A Child's History of England.136

CHAPTER 27 ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH, CALLED BLUFF KING HAL AND BURLY [结实的] KING HARRY

PART THE FIRST

We now come to King Henry the Eighth, whom it has been too much the fashion to call 'Bluff King Hal,' and 'Burly King Harry,' and other fine names; but whom I shall take the liberty [冒昧地] to call, plainly, one of the most detestable villains that ever drew breath. You will be able to judge, long before we come to the end of his life, whether he deserves the character.

He was just eighteen years of age when he came to the throne. People said he was handsome then; but I don't believe it. He was a big, burly, noisy, small-eyed, large-faced, double-chinned, swinish-looking [swine-猪] fellow in later life (as we know from the likenesses of him, painted by the famous Hans Holbein), and it is not easy to believe that so bad a character can ever have been veiled under a prepossessing [讨人喜欢的] appearance.

He was anxious to make himself popular; and the people, who had long disliked the late King, were very willing to believe that he deserved to be so. He was extremely fond of show and display, and so were they. Therefore there was great rejoicing when he married the Princess Catherine, and when they were both crowned. And the King fought at tournaments and always came off victorious - for the courtiers took care of that - and there was a general outcry that he was a wonderful man. Empson, Dudley, and their supporters were accused of a variety of crimes they had never committed, instead of the offences of which they really had been guilty; and they were pilloried [枷号示众], and set upon horses with their faces to the tails [倒骑马], and knocked about and beheaded, to the satisfaction of the people, and the enrichment of the King.

comes off worst/best a contest/conflict.

The Pope, so indefatigable [不懈的{fatigue}] in getting the world into trouble, had mixed himself up in a war on the continent of Europe, occasioned [caused] by the reigning Princes of little quarrelling states in Italy having at various times married into other Royal families, and so led to their claiming a share in those petty Governments. The King, who discovered that he was very fond of the Pope, sent a herald to the King of France, to say that he must not make war upon that holy personage [要人], because he was the father of all Christians. As the French King did not mind this relationship in the least, and also refused to admit a claim King Henry made to certain lands in France, war was declared between the two countries. Not to perplex this story with an account of the tricks and designs of all the sovereigns who were engaged [忙于] in it, it is enough to say that England made a blundering [careless, stupid] alliance with Spain, and got stupidly taken in by that country; which made its own terms with France when it could and left England in the lurch. Sir Edward Howard, a bold admiral, son of the Earl of Surrey, distinguished himself by his bravery against the French in this business; but, unfortunately, he was more brave than wise, for, skimming [掠过，擦过] into the French harbour of Brest with only a few row-boats, he attempted (in revenge for the defeat and death of Sir Thomas Knyvett, another bold English admiral) to take some strong French ships, well defended with batteries of cannon. The upshot [结局] was, that he was left on board of one of them (in consequence of its shooting away from his own boat), with not more than about a dozen men, and was thrown into the sea and drowned: though not until he had taken from his breast his gold chain and gold whistle, which were the signs of his office [职位], and had cast them into the sea to prevent their being made a boast of by the enemy. After this defeat - which was a great one, for Sir Edward Howard was a man of valour [勇武] and fame - the King took it into his head to invade France in person; first executing that dangerous Earl of Suffolk whom his father had left in the Tower, and appointing Queen Catherine to the charge of his kingdom in his absence. He sailed to Calais, where he was joined by Maximilian, Emperor of Germany, who pretended to be his soldier, and who took pay in his service: with a good deal of nonsense of that sort, flattering enough to the vanity [虚荣] of a vain [自负的] blusterer [自吹自擂者]. The King might be successful enough in sham [假的] fights; but his idea of real battles chiefly consisted in pitching [set up] silken tents of bright colours that were ignominiously [humiliatingly] blown down by the wind, and in making a vast display of gaudy [花哨的] flags and golden curtains. Fortune, however, favoured him better than he deserved; for, after much waste of time in tent pitching, flag flying, gold curtaining, and other such masquerading, he gave the French battle at a place called Guinegate: where they took such an unaccountable panic, and fled with such swiftness, that it was ever afterwards [从此永远] called by the English the Battle of Spurs. Instead of following up his advantage, the King, finding that he had had enough of real fighting, came home again.

leave sb in the lurch - abandon sb in an awkward situation 弃某人于困境。lurch - 蹒跚，踉跄
batteries of cannon: 炮组。不是佳能电池，也不是电磁炮。battery: cell or cells for supplying electricity, 电池组，关键是"组"不是"电"。
...he attempted to take some strong French ships. He was left on board of one of them [French ship], in consequence of its shooting away from his own boat. [跳船后法国船飞速离开英国船]

六级/考研单词: bluff, vogue, liberty, throne, handsome, fellow, fame, veil, dislike, fond, thereby, rejoice, princess, tournament, commit, guilt, enrich, contest, fatigue, continent, reign, quarrel, petty, herald, holy, perplex, sovereign, engage, blunder, bold, wise, skim, harbor, revenge, cannon, drown, breast, whistle, boast, invade, execute, sail, emperor, nonsense, flatter, vain, tent, panic, flee, swift, spur, abandon, situate