世界小史 第124期:忏悔者

 But the Indians did not submit to him willingly.

但是印度人并没有自愿臣服于他。

The hermits¹ and penitents² in the forests denounced the conquerors³ from the distant West in their sermons.

森林里的忏悔者们和遁世修行者们都纷纷讲道反对来自遥远的西方的这位征服者。

And the soldiers of the warrior⁴ caste fought valiantly⁶, so that every city had to be besieged⁷ and conquered in its turn.

印度的武士种姓的武士们作战英勇，所以亚历山大不得不一一围困并攻占每一座城市。

Alexander himself was no less valiant⁵, as is shown by his encounter with an Indian king.

亚历山大本人显示了极大的胆识，从他与一位印度国王的交战可以看得出来。

King Porus had lain in wait for him on a branch of the Indus River, with a mighty⁸ army of war elephants and foot soldiers.

印度国王波罗斯率领一支由战象和步兵组成的大军在印度河的一条支流的河畔迎战他。

When Alexander reached the river the king's army was positioned on the far bank,

当亚历山大到达河流时，这位国王的军队在河的另一边，

and Alexander and his soldiers had no choice but to cross the river in the face of the enemy host.

他不得不在敌军面前率领他的士兵渡过这条河。

His success was one of his greatest feats⁹.

他成功地渡过了河，这属于他的伟大业绩之一。

Yet even more remarkable¹⁰ was his victory over that army, in the stifling¹¹ heat of India.

但是更令人惊奇的是他冒着印度闷热、潮湿的酷暑天气真的击败了这支军队。

Porus was brought before him in chains.

波罗斯被人捆绑住并带到他的面前。

1 hermits   

（尤指早期基督教的）隐居修道士，隐士，遁世者( hermit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In the ancient China,hermits usually lived in hamlets. 在古代中国，隐士们通常都住在小村子里。
• Some Buddhist monks live in solitude as hermits. 有些和尚在僻静处隐居。

2 penitents   

n.后悔者( penitent的名词复数 )；忏悔者

参考例句：

3 conquerors   

征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Danes had selfconfidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual. 这些丹麦人具有征服者的自信，而且他们的安全防卫也是漫不经心的。
• The conquerors believed in crushing the defeated people into submission, knowing that they could not win their loyalty by the victory. 征服者们知道他们的胜利并不能赢得失败者的忠心，于是就认为只有通过武力才能将他们压服。

4 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

5 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。

6 valiantly   

adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳

参考例句：

• He faced the enemy valiantly, shuned no difficulties and dangers and would not hesitate to lay down his life if need be. 他英勇对敌，不避艰险，赴汤蹈火在所不计。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Murcertach strove valiantly to meet the new order of things. 面对这个新事态，默克塔克英勇奋斗。 来自辞典例句

7 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

8 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

9 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。

10 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

11 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。