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bribing, tempting. massacre, slaughter.
natural, proper; according to nature. circle, company.
customs, ways of doing things. pious, godly; religious.
revenge, desire to return evil. demand, ask.
fashions, forms of dress.
1. Their defeats did not prevent the Danes from returning again and again to attack the English, especially when a weak monarch filled the throne. Æthelred the Unready tried to get rid of them, by bribing them with money to go away, taking from his people for the purpose a tax called Danegeld, or Dane-money. But this only made the Danes return in larger numbers, and demand a larger bribe. Then in 1002 he ordered a massacre of all the Danes in England; which brought over thousands of their friends, burning with revenge.
2. After a fierce struggle, the Danes at last were strong enough to wrest the crown of England from the English; and they held it for twenty-four years. Three Danish Kings, one after the other, filled the English throne. The greatest of these was Canute, or Knut, who was at the same time King of England,Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
3. On the death of the last Danish King—who left no son to succeed him—Edward (the son of Æthelred) was called to the throne; and thus the true English line was brought back. This Edward had spent the greater part of his life in Normandy, the Duke of which state was his second cousin.
4. It was natural, therefore, that when he came to England he should like to have about him the Norman friends of his youth. French fashions and customs were thus brought into England long before the Norman Conquest; and by-and-by the French language was that commonly used, not only in the King's circle, but in the churches and in the courts of law. Edward's pious life gained for him, after his death, the title of The Confessor. He died childless in 1066.
5. The nearest heir to the throne was Edgar the Ætheling (that is, the Prince); but as he was too young to rule in times so stormy, the Witan,
or Great Council, chose as King, Harold, Earl of Kent, then the most powerful noble in all England. But Duke William of Normandy declared that Edward had promised the crown to him, and that Harold himself had sworn to support him.
6. He therefore came over with a powerful army, and claimed the throne. The King of Norway invaded England at the same time,and took the city of York.Harold marched north and defeated him; and then turned southward to meet William, who had landed on the coast of Sussex.
7. The two armies met at Senlac Hill, near Hastings, on October 14, 1066,and a terrible battle was fought, which lasted a whole day. Fearful was the slaughter: thousands of brave men fell on both sides. But in the evening, as Harold was again leading on his men to the charge, he was shot in the right eye by an arrow, which pierced his brain. His two brothers fell slain by his side, and his army fled to the woods. Thus the Duke of Normandy gained the victory, and was called William the Conqueror.
中文阅读
1. 不过前面的进攻并没有彻底阻止丹麦人一而再，再而三对英国的入寇，尤其是弱主在位之时。埃瑟尔里德，这位史称“未准备好的国王”，曾经就打算以金钱贿赠丹麦人让他们离开，而且钱的来处是向人民收人头税，称之为丹麦税或者丹麦金。但这样的结果，就是丹麦人后来带领更多的人入侵，而且索要更多的钱。如此矛盾激化，1002年他下令对所有在英丹麦人展开大屠杀，但丹麦数千友军驰援而来，又对英国开始血腥报复。
2. 经过一番鏖战，丹麦人还是以其军事优势抢走了英国国王头上的皇冠，并牢牢占据达24年之久。三位丹麦国王相继成为英国国王，他们中最伟大的一位就是卡努特大帝，他同时是英格兰、丹麦、挪威、瑞典四个国家的国王。
3. 最后一位丹麦国王驾崩，他膝下无子，爱德华（埃瑟尔里德之子）便受邀继承王位，英国血统的皇权传承又重新接续了起来。爱德华一生大部分时间都是在诺曼底
度过的，当时的诺曼底公爵是他的隔辈表兄弟。
4. 由此一来可以想象，当爱德华返回英国之后，自然喜欢他身边有儿时的诺曼朋友们天天陪伴。法国的流行时尚与风俗习惯也就在诺曼征服很久之前便被引入了英国，而且很快法语就成了英国的通用语言，不仅王室都说法语，教堂和法庭里也开始流行说法语了。爱德华一生虔诚信仰基督，身后谥号为“忏悔者”。他于1066年晏驾，同样膝下无儿。
5. 在当时局面下，最合法的继位者本来是埃德加太子，但他年龄太小，根本无法掌控局面。于是通过御前会议
，或者叫王政议事会，当时英格兰实力最强大的贵族，来自肯特的哈罗德伯爵被推举为国王。但是诺曼底的威廉公爵却声称，爱德华当年承诺会传位于他，而且哈罗德也曾说过会玉成此事。
6. 于是威廉公爵率大军而来，要夺回属于他的王位。而就在同时，挪威国王也正在侵袭英格兰，并已占领约克郡，哈罗德立即向北行军，将他一举击溃；然后向南返回，而就在返回的路上，与已在苏塞克斯登陆的威廉相遇了。
7. 公元1066年10月14日，两军在黑斯廷斯附近的森拉克山地相遇，一场惨烈的战斗就此打响，持续了整整一天。战斗过程极其残酷，双方都有数千勇士惨遭屠戮。到了晚上，当哈罗德再次指挥战斗之时，一支箭射中了他的右眼，并穿过了他的头部。他的两个哥哥也很快阵亡，英军大败，全部向树林里溃逃。诺曼底公爵威廉取得了决定性的胜利，被后人称为“征服者”。