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More than a thousand years ago, (in the year 849), a prince was born in England, who afterwards became one of the most celebrated and best loved kings in the world.
一千多年以前（公元849年），一個王子在英格蘭出生了，他后來成為世界上最著名最受人愛戴的國王之一。
His name was Alfred—afterwards called Alfred the Great—and he was the favorite son both of the king and queen.
他的名字叫阿爾弗雷德——后來人們稱他為阿爾弗雷德大帝——他是國王和王后最喜愛的兒子。
In those days the common people were very ignorant; few of them could even read and write.
當(dāng)時人們都很無知，沒有幾個人會讀會寫。
There were no schools, and the monasteries, where almost the only teaching had been done, were nearly all destroyed in the wars which were continually going on.
沒有學(xué)校，修道院是當(dāng)時人們受教育的唯一場所，但幾乎也都毀于綿延不斷的戰(zhàn)火中。
Only the higher classes had any chance to study, and even they paid much more attention to fighting than to studying.
只有貴族有機會接受教育，即使是他們，關(guān)注戰(zhàn)爭的時間也超過學(xué)習(xí)的時間。
But Alfred was different from most persons of his time.
可是阿爾弗雷德與同時代的大部分人不同。
Even when a little boy, he delighted in listening to poems and to the ballads which harpers used to sing, and he learned many of them by heart.
還是小孩子的時候，他就喜歡聽豎琴師演唱詩歌和民謠，而且很多都記在了心里。
When he was twelve years old, his mother, the queen, offered to give a volume of poems to that one of her four sons who would first learn to read it.
十二歲的時候，他的母后拿出一卷詩歌，對她的四個兒子說，誰最快學(xué)會閱讀，就把這卷詩歌獎勵給他。
Alfred was the youngest of them all, yet he easily won the prize of which his brothers thought so little.
阿爾弗雷德年齡最小，可是他輕松贏得了獎勵，而他的哥哥們都心不在焉。
But, as has been said, these were stirring times, and Alfred was soon called on to show his great abilities as a soldier.
可是，就像前面說的那樣，那是個兵荒馬亂的年代，阿爾弗雷德很快入伍成為戰(zhàn)士。
The Danes, a warlike people, were continually swooping down in their vessels upon the coast of England.
好戰(zhàn)的丹麥人，不斷乘船襲擊英格蘭的海岸。
Often they spread over the entire country, plundering and burning the towns, and killing the people.
他們常常席卷全國，燒殺搶掠。
In the midst of these invasions Alfred became king, when he was only twenty-two years old.
在戰(zhàn)火中，年僅二十三歲的阿爾弗雷德成為國王。
He proved as good a warrior as he was a student.
他不但是個好學(xué)者，也是個好戰(zhàn)士。
He thought that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
他認為不論什么事，只要值得做就應(yīng)當(dāng)做好。
He was generally successful against the Danes, but at one time they seemed to have the country entirely in their power, and Alfred was compelled to hide for his life.
在對抗丹麥人的戰(zhàn)爭中他打了不少勝仗，但是有一個時期丹麥人似乎控制了整個英格蘭，阿爾弗雷德被迫躲藏起來。
