BBC英国史

Impotence, though, has its uses.Godwine clearly had ambitions for the future.

尽管如此 无为并不等于无用 戈德温显然是个野心勃勃的人

He'd foisted his daughter Edith on Edward to get a young Godwine as the next King of England.

他迫使女儿伊迪斯嫁给爱德华 就是为了让自己的外孙成为下任英格兰国王

But Edward had his own ideas.Yes, he'd married Edith but he'd never sleep with her.

但爱德华有自己的主意 他确实娶了伊迪斯 但却从未与她圆房

His revenge would be her childlessness.

让她膝下凄凉就是他最好的报复

Now Edward had an even more mischievous thought,

现在 爱德华又酝酿着一个更过分的恶作剧

All right, if Godwine wants an heir to the throne of England so badly,I'll give him one, but one more to my liking.

好吧 既然戈德温如此迫切地 需要一个英格兰王位继承人 那我就给他找一个 但找谁得听我的

And at this point, Norman chroniclers claimed,

在这个时候 根据诺曼史官的记载

that Edward apparently promised the succession to the Duke of Normandy, William the Bastard.

爱德华似乎把继承权许诺给了 当时的诺曼底公爵 私生子威廉

Of course, nobody knew anything about this in England,least of all Godwine,

当然 此事在英格兰 无人知晓 尤其是戈德温

who in 1053 died suddenly of a stroke while at dinner with the king.

他在1053年陪国王吃饭时因中风猝死

But there were plenty of other Godwines ready to step into the Godfather's place.

但许多戈德温家族的人 对教父的位置已跃跃欲试

His sons now took over where he had left off,controlling England, virtually unchallenged.

他的儿子们承继父业 继续毫无阻拦地操纵着英格兰

And presiding over the family empire was the eldest son, Harold.

主持这个家族帝国的是长子 哈罗德

Harold Godwineson seemed to have everything:land, power, riches,charisma, an aristocratic wife

哈罗德·戈德温森似乎拥有一切 土地 权力 财富 领袖气质 一位贵族妻子

and a supporting troop of loyal and clever brothers.

和由忠诚而聪明的弟弟们所率军队的支持

He even managed to make himself patron of churches,like this one at Bosham in Sussex.

他甚至成为了教堂的资助人 比如在苏塞克斯博山姆的这座教堂

And though he didn't dare make too brazen a move,

尽管他并不敢厚颜无耻地有所行动

any dispassionate observer arriving in England in the early 1060s would have to conclude that once Edward was gone,

但在11世纪60年代的英格兰 任一个明眼人都会清楚 一旦爱德华撒手西去

the throne was Harold's for the taking.

王位将是哈罗德的囊中之物

And then, all at once,an ill wind blew away this fair-weather vision.

然而没过多久 一场突如其来的风波又让局势变得扑朔迷离

词汇解析

1、ambition

梦想；理想

His ambition is to sail round the world.

他的梦想是环球航行。

He harboured ambitions of becoming a Tory MP.

他梦想成为托利党下院议员。

雄心；抱负；野心

Even when I was young I never had any ambition.

即使是年轻时，我也从没有什么雄心壮志。

a mixture of ambition and ruthlessness.

既野心勃勃又冷酷无情

2、promise

承诺；保证；答应

The post office has promised to resume first class mail delivery to the area on Friday.

邮局承诺于星期五恢复对这个地区第一类邮件的递送。

He had promised that the rich and privileged would no longer get preferential treatment.

他已经保证富人和特权阶层不会再得到优惠待遇。

答应给予；承诺给予；保证让…得到

In 1920 the great powers promised them an independent state.

1920年，列强承诺让他们成为一个独立的国家。

The officers promise a return to multiparty rule.

这些官员承诺恢复多党统治。

（非常好的或成功的）希望，迹象，指望

The boy first showed promise as an athlete in grade school.

这个男孩在上小学的时候就初次显示出成为运动员的潜力。