雅典的柏拉图

摔跤手

The Wrestler

柏拉图出生在雅典一个又富裕又有名望的家庭，大约比苏格拉底晚生了三十年。他的家族是城里最古老的家族之一，他母亲的家族甚至可以追溯到伟大的立法者梭伦。

Plato was born in Athens, into a rich and famous family, about thirty years after Socrates. His family belonged to the oldest families of the city, and his mother’s family went back to Solon, the great lawgiver.

他的真名叫阿里斯托克勒斯。“柏拉图”是个外号，意思是“宽阔”。人们说，这个名字来自他宽阔的双肩和强壮的身体。他是一名摔跤手，而且表现很出色。

His real name was Aristocles. “Plato” was a nickname, and it means “broad”. People said that the name came from his broad shoulders and his strong body. He was a wrestler, and a good one.

年轻的时候，他写诗，也写剧本。他头脑聪明，出身名门，前途看起来一片光明。后来，他在集市上遇到了一个长相丑陋、光着脚的人，他的人生从此改变了。

As a young man he wrote poems and plays. He had a fine mind and a great name, and the future looked easy. Then he met an ugly, barefoot man in the market, and his life turned around.