世界小史 第54期:特洛伊人

 Here are some lines to be chanted aloud while tapping their rhythm,

这里是一些他们打节拍时大声唱出来的诗行，

Lines that were used by the poets of Greece in their stories of warfare¹,

希腊诗人用于讲述他们战争故事的诗行，

Telling the contests of gods and of heroes in earlier ages.

讲述早期神和英雄之间的争斗。

Verses like this, with six beats to each line, were called "hexameters" by the Greeks.

像这样的诗行，每行诗句有六个音步，被希腊人称作“六音步诗”。

The rhythm suits the Greek language, but it sounds a little unnatural² in English.)

韵律适合希腊的语言，但在英语中听起来有些不自然。

You will have heard of the war that arose when Paris, the Trojan,

你已经听说战争是这样引起的，当帕里斯，特洛伊人，

Sided with Venus and gave her the apple of gold in the contest,

为了支持维纳斯，在争斗中将金苹果给了她，

How, as reward, she helped him to seize the beautiful Helen,

作为回报，维纳斯帮助他夺得美丽的海伦，

Wife of the King of the Greeks, Menelaus the Caller in Battle,

希腊国王墨涅依斯的妻子，战争的引起者，

How an army of Greeks laid siege to the city of Troy to regain³ her,

一支希腊大军如何向特洛伊城进发夺回海伦，

With Agamemnon and Nestor the sage⁴, Achilles and Ajax,

有阿伽门农，圣人内斯特，阿喀琉斯和阿贾克斯，

And countless⁵ heroes who fought in that war with the sons of King Priam,

以及无数英雄加入了那场战争，与国王普里阿摩斯的儿子，

Paris and Hector, for ten long summers and winters before the City at last was conquered and razed⁶ to the ground by the victors.

帕里斯和赫克托耳一起作战，并围困了特洛伊城达整整十年之久，最后被胜利者征服并夷为平地。

1 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

2 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

3 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

4 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

5 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

6 razed   

v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The village was razed to the ground . 这座村庄被夷为平地。
• Many villages were razed to the ground. 许多村子被夷为平地。 来自《简明英汉词典》