马可·奥勒留

名叫“最真诚”的男孩

The Boy Called Verissimus

公元121年，马可·奥勒留出生在罗马。他的家族古老而富有。从一开始，他就是一个严肃、安静的孩子。甚至在很小的时候，他就喜欢一件事胜过玩游戏：学习怎样做一个好人。

Marcus Aurelius was born in Rome in the year 121 after Christ. His family was old and rich, and from the beginning he was a serious, calm child. Even as a boy he loved one thing more than games: to learn how to be good.

当时的皇帝哈德良注意到了他，并给他起了一个外号：“维里西穆斯”，意思是“最真诚的人”。这听起来像个玩笑，但哈德良是认真的。他从这个男孩身上看到了少见的真诚。

The emperor of that time, Hadrian, noticed him and gave him a nickname: Verissimus, which means “the most true”. It sounds like a joke, but Hadrian was serious. He saw in the boy a rare honesty.

在后来的笔记本里，他写到了那些塑造了他的人。他从祖父那里学会了控制脾气；从对父亲的记忆里，学会了谦虚；从母亲那里，学会了慷慨给予和简朴生活。他不认为自己的好品质是凭空创造出来的。他觉得身上的每一个优点都来自别人，对此他充满感激。

In the notebook he later wrote about the people who made him who he was. From his grandfather he learned to control his temper. From the memory of his father, to be modest. From his mother, to give freely and to live simply. He did not believe that he had invented his own good character. He thought that every good thing in him had come from someone else, and he was grateful.

哈德良安排安敦宁·毕尤收养了这个男孩。安敦宁是一个善良温和的人，后来成了下一任皇帝。因此，马可从小就明白，自己有一天会统治整个罗马世界。

Hadrian arranged for the boy to be adopted by Antoninus Pius, a good and gentle man who became the next emperor. So Marcus grew up knowing that one day he would rule the whole Roman world.