At any time in this period a work which gave an intelligible history of the rise and progress of Christianity, and at the same time gave a reasoned reply to popular calumnies against it, was sure of a reception among the intelligent reading public—or rather listening public—of Rome, of whom Theophilus was probably a representative.
我一早说，F.F. Bruce的书难度比Hirbert大一倍。现在看来，我还是太年轻了。我还是太天真了。从平均句子长度18个单词变为28个单词，难度要增加多少？
答案是：几何级数增长。
- 我的脑容量只能装下7个单词——这是我的短期记忆栈。
- 我的编译器在前向扫描编译的时候，有限状态机只有6种状态。
- 我发现，英语翻译为汉语的时候，句子难度要依靠其中的“逗号”数量和“连词”的数量来决定——都应当是非线性函数关系。
比如这个句子，有三个逗号，一个破折号，加上“which”，“of whom”，加上335个字符的句长，难度系数显然要超过基准的4.0.
实际上，我翻译这句话用了3分55秒。前向扫描之后的顺序如下：
At any time in this period a work which gave an intelligible history of the rise and progress of Christianity, and at the same time gave a reasoned reply to popular calumnies against it, was sure of a reception among the intelligent reading public—or rather listening public—of Rome, of whom Theophilus was probably a representative.
在此期间任何一年 （ At any time in this period ），若有一部作品明白晓畅地给出（ a work which gave an intelligible ）基督教兴起和传播（ of the rise and progress of Christianity ）史（ history ），同时又（ and at the same time ）合理地回应大众对基督教的各种诽谤（ gave a reasoned reply to popular calumnies against it ），无疑会（ was sure of ）受到罗马知识阶层（ among the intelligent reading public ）——甚至无阅读能力的普罗大众（ or rather listening public ）——的广泛欢迎（ reception ），而提阿非罗可能正是其中的代表性人物（ of whom Theophilus was probably a representative ）。
第一遍编译扫描结束，大体上没问题：
在此期间任何一年，若有一部作品明白晓畅地给出基督教兴起和传播史，同时又合理地回应大众对基督教的各种诽谤，无疑会受到罗马知识阶层——甚至无阅读能力的普罗大众——的广泛欢迎，而提阿非罗可能正是其中的代表性人物。
再来一例：
Again, whether Paul’s execution was or was not an incident in the Neronian persecution, the fact that it is not mentioned in Acts is not a decisive argument for the dating of the book: Luke’s goal has been reached when he has brought Paul to Rome and left him preaching the gospel freely there.
两个逗号，一个冒号，“whether … or…”，”that it is …”, “when”, 三个连词。
第一遍扫描，“ Luke’s goal has been reached when he has brought Paul to Rome and left him preaching the gospel freely there. ” 这句话有点难解，因为从上下文看，路加并没有将保罗带到罗马，并留下保罗在那里传福音。如果说保罗带提多到了克里特岛，留下提多在那里传福音，翻译的方式应该大为不同。
所以，经过第二遍前后向扫描，引用乔姆斯基的短语文法而非上下文无关文法，将这句话翻译为：
另外，不管保罗被处死是因为尼禄的逼迫还是与之无关，使徒行传没有提及保罗之死，并不构成鉴定此书写作年代的决定性论据：在写明保罗到达罗马、自由地传讲福音之后，路加的目的已经达成了。
翻译时长：3分45秒。
下面我要给出两三个例子，但没有中文译文，仅仅给出我翻译消耗的时间。或许读者有兴趣一试，看看你能用多长时间翻译这些例句，翻译出来的结果是什么。
So far as the Neronian persecution is concerned, even Tacitus (no friend to Christians) admits that it was the action of one man’s malignity rather than an expression of public policy, and the official reprobation of Nero’s memory and actions at his death could have been held to cover his persecution of the Christians of Rome. （耗时4分20.6秒）
The argument that there is nothing in Acts—or even in Luke—that presupposes the Jewish revolt and the resultant destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem (A.D. 70) has been used in defense of a pre-70 dating for the twofold work—early in the twentieth century by Adolf Harnack and over sixty years later by J. A. T. Robinson. （耗时4分7秒，主要是如何调整最后一个破折号，花了许多心思）。
The Jewish client king Agrippa II agrees with Festus that Paul had done nothing deserving either death or imprisonment, and that he could have been discharged on the spot had he not taken the decision out of the procurator’s hands by appealing to have his case referred to the imperial tribunal in Rome. （6分33秒。因为“client”一词，想不出来是什么意思。）
我累了，大家日后看到F.F.Bruce的使徒行传注释中译本，请记念我深夜23:59还在翻译的苦功夫。