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The next day in the Abbey,little Richard had his shirt taken off him behind a golden screen
第二天 在教堂 小理查在金色幕帘之后 褪去衣衫
and his face, hands and chest touched with the holy oil.
额头 双手和胸前被涂上圣油
As they listened to him in his little boy's voice promise to protect the Church,
人们倾听他用稚嫩的童声 宣誓保护教堂
do justice and respect the laws and customs of his ancestors,
维护公平 遵从祖先遗留的法律和传统
the assembly of nobles and priests must have imagined him growing
贵族和牧师们一定想象过 他长大成人
to fit the huge throne of his ferocious great great grandfather Edward I.
戴上他凶残的曾祖父爱德华一世 留下的那顶巨大皇冠的样子
Inevitably, as the long ceremony droned on in the darkness,Richard fell asleep.
庆典单调乏味地进行到夜晚 理查睡着了
As he was carried from the Abbey, his legs dangling,
他被带离教堂的时候 双腿在空中悬着
one of his oversized slippers fell off,but who'd think that an ill omen?
一只不合脚的鞋掉落 但谁会认为这是不祥之兆呢
He was, after all, only ten.
毕竟 他只有十岁
How was the child marked by all this? 22 years later,
22年后 他还会记得这些吗
did he remember this moment of anointing as a kind of apotheosis,
他会将这个 被涂圣油的时刻
a magical transformation from a little man into a little god?
当做自己神化的一次奇妙转变吗
Perhaps it was as well that Richard mistook himself for a messiah,
也许正因此 理查误以为自己是救世主
since only someone with that kind of innate self-confidence
因为只有拥有这种 天生自信的人
could have faced down, at the tender age of 14,
才会在14岁时 就敢于面对
the most violent upheaval in the history of medieval England.
中世纪英国史上 最为动荡的剧变
