When they emerged from the vivats and incense,
在歡呼喝彩 裊裊焚香中
they were the french-speaking sovereigns of an enormous realm
來自法語區的他們接管了幅員遼闊的帝國
which stretched from the Pyrenees through to the vineyards of Gascony,
自庇里牛斯山起 到加斯科尼的葡萄園
along the cod-fish run coastal waters of Brittany,
沿著鱈魚豐富的布列塔尼海域
over the Channel to England, along the length and breadth of the country to the Welsh borders and the windy moors of Cumbria and Northumbria.
跨過海峽直達英格蘭 順著整個威爾士邊界 越過廣袤鄉村 止于坎布里亞和諾森布里亞 多風的原野
And it was a perfect time to come into this colossal inheritance.
繼承如此龐大的財富 任誰都會歡欣喜悅
For the mid-12th century really was the springtime of the middle ages.
而十二世紀中葉 確實是中世紀的春天
Literacy and learning were spreading from the cathedral schools in Paris and Canterbury.
文化的風潮始于巴黎 及坎特伯雷的教堂學校 迅速席卷開來
Monasteries were being founded at a record pace,
修道院如雨后春筍般建立起來
and although they were supposed to be purged of worldliness,
盡管它們應該是遠離世俗的清靜之地
before long they were the engines of economic power,Producers of wool, master of the mills and rivers.
而在很久以前 它們卻是國家經濟的帶動者 羊毛的生產者 磨坊與河流的所有者
So if this was indeed springtime, Henry and Eleanor had just got themselves the fattest and the ripest fruit.
在那個春光明媚的時代 亨利和埃莉諾 剛剛摘得了最為成熟飽滿的果實
It's unlikely they ever thought of it as a true empire in the Roman sense of a single realm.
他們并沒有如同羅馬統治者那樣 視其為絕對統一的帝國
Its many regions were treated separately,according to their customs.
根據各地的習俗 很多地方也受到區別對待
While Westminster was increasingly at the heart of administration,
當威斯敏斯特逐漸地 成為權力機構的中心
Rouen in Normandy, Chinon in Anjou and Poitiers in Aquitaine were just as important.
諾曼底的魯昂 安茹的希儂 阿基坦的普瓦捷也還是同樣重要
It was rather the greatest and grandest family estate in all christendom.
這些不過是基督教國家中 最雄厚無匹的家族財產罷了
That surely was enough to be going on with.
當然也就足以應付一時