Charles I 查理一世

“

ONE

King Charles wasn't particularly a wise king. He trusted some wrong people as his loyal advisors, and he made some foolhardy, costly decisions at the expense of his kingdom.

查理国王并不是一个特别聪明的国王。他信任一些错误的人作为他的忠诚顾问，他做出了一些鲁莽、昂贵的决定，牺牲了他的王国。

However, he wasn't particularly an evil king, either.

然而，他也不是一个特别邪恶的国王。

Had he been born into an earlier age, he probably wouldn't end up getting executed in public for treason, with his reputation chopped up into shreds the moment the cold blade of the executioner's unfeelingaxe fell on the back of his neck.

如果他出生的年龄早一些，他可能不会因为叛国罪而被当众处决，当刽子手无情的斧头的冷锋落在他脖子上的时候，他的名声就一落千丈。

The conflict that lasted almost the entire span of his reign and eventually claimed his life was the preamble to an earth-shattering revolution in Britain that gave birth toa new and unprecedentedpolitical system.

这场冲突几乎贯穿了他的整个统治时期，并最终夺去了他的生命，这场冲突是英国一场惊天动地的革命的序幕，这场革命催生了一个新的、前所未有的政治体系。

It was between Charles I and the king's Parliament.

它发生在查理一世和国王议会之间。

The English Parliament in the 17th century didn't have as much power as it does today, but its members, mainly comprised of leading nobles and intellectuals who were the representatives of the emerging capitalists, were more awake than ever to their lawful rights to govern the kingdom alongside their king, rather than beneath him.

17世纪的英国议会没有今天那么大的权力，但其成员主要由领导贵族和知识分子组成，他们是新兴资本家的代表，他们比以往任何时候都更清楚自己的合法权利，与国王一起治理王国，而不是在国王之下。

However, their desire for more autonomycollided withCharles' expectation of their role, which was more of a submissivekind, and thismismatch bred trouble.

然而，他们对更多自治权的渴望与查尔斯对他们角色的期望相冲突，后者更为顺从，这种不匹配导致了麻烦。

One of Parliament's rights was to levy and collect taxes, so if the king needed money to undertake certain enterprise, he would have to pass it through Parliament to gain its monetary support.

议会的权利之一是征税，因此，如果国王需要资金来从事某项事业，他必须通过议会才能获得财政支持。

Before Charles acceded tothe throne, Parliament mostly just unquestioningly complied with kings' demands.

在查尔斯继承王位之前，议会基本上只是毫无疑问地遵从国王的要求。

Although some of those demands were uneconomical, Parliament wasn't going to defytheir kings because of that.

尽管这些要求中有一些是不经济的，但议会不会因此而反抗国王。

That was the world's orderthat Charles inherited when hesucceeded to his father's place, so he must have been stunned and lividwhen the Parliament at his timedeclined his requestto fund his foreign war in Spain.

这是查尔斯继承父亲位置时继承的世界秩序，所以当他当时的议会拒绝他资助西班牙对外战争的请求时，他一定感到震惊和愤怒。

Members of Parliament provided their ground forthe refusal, and they leveled their arrows towardsthe appointed commander of the war, the Duke of Buckingham.

议会成员为拒绝提供了理由，他们矛头对准了指定的战争指挥官白金汉公爵。

The duke was one of Charles' father's mostintimate cronies and became Charles' most trusted advisor when he became king.

这位公爵是查尔斯父亲最亲密的密友之一，当查尔斯成为国王时，他成为了查尔斯最信任的顾问。

Although the duke was able to charm his way into the king's heart, Parliament wasn't fooled by his chicanery.

虽然这位公爵能够以迷人的魅力打动国王的心，但议会并没有被他的诡计愚弄。

Underneath his sophisticated, polished exterior, they saw him for what he was —a corrupt schemerand adeceiving manipulator, who embezzled public money for his personal enjoyment.

在他老练、优雅的外表下，他们看到了他是什么样的人——一个腐败的阴谋家和一个欺骗的操纵者，他盗用公款为自己谋取私利。

Instead of heedingParliament's admonition and replacing the duke with someone else, thus peacefully addressing this quarrel, Charles headed for the opposite direction.

查尔斯不但没有听从议会的劝告，也没有用其他人取代公爵，从而和平地解决了这场争吵，反而走向了相反的方向。

Intolerant of the idea that he should act in accordance with Parliament, whom he believed to be his subordinate, he chose to shut down Parliament altogether and solve the money issue on his own, namely by imposing taxeswithout Parliament's consent.

他认为议会是他的下属，他不愿意按照议会行事，他选择完全关闭议会，自行解决资金问题，即在未经议会同意的情况下征税。

As far as he was concerned, his father proroguedParliament once, too, so he wasn't so beyond the pale. It was this arrogance that would prove to be his downfall.

就他而言，他的父亲也曾一度阻挠议会，所以他并没有那么过分。正是这种傲慢态度将证明他的垮台。

“

TWO

With himselflavishing extravagantly on arts and his equally wastefulfriend, the Duke of Buckingham, roving around Europe in one bungled campaign after another, in 1628, three years into his reign, he ran short onmoney again.

1628年，在他统治的三年里，他在艺术上挥霍无度，而他的朋友白金汉公爵同样挥霍无忌，在欧洲各地进行了一次又一次的失败的竞选活动，他再次缺钱。

This time, he had no choice but to re-open Parliament.

这一次，他别无选择，只能重新开放议会。

Once it was opened, its memberssnatched at this opportunity to defend their rights and vociferously expressed their grievances against the king and the Duke of Buckingham.

一旦开业，会员们就抓住这个机会捍卫自己的权利，大声表达他们对国王和白金汉公爵的不满。

Charles bit his tongue andconceded to their criticisms because he needed them.

查尔斯咬紧牙关，承认他们的批评，因为他需要他们。

However, thingstook a downturnwhen the duke was assassinated only a short time after Parliament's reopening.

然而，当公爵在议会重新开放后不久就被暗杀时，事情就陷入了低谷。

Charles' pent-up anger finally flared up, which led to himre-shuttingParliament three weeks later.

查尔斯压抑的愤怒终于爆发，导致他在三周后重新关闭议会。

This shutdown lasted for eleven years, which means eleven years of Charles' personal rule of England.

这次关闭持续了11年，这意味着查尔斯对英国的个人统治长达11年。

Now that Parliament was dischargedagain, its leading members' antipathy towards Charles solidified.

现在议会再次解散，其主要成员对查尔斯的反感更加强烈。

They started to conceive of him as awrong-headed king with little regard for his people's voice, which was conveyedthrough Parliament.

他们开始把他想象成一个头脑错误的国王，而对议会传达给他的人民的声音漠不关心。

A storm was brewing between the Crown and Parliament, and all it needed was a trigger, a flashpoint, to detonatea full-on conflict.

王室和议会之间正在酝酿一场风暴，它所需要的只是一个触发器，一个爆发点，以引爆一场全面的冲突。

As it turned out, soon enough, a group of invadingScots would fire the trigger.

结果很快，一群入侵的苏格兰人就开枪了

For years, England and Scotland had beenin a tug of war on account of reasons such as Scotland's resistance against England's attempt to integrate it.

多年来，英格兰和苏格兰一直处于拔河状态，原因包括苏格兰反对英格兰试图将其一体化。

Scufflesbetween them were on and off, but Charles took this attack from Scotland as more than a dispute between twowarring kingdoms.

他们之间的争执时断时续，但查尔斯认为这次来自苏格兰的袭击不仅仅是两个交战王国之间的争端。

He suspected that Parliament was behind it, and he specifically accused five of its members withcolluding with the Scots, ordering a warrant toarrest them by force.

他怀疑议会是幕后黑手，并特别指控五名议员与苏格兰人勾结，下令逮捕他们。

Again, blinded by his kingly arrogance, he didn't think through what this forcible arrestmight bring aboutin its wake.

再一次，被国王的傲慢蒙蔽了双眼，他没有考虑到这次强行逮捕可能会带来什么后果。

The arrest was based merely on the king'sparanoid speculations, and it sparkedone of the bloodiest wars in English history, the first English Civil War.

这次逮捕仅仅是基于国王的偏执猜测，它引发了英国历史上最血腥的战争之一，第一次英国内战。

“

THREE

The war broke out in 1642, and it raged through the country for four years until Charles' royalist army was defeated.

战争爆发于1642年，在全国范围内持续了四年，直到查尔斯的保皇党军队被击败。

Thousands of lives were lost. Family members and close friends were pitted againsteach other for supporting different factions.

数千人丧生。家人和密友因支持不同派别而相互对立。

Around that same era, some English men and women, unable to bear their lives in England any longer, traveled to the New World of America to start afresh.

大约在同一个时代，一些英国人再也无法忍受他们在英国的生活，于是前往美国新世界重新开始。

On January 30, 1649, Charles I was walked to the scaffold.

1649年1月30日，查理一世被送上断头台。

What faced him was public execution and his charge of treason for "protecting himself and his adherents in his and their wicked practices.

他面临的是公开处决，以及因“在他和他的追随者的恶行中保护自己和他们的追随者”而被指控叛国。

To the same ends, he has traitorouslyand maliciouslylevied wars against the present Parliament and the people they represented.

为了同样的目的，他对现任议会及其代表的人民进行了叛国和恶意的战争。

So, did Charles I die a "martyr" or a "traitor"? This question often goes hand in hand with the debate as towhetherhe deserved death?

那么，查理一世死的时候是“烈士”还是“叛徒”？这个问题常常与关于他是否值得死亡的辩论紧密相连？

If Parliament hadn't convicted Charles for treasonand instead had continued negotiating with himfor better terms, he could have been spared of the fate of death.

如果议会没有判查尔斯叛国罪，而是继续与他谈判，争取更好的条件，他本可以免于死亡。

His power would only be nominaland his title titular, but at least he would live.

他的权力只是名义上的，他的头衔也是名义上的。但至少他能活下去。

In fact, prior to the king's execution, some members in Parliament did intend for things to go that way.

事实上，在国王被处决之前，议会中的一些成员确实打算这样做。

However, its military leader, Oliver Cromwell, saw Charles' presence asa perpetual threat.

然而，其军事领导人奥利弗·克伦威尔（Oliver Cromwell）认为查尔斯的存在是一个永久的威胁。

He insisted that the king be executed and even removed those pro-Charles members from Parliament toensure the fulfillment ofthis goal.

他坚持要处决国王，甚至将那些支持查尔斯的议员从议会中除名，以确保实现这一目标。

There were still plenty of royalists scattered around the country who saw Charles' death as an undeserved treatment, so for them, Charles' death was a martyr's death.

全国各地仍有许多保皇党人认为查尔斯的死是不应有的待遇，因此对他们来说，查尔斯的死就是殉道者的死。

However, Charles did attempt to provoke a second civil war with Parliament after his army was defeated in the first one.

然而，查尔斯的军队在第一次内战中被击败后，他确实试图挑起与议会的第二次内战。

He still couldn't reconcile with the prospect ofruling the countryin concert with Parliament.

他仍然无法接受与议会合作治理国家的前景。

The visions he had of himself as the incarnation of God on earth, ruling a united and obedient kingdom by himself, were too tempting andscrumptiousfor him to give up.

他把自己想象成上帝在地球上的化身，自己统治着一个统一而顺从的王国，这种幻觉太诱人、太美妙了，他无法放弃。

Many saw the second civil war as a revelation of Charles' character.

许多人认为第二次内战揭示了查尔斯的性格。

Even after seeing what the first civil war did to his people, he was still willing to sacrifice more lives so as tosalvage his visions. Perhaps in that sense, he did in some way commit treason.

即使在看到第一次内战对他的人民造成的影响之后，他仍然愿意牺牲更多的生命来挽救他的梦想。也许从这个意义上说，他在某种程度上犯了叛国罪。

During Charles' reign, England wasn't much of a joyousplace to live in, what with all the religious conflicts and civil wars going on.

在查尔斯统治期间，由于宗教冲突和内战不断，英国并不是一个令人愉快的地方

However, that crucible also cradleda new political system in England.

然而，这个熔炉也孕育了英国的新政治制度。

Forty years later, the Glorious Revolution would give this system a name —constitutional monarchy.

四十年后，光荣革命将这一制度命名为君主立宪制。

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Phrase

鲁莽的决定 foolhardy decisions

downfall 衰落

take a downturn 走下坡路

uneconomical不节俭的

costly 昂贵的

以…为代价 at the expense of

on account of reasons由于某些原因

名誉一落千丈 reputation chopped up into shreds

beyond the pale 出格的

roving around四处游荡

scatter around 四处散布

in its wake 所过之处

rage through the country 强行通过

submissive 唯命是从的

subordinate 下属

comply with one's demands遵从要求

heed one's admonition 听从警告

act in accordance with 按照…行事

这种不匹配会带来麻烦 this mismatch breed trouble

reconcile with the prospect of与前景一致

in concert with 一致合作

This question often goes hand in hand with the debate as to whether 这个问题经常与关于是否...紧密相连

address this quarrel 解决这场争吵

provide the ground for refusal为拒绝提供了理由

unfeeling 无情的

stunned and livid 目瞪口呆，脸色铁青

prorogue 休会

bit one's tongue 话到嘴边又咽了回去

pent-up anger 压抑的愤怒

collide with /conflict 冲突

defy sb 反抗藐视

collude with 与…勾结

decline one's request拒绝某人的请求

level one's arrows towards 将矛头指向

Intolerant of the idea that 不愿意

without one's consent 未经同意

public execution 公开执行

resistance against抵抗

be pitted against 对立

Scuffles / dispute 摩擦

crucible 严峻的考验

perpetual threat永久性威胁

scaffold 断头台

forcible arrest / arrest sb by force强行逮捕

levy and collect taxes征收税款

impose taxes 征收税款

claim one's life 索要生命

embezzle public money 盗用公款

in a tug of war 拔河比赛

snatch at this opportunity 抓住这个机会

order a warrant to下令搜查

concede to criticisms 承认批评

vociferously express grievances against 大声表达不满

earth-shattering 惊天动地的

unprecedented 前所未有的

be spared of the fate of 幸免于难

start afresh 重新开始

prior to 之前

a revelation of揭露

A storm was brewing between 暴风雨正在酝酿

detonate a full-on conflict 引发全面冲突

fire the trigger扣动扳机

antipathy towards sb solidified 对某人的反感加深了

chicanery诡计

wicked practices 恶行

wasteful 挥霍的

run short on money 资金短缺

with little regard for 全然不顾

be much of a joyous place 是一个非常快乐的地方

for better terms为了更好的条件

cradle a new political system 建立新的政治制度

defend rights维护权利

tempting and scrumptious 诱人又美味

charm one's way into one's heart

用魅力吸引人心

inherit 继承

succeed to one's place 接替...职位

accede to the throne继承王位

intend for things to go that way 打算这样做

head for the opposite direction朝相反的方向前进

ensure the fulfillment of 确保实现

salvage his visions 挽救梦想

nominal / titular 名义上的

charge of treason 叛国罪指控

convict sb for treason 判某人叛国罪

commit treason犯叛国罪

traitorously 叛国地

accuse sb of 指控

be charged with 被指控

the entire span of 整个跨度

the world's order 世界秩序

lawful rights 合法权利

monetary support 经费的支持

polished exterior 优雅的外表

一场惊天动地的革命的序言

the preamble to an earth-shattering revolution

wrong-headed 执迷不悟的

paranoid speculations 偏执的猜测

one bungled campaign 失败的竞选活动

warring kingdoms 战国

spark / bring about / detonate wars 引发战争

maliciously levy / provoke wars against 恶意发动战争

nobles and intellectuals 贵族与知识分子

emerging capitalists 新兴资本家

intimate crony 密友

a corrupt schemer 一个腐败的阴谋家

a deceiving manipulator欺骗的操纵者

martyr 殉道者

the incarnation of 化身

constitutional monarchy 君主立宪制