Chapter 1
I do not speak of that greatness which is achieved by the fortunate politician or the successful soldier; that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man; and a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions.
【词汇注释】
- speak of 谈到、论及
- achieve v.取得、获得；完成、达到
- fortunate a.幸运的
- politician n.政客
- quality n.质量、品质；特性、才能
- occupy v.占据、占领
- circumstance n.条件；环境；境况
- reduce v.减少；降低
- discreet a.小心的、谨慎的
- proportion n.比例
【句法分析】
- 该句子由一个主句+两个并列句构成
- 限定词that + 名词greatness 为主句宾语
- which is achieved by the fortunate politician or the successful soldier 定语从句，修饰greatness，or连接连个名词短语 the fortunate politician 和 the successful soldier
- which belongs to the place 定语从句，修饰quality
- (that) he occupies 定语从句，修饰place；由于 that 在 定语从句中作宾语，所以可以省略
【杂货铺】
rather than, 意为“而不是”
- 作为连词，连接两个句子时可以将后一个句子中相同的部分省略，如：
I read a book. I eat an apple.
- I read a book rather than eat an apple.(省略I)
I drink tea. I drink coffee.
- I drink tea rather than coffee.(省略I drink)
I want to swim. I want to run.
- I want to swim rather than run.(省略I want to)
本句中：which belongs to the place (he occupies) rather than to the man，he oppupies作为定语从句可以忽略，这里rather than 连接了两个句子“which belongs to the place”和“which belongs to the man”, 第二个句子省略了which belongs
关于省略，省、不省、省几个词都是自由的，只要句子不产生歧义，句意表达清楚即可。
2.作为介词，就遵循介词的用法，比如若是后面跟了动词，就应该用动名词形式
Rather than walking, he rode to work.
此时 “Rather than walking” 为介词短语作状语
我这里说的伟大，不是哪个平步青云的政治家所取得的光环，也不是哪个骁勇善战的军人所获得的荣誉；他们的功成名就属于他们身处的地位，与个人关系不大；一旦时过境迁，那种盛名就会大打折扣、微不足道了。
