Castles 城堡

V. M. Hillyer

By V. M. Hillyer

——V. M. 希利尔

（仲秋 译）

V. M. 希利尔（1875—1931），美国著名儿童教育家、科普作家， 创建了卡尔弗特教育体系。他为孩子们编写了一套趣味盎然的历史、地理、艺术读物， 即《写给孩子看的世界历史》《写给孩子看的世界地理》《写给孩子看的艺术史》。本文选自《写给孩子看的艺术史》，该书写于二十世纪二三十年代。

Once upon a time there lived a very wicked ogre. He lived in a strong castle set on the top of a hill， and whenever any traveler was unlucky enough to pass along the road below the castle， down would come the ogre and carry the traveler off to his donjon tower.

That sounds like the beginning of a fairy story and that is just what it is. But there is more truth than you might think in a fairy story. In the Middle Ages， when people believed in fairies and ogres， there were many real castles—most of them built on the top of a hill. And although there were no real ogres， there were， Im sorry to say， bad men living in some of these castles who would really lock up in their donjon towers any one from whom they thought they could get money.

很久很久以前，有一只非常凶恶的怪物，它住在山顶上一座高大坚固的城堡里。如果有人很不幸地选择了从这座城堡旁边的小径翻越这座山的话，怪物就会跑出来，把这个人抓到城堡的高塔里关起来。

刚才那段听起来很像是童话故事的一个开头吧，你猜对了。不过呢，有时你认为只会在童话故事中出现的事情，其实现实生活中也有，甚至更多。中世纪的时候，人们认为仙女和魔鬼是存在的，而且就在山顶上的那些城堡里。其实，即使在那个时候也并没有什么魔鬼，不过，我还是不得不遗憾地告诉你，很多邪恶的人的确住在那些山顶的城堡里，那些邪恶的人也真的会把他们认为有钱的那些人抓起来，锁进城堡的高塔之中。

Of course not all the knights who lived in the castles were bad. But most of them were warlike and fierce and all the old castles had dungeon cells for prisoners.

These castles were built because of the Feudal System. The Feudal System worked like this. The king or prince who conquered a country would divide the country up among several of his lords. These lords would then divide their parts of the land up among other lords， and these would divide their share again among the knights. Each lord and knight had to promise that he would help the lord from whom he got his land whenever the lord needed him. Then each lord and knight built himself a strong castle to protect his part of the land from any one who might try to take it away from him. There were no policemen in those days to keep one man from trying to steal another mans land， and so each knight had to have his own soldiers and his own castle to protect his rights.

当然了，并不是所有住在城堡里的骑士都是坏人，但当时很多的骑士都是暴力且残忍的，而且在所有的城堡里都設计了用来关押犯人的地牢。

这些城堡的修建和历史上西方的封建制度密不可分。西方的封建制度是这样运作的：一个国王（或者王子）统治了一个国家后，就会把整个国家的土地分封给他手下的几个大贵族，然后这些大贵族又会把自己分到的土地再分封给他们手下的小贵族，这些小贵族再把自己分到的土地分封给手下的骑士。这些分到土地的贵族和骑士都得发誓承诺，无论何时，只要分给他们土地的贵族需要帮助，他们都必须鼎力相助。不过，那个时候还没有警察，没有专门的人来保护这些骑士、贵族已经分得的土地。每个分到土地的贵族和骑士便会在自己分到的土地上为自己修建坚固的城堡，组建自己的军队，保护自己的土地，防止被别人抢走，维护自己的利益。

Word Study

ogre /'??ɡ?（r）/ n. 怪物（童话等中的）

donjon /'d?nd??n/ n. 中世纪城堡的主楼

fierce /f??s/ adj. 凶残的;凶狠的;强烈的;恶劣的

Two fierce eyes glared at them.

conquer /'k??k?（r）/ v. 占领;攻克;克服

The Normans conquered England in 1066.

Near each castle was a village where the common people who were not lords or nobles lived. These people were not very well cared for. They lived in miserable little huts. Most of them had to give part of all the food they raised to the lord of the castle， and all the men had to serve the lord as soldiers whenever he needed them. In return， the lord of the castle protected the poor people from enemies.

The castle was built with great， thick stone walls all around it. Outside of the wall was a deep ditch of water called a moat. The only way to get into the castle was across a drawbridge over the moat. The drawbridge could be drawn up from inside the castle so that an enemy could not enter. If the enemy reached the drawbridge before it was drawn up， he found his way blocked by a huge latticework gate， called a portcullis， which was dropped across the gateway of the castle.

在城堡附近，通常会有一个村庄，村庄里面住着境况一般的平民。平民的生活通常都很差，住在简陋的小木屋里，还要把一部分自己种的粮食上交给城堡里的贵族。不仅如此，当城堡里的贵族需要的时候，这些平民都得成为跟随贵族战斗的士兵。不过作为回报，城堡里的贵族也会保护这些平民免受敌人的侵扰。

城堡周围有一圈又大又坚硬的石头建的围墙，围墙外面是一条很深的水渠，叫作“护城河”。要跨过护城河进入城堡，就必须经过护城河上的吊桥。当有敌人来进攻时，城堡里面的人就会收起吊桥，这样敌人就无法跨过护城河进入城堡了。即使敌人在吊桥还没来得及升起来时已经上了桥，他们也无法进入城堡，因为前面还会有一个叫“吊闸”的大门挡住他们，吊闸可以从城门口上方降下来挡住城门的通道。

The castle had huge stone towers at the gateway and along the wall， with very narrow slits for windows. Archers could shoot arrows out of these slits， but the slits were hard to shoot through from the outside.

Inside the walls there was a courtyard around which were the stables， soldiers and servants quarters， kitchens， and a high tower called the keep. In the keep the lord of the castle lived. There was a large dining hall and often a little church or chapel in the keep. And down below the ground level were the prison cells and torture chambers. In case of an attack， all the people of the village came into the castle， often with their cattle and flocks， and stayed there， so there had to be great stores of food on hand.

Here is a picture of the Castle of Pierrefonds in France. Notice how few windows there are in the lower walls. Pierrefonds gradually fell to pieces until it was restored about over a hundred years ago.

城堡的城门口，以及沿着城墙的一圈都建有许多大型的高塔，高塔上有几个开口非常狭窄的箭孔。弓箭手可以从这些箭孔往外面射箭，但是外面的箭却很难射进来。

城墙里面有一个庭院，庭院周围有马厩、士兵和仆人住的营房、厨房，以及一个高塔，叫“城堡主楼”。这座高塔里住着城堡的主人，塔里有一个大餐厅，通常还有一个小教堂或礼拜堂。城堡地下室里设有地牢和刑讯室。当敌人进攻时，附近村庄里的所有村民就会进入城堡，并在城堡里待上一段时间。通常情况下他们还会将他们的牛羊、家禽一起赶来，所以城堡里的糧草储备也必须要充足。

左下图是法国皮耶枫城堡的图片。你注意到了吗，城墙下层几乎没有窗户。原始的皮耶枫城堡已经损坏得差不多了，你现在看到的是一百多年前重建的。

Word Study

miserable /'m?zr?bl/ adj. 使不舒服的;非常难受的;少得可怜的

I spent a miserable weekend alone at home.

ditch /d?t?/ n. 沟;渠

slit /sl?t/ n. 长而窄的口子;狭缝;裂缝

His eyes narrowed into slits.

torture /'t??rt??（r）/ n. 拷打;拷问;酷刑

v. 拷打;拷问;使痛苦;使苦恼

Many of the refugees have suffered torture.

chamber /'t?e?mb?（r）/ n. （作特定用途的）房间;会议厅