世界小史 第71期:繼承人薛西斯
He died soon after, leaving his son and successor, Xerxes, to take revenge on Greece once and for all.
不久他便死去，把向希臘徹底復(fù)仇的任務(wù)一下子交給了他的繼承人薛西斯。
Xerxes, a hard, ambitious man, needed no urging.
薛西斯是一個(gè)冷酷無(wú)情的有統(tǒng)治欲的人，他二話沒(méi)說(shuō)，馬上就干。
He assembled an army from among all the subject peoples of his empire.
他集結(jié)一支由臣服于波斯人的所有各民族組成的軍隊(duì)。
Dressed in their traditional costumes, with their weapons, their bows and arrows, shields and swords, lances, war-chariots and slings1,
他們?nèi)忌泶└髯缘貐^(qū)傳統(tǒng)的服裝前來(lái)并帶著各自的武器，帶著弓箭、盾牌和劍，帶著標(biāo)槍、戰(zhàn)車或投石器。
they were a vast, swirling2 multitude, said by some to number more than a million men.
這是一支龐大的、數(shù)目驚人的軍隊(duì)，據(jù)說(shuō)有100多萬(wàn)人。
What hope had the Greeks in the face of such a host? This time Xerxes himself took command.
簡(jiǎn)直看不出，這支大軍一到，希臘人還會(huì)有什么生路。這一回薛西斯御駕親征。
But when the Persians tried to cross the narrow neck of sea which separates Asia Minor3 from today's Istanbul,
當(dāng)波斯大軍試圖憑借他們由船組成的浮橋越過(guò)隔斷從今天伊斯坦布爾到小亞細(xì)亞的狹小海峽時(shí)，
on a bridge made of boats, rough waves tore the bridge apart.
洶涌的海浪沖毀了船橋。
In his fury Xerxes had the waves lashed4 with chains. But I doubt if the sea took any notice.
薛西斯隨即怒氣沖沖地讓士兵用鐵鏈鞭打海浪。但我懷疑大海是否買他的帳。
