о Гиббоне и английском юморе

[avva]

ilyavinarsky цитирует (англ.) из "Упадка и падения Римской империи" Гиббона абзац о том, как удивительные чудеса времени Христа не заметил ни один из современных ему римских писателей и философов.

Мне это напомнило один пример из Гиббона, который я вычитал в статье о сносках несколько лет назад. Некоторая часть статьи была посвящена юмору (а также иронии, сарказму итп.) в сносках, и там приводился такой замечательнейшний, по-моему, пример:

To identify a certain "Apollonius the philosopher" for whom the emperor Aurelian felt a "superstitious reverence," Gibbon composed a footnote that has served to vex generations of Christian apologists: "Apollonius of Tyana was born about the same time as Jesus Christ. His life (that of the former) is related in so fabulous a manner by his disciples that we are at a loss to discover whether he was a sage, an impostor, or a fanatic".

Помню, что когда я это прочитал, то захохотал так, что закололо в боку.

Comments

[philogynist.livejournal.com]

а какой же это Аврелиан, кстати?
если "тот" Аврелиан (который стал императором в 270 г.), то как же Аполлон Тианский дожил до его времени?
либо все эти чувства испытывал Аврелиан уже сильно после смерти Аполлона...

Re:

[avva.livejournal.com]

Это "тот" Аврелиан, да. Чувства испытывал посмертно. Точное место в Гиббоне - вот здесь (272-й год). Сноска, о которой идёт речь -- номер 63.

[mratner.livejournal.com]

Помню, что когда я это прочитал, то захохотал так, что закололо в боку.

Sorry to be so dense, but why? Or is it the case of "if you want to know how much it costs, you can't afford it" ?

Re:

[avva.livejournal.com]

Well, the joke is in the words "(that of the former)". That parenthetical remark isn't really needed (had it been absent, "his life" would have been unambiguous in this context anyway); by adding the unnecessary remark, Gibbon (who was rather defiantly anti-religious) hints facetously that the description following the remark could apply to Christ himself, and so he "needs" to disambiguate who the description refers to.

In other words, Gibbon subtly alleges at his distaste of Christianity by pretending that the words "... we are at a loss to discover whether he was a sage, an impostor, or a fanatic" could apply to Christ, without ever saying it explicitly -- in fact, he achieves the feat by explicitly denying the very possibility.

I find this device rather hilarious.

[mratner.livejournal.com]

Thank you... I wasn't aware of Gibbon's anti-religious stance, and have never actually read any of his work (though I did read the biography of Apollonius of Tyana), so I wasn't sure if perhaps there was more to it than what you've described.

[ex-ilyavinar899.livejournal.com]

57. I have somewhere heard or read the frank confession of a Benedictine abbot: "My vow of poverty has given me an hundred thousand crowns a year; my vow of obedience has raised me to the rank of a sovereign prince." I forget the consequences of his vow of chastity. (http://www.ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/volume1/nt37/057.htm)