Nietzsche's early childhood is itself a story of writing, reading, illness and isolation.  尼采有一个被写作、阅读、疾病与孤独充斥的童年。

He was sent to the local school but then gained a place at the elite academy of Pforta in 1858.  他被送入本地的学校，而在1858年获得了在普福塔精英学院学习的机会。

By 1862，we find the young Nietzsche already recording his doubts about the religious faith that dominated his home background.  到了1862年，我们发现年轻的尼采已经对统治其生活环境的宗教信仰产生了怀疑。

He was turning even then to ideas of evolution, and already had begun to speculate on the human condition: "...we scarcely even know whether humanity itself is only a step."  他甚至在那时就已经开始关注进化论思想，并思考人类的生存状态，"我们几乎不知道人类本身是否只是一个阶段。"

Jaspers remarks that "Nietzsche philosophises as a boy." 雅斯帕斯评论道，"尼采像一个孩子一样进行哲思。"

Nietzsche was certainly an intense boy, often lonely and absorbed by ideas.  毫无疑问，尼采是一个感情强烈的孩子，他经常是孤单的，而且沉迷于各种各样的想法。

In 1863，we find him already struggling to convey the mass of his thoughts on paper: "I stare for a long time at the white paper in front of me, troubled by the confused crowd of themes."  我们发现早在1863年他就努力把自己的思想记录下来："我长时间地盯着眼前的白纸，众多的观点集结于此，困扰着我。"

This sense of "abundance" is one of the experiences given to the character Zarathustra. 这个"丰富"的意识，后来被加在了查拉图斯特拉的性格上。

In 1865, Nietzsche went to Leipzig as a student, where he shifted to the study of classical philology, the ancient languages and their origins.  1865年，尼采游学莱比锡，并转而攻读经典语言学，学习古代语言以及它们的来源。

Already he saw his own future in learning and teaching: "My goal is to become a truly practical teacher..." 他把自己的未来生活确定为学习与教书："我的目标是成为一名真正的教师…"

Nietzsche was searching for fellow spirits and in 1865 he discovered in a bookshop the major work of Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation.  尼采一直在找寻灵魂上的同伴。1865年他在书店里找到了叔本华的《作为意识与表象的世界》。

For the student Nietzsche, this book by his older contemporary was a mirror of his own thoughts and struggles.  对于还是一名学生的尼采来说，这部由一个年龄稍长于他的同时代人所写的作品，正是一面他自己的思维及其斗争的镜子。

Throughout his life, Nietzsche needed heroes of thought, models for his own quest. 尼采一生都在探索和寻求，期待着思想的伟人和典范。

In 1867, he enrolled in the army, but he still kept on learning.  1867年，尼采应征入伍，但仍然坚持学习。

Now Nietzsche was acquiring other heroes, such as the ancient Greek thinker Democritus.  此时的尼采结识到其他一些伟人的思想，例如古希腊思想家德摸克利特。

In 1868, Nietzsche was reading and writing about the late eighteenth-century German authority Kant.  1868年，尼采阅读并写了一部关于18世纪晚期德国权威思想家康德的作品。

In the same year, he met the composer Richard Wagner whom he described as "a fabulously vivacious, fiery man" .  同一年，尼采遇见了作曲家理查德·瓦格纳，并将他描述为"一个惊人地乐观与热烈的人"。

In 1871, Nietzsche started work on what became his first book, The Birth of Tragedy. 1871年，尼采开始写作他的第一部作品《悲剧的诞生》。

In January 1883, Nietzsche wrote Book I of TSZ in 10 days.  1883年1月，尼采在十天内完成了《如是说》的第一部。

The period after that was a time of intense productiveness. He died in Aug. 24, 1900. 此后，是尼采极为多产的时期。尼采卒于1900年8月24日。