BBC英国史

In the summer of 1664,a comet appeared in the skies over England.

1664年夏 一颗彗星划过英格兰的天空

Its sallow tail could be seen with unprecedented clarity

国王使用一种新型望远镜

through the lens of the new telescopes owned among others, by the king.

比其他人能更清晰地 观测到灰黄色的慧尾

But what most people saw was disaster in the offing.

而在大多人眼中 这预示着灾难的降临

They had all read their almanacs.

人们都看过黄历

They knew that the Apocalypse would be heralded by pestilence, fire and war.

他们知道 大难将至 首先降临的就是瘟疫 火灾与战争

A year later, thousands of bodies killed by bubonic plague were being tossed each week into the great pit of Aldgate

一年后 每周都有成千上万黑死病者的尸体 被埋进阿尔盖特的大坑

and there was nothing science could do about it,

所有科学对此都束手无策

except count the dead with the care demanded by modern statistics.

只能运用现代统计学的严谨汇总死亡数字

My part of death,No one so true,Did share it,Come away,Come away Death

我已死去 无人真心 为我哀伤 降临吧 降临吧 死神

One-sixth of London's population perished.

六分之一的伦敦人丧生

The infection ebbed with the onset of autumn,

入秋后疫情渐止

but the trepidation hung around for the number of the Beast was 666.

但恐惧仍旧弥漫 因为魔鬼的代号为666

And sure enough, up from the smoky regions of Hell,

果不其然 1666年9月的第一个礼拜

in the first week of September, 1666,came the diabolical fire.

恶魔之火从烟雾缭绕的地狱 扑面而来

词汇解析

1、appear

好像;似乎;看来

There appears to be increasing support for the leadership to take a more aggressive stance.

好像有越来越多的人支持领导层采取更为强势的立场。

The aircraft appears to have crashed near Katmandu.

飞机似乎在加德满都附近坠毁了。

看起来；显得

She did her best to appear more self-assured than she felt.

她竭力让自己表现得比实际更自信。

He is anxious to appear a gentleman.

他急于想表现得像个绅士。

出现；显现

A woman appeared at the far end of the street.

一个女人远远出现在街的尽头。

Last night some of the prisoners appeared on the roof.

昨晚，其中几个犯人出现在房顶上。

2、demand

（强烈）要求;强令

Mr Byers last night demanded an immediate explanation from the Education Secretary.

昨晚拜尔斯先生要求教育大臣立刻作出解释。

Russia demanded that Unita send a delegation to the peace talks.

俄罗斯要求安盟派代表团参加和谈。

所需（或要求）的事物

Researchers wrongly assumed that people were quite clear about the demands of the task.

研究人员错误地认为大家都很清楚该项任务的要求。

the demands and challenges of a new job.

新工作的要求和挑战