上句见：Day52
The Story of Philosophy《哲学的故事》的第53句：第1章Plato《柏拉图》第1节The Context of Plato第1段第1句：

If you look at a map of Europe you will observe that Greece is a skeleton-like hand stretching its crooked fingers out into the Mediterranean Sea. South of it lies the great island of Crete, from which those grasping fingers captured, in the second millennium before Christ, the beginning of civilization and culture. To the east, across the Ægean sea, lies Asia Minor, quiet and apathetic now, but throbbing, in prePlatonic days, with industry, commerce and speculation. To the west, across the Ionian, Italy stands, like a leaning tower in the sea, and Sicily and Spain, each in those days with thriving Greek colonies; and at the end, the “Pillars of Hercules” (which we call Gibraltar), that sombre portal through which not many an ancient mariner dared to pass. And on the north those still untamed and half-barbaric regions, then named Thessaly and Epirus and Macedonia, from which or through which the vigorous bands had come which fathered the geniuses of Homeric and Periclean Greece.
浙江大学版本：查看欧洲地图你会发现，希腊如同一只骷髅手，正将其瘦骨嶙峋的手指伸入地中海。

解析

这句通过比喻生动描述了希腊的地理位置。希腊像似瘦骨嶙峋的手，将手指伸入地中海。杜兰特非常有想象力，如果不提醒，我是没有这个感觉，在我眼中，希腊就是由各个的部分组成，其中有些部分还散落在海上。
一方水土养一方人，所以在介绍柏拉图本人时，要先介绍其居住的地方的地理位置。

古希腊.jpeg

1、"If you look at a map of Europe you will observe …”：翻开欧洲地图，你就会发现

2、"...that Greece is a skeleton-like hand stretching its crooked fingers out into the Mediterranean Sea.”这里用了比喻手法，让希腊的总体位置及轮廓更易于记忆。希腊的轮廓像手，岛屿像弯曲的手指。
-like是个很有用的后缀。善于利用，可以节省很多笔墨。
his hamlike arms他那双像火腿那样通红的胳膊 / his oxlike eyes他那双像公牛似的眼睛。来自《英语常用词疑难用法手册》
stretching: act of expanding by lengthening or widening伸长，展开
Its figure looks like a cheering gesture, also stretching arms preparing for a zealous in arm even more. 那形状，像是在欢呼，又像是张开双臂准备一个热情的拥抱。
crooked： not straight
And you know these big-city machines are crooked.这些大城市的管理都是扭曲的。
Mediterranean Sea： 地中海

翻开欧洲地图，你就会注意到希腊是一只骷髅般的手，它那弯曲的手指在地中海伸展开来。