论法的精神 （专制国家不崇尚荣誉）

Honour is far from being the principle of despotic government: mankind being here all upon a level, no one person can prefer himself to another; and as on the other hand they are all slaves, they can give themselves no sort of preference.

专制国家的原则绝不是荣誉。因为奴隶们的地位都卑下，没有人自恃优越、享有特权。

   

Besides, as honour has its laws and rules, as it knows not how to submit; as it depends in a great measure on a man's own caprice, and not on that of another person; it can be found only in countries in which the constitution is fixed, and where they are governed by settled laws.

另外，荣誉有它的规律，不会被改变；很大程度上，它依据个人的想法而并不依从别人的意愿。所以，只有在拥有固定政体、以法治国的国家中，才有所谓的荣誉。

   

 

How can despotism abide with honour? The one glories in the contempt of life; and the other is founded on the power of taking it away. How can honour, on the other hand, bear with despotism? The former has its fixed rules, and peculiar caprices; but the latter is directed by no rule, and its own caprices are subversive of all others.

Abide：容忍   subversive ：颠覆性的

专制君主以随意生杀为乐，怎能容许荣誉的存在？荣誉遵循其规律，而专制君主并无任何原则可言，其反复无常的意念毁灭其他所有人的想法。

  

Honour, therefore, a thing unknown in arbitrary governments, some of which have not even a proper word to express it, is the prevailing principle in monarchies; here it gives life to the whole body politic, to the laws, and even to the virtues themselves.

在专制国家里，荣誉并无意义，甚至常常没有文字称颂它。但是，荣誉却支配着君主国家；它把生命赋予所有的政治集团、法律以及品德。