西塞罗《论老年》主题

(ii.) SUBJECT-MATTER. (ii.) 主题。

1. General View. 1. 概览

The Cato Maior falls naturally into three parts:— Cato Maior 自然分为三个部分：

Preliminary, dedication to Atticus, §§ 1-3; 初步，献给 Atticus，§§ 1-3；

Introductory Conversation, 4-9; 引入对话，4-9；

Cato's Defence of Old Age, 10-85. 加图对老年的辩护，10-85。

After § 9 Cato continues to express his views on old age without interruption to the end, and the dialogue thus becomes really a monologue.

在第9节后，加图继续不间断地表达他对老年的看法，直到最后，对话也因此事实上变成了独白。

2. Analysis. 2. 分析

Preliminary ... 1-3. 初步... 1-3

Cicero, addressing Atticus, states his purpose in writing the book and the effect of the work on himself (1, 2), the reasons [xxiv]for putting the sentiments on old age into the mouth of Cato, and the circumstances of the supposed conversation (3).

西塞罗向阿提库斯致意，说明他写这本书的目的和作品对他自己的影响 (1, 2)，将对老年情感放到卡托嘴里的原因 [xxiv]，以及这篇假定对话的背景（3）。