6.The dress of Edward of Windsor‘s Court may be taken as a specimen of the fashion prevailing during the period.The exquisites wore a coat，half blue，half white，with wide sleeves；trousers reaching scarcely to the knee；stockings of different colours；and shoes with toes so long that they were fastened with golden chains to the girdle.Their beards were long and curled；their hair was tied in a tail behind；while a close hood of silk，embroidered with strange figures of animals，and buttoned under the chin，enclosed the head.
7.The most striking part of the ladies’dress at this time was a towering head-dress like a mitre，some two feet high，from which floated a whole rainbow of gay ribbons.Their trains were long；their tunics were of many colours.They wore two daggers in a golden belt，and rode to the tournament and the chase on steeds of fiery spirit.
8.The tournament was still the first of sports：but there were also tilting at the ring，when knights strove at full horse-speed to carry off on the point of a levelled lance a suspended ring；and tilting at a wooden figure，called a Quintain，which，turning on a pivot，bore with outstretched arm a wooden sword.The rider‘s skill was shown in his fairly striking the figure，and then in avoiding a sound blowfrom the wooden sword as he rode past the whirling image.
9.Horse-racing and bull-baiting were sports in which high and low took equal interest；but the great pastime of the lower classes was archery，which they were bound by royal order to practise on Sundays and holy-days after divine service，on which occasions other sports，such as quoits，cock-fighting，foot-ball，and hand-ball，were forbidden.
10.In an age when “might was the only right，”and the qualities most prizedwere personal strength and skill in arms，it is not strange that education，according to our notion of it，was neglected.The clergy alone were learned；but their knowledge was confined within a narrow circle.They represented all the peaceful professions：they were the lawyers，the physicians，and the teachers of the day.
11.It was not until the time of Edward the Third that England began to recover from the shock of the Norman Conquest.Then the English mind awoke from the torpor of bondage，and our literature had its birth.English prose and English poetry alike sprang to life.Inspired by Italian song，Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his “Canterbury Tales；”about the same time appeared the works of John Wycliffe，who，as Chaucer is called the father of English verse，may justly be styled the father of English prose.
中文阅读
1.在狮心王一朝，封建制度达到了鼎盛时期，而它的衰退则始于下议院进入国会，到了玫瑰战争时期彻底崩塌了。
2.渐渐地，上层社会的人们更加趋于附庸风雅。在烹饪中开始使用新的香料，食物开始变得比之前精致多了；玻璃窗、陶制器皿、煤火、烛台灯开始在家庭中广泛使用，生活质量得到了明显提高。屋顶建筑用瓷砖替代了茅草，大大改善了居住条件。但是室内家具依然泛善可陈，一个小康之家也无非就是一两张床、几把椅子、一个生火炉台、一把铜壶，以及同样金属材质的碗碟与杯子。
3.当时的大商人一般都经营羊毛纺织品相关贸易，即使国王也不敢轻视这类毛纺品贸易。在克雷西之战的胜利者中间，最英勇的那位就被他的法国对手戏谑地称为“皇家羊毛贩子”。
4.当时的军队构成分为四个部分：（1）武装士兵，由骑士、士官及其部下组成，他们属于辎重部队；（2）别动队，他们属于轻装部队，所骑军马相对次等，主要参与对苏格兰的战斗；（3）弓箭手，他们在这一时期常常出奇制胜，他们使用的弓有两种，一种是可以装卸普通箭杆的长弓，一种是发射方头箭簇的短弓；（4）步兵，他们的装束是手持长矛，戴着头盔和钢铁护手，穿着夹层大衣。
5.当时钱币的价值可以从工资报酬方面进行收集对比。一个干草工人一天的工资是1便士，普通劳力1.5便士，木匠2便士，泥瓦匠3便士。当时的牧师群体都还受雇于农林园艺行业，这也是他们施展个人能力的平台之一。我们在贝克特的作品中就曾读到，他旗下的修道士们曾在农田里打干草并捆扎搬运。
6.温莎王爱德华的着装差不多可以算是这一时期流行服饰的样本。这位潮男穿一件半蓝半白的宽袖大衣，裤筒刚刚遮过膝盖，小腿上是五颜六色的长筒袜，长长的鞋尖用金链与腰带连在一起。脸上留着卷曲的长胡须，头发束成辫子披在身后，一张绣着奇怪动物图案的丝绸头巾罩在头上，并在用纽扣固定在颌下。
7.女士服饰最大的特点在她们的头饰上，高高发髻就像僧帽一样，有的甚至有两英尺高，从上面垂下一束色彩艳丽的带子，更显她们的妩媚。衣服的裙摆很长，束腰外衣也是五颜六色煞是好看。扎一根金色腰带，别着两把短剑，骑上骏马在赛马场上纵横驰骋、嬉戏追逐是她们最喜欢的消遣。
8.骑士比武是当时最为流行的运动：有一项内容是骑士们在马上全速前进，平直地持着长矛，刺向一个悬吊的靶环；还会刺向一个木人桩，名叫枪靶，它会按照机关控制转动，张开木质手臂，手里持有木剑。如何干净利落地击倒木人桩，就是最能体现骑士技能高下的环节，并且要在骑马经过这个旋转靶标时候避免与木人手里的木剑发出碰撞声响。
9.赛马和犬熊戏是当时雅俗共赏的娱乐项目，但底层民众对箭术运动更感兴趣，花了大量时间乐此不疲，他们会在周日和宗教节日礼拜完毕之后按照皇家规定进行此项活动，而此时像套环游戏、斗鸡、足球、手球等运动则是不被允许的。
10.在一个“强力就是真理”的时代，并且个人身份背景的嘉奖全靠他在战斗中的个人表现，在这样的背景下，教育被忽视也就不奇怪了。神职人员算是当时不多的饱学之士，但他们的知识结构也只局限在一个很小的范围内。他们从事的都是一些比较斯文的职业，比如律师、医生、教师。
11.差不多直到爱德华三世的时代，英格兰才开始从诺曼征服中渐渐恢复过来。英格兰的民族之心从奴役的麻木中渐渐苏醒，我们自己的文学也得以诞生，英国散文与诗歌开始迸发出勃勃生机。杰弗里·乔叟a在意大利民歌中获得灵感，创作出了《坎特伯雷的传说》；同一时期，还出现了约翰·威克里夫b的不少作品，正如我们常把乔叟称为“英国诗歌之父”一样，威克里夫也就该算是“英国散文之父”了。
a 杰弗里·乔叟（1343~1400）：英国文学之父，被公认为中世纪最伟大的英国诗人，也是首位葬在威斯敏斯特教堂诗人之角（Poet of Westminster Abbey）的诗人。--译者注b 约翰·威克里夫（1328~1384）：英国经院神学家，翻译家，英国散文之父，欧洲宗教改革的先驱。
-译者注
THE PLANTAGENETS-HOUSE OF LANCASTER
金雀花王朝--兰开斯特王朝
67
HENRY IV.-BOLINGBROKE
亨利四世--博林布鲁克王
1399to 1413A.D.-14years（公元1399~1413年，在位14年）court，the place where prisoners are tried.
fiery，fierce.justice，trial.low，base.
surnamed，who was also called.
temper，nature.
unjust，wrong；unlawful.
vices，sins；evil deeds.
1.With Henry the Fourth the House of Lancaster begins.Having got the crown by unjust means，he found it no easy task to manage the fiery spirit of the nobles.Many were the quarrels among them，and many were the plots laid to deprive him of the throne；but he was watchful and active，and well knew the temper of the people he had to govern.
2.The greatest rebellion in his reign was that raised by the Earl of Northumberland and his son Harry Percy，surnamed Hotspur.They were assisted by the Scots，under the Earl of Douglas，who had been taken prisoneraby Percy.In the bloody battle of ShrewsburyHotspur was slain.
the rebels were defeated，and
3.Henry’s later days were troubled by the vices and follies of his son Henry，called Madcap Harry.This youth，though brave and generous，was fond of low company，and he often got into mischief.On one occasion he and his wild friends even went so far as to commit a robbery on the highway.