【英译汉】
Just as Darwin discovered the law of development of organic nature so Marx discovered the law of development of human history, the simple fact , hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of ideology, that mankind must first of all eat, drink, have shelter and clothing before it can pursue politics, science, art, religion, etc; that, therefore the production of the immediate material means of subsistence and consequently the degree of economic development attained by a given people during a given epoch form the foundation upon which the state institutions, the legal conceptions, art, and even the ideas on religion, of the people concerned have been evolved, and in the light of which they must, therefore, be explained, instead of vice versa, as had hitherto been the case.
【参考译文】
正如达尔文发现有机自然界的发展规律一样，马克思发现了人类历史的发展规律，即历来繁茂芜杂的意识形态所掩盖着的一个简单事实：人们首先要吃、要喝、要穿、要住，然后才能从事政治、科学、艺术、宗教等等;所以，生产直接与生活有关部门的物质用品，会为一个民族或一个时代带来一定的经济发展，这两者又构成了国家制度、法律观念、艺术以及宗教思想的基础。因此，我们必须从这个方向来解释上述种种观念与思想，而不是依随那一直以来的相反方向去解释这些观念与思想。
