me repeatedly when we had lunch at Mori's,

你周一在莫里饭馆用午餐时的反复要求我
to describe my recent trip to Africa,

描述最近在非洲的旅程
so I'm writing this down at your request.

所以我按照你的要求写下来
That's a dedication to your patron.

这是作为对你的赞助的献礼"
Who is Theophilus, though?

那么谁是提阿非罗
Some people say maybe he's an actual historic person,

有些人说他可能是实际存在的历史人物
he calls him "Most excellent,"

他称他为"大人"
the Greek word would seem to imply that this guy is of fairly high class

这个希腊词暗指提阿非罗是上流阶级的人
or that our author wants us to believe that he's high class.

或是作者希望我们觉得他是上流阶级
It's also, though, possible, some people said, maybe he's a fiction

也有人认为他是个虚构的人物
because Theophilus comes from two Greek words

因为提阿非罗来源于两个希腊词
meaning theos which is God,

"theos"意思是神