美国学生人类历史 第144期:骑士精神(3)

 Like all human institutions, Knighthood was doomed² to perish as soon as it had outlived its usefulness. 像所有的人类制度一样，骑士制度一旦衰老无用，它便注定了灭亡的命运。

The crusades, about which one of the next chapters tells, were followed by a great revival³ of trade. Cities grew overnight. 十字军东征带动了商业的复兴。城市一夜之间星罗棋布于欧洲的原野。

The townspeople became rich, hired good school teachers and soon were the equals of the knights⁴. 城镇的人们变得富有起来 他们雇佣了好的学校的老师 不久他们也变得跟骑士一样了

The invention of gun-powder deprived the heavily armed "Chevalier" of his former advantage 火药的发明取代了曾经骑士们认为很好用但是携带起来很不方便的武器

and the use of mercenaries made it impossible to conduct a battle with the delicate niceties of a chess tournament. 使用雇佣军作战，便不可能再像下棋那样，以精致的步骤和富于美感的策划来指挥一场战役。

The knight¹ became superfluous⁵. 骑士变成了纯粹多余的摆设，骑士精神成为了不合时宜的奢侈品。

Soon he became a ridiculous figure, with his devotion to ideals that had no longer any practical value. 当骑士们献身理想的高尚情操失去其实用价值后，他们本人也沦为某种荒诞可笑的角色。

It was said that the noble Don Quixote de la Mancha had been the last of the true knights. 据说，尊贵的堂吉河德先生是世界上最后一位真正的骑士。

After his death, his trusted sword and his armour⁶ were sold to pay his debts. 自从他去世后，伴他相依为命、勇闯天涯的盔甲和宝剑被相继拍卖，以抵偿他留下的个人债务。

But somehow or other that sword seems to have fallen into the hands of a number of men. 不过不知怎么，他的宝剑似乎还落到过许多人之手。在福奇谷的严冬里，华盛顿将军佩带过它。

Washington carried it during the hopeless days of Valley Forge. 在喀土穆被包围的绝望日子里，

It was the only defence of Gordon, when he had refused to desert the people who had been entrusted⁷ to his care, 戈登将军拒绝抛弃把生命托付给他的人民，

and stayed to meet his death in the besieged⁸ fortress⁹ of Khartoum. 勇敢地等待着死亡的命运。当时，这把宝剑是他唯一的武器。

And I am not quite sure but that it proved of invaluable¹⁰ strength in winning the Great War. 我不太清楚它在刚刚过去的世界大战究竟中发挥了多大作用，但事实证明，它的价值是难以估量的。

1 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

2 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

3 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

4 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

5 superfluous   

adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的

参考例句：

• She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
• That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。

6 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

7 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

10 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。