More than a thousand years ago, (in the year 849), a prince was born in England, who afterwards became one of the most celebrated and best loved kings in the world.
一千多年以前（公元849年），一个王子在英格兰出生了，他后来成为世界上最著名最受人爱戴的国王之一。
His name was Alfred—afterwards called Alfred the Great—and he was the favorite son both of the king and queen.
他的名字叫阿尔弗雷德——后来人们称他为阿尔弗雷德大帝——他是国王和王后最喜爱的儿子。
In those days the common people were very ignorant; few of them could even read and write.
当时人们都很无知，没有几个人会读会写。
There were no schools, and the monasteries, where almost the only teaching had been done, were nearly all destroyed in the wars which were continually going on.
没有学校，修道院是当时人们受教育的唯一场所，但几乎也都毁于绵延不断的战火中。
Only the higher classes had any chance to study, and even they paid much more attention to fighting than to studying.
只有贵族有机会接受教育，即使是他们，关注战争的时间也超过学习的时间。
But Alfred was different from most persons of his time.
可是阿尔弗雷德与同时代的大部分人不同。
Even when a little boy, he delighted in listening to poems and to the ballads which harpers used to sing, and he learned many of them by heart.
还是小孩子的时候，他就喜欢听竖琴师演唱诗歌和民谣，而且很多都记在了心里。
When he was twelve years old, his mother, the queen, offered to give a volume of poems to that one of her four sons who would first learn to read it.
十二岁的时候，他的母后拿出一卷诗歌，对她的四个儿子说，谁最快学会阅读，就把这卷诗歌奖励给他。
Alfred was the youngest of them all, yet he easily won the prize of which his brothers thought so little.
阿尔弗雷德年龄最小，可是他轻松赢得了奖励，而他的哥哥们都心不在焉。
But, as has been said, these were stirring times, and Alfred was soon called on to show his great abilities as a soldier.
可是，就像前面说的那样，那是个兵荒马乱的年代，阿尔弗雷德很快入伍成为战士。
The Danes, a warlike people, were continually swooping down in their vessels upon the coast of England.
好战的丹麦人，不断乘船袭击英格兰的海岸。
Often they spread over the entire country, plundering and burning the towns, and killing the people.
他们常常席卷全国，烧杀抢掠。
In the midst of these invasions Alfred became king, when he was only twenty-two years old.
在战火中，年仅二十三岁的阿尔弗雷德成为国王。
He proved as good a warrior as he was a student.
他不但是个好学者，也是个好战士。
He thought that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well.
他认为不论什么事，只要值得做就应当做好。
He was generally successful against the Danes, but at one time they seemed to have the country entirely in their power, and Alfred was compelled to hide for his life.
在对抗丹麦人的战争中他打了不少胜仗，但是有一个时期丹麦人似乎控制了整个英格兰，阿尔弗雷德被迫躲藏起来。
