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To push back the Viking onslaught,to repair some of the terrible damage they'd done,
想要抵御住維京海盜的猛攻 在他們留下的廢墟之中重建家園
would need more than just a competent tribal warrior chief.
僅有一個(gè)驍勇善戰(zhàn)的部落首領(lǐng)是遠(yuǎn)不夠的
It would need someone with a vision,a vision not just of victory, but of government;
他還須具有深謀遠(yuǎn)略 不僅著眼于勝利 更要善于管理
someone who could harness Anglo-Saxon energy and determination to Roman military discipline.
一個(gè)能將盎格魯-撒克遜部落力量與決心 轉(zhuǎn)變成羅馬式軍紀(jì)的領(lǐng)袖
It was going to need, in fact, a local Charlemagne,with the intelligence and imagination of a truly Roman ruler.
實(shí)際就是需要一位查理曼大帝式的首領(lǐng) 一位極具天賦與想象力的真正羅馬統(tǒng)治者
He, of course, was Alfred.Our cherished image of Alfred is of the hero on the run,up against steep odds, muddling through,
這便是阿爾弗雷德大王 我們對阿爾弗雷德大王的印象 或許是落難英雄 或是絕處逢生 吉人天相
taking it on the chin when scolded for burning the cakes.
甚至是因烤糊蛋糕而受責(zé)罵的臨時(shí)工
But the story which really tells you all you need to know about Alfred
而真正應(yīng)該講述的 你不可不知的阿爾弗雷德
isn't set in the swamps of Somerset but on the Palatine Hill of Rome
并非薩默塞特泥沼中的他 而是在羅馬帕拉蒂尼山巔的他
and is more startling and illuminating and it happens to be true.
這個(gè)他更加光輝耀眼 也更為真實(shí)
As a small boy,Alfred's father, King Aethelwulf, sent him on a special mission to Rome to see Pope Leo IV,
阿爾弗雷德小時(shí)候 他的父親埃特爾伍爾夫國王 交付他一項(xiàng)特殊任務(wù) 去羅馬拜見教皇圣良四世
probably to ask the Pope's help in the struggle against the Vikings.
大概是在與維京海盜的鏖戰(zhàn)中 請求教皇的支援
In a ceremony, the Pope dressed the little fellow in the imperial purple of a Roman consul
一次典禮上 教皇讓這小伙子穿上了 羅馬執(zhí)政官所穿的紫袍
and wound a sword belt around his waist,turning little Alfred into a true Roman Christian warrior.
并扎上佩劍腰帶 讓小阿爾弗雷德成為了一名真正的基督教羅馬戰(zhàn)士
