Medieval siege 中世纪攻城战-4

At the end of the 13th century, what was the effective range of an archer¹, and what was the effective range of a trebuchet. The historical reports differ.
"Hew², how close you're gonna have to bring your trebuchet to the walls to do serious damage do you think?"
"Probably 200 yards. We will need to be within that to smash it up."
At 200 yards, is Hew's trebuchet out of range of archers³ defending the castle? To find out, a dummy⁴ representing the trebuchet's chief operator is placed at that distance.
"I am sure, with... an arrow would land amongst us if we were at that range. You can easily shoot 200 yards with that massive bow of yours, can't you?"
"Yeah, about 300 yards."
"Yes, if above 200 yards, I think it would be putting you a bit worried, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, it would. I am the first to accept that from this sort of range, the trebuchet will be doing serious damage to castle walls. But I think this does suggest that it's no easy business, and the garrison⁵ that knows its business can probably keep a trebuchet at the very limit of its range. And in fact we had some going over the top, I think it's mighty⁶ hopeful from the archer's point of view."
"I wonder what happens if you slap one into him from here."
"Good, come on then."
"Yes, alright he's already swallowed it, hasn't he?"
"Gone right through, right through the dummy, kept only in by the fletchings."
"Bit of a bellyacher, er."
Edward's castle building campaign in Wales had taught him how to design well-defended fortress⁷es. Turning his attention to conquering Scotland, did Edward also have the ability to successfully attack them? As the king marched northwards to take the castles that guarded Scotland, he brought with him some of the biggest siege engines or trebuchets ever built.
"The siege of Caerlaverock, conducted by Edward I in 1300. We've got remarkably⁹ a really good account to this --- a contemporary poem. It describes the way in which the knights¹⁰ rode up to the castle, all in their great armour¹¹, trying to perform great deeds of valor¹². In fact, they were driven back by the garrison hurling¹³ stones and such like at them. And it wasn't the knights, it wasn't these people with the great acts of bravery, it was the engineers, men of really quite low social status in comparison, with the great siege engines. It was they who compelled the garrisons¹⁴ to surrender. And the poem describes the way in which the great boulders¹⁵ came down from the sky into the courtyard, crushing down, causing all sorts of damage mayhem inside. The minute the casualty started, the garrison simply surrendered. So it wasn't the knights, it wasn't a great act of chivalry¹⁶ to capture this castle. It was the work of the experts, the engineers."
"It's difficult to tell, I mean, that one's obviously got...."
Joining Hew Kennedy in his quest to build a trebuchet is mechanical engineer Wayne Neel, a professor from Virginia Military Institute.
"...difficult in section. This one actually is one to two, this is one to three"
Wayne will design the trebuchet. He is basing it on the picture he found in a 13th century Spanish manuscript. The illustration gives no idea of the true scale of the trebuchet, because the artist has made the machine smaller than the soldiers standing¹⁷ next to it.
"If the drawing isn't practical from all points of view, you begin to wonder about all the other points of view, it may be that the things they have got in the right proportion, they did by accident. Even an artist like Leonardo would draw a plan for something that is totally impractical¹⁸. But it indicates how it could be made. That's all. It indicates how it could be made."

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dummy: n. 假人
fortress: n. 堡垒
mayhem: n. 伤害
chivalry: n. 骑士精神

1 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

2 hew   

v.砍；伐；削

参考例句：

• Hew a path through the underbrush.在灌木丛中砍出一条小路。
• Plant a sapling as tall as yourself and hew it off when it is two times high of you.种一棵与自己身高一样的树苗，长到比自己高两倍时砍掉它。

3 archers   

n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The next evening old Mr. Sillerton Jackson came to dine with the Archers. 第二天晚上，西勒顿？杰克逊老先生来和阿切尔家人一起吃饭。 来自辞典例句
• Week of Archer: Double growth for Archers and Marksmen. 射手周：弓箭手与弩手（人类）产量加倍。 来自互联网

4 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

5 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

6 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

7 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

8 fortresses   

堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They will establish impregnable fortresses. 他们将建造坚不可摧的城堡。
• Indra smashed through Vritra ninety-nine fortresses, and then came upon the dragon. 因陀罗摧毁了维他的九十九座城堡，然后与维他交手。 来自神话部分

9 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

10 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

11 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

12 valor   

n.勇气，英勇

参考例句：

• Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
• Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。

13 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 garrisons   

守备部队，卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I've often seen pictures of such animals at the garrisons. 在要塞里，我经常看到这种动物的画片。
• Use a Black Hand to garrisons, and take it for yourself. 用黑手清空驻守得步兵，为自己占一个。

15 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 chivalry   

n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤

参考例句：

• The Middle Ages were also the great age of chivalry.中世纪也是骑士制度盛行的时代。
• He looked up at them with great chivalry.他非常有礼貌地抬头瞧她们。

17 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

18 impractical   

adj.不现实的，不实用的，不切实际的

参考例句：

• He was hopelessly impractical when it came to planning new projects.一到规划新项目，他就完全没有了实际操作的能力。
• An entirely rigid system is impractical.一套完全死板的体制是不实际的。