CHAPTER XXVII.

 Capture of Gaza.

When Alexander heard this, he kept himself for a time near the military engines, out of the reach of missiles. But when a vigorous sortie was made from the city, and the Arabs were carrying torches to set fire to the military engines, and from their commanding position above hurling¹ missiles at the Macedonians, who were defending themselves from lower ground, were driving them down from the mound² which they had made, then Alexander either wilfully³ disobeyed the soothsayer, or forgot the prophecy from excitement in the heat of action. Taking the shield-bearing guards, he hastened to the rescue where the Macedonians were especially hard pressed, and prevented them from being driven down from the mound in disgraceful flight. But he was himself wounded by a bolt from a catapult, right through the shield and breastplate into the shoulder. When he perceived that Aristander had spoken the truth about the wound, he 138rejoiced, because he thought he should also capture the city by the aid of the soothsayer. And yet indeed he was not easily cured of the wound. In the meantime the military engines with which he had captured Tyre arrived, having been sent for by sea; and be ordered the mound to be constructed quite round the city on all sides, two stades338 in breadth and 250 feet in height. When his engines had been prepared, and brought up along the mound, they shook down a large extent of wall; and mines being dug in various places, and the earth being drawn⁴ out by stealth, the wall fell down in many parts, subsiding⁵ into the emptied space.339 The Macedonians then commanded a large extent of ground with their missiles, driving back the men who were defending the city, from the towers. Nevertheless, the men of the city sustained three assaults, though many of their number were killed or wounded; but at the fourth attack, Alexander led up the phalanx of the Macedonians from all sides, threw down the part of the wall which was undermined, and shook down another large portion of it by battering⁶ it with his engines, so that he rendered the assault an easy matter through the breaches⁷ with his scaling ladders. Accordingly the ladders were brought up to the wall; and then there arose a great emulation⁸ among those of the Macedonians who laid any claim to valour, to see who should be the first to scale the wall. The first to do so was Neoptolemus, one of the Companions, of the family of the Aeacidae; and after him mounted one rank after another with their officers. When once some of the Macedonians got within the wall, they split open in succession the gates which each party happened to light upon, and thus admitted the whole army into the city. But though their city was now in 139the hands of the enemy, the Gazaeans nevertheless stood together and fought; so that they were all slain⁹ fighting there, as each man had been stationed. Alexander sold their wives and children into slavery; and having peopled the city again from the neighbouring settlers, he made use of it as a fortified¹⁰ post for the war.

1 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

3 wilfully   

adv.任性固执地；蓄意地

参考例句：

• Don't wilfully cling to your reckless course. 不要一意孤行。 来自辞典例句
• These missionaries even wilfully extended the extraterritoriality to Chinese converts and interfered in Chinese judicial authority. 这些传教士还肆意将"治外法权"延伸至中国信徒，干涉司法。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 subsiding   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• The flooded river was subsiding rapidly. 泛滥的河水正在迅速退落。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gradually the tension was subsiding, gradually the governor was relenting. 风潮渐渐地平息了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

6 battering   

n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The film took a battering from critics in the US. 该影片在美国遭遇到批评家的猛烈抨击。
• He kept battering away at the door. 他接连不断地砸门。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

8 emulation   

n.竞争；仿效

参考例句：

• The young man worked hard in emulation of his famous father.这位年轻人努力工作，要迎头赶上他出名的父亲。
• His spirit of assiduous study is worthy of emulation.他刻苦钻研的精神，值得效法。

9 slain   

杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词)

参考例句：

• The soldiers slain in the battle were burried that night. 在那天夜晚埋葬了在战斗中牺牲了的战士。
• His boy was dead, slain by the hand of the false Amulius. 他的儿子被奸诈的阿缪利乌斯杀死了。

10 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。