美國(guó)語(yǔ)文第四冊(cè) 第160期：阿爾弗雷德大帝（01）

所屬教程:?美國(guó)語(yǔ)文第四冊(cè)

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2019年08月30日

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More than a thousand years ago, (in the year 849), a prince was born in England, who afterwards became one of the most celebrated and best loved kings in the world.

一千多年以前（公元849年），一個(gè)王子在英格蘭出生了，他后來(lái)成為世界上最著名最受人愛(ài)戴的國(guó)王之一。

His name was Alfred—afterwards called Alfred the Great—and he was the favorite son both of the king and queen.

他的名字叫阿爾弗雷德——后來(lái)人們稱(chēng)他為阿爾弗雷德大帝——他是國(guó)王和王后最喜愛(ài)的兒子。

In those days the common people were very ignorant; few of them could even read and write.

當(dāng)時(shí)人們都很無(wú)知，沒(méi)有幾個(gè)人會(huì)讀會(huì)寫(xiě)。

There were no schools, and the monasteries, where almost the only teaching had been done, were nearly all destroyed in the wars which were continually going on.

沒(méi)有學(xué)校，修道院是當(dāng)時(shí)人們受教育的唯一場(chǎng)所，但幾乎也都?xì)в诰d延不斷的戰(zhàn)火中。

Only the higher classes had any chance to study, and even they paid much more attention to fighting than to studying.

只有貴族有機(jī)會(huì)接受教育，即使是他們，關(guān)注戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的時(shí)間也超過(guò)學(xué)習(xí)的時(shí)間。

But Alfred was different from most persons of his time.

可是阿爾弗雷德與同時(shí)代的大部分人不同。

Even when a little boy, he delighted in listening to poems and to the ballads which harpers used to sing, and he learned many of them by heart.

還是小孩子的時(shí)候，他就喜歡聽(tīng)豎琴師演唱詩(shī)歌和民謠，而且很多都記在了心里。

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.

十二歲的時(shí)候，他的母后拿出一卷詩(shī)歌，對(duì)她的四個(gè)兒子說(shuō)，誰(shuí)最快學(xué)會(huì)閱讀，就把這卷詩(shī)歌獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)給他。

Alfred was the youngest of them all, yet he easily won the prize of which his brothers thought so little.

阿爾弗雷德年齡最小，可是他輕松贏(yíng)得了獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)，而他的哥哥們都心不在焉。

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，就像前面說(shuō)的那樣，那是個(gè)兵荒馬亂的年代，阿爾弗雷德很快入伍成為戰(zhàn)士。

The Danes, a warlike people, were continually swooping down in their vessels upon the coast of England.

好戰(zhàn)的丹麥人，不斷乘船襲擊英格蘭的海岸。

Often they spread over the entire country, plundering and burning the towns, and killing the people.

他們常常席卷全國(guó)，燒殺搶掠。

In the midst of these invasions Alfred became king, when he was only twenty-two years old.

在戰(zhàn)火中，年僅二十三歲的阿爾弗雷德成為國(guó)王。

He proved as good a warrior as he was a student.

他不但是個(gè)好學(xué)者，也是個(gè)好戰(zhàn)士。

He thought that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.

他認(rèn)為不論什么事，只要值得做就應(yīng)當(dāng)做好。

He was generally successful against the Danes, but at one time they seemed to have the country entirely in their power, and Alfred was compelled to hide for his life.

在對(duì)抗丹麥人的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中他打了不少勝仗，但是有一個(gè)時(shí)期丹麥人似乎控制了整個(gè)英格蘭，阿爾弗雷德被迫躲藏起來(lái)。