里昂夜讀英語美文[240]:這就是斯巴達!
When the boy was born like all Spartans, he was inspected.
當這名男嬰出生后，必須像每個斯巴達人一樣接受檢驗。
If he'd been small or puny or sickly or misshapen he would've been discarded.
如果他太瘦小、太孱弱，生病或是殘廢，就會被拋棄。
From the time he could stand, he was baptized in the fire of combat.
當他長大到剛能站穩(wěn)的那一刻開始，便要接受戰(zhàn)火的洗禮。
Taught never to retreat, never to surrender,
被教導(dǎo)絕不退縮、絕不投降，
taught that death on the battlefield in service to Sparta is the greatest glory he could achieve in his life.
并被灌輸一個觀念：為斯巴達戰(zhàn)死沙場是人一生所能成就的最大榮耀。
At age seven, as is customary in Sparta, the boy was taken from his mother and plunged into a world of violence.
依照斯巴達的傳統(tǒng)，男孩七歲就從母親身邊被帶走，投入到一個殘酷的暴力世界。
Manufactured by 300 years, a Spartan warrior society to create the finest soldiers the world has ever known.
經(jīng)過300年的嬗變，斯巴達的勇士社會創(chuàng)造出了有史以來世上最好的戰(zhàn)士。
The agoge, as it's called. It forces the boy to fight. Starves them, forces them to steal, and if necessary, to kill.
正如其名，斯巴達的“酷煉”，強迫男孩戰(zhàn)斗，讓他們餓肚子、偷食物。有必要的話，讓他們?nèi)⑷恕?/p>
By rod and lash, the boy was punished. Taught to show no pain, no mercy.
男孩經(jīng)常受到棒打和鞭笞的懲罰。教導(dǎo)他痛苦不行于色、對敵人不要憐憫。
Constantly tested, tossed into the wild. Left to pit his wits and will against nature's fury.
他被扔在了野外，接受更多的考驗，只能用他的智慧和意志去對抗大自然的暴虐。
It was his initiation. His time in the wild. For he would return to his people a Spartan or not at all.
他在野外的時期只是一個開始。他必須成為強悍的戰(zhàn)士才能返回斯巴達，否則便將尸骨無存。
The wolf begins to circle the boy.
野狼開始在男孩身邊游走。
Claws of black steel. Fur as dark nights. Eyes glowing red, jewels from the pit of hell itself.
鋼鐵般的利爪，如黑夜般的毛皮。赤紅的雙眼閃爍，就像地獄深淵的寶石。
The giant wolf sniffing, savoring the scent of the meal to come.
巨大的野狼貪婪地嗅著，享受著即將到嘴的肉香。
It's not fear that grips him, only a heightened sense of things.
他并不感到恐懼，反而讓他的感官知覺更為敏銳。
The cold air in his lungs. Windswept pines, moving against the coming night.
冷空氣在他的肺里打轉(zhuǎn)。大風吹彎的松樹，搖曳著抵擋即將降臨的夜晚。
His hands are steady. His form...perfect.
他的雙手沉穩(wěn)，動作敏捷，完美無缺。
And so the boy, given up for dead, returns to his people, to sacred Sparta, a king. Our king! Leonidas!
這個大家以為必死無疑的男孩卻返回他的族人身邊，回到神圣的斯巴達，成為國王。吾王，列奧尼達！
It's been more than 30 years since the wolf and the winter cold.
巨狼和寒冬之夜已經(jīng)是三十多年前的往事。
Now, as then, a beast approaches.
然而眼下又有一只野獸逼近。
Patient and confident, savoring the meal to come.
它同樣堅忍自信，準備大啖獵物。
But this beast is made of men and horses, swords and spears.
但這只巨獸是由士兵、戰(zhàn)馬、利刃和長矛組成。
And armies of slaves, vast beyond imagining, ready to devour tiny Greece.
是一支奴隸大軍，龐大得難超乎想象，準備要吞噬渺小的希臘。
Ready to snuff out the world's one hope for reason and justice.
準備捏熄世上一個理性與正義的希望之火。
A beast approaches...and it was King Leonidas himself who provoked it.
這只巨獸之所以逼近...是因為列奧尼達國王激怒了它。
英語美文
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