書蟲二級《亨利八世和他的六位妻子》：5.克利夫斯的安妮

5.Anne of Cleves
5．克利夫斯的安妮

After lunch we sat and talked for a while. Uncle William was very interested in the letters.

午飯后，我們坐下來閑談了一會兒。威廉叔叔對那些信很感興趣。

So which letter are you going to read next?' he asked.

“下面要讀哪一封信了？”他問道。

The one from Anne of Cleves,' I replied.

“克利夫斯的安妮寫的那封。”我答道。

Oh yes, Henry's ugly wife. When I first saw her, I thought she looked just like a horse! And the King thought that too!'

“噢，是的，亨利丑陋的妻子。我第一次見到她時，覺得她長得就像匹馬！國王也那么認為！”

A horse?' said Margaret. 'So how did she become the King's wife?'

“像匹馬？”瑪格麗特說，“那她怎么成了國王的妻子呢？”

It's a long story. Do you want to hear it?'

“說來話長。你想聽嗎？”

Yes, please,' said Margaret, smiling.

“是的，請講一下吧。”瑪格麗特笑著說。

Well, after poor Queen Jane died, Henry was very sad and lonely. He wanted a new wife, and he wanted a second son. Children can die at any time, and Edward wasn't strong. So everybody looked for a beautiful young woman to be the new Queen. Then someone told Henry about Anne of Cleves, a German Princess. They said that she was beautiful, young, and clever. And at that time the King wanted to please the Germans, because he was angry with the French. That all changed later, of course.

“嗯，可憐的王后簡去世后，亨利非常難過，也特別孤獨。他想要個新的妻子，還想再要個兒子。孩子隨時都可能夭折，而且愛德華的身體并不壯。所以每個人都期盼著能有一個年輕漂亮的女人成為新王后。這時，有人對亨利提到了克利夫斯的安妮，她是一位德國公主。他們說她既年輕漂亮，又聰明伶俐。那時國王正想取悅德國，因為當時他和法國的關(guān)系很不友好。當然后來一切都改變了。

Henry couldn't go and see Anne for himself, so he sent his artist Holbein to paint a picture of her. Holbein painted a fine picture of Anne and sent it back to Henry. Henry immediately fell in love with the beautiful woman in the picture and decided to marry her. So Anne sailed to England, and on her way to London she stopped for the night at a small town called Rochester. Henry couldn't wait for Anne to arrive in London so he travelled secretly to Rochester to meet her. She knew nothing about this.

“亨利不能親自去看安妮，就派了他的畫家霍爾拜因去給她畫一幅像?；魻柊菀蚪o安妮畫了幅很漂亮的畫像，送給了亨利。亨利立刻愛上了畫中這位美貌的女人并決定娶她為妻。所以安妮乘船去了英格蘭，在前往倫敦的途中，她在一個叫羅切斯特的小鎮(zhèn)上停了一夜。亨利已迫不急待了，他不等安妮到達倫敦，就秘密地去羅切斯特見她，而她對此卻一無所知。

When Henry arrived at her house, he wasn't wearing his fine clothes and he didn't look like a king. He knocked on the door and went into her room. Oh dear! Poor Henry was very surprised. This wasn't the beautiful woman in the picture. She had a sad face and a long nose, and she wasn't very interested in this strange man. He didn't tell her his name, and she didn't understand that this was her new husband. What a terrible mistake!

“亨利到達她的住所時，他穿著樸素，看起來并不像個國王。他敲門走進了她的屋子。哦天啊！可憐的亨利驚呆了。這并不是畫上那個美麗的女人。她一臉苦相，鼻子很長，而且她對這個陌生男人并不感興趣。他沒有告訴她自己的名字，她也不知道這就是自己未來的丈夫。多么可怕的錯誤?。?/p>

Poor Henry went away to put on his fine clothes, and came back looking like a real king. Anne now saw that this strange man was her new husband. Henry kissed Anne and said his name. Poor Anne smiled at him, but she couldn't speak any English so she stayed silent. After a few minutes Henry left. He was really unhappy. His new wife wasn't beautiful, and she couldn't say a word to him!'

“可憐的亨利穿戴整齊又回來了，這次他看起來才真正像個國王。安妮現(xiàn)在才明白這個陌生人就是她未來的丈夫。亨利吻了安妮，說出了自己的名字。窘迫不已的安妮朝他微笑著，但她一句英文也不會說，只能沉默不語。幾分鐘后亨利就離開了。他非常不悅。他的新妻子非但不漂亮，而且一句話都不能跟他說！”

Oh dear,' said Margaret. She was enjoying this story very much. 'What happened next?'

“哦天吶，”瑪格麗特說，她非常喜歡這個故事，“后來呢？”

Well, Henry decided that he really didn't want to marry Anne. Where was the beautiful young woman in the picture? He wanted her! But he couldn't change things. He had to marry ugly Anne.'

“嗯，亨利很不愿意娶安妮為妻。畫中那個美貌的女人哪兒去了？他想要她！但他無法改變現(xiàn)實。他不得不和丑陋的安妮結(jié)婚。”

And did the King learn to love her?' asked Margaret.

“國王有沒有試著去愛她呢？”瑪格麗特問。

No, he didn't. He wanted to divorce her.'

“不，他沒有。他總想著和她離婚。”

And did he?'

“離了嗎？”

Yes, after six months.'

“離了，六個月后。”

How did he do that?'

“他怎么離的婚？”

Well, he learned that in her country Anne was engaged at one time to marry another man.'

“嗯，他得知安妮在德國時曾一度和另外一個人訂了婚。”

And so he divorced her?'

“所以他就和她離婚了？”

Yes, poor Anne was only Queen for six months.'

“是的，可憐的安妮只當了六個月的王后。”

And they didn't have any children, did they?'

“他們沒有孩子，是吧？”

No, Henry didn't sleep with Anne.'

“沒有，亨利從未和她同床共枕。”

But what happened to her? Is she still alive?'

“但她怎么樣了呢？仍然健在嗎？”

Oh yes. But let's read her letter and see what she says.'

“哦，是的。咱們讀一下她的信，看她說些什么。”

Perhaps it's a love letter,' said Margaret.

“可能這是封情書。”瑪格麗特說。

If it is, I'm sure that she never got a reply!' said Uncle William, laughing. He opened the letter and began to read.

“如果是的話，我肯定她從未得到過回音！”威廉叔叔大笑著說。他打開信開始讀了起來。

Palace of Richmond

里士滿宮

20th July 1540

1540年7月20日

Dear Henry

親愛的亨利：

You are a very good brother to me! Thank you for giving me five hundred pounds a year and the Palace of Richmond. I spend hours walking round the gardens here—the trees and flowers are wonderful.

對我來說，你真是個好哥哥！謝謝你每年給我500英鎊，并讓我住在里士滿官。我每天花很多時間在花園里散步——這兒的樹和花漂亮極了。

I have decided that I shall not go back to my country. I have thought about it carefully, and I know now that England is my real home. I feel so happy here. How can I leave all my dear English friends and my beautiful garden?

我已決定不回德國了。我仔細考慮過，知道現(xiàn)在英格蘭才是我真正的家。我在這兒很快樂。我怎么舍得離開我親愛的英格蘭朋友們和這美麗的花園呢？

Come and visit me soon, dear brother.

親愛的哥哥，快來看看我吧。

　Your loving sister

愛你的妹妹

　Anne

安妮

She sounds really happy,' said Margaret, surprised.

“聽起來她真的很快樂。”瑪格麗特驚訝地說。

I think she is,' said Uncle William. 'She didn't make trouble for the King about her divorce, so he was pleased with her. And then, of course, he was free to marry his next wife.'

“我想是的，”威廉叔叔說，“國王和她離婚，她沒有找任何麻煩，所以他對她很滿意。隨后，當然，他就可以自由地去娶下一位妻子了。”

The fifth one,' said Margaret. 'And who was she?'

“第五個妻子，”瑪格麗特說，“她是誰呢？”

Catherine will tell you all about her. I must leave you now, ladies.' He stood up, and came to kiss me goodbye.

“凱瑟琳會把她的一切都告訴你的。我現(xiàn)在必須走了，女士們。”他站起身來，過來和我吻別。

Goodbye, Uncle,' I said. 'Come again soon.'

“再見，叔叔，”我說，“希望很快又能再見到你。”

Oh, I will, I'd like to read the rest of those letters.' He looked at Margaret. 'Be good, young lady.' He smiled at us both and left the room.

“哦，我會來的，我很想讀一下其余的信。”他看著瑪格麗特，“別淘氣，年輕的女士。”他朝我們兩個人笑了笑，就離開了房間。