One of the two spectators I just spoke of was Euripides himself,
这两个观众之一，就是欧里庇德斯自己。
the thinker Euripides, not the poet.
是思想家欧里庇德斯，而非诗人欧里庇德斯。
Of him it may be said that the extraordinary richness of his critical gift had helped to produce, as in the case of Lessing, an authentic creative offshoot.
我们可以说，欧里庇德斯的非常丰富的批评才能，正如莱森的那样，即使不产生，也会不断妊育着一种接进创作的艺术冲动。
Endowed with such talent, such remarkable intellectual lucidity and versatility, Euripides watched the performances of his predecessors' plays and tried to rediscover in them those fine lineaments which age,
欧里庇德斯就是怀着这样的才能，怀着他光辉而灵敏的批判思想，坐在剧场，努力去认识他前辈大师的杰作，
as happens in the case of old paintings, had darkened and almost obliterated.
一点一滴，逐行逐句推敲，如同鉴识一幅褪色的油画那样。
And now something occurred which cannot surprise those among us who are familiar with the deeper secrets of Aeschylean tragedy.
于是，在这里，他体会到一些为洞识埃斯库罗斯悲剧之秘奥的专家们所能预料的特点，
Euripides perceived in every line, in every trait, something quite incommensurable:
他在埃氏悲剧的字里行间看出一些深不可测的东西，
a certain deceptive clarity and, together with it, a mysterious depth, an infinite background.
表面上是一种似是而非的浅显。同时在背后是一种神秘的深奥，甚至无限的深奥。
The clearest figure trailed after it a comet's tail which seemed to point to something uncertain, something that could not be wholly elucidated.
即使最浅显的人物形象，也往往带着慧星的光尾，仿佛暗示着一些飘渺朦胧的意义。