Chapter 15
第十五章
Greek self-government
古希腊的自治制度
The Greeks were the first people to try the difficult experiment of self-government
古希腊人是历史上最早进行自治实验的民族
IN the beginning, all the Greeks had been equally rich and equally poor. Every man had owned a certain number of cows and sheep. His mudhut had been his castle. He had been free to come and go as he wished. Whenever it was necessary to discuss matters of public importance, all the citizens had gathered in the market-place. One of the older men of the village was elected chairman and it was his duty to see that everybody had a chance to express his views. In case of war, a particularly energetic and selfconfident villager was chosen commander-in-chief, but the same people who had voluntarily given this man the right to be their leader, claimed an equal right to deprive him of his job, once the danger had been averted.
一开始，所有希腊人贫福均等。人人都有一定数量的牛羊。泥糊的小屋就是自己的宫殿。平时，人们按自己的意愿行事，一旦有重要的事务需公众讨论，所有市民便聚集在市场上议事。人们选出一位众望所归的老人作为会议主席，他的职责就是保证每一个人都能平等得到表达意见的机会。当有战事发生，一位精力特别充沛且自信心极强的村民便会被推举为军事领袖，和选举他为统帅、自愿交 给他指挥权，当然，人们同时也保留着等危机过去使解除他职务的权利。
But gradually the village had grown into a city. Some people had worked hard and others had been lazy. A few had been unlucky and still others had been just plain dishonest in dealing with their neighbours and had gathered wealth. As a result, the city no longer consisted of a number of men who were equally well-off. On the contrary it was inhabited by a small class of very rich people and a large class of very poor ones.
可渐渐地，小村庄发展为城市。有些人工作勤奋，有些人好逸恶劳；有些人交 了霉运，可另有些人却靠欺诈手段发了财。于是，整个城市不再由许多财富均等的市民组成。相反，城市的居民变成了一小群富人和一大群穷人。
There had been another change. The old commander-in-chief who had been willingly recognised as "headman" or "King" because he knew how to lead his men to victory, had disappeared from the scene.
同时还发生了另一个变化那些困带领人们取得战争胜利而被众人心甘情愿推为"首脑"或"国王"的老式军事统帅从历史舞台上销声匿迹了。