BBC英国史

We tend to think of Edward the Confessor as the quintessential Anglo-saxon king.

我们倾向于把忏悔者爱德华看作 一个典型的盎格鲁撒克逊国王

In fact,he was almost as Norman as William the Conqueror.

事实上 他几乎与征服者威廉一样是个诺曼人

After all, his mother Emma was a Norman and he'd lived here in Normandy for 30 years,

他的母亲爱玛是诺曼人 在撒克逊与丹麦战争的硝烟中

ever since she'd brought him as a child refugee from the wars between the Saxons and the Danes.

把他扮作难民童带出 逃亡至诺曼底 自那以后 他便在此生活了三十年

But Normandy was not just an asylum for Edward,

但诺曼底不仅仅是爱德华的避难所

it was the place which formed him politically and culturally.

还培养了他在政治和文化方面的才能

His mother tongue was Norman French.

他的母语是诺曼法语

His virtual godfathers were the formidable Dukes of Normandy.

他真正的教父是那些令人敬畏的诺曼底公爵

The Normans were descendants of Viking raiders,

诺曼人是维京海盗的后裔

but had long since traded in their longboats for powerful war-horses.

但在很久以前就把战船换成了强大的战马

The Duchy of Normandy was in no sense just a piece of France.

诺曼底公国绝非仅为法国的一部分

Though the Dukes did formal homage to the kings of France,

尽管公爵在正式礼仪上效忠法国国王

in every other way, they were fiercely independent,

但在其它方面 他们是完全独立的

possessed of castles, patrons of churches.

拥有自己的城堡与自己资助的教堂

These warlords were constantly in the saddle imposing their will on vassals,

这些军阀常年马不解鞍地四处征战 将其意愿强加于诸侯

fighting off revolts and forging shaky coalitions.

平定叛乱 缔结摇摇欲倾的盟约

But the duchy was also humming with energetic piety.

公国也忙于各种虔诚的宗教活动

In the 11th century,handsome stone monasteries and churches with Romanesque arches began to appear.

在11世纪 拥有罗马式拱形结构的 漂亮的石砌修道院和教堂 开始出现

And the first grandiose stone castles,as tough as the Norman lords who'd built them,became part of the landscape.

最早的宏伟壮丽的石砌城堡 如建造它们的诺曼王族一般坚毅 成为了这风景一部分

词汇解析

1、independent

相互独立的;彼此不关联的

Your questions should be independent of each other.

你的问题应该彼此无关。

We're going independent from the university and setting up our own group.

我们马上就将从大学分离出去,成立我们自己的团体。

自立的;不需外援的

Phil was now much more independent of his parents.

菲尔现在不那么依赖父母了。

She would like to be financially independent.

她希望在经济上能够自立。

(国家)独立的

a fully independent state.

一个完全独立的国家

Papua New Guinea became independent from Australia in 1975.

巴布亚新几内亚 1975 年脱离澳大利亚正式独立。

2、impose

强制实行;强加

Britain imposed fines on airlines which bring in passengers without proper papers.

英国会对运载证件不齐全的乘客进入国内的航空公司课以罚款。

Many companies have imposed a pay freeze.

许多公司已经强制冻结了工资。

使遭受，使承受(压力、痛苦等)

The filming imposed an additional strain on her.

拍摄任务使她承受了格外大的压力。

the pressures imposed upon teachers by ceaseless curriculum reforms.

无休止的课程改革使教师承受的压力

把…硬加给;把…强塞给;勉强(某人)做事

I was afraid you'd simply feel we were imposing on you.

我担心你会觉得我们是在勉强你。

Mum thinks I should stop imposing on your hospitality, Leo, said Grace.

利奥,我妈妈觉得我不应该再在这儿麻烦你了，格雷丝说。