書蟲二級《亨利八世和他的六位妻子》：1.亨利國王去世

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1.King Henry is dead
1．亨利國王去世

My name is Catherine Parr. A month ago I was the Queen of England, the wife of King Henry the Eighth. Henry died and we buried him last week in St George's Church, Windsor. Two days ago, on 16th February 1547, I went back to the palace of Whitehall, which was once my home. I wanted to take my letters and books and bring them back to my house.

我叫凱瑟琳·帕爾。一個月前我還是英格蘭的王后，國王亨利八世的妻子。亨利去世了，我們上周在溫莎的圣喬治教堂埋葬了他。兩天前，也就是1547年2月l6日，我回到了白廳的王宮，這兒曾經(jīng)是我的家。我想拿走我的信件和書籍，把它們帶回我的家。

Margaret, my new maid, came to the palace with me. She's very young and doesn't know a lot about the world. She has only just come up to London from her home in Somerset. Perhaps I was like her when I was twelve. I, too, was always asking questions and wanting answers immediately.

我的新侍女瑪格麗特和我一起來到王宮。她非常年輕，不諳世事。她剛從她的家鄉(xiāng)薩默塞特來到倫敦。我12歲時可能也和她一樣，總愛問問題并總想馬上知道答案。

When we arrived at the palace, it was cold and dark. We walked into Henry's room. I sat down in one of Henry's large chairs in front of his wooden writing desk and looked at the pictures around the room. Next to me there was a big picture of Henry, when he was young. He was very handsome then, not like the fat old man he was later. I thought his blue eyes were watching me. I turned to Margaret and said:

到達王宮時，那里又冷又暗。我們走進了亨利的房間。我在他那木制寫字臺前的一把大椅子上坐了下來，環(huán)視著屋里的畫。我旁邊是一張亨利年輕時的大幅畫像。那時他非常英俊，不像后來那樣又老又胖。我覺得，他的藍眼睛正注視著我。我轉(zhuǎn)向瑪格麗特說：

You see that picture of the King? That's what he was like when he was young—tall and strong and handsome. People say that he never got tired. He could go out riding all day, changing his horses nine or ten times, and then he could dance all night. He was clever, too; he could speak five languages. Will people remember him like that, or will they only remember him because he had six wives?'

“你看到國王的那幅畫像了吧？那是他年輕時的樣子——高大，強壯，而且英俊。人們說他永遠不會疲倦。他能整天在外騎馬，換九到十次馬，然后還能整夜跳舞。他也非常聰明，會說五種語言。但人們會因為他是這樣一個人而記住他，還是僅僅因為他有過六個妻子而記住他呢？”

Did he really have so many wives?' said Margaret.

“他真有那么多妻子嗎？”瑪格麗特說。

Yes, of course. I thought that everyone knew that.'

“是的，當(dāng)然。我想大家都知道。”

Margaret looked away and said, 'We didn't get much news from London at home, and my family's house is a long way from the nearest village.'

瑪格麗特望著遠處說道：“我們在家時對倫敦的消息知道得并不多，我家離最近的村子也有很長一段路。”

It doesn't matter,' I said, smiling. 'One day, I'll tell you the story of my husband Henry's life.'

“不要緊，”我笑著說，“有一天我會把我丈夫亨利一生的故事全告訴你的。”

On the desk in front of me there was a wooden box with a large gold H on the top. I opened it slowly and took out some old letters. Each letter was in different writing and some of them were old and yellow. One letter had a picture of a large bird on it. It was from Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn.

我面前的桌子上有一個木盒子，上面有一個巨大的金字“H”。我慢慢地打開它，取出了幾封舊信。每封信的字跡都不相同，有些已經(jīng)舊得發(fā)黃了。其中一封信上畫著一只大鳥，那是亨利的第二任妻子安妮·博倫寫來的。

Margaret!' I said. 'I've found some letters from Henry's other wives. There's also a beautiful gold necklace and a small piece of hair.' I looked at another letter. 'Here's one old letter from his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. She was married to him for a very long time.'

“瑪格麗特！”我說，“我發(fā)現(xiàn)了亨利其他妻子們寫的一些信件，還有一條美麗的金項鏈和一綹頭發(fā)。”我看了看另外一封信，“這兒有他的第一任妻子阿拉貢的凱瑟琳寫的一封信。他們的婚姻維持了很長一段時間。”

She only had one child, didn't she?' said Margaret.

“她只有一個孩子，是吧？”瑪格麗特說道。

Yes, only Princess Mary is still alive. There were five other children, but they were all born too early and died.'

“是的，只有瑪麗公主還活著。她還生過五個孩子，但都是早產(chǎn)，全都夭折了。”

Again I looked at the letter with the picture of the bird on it. 'Have you heard of Anne Boleyn, Margaret?'

我又看了看那封畫著鳥的信。“你聽說過安妮·博倫嗎，瑪格麗特？”

Yes, my mother talked about her. She said she was a very bad woman.'

“是的，我媽媽說起過她，說她是個很壞的女人。”

Well, that's what some people say. Anne was the mother of Henry's second daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Look,' I said. 'This one is from Katherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife. Both Anne and Katherine were beheaded in that terrible prison, the Tower of London.'

“啊，有些人是那么說的。安妮是亨利的第二個女兒伊麗莎白公主的母親?？矗?rdquo;我說，“這一封信是凱瑟琳·霍華德，也就是亨利的第五任妻子寫的。安妮和凱瑟琳都是在倫敦塔那個可怕的監(jiān)獄里被砍頭的。”

Why did the King send them to their deaths?' asked Margaret. She looked afraid.

“國王為什么要處死她們呢？”瑪格麗特問道。她看起來很害怕。

They had many enemies, who told the King that they had lovers. Perhaps the stories were true, I don't know. But the King believed them.'

“她們有很多敵人，這些人跟國王說她們有情人。那些故事也許是真的，我不知道。但是國王相信他們的話。”

I looked at another letter. 'This one is from Jane Seymour. She was the third wife and the mother of Henry's only living son. He is now our King, Edward the Sixth.'

我看了看另一封信。“這封是簡·西摩寫的。她是亨利的第三任妻子，也是亨利唯一尚在人世的兒子的母親。他現(xiàn)在是我們的國王，愛德華六世。”

Was Jane Seymour beheaded too?' asked Margaret.

“簡·西摩也是被砍頭的嗎？”瑪格麗特問。

No, poor Queen Jane died soon after Edward was born.'

“不，可憐的王后簡在愛德華出生后不久就去世了。”

I looked at the last, short letter. 'Look, a letter from Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife.'

我看到最后一封短信。“看，這封信是克利夫斯的安妮寫來的，她是亨利的第四任妻子。”

Did she have any children?' asked Margaret.

“她有孩子嗎？”瑪格麗特問道。

No,' I laughed. 'Henry thought that Anne was very ugly and he didn't want her to be the mother of his children.'

“沒有，”我大笑，“亨利認為安妮太丑了，不想讓她做他孩子的母親。”

Margaret was silent. Then she said, 'King Henry sounds like a terrible husband.'

瑪格麗特沉默了。然后她說：“亨利國王聽起來像是個很可怕的丈夫。”

He wasn't all bad, Margaret. There were good times, too. He was clever at so many things—horse-riding and tennis, writing and playing music. He wrote many beautiful songs, and he had a wonderful singing voice. But it's true that he wasn't very kind to his wives.'

“他并非一無是處，瑪格麗特。他也有好的時候。他擅長的東西很多——比如騎馬、打網(wǎng)球、寫作以及演奏音樂。他寫過很多優(yōu)美的歌曲，還有一副動人的歌喉。不過他的確對妻子們不太好。”

Margaret looked at the box. 'So why did he keep these letters from them?' she asked.

瑪格麗特看著盒子。“那他為什么還保留著她們的信呢？”她問。

Oh, you ask so many questions, Margaret! I don't know. Perhaps each letter says something important.'

“哦，你問的問題太多了，瑪格麗特！我不知道。也許每封信都寫了些重要的事情吧。”

I looked up and saw that it was nearly dark. It was time to go home to Chelsea Manor. I put the letters back inside the box.

我抬頭看了看，天差不多黑了。我的家在切爾西莊園，現(xiàn)在該回去了。我把信放回盒子里。

Come, Margaret, we must go now.'

“來，瑪格麗特，我們現(xiàn)在得走了。”

But can't we read the letters?' she asked.

“但是我們不能讀這些信嗎？”她問。

We'll take them with us and read them tomorrow.'

“我們要把它們帶回去，明天再讀。”