泰西50轶事(二十八)桥上的贺拉提斯 江铭辉 五梦网
泰西50轶事(Fifty Famous Stories Retold)，是永恒的短篇故事，它收集的故事：包括浩瀚历史的著名英雄和他们的罗曼史，故事内容有勇气、毅力和情感。故事人物包括拿破仑、罗宾汉，乔治华盛顿、成吉思汗等人。这些故事都是老少咸宜的故事，我将它逐篇翻译，并配合图画，供大家欣赏。
泰西50轶事(二十八)桥上的贺拉提斯
原文及翻译如下：
Horatius at the Bridge
桥上的贺拉提斯
ONCE there was a war between the Roman people and the Etruscans who lived in the towns on the other side of the Tiber River. Porsena, the King of the Etruscans, raised a great army, and marched towards Rome. The city had never been in so great danger.
从前，罗马人和居住在台伯河对岸城市的伊特鲁凯人发生了一场战争。伊特鲁凯的国王帕西那召集起大部队向罗马进军。罗马城从来没有发生过这样的危险。
The Romans did not have very many fighting men at that time, and they knew that they were not strong enough to meet the Etruscans in open battle. So they kept themselves inside of their walls, and set guards to watch the roads.
那时，罗马并没有很的战士，他们知道自己还没有足够的力量和伊特鲁凯人开战。因此他们便坚守在城墙内，并派卫士看守要道。
One morning the army of Porsena was seen coming over the hills from the north. There were thousands of horsemen and footmen, and they were marching straight towards the wooden bridge which spanned the river at Rome.
一天早晨，他们看见帕西那的军队从北面翻山过来了。他们有数千个骑兵和步兵，径直朝着横跨在罗马（台伯）河上的木桥前进。
“What shall we do?”said the white-haired Fathers who made the laws for the Roman people.“If they once gain the bridge, we cannot hinder them from crossing; and then what hope will there be for the town?”
“我们将怎么办呢？”为罗马人制定法律的白发元老们说，“如果一但他们夺得了那座桥，便不能阻止他们越过来，那么这座城市还有什么希望呢？”
Now, among the guards at the bridge, there was a brave man named Horatius. He was on the farther side of the river, and when he saw that the Etruscans were so near, he called out to the Romans who were behind him.
“Hew down the bridge with all the speed that you can! ”he cried.“I,with the two men who stand by me, will keep the foe at bay.”
那时，守桥的士兵们之中有一个勇敢的人，叫做贺拉提斯(图1)，他守在河的对岸。当他看见伊特鲁凯人已经逼近时，对身后的罗马人大声地叫着。尽快的把桥砍倒！”他叫道，“我，还有和我站在一起的两个人将会把敌人挡住。”
图1：贺拉提斯
Then, with their shields before them, and their long spears in their hands, the three brave men stood in the road, and kept back the horsemen whom Porsena had sent to take the bridge.
然后，他们把盾牌挡在胸前，手里拿着长矛。这三个勇敢的人站在路中，阻挡着帕西那派来攻桥的骑兵(图2)。
图2：这三个勇敢的人站在路中，阻挡着帕西那派来攻桥的骑兵
On the bridge the Romans hewed away at the beams and posts. Their axes rang, the chips flew fast; and soon it trembled, and was ready to fall.
在桥上，罗马人正砍着横梁和桥柱。他们的斧头挥动着，木片迅速落下；很快，桥就开始摇摇晃晃了，眼看就要倒下去。
“Come back! come back, and save your lives!”they cried to Horatius and the two who were with him.
But just then Porsena’s horsemen dashed towards them again.
“Run for your lives! ”said Horatius to his friends “I will keep the road.”
“回来！回来！拯救你们的性命！”他们向贺拉提斯和那两个人叫道。
但就在那时，帕西那的骑兵们再度冲过来。
“你们逃命吧！”贺拉提斯对他的朋友们说，“我来挡路。”
They turned, and ran back across the bridge. They had hardly reached the other side when there was a crashing of beams and timbers. The bridge toppled over to one side, and then fell with a great splash into the water.
他们二人转身向这桥的岸上跑。就在他们到达对岸的那一刹那，桥梁和桥柱“哗”地一声倒塌了。桥向一边倒去，溅起了巨大的水花。
When Horatius heard the sound, he knew that the city was safe.
With his face still towards Porsena’s men, he moved slowly backward till he stood on the river’s bank. A dart thrown by one of Porsena’s soldiers put out his left eye; but he did not falter. He cast his spear at the foremost horseman, and then he turned quickly around. He saw the white porch of his own home among the trees on the other side of the stream:And he spoke to the noble river That rolls by the walls of Rome:
当贺拉提斯听到这响声时，知道罗马城已经安全了。
他仍面朝着帕西那的士兵，慢慢地向后退，直到站在了河的堤岸上。帕西那的一个士兵掷出一只标枪，正中他的左眼，但他没有倒下去。他将长矛向最前面的骑兵投去，然后迅速地转过身子。他望着河流对岸的树丛里，自己家里的白色门廊。
他对着那环绕着罗马城墙高贵的河流说：
“O Tiber! father Tiber!
To whom the Romans pray,
A Roman’s life, a Roman’s arms,
Take thou in charge today.”
“啊，台伯！台伯之父！
罗马人向你祈求，
一个罗马人的命运，
一个罗马人的武器，
今天全部都交给你吧。”
He leaped into the deep, swift stream. He still had his heavy armour on; and when he sank out of sight, no one thought that he would ever be seen again. But he was a strong man, and the best swimmer in Rome. The next minute he rose. He was halfway across the river, and safe from the spears and darts which Porsena’s soldiers hurled after him.
他跳进了深深急流的河中，身上还穿着那沉重的盔甲。当他消失在人们的视野里，没有人认为还能再看到他。但他是一个强壮的人，是罗马最好的游泳健将。几分钟后，他浮起来了。他已游到了河的中央了，安全地躲过了帕西那的士兵们向他投掷的长矛和标枪。
Soon he reached the farther side, where his friends stood ready to help him. Shout after shout greeted him as he climbed upon the bank. Then Porsena’s men shouted also, for they had never seen a man so brave and strong as Horatius.
很快，他就游到了河的对岸，他的朋友们早已站在那儿接应了。
当他爬上岸时，迎接他的是一阵又一阵的欢呼声。接着，帕西那的士兵们也高呼起来，因为他们从没见过像贺拉提斯这么勇敢坚强的人。
He had kept them out of Rome, but he had done a deed which they could not help but praise.
As for the Romans, they were very grateful to Horatius for having saved their city.
They called him Horatius Cocles, which meant the“one-eyed Horatius,”because he had lost an eye in defending the bridge; they caused a fine statue of brass to be made in his honour; and they gave him as much land as he could plow around in a day.
他把他们挡住在罗马的城外，但他所做的事，让他们不得不给予赞扬。
至于罗马人，非常感激贺拉提斯拯救了他们的城市。他们称他为“贺拉提斯‧科克拉斯”，意思是“独眼的贺拉提斯”，因为他在保卫那座桥时失去了一只眼睛。
他们铸造了一座精美的铜像，以纪念他的光荣事迹；还送给他要在一整天才能犁完的土地。
And for hundreds of years afterwards —
“With weeping and with laughter,
Still was the story told,
How well Horatius kept the bridge
In the brave days of old.”
在几百年之后：
“有眼泪也有欢笑，
那个故事依然这样流传着，
贺拉提斯是如何好好的保卫那座桥梁，
在往昔英勇的岁月里。”
贺拉提斯简介
图3：萨布利西斯桥(本图摘自维基百科)
公元前509年克鲁萨(Clusium)的军队进军罗马，攻击罗马城。集中他的部队在台伯河旁边的伊特鲁凯，帕西那人突袭并占领:贾尼科洛山(Janiculum)，吓坏了罗马新兵及所有的商店。伊特鲁凯驻军在那里。帕西那人进一步攻击庞斯‧萨布利西斯桥(Pons Sublicius)，却发现那里的罗马沿着台伯河弯曲的布置一条债战线。帕西那人也研拟一条战线对抗，显然非常成功，他们靠着人数上的优势，吓退了罗马人。
这两条线遭到封锁。在一个“相当长的时间”，右翼罗马军的主将瓦勒留和卢克莱修(Valerius and Lucretius)已经在众目睽睽之下，受伤被带离战场，军队感到震惊和恐慌，并跑了桥上。敌人伊特鲁凯人首先在桥的入口，展开大屠杀，然后想进一步越过桥与罗马军厮杀。
发现危险，三名军官（高阶的）肩并肩的站着，让自己的部队通过并阻挡敌人的进入。这三个军官是罗马军右翼的指挥官斯布里鲁斯‧拉提鲁斯(Spurius Lartius)和提图斯‧哈密尼斯乌斯(Titus Herminius)，职务相当于上校，或准将，和帕布里乌斯‧贺拉提斯(Publius Horatius)，是等级较低的军官。贺拉提斯是一个贵族，执政官马库斯·贺拉提斯‧布尔维鲁斯(Marcus Horatius Pulvillus)的侄儿，并在先前的一次战斗中失去了一只眼睛（因此他的绰号叫“柯克莱斯：Cocles”）。他也被说是一个和阿尔巴龙格(Curiatii of Alba Longa)的古瑞阿提打战的霍拉提(Horatii)的后裔。
桥上的三名军官忍受剑和弓弹的攻击，直至罗马部队已全部过桥。
在利瓦伊的版本持怀疑态度，因为既没有战斗发生，但自己的人，竟然在恐慌袭击下，扔掉武器，离开自己的岗位。
显然，罗马已经把他们整个军队的防御工作交到懦夫的手中，他们不仅没有办法守住一个山头，而且没有打战就自动撤退。柯克莱斯是唯一在全军有勇气站起来的人，激励了两位高极将领的羞耻感，片刻的协助他。
拉提鲁斯和哈密尼斯乌斯( Herminius和Lartius) ，他们呼吁贺拉提斯撤退，贺拉提斯知道很难叫敌人不越过来，于是叫罗马人摧毁桥梁。他的敌人看到他像疯子，视死如归。贺拉提斯这时退到一堆被屠杀的人后面。他回敬敌人的一个短枪。最后各地都是臀部被矛刺到受伤的士兵，他听到喊声知道桥的对岸已经撕毁了。
他“跳起来与他的武器进入河流，跨.越到对岸，当他出现在岸边时，并没有失去他的任何武器。利瓦伊的版本有他说出他跳河时的祷告：“台伯河，圣洁的父亲，我求你那慈悲的流水接收这些武器和你这个战士吧，“
受伤的贺拉提斯，被光荣加冕，并在歌唱的人群拥护下带进城，而民众涌入街头来看他。因为他的英勇行为，他的铜像后来被竖立在他民众会场;他被给予一只南牛一天才能耕种完的土地。
罗马的每一个公民给他一天的口粮，因为贺拉提斯现在是残疾的人，不能依法继续留在军队或担任公职。