世界小史 第126期:原路返回

 　　Of course it would have been far the simplest thing to do, since those regions had already been conquered.

　　当然原路返回要省事得多，因为沿路各地区都已被占领。

　　But Alexander wanted new sights and new conquests.

　　但是亚历山大要见识新东西，要占领新地方。

　　So they followed the Indus down as far as the sea.

　　所以他沿印度河一直往下挺进至大海。

　　There he put part of his army onto ships and sent them home that way.

　　他让一部分军队坐船，送他们回家。

　　He himself chose to endure new and terrible hardships as he marched with the rest of the army over pitiless desert wastes.

　　他自己却冒着新的、可怕的疾苦穿越荒凉的、艰难险阻的沙漠。

　　Alexander bore all the privations his army endured and took no more water and slept no more than the next man.

　　他和他的军队同甘共苦，他不比别人多喝一口水或多休息一刻。

　　He fought in the foremost ranks.On one occasion, he only escaped death by a miracle.

　　他身先士卒，战斗在最前列。有一回，只有奇迹才能使他幸免一死。

　　That day they were besieging¹ a fortress².

　　那天他们被一座要塞围困。

　　Ladders had been set in place to scale the walls. Alexander was first up.

　　当时士兵们已把梯子放在正确的位置以便攀登城墙。亚历山大第一个攀登上去。

　　He had reached the top when the ladder snapped under the weight of the soldiers behind, leaving him alone on top of the wall.

　　当他站在城墙上时，梯子在他的随后冲来上的士兵们的重压下折断，于是他便单独一人站在城墙上。

1 besieging   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They constituted a near-insuperable obstacle to the besieging infantry. 它们就会形成围城步兵几乎不可逾越的障碍。
• He concentrated the sun's rays on the Roman ships besieging the city and burned them. 他把集中的阳光照到攻城的罗马船上，把它们焚毁。

2 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。