第二十四篇 The Romance of Arthur
Most cultures have some sort of hero whorepresents the best values of what its people believe in. The unusual thingabout King Arthur is that legends of his heroism have persisted for severalcenturies and spread far beyond England, the place where they began.
The earliest stories of King Arthur represent himas a warrior who fought and subdued the invading Norsemen in the years aroundA. D. 700. This much of the Arthurian tale is probably based on fact. Whethercalled Arthur or not, there is a body of evidence supporting the existence ofsuch a warrior. It is the later embellishments of the tale whose authenticityis questionable. According to these, Arthur was born in a castle in Tintagel onthe stormy western coast of England and because he was the illegitimate son ofKing Uther Pendragon, he was spirited away by the magician Merlin and his trueidentity kept from him. He became king after freeing the sword Excalibur fromthe stone into which it was thrust. He married the beautiful Guinevere andassembled in his court all the noblest knights of the land, including Lancelot,with whom Guinevere would later be unfaithful to him. He was finally defeatedin battle by his illegitimate son Mordred, and his body was spirited away tothe isle of A Valon.
This romantic tale greatly appealed to the Englishand the French in the Middle Ages, when the code of chivalry-ideal qualities ofknighthood-constituted an important part of many stories. Tales of the heroismof Galahad, Percival, Gawain, and many other of Arthur's knights werecirculated as well.
In England today, there are many sites claiming apiece of the Arthurian an legend. There is a mined castle at Tintagel. NearGlastonbury are the remains of an ancient abbey where Arthur’s and Guinevere'sbodies were supposedly exhumed in the 12th century. Neither of these provesthat the legend is true, but they do keep its mystique alive.
詞彙：
Arthurn.亞瑟(中世紀傳奇故事中的不列顛國王，圓桌騎士團的首領)
authenticityn.可靠性，真實性
spiritv.偷偷地帶走;拐走;綁架
warriorn. 戰士，勇士
chivalryn. 騎士
subduev. 制服，懾服
embellishmentn. 美化，修飾
mystiquen. 神祕氣氛
註釋：
1. This much of theArthurian tale……：許多這類亞瑟王的故事
2. spirited awayby ……被偷偷地帶走……
練習：
1. King Arthur’s famer was ______
A. Lancelot
B. Avalon
C. Mordred
D. Uther Pendragon
2. The writer seems to feel that the truth aboutArthur is that he ______.
A. existed
B. was married to Guinevere
C. had many knights
D. was born at Tintagael
3. The information in the second paragraph ismostly presented in ______.
A. spatial order
B. order from latest to earliest
C. order from earliest to latest
D. order from least persuasive
4. In the last paragraph the word “exhumed” means_____
A. dug up from the grave
B. buried
C. quarreled over
D. built a church around
5. Another good title for this passage would be ______
A. Kings in the Seventh Century
B. The Knights of the Round Table
C. Real or Legend?
D. Arthur’s Marriage to Guinevere.
第九篇 Style, Not Fashion
