Mem. de l’Acad. des Inscr. t. xxix. According to Bohlen (das alte Indien) it is the Sanskrit Sarvan Akaranam, the Uncreated Whole; or, according to Fred. Schlegel, Sarvan Akharyam the Uncreate Indivisible.—M.
原文为“Zeruane Akerene”，昂克蒂尔与克洛伊克都是这样译的。富歇曾就此题写有一篇论文，见 Mem. de l’Acad. des Inscr. t. xxix。据玻伦（Bohlen, das alte Indien）之说，此即梵语的 Sarvan Akaranam，意为“未受造的全体”；而据弗里德里希·施莱格尔（Fred. Schlegel）之说，则为 Sarvan Akharyam，意为“未受造的不可分者”。—M
1002
↩
This is an error. Ahriman was not forced by his invariable nature to do evil; the Zendavesta expressly recognizes (see the Izeschne) that he was born good, that in his origin he was light; envy rendered him evil; he became jealous of the power and attributes of Ormuzd; then light was changed into darkness, and Ahriman was precipitated into the abyss. See the Abridgment of the Doctrine of the Ancient Persians, by Anquetil, c. ii Section 2.—G.
此处有误。阿里曼并非因其一成不变的本性而不得不作恶；《阿维斯塔》明确承认（见《伊耶什纳》（Izeschne）），他生来为善，本源乃是光明；是嫉妒使他变恶：他嫉妒起奥尔穆兹德的权能与属性，于是光明化为黑暗，阿里曼被投入深渊。参见昂克蒂尔《古代波斯人教义节略》（Abridgment of the Doctrine of the Ancient Persians），c. ii Section 2。—G
11
↩
The modern Parsees (and in some degree the Sadder) exalt Ormusd into the first and omnipotent cause, whilst they degrade Ahriman into an inferior but rebellious spirit. Their desire of pleasing the Mahometans may have contributed to refine their theological systems.
近世的帕西人（Parsees）把奥尔穆兹德抬高为最初的、全能的本因，而把阿里曼贬低为次等却悖逆的灵体；《萨达尔》在某种程度上也是如此。他们大约是出于取悦穆斯林的心思，才把自家的神学体系润饰得如此。
1101
↩
According to the Zendavesta, Ahriman will not be annihilated or precipitated forever into darkness: at the resurrection of the dead he will be entirely defeated by Ormuzd, his power will be destroyed, his kingdom overthrown to its foundations, he will himself be purified in torrents of melting metal; he will change his heart and his will, become holy, heavenly establish in his dominions the law and word of Ormuzd, unite himself with him in everlasting friendship, and both will sing hymns in honor of the Great Eternal. See Anquetil’s Abridgment. Kleuker, Anhang part iii. p 85, 36; and the Izeschne, one of the books of the Zendavesta. According to the Sadder Bun-Dehesch, a more modern work, Ahriman is to be annihilated: but this is contrary to the text itself of the Zendavesta, and to the idea its author gives of the kingdom of Eternity, after the twelve thousand years assigned to the contest between Good and Evil.—G.
据《阿维斯塔》，阿里曼并不会被彻底消灭，也不会永远被投入黑暗：在死者复活之时，他将被奥尔穆兹德彻底击败，权势尽毁，其国度亦被连根倾覆；他本人将在熔化金属的洪流中受到涤净，而后回心转意、幡然向善，变得圣洁而属天，在其领地上确立奥尔穆兹德的律法与言语，与奥尔穆兹德永结友好，二者一同唱起颂歌，礼赞那伟大的永恒者。参见昂克蒂尔《节略》；Kleuker, Anhang part iii. p 85, 36；以及《阿维斯塔》诸经之一的《伊耶什纳》。至于较为晚近的《萨达尔·本达希什》（Sadder Bun-Dehesch），则称阿里曼终将被彻底消灭；但此说既与《阿维斯塔》的原文相悖，也与此经作者对永恒国度的构想不合：按他的构想，善恶之争历经所定的一万二千年之后，便进入永恒的国度。—G