上句见：Day58
The Story of Philosophy的第59句：第1章Plato《柏拉图》第1节The Context of Plato第2段第2句：

Look again at the map, and you see countless indentati ons of coast and elevations of lands; everywhere gulfs and bays and the intrusive sea; and all the earth tumbled and tossed into mountains and hills. Greece was broken into isolated fragments by these natural barriers of sea and soil; travel and communication were far more difficult and dangerous then than now; every valley therefore developed its own self-sufficient economic life, its own sovereign government, its own institutions and dialect and religion and culture. In each case one or two cities, and around them, stretching up the mountainslopes, an agricultural hinterland: such were the “city-states” of Eubœa, and Locris, and Ætolia, and Phocis, and Bœotia, and Achæa, and Argolis, and Elis, and Arcadia, and Messenia, and Laconia—with its Sparta, and Attica—with its Athens.
浙江大学版本：希腊就被这些天然的海陆屏障分割成相互孤立的若干部分，因此，那时的交通和交流比现在困难，甚至还充满危险，每一片峡谷流域都形成了自给自足的经济生活，并发展了各自的主权政府、法律规章以及方言、宗教和文化。

解析

这句描述了自然地理条件如何影响古希腊各种各样的经济、政治和文化发展。
1、'Greece was broken into isolated fragments by these natural barriers of sea and soil; …’希腊被天然屏障分成各个独立的块。‘these natural barriers’指前面的countless indentations of coast and elevations of lands。作者还是相当注意用词的，land、earth及soil都指向同一个东西，表示陆地；coast、sea、gulf and bay都指向海洋。
fragments：I was keenly delighted when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my feet.我感觉到了娃娃在我脚下四分五裂，只觉得心里十分痛快。

2、...travel and communication were far more difficult and dangerous then than now; …’当时的交通与通讯远比现在困难且危险。这些都是因为地隔离造成的困难。
far more用来强调比较的强度。

3、'...every valley therefore developed its own self-sufficient economic life, its own sovereign government, its own institutions and dialect and religion and culture.’ 进一步造成各个地区都有自己的经济、政治及文化。
self-sufficient economic life：自给自主的经济
sovereign：having independent authority and the right to govern itself (国家)具有独立主权的
The Russian Federation declared itself to be a sovereign republic.俄罗斯联邦宣布自己为主权独立的共和国。

希腊被这些天然海陆屏障分割成孤立的小块；当时的交通与通讯远比现在困难和危险；从而每一个山谷都发展出了自足自给的经济生活，还有独立主权的政府以及自己的制度、方言、宗教和文化。

有时一个国家的前途命运，往往就是从一诞生就决定了。只要看所在的大自然便知道了，不过人是喜欢折腾的，无论处么折腾都逃不出如来佛主的五指。不折腾怎么会有精彩的人生呢。