The EU -- following fine continental traditions --

欧洲人遵循优良的大陆传统，

Obviously, it has not been planned for the good of its inhabitants.

显然，现代化的城市不是为居民的利益而规划的。

He no sooner recovers his equilibrium than the next porpoise comes along and hits him another crack.

海龟刚恢复平衡，第二只海豚又冲过来猛击一下。

as by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse, like the Siberian mammoths,

如掉进难以到达的洞穴，或掉进冰河裂缝里，或者像西伯利亚长毛象那样掉进冰窟中，

and today we can see even his famous clash with the Inquisition in something like its proper perspective.

甚至他和宗教法庭的著名冲突，我们今天也能正确如实地看待。

This temptation to cover the distance between himself and the reader,

这种企图消除自己和读者之间距离的作法，