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accused, charged with crime. improved, grew better.
composed, made up of. innocent, not guilty.
curious, odd; singular. permitted, allowed.
elected, chosen. released, set free.
1. At the head of the nation stood the Cyning or King. He was elected by the Great Council from among the relatives of the late King, and was generally chosen on account of his fitness for the office. The name Queen, and the honours of royalty, were permitted to the wife of the King, until a Queen of Wessex poisoned her husband. Thereafter the King's wife bore no title but “the Lady.”
2. Next to the King were the Ealdormen, Aldermen, or Elders. They governed districts called shires. They led to battle the men under their rule, and presided, along with the Bishops, in the courts of justice. In earlier times they were called Earls, and in later times Thanes. The lowest class of freemen were the Ceorls (churls) or husbandmen; with whom may be ranked the Burghers or traders who lived in towns.
3. Two-thirds of the nation were serfs or slaves; and the sale and purchase of slaves were common, the price of a man being four times that of an ox. Many slaves were released by the bounty of their masters. Others, engaging in service and in trade, earned money enough to buy their freedom.
4. The Great Council of the nation was called Witena-gemot, or the Assembly of the Wise Men, and was composed of the nobles and the higher clergy. They were the advisers of the King in State affairs, and they formed the highest court of justice.
5. The laws were carried out by officers called Reeves. The chief officer in each county was called the Shire-reeve; whence the modern Sheriff. The most common crimes were theft and murder; and for these there were certain fixed fines. On the life of every freeman a price was set according to his rank and was called wer-gild; that is, “man-gold.” When a man was murdered, the murderer was made to pay the wer-gild to the widow or the children of his victim.
6. The ordeal was a very curious mode of proving the guilt or the innocence of the accused. He was required to plunge his hand into boiling water, or to seize a red-hot bar of iron. His hand was then bound up by a priest; and if in three days the wound was found to have been healed, the man was declared innocent; if not, he was held to be guilty.
7. The houses of the people improved very much during the six centuries of this period. At fi rst they were nothing better than thatched huts with holes in the walls to admit the light. Even the churches and the houses of the Kings were built of wood, not very well jointed; for we read of Alfred making lanterns to protect his candles from the draughts that swept through the chinks in his palace-walls. The dwellings of the middle and lower classes continued to be built of wood; but about the seventh century masonry was used for the lower part of the chief buildings.
中文阅读
1. 当时国家的最高统治者为国王，由大议会从已故国王的近亲中遴选出来，此人德才品貌需与此职相称。国王的妻子称为王后或女王，一样尊享皇家的高贵名分，但自从韦塞克斯王后毒杀其丈夫后，这一名分便被剥夺了，只称为“女士”。
2. 位阶仅次于国王的，便是郡王、议政大臣或者元老。他们统治各郡，并立法统管人民，同时也与各郡的大主教一道，在法庭中主持正义。早期他们被称为伯爵，晚近时期一般称为领主。社会底层的自由人被称为布衣之民（乡下人）或者黎民百姓，阶层再高一点的就是市民和商人，他们一般都住在城市之中。
3. 三分之二的国民都是农奴，奴隶的买卖交易在当时极其平常，一个男性奴隶的价格也就是四头牛的钱。不过还好，不少奴隶后来都被他们的主人慷慨地解除了奴隶身份，继续为奴的人也可以通过受雇于人或从事商业贸易，赚取足够的钱赎身，获得自由。
4. 当时国家的大议会便是御前会议，也叫做集贤会，全部由贵族与资深教职人员组成。他们以顾问的身份辅佐国王处理国家大事，并且组成国家的最高法院。
5. 国家法律法规的执行者称为长官，各郡县的首席官员即为首长，现代的州长即由此而来。当时最为平常的犯罪是盗窃与谋杀，对于这些罪行都有相应固定金额的罚款。每一个自由人的命价根据其社会地位的不同而异，所谓命价即“赎罪金”，就是抵命钱。一人被杀后，凶手就必须向此人的遗孀或者年幼子女支付这笔钱。
6. 在法庭上证明一个人有罪无罪的方式在现在看来极其荒唐：被告必须将手放入沸水中，或者直接用手抓住一根烧红的铁棒。之后他的手会被一位神父包扎起来，如果三日内伤口恢复，此人就被宣判无罪，反之，便是有罪之身了。
7. 人们居住条件在最近的六个世纪里有了巨大改进。最早就是简单的茅草房，墙上开几个洞用以采光。即使教堂和国王的寝宫也不过是用木头搭建，而且结构也并不牢固；史书记载阿尔弗雷德大帝曾专门为蜡烛制作灯笼，以保护蜡烛免受从寝宫墙壁裂缝吹进来的风的侵扰，此即明证。中产阶级和底层民众的房屋也一直使用木材搭建，到了公元7世纪，房屋的底座部分才开始使用砖石。