Following in the footsteps of King Alfred the Great, his sons and grandsons kept on expanding the kingdom's territory.
跟随阿尔弗雷德大帝的脚步，他的儿子和孙子们继续扩大王国的领土。
However, the conflicts between English people and the Vikings weren't yet over.
然而，英国人和维京人之间的冲突还没有结束。
In fact, the Vikings didn't retreat all the way back to northern Europe after they were defeated in the battle of Edington.
事实上，维京人在爱丁顿战役中战败后并没有一路撤退回北欧。
Instead, they settled in northern England, which was then outside of the English king's influence, and established their kingdom there.
相反，他们在英格兰北部定居下来，并在那里建立了自己的王国。当时，英格兰北部不受英国国王的影响。
As a result, England in the ninth and tenth century was split between a Viking kingdom and an Anglo-Saxon one.
因此，英国在9世纪和10世纪分裂为维京王国和盎格鲁-撒克逊王国。
For the sake of simplicity, let's roughly construe Anglo-Saxon England during that period as referring to the part of England that was ruled by Alfred and his heirs.
为了方便起见，让我们粗略地将那个时期的盎格鲁-撒克逊英格兰解释为阿尔弗雷德及其继承人统治的英格兰部分。
The nature of power is profoundly seductive and dreadfully addictive;
权力的本质极具诱惑力，令人上瘾；
both political forces fought hard for one another's submission, and neither would willingly settle for the prospect of two kingdoms sharing one island.
这两种政治力量都在为彼此的屈服而斗争，而且都不愿意满足于两国共享一个岛屿的前景。
Because of that, skirmishes between them were frequent, but none of them were so significant as to exalt one kingdom to the coveted position and completely obliterate the other.
正因为如此，他们之间经常发生小冲突，但没有一场冲突如此重大，以至于将一个王国提升到令人垂涎的地位，并彻底毁灭另一个王国。
Such a paradoxical balance remained for decades until an incompetent and possibly "narcoleptic" Anglo-Saxon king, Ethelstan the Unready, succeeded to the crown, whose weakness eventually lost his kingdom to a Viking prince named Cnut.
这种自相矛盾的平衡持续了几十年，直到一位无能、可能是“嗜睡症”的盎格鲁-撒克逊国王埃塞尔坦·未来者继承了王位，王的软弱最终将他的王国输给了一位名叫Cnut的维京王子。
To preserve the royal bloodline, he had to ferry some of his heirs away to take refuge in Normandy, a region situated in today's France.
为了保存王室血统，他不得不将一些继承人转移到诺曼底避难，诺曼底位于今天的法国。
Among them was the fleeing Anglo-Saxon prince, Edward.
其中包括逃亡的盎格鲁-撒克逊王子爱德华。
Somewhere on the dark ocean in the lonely ship that carried the homeless prince, the tide started to change for the fate of English royalty.
在孤独的船上黑暗的海洋的某个地方，载着无家可归的王子，英国皇室的命运开始改变。
Growing up in Normandy, Edward developed a stronger affinity with the Norman nobility than with his fellow countrymen.
爱德华在诺曼底长大，与诺曼底贵族的关系比与同胞的关系更密切。
He had been living in exile for 25 years when Cnut died, after which he was called back to England and thrust upon the throne.
Cnut去世时，他已经流亡国外25年，之后他被召回英国，登上王位。
Some historians commented that despite his indisputable claim to the seat of power, he displayed little interest in taking it.
一些历史学家评论说，尽管他无可争议地宣称自己拥有权力，但他对夺取权力几乎没有兴趣。
His native land now rang to him with a strange alienness, and the court was heavily dominated in the hands of an English earl,Godwin.
现在，他的故乡给他带来了一种奇怪的归属感，宫廷主要由英国伯爵戈德温掌控。
1 part
Heir 继承人
Outside of influence 不受影响
Coveted 令人垂涎的
Profoundly Seductive 极具诱惑力
Dreadfully Addictive 极度上瘾的
Settle for 勉强接受
Skirmish 小规模战斗
Obliterate 消灭
annihilate 歼灭
perish 毁灭，猝死
perish the thought 没门儿，甭想了，下辈子吧
exterminate 灭绝 = wipe out
ruin = destory 摧毁；破坏
destruction N.毁灭
apocalypse (《圣经》所述的)末世;大灾变
A paradoxical balance 似自相矛盾的矛平衡
Succeed to the crown 继位
Thrust upon the throne 登上王位
thrust upon 强加于
Royal bloodline 王室血统
blue blood 贵族血统
Royalty 皇室
Nobility 贵族
noble 贵族; 高贵的;
aristocrat (一位)贵族
patrician 贵族;上流社会的
Develop an affinity with 与…建立亲密关系
Indisputable claim to 无可争辩地要求
Display little interest 不感兴趣
Sth Ring to sb with alienness 某事物使某人产生共鸣
Roughly construe sth as 大致解释为
exalt sth to 提升 ; 表扬
incompetent 无能的
narcoleptic 发作性睡病
the tide started to change for ...改变开始
heavily dominated in the hands of 主要掌握在
Edward soon caught on to the exact reason why he was sent back.
爱德华很快明白了他被送回的确切原因。
Godwin's intention was as clear as day when he unilaterally decided to marry his daughter, Edith, to Edward.
戈德温的意图和他单方面决定将女儿伊迪丝嫁给爱德华的那天一样清楚。
Apparently, the powerful and scheming earl needed someone in the court to be his puppet,
显然，这位强大而诡计多端的伯爵需要有人在法庭上充当他的傀儡
and who was more perfect for the role than a new, pliable king with little real influence whatsoever in England?
还有谁比一个在英国几乎没有真正影响力的新国王更适合这个角色呢？
Edward initially put up a fight by inserting more Norman advisers into the court and banishing Godwin in virtue of his conspiracy against the king.
爱德华最初发起了一场斗争，他在宫廷中加入了更多的诺曼顾问，并因戈德温阴谋反对国王而驱逐了戈德温。
However, it all ended in vain, for when old Godwin was gone, his eldest son, Harold, was just as fierce and formidable a threat to the throne as his father.
然而，这一切都以徒劳告终，因为当老戈德温去世时，他的长子哈罗德对王位的威胁和他的父亲一样凶猛可怕。
The engine of power for the powerful would keep running without a glitch, and the wrench that the minor, lesser force threw in the works was pitifully inadequate in bucking the trend.
为强者提供动力的发动机将继续运转，不会出现任何故障，而在工作中施加的较小的力所产生的扳手，在逆势而行方面是远远不够的。
Finally realizing the inescapability of the quicksand that he was landed in and the futility of his resistance, Edward gradually turned away from the court to focus more on his spiritual journey.
爱德华终于意识到他所处的流沙是不可避免的，抵抗也是徒劳的，于是他逐渐离开了法庭，更加专注于他的精神之旅。
That was as defiant as he could go to fend off Godwin's control over him.
他极力反抗戈德温对他的控制。
Because of his religious leanings, he was later given the epithet of "the Confessor," indicating how the world remembers him for his piety and saintliness.
由于他的宗教倾向，他后来被冠以“忏悔者”的称号，表明世界对他的虔诚和圣洁的记忆。
The church also held him up as an ideal king and a paragon that his successors should pay great heed to follow and emulate.
教会还将他视为一位理想的国王和典范，他的继任者应予以高度重视并效仿。
On an overcast day in 1066, the childless, 63-year-old Edward, drew his last breath.
1066年的一个阴天，63岁的爱德华没有孩子，奄奄一息。
It was a sinister death because the lack of an obvious heir left the country in turmoils and months of gruesome fighting ensued over claims to the throne.
这是一次险恶的死亡，因为没有明显的继承人，这个国家陷入了动荡，接下来的几个月里，围绕王位的主张发生了可怕的战斗。
The winner that would come out of the fight would end the Anglo-Saxon rule over England and usher in an entirely different, new era.
胜利者将结束盎格鲁-撒克逊对英格兰的统治，迎来一个完全不同的新时代
2 part
Catch on 流行起来
Catch on to 理解
as clear as day 昭然若揭
Insert..into 插入
Unilaterally 单方面地
put up a fight 奋勇战斗
Scheme V密谋 N诡计
Scheming 诡计多端的
Formidable 可怕的
Gruesome 毛骨悚然的
quicksand 流沙;难以摆脱的困境;
Pliable 柔韧的;易弯的
Conspiracy against 阴谋
Glitch 小毛病
in virtue of 凭借由于
held sb up as 把某人当作
Wrench N 扳手 V猛拉 扭伤 使痛苦
Guy wrenched his mind back to the present.
盖伊的思绪猛地回到现在。
They wrenched the door open.
他们猛地把门拉开了。
She wrenched her knee when she fell.
她跌倒时把膝盖扭伤了。
His words wrenched a sob from her.
他的话使得她难过得哭泣起来。
Her words wrenched at my heart.
她的话使得我心如刀绞。
a wrenching experience
苦难的经历
gut-wrenching 倒胃口的
Buck
n . 美元，雄鹿 ，小伙子，责任
make a fast/quick buck 轻易地赚钱
bang for your buck
钱花得合算；所作的努力值得
look/feel like a million dollars/bucks
看上去 / 感觉好极了
The buck stops with him 责任在于他。
pass the buck 推脱责任
adj. 雄的
v. 弓背四蹄跳起;猛然震荡;抵制;
buck the trend 逆势而进
buck teeth 龅牙
buck your ideas up 振作起来
Futility of resistance 抵抗徒劳
fend off 避开（问题或人); 抵挡（攻击）
inescapability 不可避免
Defiant 公然违抗的；
A defiant message 挑战书
Epithet of 谥号
saintly.圣洁的
saint N 圣徒/人 V 列[尊]…为圣徒
Piety and saintliness 虔诚与圣洁
——impiety 不敬的行为
Paragon 完美典范;
Successor 继承人
Pay great heed to do留心
emulate 模仿;努力赶上;同…竞争;
a role model worthy of emulation.
值得仿效的楷模
emulate one's success.
赶上...的成就
mulate his behavior 模仿他的动作
An overcast day 阴天
Sinister 不祥的；阴险的
In turmoils 纷争中
rebellion∶武装骚乱
riot 以武力破坏社会秩序
revolt 起义;叛乱
unrest 动乱;动荡;
chaos 混乱
disturbance 骚乱
一群骚乱的暴徒 a turbulent mob;
引起骚乱 cause a disturbance;
骚乱地区 troubled areas
economic/political/domestic chaos
经济 / 政治 / 国内的混乱
The house was in chaos after the party.
聚会后，房子里一片狼藉。
There is growing unrest in the south of the country.
这个国家的南方日益动荡不安
Draw last breath 咽下最后一口气
Sth ensue over 某事接踵而至
usher
V 引入;引领;
N.引座员;(法院的)传达员，门卫
Usher in a new era 迎接新时代
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