亚历山大大帝-5000词床头灯英语学习读本(45)(英汉对照) 节选

bsp;THE history of the life of every individual who has, for any
reason, attracted exteusively the attention of mankind, has been
written in a great variety of ways by a multitude of authors, and
persons sometimes wonder why we should have so many different
accounts of the same thing.
The reason is that each one of these accounts is intended for a
different set of readers, who read with ideas and purposes widely
different from each other. Among the twenty millions of people in
the United States, there are perhaps two million, between the ages
of fifteen and twenty-five, who wish to become acquainted, in gen-
eral, with the leading events in the history of the Old World, and
of ancient times, but who, coming upon the stage in this land and
at this period, have ideas and conceptions so widely different from
those of other nations and of other times, that a mere republication
of existing accounts is not what they require.
The story must be told expressly to them. The things that are
to be explained, the points that are to be brought out, the compara-
tive degree of importance to be given to the various details, will all
be different, on account of the difference in the situation, the ideas,
and the objects of these new readers, compared with those of the
various other classes of readers which former authors have had in
view. It is for this reason, and with this view, that the present series
of historical narratives is presented to the public. The author, hav-
ing had some opportunity to become acquainted with the position,
the ideas, and the intellectual wants of those whom he addresses,
presents the result of his labors to them, with the hope that it may
be found successful in accomplishing its design.
前言
每—位曾出于某种原因引起世人广泛关注的人的
生平历史都被许多作者以各种各样的方式描述过，人
们有时奇怪为什么对相同的事情会有那么多不同的叙
述。
这是因为每种叙述针对的都是不同的读者群，他
们观点各异，阅读目的也极不相同。美国两千万人口
当中，可能有两百万年龄在十五到二十五岁之间的人
希望能大致了解旧大陆与古代历史上的重大事件，但
身处美国，生在现代，他们的观念和思想同其他国
家、其他历史时期的人有着巨大的差异，因此对现有
版本的简单再版并不是他们所需要的。
故事是要专门讲给他们的。需要解释的事件、需
要说明的重点、各个细节的相对重要程度，都要因这
些新读者与以前的作者们所考虑的其他各读者群的不
同处境、观念和目的而有所不同。正是基于这一原因
和目的，我们向公众推出本系列历史题材丛书。作者
有幸了解他所针对的读者群所处的环境、他们的观念
和对知识的渴求。并将自己的劳动成果奉献给他们，
希望该作品能成功地实现其创作目的。
THUS far Alexander had had only the lieutenants and generals
of the Persian monarch to contend with. Darius had at first looked
upon the invasion of his vast lands by such a mere boy, as he
called him, and by so small an army, with contempt. He sent word
to his generals in Asia Minor to seize the young fool, and send him
to Persia bound hand and foot. By the time, however, that Alexan-
der had possessed himself of all Asia Minor, Darius began to find
that, though young, he was no fool, and that it was not likely to be
very easy to seize him.
Accordingly, Darius collected an immense army himself, and
advanced to meet the Macedonians in person. Nothing could exceed
the ceremony and magnificence of his preparations. There were im-
mense numbers of troops, and they were of all nations. There were
even a great many Greeks among his forces, many of them joined
from the Greeks of Asia Minor. There were some from Greece itself
-- mercenaries, as they were called; that is, soldiers who fought
for pay, and who were willing to enter into any service which would
pay them best.
There were even some Greek officers and counselors in the
family and court of Darius. One of them, named Charidemus, of-
fended the king very much by the free opinion which he expressed
of the uselessness of all his ceremony and parade in preparing for
an encounter with such an enemy as Alexander. "Perhaps," said
Charidemus, "you may not be pleased with my speaking to you
第六章
打败大流士
到那时为止，亚历山大对付的还只是波斯王朝的
尉官和将军们。起初大流士对这个他称之为孩子的亚
历山大和那么一小队人马对他庞大国土的侵略十分蔑
视。他传话给小亚细亚的将军们，要他们活捉那个年
轻的傻瓜，捆住手脚送到波斯来。然而等到亚历山大
占领了整个小亚细亚的时候，大流士开始发现他虽然
年轻，却并不是傻瓜，不可能轻易将其俘获。
于是，大流士集结起庞大的军队，亲自率领迎击
马其顿人。他大张旗鼓准备迎敌，其规模之宏大简直
无与伦比。他的队伍多得数不清，他们来自各个匡
家。甚至还有大批希腊人，其中很多来自小亚细亚。
还有一些来自希腊本土，他们是所谓的雇佣兵；就是
为钱而打仗的士兵，谁给的报酬*高，他们就在谁的
军中服役。
大流士的家族和宫庭中甚至还有一些希腊军官和
顾问。其中一个叫卡里德姆斯的，因其坦率的进谏而
大大冒犯了国王，他表示国王为迎战亚历山大那样一
个敌人而做的准备工作中的各种仪式和炫耀都毫无用
处。卡里德姆斯说：。我这么直截了当地说话，您可能
会不高兴，但是如果我现在不这样做的话，对您的亚
洲邻邦们来说也许是可怕的；这样的准备无益于对付
Asian neighbors; but such sort of preparation will be of little ava/1
against Alexander and his Greeks. Your army is bright with purple
and gold. No one who had not seen it could concevie of its magnif-
icence; but it will not be of any avail against the terrible energy of
the Greeks. Their minds are bent on something very different from
idle show. They are intent on securing the substantial greatness of
their weapons, and on acquiring the discipline and the toughness
essential for the most efficient use of them. They will despise all
your parade of purple and gold. They will not even value it as trea-
sure. They g/ory in their ability to dispense with all the luxuries
and conveniences of life. They live upon the coarsest food. At night
they sleep upon the bare ground. By day they are always on the
march. They brave hunger, cold, and every species of exposure with
pride and pleasure, having the greatest contempt for anything like
softness and gentleness of character. All this ceremony, with ineffi-
cient weapons, and inefficient men to use them, will be of no avail
against their unbeatable courage and energy; and the best disposi-
tion that you can make of all your gold, and silver, and other trea-
sures, is to send it away and gather good soldiers with it, if indeed
gold and silver will buy them."
The Greeks were used to energetic speaking as well as acting,
but Charidemus did not sufficiently consider that the Persians were
not accustomed to hear such plain language as this. Darius was
very much displeased. In his anger he condemned him to death.
"Very well," said Charidemus, "I can die. But the man who will
take revenge upon you for my death is at hand. My advice is good,
and Alexander will soon punish you for not regarding it."