BBC英国史

It was one thing to stand around counting off one's possessions.

坐在家里数钱是一回事

It was quite another to know what to do about being king.

学习如何做国王则完全是另一回事

Especially king of a country so promising but peculiar as England,

尤其是在英格兰这个充满希望 却又情况独特的地方做国王

With all its Anglo-Saxon names and institutions like shire, courts, writs and sheriffs.

很多国家体系的名字都来自盎格鲁撒克逊语 比如郡 法院 令状和郡长

After all, what did Henry Plantagenet know of Huntingdonshire,

毕竟亨利二世对亨廷顿郡了解多少

or what did Huntingdonshire know of Henry Plantagenet?

而亨廷顿郡又对亨利二世了解多少

Henry of course spoke virtually no English at all.

亨利几乎不会说英语

What he would have grasped, if only from his coronation oaths,

他所会的只有加冕时的宣誓

was that kings of England were supposed to be both judge and warlord.

即英格兰的国王 应同时领导法律和军队

In fact, the coronation oath,preserved intact from Edward the Confessor,

事实上 加冕宣言 完全是忏悔者爱德华时期的拷贝

who was increasingly being held up as some sort of ideal monarch,Pretty much spelled out the job description of the king of England.

后者越来越受到推崇 甚至举为君主典范 该宣言可以说详细叙述了 英格兰国王的所有职责

One,protect the church.Two,preserve intact the lands of your ancestors.

第一 保护教会 第二 保卫祖辈领土的完整

Three,do justice.Four,most sweeping of all,suppress evil laws and customs.

第三 司法审判 第四 彻底地扫除和 禁止有害的律法与风俗

Fulfilling one and two went without saying.

完成一两项自然不在话下

But what was surprising about Henry was he took vows three and four just as seriously.

但令人震惊的是 亨利郑重发誓要做到三四项

词汇解析

1、possession

占有；拥有

Those documents are now in the possession of the Guardian.

那些文件目前在《卫报》手里。

We should go up and take possession of the land.

我们应该北上占领那片土地。

所有物；财产；财物

People had lost their homes and all their possessions.

人们失去了自己的家园和所有的财物。

She had tidied away her possessions.

她已收拾好个人物品。

属地；领地

All of them were French possessions at one time or another.

它们都曾是法国的领地。

Britain's imperial possessions.

大英帝国的属地

2、preserve

保持，维持（原状）

We will do everything to preserve peace.

我们会尽全力维持和平。

an effort to fit in more students while preserving standards.

在保持原有教学水平的同时招收更多学生的努力

保护；保存；维护

We need to preserve the forest.

我们需要保护森林。

Conservation is an issue which gets a lot of attention these days whether it means preserving old buildings, or protecting the environment.

资源保护是目前备受关注的问题——不管它指的是对古建筑的保护，还是对环境的保护。