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Our fleet consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates; theirs, of thirty-three and seven large frigates. Their superiority was greater in size and weight of metal than in numbers. They had four thousand troops onboard; and the best riflemen that could be procured, many of them Tyrolese, were dispersed over the ships.
我方艦隊擁有27艘軍艦和4艘巡防艦，對方艦隊則擁有33艘軍艦和7艘巨大的巡防艦。他們艦隊的優勢在于體積和金屬重量而非軍艦的數量。他們的軍艦上有4000名士兵，還有可以被調用的最優秀的火槍手，這些火槍手有許多都是提洛爾人，他們被分散在軍艦各處。
Soon after daylight Nelson came upon deck. The 21st of October was a festival in his family, because on that day his uncle, Captain Suckling, in the Dreadnought, with two other line-of-battle ships, had beaten off a French squadron of four sail of the line and three frigates. Nelson, with that sort of superstition from which few persons are entirely exempt, had more than once expressed his persuasion that this was to be the day of his battle also; and he was well pleased at seeing his prediction about to be verified.
不一會兒，納爾遜走到甲板上，對他的家庭來說10月21日是一個節日，因為就是在這一天他的叔叔薩克林上尉帶領著無畏戰艦和另外兩只軍艦打敗了有著4艘軍艦和3艘巡防艦的法國中隊。納爾遜曾不止一次表露自己的迷信——幾乎沒有人能夠擺脫這種迷信，那就是：他也會擁有屬于自己的戰役的日子。而后來他也很欣慰地看到了自己的信念成真。
The wind was now from the west, —light breezes, with a long, heavy swell. Signal was made to bear down upon the enemy in two lines; and the fleet set all sail. Collingwood, in the Royal Sovereign, led the lee line of thirteen ships; the Victory led the weather line of fourteen. Having seen that all was as it should be, Nelson retired to his cabin, and wrote the following prayer:—
現在是西風，——微風，伴著久而強的陣風。信號發出化作兩道線快速向敵方逼近，所有的戰艦開始起航。皇家軍權號戰艦上的科林伍德帶領著另外13艘軍艦，維多利亞戰艦則帶領著剩下的軍艦?？吹剿械膽鹋灨魉酒渎殻{爾遜便回到自己的船艙里，并寫下了祈禱詞，內容如下：——
"May the great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory; and may no misconduct in any one tarnish it; and may humanity after victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet! For myself individually, I commit my life to Him that made me; and may His blessing alight on my endeavours for serving my country faithfully. To Him I resign myself, and the just cause which is intrusted to me to defend. Amen, amen, amen."
“我全能的上帝，愿您能為了歐洲的利益，賜予我英格蘭一場偉大而光榮的勝利；愿您不要讓這場戰役因錯誤的指揮而蒙上污點；愿勝利后的英國艦隊能充滿仁慈！我愿以我個人的名義起誓，我愿將我的生命獻給造就了我的上帝；愿我對祖國忠誠的奉獻可以換來上帝的福音。我愿將我自己以及我捍衛的正義事業都托付給您。阿門，阿門，阿門?！?/p>
