懂你英语 流利说 Level7 Unit3 Part3 : David and Goliath 3
So David, in that story, is supposed to be the underdog, right?
In fact, that term, David and Goliath, has entered our language as a metaphor for improbable victories by some weak party over someone far stronger.
Now why do we call David an underdog?
Well, we call him an underdog because he's a kid, a little kid, and Goliath is this big, strong giant.
We also call him an underdog because Goliath is an experienced warrior, and David is just a shepherd.
But most importantly, we call him an underdog because all he has is --
it's that Goliath is outfitted with all of this modern weaponry, right? this glittering coat of armor and a sword and a javelin and a spear,
and all David has is this sling.
Well, let's start there with the phrase "All David has is this sling," because that's the first mistake that we make.
In ancient warfare, there are three kinds of warriors.
There's cavalry, men on horseback and with chariots.
There's heavy infantry, which are foot soldiers, armed foot soldiers with swords and shields and some kind of armor.
And there's artillery, and artillery are archers, but, more importantly, slingers.
And a slinger is someone who has a leather pouch with two long cords attached to it,
and they put a projectile, either a rock or a lead ball, inside the pouch,
and they whirl it around like this and they let one of the cords go,
and the effect is to send the projectile forward towards its target.
That's what David has, and it's important to understand that that sling is not a slingshot.
It's not this, right?
It's not a child's toy.
It's in fact an incredibly devastating weapon.
When David rolls it around like this, he's turning (his...) the sling around probably at six or seven revolutions per second,
and that means that (when the ball is...) when the rock is released, it's going forward really fast, probably 35 meters per second.
That's substantially faster than a baseball thrown by even the finest of baseball pitchers.
More than that, the stones in the Valley of Elah were not normal rocks.
They were barium sulphate, which are rocks twice the density of normal stones.
If you do the calculations on the ballistic, on the stopping power of the rock fired from David's sling, it's roughly equal to the stopping power of a .45 millimeter handgun.
This is an incredibly devastating weapon.
Accuracy, we know from historical records that slingers had -- experienced slingers could hit and maim (more serious) or even kill a target at distances of up to 200 yards.
From medieval tapestries, we know that slingers were capable of hitting birds in flight.
They were incredibly accurate.
When David lines up -- and he's not 200 yards away from Goliath, he's quite close to Goliath --
when he lines up and fires that thing at Goliath, he's every intention and every expectation of being able to hit Goliath at his most vulnerable spot between his eyes.
If you go back over the history of ancient warfare, you will find time and time again that slingers were the decisive factor against infantry in one kind of battle, (against infantry in one kind of battle) or another.
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What does this story of David and Goliath traditionally represent? the victory of a weak party over a much stronger one.
What does Gladwell suggest about slings? Combined with the right rocks, they are as powerful as a handgun.
What would have happened if David had used a sword? He would have probably been defeated.
Why is David considered in underdog? He is younger, smaller, and less experienced in battle than Goliath.
If someone is an underdog, people think they … have a small chance of succeeding.
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So David, in that story, is supposed to be the underdog, right? In fact, that term, David and Goliath, has entered our language as a metaphor for improbable victories by some weak party over someone far stronger. Now why do we call David an underdog?
A slinger is someone who has a leather pouch with two long cords attached to it, and they put a projectile, either a rock or a lead ball, inside the pouch, and they whirl it around like this and they let one of the cords go, and the effect is to send the projectile forward towards its target.
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1) Why do we call David an underdog?
2) Well, we call him an underdog because he's a kid, a little kid, and Goliath is this big, strong giant.
3) We also call him an underdog because Goliath is an experienced warrior, and David is just a shepherd.
4) But most importantly, we call him an underdog because all he has is -- it's that Goliath is outfitted with all of this modern weaponry, this glittering coat of armor and a sword and a javelin and a spear, and all David has is this sling.
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That's substantially faster than a baseball thrown by even the finest of baseball pitchers.
From medieval tapestries, we know that slingers were capable of hitting birds in flight.
So what's Goliath?
He's heavy infantry,
and his expectation when he challenges the Israelites to a duel is that he's going to be fighting another heavy infantryman.
When he says, "Come to me that I might feed your flesh to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field," the key phrase is "Come to me."
Come up to me because we're going to fight, hand to hand, like this.
Saul has the same expectation.
David says, "I want to fight Goliath," and Saul tries to give him his armor, because Saul is thinking, "Oh, when you say 'fight Goliath,' you mean 'fight him in hand-to-hand combat,' infantry on infantry."
But David has absolutely no expectation. No.
He's not going to fight him that way. Why would he?
He's a shepherd.
He's spent his entire career using a sling to defend his flock against lions and wolves.
That's where his strength lies.
So here he is, this shepherd, experienced in the use of a devastating weapon, up against this lumbering giant weighed down by a hundred pounds of armor,
and these incredibly heavy weapons that are useful only in short-range combat.
Goliath is a sitting duck.
He doesn't have a chance.
So why do we keep calling David an underdog, and why do we keep referring to his victory as improbable?
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How does Gladwell’s interpretation of this story differ from the traditional understanding? Goliath’s weapons and armor make him more vulnerable than David.
Why does Gladwell break down and analyze these Biblical verse is? to show that David's underdog status is based on how others expected him to fight, rather than how he actually fought.
Why is that assumed David would fight Goliath hand to hand? Goliath is heavy infantry, so it's expected David will fight like him.
To be a sitting duck means ...to be in a vulnerable position.
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So here he is, this shepherd, experienced in the use of a devastating weapon, up against this lumbering giant weighed down by a hundred pounds of armor and these incredibly heavy weapons that are useful only in short-range combat.
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(in alphabetical order...)
David is considered an underdog because he appears less powerful than Goliath.
David’s sling is not a child’s toy. It’s in fact an incredibly devastating weapon.
From medieval tapestries, we know that slingers were capable of hitting birds in flight.
Goliath is weighed down by his weapons and armor, which makes him easy to hit with a sling.
Had David not used a sling, he would have likely been defeated by his stronger opponent.
Heavy infantry are armed foot soldiers with swords and shields and some kind of armor.
He's spent his entire career using a sling to defend his flock against lions and wolves.
That's substantially faster than a baseball thrown by even the finest of baseball pitchers.
The stopping power of heavy rock fired from a sling is roughly equal to that of a handgun.
Why do we keep calling David an underdog and keep referring to his victory as improbable?
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If you go back over the history of ancient warfare, you will find time and time again that slingers were the decisive factor against infantry in one kind of battle or another.
When David lines up and fires that thing at Goliath, he has every intention and every expectation of being able to hit Goliath at his most vulnerable spot between his eyes.
He's heavy infantry, and his expectation when he challenges the Israelites to a duel is that he's going to be fighting another heavy infantryman.