It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
這是最好的年代，也是最壞的年代；
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
是智慧的時代，也是愚蠢的時代；
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
是信仰的時代，也是懷疑的時代；
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
是光明的季節，也是黑暗的季節；
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
是充滿希望的春天，也是令人絕望的冬天；
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
我們的前途擁有一切，我們的前途一無所有；
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way -
我們正走向天堂，我們也走向地獄─
in short, the period was so far like the present period,
總之，那個時代和現在是如此的相像，
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil,
以至於最喧鬧的那群學者，不論說好說壞，
in the superlative degree of comparison only.
都堅持只能用最高級的形容詞來描述它。
--查爾斯‧狄更斯《雙城記》
「這是最好的年代，也是最壞的年代。」它是如此的自由而充滿希望，卻也因自由而墮落、因希望而沮喪。法國大革命改變了人們對君主的看法，也為君主制度之外提供了另一項可能。甚至為後來民族主義鋪上道路。我們無法評斷，究竟法國大革命是一場錯誤或是勝利，但無可否認的是，它改變了全世界。
2009.3.31
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