英语短文名人故事 哲学思想家 第27期:伊曼努尔·康德
9 Immanuel Kant 伊曼努尔·康德
Immanuel’s early childhood seems to have been idyllic. 康德小时候的生活像田园诗般优美。
The family was rather well off. The parents got along and loved their son. 家境殷实，父母恩爱，又疼爱孩子。
Father appears to have been a gentle and hardworking man, while mother, who took care of the family’s paperwork, was well educated. 父亲看起来像个绅士一样有风度，而且非常勤劳；母亲受过良好教育，安心持家。
Little Immanuel was her constant company, and her influence on him was considerable. 小康德总是跟在妈妈身边，因而，康德受母亲的影响非常大。
After “Manelchen” could walk, Anna Kant took him out for walks in the meadows and fields. 小康德会走以后，妈妈就带着康德出去散步，去田野也去草原。
She taught him what she could, of the seasons, the plants and animals, and the sky. 妈妈尽可能地教康德知识，包括四季景物，各种动植物，甚至包括头顶的天空。
Her little son responded eagerly with questions; and the mother encouraged his outdoor curiosity with praise, patience, and more information. 小康德也用焦急的、一连串的问题来回应妈妈。妈妈总是耐心回答他的问题，不停地表扬他，并教他新鲜的东西，以此来鼓励他的好奇心。
For learning about the details of nature, the child grew up in a good environment. 学习着自然界的一切，拥有如此好的环境，小康德渐渐长大了。
Konigsberg enjoys a cool and gentle climate; typical of high latitudes, the flat Baltic terrain has not much biological diversity, 格尼斯堡是典型的高纬度地区的气候，终年温暖凉爽。波罗的海沿岸平原的物种并不是特别丰富，
and its biomes — meadows, moors, deciduous and conifer forests — are not hostile. 高原沼泽、落叶树、针叶林等当地的生态系统平衡发展。
At Kant’s time, bears and wolves were common, but neither of which are in the habit of attacking humans (despite legends to the contrary). 康德小时候，熊和狼时常出没，但却从来不伤人，（虽然当地的神话可能不这样说)。
Walks as the ones he enjoyed, at the edge of town, were funny and perfectly safe. 在这个小城镇，康德想去哪就去哪，充满乐趣而且非常安全。
Excursions into nature also have a spiritual subtext. German tradition invests natural places with meaning. 经常到自然中去走走也可以丰富人的精神生活。在德国的传统中，自然也常被赋予深刻的含义。
As for his parents, Kant later described that, “My two parents were perfectly honest, morally decent, and orderly. 对于父母，康德日后这样描述：“我的父母诚实、正直、守法。
They did not leave me a fortune (but neither did they leave me any debts). 他们虽然没有给我留下太多的财产（当然他们也并没有留下任何债务），
Moreover, they gave me an education that could not have been better when considered from the moral point of view. 但他们却给了我良好的教育，如果从道德的角度来说，没有什么比这样的教育再好的了。
Every time I think of this I am touched by feelings of the highest gratitude. 每次想到这里，我心里便由衷地升起对父母的感激之情。
I will never forget my mother, for she implanted and nurtured in me the first germ of goodness; she opened my heart to the impressions of nature; 我永远也不会忘记我的妈妈，是她在我心灵种下善良的种子，是她让我打开心扉感受自然，
she awakened and furthered my concepts, and her doctrines have had a continual and beneficial influence in my life.” 也是她唤醒我的头脑，开阔我的视野。她的教育让我受益终生
