Book 1 Chapter 5

It is said, that even at that early period, the sports of the Lupercal,* which we still celebrate, were practised on the Palatine hill, and that this was called Palatium, from Pallanteum, a city of Arcadia, and afterwards the Palatine hill; and that Evander, who was of that tribe of Arcadians, and had been many years before in possession of this part of the country, had instituted there this solemnity brought from Arcadia, in which young men were to run about naked, in sport and wantonness, in honour of Lycean Pan, whom the Romans afterwards called Inuus. While they were intent on the performance of these sports, the time of their celebration being generally known, the robbers, enraged¹ at the loss of their booty, attacked them by surprise, having placed themselves in ambush². Romulus making a vigorous defence, extricated³ himself; but they took Remus prisoner, delivered him up to King Amulius, and had the assurance to accuse them both of criminal misbehaviour. The principal charge made against them was, that they had made violent inroads on the lands of Numitor, and, with a band of youths which they had collected, plundered⁴ the country in a hostile manner. In consequence of this, Remus was given up to Numitor to be punished. From the very beginning, Faustulus had entertained hopes, that the children whom he educated, would prove to be descended⁵ of the royal blood; for he knew that the infants of Rhea had been exposed by order of the King, and that the time when he had taken them up, corresponded exactly with that event; but he had resolved to avoid any hasty disclosure, unless some favourable⁶ conjuncture or necessity should require it. The necessity happened first; wherefore, constrained⁷ by his apprehensions⁸, he imparted the affair to Romulus. It happened also that Numitor, while he had Remus in his custody⁹, heard that the brothers were twins; and when he combined with this circumstance their age, and their turn of mind, which gave no indication of a servile condition, he was struck with the idea of their being his grandchildren; and all his inquiries¹⁰ leading to the same conclusion, he was upon the point of acknowledging Remus. In consequence, a plot against the King was concerted between all the parties. Romulus, not going at the head of a band of youths, for he was unequal to an open attempt, but ordering the shepherds to come at a certain hour, by different roads, to the palace, forced his way to the King, and was supported by Remus, with another party, procured¹¹ from the house of Numitor. Thus they put the King to death.

1 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

2 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

3 extricated   

v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The meeting seemed to be endless, but I extricated myself by saying I had to catch a plane. 会议好象没完没了，不过我说我得赶飞机，才得以脱身。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She extricated herself from her mingled impulse to deny and guestion. 她约束了自己想否认并追问的不可明状的冲动。 来自辞典例句

4 plundered   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of our cultural treasures have been plundered by imperialists. 我国许多珍贵文物被帝国主义掠走了。
• The imperialists plundered many valuable works of art. 帝国主义列强掠夺了许多珍贵的艺术品。

5 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

6 favourable   

adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的

参考例句：

• The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
• We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。

7 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

8 apprehensions   

疑惧

参考例句：

• He stood in a mixture of desire and apprehensions. 他怀着渴望和恐惧交加的心情伫立着。
• But subsequent cases have removed many of these apprehensions. 然而，随后的案例又消除了许多类似的忧虑。

9 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

10 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 procured   

v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条

参考例句：

• These cars are to be procured through open tender. 这些汽车要用公开招标的办法购买。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• A friend procured a position in the bank for my big brother. 一位朋友为我哥哥谋得了一个银行的职位。 来自《用法词典》