美国语文第四册 第160期:阿尔弗雷德大帝(1)

 　　More than a thousand years ago, (in the year 849), a prince was born in England,  一千多年以前（公元849年），一个王子在英格兰出生了，

　　who afterwards became one of the most celebrated¹ and best loved kings in the world. 他后来成为世界上最著名最受人爱戴的国王之一。

　　His name was Alfred—afterwards called Alfred the Great—and he was the favorite son both of the king and queen. 他的名字叫阿尔弗雷德——后来人们称他为阿尔弗雷德大帝——他是国王和王后最喜爱的儿子。

　　In those days the common people were very ignorant; few of them could even read and write. 当时人们都很无知，没有几个人会读会写。

　　There were no schools,  没有学校，

　　and the monasteries², where almost the only teaching had been done, were nearly all destroyed in the wars which were continually going on. 修道院是当时人们受教育的唯一场所，但几乎也都毁于绵延不断的战火中。

　　Only the higher classes had any chance to study, and even they paid much more attention to fighting than to studying. 只有贵族有机会接受教育，即使是他们，关注战争的时间也超过学习的时间。

　　But Alfred was different from most persons of his time. 可是阿尔弗雷德与同时代的大部分人不同。

　　Even when a little boy, he delighted in listening to poems and to the ballads³ which harpers used to sing, and he learned many of them by heart. 还是小孩子的时候，他就喜欢听竖琴师演唱诗歌和民谣，而且很多都记在了心里。

　　When he was twelve years old, his mother, the queen, offered to give a volume of poems to that one of her four sons who would first learn to read it. 十二岁的时候，他的母后拿出一卷诗歌，对她的四个儿子说，谁最快学会阅读，就把这卷诗歌奖励给他。

　　Alfred was the youngest of them all, yet he easily won the prize of which his brothers thought so little. 阿尔弗雷德年龄最小，可是他轻松赢得了奖励，而他的哥哥们都心不在焉。

　　But, as has been said, these were stirring times, and Alfred was soon called on to show his great abilities as a soldier. 可是，就像前面说的那样，那是个兵荒马乱的年代，阿尔弗雷德很快入伍成为战士。

　　The Danes, a warlike people, were continually swooping⁴ down in their vessels⁵ upon the coast of England. 好战的丹麦人，不断乘船袭击英格兰的海岸。

　　Often they spread over the entire country, plundering⁶ and burning the towns, and killing⁷ the people. 他们常常席卷全国，烧杀抢掠。

　　In the midst of these invasions Alfred became king, when he was only twenty-two years old. 在战火中，年仅二十三岁的阿尔弗雷德成为国王。

　　He proved as good a warrior⁸ as he was a student. 他不但是个好学者，也是个好战士。

　　He thought that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. 他认为不论什么事，只要值得做就应当做好。

　　He was generally successful against the Danes,  在对抗丹麦人的战争中他打了不少胜仗，

　　but at one time they seemed to have the country entirely⁹ in their power, and Alfred was compelled to hide for his life. 但是有一个时期丹麦人似乎控制了整个英格兰，阿尔弗雷德被迫躲藏起来。

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 monasteries   

修道院( monastery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In ancient China, there were lots of monasteries. 在古时候，中国有许多寺院。
• The Negev became a religious center with many monasteries and churches. 内格夫成为许多庙宇和教堂的宗教中心。

3 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

4 swooping   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The wind were swooping down to tease the waves. 大风猛扑到海面上戏弄着浪涛。
• And she was talking so well-swooping with swift wing this way and that. 而她却是那样健谈--一下子谈到东，一下子谈到西。

5 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 plundering   

掠夺，抢劫( plunder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The troops crossed the country, plundering and looting as they went. 部队经过乡村，一路抢劫掳掠。
• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。