世界小史 第127期:盾牌

 　　His men shouted to him to jump back down.

　　士兵们向他大声喊叫，要他赶快跳回来。

　　Instead he leapt straight into the city and, with his back to the ramparts, defended himself with his shield against overwhelming odds¹.

　　但是他却一跃直接跳进城里，并靠在墙上用他的盾牌抗击具有压倒性优势的敌人。

　　By the time the others were able to scale the wall to rescue him, he had already been hit by an arrow.

　　当其他人跟着越过城墙来解救他时，他已经被一枝箭射伤。

　　It must have been thrilling!

　　当时的情景一定很惊心动魄！

　　In the end they returned to the Persian capital.

　　最后他们回到了波斯的首都。

　　But since Alexander had burnt it down when he conquered it, he chose to set up his court in Babylon.

　　但它在被亚历山大占领时已被烧毁，所以他就在巴比伦建立宫廷。

　　This was no idle choice: Son of the Sun to the Egyptians, King of Kings to the Persians, with troops in India and in Athens,

　　这不是没有意义的选择：他现在对于埃及人来说是太阳之子，对于波斯人来说是王中之王，他在印度、雅典有自己的军队，

　　he was determined² to show the world that he was its rightful ruler.

　　他如今也要表现得像人们期望中的一个真正的世界统治者那样。

　　It may not have been pride that prompted him to do so.

　　也许他这样做并非出于骄傲。

　　As a pupil of Aristotle he understood human nature and knew that power needs pomp and dignity if it wants to make the right impression.

　　作为亚里士多德的学生他了解人性，知道权力只有与豪华和威严相结合才会给人正确的印象。

　　So he introduced all the age-old ceremonies of the Babylonian and Persian courts.

　　所以他采用了自几千年以来巴比伦和波斯的宫廷一直沿用的一整套隆重的礼节。

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。