《旧制度与大革命·卷一·第一章·革命初起时众说纷纭》第4节
And was the event really as extraordinary as it appeared to those who lived at the time when it took place? Was it so unprecedented, so utterly subversive, so pregnant with new forms and ideas as they imagined it to be? What was the real meaning, the real character--what have been the permanent effects of this strange and terrible Revolution? What did it, in reality, destroy, and what has it created? The proper moment for examining and deciding these questions seems now to have arrived, and we are now standing at the precise point whence this vast phenomenon may best be viewed and judged. We are far enough removed from the Revolution to be but slightly touched by the passions which blinded those who brought it about, and we are near enough to it to enter into the spirit which caused these things to happen. Ere long this will have become more difficult; for as all great revolutions, when successful, sweep away the causes which engendered them, their very success serves to render them unintelligible to later generations.
注释摘要
这一段在全书结构里完成了一次清晰的转折：从描述革命如何被误判、如何震惊世界，转向提出那个他要用整本书去回答的问题。托克维尔先用一连串问句把核心疑团摆出来：这场革命真有当时人以为的那样史无前例、彻底颠覆、充满了全新的东西吗？这些问句表面是设问，实则在暗示他的基本判断——革命的光谱里，有很多色彩其实是从旧制度那里继承过来的。他不是要否认革命的冲击力，而是要重新…