《雙城記----A Tale of Two Cities》

 那是最好與最壞的年代；

是不惑也是不智的歲月；

是懷抱信念也是滿腹遲疑的時刻；

是光明無比也是黑暗不盡的季節；

是希望的悠悠暖春，也是絕望的厲厲寒冬；

我們似乎擁抱所有，卻又一無所有；

我們直奔天堂，卻也直落他方。

簡而言之，彼時就像此刻，

被飾以最極端的比較詞，大聲疾呼著：

無論最好與最壞，你們，都當接受。

---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.

---Charles Dickens《A Tale of Two Cities》