WHEN Alfred was king， the Danes had raided England.
At the same time their cusins the Nrsemen had raided the castf France.
King Alfred at last had t give the Danes a partf the English cast， and they then settled dwn and became Christians.
The French king likewise did the same thing. Inrder t save himself frm further raids， he gave the Nrsemen a partf the French cast. The Nrsemen then， as the Danes had dne， settled dwn and became Christians.
Nrman raising king"s ft ( 诺曼人抬起国王的脚 )These Nrsemen wh raided France were led by a very bld and brave pirate named Rll. In return fr this giftf land Rll was suppsed t d hmage by kissing the king"s ft. But Rll thught it beneath him t kneel and kiss the king"s ft， s he tldnef his men t d it fr him. His man did as he was tld， but he didn"t like t d it， either. As he kissed the king"s ft he raised it s high that he tipped his Majestyver backward.
The partf France that was given the Nrsemen came t be called Nrmandy， and it is s called tday， and the peple were knwn thereafter as Nrmans.
In 1066 there was a very pwerful duke rulingver Nrmandy. His name was William， and he was descended frm Rll the pirate. Perhaps yur name may be William. If yu have any Englishr French ancestrs， yu may even be descended frm this William.
William was strng in bdy， strng in will， and strng in rulever his peple. He culd sht an arrw farther， straighter， and with mre deadly effect than anyf his knights. Nne else was strng enugh even t bend the bw he used.
William and his peple had becme Christians， but accrding t their idea， the Christian Gd was mre like theirld gd， Wden， under a new name. William believed that， "might made right" fr he was descended frm a pirate， and he still acted like a pirate. Whatever he wanted he went after and tk， even thugh he was suppsed t be a Christian.
Nw， William wasnly a duke， nt a king， and he wanted t be a king. In fact， he thught he wuld like t be kingf England， which was just acrss the channel frm hiswn dukedm. Besides， the English king Edward was William"s cusin， s he thught that gave him a gd claim t the thrne.
It s happened that a yung English prince named Harld was shipwreckedn the castf Nrmandy and was fund and brught befre William. Nw， it seemed likely that sme day Harld wuld be kingf England， and William thught this a gd chance t get England fr himself. Befre he wuld let Harld leave， he made the yung man prmise that when his turn came t be king， he wuld give England t William just as if that cuntry were a hrser a suitf armr that culd be given away. Inrder that this prmise shuld be slemnly binding， William made Harld place his handn the altar and swear， just as peple place a handn the Bible nwadays， when they take anath. After Harld had swrnn the altar， William had the tp lifted and shwed Harld that belw it were the bnesf smef the Christian saints. Swearingn the bnesf a saint was the mst slemn kindf anathne culd pssibly take. It was thughtne wuld nt dare t break such anath fr fearf the wrathf Gd.
Harld then returned t England. But when the time came that he shuld be king， the peple naturally wuld nt let him give England t William. Besides that， Harld said that such anath， which he had taken against his will， anath which had been frcedn him by a trick， was nt binding. S Harld became king.
When William heard that Harld had been made king， he was very angry. He said that he had been cheated and that Harld had brken hisath. Atnce he gt ready an army and sailedver t take the cuntry away frm Harld.
As William landed frm his bat， he stumbled and fell headlngn the shre. All his sldiers were shcked and greatly wrried by this， fr they thught it very bad luck-a badmen， the Greeks wuld have called it. But William was quick-witted， and as he fell he grabbed up smef the earth in bth hands. Then， rising， he made believe he had fallenn purpse and， lifting his hands in the air， exclaimed that he had taken up the grund as a sign that he was ging t have all the landf England. This changed the badmen int gd luck.
The battle started， and the English fught furiusly t defend themselves against these freigners wh were trying t take their cuntry away frm them. Indeed， they had almst wn the battle when William gave anrder t his men t pretend they were running away.
The English then fllwed， wildly rejicing， and running pell-mell after the Nrmans. Just as sn， hwever， as the English were scattered and in disrder， William gave anther signal， and his men faced abut quickly. The English were taken by surprise， and befre they culd get int fightingrder again， they were defeated， and Harld， their king， was sht thrugh the eye and killed. This was the Battlef Hastings，nef the mst famus battles in English histry.
Harld had put up a brave fight. But luck was against him.nly a few days befre this， he had had t fight a battle with hiswn brther， wh in a traitrus way had gt tgether an army against him. We are srry fr Harld， and yet it was prbably better fr England that things turnedut as they did-yet wh can tell？
William marchedn t Lndn and had himself crwned kingn Christmas day， 1066. Ever since then he has been knwn as William the Cnquerr， and the event is called the Nrman Cnquest. After this England had a new linef kings-a Nrman family and a pirate family-t rulever her.
William divided England up amng his nbles as if it were a pie， and gave each a share in the feudal way. They had t d hmage t him as his vassals and prmise t fight fr him and t d as he said. Eachf William"s nbles built a castlen the prperty he was given. William himself built a castle in Lndn by the Thames River.n the same spt Julius Caesar had built a frt， but ithad disappeared； and Alfred the Great had built a castle there， but it， t， had disappeared. But the castle William built is still standing tday. It is knwn as the Twerf Lndn.
William was a splendid bss and very business-like. He set t wrk and had a list madef all the land in England， a listf all the peple andf all the prperty they had. This recrd was called the Dmesday Bk and was smething like the census nw taken in this cuntry every ten years. This list gave the namef everyne in England and everything eachwned， even dwn t the last cw and pig. If yur ancestrs were living in England then yu can lk in the Dmesday Bk and find their names， hw much land theywned， and hw many cws and pigs they had.
Inrder that n mischief might take place at night， William started what was called the curfew. Every evening at a certain hur a bell was rung. Then all lights had t be putut， and everyne had t g indrs-suppsedly t bed.
ne thing， hwever， that William did made the English very angry. He was extremely fndf hunting， but there was n gd place where he culd hunt near Lndn. Inrder t have a place fr hunting， he destryed a large numberf village huses and farms and turned that partf the cuntry int a frest. This was called the New Frest， and thugh it is nw abut nine hundred yearsld it is still called New t this day.
n the whle， William， althugh descended frm a pirate， gave England a gd gvernment and made it a safe place t live. Since that time， n freign cuntry has ever cnquered England. S 1066 was almst like the Year 1 fr the English.
【中文阅读】
阿尔弗烈德是国王时，丹麦人袭击了英国。 与此同时，丹麦人的亲戚挪威人袭击了法国海岸。 国王阿尔弗烈德最终不得不把英国海岸的一部分给了丹麦人，随后丹麦人在那里定居下来，成了基督徒。 同样地，法国国王做了相同的事情。为了自己不再遭受劫掠，他把法国海岸的一部分给了挪威人。随后挪威人像丹麦人那样在那里定居下来，成了基督徒。 袭击法国的这些挪威人由一个海盗领导，他叫罗洛，非常无畏，非常勇敢。作为得到法国土地这份礼物的回报，罗洛应该亲吻国王的脚来表示敬意，但是罗洛认 为向国王下跪、还要亲吻他的脚有失尊严，于是他让一个手下替他去做。他的手下 虽然按照他的吩咐做了，但是也很不情愿。所以他亲吻国王脚时，把他的脚抬得过 高，害得国王陛下竟向后摔倒。
分给挪威人的那部分法国土地被称为诺曼底，如今还是叫这个名字，从此那里 的人就被称为诺曼人。
1066 年，一位非常有权力的公爵统治了诺曼底，他名叫威廉，正是海盗罗洛的 后裔。也许你也叫威廉。如果你的祖先是英国人或法国人，说不定你就是这位威廉 的后裔呢。
威廉身体强壮，意志坚强，统治人民手段强硬。他射出的箭比他手下的任何一 位骑士都射得更远、更直、更具杀伤力。就连他的弓也没人有力气拉得开。
威廉和他的人民已是基督徒了，但是按他们的想法，基督教上帝更像他们以前 的神沃登，只不过换了个新名字。威廉相信"强权即是公理"，因为他是海盗的后 裔，还依然像个海盗一样行事。即使他被公认为是基督徒，凡是他想要的，他一定 想法去弄到手。
当时，威廉只是公爵，不是国王，但是他想当国王。事实上，他愿意当英国国 王，毕竟英国与他的公爵领地只隔着一条海峡。另外，英国国王爱德华是威廉的亲 戚，所以他认为有这层关系他可以理所当然对王位提出要求。
碰巧，年轻的英国王子哈罗德在诺曼底海岸遭遇海难，被人发现，带到威廉面 前。当时，哈罗德似乎很可能成为未来的英国国王，威廉认为这可是夺取英国的大 好机会。在放哈罗德离开之前，他让这个年轻人发誓：一旦轮到他当国王，就把英 国让给威廉，这个国家就像是匹马或一副盔甲一样可以被赠送出去。为了让这个誓 言显得隆重，威廉让哈罗德把手放在祭坛上发誓，就像如今人们宣誓时手按圣经一 样。哈罗德在祭坛上发誓完毕，威廉让人掀起祭坛的盖子，哈罗德看到下面是一些 基督教圣徒的遗骨。面对圣徒的遗骨起誓，是一个人能许下的最郑重的誓言。人们 认为因为害怕上帝发怒，什么人都不敢违背这样的誓言。
然后，哈罗德回到了英国。但是正当他就要成为国王的时候，人民当然不会同 意他把英国送给威廉。除此之外，哈罗德说他发这样的誓言是违背自己的意愿的， 是中了诡计被迫立下的，所以不具约束力。这样，哈罗德就当上了国王。
威廉听说哈罗德当上了国王，怒不可遏。他声称自己被欺骗了，指责哈罗德违 背了誓言。他立刻准备好一支军队，渡过海峡，要从哈罗德手里把这个国家夺回来。
威廉离船登陆时，失足摔倒，一头栽向海岸。所有的士兵都惊呆了，非常担心， 认为这很晦气--用希腊人的话说，是一个凶兆。但是威廉十分机敏，趁摔倒那一 刻，他伸手抓起一把泥。然后，他站起来，假装自己是有意摔倒的。他向空中举起双 手，大声说他抓起泥土预示着他将拥有所有英国的土地。就这样，凶兆变成了吉兆。
战斗开始了，英国人为了不让这些外国人夺走自己的国家与敌人展开了激烈的 搏斗。确实，英国人差不多就要赢得这场战斗了，就在此时，威廉下令让自己军队 假装逃跑。
英国人紧追不舍，同时狂欢不已，队伍散乱匆匆忙忙地追赶着诺曼人。可是， 一旦英国人四散开来，杂乱无章，威廉又发出了一个信号，他的士兵们调转头来。 英国人大吃一惊，还没来得及重新调整战斗队形，就被击败了。哈罗德，他们的国 王，被射穿了眼睛而死。这就是黑斯廷斯战役，英国历史上最著名的战役之一。
哈罗德进行了一场英勇的作战。可是他运气不好。就在这场战役几天前，他被 迫和自己的兄弟打了一仗，原来这位兄弟竟然背叛了他，集结了一支军队反对他。 我们为哈罗德惋惜，但是像这样的结局可能对英国反而更有利--不过谁知道呢？
威廉向伦敦进发，于 1066 年圣诞节那天自己加冕为国王。从那时起，他就被称 为"征服者威廉"，这一事件被称为"诺曼征服"。从此以后一支新的国王家系-- 诺曼底家族和海盗家族--统治着英国。
威廉将英国分成若干份给他手下的贵族们，似乎英国是块馅饼，按照封建制度 的方式每个贵族分到一份。作为他的封臣，贵族们必须对他宣誓效忠，许诺为他而 战，按他的吩咐行事。威廉的每个贵族都在自己分得的封地上修建城堡。威廉自己 在伦敦泰晤士河边建了一座城堡。就在同一地点，以前恺撒大帝建了一座堡垒，不 过早已不复存在了；后来阿尔弗烈德大帝也在那里建了一座城堡，不过也已不复存 在了。可是威廉建的城堡至今还屹立在那里。就是现在闻名于世的伦敦塔。
威廉是一个出色的老板，讲究实效。他大张旗鼓干起来，制定了一份清册，记 录了英国所有的土地，还记录了所有的人口和他们所有的财产。这份记录被称为《末日审判书》，有点像如今这个国家每隔十年就开展一次的"人口普查"。这份清册 记载了英国所有人的姓名和他们拥有的全部财产，甚至具体到一条牛和一头猪，都 不遗漏。如果你的祖先那时生活在英国，你可以在《末日审判书》里查找到他们的 姓名，知道他们拥有多少土地，有多少牛和猪。
为了防止有人在夜里作乱，威廉创设了所谓的"宵禁令"。每晚在某个特定时 间，钟声响起。然后所有的灯必须全部熄灭，每一个人必须到屋里--大概就上床 睡觉吧。
不过威廉做了一件让英国人非常愤怒的事。他酷爱打猎，可是伦敦附近没有合 适的打猎的地方。为了有个地方打猎，他毁掉了大量村舍和农田，把那块地变成了 一片森林。这块地方被称为"新林"，尽管到现在它已约有九百年的历史，很古老 了，但人们还叫它新林。
总之，虽然威廉是海盗的后裔，但是他为英国建立了一个强大的政府，让生活 在这里的人安枕无忧。从那时起，没有一个异国征服过英国。因此，1066 年对英国 人而言几乎是建国元年。
