Both were unable to integrate modernity into their institutions, and both had fallen into decline after a brilliant historical period between the late fifteenth and early eighteenth centuries. Poland had even disappeared from the map of Europe – the victim of its immediate neighbors’ virulent greed.
在此我回想起了1978年时与波兰历史学家，政治家布罗尼斯拉夫·盖莱梅克（Bronisław Geremek）的一段对话——当时我俩在华盛顿特区共享一间办公室。在他看来，波兰和西班牙一直以来都有着在某种意义上平行发展的历史。两国都无法把现代性整合进自己的体制，也同时在15世纪晚期和18世纪早期的黄金历史时期陷入了衰退。波兰甚至一度从欧洲的地图上消失了——始作俑者正是那个曾经贪得无厌的邻国。