A Child's History of England.9

But, first, as it was important to know how numerous those pestilent Danes were, and how they were fortified, King Alfred, being a good musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel, and went, with his harp, to the Danish camp. He played and sang in the very tent of Guthrum the Danish leader, and entertained the Danes as they caroused. While he seemed to think of nothing but his music, he was watchful of their tents, their arms, their discipline, everything that he desired to know. And right soon did this great king entertain them to a different tune; for, summoning all his true followers to meet him at an appointed [约定的] place, where they received him with joyful shouts and tears, as the monarch whom many of them had given up for lost or dead, he put himself at their head [head - front/leading position][他站在他们前面], marched on the Danish camp, defeated the Danes with great slaughter, and besieged them for fourteen days to prevent their escape. But, being as merciful as he was good and brave, he then, instead of killing them, proposed peace: on condition that they should altogether depart from that Western part of England, and settle in the East; and that Guthrum should become a Christian, in remembrance of the Divine religion which now taught his conqueror, the noble Alfred, to forgive the enemy who had so often injured him. This, Guthrum did. At his baptism, King Alfred was his godfather. And Guthrum was an honourable chief who well deserved that clemency; for, ever afterwards he was loyal and faithful to the king. The Danes under him were faithful too. They plundered and burned no more, but worked like honest men. They ploughed, and sowed, and reaped, and led good honest English lives. And I hope the children of those Danes played, many a time, with Saxon children in the sunny fields; and that Danish young men fell in love with Saxon girls, and married them; and that English travellers, benighted at the doors of Danish cottages, often went in for shelter until morning; and that Danes and Saxons sat by the red fire, friends, talking of King Alfred the Great.

六级/考研单词: fortify, disguise, tent, entertain, desire, tune, summon, sovereign, march, slaughter, besiege, mercy, depart, divine, conquer, noble, seldom, injure, loyal, plough, sow, reap, shelter

[King Alfred, being a good musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel... 有本书说这个故事是编的，书名我忘了。]

All the Danes were not like these under Guthrum; for, after some years, more of them came over, in the old plundering and burning way - among them a fierce pirate of the name of Hastings, who had the boldness to sail up the Thames to Gravesend, with eighty ships. For three years, there was a war with these Danes; and there was a famine in the country, too, and a plague, both upon human creatures and beasts. But King Alfred, whose mighty heart never failed him, built large ships nevertheless, with which to pursue the pirates on the sea; and he encouraged his soldiers, by his brave example, to fight valiantly against them on the shore. At last, he drove them all away [make them leave]; and then there was repose in England.

[All the Danes were not like these under Guthrum... 'All that glitters is not gold' (闪光的不都是金子) is an expression that can be dated back long ago to the 12th century. In 1175 French monk Alain de Lille wrote 'Do not hold everything gold that shines like gold', however, it was Shakespeare who coined [invent a new word/expression] the current version of the phrase and brought it into public consciousness.]

六级/考研单词: fierce, pirate, bold, sail, famine, plague, beast, nonetheless, pursuit, shore, glitter

As great and good in peace, as he was great and good in war, King Alfred never rested from his labours to improve his people. He loved to talk with clever men, and with travellers from foreign countries, and to write down what they told him, for his people to read. He had studied Latin after learning to read English, and now another of his labours was, to translate Latin books into the English-Saxon tongue [language. mother/native tongue/language: 母语], that his people might be interested, and improved by their contents. He made just [right and fair, 公正的] laws, that they might live more happily and freely; he turned away [不准进入; 拒绝支持/帮助] all partial judges, that no wrong might be done them; he was so careful of their property, and punished robbers so severely, that it was a common thing to say that under the great King Alfred, garlands of golden [literary made of gold. 高中老师讲了多少遍gold和golden的区别，真令人发指] chains and jewels might have hung across the streets, and no man would have touched one. He founded [建立] schools; he patiently heard causes [a case that is brought to a court of law] himself in his Court of Justice; the great desires of his heart were, to do right to all his subjects, and to leave [留下] England better, wiser, happier in all ways, than he found it. His industry [the fact of working hard. enterprise: 事业(心), 进取(心), 勇气, 胆量...] in these efforts was quite astonishing. Every day he divided into certain portions, and in each portion devoted himself to a certain pursuit. That he might divide his time exactly, he had wax torches or candles made, which were all of the same size, were notched across at regular distances, and were always kept burning. Thus, as the candles burnt down, he divided the day into notches, almost as accurately as we now divide it into hours upon the clock. But when the candles were first invented, it was found that the wind and draughts [cold air that moves through a room and that you can feel AmE: draft] of air, blowing into the palace through the doors and windows, and through the chinks in the walls, caused them to gutter and burn unequally. To prevent this, the King had them put into cases [box, container] formed of wood and white horn. And these were the first lanthorns [lantern] ever made in England. 中国灯笼又统称为灯彩，起源于西汉时期 (前202年～公元8年)。

六级/考研单词: translate, indigenous, punish, rob, desire, astonish, portion, devote, pursuit, wax, torch, regulate, thereby, draught, horn

All this time, he was afflicted with a terrible unknown disease, which caused him violent and frequent pain that nothing could relieve. He bore it, as he had borne all the troubles of his life, like a brave good man, until he was fifty-three years old; and then, having reigned thirty years, he died. He died in the year nine hundred and one [唐：618年～907年]; but, long ago as that is, his fame, and the love and gratitude with which his subjects regarded him, are freshly remembered to the present hour.

六级/考研单词: relieve, bore, reign, fame, gratitude. bear (忍受)的过去式是bore. 狄大人似乎不认为英国孩子认识endure这个词。