中文阅读
1.威廉二世之所以叫鲁弗斯a，是因为他长了一脸红毛。由于其人狡猾残忍，因此不受大众爱戴。有人还为此制定了政变计划，准备让他的哥哥罗伯特来继承王位。罗伯特虽然也鲁莽乖张，但毕竟慷慨大方，因此人们更喜欢他些。不过威廉很快凭借兵力优势，挫败了这个阴谋。
2.随后，威廉向罗伯特开战，并最终夺取了部分他在诺曼底的领地。到了公元1096年他更是占有了整个诺曼底，因为这时的罗伯特已经决定参加十字军东征b，把他的土地全部抵押给了威廉。
3.按照当时风俗，基督徒们一般都会去一次“圣城”作朝拜。圣城即耶路撒冷，基督耶稣的灵柩就安置于此，但当时这座城市却在撒拉逊人手中。更关键的是，他们不仅不是基督徒，还极力阻止朝圣者造访此城。
4.这时有一个特别的朝圣者，就是隐者彼得。他遍访欧洲各国，一路鼓吹十字军东征。也就是说，他向各国王公贵族建议，让他们变卖土地，带上人马，打到耶路撒冷去，赶走那帮撒拉逊人。成千上万的人很快积聚起来，诺曼底的罗伯特就是其中的首领之一。当大军开到耶路撒冷城外之时，隐者彼得站在山崖上，用手指指着圣城的方向，让骑士们奋勇前进。全军队伍怀着极大的战斗热情，立即涌向城门。经过几周的围攻，终于破城而入。
a 鲁弗斯：原词Rufus从“红色（Ruddy）”化用而来。--译者注b 十字军东征：也成为“圣战”，前后经历8次大规模战争，皆发生在11到13世纪。
5.威廉这时很自豪，因为自己终于成了一个强有力的国王，但死亡很快就给这一切画上了句号。一天，他正在新森林公园打猎，同游的法国友臣沃尔特·泰勒先生举箭射鹿，但鹿突然消失，他的箭头从一棵树边斜穿而过，刺入了国王的心脏。泰勒因此逃往了法国。
6.有些历史学家说这是一场谋杀，是由鲁弗斯的敌人策划的；但真相如何，已无从知晓。这位贪婪无情的国王死后，下场凄凉，尸体被一辆两轮马车运到了当时英格兰的首都温彻斯特，然后像普通人一样被简单掩埋了。
35
THE CRUSADERS‘WAR-SONG
十字军战歌
1093A.D.（公元1093年）
chronicle，record.entombed，buried.falchions，swords.immortal，deathless.insures，secures.
minstrel，consisting of singers.
pyramid，great monument.
Salem，Jerusalem.
sculptured，carved；covered with flgures.shrined，enshrined；made saints of.triumphant，victorious.
1.Chieftains，lead on！our hearts beat high，Lead on to Salem’s towers！
Who would not deem it bliss to die，Slain in a cause like ours？
The brave who sleep in soil of thine，
Die not entombed but shrined，O Palestine！
2.Souls of the slain in holy war！
Look from your sainted rest.Tell us ye rose in Glory‘s car，To mingle with the blest；Tell us how short the death-pang’s power，How bright the joys of your immortal bower.
3.Strike the loud harp，ye minstrel train！
Pour forth your loftiest lays；Each heart shall echo to the strainBreathed in the warrior‘s praise.Bid every string triumphant swellThe inspiring sounds that heroes love so well.
4.Salem！amidst the fiercest hour，The wildest rage of fight，Thy name shall lend our falchions power，And nerve our hearts with might.
Envied be those for thee that fall，
Who find their graves beneath thy sacred wall.
5.For them no need that sculptured tomb Should chronicle their fame，Or pyramid record their doom，Or deathless verse their name；It is enough that dust of thineShould shroud their forms，O blessed Palestine！
6.Chieftains，lead on！our hearts beat high For combat’s glorious hour；Soon shall the red-cross banner fly On Salem‘s loftiest tower！
We burn to mingle in the strife，Where but to die insures eternal life.
-FELICIA HEMANS
中文阅读
1.首领们，继续前进吧！我们已心潮起伏，大军向耶路撒冷前进吧！圣战当前，死而何憾，如我等死于沟壑，岂不于心不安？故土之下的我族先烈，如今亦可含笑九泉。啊，巴勒斯坦！
2.先烈之英灵也加入了圣战，神圣的天国里有他们注目的双眼。请告诉我们华盖已经升起，你们正为我们祈福，为我们沉吟咏叹；请告诉我们死亡的痛苦多么短暂，而不朽的丰碑又是何等荣光耀眼。
3.竖琴悠然奏响，歌者秩序井然！你们崇高的身份都一一彰显；每颗心都附和着琴弦，都与勇士的荣耀同呼吸，共患难。每根琴弦都奏响着凯歌，英雄都深爱这鼓舞人心的和弦。
4.耶路撒冷！正处于鏖战，战场广阔无边，你们的名字将引领大刀向敌人砍去，并让我们内心充满力量，奋勇向前。城门的倒下令人欣羡，城墙之下就是敌人的坟墓地点。
5.无需精雕细刻的棺椁来记录他们的名望，无需纪念碑来镌刻对他们判决的字眼，更无需将他们的名字谱写入永恒的诗篇。尘土已足够掩盖他们的遗体，啊，神佑巴勒斯坦！
6.首领们，继续前进吧！我们已心潮起伏，光荣的战斗即将拉开大幕；不久之后，红十字旗将在耶路撒冷的高塔上迎风招展！我们已经融化在喧嚣之内，死得其所，以戒万年。
（费利西亚·赫门兹）
36
A FATAL ARROW
夺命之箭
descendant，child.deserve，merit.frightened，afraid.launched，sent forth.
revelry，noisy feasting.shafts，arrows.startled，shocked.tragedy，a fatal event.
1.The strange circumstances under which Rufus met his death，have given him a fame which his living deeds did not deserve.For he was a cruel and wicked man，without a single quality which could make his subjects sorry to lose him.
2.Like all the nobles and princes of that age，he spent a great deal of time in hunting deer and shooting them with arrows.He was especially fond of the New Forest，which his father had made by ruining churches and burning villages over a space of thirty miles.A curse seemed to cling to the trees.The country people told with terror tales of the unearthly shrieks which often rang out from the dark glades at night；and twice death had seized a descendant of the Conqueror within the skirts of the hunting-ground.The third and greatesttragedy was now to take place，and Rufus was to be its victim.
3.Having come to Malwood Keep，which stood on the border of the forest，William，after the usual revelry，lay down on his bed of straw.In the dead of night a scream and a cry for “Light”broke on the ears of his attendants.They rushed into the room，and found Rufus，with white face and shaking limbs，sitting on the side of his couch，and scarcely able to speak for the terror of a dreadful dream.So frightened was he，that he would not let them go away，but kept them by his bed to while away the time with stories and jests.
4.Soon after day broke，an arrow-maker brought him six new shafts，with which he was so much pleased that he bought them；and，keeping four for himself，he gave two to his friend and fellow-sports-man，Sir Walter Tyrrel.
5.The Norman dinner hour was nine in the morning；but perhaps a huntingparty would take an early meal at seven or eight.At any rate，there was more wine drunk at table that morning than should have been；and the noise hadgrown very loud，when suddenly a messenger arrived from Gloucester to tell the King that one of the monks of St.Peter’s Abbey had dreamed that he would die by a sudden and dreadful death.“Give him a hundred pence to have better dreams，”cried the King.“Do they think I am such a fool as to put off my sport because an old woman happens to dream or to sneeze？-To horse，Walter Tyrrel.”