同性恋兵团(英中对照)

古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
同性恋兵团
after defeating its rival athens in the fifth century bc, sparta became the most powerful city in greece. nevertheless, the vaunted spartan army was defeated by thebes in 371 bc at the battle of leuctra. the turning point in the battle came when an elite theban military unit broke the spartan right wing.
famed for its fighting ability, this military unit was known as the sacred band, and consisted of 150 homosexual couples. the idea was that every man in the band would be motivated to fight to his maximum ability to protect his lover and to avoid shaming himself in front of his lover. it worked. the band was undefeated for more than 30 years. when it was finally overcome by the macedonians, every man in the band was unwilling to surrender, and fought to the death.

公元前五世纪斯巴达打败对手雅典之后，成为希腊最强的城市。可是，公元前三七一年留克特拉一役，备受推崇的斯巴达军队却为底比斯所败。底比斯一个精锐兵团击溃斯巴达军队的右翼，是这场战争的转折点。
那兵团名为神圣队，以善战知名，由一百五十对同性恋人组成。创办者的意思，是队员为了保护情侣，同时不想在情侣跟前丢脸，作战就会全力以赴。这主意很成功。神圣队三十多年未尝一败，最后虽然败在马其顿人手下，但队员无一愿意投降，全部战死。
【附注】底比斯是古希腊一重要城邦，公元前三三五年因反抗亚历山大大帝，被夷为平地。