美国学生人类历史 第155期:十字军东征(4)

 During the next two centuries, seven other crusades took place.  在接下来的两个世纪里，欧洲人又发动了另外七次东征。

Gradually the Crusaders learned the technique of the trip. 十字军战士们逐渐学会了前往亚洲的旅行技巧。

The land voyage was too tedious and too dangerous. 陆路行程太艰苦，也太危险。

They preferred to cross the Alps and go to Genoa or Venice where they took ship for the east. 他们情愿先越过阿尔卑斯山，到意大利的威尼斯或热那亚，然后再搭乘海船去东方。

The Genoese and the Venetians made this trans-Mediterranean passenger service a very profitable business. 精明世故的热那亚人和威尼斯人把这桩运送十字军跨越地中海的服务做成了有厚利可图的大生意。

They charged exorbitant¹ rates, and when the Crusaders(most of whom had very little money) could not pay the price, these Italian"profiteers" kindly² allowed them to "work their way across." 他们索取高额旅费，当十字军战士付不出这个价钱时（他们大部分都囊中羞涩），这些意大利"奸商"便做出大发善心的样子，先允许他们上船，但要"一路工作以抵偿船费"。

In return for a fare from Venice to Acre, the Crusader undertook to do a stated amount of fighting for the owners of his vessel³. 往往为了偿付从威尼斯到阿克的旅费，十字军战士得答应为船主从事一定量的战斗，用获得的土地还钱。

In this way Venice greatly increased her territory along the coast of the Adriatic and in Greece,  通过这种方法，威尼斯大大增加了它在亚得里亚海沿岸、希腊半岛、塞浦路斯、克里特岛及罗得岛控制的土地，

where Athens became a Venetian colony, and in the islands of Cyprus and Crete and Rhodes. 最后，连雅典也成为了一块名符其实的威尼斯殖民地。

All this, however, helped little in settling the question of the Holy Land. 当然，这一切都无助于解决棘手的圣地问题。

After the first enthusiasm had worn off, a short crusading trip became part of the liberal education of every well-bred young man, and there never was any lack of candidates for service in Palestine. 当最初的宗教狂热渐渐退去，一段为时不长的十字军旅程倒变成了每一个出身良好的欧洲青年的通才教育课程。因此，报名去巴勒斯坦服役的候选人总是源源不绝。

But the old zeal⁴ was gone. 不过，古老的热情已经不复存在。

The Crusaders, who had begun their warfare⁵ with deep hatred⁶ for the Mohammedans and great love for the Christian⁷ people of the eastern Roman Empire and Armenia, suffered a complete change of heart. 最初，十字军战士怀着对穆斯林的刻骨仇恨，对东罗马帝国及亚美尼亚的基督徒群众的极大爱心，开始其艰苦的远征，如今却经历了内心的巨变。

They came to despise the Greeks of Byzantium, who cheated them and frequently betrayed the cause of the Cross, and the Armenians 他们开始憎恨拜占廷的希腊人，因为后者常常欺骗他们，并不时出卖十字架的事业。

and all the other Levantine races, and they began to appreciate the virtues⁸ of their enemies who proved to be generous and fair opponents. 他们同样憎恨亚美尼亚人以及所有东地中海地区的民族。相反，他们逐渐学会欣赏穆斯林敌人的种种品行，事实证明他们是豪爽公正的对手，值得尊重。

1 exorbitant   

adj.过分的；过度的

参考例句：

• More competition should help to drive down exorbitant phone charges.更多的竞争有助于降低目前畸高的电话收费。
• The price of food here is exorbitant. 这儿的食物价格太高。

2 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

5 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

6 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。