世界小史 第71期:繼承人薛西斯

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 　　He died soon after, leaving his son and successor, Xerxes, to take revenge on Greece once and for all.

　　不久他便死去，把向希臘徹底復(fù)仇的任務(wù)一下子交給了他的繼承人薛西斯。

　　Xerxes, a hard, ambitious man, needed no urging.

　　薛西斯是一個冷酷無情的有統(tǒng)治欲的人，他二話沒說，馬上就干。

　　He assembled an army from among all the subject peoples of his empire.

　　他集結(jié)一支由臣服于波斯人的所有各民族組成的軍隊。

　　Dressed in their traditional costumes, with their weapons, their bows and arrows, shields and swords, lances, war-chariots and slings1,

　　他們?nèi)忌泶└髯缘貐^(qū)傳統(tǒng)的服裝前來并帶著各自的武器，帶著弓箭、盾牌和劍，帶著標槍、戰(zhàn)車或投石器。

　　they were a vast, swirling2 multitude, said by some to number more than a million men.

　　這是一支龐大的、數(shù)目驚人的軍隊，據(jù)說有100多萬人。

　　What hope had the Greeks in the face of such a host? This time Xerxes himself took command.

　　簡直看不出，這支大軍一到，希臘人還會有什么生路。這一回薛西斯御駕親征。

　　But when the Persians tried to cross the narrow neck of sea which separates Asia Minor3 from today's Istanbul,

　　當波斯大軍試圖憑借他們由船組成的浮橋越過隔斷從今天伊斯坦布爾到小亞細亞的狹小海峽時，

　　on a bridge made of boats, rough waves tore the bridge apart.

　　洶涌的海浪沖毀了船橋。

　　In his fury Xerxes had the waves lashed4 with chains. But I doubt if the sea took any notice.

　　薛西斯隨即怒氣沖沖地讓士兵用鐵鏈鞭打海浪。但我懷疑大海是否買他的帳。