书城英文图书美国学生世界历史
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第72章 掉了脑袋的国王

THE next king was King Charles I. He was the snf King James, whm yu have just read abut, and he was "a chipff theld blck." Like his father he believed in the Divine Rightf Kings, that he alne had the right t say what shuld be dner what shuld nt be dne, and he treated the English peple as King Jhn had; that is, as if they were made simply t serve his pleasure and t d as he said.

But this time the peple didn"t carry himff, as they had King Jhn, t agree t a paper. They started t fight. The king made ready t fight fr what he thught his rights. He gt tgether an armyf lrds and nbles and thse wh agreed with him. Thse wh tk his side even dressed differently frm thse wh were against him. They grew their hair in lng curls and wre a brad- brimmed hat with a large feather and lace cllars and cuffsf lace evenn their breeches.

Parliament als gt tgether an armyf the peple wh wanted their rights. They had their hair cut shrt and wre a hat with a tall crwn and very simple clthes. A cuntry gentleman namedliver Crmwell trained a regimentf sldiers t be such gd fighters that they were called Irnsides.

The king"s army was made upf men wh prepared fr battle by drinking and feasting. The parliamentary army prayed befre ging int battle and sang hymns and psalms as they marched.

At last after many battles the king"s army was beaten and King Charles was taken prisner. A small partf Parliament then tk things int theirwn hands, and thugh they had n right t d s, they tried King Charles and cndemned him t death. They fund him guiltyf being a traitr and a murderer andther terrible things. He was takenut in frntf his palace in Lndn in the year 1649, and his head was cutff. Peple nw feel that this was a shameful thing fr the parliamentary army t d t the king, and even at that timenly a partf the English peple were in favrf it. He might have been sent away insteadf being killed,r he might have had hisfficef king taken away frm him.

King Charles I andliver Crmwell ( 国王查理一世和奥利弗 克伦威尔 )liver Crmwell, the cmmanderf the parliamentary army, then ruledver England fr a few years. He was a carse-lking persn with very rugh manners, but hnest and religius, and he ruled England as a stern and strict father might rule his family. He wuld stand n nnsense.nce when he was having his picture painted-fr there were n phtgraphs then-the artist leftut a big wart he hadn his face. Crmwell angrily tld him, "Paint me as I am, wart and all." Crmwell was really a king althugh he called himself Prtectr.

When Crmwell died, his sn became ruler after him, just as if he were the snf a king, but the sn was unable t fill his father"s shes. He meant well, but he hadn"t the brainsr the ability that his father had, and s in a few mnths he resigned.liver Crmwell had been s strict that the English peple had frgtten abut their trubles under the Stuarts. S in 1660 when the English fund themselves withut a ruler, they invited the snf the mnarch they had beheaded, andnce mre a Stuart became king. This was Charles II.

Charles was called the Merry Mnarch because all he seemed t think abut was eating and drinking, amusing himself, and having a gd time. He made funf things that were hly and sacred. T revenge himselfn thse wh had put his father t death he had thsef them wh were still living killed in the mst hrrible wayne culd thinkf. Thse that were dead already,liver Crmwell amng them, were taken frm their tmbs; then their dead bdies were hanged and afterward beheaded.

In his reign thatld and terrible disease, the plague, brke lse again in356 美国学生世界历史 · A Child"s Histryf the wrldLndn. Sme peple thught that Gd had caused it, that He was shcked by the behavirf the king and his peple especially tward hly things, that He was punishing them. The next year, 1666, a great fire started and burned up thusandsf huses and hundredsf churches. But the Great Fire, as it was called, cleaned up the disease and dirt and was therefre really a blessing. Lndn had been a cityf wden huses. It was rebuiltf brick and stne.

nlyne mre Stuart ruler shall I tell yu abut-r rather a ryal pair, William and Mary-because in their reign the fight between the peple and their kings wasnce fr all finally settled. In 1688 Parliament drew up an agreement called the Billf Rights, which William and Mary signed. This agreement made Parliament rulerver the natin, and ever since, Parliament-nt the king-has been the real rulerf England. This was called the Glrius Revlutin. It was glrius because there was n war. I think we have heard enughf the Stuarts fr a while.

【中文阅读】

下一任国王叫查理一世。他就是国王詹姆斯的儿子。查理一世酷似其父,父子 俩就像一个模子里铸出来的一模一样。他和他父亲一样信奉"君权神授说",也就是 说独有他一人有权决定什么该做或什么不该做。他对待英国人民和以前的约翰国王 一样;在他看来好像他们生来就是为他享受服务的,要对他唯命是从。

但是这一次人们没有像对约翰王那样,把他挟持走,逼迫他签署一纸协议。他 们开始斗争。国王也做好准备为维护他自认为的权利而战。他召集了一支军队,由 领主和贵族以及支持他的人组成。支持国王的人甚至在穿着打扮上都与反对他的人 不一样。他们留着长长的卷发,戴着宽边帽,上面还插着一支大羽毛,衣领、袖口, 甚至马裤脚的翻边都有花饰。

议会也召集了一支由普通民众组成的军队,这些人要争取自己的权利。他们把 头发剪短,戴高顶帽,衣着朴素。一位名叫奥利弗 克伦威尔的乡绅把一群士兵训练 成出色的战士,号称"铁甲军"。

国王的军队都是一些酒囊饭袋,作战前只知道大吃大喝。议会军每次上阵前都 向上帝祷告,行军时唱赞美诗和圣歌。

经过多次战斗,最后国王的军队被打败了,国王查理被俘虏。这时议会中的小 部分成员掌控了一切,虽然他们无权审判国王,但是他们还是这样做了,并判处他 死刑,他们裁定他犯有叛国罪、谋杀罪以及其他可怕的罪行。1649 年他从监狱被带 到自己在伦敦的宫殿前,在那里被砍了头。如今人们觉得议会军这样对待这位国王 是可耻的,即使在当时也只有一部分英国人赞成这么做。他本可以被驱逐,或者被 剥夺王位,而不必非要被杀掉不可。

在以后的几年里,奥利弗 克伦威尔,议会军的总指挥官,统治了英国。他虽 然长相粗悍,举止粗野,但是为人诚实虔诚,他治理国家就像一位既严厉又严格的 父亲管理家庭一样。他不能忍受任何愚蠢荒谬的言行。有一次他让人为他画像-- 因为那时还没有相片--画家漏画了他脸上的一颗大瘊子。克伦威尔非常生气,对 他说:"我是什么样子就画成什么样子,瘊子什么的都要画上去。"克伦威尔实际上就 是国王,不过他自称为"护国公"。

克伦威尔死后,他的儿子接替他统治英国,就好像他是国王的儿子,但是这个 儿子却没有能力接替他父亲的位置。他虽然怀有善意,但是却没有父亲的智慧或能 力,所以几个月后他就退位了。奥利弗 克伦威尔铁腕治国,英国人有点受不了,竟 然忘了他们在斯图亚特王朝统治下所受的苦难。所以在 1660 年,当英国人发现他们 没有统治者时,就把以前被他们斩首的国王的儿子请了回来,斯图亚特王室成员又 一次当了国王。这个国王就是查理二世。

查理二世被称为"快乐的国王",因为他好像一心只想着吃喝玩乐,尽情享受。 他甚至拿神圣、庄严的事物开玩笑。为报复那些处死他父亲的人,他把那些还活着 的人用人们能想到的最恐怖的方式杀死。而那些已经死去的人,其中就有奥利弗 克 伦威尔,也被从坟墓里挖出来;他们的尸体被吊起来,之后,又被砍了头。

在他的统治时期,那种古老、可怕的疾病,也就是瘟疫,又在伦敦突然爆发了。 有些人认为这场瘟疫是上帝降下的,因为他被国王和他臣民的恶劣行为,尤其是他 们对神圣事物的不敬震惊了,所以上帝在惩罚他们。第二年,1666 年,伦敦发生一 场大火,烧毁了数千间房屋和数百座教堂。但是这场大火--被称为"伦敦大火", 却消灭了疾病,清除了污垢,所以因祸得福,实际上是幸事。伦敦城里以前全是木 头房子。重建后,全是砖石房子了。

我再给你讲一位斯图亚特王朝的统治者--更确切地说是一对王室夫妇,威廉 和玛丽--因为在他们统治时期,人民和国王的斗争终于彻底解决了。1688 年议会 起草了一份称作《权利法案》的协议,威廉和玛丽签署了这份文件。这份协议确立 议会是管理国家的机构,从此以后,议会--而不是国王--是英国真正的统治者。 这一事件被称为"光荣革命"。它之所以光荣,因为没有发生战争。我想我们已经听 了太多关于斯图亚特王朝的故事了,该告一段落了。