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account, a statement; description. reckless, careless.
siege, attack on a fortress. embraced, took in.
tyrant, monarch who ruled by his own will. signal, notice; sign.
laying waste, destroying the houses and crops of.
rebellion, civil war.
1. William, after the Battle of Hastings, marched to London; and was crowned there on Christmasday, 1066. With him the Norman line begins. He promised to rule according to the English laws, and was at first just and merciful: but his new subjects gave him much trouble by forming plots against his life; and once, when he was in Normandy, they fixed on a day for destroying all the Normans in the country, as Æthelred had destroyed the Danes.
2. But William soon returned; and, when he heard of it, he began to act like a cruel tyrant, burning houses and killing people, and laying waste whole counties. Taking away the rich estates of the English, he gave them to his Norman followers; who promised, in return, to serve him in time of war. Thus began in England the Feudal System, or the custom of holding land by giving service in war, instead of by paying rent in money.
3. Three chief events of his reign were these: —The Domesday
Book was written, the Curfew
Bell was brought in, and the New Forest was made. The Domesday Book contained an account of every estate in England, with the name of its owner; and an account of the ploughed land, as well as of the rivers, forests, and lakes which it contained.
COMBAT BETWEEN WILLIAM AND HIS SON.
4. The Curfew was a bell which was rung in every parish at eight o'clock at night, as a signal for the people to put out their lights and fires. The New Forest embraced all Hampshire, from Winchester to the sea. Here William destroyed sixty villages, and drove out all the inhabitants, in order to make it a fit place for hunting deer
5. The Conqueror had four sons, Robert, Richard, William, and Henry. Robert raised a rebellion in France against his father. During the siege of a castle, father and son met in single combat; for both being covered with armour, they did not know each other. Robert knocked his father off his horse, and would have killed him; but at that moment he saw his face. He was so shocked that he fell down before his father, and asked his pardon.
6. Some years after this, King William was besieging a town in France,when his horse, treading on some hot ashes, began to plunge. The King, who had become very fat and heavy, was bruised on the saddle, and this caused his death. He left the crown of England to his second living son, William, and that of Normandy to Robert.
7. William was a daring soldier and an able ruler; but he was cruel and reckless in the means he used to gain his ends.
中文阅读
1. 黑斯廷斯之战完毕以后，威廉挥师进入伦敦，于公元1066年的圣诞节加冕为王，诺曼王朝从此开始。威廉宣称将按照英格兰的固有法律治理国家，并首重公道与仁德，但他治下之民也不安分，制定了很多阴谋诡计来反对他。有一次，当他在诺曼底的时候，这些人甚至密谋在某一天把全国所有诺曼人赶尽杀绝，就像当年埃瑟尔里德屠杀丹麦人那样。
2. 不过幸好威廉很快就赶回来了，当他听见这个阴谋后，立即大发雷霆，并且杀人放火，大开杀戒，几乎将全国毁尽。他将全英国的宝贵财产全部卷走，分给了追随他的诺曼人。作为回馈，这些人承诺在他面临战争之时，将出兵相助。因此从公元1072年开始，封建制度正式在英国建立。从此之后，领主持有土地以派兵出战为条件，不再以地租形式付徭役。
3. 在威廉当政时期，有三件大事：完成《英国土地志》
的编撰、实行“宵禁制度
”、修建“新森林公园”。《英国土地志》成书于公元1086年，记录了全英国几乎所有的资源财产，并且标注了这些资产的各自持有者；还有耕地的数目，以及河流、森林、湖泊的分布也都全部写在书中。
4. “宵禁制度”就是每个教区在每天晚上8点统一敲钟，以此作为信号让所有家庭都灭灯熄火。“新森林公园”围绕着整个汉普郡，从温彻斯特一直延伸到海边。为此威廉强拆了当地六十多个村庄，驱逐了所有居民，仅仅是为了把这里变成一个他游玩嬉戏，捕猎梅花鹿的场所！
5. 这位征服者有四个儿子，罗伯特、理查德、威廉二世、亨利。罗伯特在法国起兵叛乱，与他父亲作对。在一次围攻城堡的战斗中，父子二人居然狭路相逢，大打出手，原因是二人都穿着盔甲，互相没有认出来。罗伯特最后把他父亲从马上击落，就在要动手取其性命之时，才看见他的脸，他大吃一惊，从马上跌落下来，请求他父王原谅。
6. 过了些年，威廉国王在法国的一次战斗中被包围。正在突围时，他的战马突然踩到了滚烫的火灰，惊跳起来。他当时身体已发肥胖，因此被马鞍严重擦伤，这伤导致了他的死亡。威廉把英格兰的王位传给了健在的第二个儿子，即威廉二世，诺曼底王位则给了罗伯特。
7. 总的说来，威廉是一位勇武之君，也是一位很有才干的统治者；不过缺点是有时过于残忍，为达目的常常不择手段。