英國語文第四冊(雙語):羅馬人在英國(3)
The village hunters, alarmed by the smoke seen rising high over the forest, hasten back,
外出狩獵的村民警覺地看到遠處森林中升起的煙，他們急忙返回，
and find a waste of blackened ruin, with the women and children wailing over the slain.
但卻發(fā)現(xiàn)一片漆黑的廢墟，女人和孩子們在死去的人身邊哭泣。
Yonder, again, is a British hill-fort.
再比如，遠處的一個英國山堡，
It is provided with ditch and rampart, and the natives have gathered their families and most valuable effects into it for security.
周圍有溝渠作為防御。為了安全起見，當?shù)厝诉€建了堡壘，將家人和最值錢的物品都藏在里面。
The Romans have come to the foot of the hill, and prepare to carry the fort by storm.
羅馬軍隊來到山腳下，準備對其發(fā)動突襲。
They form a "tortoise" as they called it;
他們擺出一個所謂的“龜”形隊列；
that is to say, they advance to the attack covered with their great shields,
即士兵在盾牌的保護下向前推進，他們一個接著一個，
overlapping each other like the plates in the shell of the tortoise, or as slates do on a roof.
組成一個龜殼形狀的隊形，又像是一間石板房的屋頂。
They take their way up the hill with swift and firm tread.
他們步伐靈活而又穩(wěn)重，向山上推進。
The shower of darts and arrows, from the rampart above, falls harmless on the roof of shields.
山上堡壘中投出的石塊和射出的箭，使用盾牌做掩護的士兵們毫發(fā)無損。
The defenders loosen a block of stone on the hill-top, and roll it over.
守衛(wèi)者們撬動山上的一塊大石頭，并將它推下山。
The mass comes thundering down, crashes through the "tortoise," and leaves behind it a ghastly and bloody lane.
這塊大石頭轟隆隆向山下滾去，將“龜”形隊列中的士兵壓扁了，場面血腥。
The stern assailants close up their cleft roof without delaying their rapid advance for a moment.
這些頑固的侵略者馬上將分散的隊形集合在一起，繼續(xù)向前推進。
They reach the ditch, push planks and ladders across it, storm over the rampart, and put the defenders to the sword to the last man.
他們到達了溝渠，在上面鋪上木板和梯子后過去了。他們襲擊了堡壘，將抵抗者全部屠殺。
Such, no doubt, was the style of the Roman doings.
沒錯，這就是羅馬人的所作所為。
In three of these stern campaigns Agricola penetrated to the Firths of Forth and Clyde.
就這樣，三場艱難的戰(zhàn)役之后，阿格里科拉深入福斯灣和克萊德灣地區(qū)。
These two arms of the sea run so far inland that the distance between them, from water to water, is less than forty miles.
這兩條海岬一直延伸到內(nèi)陸，其間距離很近，不到四十英里。
Across this neck of land Agricola built a chain of forts at regular intervals.
在兩個海灣之間的土地上，阿格里科拉以相同的距離建造了一排堡壘。
This line of fortified posts was meant to defend the conquered territory against the warlike tribes of the north.
這一條堡壘線用于防衛(wèi)已經(jīng)被征服的土地，防止讓好戰(zhàn)的北方部落奪走。
