泰西50軼事(三)：海邊的凱努特王  江銘輝   五夢網

 

泰西50軼事(Fifty Famous Stories Retold)，是永恆的短篇故事，它收集的故事：包括浩瀚歷史的著名英雄和他們的羅曼史，故事內容有勇氣、毅力和情感。故事人物包括拿破崙、羅賓漢，喬治華盛頓、成吉思汗等人。這些故事都是老少鹹宜的故事，我將它逐篇翻譯，並配合圖畫，供大家欣賞。

 

泰西50軼事第三篇：海邊的凱努特王

 

原文及翻譯如下：

 

King Canute on the seashore

海邊的凱努特王

 

A Hundred years or more after the time of Alfred the Great there was a king of England named Canute. King Canute was a Dane; but the Danes were not so fierce and cruel then as they had been when they were at war with King Alfred.

在阿爾弗雷德大帝以後一百多年。英國有一個國王，名叫做凱努特(圖1)，凱努特國王是丹麥人，但是那時侯的丹麥人沒有跟阿爾弗雷德國王戰爭時那樣的兇猛和殘酷。

  

圖1：凱努特國王

 

 

The great men and officers who were around King Canute were always praising' him.

 

凱努特王左右的那些大人物和官員們，常常都讚美凱努特。

 

"You are the greatest man that ever lived, "one would say.

"你是有生以來最偉大的人物，常常有人會這樣說。

 

Then another would say, "O king! there can never be another man so mighty as you."

然後，另有人說，"啊，國王!從來沒有任何一個人像你這樣有權威的。"

 

And another would say, " Great Canute, there is nothing, in the world that dares to disobey you."

另外又有一個人說，"偉大的凱努特國王，世界上沒有一樣東西敢不服從你。

 

The king was a man of sense, and he grew very tired of hearing such foolish speeches.

 

國王是一位很有理智的人，他聽到這些多麼愚笨的言辭，心裡很厭倦。

 

One day he was by the seashore, and his officers were with' him. They were praising him, as they were in the habit of doing. He thought that now he would teach them a lesson,and so he bade them set his chair on the beach close by the edge of the water.

 

一天，他和他的官員們一同到海邊上。他們正又習慣地讚美他。他想現在他可以給他們一個教訓。於是他吩咐他們把他的椅子安放在靠近水邊的海灘上。

 

"Am I. the greatest man in the world?" he asked.

"我是世界上最偉大的人嗎? "他問。

 

" O King ! " they cried, " there is no one so mighty as you."

"啊。國王! "他們大聲喊道，沒有一個人像你這樣的有權威。

 

"Do all things obey me?" he asked.

"所有的東西都服從我嗎? " 他問。

 

" There is nothing that dares to disobey you, O King ! " they said. " "The world bows before you'', and "gives you honour."

"沒有一樣東西敢不服從你，啊，國王? " 他們說，"全世界的東西都向你鞠躬，而且尊敬你。

 

" Will the sea obey me ? he asked; and he looked down at the little waves which were lapping the sand at his feet.

 

"海會服從我嗎? "他問;同時他低頭看著沙灘上正在拍打他腳下的小浪花。

 

The foolish officers were puzzled, but they did not dare to say "No."

這些愚笨的官員們被難住了，但是他們都不敢說 "不字。"

 

"Command it, O king! and it will obey," said one.

"Sea, " cried Canute, "I command you to come no farther"! Waves, stop your rolling, and do not dare to touch my feet!"

 "命令它吧，啊，國王!它會服從的"一個官員說。

"海呀，"凱努特大聲喊道，"我命令你不要再過來！浪阿，停止你的滾動，不可碰到我的腳！"

 

But the tide came in, just as it always did.

The water rose higher and higher. It came up around the king's chair; and wet not only his feet but also his robe. His officers stood about him, alarmed, and wondering whether he was not mad.

然而潮水(海浪)還是和平常一樣湧上來。終於潮水愈漲愈高。它圍住了國王椅子的四周，不僅濕透了他的腳而且弄濕了他的外衣(圖2)。他的官員們站立在他身邊，都驚駭起來，而懷疑他是否發會大怒。

  

圖2：凱努特喊道，"浪阿，我命令你不要再過來！然而潮水還是和平常一樣湧上來，濕透了他的腳而且弄濕了他的外衣。

 

 

Then Canute took off hia crown, and threw it down upon the sand.

於是凱努特脫下他的王冠，把它丟在沙灘上(圖3)。

 

" I shall never wear it again," he said. " And do you, my men, learn a lesson from what you have seen. There is only one King who is all-powerful; and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. It is he whom you ought to praiae and serve above all others."

「我將永遠不再戴它了。」他說，"我的臣民們呀，從你們剛才所看到的情形中，你們學習了一個教訓。世界上僅有一個全能的王;只有他才能統冶海，將海洋掌握在他的手掌中。僅有他才值得你們去讚美和侍奉，他在萬物之上。

  

圖3：凱努特脫下他的王冠，把它丟在沙灘上。

 

凱努特國王簡介：

 

凱努特大帝（Canute； 985－1035），經常被稱為盎格魯－斯堪的納維亞或北海帝國的國王。他去世後，他的繼承人在十年之內也死亡，英國在1066年被諾曼(Norman)征服，歷史學家諾曼·康托爾說，儘管他並非盎格魯 - 撒克遜人，但他是英國歷史上“最有成效的國王”克努特是丹麥和斯拉夫血統。

凱努特大帝的父親是丹麥國王。作為丹麥的王子，凱努特在幾世紀西北歐海盜活動之後，於1016年贏得了英格蘭王位。

凱努特擁有英格蘭的教區和大陸的丹麥主教二個管區，他有對神聖羅馬帝國的漢堡不來梅的大主教管區的權力。這是他在教區很大的影響力的來源，獲得教宗本篤八世和他的繼任者約翰十九的尊敬。凱努特也獲得了他的人民在參加神聖羅馬帝國皇帝的加冕時，到羅馬，經過別的富豪人家土地，可減免通行費。在他1026戰勝挪威和瑞典，在他到羅馬加冕的途中，凱努特，為他臣民的利益寫了一封信，表示自己是英格蘭和丹麥和挪威人及一些瑞典人的國王。