拿破崙—歐洲歷史上最具影響力的領導人之一
meet one』s Waterloo
English speakers describe something as their 『Waterloo』, or use the expression 『to meet one』s Waterloo』 when describing a decisive, resounding defeat.
講英語的人在描述其徹底的失敗時，通常會用「滑鐵盧」來表示，或者用短語「遭遇滑鐵盧」。
Examples:
例如：
Paul met his Waterloo in the tennis match with Sue.
Paul在和Sue的網球比賽中遭遇了滑鐵盧。
The politician』s Waterloo came in the General Election, which cost him his seat in Parliament.
這個政治家在大選的時候慘敗，失去了其在議會的席位。
The protesters met their Waterloo when the police arrived.
警察趕到後，抗議者慘遭滑鐵盧。
The phrase references one of the most famous battles in European history: the battle of Waterloo. At the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Emperor of France and began wars in an effort to conquer all of Europe. These wars we collectively refer to as the Napoleonic wars.
這個短語源自歐洲歷史上最著名的戰役之一：滑鐵盧戰爭。十九世紀初期，Napoleon Bonaparte在法國稱帝，並開始了企圖征服整個歐洲的戰爭。我們把這些戰爭統稱為拿破崙戰爭。
By 1815, the Napoleonic wars had almost come to an end- Napoleon had been defeated by British, Dutch, German, and other forces. The Bourbon dynasty was restored to power, and Napoleon was removed as leader of France.
到1815年，拿破崙戰爭幾近結束，拿破崙被英國，荷蘭，德國和其他幾股勢力打敗。波旁王朝重新掌權，拿破崙倒台。
Napoleon, who was respected by many European countries despite his warmongering, was allowed to keep the title of Emperor after his defeat. He was exiled to Elba, a small island off the coast of Italy, and made ruler of the island. He was allowed a personal guard of one-thousand men.
儘管拿破崙十分好戰，但他仍然被很多歐洲國家所尊重，在其戰敗後，被允許保留皇帝的頭銜。他被流放到厄爾巴島（一個義大利沿海的小島），並統治這個小島。此外，他還被允許擁有一個一千人的私人護衛隊。
For Napoleon, this wasn』t enough. Soon after he had arrived in Elba, he urged his guards to follow him back to France. This began what is known as the Hundred Days. During the hundred days, Napoleon and his army marched into Paris and seized power back from the Bourbon dynasty, whose King fled to Belgium. Napoleon was Emperor of France once again.
對拿破崙而言，這還不夠。他抵達厄爾巴島後不久，力勸他的衛兵跟隨他回到法國。這就是著名的百日王朝的開始。在這一百天的時間裡，拿破崙和他的部隊進軍巴黎，從國王已經遠逃比利時的波旁王朝手中奪回權力。拿破崙再次稱帝。
To the other states of Europe, Napoleon』s comeback was dangerous and unacceptable. They feared Napoleon would start another war, so quickly grouped together to stop his return to power. They were known as the Seventh Coalition. Napoleon met the Seventh Coalition on the battlefield at the Battle of Waterloo in the Netherlands. The result was a resounding defeat. Napoleon』s forces were crushed. He was forced to abdicate and lose all of his power and titles. It had only been 111 days since he had left Elba.
對於歐洲其他國家而言，拿破崙的回歸是危險又不可接受的。他們害怕拿破崙會再次發起戰爭，因此，他們迅速聚集起來阻止拿破崙重新掌權。他們就是著名的第七次反法同盟的成員。拿破崙於荷蘭的滑鐵盧戰場與他們相戰。結果是拿破崙方的徹底失敗。拿破崙的武裝力量被徹底粉碎。拿破崙被迫下台並且失去了所有的權力和頭銜。這距離他離開厄爾巴島僅僅111天。
After Waterloo, the countries of the Seventh Coalition agreed that to send Napoleon to Elba for a second time would be a mistake, because they did not want a repeat of the hundred days. Finally, it was decided Napoleon would be sent to St Helena, a British island in the South Atlantic Ocean. From St Helena, they surmised, Napoleon could not make another attempt at making a comeback.
滑鐵盧事件後，第七次反法同盟的國家認為再次將拿破崙發配至厄爾巴島會是個錯誤的決定，因為他們不想要再經歷這一百多天來的戰爭。最終，他們決定將拿破崙發配至聖赫勒拿島（位於南大西洋英屬的一個小島）。他們推斷，從聖赫勒拿島，拿破崙不會再試圖東山再起了。
Napoleon lived the rest of his days in exile on St Helena, and died shortly afterwards. During the zenith of his reign, Napoleon was the most powerful figure in Europe. Today, he is remembered as one of the most influential leaders in European history.
拿破崙被流放到聖赫勒拿島度過了他的餘生，不久就去世了。在其統治的頂峰時期，拿破崙是歐洲最具權勢的人物。如今，他仍被認為是歐洲歷史上最具影響力的領導人之一。
Whenever we reference someone』s 『Waterloo』, we are making a direct comparison to the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. It』s a useful metaphor to memorise which is used by lots of English speakers.
無論何時，每當提起某人的「滑鐵盧」時，我們都是直接與1815年拿破崙的失敗作比較。這是一個被眾多講英語的人使用的非常有用的比喻。
重點單詞和短語：
1. decisive 決定性的，果斷的
2. resounding 響亮的，轟動的
3. defeat 擊敗，戰勝
4. references 參考文獻，參照
5. battles 戰爭，競爭
6. declare 宣布，聲明
7. conquer 征服，攻克
8. collectively 集體地，共同地
9. restore 恢復，修復
10. warmongering 好戰的
11. exile 流放，充軍
12. guard 守衛，護衛隊
13. urge 力勸，催促
14. march 前進，行軍
15. seize 抓住，奪取
16. flee 逃走
17. comeback 恢復，復出
18. coalition 聯合，結合
19. battlefield 戰場
20. resounding 響亮的，轟動的
21. crush 壓壞，粉碎
22. abdicate 退位，放棄
23. surmise 猜測
24. zenith 頂峰，最高點
25. reign 君主統治時期，任期，統治
26. influential 有影響力的
27. metaphor 暗喻，比喻
