听美文故事记6级单词02-08

Napoleon 'tried to learn English' 拿破仑流放期间曾热衷于学习英语

Napoleon Bonaparte was keen to learn English while in exile, documents shown in Britain for the first time reveal.

The deposed¹ French emperor apparently² wanted to learn the language of his foes³ so he could read what the London papers were writing about him.

Scraps⁴ of paper from his English lessons in captivity⁵ on the island of St Helena go on show at London's National Maritime⁶ Museum on Thursday.

They include lines of French haltingly translated by Napoleon into English.

Count Emmanuel de las Cases, who accompanied the emperor into exile after he surrendered to the English at the Battle of Waterloo, wrote about his desire to learn the language in his memoirs⁷.

According to him, Napoleon had his first lesson on 17 January 1816, when he asked las Cases to dictate⁸ to him some sentences in French, which he then translated, using a table of auxiliary⁹ verbs and a dictionary.

According to historian Dr Peter Hicks, las Cases describes how Napoleon hated being sat down to work like a schoolboy but steeled himself for the task.

Dr Hicks said: "He was not necessarily anti-English. He had to fight because it was the enemy of France."

He added: "In France people are amazed to find that he was learning English. But he didn't do it for pleasure. He wondered how much money he could have saved in translation if he could have learnt English."

The documents are to feature in the Greenwich museum's Nelson and Napoleon exhibition, being held to commemorate¹⁰ the 200th anniversary of Nelson' death at the Battle of Trafalgar.

They are among a wide range of letters, paintings, personal items and objects lent by galleries and museums across Europe.

The English lesson papers, described by Dr Hicks as "quite remarkable¹¹", are on loan from the Fondation Napoleon in Paris.

拿破仑·波拿巴在流放期间曾热衷于学习英语。

很显然，这位当时已遭到罢黜的法国皇帝想要学习敌人的语言，这样就可以阅读伦敦报纸上有关他的报道。

拿破仑在被囚禁于圣赫勒拿岛期间学习英语的几张碎纸片将于周四在伦敦国立海事博物馆展出。

上面还有几行从法语译过来的磕磕绊绊的英文。

伊曼纽尔·卡斯伯爵在回忆录中写道，拿破仑非常想学习语言。滑铁卢战役惨败后，卡斯伯爵和拿破仑一同被流放到圣赫勒拿岛，。

据卡斯伯爵说，拿破仑于1816年1月17日开始了他的第一节英语课，当时拿破仑要求卡斯用法语口述几个句子，然后他借助一本词典和一个助动词表将其翻译成英语。

历史学家彼得·希克斯博士指出，卡斯在回忆录中描述了拿破仑当时十分痛恨像学生一样坐下来学习，但又强迫自己去学习英语。

希克斯博士称：“他并不抵制英语，他同英国打仗，仅仅因为英国是法国的敌人。”

他还补充说：“法国人得知拿破仑在学英语后非常吃惊，但是他学习并不是为了取乐。他在想，如果学会了英语，这样可以节省多少翻译费。”

这些历史文献将在格林威治博物馆的纳尔逊及拿破仑展览中展出，以此纪念纳尔逊在特拉法加战役中英勇殉国200周年。

同时被展出的还包括从欧洲多家画廊和博物馆借来的大量书信、绘画作品和私人物品等。

这几张被希克斯博士称为“相当不平凡的”学习英语的碎纸片是从巴黎拿破仑基金会借来的。

1 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 foes   

敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。
• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。

4 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

5 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

6 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

7 memoirs   

n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数)

参考例句：

• Her memoirs were ghostwritten. 她的回忆录是由别人代写的。
• I watched a trailer for the screenplay of his memoirs. 我看过以他的回忆录改编成电影的预告片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

9 auxiliary   

adj.辅助的，备用的

参考例句：

• I work in an auxiliary unit.我在一家附属单位工作。
• The hospital has an auxiliary power system in case of blackout.这家医院装有备用发电系统以防灯火管制。

10 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

11 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。