纽约外史

In like manner did my heart leap within me when I came to the dolorous dilemma of Fort Good Hope, which I at once perceived to be the forerunner of a series of great events and entertaining disasters. Such are the true subjects for the historic pen. For what is history, in fact, but a kind of Newgate Calendar—a register of the crimes and miseries that man has inflicted on his fellow-men? It is a huge libel on human nature to which we industriously add page after page, volume after volume, as if we were building up a monument to the honor, rather than the infamy, of our species. 同样，讲述到好望角要塞可悲的困境时我的内心也跳跃起来，我立即感到这将是一系列重大事件和有趣灾难的前兆。这些便是历史学家的真正主题。因为除了像纽盖特监狱大事记那样的东西—即记录人对同胞犯下的罪行和造成的灾难—事实上历史又是什么呢？它是对人性极大的诋毁，我们努力一页页、一本本地添加着这种诋毁，仿佛我们是在为人类建造荣耀的而非可耻的丰碑。 华盛顿·欧文 - 纽约外史 荣跃译·第四部 关于“暴躁者威廉”的统治历史·第一章