世界小史 第123期:心满意足

 Alexander punished the assassins.

亚历山大惩罚了杀人凶手。

Now he was king of the whole of Persia.

他现在是全波斯的国王。

Greece, Egypt, Phoenicia, Palestine, Babylonia, Assyria, Asia Minor¹ and Persia – all these were now part of his empire.

他现在是全波斯的国王。希腊、埃及、腓尼基，巴勒斯坦、巴比伦、亚述、小亚细亚和波斯——这些如今都在他的帝国版图之内。

He set about putting it in order.

他打算重新安排整个帝国的秩序。

His commands could now be said to reach all the way from the Nile to Samarkand.

据说当时他的号令可以从尼罗河一直通达至撒马尔罕。

This would probably have been enough for you or me, but Alexander was far from satisfied.

像你我这样的人或许就会感到心满意足了，但是亚历山大还远没感到知足，

He wanted to rule over new, undiscovered lands.

他要统治新的、尚未发现的国家。

He longed to see the mysterious, far-off peoples merchants talked about when they came to Persia with rare goods from the East.

他要看一看神秘的远方民族，有时带着稀有商品从东方到波斯来的商人讲述这些民族的状况。

Like Dionysus in the Greek legend, he wanted to ride in triumph² to the sun-burnished Indians of the East, and there receive their tribute³.

像希腊神话中的巴克科斯神那样，他想胜利进军直逼东方晒得黑黑的印度人，接受他们的崇拜。

So he spent little time in the Persian capital,

所以他没有在波斯首都呆多久，

and in 327 BC led his army on the most perilous⁴ adventures over unknown and unexplored mountain passes and down along the valley of the Indus into India.

在公元前327年率领大军冒着极大的危险越过陌生的、玄妙莫测的高山的隘口进入下面的印度河河谷，挺进印度。

1 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

2 triumph   

n.胜利，成功；vi.获胜，成功；击败

参考例句：

• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。
• I could detect no triumph in his eye.我不能在他的眼里看出胜利的喜悦。

3 tribute   

n.颂词，称赞，(表示敬意的)礼物；贡品

参考例句：

• She accepted their tribute graciously.她慈祥地接受了他们的致意。
• Many conquered nations had to pay tribute to the rulers of ancient Rome.许多被征服的国家必须向古罗马的统治者朝贡。

4 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。