of squares.With the front rank kneeling，thesecond stooping，and the third and inmost standing erect，all with extended bayonets，each square presented a hedge of bristling points，through which the French cavalry tried in vain to force or cut their way.It was a hard task for the British soldiers to bear these attacks all day without moving to meet the foe：yet they endured this；and when the round shot and the grape cut through the sides of the squares，the men closed up the gaps without flinching.
10.About four o’clock the bear-skin caps of the Prussians were seen coming out of a wood to the east.Napoleon seems to have thought that a junction between the British and Prussian armies would be impossible；and when he saw the approach of the latter，he must have known that his defeat was certain.
11.Yet he tried a last resource.The Old Guard，composed of the flower of his tried veterans，-old enough to have acquired skill and steadiness，yet not old enough to have lost anything of their manly fire and vigour，-was formed for a final charge.He led them himself to the foot of the ridge，and thenacommitted them to Ney.
With firm and swift tread they went up the slope；but before they had reached the top，a body of English soldiers，four deep，rose into sight from a place where they had been lying down，and poured into the ascending column so close and deadly a shower of balls，that the French became confused and scattered，and then ran down the hill.
12.When Napoleon saw the effect of the British fire upon this advance，he cried out，“They are mixed together！”and rode away to the rear.Wellington was then engaged in galloping，as fast as his horse could go，towards the front of thea Ney.-One of the most distinguished of Napoleon‘s marshals.Napoleon called him “the bravest of the brave.”He was shot as a traitor to France in 1815，by order of the restored government.
line，to direct the final movements，which swept the wreck of the French army completely from the field.
中文阅读
1.1815年6月的一个晚上，里士满公爵夫人在她位于布鲁塞尔的宫邸举行了一场盛大的舞会。英军几乎所有的军官全部参加，这些人随后都等待着与拿破仑在战役中相遇。当天下午较早时候，指挥英军的威灵顿公爵收到一条情报，说拿破仑正在挺进。他也将这条情报告诉了自己的主要将军和参谋，并希望他们在一切准备停当时，衣着严整地来参加舞会，以免在场的女士引起怀疑并造成惊慌。
2.当舞会进行到高潮时，仔细看就会发现：在军容严整的众多军人中间，一些军官在舞场里悄悄地走来走去，低声将命令传达给部队指挥员，而这些指挥员稍后便离开这热闹的场面，匆匆回到单位让他们的部下做好作战准备。
“午夜，传来战斗的警语；凌晨，部队整装待发；白天，战斗严阵以待。”a3.这里的“战斗”指的就是夸特里布拉斯（法语“四臂”之意），之所以如此得名，是源于布鲁塞尔南面20英里处两条公路的一个十字交汇点。在这场冲突中，威灵顿始终保持着与内伊的进攻对抗的位置。同一天，拿破仑将普鲁士人从里格尼赶了回去。第二天，威灵顿退守滑铁卢，因为他已经挑选此地作为他与拿破仑进行决战的地点。
4.滑铁卢战役之前的那个夜晚，空气非常潮湿。士兵们躺在草地上和麦田里，尽量为自己遮挡雨水，还要努力使自己的枪支在大雨中能够开火。不到4点，天空中便可见到黎明的曙光；当雾蔼慢慢散去、视野开始清晰时，两支军队在一条山脊上都能看到对方长长的队形。
5.在这些军队之间有一条山谷。在英军这一侧的低地上有一间白色的农舍b，另一间c则坐落于法军阵位的最高点附近。在英军占领的小山的西面，一座用红色砖石砌成的别墅d构成了一道要塞，上面有许多士兵把守。在这三栋建筑周围（尤其是最后一栋别墅），战斗进行得最为激烈。
a 节选自拜伦长诗《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》。--译者注b 一间白色的农舍：即拉哈耶圣提。
c 另一间：即拉贝里阿联斯。
d 一座别墅：即一处乡村房屋，霍古蒙特别墅。
6.一开始，交战双方都非常难以让步枪处于作战状态，因为雨水已经浸透了枪管里的弹药筒，使他们无法开火。当士兵们拿起推弹杆想将弹药拽出来时，由于弹药湿透后出现膨胀，所以无济于事。
7.有一阵子，看似根本就打不了仗，或者只能打一场没有步兵参加的仗了。然而，一名英军军士却发现，用手拿住枪托在头顶上旋转，弹药筒就会变松并能逐渐退出来。其他人纷纷效仿他的做法，随后，始终都能看到两边战线中成群的人绕着头顶挥舞着枪托，就像要把枪甩出去一样。
8.上午11点半左右，战役打响了。威灵顿公爵整个人都在忙于指挥英国军队机动，迫使希望“要么夜晚来临，要么布鲁彻（普鲁士将军）赶到”；但是，当一切都结束之后，连威灵顿自己对作战细节的认识都非常混乱。拿破仑的攻击方案是用大炮猛攻英军队形，然后将骑兵军团逐一地全速投送到前方。这些骑兵有的身穿钢制护胸甲，有的手持长矛，有的身穿轻骑兵的宽松夹克，夹克的肩膀处垂下来许多金边和毛皮。
9.英军在面对这些勇猛冲锋者时采取的方法，是采用方形阵。最前排跪下，第二排俯身，第三排和最里面的一排站直，所有人都将刺刀弹出，每个方形阵列都成为一道立体而有弹性的防护墙，法军骑兵无法穿透这些防护墙来施压或切断英军的去路。对英军士兵来说，整天忍受这样的攻击而不主动出击敌人，是一项艰巨的任务，然而他们却做到了这一点。当炮弹和霰弹将方形阵的某一面撕开时，他们又合上缺口而毫不退缩。
10.大约4点时，可以看到普鲁士人的熊皮帽出现在一片树林里并向东移动。拿破仑似乎觉得英军和普鲁士军队合在一处是不可能的，因此，当看到后者接近时，他肯定知道大势已去。
11.然而他还想做最后一搏。他那些久经沙场的老兵精英们组成了“老卫队”，进行最后的冲锋。这些老兵们足以做到作战技能娴熟、思想意志坚定，但还没有老到失去英勇果敢、精力充沛的程度。拿破仑亲自带领他们前往山脚下，然后将他们交给内伊a指挥。他们坚定而迅速地踏上山坡，但在他们到达山顶之前，就在自己隐蔽的地方看到一队英国士兵进入视野。这些士兵一下涌到这支上山的纵队跟前，猛烈的子弹像大雨一样飞过来，使得法军一片混乱并四处逃离，接着向山下狂奔。
12.当拿破仑看到英军向这支先遣队开火的效果时，大叫：“他们搅到一起了！”随之策马向后面跑去。接着，威灵顿快马加鞭，朝着前线狂奔，指挥部队进行最后一击，这一击也将法军的残余力量彻底清除出了平原。
a 内伊：拿破仑最杰出的一位元帅。拿破仑称他为“勇敢者中的最勇敢者”。他于1815年被一个法国叛徒按照复辟政府的命令杀死。
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LIFE IN ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY GEORGES
乔治家族统治早期的英国生活
accomplices，partners.
assaulting，attacking.
boudoire （bood’wars），private sittingrooms.
brocade，figured silk.conveyance，carriage.customary，usual.denizens，inhabitants.dissolute，wild.distinguish，mark.emblems，signs.
embroilments，conflicts；quarrels.enormous，very great.insufficient，not enough；scanty.
metropolitan，belonging to the capital；London.
queue （kew），tail.
sinecure，an office without work.
wherries，light ferry-boats，sharp at both ends.
1.Instead of numbers to distinguish shops and dwelling-houses from one another in the last century，signs creaked and swung above each door.These are now confined chiefly to inns：but the Blue Boar，the Golden Key，the Spread Eagle，and similar emblems，shone then with bright variety along every street.
2.There were numerous hackney-coaches；but the Sedan-chair was the most fashionable mode of conveyance in the city.The watermen also rowed passengers from stair to stair in their wherries.At night the streets were badly lighted with oillamps；and it was customary for those who walked abroad at night to hire link-boys to carry a torch before them in order to show the way.These boys，however，were oftenthe accomplices of the thieves who aboundedin London.
SEDAN-CHAIR.
3.Another plague of the streets by night consisted in the rioting of Mohocks or other gangs of dissolute young men，“flown with insolence and wine，”who，in defiance of the feeble city watchmen，paraded the chief thoroughfares forthe purpose of assaulting any unfortunate citizen whom they might chance to meet.
