BBC英国史

As grim as the story of the Scots in Ireland was,

尽管苏格兰人给爱尔兰人造成了巨大的伤害

They did leave behind something other than widows and tragic ballads.

除了遗孀满国 悲歌四起 他们确实也造成了其他的历史影响

The Anglo-Norman colony stopped expanding from its base in Ulster and Leinster.

盎格鲁-诺曼人停止了对外的殖民扩张 殖民势力仅限于阿尔斯特和伦斯特地区

And the idea of the unstoppable english empire of the Plantagenets had the shine knocked right off its myth of invincibility.

而金雀花王朝企图建立英格兰帝国的美梦 也遭受重创 不败传说终于灰飞烟灭

And not least the Bruces had given Irish leaders their voice of resistance an expression of national identity.

而布鲁斯兄弟为后世的爱尔兰领导者树立了榜样 喊出了抵抗侵略的声音 表达了民族独立的意愿

To recover our native freedom, the Irish...For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive,we will yield in no least way to English dominion.

为了使我们重获自由 爱尔兰人 吾之国民 倘一息尚存 誓不屈服于英格兰之淫威

The people preferred to die rather than to live under English rule.

人们宁愿赴死 也不愿苟活在英格兰人的统治之下

All these startlingly-modern sounding declarations of national community

这些国民为呼唤自由 所发出的振聋发聩的声音

come together as the epitaph of the idea of the Plantagenet empire of Britain.

汇聚成了墓志铭 刻在金雀花王朝"不列颠帝国美梦"的坟墓上

You hear this language Eloquent, fierce, righteously belligerent

你所听到的这些呼喊 雄辩 狂热 激情万丈

And you hear a voice which, for better or worse,would shout, roar and lament down through the ages.

你听到的这声音 无论如何 都将在历史长河中永恒激荡

Robert the Bruce outlived both Edwards,And while war would continue with England for generations,

罗伯特·布鲁斯经历了两个爱德华王朝 尽管后世苏格兰与英格兰的战争一直在持续

The scots had won english recognition of their truly independent kingdom.

但苏格兰人赢得了英格兰人 对自己王国独立的承认

This is certainly not what longshanks had imagined When he had been crowned before his namesake the confesses tomb.

这显然是"长腿"国王生前未曾预料到的 当他在忏悔墓前接受加冕

or when he had seated himself upon the stone of scone.

或坐在司康石上意气风发 都不曾想到会有这么一天

词汇解析

1、knock off

使减少；使降低

Udinese have knocked 10% off admission prices.

乌迪内斯队将入场费降低了10%。

He has knocked 10 seconds off the world record.

他将世界纪录缩短了10秒。

短下班；收工

If I get this report finished I'll knock off early.

如果我写完这篇报告，我就会早点下班。

What time do you knock off?

你什么时间下班？

杀死

He had many motives for wanting to knock off Yvonne.

他有很多杀伊冯娜的动机。

People don't just knock one another off like this unless there's big money at stake.

如果不是为了冒险赚大钱，人们不会像这样彼此残杀。

2、expression

表达;表述

Laughter is one of the most infectious expressions of emotion.

笑是最具感染力的情感表达方式之一。

From Cairo came expressions of regret at the attack.

开罗对此次攻击表示遗憾。

表情;神情

The civil servant's expression, however, did not change, not so much as by a flicker.

然而，那位公务员的表情还是那样，丝毫没变。

Levin sat there, an expression of sadness on his face.

莱文坐在那里，神情悲伤。