Life depended on it. One had been, from the first, dragged hither and thither like a French poodle on a string, following always the strongest pull, between one form of unity or centralization and another.

生活取决于它。一个人从一开始就被拖来拖去，就像一只被绳子拴住的法国贵宾犬，总是跟随最强的拉力，在一种形式的统一或集权与另一种形式之间。