Medieval siege 中世纪攻城战-6

But the throwing arm will be made from a more light-weight wood - Douglas fir. Wayne calculates that a tree trunk of at least 2 feet in diameter is needed to withstand the stresses of hurling¹ 250-pound balls.

How about this one, Wayne ?
It's the right size. Yeah. that's, that would be the right diameter.
Be a shame to cut that down, right?
yes. Let's get the chain saw, I'll whack² it down then.
Well,we would have to go

Get out of it!
Haul away. Haul away.

After it is floated across Loch Ness, the log is quickly hauled ashore³. (Well, ok!) Work immediately begins on hewing⁴ it into an 8 sided throwing arm. The next job is to assemble the base. 40 carpenters mainly from the United States, but also from Britain and Germany have volunteered to spend their vacation here. They are all timber framers who specialize in traditional construction techniques. Without nails, they connect large pieces of wood using mortise and tenon joints⁵. (Beautiful, beautiful,2,3).

While the timber framers immerse themselves in medieval methods, Wayne employs the tools of a modern engineer to check and recheck his design. In particular, he's hoping that the wheels will give him the same boost in performance as they did on the model. (Alright! Alright! Spin it on, spin it on.Thank you . Great. )

Up at the target wall, work is almost complete. The wooden structures on top are called hoardings. They provided additional protection for defenders⁶ during the siege. Attackers would build similar barriers to protect the trebuchet team from arrow fire.

Well, this is the target wall that we've got for trebuchets, a modern reproduction of a castle wall. It's a pretty good reproduction, I think. It's got all the details of the crenellations. And what's important about it is the width. It's a good five-foot deck. The way that it is formed is that there is an outer skin on either side and within that a fill of rubble⁷ and mortar⁸. And that provides a very solid core. This is exactly how they did it in the Middle Ages. And I'm very glad that I'm not standing⁹ here while the trebuchets are actually shooting.


words and phrases to remember:
1/mortise 榫眼

2/tenon 凸榫

(Mortise and tenon joints are always put together for they form the only way of fixing two pieces of woods without using nails.)

3/give... the boost: give... a push 给......以推动力

4/crenellation:开垛口

1 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》

2 whack   

v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• He gave me a whack on the back to wake me up.他为把我弄醒，在我背上猛拍一下。

3 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

4 hewing   

v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的现在分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟

参考例句：

• The farmer spent a day in the woods hewing timber. 这个农夫花了一天时间在森林里砍木材。 来自辞典例句
• He was hewing away at the trunk of the tree. 他不停地照着树干砍去。 来自辞典例句

5 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

6 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

8 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

9 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。