BBC英国史

The unsentimental, decisive way with things was the Norman way,

这种理性而果断的处事方式 正是诺曼人的风格

giving a hard-nosed edge to the fuzzy tangles of contracts and customs

与这种重视实际的风格形成鲜明对比的是

that had been used by the Anglo-Saxons.

盎格鲁撒克逊拖泥带水的风俗和契

And it was in this spirit that William,in 1085, held court in Gloucester

也正是本着这种精神 1085年 威廉在格洛斯特举行受觐礼

and launched arguably the most extraordinary campaign of his entire reign,a campaign for information.

并发动了一场他在位期间 饱受争议却也最为非凡的一场运动 信息运动

We tend to think of William as more or less permanently in the saddle.

我们倾向于认为威廉 几乎从未放下过手中的权力

He grew up in a world, after all,where authority was usually delivered on the blade of a sword.

毕竟 他在一个 以武力争夺权力的世界里长大成人

So it's all the more impressive that he seems to have understood instinctively that information could also be power.

因而更为人所钦佩的是 他似乎天生就知道 信息也是一种力量

William the Conqueror was the first database king.

征服者威廉是第一位掌握海量信息的国王

His immediate need was to raise a tax,

他的直接目的是提高赋税

but the compilation of the Domesday Book was more than just a glorified audit.

但是《末日审判书》的编撰 并非美化了的统计报告那么简单

It was a complete inventory of everything in the kingdom,shire by shire, pig by pig;

它完整记录了国家的每一样东西 逐郡审查 连一头猪都不放过

who had owned what before the coming of the Normans and who owned what now;

每家每户在诺曼征服前 财产多少 现在又拥有多少

how much it had been worth then and how much now.

那时价值几何 现在又几何

The king sent his men all over England, into every shire,

国王派人至英格兰全境 深入到每一个郡

to find out how many hundred hides there were in each shire,

让他们统计出 每郡面积几何

what land and cattle the king himself had in the county.

国王在每个郡拥有多少王田和家畜

So very narrowly did he have it investigated there was no single hide nor shame to relate it,

他的调查极为严格细致 既不敢藏匿也不会因丢脸而耻于记录

but it seemed no shame to him was there one ox or one cow left out and not put down in record.

或说对他来讲不会耻于记录 是不是有一头牛 没有被记录下来

词汇解析

1、contract

合同;契约

The company won a prestigious contract for work on Europe's tallest building.

这家公司赢得了一份极为重要的合同，参与建设欧洲最高的大厦。

He was given a seven-year contract with an annual salary of 150,000 dollars.

他签下了一份为期7年的合同，年薪为15万美元。

签合同，订立契约(做某事)

You can contract with us to deliver your cargo.

你可以跟我们签订送货合同。

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has already contracted to lease part of its collection to a museum in Japan.

波士顿美术博物馆已经签订合同，将其部分藏品租借给日本一家博物馆。

(使)收缩;(使)缩小;(使)缩短

Blood is only expelled from the heart when it contracts.

血液在心脏收缩的时候从心脏流出。

New research shows that an excess of meat and salt can contract muscles.

新的研究表明，过量食用肉类和盐可能会导致肌肉收缩。

2、deliver

递送;投递;运送

The Canadians plan to deliver more food to southern Somalia.

加拿大计划向索马里南部地区运送更多的食品。

The spy returned to deliver a second batch of classified documents.

那名间谍返回来递送第二批机密文件。

履行;兑现;实现

They have yet to show that they can really deliver working technologies.

他们尚未证明自己真的能够开发出实用技术。

proving they could deliver the vote in their areas.

证明他们能够得到自己选区的选票