The Soldier's Decision

士兵的决定

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A soldier was captured while fighting in an enemy king's land. It was well known that this king would make captives fight one another. This was commonplace during his reign. For these fights, the king had built several large arenas. He often awarded the winners by setting them free or even having them join his elite army corps.

一名士兵在敌国作战时被俘。众所周知，这位国王会让俘虏们互相争斗。这在他统治期间是司空见惯的。为此，国王建造了几个大竞技场。他经常奖励获奖者，放他们自由，甚至让他们加入他的精锐部队。

The soldier, however, decided he had seen too much violence. He now felt that all life was sacred. The night before his first match, he made a risky decision. He decided that he would not engage in combat. He knew he may never be set free, but it was a decision that he was willing to accept.

然而，这名士兵认为他看到的暴力太多了。他现在觉得所有的生命都是神圣的。在首场比赛的前一天晚上，他做出了一个冒险的决定。他决定不参加战斗。他知道自己可能永远不会被释放，但他愿意接受这个决定。

In the morning, he was led from the prisoners' compound to one of the king's arenas. A gate coated in rust stood between him and the auditorium's floor. He was worried, but he knew what he had to do.

第二天早上，他被从监狱带到国王的竞技场。在他和礼堂之间有一扇铁门。他很担心，但他知道他必须做什么。

When the gate opened, he calmly walked to the center of the arena and sat. He started to meditate. His foe Darius, who was skilled in the realm of sword fighting and was typically not very aggressive, would not fight the quiet soldier until he attacked Darius first.

当大门打开时，他平静地走到舞台中央坐下，开始冥想。他的敌人大流士擅长剑术，通常不太好胜，在他先攻击大流士之前，他不会和这个安静的士兵战斗。

Darius tried to provoke him by hacking at the air close to his head with his sword. But the soldier was not distracted. He sat quietly, as if he were dumb, and looked calmly up at the sky. Even when Darius nicked him on the cheek with the edge of his sword, the soldier did not move.

大流士想要激怒他，就用剑向他头部附近空砍。但是士兵并没有分心。他静静地坐着，就像个哑巴，平静地仰望着天空。即使大流士用刀划他的脸，他也岿然不动。

At last he threw down his sword and shield and gave up. "I can't fight someone who refuses to fight me!" Darius shouted to the king.

最后，大流士扔掉了他的剑和盾，放弃了。“我不能和一个拒绝和我战斗的人战斗!”大流士向国王喊道。

The king was very impressed with the soldier. Never in any battle had he seen someone so brave. As a result, he gave the peaceful soldier amnesty. The soldier's actions proved to the king and everyone in the arena that peace was more powerful than fighting.

国王对这个士兵印象深刻。他从未在任何战斗中见过如此勇敢的人。结果，他赦免了这名士兵。士兵的行为向国王和所有在场的人证明了和平比战斗更强大。

核心单词表

aggressive adj. 侵略性的

amnesty n. 大赦

arena n. 竞技场

auditorium n. 礼堂

captive n. 俘虏

combat n. 战斗

commonplace adj. 平凡的

compound n. 混合物

corps n. 兵种

distract y.

dumb adj. 哑的

foe n. 敌人

hack v. 砍

meditate v. 考虑

nick v. 在……上刻痕

provoke v. 驱使

realm n. 领域

reign n. 君主统治时期

rust n. 锈

sacred adj. 神的

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