世界小史 第73期:间谍
Having finally succeeded in persuading the allies not to leave,
最终成功劝服同盟者不离开，
he secretly sent a messenger to Xerxes saying: "Make haste and attack, or the Athenians allies will escape you!"
他便悄悄派一使者去向薛西斯告密：“快进攻吧，否则雅典人的同盟者们就会从你眼皮底下逃脱。”
Xerxes, who must have heard from his spies that the allies were set on leaving, fell for it.
薛西斯一定从他的间谍那里得知雅典的同盟者正准备离开。
The next morning he attacked with his many small and nimble warships1. And he lost.
次日早晨他立刻投入许多小而敏捷的战船进行攻击。他被打败了。
The Greek ships were larger and less easy to maneuver2, but once again they were fighting desperately3 for their freedom.
希腊人的船大一些，不容易调控，但他们再次为自己的自由拼命而战。
Not only that, but their victory ten years earlier at Marathon had inspired them with confidence.
不仅如此，十年前10年前的马拉松大捷给他们以信心。
From a vantage point Xerxes was forced to look on while his smaller, lighter4 galleys5 were rammed6 and sunk by the Greeks' heavy ships.
薛西斯不得不看着他的小巧的战船被希腊人笨重的战舰冲撞沉没。
Aghast, he ordered the retreat. And so for the second time the Athenians were victorious7, and against an even greater army than before.
他极度沮丧地下达了撤退的命令。雅典人就这样第二次取得了胜利，打败了一支更强大的波斯帝国的军队。
This was in 480 BC.
这是发生在公元前480年的事。
Shortly afterwards, in 479 BC, the Persian land army was also defeated by the combined forces of the Greeks and their allies, near Plataea.
此后不久，在公元前479年，波斯陆军也在普拉提亚附近被希腊和他的联军消灭。
