RICHARD the Lin-Hearted， whm everybdy lved， had a brther named Jhn， whm nbdy lved.
This brther Jhn became king， but he turnedut t be a very wicked king.
He is anthernef the villains in histry， whm we d nt like， but like t hear abut， and like t clap when he gets what he deserves.
Jhn was afraid that his yung nephew named Arthur might be made king in his place， s he had him murdered. Sme say he hiredthers t d the killing； sme say he murdered him with hiswn hands. This was a very bad beginning fr his reign， but things gt wrse and wrse as time wentn.
Jhn gt int a quarrel with the ppe in Rme. The ppe at that time said what shuld be dne and what shuld nt be dne in churches everywhere. The pperdered Jhn t make a certain man bishp in England， and Jhn said he wuldn"t d it. He wanted anther man， a friendf his， t be bishp. The ppe then said he wuld clse up all the churches in England if Jhn didn"t d as he was tld. Jhn said he didn"t care. Let the ppe g ahead and clse up all the churches if he wanted t. S the pperdered all churches in England t be clsed until Jhn shuld give in. Nwadays this might nt have made much difference， but then， as I have tld yu， the church was thene mst imprtant thing in everyne"s life； in fact， nthing else mattered s much. The clsingf the churches meant that n services culd be held in any church. It meant that children culd nt be baptized， and s， if they died， it was believed they culd nt g t heaven. It meant that cuples culd nt be married. It meant that the dead culd nt be given a Christian burial.
The peplef England were shcked. It was as if heaven had put a cursen them. They were afraid that terrible things wuld happen t them.f curse the peple blamed Jhn， fr he was the causef the churches being clsed. They were s angry at him that he became scared-afraid what his peple might d t him. When at last the ppe threatened t make anther man kingf England in Jhn"s place-yes， the ppe had as much pwer as that-Jhn， in fear and trembling， gave in and agreed t d everything that at first he had said he wuld nt d and mre besides. But Jhn was pig-headed. He was always ding thewrng thing and sticking t it.
Jhn had an idea that the wrld was made fr the king and that peple were put upn the earth simply s that the king might have servants t wrk fr him， t earn mney fr him， t d what he wished them t d. Manyf the kingsflden days felt the same way， thugh they did nt g as far as Jhn did. Jhn wuldrder peple wh were rich t give him whatever mney he wanted. If they refused t give him all he asked， he wuld put them in prisn， have their hands squeezed in an irn press until the bnes cracked and the bld ran，r he wuld even put them t death.
Jhn gt wrse and wrse until at last his barns culd nt stand his actins any lnger. S they made him prisner and tk him t a little island in the Thames River called Runnymede. Here they frced Jhn t agree t certain things that they had written dwn in Latin. This was in the Year 1215； and 1215 was a bad date fr Jhn， but a gd date fr the English peple. This listf things which the barns made Jhn agree t was called by the Latin name fr a great agreementr charter， which is Magna Carta.
Jhn did nt agree t the Magna Carta willingly， hwever. He was as angry and furius as a spiled child， wh kicks and screams when frced t d smething he des nt want t d. He had t agree， nevertheless.
Jhn was unable t write his name， and thus he culd nt sign the agreement as peple sign cntracts nwadays. But he wre a seal ring that was used by peple wh culd nt sign their names， and this seal he pressed int a piecef ht wax which was drppedn the agreement wherene wuld have signed.
Jhn agreed in the Magna Carta t give the barns smef the rights that we think every human being shuld have anyway， withut an agreement. Fr instance， a persn certainly has the right t keep the mney he earns， and he has the right nt t have it taken away frm him unlawfully. A persn als has the right nt t be put in prisnr be punished by the kingr anyne else unless he has dne smething wrng and unless he has had a fair trial. These are twf the rights that Jhn agreed t in the Magna Carta. There were quite a numberfthers.
Jhn didn"t keep his agreement， hwever. He brke it the very first time he had a gd chance， as a persn usually des when he is frced t agree t smething against his will. But Jhn died pretty sn； and s， as far as he was cncerned， the Magna Carta didn"t matter much. Hwever， kings wh came after him were made t agree t the same things. S after 1215 the king in England was suppsed t be the servantf the peple， and nt the peple servantsf the king as they had been befre that time.
284 美国学生世界历史 · A Child"s Histryf the wrld【中文阅读】
狮心王理查人人爱戴，他有个叫约翰的兄弟，却没人喜欢。 这个兄弟约翰后来当上了国王，结果却是一个非常邪恶的国王。 他是历史上的又一个恶棍，我们都不喜欢他，但却愿意听他的故事，当听到他得到应有的下场时，会高兴地鼓掌。 约翰担心他年轻的侄子亚瑟会取代他成为国王，所以他就把亚瑟杀害了。有人说是他雇人杀的，有人说是他亲手杀死亚瑟的。他刚当上国王，就发生这样的事， 真是不祥的开端。可是随着时间的推移，情况变得越来越糟。
约翰和罗马教皇发生了一次争吵。那时教皇可以要求各地的教会做什么和不做 什么。教皇命令约翰任命某个人做英国的主教，而约翰说他不会这么做。他希望另 一个人，他的一个朋友当主教。于是教皇宣称如果约翰不按照他的吩咐去做，他就 要关闭英国所有的教会。约翰说他不在乎。如果教皇想要关闭所有的教会，尽管去 做好了。所以教皇下令关闭英国所有的教会直到约翰做出让步为止。这件事如果发 生在现在，也许没有多大影响，但我和你说过，在那时，教会是每个人生活中的头 等大事；事实上，再也没有什么比教会更重要。关闭教会意味着任何一座教堂都不 可以举行礼拜仪式了。也就是说，孩子们无法受洗，那么如果他们死了，据信就不 能进入天堂；情侣们不能结婚；死者不能举行基督徒的葬礼。
英国人感到震惊，感觉好像受到了上天的诅咒。他们担忧会有可怕的事情降临 在他们身上。人们当然责怪约翰，因为他是导致教会关闭的罪魁祸首。人们对他的 所作所为感到愤怒，怨声载道，约翰感到害怕了--担心人们会对他做出什么不利 的事。最后教皇威胁说要让另一个人取代约翰，当英国国王--是啊，教皇的确有 这么大的权力--约翰吓得全身战栗，被迫屈从，同意做当初他说不做的所有事情， 还同意做更多的事情。但是约翰是一个非常顽钝的人。他总是做错事，而且一错 再错。
约翰总认为这个世界是为国王存在的，人们来到这个世界上只是为了让国王有 仆人为他使唤，为他挣钱，按他的意愿去做事情。从前很多国王都是这么想的，不 过他们做得不像约翰这样过分。约翰总向富人索取钱财，要多少就得给多少。如果 人家拒绝给他那么多，他就把他们关到监狱里，用铁制的夹刑刑具挤压他们的手直 到骨头破碎、鲜血流出，甚至还会把他们处死。
约翰的胡作非为不断变本加厉，最后贵族们再也无法忍受他的所作所为了。于 是他们把他抓起来，押送到泰晤士河中的一个叫做兰尼米德的小岛上。在这里他们 迫使约翰同意他们用拉丁语写成的一些协议。这事发生在 1215 年。1215 年对约翰来 说是倒霉的一年，但是对于英国人民来说是幸运的一年。贵族们让约翰同意的这一系列协议称作"大宪章"，这是拉丁语，意思是《伟大的宪章》。 不过约翰并不是心甘情愿同意《大宪章》的。他气急败坏，就像一个被宠坏的孩子，当被强迫做不愿做的事情因而就乱踢乱叫一样。尽管如此，他还是不得不 同意。
约翰不会写他的名字，所以他不能像现在人们签订合同那样签署协议。不过他 戴着一枚图章戒指，这种戒指就是给不会签名的人使用的。签名时，先把一点烧化 的蜡滴到协议上需要签名的地方，然后他把图章往蜡上一按就行了。
在《大宪章》里，约翰同意赋予贵族们的一些权利，在我们现在看来是每一个 人无论如何都应该拥有的，无需与任何人达成协议。比如，一个人当然有权保管他 自己挣的钱，也有权不让这些钱财被他人非法夺走。一个人也有权不被国王或其他 任何人关进监狱或惩罚，除非他做了坏事并受到公正的审判。这是约翰在《大宪章》 中同意的两项权利。此外还有很多其他的权利。
然而，约翰并没有遵守协议。只要有机可乘他就违背《大宪章》，就像那些被 迫答应违心之事的人经常做的那样。不过约翰很快就死掉了，所以就他而言，《大宪 章》并不紧要。但是在他以后继任的国王都必须遵守这个章程。所以 1215 年以后英 国国王应该是人民的仆人，而不是像以前那样人民是国王的仆人。
公元 1215 年