英语听书《海底两万里》第389期 第25章 地中海四十八小时(15)

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You're aware of the fact that in those days your King Louis XIV thought an imperial gesture would suffice to humble² the Pyrenees in the dust, so he inflicted³ his grandson, the Duke of Anjou, on the Spaniards.  您知道，在这个时期，您的法国国王路易十四以为专制君主做一下手势，比利牛斯山就得缩人地下去，他一定要西班牙人接受他的孙子一安儒公爵做他们的国王。

Reigning⁴ more or less poorly under the name King Philip V, this aristocrat⁵ had to deal with mighty⁶ opponents abroad. 这国王在菲力五世的称号下，统治了西班牙。可是统治得不高明。他对外有了问题，跟强大的敌人发生争执。

In essence, the year before, the royal houses of Holland, Austria, and England had signed a treaty of alliance at The Hague,  就在一年前，荷兰、奥地利和英国王室在海牙订了同盟协定，

aiming to wrest⁷ the Spanish crown from King Philip V and to place it on the head of an archduke whom they prematurely⁸ dubbed⁹ King Charles III. 目的要把菲力五世的王冠摘下来，戴在奥地利某亲王的头上，它们过早地又把查理三世的称号给了这位亲王。

Spain had to withstand these allies. But the country had practically no army or navy.  西班牙当然要抵抗这个同盟，可是它很缺乏士兵和海员，

Yet it wasn't short of money, provided that its galleons¹⁰, laden¹¹ with gold and silver from America, could enter its ports.  不过金钱是有的。但是有一个条件，那就是要装过美洲金银的船只能够进入它的海港中来。

Now then, late in 1702 Spain was expecting a rich convoy¹², which France ventured to escort with a fleet of twenty-three vessels¹³ under the command of Admiral de Chateau-Renault, because by that time the allied¹⁴ navies were roving the Atlantic. 就是在1702年终。西班牙政府正在等着一队载有大量全钱的运输船，由法国派二十三艘战舰护送，指挥宫是夏都·雷诺海军大将，冈为，这时候有敌人们联合的海军在大西洋上巡逻。

This convoy was supposed to put into Cadiz, but after learning that the English fleet lay across those waterways, the admiral decided¹⁵ to make for a French port. 这队运输船本来要开到加的斯港，但法国海军司令接到英国舰队在这一带海域巡逻的情报，就决定把这队船开万吨呢。

The Spanish commanders in the convoy objected to this decision. They wanted to be taken to a Spanish port, if not to Cadiz, then to the Bay of Vigo, located on Spain's northwest coast and not blockaded. 不错，不过提炼这些银，所花的费用比所得的利益还大。在这湾中就不同了，我只需捡拾人们所丢掉的就行了。

Admiral de Chateau-Renault was so indecisive as to obey this directive, and the galleons entered the Bay of Vigo. 还不仅在这维哥湾中，在其他千百处的失事地点也一样，这都由我的海底地图标记下来了。

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