BBC英国史

Harold Hardrada sailed southwest from Norway on August the 12th.

哈得尔达在8月12日由挪威向西南方向出发

En route to England, he stopped here in the Viking earldom of the Orkneys to pick up yet more men and ships to add to his already formidable fleet.

途经维京人在奥克尼群岛的领地时 他下船挑选了更多士兵和船只 壮大了他本已可畏的船队

Expectations must have been high,that the Norsemen could almost smell triumph in the summer winds.

挪威人的期望一定非常高 以至于他们都能闻到夏日风中胜利的味道

There would have been feasting, singing and the reading of poems,some of them doubtless written by Hardrada himself.

为了庆祝 他们必然吃喝玩乐 诵读诗歌 哈得尔达本人无疑也雅兴了一把

And it may be here that Tostig joined the Viking fleet.

可能就在这里 托斯提戈加入了维京人的船队

If he did and looked out and saw the 300 ships,

若真如此 当他看见三百艘战船时

his little heart must have skipped a beat to think of the catastrophe awaiting his brother.

想到他的兄长即将面临的灾难 定不禁为他心惊胆寒

Together, Tostig and Hardrada would be unstoppable, invincible.Or would they?

托斯提戈和哈得尔达联手 将会天下无敌 真的会是这样吗

Having landing on the Northumbrian coast,the Viking army headed for York,

在登陆诺森伯兰郡的海岸之后 维京军队向约克郡进发

where it fought off the northern earls to take control of the city.

在那里他们击败了北方伯爵 占领了约克

Complacent with victory, Hardrada and Tostig travelled with just one third of the army,

打了胜仗 沾沾自喜的挪威国王和托斯提戈 仅带领三分之一的部队

eight miles east of York, to Stamford Bridge,where they'd arranged to collect 500 hostages.

来到约克以东八英里的斯坦福桥 打算在此收押五百名人质

What they saw on the banks of the River Derwent was not a forlorn group of hostages

但是他们在德文特河畔上看到的 不是一群毫无反抗能力的人质

but a massive army,their weapons glittering like sheets of ice,as the Viking bard put it.

而是一支庞大的军队 用维京诗人的话来说 他们手中的的兵器寒光闪闪

Tostig knew it meant trouble.It was his big brother.

托斯提戈深知情况不妙 那是他哥哥的军队

词汇解析

1、pick up

拿起；提起；拾起；捡起

He picked his cap up from the floor and stuck it back on his head.

他从地板上拾起帽子，重新戴在头上。

Ridley picked up a pencil and fiddled with it.

里德利拿起一支铅笔，不停地在手里摆弄着。

（通常指开车）接载，取走

We drove to the airport the next morning to pick up Susan.

我们第二天早晨开车去机场接苏姗。

She went over to her parents' house to pick up some clean clothes.

她去了趟父母家取些干净衣服。

逮捕；拘捕

Rawlings had been picked up by police at his office.

罗林斯已在办公室遭警察拘捕。

The police picked him up within the hour.

警察不到一小时就将他逮捕了。

2、arrange

安排；准备；筹划

She arranged an appointment for Friday afternoon at four-fifteen.

她在星期五下午4点15分安排了一次会面。

This time it was a friend ringing to try to arrange a fishing trip in Scotland.

这次是一个朋友打来电话，想组织一次到苏格兰的钓鱼旅行。

商定；谈妥

I've arranged to see him on Friday morning.

我已安排好星期五上午见他。

It was arranged that the party would gather for lunch in the Royal Garden Hotel.

已经和这一行人说好将在皇家花园宾馆吃午餐。

排列；布置；整理

When she has a little spare time she enjoys arranging dried flowers.

她稍有空闲便喜欢摆弄干花。

He started to arrange the books in piles.

他开始将书成堆摆放。