Then there was grave risk of the Turks overcoming the Venetian flagship, destroying the left wing, and then attacking the centre division on the flank and from the rear, making victory easy. Barbarigo's nephew Marino Contarini overcame the danger. He boarded his uncle's ship on the larboard side with all his people, and fought on board perhaps the fiercest combat of all on that memorable11 day. All was madness, fury, carnage and terror, until Mahomet Scirocco was expelled from the Venetian flagship and penned, in his turn, in his own ship, where he at last succumbed12 to his wounds. Clinging to the side, they beheaded him there and threw him into the water. Terror then spread among the Turks, and the few galleys at liberty turned their prows13 towards the shore. There they ran aground, the decimated crews saving themselves by swimming.
D. John had no time to reflect either on this danger, or that catastrophe14, or that victory, for he was also hard pressed. Five minutes after Mahomet Scirocco had fallen on Barbarigo, Ali Pasha fell on him with all the weight of his hatred15, fury and desire for glory. He could be seen proudly standing16 on the castle of the stern, a magnificent scimitar in his hand, dressed in a caftan of white brocade woven with silk and silver, with a helmet of dark steel under his turban, with inscriptions17 in gold and precious stones, turquoises18, rubies19, and diamonds, which flashed in the sunlight. Slowly the two divisions came on, unheeding what happened on the right or left, and in the midst were the galleys of the two Generalissimos, not firing a shot, and only moving forward silently. When the length of half a galley separated the two ships, the "Sultana" of Ali Pasha suddenly fired three guns; the first destroyed some of the ironwork of the "Real" and killed several rowers; the second traversed the boat; and the third passed over the cook's galley without harming anyone. The "Real" replied by sweeping20 with her shots the stern and gangway of the "Sultana," and a thick, black smoke at once enveloped21 Turks and Christians, ships and combatants. From this black cloud, which appeared to be vomited22 from Hell, could be heard a dreadful grinding noise, and horrible cries, and through the smoke of the powder could be seen splinters of wood and iron, broken oars23, weapons, human limbs and dead bodies flying through the air and falling in the bloodstained sea. It was the galley of Ali which had struck that of D. John by the prow with such a tremendous shock that the peak of the "Sultana" entered the "Real" as far as the fourth bench of rowers; the violence of the shock had naturally made each ship recoil24; but they could not draw apart. The yards and rigging had become entangled25, and they heaved first to one side and then to the other with dreadful grinding and movement, striving to get free without succeeding, like two gladiators, whose bodies are separated, who grasp each other tightly, and then seize each other by the hair. From the captain's place where he was, at the foot of the standard of the League, D. John ordered grappling-irons to be thrown from the prow, holding the ships close together, and making them into one field of battle. Like lions the Christians flung themselves on board the ship, destroying all in their path, and twice they reached the mainmast of the "Sultana," and as often had to retire, foot by foot and inch by inch, fighting over these frail26 boards, from which there was neither escape, nor help, nor hope of compassion27, nor other outlet28 than death.
The "Sultana" was reinforced with reserves from the galleys, and to encourage them, Ali, in his turn, threw himself on board the ship. The "Sultana" rode higher out of the water than the "Real," and the men poured down into her like a cataract29 from on high; the shock was so tremendous that the Field-Marshals Figueroa and Moncada fell back with their men, and the Turks succeeded in reaching the foremast. All the men at the prow hastened there, and D. John jumped from the captain's post, sword in hand, fighting like a soldier to make them retire. This was the critical moment of the battle. There was neither line, nor formation, nor right, nor left, nor centre; only could be seen, as far as the eye could reach, fire, smoke and groups of galleys in the midst, fighting with each other, vomiting30 fire and death, with masts and hulls31 bristling32 with arrows, like an enormous porcupine33, who puts out its quills34 to defend itself and to fight; wounding, killing35, capturing, cheering, burning were seen and heard on all sides, and dead bodies and bodies of the living falling into the water, and spars, yards, rigging, torn-off heads, turbans, quivers, shields, swords, scimitars, arquebuses, cannon36, arms, everything that was then within the grasp of barbarism or civilisation37 for dealing38 death and destruction.
At this critical moment, by a superhuman effort, a galley freed itself from that chaos39 of horrors, and threw itself, like a missile from a catapult, hurled40 by Titans, against the stern of Ali's galley, forcing the peak as far as the third bench of rowers.
It was Marco Antonio Colonna who had come to the assistance of D. John of Austria; at the same time the Marqués de Santa Cruz executed a similar man?uvre on one of the flanks. The help was great and opportune41; still, the Turks succeeded in retiring in good order to their galley; but here, pressed hardly by the followers42 of Colonna and Santa Cruz, they tumbled over the sides, dead and living, into the water, Turks and Christians fighting to the last with nails and teeth, and destroying each other until engulfed43 in the gory44 waves.
Among this mass of desperate people Ali perished beside the tiller; some say that he cut his throat and threw himself into the sea; others that his head was cut off and put on a pike. Then D. John ordered the standard of the Prophet to be lowered, and amidst shouts of victory, the flag of the League was hoisted45 in its place.
D. John had been wounded in the leg,[12] but without limping at all he mounted the castle of the vanquished46 galley to survey from there the state of the battle. On the left wing the few galleys left to Mahomet Scirocco were flying towards the land, and could be seen running violently aground in the bays, the crews throwing themselves into the water to swim ashore47.
But, unluckily, the same was not happening on the right. Doria, deceived by the tactics of Aluch Ali, had followed him out to sea, making a wide space between the right wing and the centre division; D. John's orders to him to come back did not arrive in time. Meanwhile, Aluch Ali contented48 himself by watching Doria's man?uvres, keeping up with him, but not attacking; until suddenly, judging, no doubt, that the space was wide enough, he veered49 to the right with marvellous rapidity, and sent all his fleet through the dangerous breach50, literally51 annihilating52 the two ends which remained uncovered; the disaster was terrible and the carnage awful; on the flagship of Malta only three men remained alive, the Prior of Messina, Fr. Pietro Giustiniani, pierced by five arrows, a Spanish gentleman with both legs broken, and an Italian with an arm cut off by a blow from an axe53. In the flagship of Sicily D. Juan de Cardona lay wounded, and of his 500 men only fifty remained. The "Fierenza," the Pope's "San Giovanni," and the "Piamontesa" of Savoy succumbed without yielding; ten galleys had gone to the bottom; one was on fire, and twelve drifted like buoys54, without masts, full of corpses55, waiting until the conqueror56, Aluch Ali, should take them in tow as trophies57 and spoils of war. Doria, horrified58 at the disaster, in all haste returned to the scene of the catastrophe, but D. John was already there before him. Without waiting a moment, the Generalissimo ordered that the towing ropes which already attached twelve galleys to their conquerors59 should be cut, and although wounded, and without taking any rest after his own struggle, he flew to the assistance of those who were being overcome. "Ah! Brave Generalissimo," exclaims Admiral Jurien de la Graviere, in his valuable study of the battle of Lepanto, "to him the armada owed its victory, to him the right wing its preservation60." The Marqués de Santa Cruz followed with his whole reserve, and seeing this help, the already victorious61 Aluch Ali understood that the prey62 would be torn from his claws.
The cunning renegade then thought only of saving his life, which he did by a means that no one else would have employed; he placed his son in a galley, and followed by thirteen other ones, passed like a vapour in front of the prows of the enemy, before they could surround him, and fled incontinently to Santa Maura, all sails set, he at the tiller, the unfortunate rowers with a scimitar at their throats, so that they should not flag or draw breath for a second, and should die rather than give in.
The first moment of astonishment63 over, the Marqués de Santa Cruz and D. John of Austria hastened in pursuit; but the advantage Aluch Ali had obtained increased each minute, night began to fall, and the storm which had threatened since two o'clock began to blow, and the first claps of thunder were heard. So the famous renegade escaped on the wings of the storm, as if the wrath64 of God were protecting him and preserving him to be the scourge65 of other people.
This was the last act of the battle of Lepanto, the greatest day that the ages have seen, as we are assured by a witness who shed his blood there, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
It was then five o'clock on the evening of the 7th of October, 1571.
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 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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3 impeded | |
阻碍,妨碍,阻止( impede的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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5 tumult | |
n.喧哗;激动,混乱;吵闹 | |
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6 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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7 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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8 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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9 prow | |
n.(飞机)机头,船头 | |
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10 Christians | |
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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11 memorable | |
adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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12 succumbed | |
不再抵抗(诱惑、疾病、攻击等)( succumb的过去式和过去分词 ); 屈从; 被压垮; 死 | |
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13 prows | |
n.船首( prow的名词复数 ) | |
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14 catastrophe | |
n.大灾难,大祸 | |
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15 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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16 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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17 inscriptions | |
(作者)题词( inscription的名词复数 ); 献词; 碑文; 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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18 turquoises | |
n.绿松石( turquoise的名词复数 );青绿色 | |
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19 rubies | |
红宝石( ruby的名词复数 ); 红宝石色,深红色 | |
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20 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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21 enveloped | |
v.包围,笼罩,包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22 vomited | |
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23 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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24 recoil | |
vi.退却,退缩,畏缩 | |
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25 entangled | |
adj.卷入的;陷入的;被缠住的;缠在一起的v.使某人(某物/自己)缠绕,纠缠于(某物中),使某人(自己)陷入(困难或复杂的环境中)( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26 frail | |
adj.身体虚弱的;易损坏的 | |
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27 compassion | |
n.同情,怜悯 | |
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28 outlet | |
n.出口/路;销路;批发商店;通风口;发泄 | |
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29 cataract | |
n.大瀑布,奔流,洪水,白内障 | |
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30 vomiting | |
吐 | |
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31 hulls | |
船体( hull的名词复数 ); 船身; 外壳; 豆荚 | |
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32 bristling | |
a.竖立的 | |
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33 porcupine | |
n.豪猪, 箭猪 | |
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34 quills | |
n.(刺猬或豪猪的)刺( quill的名词复数 );羽毛管;翮;纡管 | |
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35 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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36 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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37 civilisation | |
n.文明,文化,开化,教化 | |
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38 dealing | |
n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
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39 chaos | |
n.混乱,无秩序 | |
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40 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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41 opportune | |
adj.合适的,适当的 | |
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42 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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43 engulfed | |
v.吞没,包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44 gory | |
adj.流血的;残酷的 | |
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45 hoisted | |
把…吊起,升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46 vanquished | |
v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 );战胜;克服;抑制 | |
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47 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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48 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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49 veered | |
v.(尤指交通工具)改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 );(指谈话内容、人的行为或观点)突然改变;(指风) (在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向)逐渐转向;风向顺时针转 | |
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50 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
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51 literally | |
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实 | |
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52 annihilating | |
v.(彻底)消灭( annihilate的现在分词 );使无效;废止;彻底击溃 | |
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53 axe | |
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减 | |
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54 buoys | |
n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 );航标;救生圈;救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 );支持;为…设浮标;振奋…的精神 | |
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55 corpses | |
n.死尸,尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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56 conqueror | |
n.征服者,胜利者 | |
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57 trophies | |
n.(为竞赛获胜者颁发的)奖品( trophy的名词复数 );奖杯;(尤指狩猎或战争中获得的)纪念品;(用于比赛或赛跑名称)奖 | |
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58 horrified | |
a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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59 conquerors | |
征服者,占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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60 preservation | |
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持 | |
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61 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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62 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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63 astonishment | |
n.惊奇,惊异 | |
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64 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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65 scourge | |
n.灾难,祸害;v.蹂躏 | |
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