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To push back the Viking onslaught,to repair some of the terrible damage they'd done,
想要抵御住维京海盗的猛攻 在他们留下的废墟之中重建家园
would need more than just a competent tribal warrior chief.
仅有一个骁勇善战的部落首领是远不够的
It would need someone with a vision,a vision not just of victory, but of government;
他还须具有深谋远略 不仅着眼于胜利 更要善于管理
someone who could harness Anglo-Saxon energy and determination to Roman military discipline.
一个能将盎格鲁-撒克逊部落力量与决心 转变成罗马式军纪的领袖
It was going to need, in fact, a local Charlemagne,with the intelligence and imagination of a truly Roman ruler.
实际就是需要一位查理曼大帝式的首领 一位极具天赋与想象力的真正罗马统治者
He, of course, was Alfred.Our cherished image of Alfred is of the hero on the run,up against steep odds, muddling through,
这便是阿尔弗雷德大王 我们对阿尔弗雷德大王的印象 或许是落难英雄 或是绝处逢生 吉人天相
taking it on the chin when scolded for burning the cakes.
甚至是因烤糊蛋糕而受责骂的临时工
But the story which really tells you all you need to know about Alfred
而真正应该讲述的 你不可不知的阿尔弗雷德
isn't set in the swamps of Somerset but on the Palatine Hill of Rome
并非萨默塞特泥沼中的他 而是在罗马帕拉蒂尼山巅的他
and is more startling and illuminating and it happens to be true.
这个他更加光辉耀眼 也更为真实
As a small boy,Alfred's father, King Aethelwulf, sent him on a special mission to Rome to see Pope Leo IV,
阿尔弗雷德小时候 他的父亲埃特尔伍尔夫国王 交付他一项特殊任务 去罗马拜见教皇圣良四世
probably to ask the Pope's help in the struggle against the Vikings.
大概是在与维京海盗的鏖战中 请求教皇的支援
In a ceremony, the Pope dressed the little fellow in the imperial purple of a Roman consul
一次典礼上 教皇让这小伙子穿上了 罗马执政官所穿的紫袍
and wound a sword belt around his waist,turning little Alfred into a true Roman Christian warrior.
并扎上佩剑腰带 让小阿尔弗雷德成为了一名真正的基督教罗马战士
