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displeasing, offending. torrent, a rushing stream.
sternness, harshness. welcomed, received kindly.
1. When Alfred came to the throne, in his twenty-second year, he ran the risk at first of displeasing his subjects by ruling them too harshly. That was the reason for which, when the Danes made an attack by sea on the southern shore, there were very few men who cared to help Alfred in beating them back; so the young monarch was driven from his throne, and had to hide himself among the woods and the marshes of Somersetshire.
2. This piece of bad fortune did good both to himself and to his people. It softened the sternness of his nature, and allowed his people time to forget his early harshness. His hidingplace was an island in Somersetshire, called Athelney,a little patch of ground covered with alder trees. A bridge was built over the stream, and here the King remained for a whole winter.
3. It was while he lived in this sad state that he found his way one day into the cabin of a man that herded oxen. The man was out, but his wife welcomed the wanderer, and bade him sit down and warm himself at the fire of logs that crackled in the centre of the clay floor. Alfred, who was dressed in the clothes of a peasant, gladly did so, at the same time taking out his knife and trimming his bow.
4. The woman asked him to see that some cakes, which were baking on the fire, did not burn: but he was either too tired, or too much wrapped in thought,or too busy with the shaping of his bow; for, when she turned again to look, the bread was black and smoking. Little dreaming that she was scolding her King, the herdsman's wife poured out a torrent of abuse, and told the culprit that, although he was lazy in watching the cakes, she was sure he would eat them greedily enough when they were baked.
中文阅读
1. 阿尔弗雷德在22岁登基后，刚愎自用，立政苛严。而这就是为什么当初丹麦人从南部海岸登岸侵袭之时，几乎没有人英勇地站出来击退敌人，最后他不得不狼狈躲避到萨默塞特郡的无边沼泽与树林里之中。
2. 不过这段霉运却对他本人以及他治下的人民都有好处，一方面修磨了他急躁的脾气，另一方面也让他的人民有时间去遗忘一些他当初留给他们的恶劣印象。他的藏身之处是萨默塞特郡的一个小岛，名叫阿塞尔内岛，岛的面积不大，上面到处覆盖着赤杨树。后来在小岛边缘的水流上架了一座桥，这位倒霉的国王在那里度过了整整一个严冬。
3. 阿尔弗雷德就在这样的困境中一天天煎熬着。有一天，他无意中走进了一位放牛人的陋舍，主人不在，但他的妻子很热情地招待了这位流浪者。她招呼他坐下，让他在地面上一堆劈啪作响的柴火旁暖和身子。穿成农民样子的阿尔弗雷德高兴地坐下来，拿出小刀修剪他的弓箭。
4. 这位主妇让他看着火边正在烤制的面包，千万别烤焦了。但也许是他太累了，或者心里琢磨的事太多了，也可能是一心在想快点削好他的弓箭，反正等她回来再看时，面包已经全黑了，还冒着青烟。可以想象，接下来这位倒霉的国王被放牛人彪悍的老婆骂了个狗血喷头。不过还好，她还是告诉这位冤家，尽管他这么没用，把面包烤糊了，但一会儿她重新烤好面包后，还是能让他吃个够的。