A Child's History of England.22

CHAPTER 8 ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST, THE NORMAN CONQUEROR

Upon the ground where the brave Harold fell, William the Norman afterwards founded an abbey, which, under the name of Battle Abbey, was a rich and splendid place through many a troubled year, though now it is a grey ruin overgrown with ivy. But the first work he had to do, was to conquer the English thoroughly; and that, as you know by this time, was hard work for any man.

He ravaged several counties; he burned and plundered many towns; he laid waste scores upon scores of miles of pleasant country; he destroyed innumerable lives. At length (after a long time) Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, with other representatives of the clergy and the people, went to his camp, and submitted to him. Edgar, the insignificant son of Edmund Ironside, was proclaimed King by others, but nothing came of it. He fled to Scotland afterwards, where his sister, who was young and beautiful, married the Scottish King. Edgar himself was not important enough for anybody to care much about him.

六级/考研单词: conquer, splendid, gray, ruin, thorough, innumerable, clergy, proclaim, flee, gorgeous

he laid waste scores upon scores of miles of pleasant country [地区、乡村、田野]... scores upon scores: score: large numbers或a group of 20 items; 许多、许许多多。

He ravaged several counties... county: 郡. 起源: 法语conté 'area ruled by a count'. count: 法国伯爵，earl: 英国伯爵. Hampshire, Yorkshire里的shire也是郡，LDOCE没讲起源。BBC的纪录片《The Adeventure of English》里说："English animal, French meat" (英国人养牲口，法国人吃肉), 如pork和mutton是法语词，pig和sheep是英语词。汉语山羊肉、绵羊肉，英语goat和sheep一个相同的字母都没有。词都像buzzword就好了，如pigmeat.

On Christmas Day, William was crowned in Westminster Abbey, under the title of William the First; but he is best known as William the Conqueror. It was a strange coronation. One of the bishops who performed the ceremony asked the Normans, in French, if they would have Duke William for their king? They answered Yes. Another of the bishops put the same question to the Saxons, in English. They too answered Yes, with a loud shout. The noise being heard by a guard of Norman horse-soldiers outside, was mistaken for [误以为, wrong about] resistance on the part of the English. The guard instantly set fire to the neighbouring houses, and a tumult ensued; in the midst of which the King, being left alone in the Abbey, with a few priests (and they all being in a terrible fright together), was hurriedly crowned. When the crown was placed upon his head, he swore to govern the English as well as the best of their own monarchs. I dare say you think, as I do, that if we except the Great Alfred, he might pretty easily have done that. [Alfred干得好，其余英国国王都很糟，so 糟糕 that William能轻易超过他们。"如果我们把阿尔佛雷德大帝排除在外的话……Alfred"]

六级/考研单词: conquer, bishop, ceremony, loud, ensue, midst, priest, fright, haste, dare

Numbers of the English nobles had been killed in the last disastrous battle. Their estates, and the estates of all the nobles who had fought against him there, King William seized upon, and gave to his own Norman knights and nobles. Many great English families of the present time [作者写作时]acquired their English lands in this way, and are very proud of it.

But what is got by force must be maintained by force. These nobles were obliged to build castles all over England, to defend their new property; and, do what he would, the King could neither soothe nor quell the nation as he wished. He gradually introduced the Norman language and the Norman customs; yet, for a long time the great body of the English remained sullen and revengeful. On his going over to Normandy, to visit his subjects there, the oppressions of his half-brother Odo, whom he left in charge of his English kingdom, drove the people mad. The men of Kent even invited over, to take possession of Dover, their old enemy Count Eustace of Boulogne, who had led the fray when the Dover man was slain at his own fireside. The men of Hereford, aided by the Welsh, and commanded by a chief named Edric the Wild, drove the Normans out of their country. Some of those who had been dispossessed of their lands, banded together in the North of England; some, in Scotland; some, in the thick woods and marshes; and whensoever they could fall upon [attack] the Normans, or upon the English who had submitted to the Normans, they fought, despoiled, and murdered, like the desperate outlaws that they were. Conspiracies were set on foot for a general massacre of the Normans, like the old massacre of the Danes. In short, the English were in a murderous mood all through the kingdom.

六级/考研单词: noble, knight, oblige, soothe, gradual, revenge, marsh, outlaw, conspire, massacre, mood

Conspiracies were set on foot... on foot: in progress: 密谋在进行中。

[thefreedictionary稻糠亩]
on foot: a. walking or running; b. in progress

on (one's) feet
1. Standing up: The crowd was on its feet for the last ten seconds.
2. Fully recovered: The patient is on her feet again.
3. In a sound/stable operating condition: put the business back on its feet after years of mismanagement.
4. In an impromptu situation: "Politicians provide easy targets for grammatical nitpickers because they have to think on their feet". [nit: 虱子。吹毛求疵]

中文的“树立”和“立足”也很有意思。像树一样立起来，最初是对具体有形的物体，后引申为(树立)观念这样抽象的概念。

商鞅立木建信是战国时期发生在秦国国都的一件事。商鞅变法推出新法令后，怕民众不相信，于是放了一根木头在城墙南门，贴出告示说：如有人将这根木头搬到北门，就赏十金。出处: 史记·商君列传