《牧羊少年奇幻之旅》 79 绿洲里开战了

Next morning, there were two thousand armed men scattered¹ throughout the palm trees at Al-Fayoum.

第二天早晨，法尤姆绿洲的椰枣林中埋伏了两千名武装起来的男人。

Before the sun had reached its high point, five hundred tribesmen appeared on the horizon.

日上三竿之时，五百名骑兵出现在地平线上。

The mounted troops entered the oasis² from the north; it appeared to be a peaceful expedition, but they all carried arms hidden in their robes.

他们从绿洲北面开来，表面上是和平进军，但在白色披风下隐藏着武器。

When they reached the white tent at the center of Al-Fayoum, they withdrew their scimitars and rifles. And they attacked an empty tent.

当他们靠近法尤姆绿洲中心的大帐篷时，便抽出弯刀和长枪，向那座空帐篷发起攻击。

The men of the oasis surrounded the horsemen from the desert and within half an hour all but one of the intruders were dead.

绿洲的人包围了入侵的沙漠骑兵。不到半个时辰，四百九十九个骑兵便尸横遍野，命丧黄泉。

The children had been kept at the other side of a grove³ of palm trees, and saw nothing of what had happened.

孩子们待在树林的另一边，什么都没看见。

The women had remained in their tents, praying for the safekeeping of their husbands, and saw nothing of the battle, either.

女人们在帐篷里为丈夫祈祷，也什么都没看见。

Were it not for the bodies there on the ground, it would have appeared to be a normal day at the oasis.

如果不是那些横七竖八的尸体，绿洲和往日一样平静。

The only tribesman spared was the commander of the battalion⁴.

只有一人逃过一劫，他就是那支队伍的指挥官。

That afternoon, he was brought before the tribal⁵ chieftains, who asked him why he had violated the Tradition.

下午，他被带到部落头领面前。头领们质问他为什么破坏传统。

The commander said that his men had been starving and thirsty, exhausted⁶ from many days of battle, and had decided⁷ to take the oasis so as to be able to return to the war.

那名指挥官说，他们的人又饥又渴，旷日持久的战斗搞得他们疲惫不堪，于是决定攻占一块绿地，以便重整旗鼓。

The tribal chieftain said that he felt sorry for the tribesmen, but that the Tradition was sacred.

部落的最高头领说，他为那些死去的士兵感到痛心，但是传统绝不能随意改变。

He condemned⁸ the commander to death without honor.

然后，他宣布对那位指挥官执行死刑。

Rather than being killed by a blade or a bullet, he was hanged from a dead palm tree, where his body twisted in the desert wind.

既不用刀，也不用枪，他被绞死在一棵已经枯掉的椰枣树上，尸体被沙漠的风吹得晃来荡去。

The tribal chieftain called for the boy, and presented him with fifty pieces of gold.

最高头领把圣地亚哥叫到跟前，给了他五十枚金币。

He repeated his story about Joseph of Egypt, and asked the boy to become the counselor⁹ of the oasis.

之后，他再次提起约瑟在埃及的经历，并请圣地亚哥做绿洲的顾问。

1 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

2 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

3 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

4 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

5 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

6 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

9 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。