The king’s galley, which was the admiral’s own ship, presented a striking appearance. At the stern stood Alexander, a splendid figure, tall and stately, and clad in gilded15 armour16. The pages, wearing purple tunics17 with short cloaks richly embroidered18 with gold thread, were clustered about him on the after deck, while, close at hand, conspicuous19 in their sacrificial white garments, stood the priest and his attendants. All the crew wore holiday attire20, and every part of the vessel3 was crowned with garlands.
At a signal from the king the galley pushed off from the shore; the fugleman struck up a lively strain of martial21 Dorian music; the rowers, oarsmen picked for strength and endurance from the whole fleet, struck the water with their oars22 in faultless time, while Alexander himself held the rudder. At first he steered23 along the shore, for he was bound for the southern extremity24 of the peninsula, on which stood the chapel25 of Protesilaüs,[14] the hero who, whether from self-sacrifice or ill-luck, had expiated26 by his death the doom28 pronounced on his people. Reaching the place he went ashore29, followed by his companions and attendants, and, after duly performing[42] sacrifice to the hero, returned to his ship. The prow30 was then turned straight to the opposite coast. In mid-channel the music of the fugleman’s flute31 ceased, and the rowers rested on their oars. Leaving the rudder in the charge of Hephaestion, the king advanced to sacrifice the milk-white bull, which, with richly gilded horns and garlands of flowers hanging about its neck, stood ready for the rite32. He plucked some hair from between the horns, and duly burned them on the coals of a brasier, and then sprinkled some salted meal and poured a few drops of wine on the animal’s forehead. The attendants meanwhile plunged33 knives into its throat, and caught the streaming blood in broad shallow dishes.[15] The entrails were then duly examined by the soothsayer, who, after an apparently34 scrupulous35 investigation36, declared that they presented a singularly favourable37 appearance. This done, the king took a golden cup from the hand of an attendant, and after filling it with the choicest Chian wine, poured out libations to Poseidon, the sea-god, and to the sisterhood of the nymphs, imploring38 that they would continue to him and to his companions the favour which they had shown to the Greek heroes of old times. His prayer ended, he flung the goblet39, as that which should[43] never be profaned40 by any meaner function, into the stream of the Hellespont.
These ceremonies ended, a very brief space of time sufficed to bring the galley to the “Harbour of the Ach?ans,” the very spot which tradition asserted to have been the landing-place of the host of Agamemnon. The king was the first to leap ashore. For a moment he stood with his spear poised41, as if awaiting an enemy who might dispute his landing; then, no one appearing, stuck the weapon in the ground, and implored42 the favour of Zeus and the whole company of the dwellers43 in Olympus on the undertaking44 of which that day’s work was the beginning. Then followed a number of remarkable45 acts. They were partly, one cannot doubt, intended for effect, the performances of a man who desired above all things to pose as the representative of Greek feeling, to show himself to the world as the successor of the heroes who had championed Greece against the lawless insolence46 of Asia. But they were also in a great degree the expression of a genuine feeling. Alexander had a romantic love for the whole cycle of Homeric song and Homeric legend. A copy of the Iliad was the companion of all his campaigns; he even slept with it under his pillow. It was his proudest boast that he was descended47 from Achilles; and now he was actually performing in person the drama which had been the romance of his life. His first visit was to the temple of Athené that crowned the hill, identified[44] at least by the inhabitants of the place[16] with the Pergama of ancient Troy. The walls of the temple were adorned48 with suits of armour, worn, it was said by the guardians49 of the place, by heroes who had fought against Troy. The king had several of these taken down, not intending to wear them himself, but meaning to have them carried with him during his campaigns, a purpose which was afterwards fulfilled. He left instead his own gilded armour, and added other valuable offerings to the temple. From Athené’s shrine50 he went to the palace of Priam, where his guides showed him the very altar of Zeus at which the old king was slaughtered51 by the savage52 son of Achilles. But this son was an ancestor of his own, and he felt himself bound to expiate27 by offering sacrifice the wrath53 which the murdered man might feel against the descendant of the murderer. The sight which crowned the glories of the day was the tomb and monumental column of Achilles. It was the practice of pilgrims to this sacred spot to strip off their garments, anoint themselves, and run naked round the mound54 under which the great hero reposed55. “Happy Achilles,” he cried, when the ceremony was finished; “who didst find a faithful friend to love thee during life, and a great poet to celebrate thee after death. The friend is here,” he went on,[45] turning with an affectionate gesture to Hephaestion, “but the poet——” and he was thinking, it may be possible, of the unlucky Ch?rilus.
Nothing adverse56 had occurred from morning to evening, but those who were responsible for the success of the operation had been profoundly anxious. Sentinels stood on the highest ground at the western end of the Hellespont, to watch the seas both toward the south and the west for the first signs of the approach of a hostile squadron, but not a sail was to be seen; and the tedious and dangerous operation of transferring the army from one continent to the other had been executed in safety. A squadron of agile57 Ph?nician galleys58, driven by resolute59 captains on that helpless crowd of transports, might have wrought60 irreparable damage, and even crushed the undertaking in its first stage. This would have been done if the Persian king had listened to his wisest counsellors; but it was not to be. Then, as ever, it was true, “Whom the gods will ruin they first strike with madness.”
The army bivouacked that night, as it best could, on or near the shore. Next morning it marched past the king in battle array. A more perfect instrument of war the world had never seen. Skirmishers, light infantry61, cavalry, all were as highly disciplined and as admirably equipped as the lavish62 expenditure63 of trouble and money could make them. But the irresistible64 strength of the force was in its famous[46] phalanx. Each division—there were six of them that passed that day under their general’s eyes—had a front file of 128 men, while the files were sixteen deep. Every soldier in this compact body of more than two thousand men carried the huge Macedonian pike. It was twenty-two feet in length, being so weighted that the fifteen feet which projected beyond the bearer were fairly balanced by the six behind him. The pikes of the second rank, which stood three feet behind the first, projected twelve feet before the line, those of the third nine, of the fourth six, of the fifth three. The other ranks sloped their pikes upward, over the shoulders of their comrades, to form a sort of protection against missiles that might be discharged against them. The whole presented a most formidable appearance; and its appearance was not more formidable than its actual strength. It was cumbrous; it could not man?uvre with ease; it could not accommodate itself to difficult ground. But on ground of its own, and when it could bring its strength to bear, it was irresistible. The best infantry of Greece, though led by skilful65 generals, and fighting with desperate courage, had been crushed by it. Long afterwards, when the Macedonian army was but the shadow of its former self, the sight of the phalanx could still strike terror into the conquerors66 of the world.[17]
[47]
Alexander’s eyes were lighted up with pride as the massive columns marched past him. “Nothing can resist them,” he cried; “with these I shall conquer the world.”
点击收听单词发音
1 galley | |
n.(飞机或船上的)厨房单层甲板大帆船;军舰舰长用的大划艇; | |
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2 bustle | |
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹 | |
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3 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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4 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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5 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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6 draught | |
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计 | |
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7 munitions | |
n.军火,弹药;v.供应…军需品 | |
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8 artillery | |
n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队) | |
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9 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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10 pier | |
n.码头;桥墩,桥柱;[建]窗间壁,支柱 | |
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11 contemplated | |
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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12 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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13 faculty | |
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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14 procuring | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的现在分词 );拉皮条 | |
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15 gilded | |
a.镀金的,富有的 | |
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16 armour | |
(=armor)n.盔甲;装甲部队 | |
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17 tunics | |
n.(动植物的)膜皮( tunic的名词复数 );束腰宽松外衣;一套制服的短上衣;(天主教主教等穿的)短祭袍 | |
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18 embroidered | |
adj.绣花的 | |
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19 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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20 attire | |
v.穿衣,装扮[同]array;n.衣着;盛装 | |
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21 martial | |
adj.战争的,军事的,尚武的,威武的 | |
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22 oars | |
n.桨,橹( oar的名词复数 );划手v.划(行)( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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23 steered | |
v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 );操纵;控制;引导 | |
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24 extremity | |
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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25 chapel | |
n.小教堂,殡仪馆 | |
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26 expiated | |
v.为(所犯罪过)接受惩罚,赎(罪)( expiate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27 expiate | |
v.抵补,赎罪 | |
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28 doom | |
n.厄运,劫数;v.注定,命定 | |
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29 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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30 prow | |
n.(飞机)机头,船头 | |
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31 flute | |
n.长笛;v.吹笛 | |
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32 rite | |
n.典礼,惯例,习俗 | |
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33 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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34 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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35 scrupulous | |
adj.审慎的,小心翼翼的,完全的,纯粹的 | |
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36 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
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37 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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38 imploring | |
恳求的,哀求的 | |
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39 goblet | |
n.高脚酒杯 | |
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40 profaned | |
v.不敬( profane的过去式和过去分词 );亵渎,玷污 | |
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41 poised | |
a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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42 implored | |
恳求或乞求(某人)( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 dwellers | |
n.居民,居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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44 undertaking | |
n.保证,许诺,事业 | |
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45 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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46 insolence | |
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度 | |
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47 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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48 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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49 guardians | |
监护人( guardian的名词复数 ); 保护者,维护者 | |
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50 shrine | |
n.圣地,神龛,庙;v.将...置于神龛内,把...奉为神圣 | |
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51 slaughtered | |
v.屠杀,杀戮,屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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53 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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54 mound | |
n.土墩,堤,小山;v.筑堤,用土堆防卫 | |
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55 reposed | |
v.将(手臂等)靠在某人(某物)上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56 adverse | |
adj.不利的;有害的;敌对的,不友好的 | |
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57 agile | |
adj.敏捷的,灵活的 | |
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58 galleys | |
n.平底大船,战舰( galley的名词复数 );(船上或航空器上的)厨房 | |
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59 resolute | |
adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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60 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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61 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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62 lavish | |
adj.无节制的;浪费的;vt.慷慨地给予,挥霍 | |
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63 expenditure | |
n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出;使用,消耗 | |
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64 irresistible | |
adj.非常诱人的,无法拒绝的,无法抗拒的 | |
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65 skilful | |
(=skillful)adj.灵巧的,熟练的 | |
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66 conquerors | |
征服者,占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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