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Patrick understood that the monastic ideal of retreat was perfectly matched with the needs of local royal clans.
帕特里克明白 宗教退避的思想 与当地部落首领的需求完美契合
So monasteries like Arran, off the gull-swept Irish coast,with their beehive cells and encircling stone walls,
因此阿蓝岛式的修道院遍布爱尔兰海岸 并配以蜂窝样的小屋及环绕垒砌的石墙
looked like a stronghold, an encampment for God.
犹如一个基督教大本营
But what about the dragon slayers on the mainland?Who converted them?
而大陆之上的屠龙者呢 又是谁改变了他们的信仰
One man gives us the answer.
有一个人给了我们答案
To all schoolchildren of my generation,growing up in the 1950s,he will always be the Venerable Bede.
对于我们这一代 成长于50年代的小学生来说 能给出答案的只能是 可敬的比德
Bede was not just the founding father of English history.
比德不仅推动了英格兰历史发展的进程
Arguably, he was the first consummate storyteller in all of English literature.
并可以说 在所有文献中 他是完整记述历史的第一人
He was not exactly well travelled.He spent virtually his entire life here in Jarrow.
他其实并未游历过许多地方 几乎一生都在贾罗度过
But in a few luminous lines he could conjure up not just the world of holy men and hermits
但只需一点线索 他的脑海中便能显现 不光是圣人与隐士
but the world of the great timbered halls of Saxon kings,with their firelight and roasting meat,or the death throes of a great war-horse.
还有撒克逊国王雄伟的会客大堂之上 篝火通明的宴会 以及英勇的战马死前的悲鸣
It was this masterful grip on narrative that made Bede not just an authentic historian
便是凭着如此娴熟严谨的叙事手法 让比德成为了一个可信的历史学家
but also a brilliant propagandist for the early church.
和一位早期教会伟大的传播者
