05.Anne of Cleves

5.Anne of Cleves
5．克利夫斯的安妮
After lunch we sat and talked for a while. Uncle William was very interested in the letters.


午饭后，我们坐下来闲谈了一会儿。威廉叔叔对那些信很感兴趣。


So which letter are you going to read next?' he asked.


“下面要读哪一封信了？”他问道。


The one from Anne of Cleves,' I replied.


“克利夫斯的安妮写的那封。”我答道。


Oh yes, Henry's ugly wife. When I first saw her, I thought she looked just like a horse! And the King thought that too!'


“噢，是的，亨利丑陋的妻子。我第一次见到她时，觉得她长得就像匹马！国王也那么认为！”


A horse?' said Margaret. 'So how did she become the King's wife?'


“像匹马？”玛格丽特说，“那她怎么成了国王的妻子呢？”


It's a long story. Do you want to hear it?'


“说来话长。你想听吗？”


Yes, please,' said Margaret, smiling.


“是的，请讲一下吧。”玛格丽特笑着说。


Well, after poor Queen Jane died, Henry was very sad and lonely. He wanted a new wife, and he wanted a second son. Children can die at any time, and Edward wasn't strong. So everybody looked for a beautiful young woman to be the new Queen. Then someone told Henry about Anne of Cleves, a German Princess. They said that she was beautiful, young, and clever. And at that time the King wanted to please the Germans, because he was angry with the French. That all changed later, of course.


“嗯，可怜的王后简去世后，亨利非常难过，也特别孤独。他想要个新的妻子，还想再要个儿子。孩子随时都可能夭折，而且爱德华的身体并不壮。所以每个人都期盼着能有一个年轻漂亮的女人成为新王后。这时，有人对亨利提到了克利夫斯的安妮，她是一位德国公主。他们说她既年轻漂亮，又聪明伶俐。那时国王正想取悦德国，因为当时他和法国的关系很不友好。当然后来一切都改变了。


Henry couldn't go and see Anne for himself, so he sent his artist Holbein to paint a picture of her. Holbein painted a fine picture of Anne and sent it back to Henry. Henry immediately fell in love with the beautiful woman in the picture and decided to marry her. So Anne sailed to England, and on her way to London she stopped for the night at a small town called Rochester. Henry couldn't wait for Anne to arrive in London so he travelled secretly to Rochester to meet her. She knew nothing about this.


“亨利不能亲自去看安妮，就派了他的画家霍尔拜因去给她画一幅像。霍尔拜因给安妮画了幅很漂亮的画像，送给了亨利。亨利立刻爱上了画中这位美貌的女人并决定娶她为妻。所以安妮乘船去了英格兰，在前往伦敦的途中，她在一个叫罗切斯特的小镇上停了一夜。亨利已迫不急待了，他不等安妮到达伦敦，就秘密地去罗切斯特见她，而她对此却一无所知。


When Henry arrived at her house, he wasn't wearing his fine clothes and he didn't look like a king. He knocked on the door and went into her room. Oh dear! Poor Henry was very surprised. This wasn't the beautiful woman in the picture. She had a sad face and a long nose, and she wasn't very interested in this strange man. He didn't tell her his name, and she didn't understand that this was her new husband. What a terrible mistake!


“亨利到达她的住所时，他穿着朴素，看起来并不像个国王。他敲门走进了她的屋子。哦天啊！可怜的亨利惊呆了。这并不是画上那个美丽的女人。她一脸苦相，鼻子很长，而且她对这个陌生男人并不感兴趣。他没有告诉她自己的名字，她也不知道这就是自己未来的丈夫。多么可怕的错误啊！


Poor Henry went away to put on his fine clothes, and came back looking like a real king. Anne now saw that this strange man was her new husband. Henry kissed Anne and said his name. Poor Anne smiled at him, but she couldn't speak any English so she stayed silent. After a few minutes Henry left. He was really unhappy. His new wife wasn't beautiful, and she couldn't say a word to him!'


“可怜的亨利穿戴整齐又回来了，这次他看起来才真正像个国王。安妮现在才明白这个陌生人就是她未来的丈夫。亨利吻了安妮，说出了自己的名字。窘迫不已的安妮朝他微笑着，但她一句英文也不会说，只能沉默不语。几分钟后亨利就离开了。他非常不悦。他的新妻子非但不漂亮，而且一句话都不能跟他说！”


Oh dear,' said Margaret. She was enjoying this story very much. 'What happened next?'


“哦天呐，”玛格丽特说，她非常喜欢这个故事，“后来呢？”


Well, Henry decided that he really didn't want to marry Anne. Where was the beautiful young woman in the picture? He wanted her! But he couldn't change things. He had to marry ugly Anne.'


“嗯，亨利很不愿意娶安妮为妻。画中那个美貌的女人哪儿去了？他想要她！但他无法改变现实。他不得不和丑陋的安妮结婚。”


And did the King learn to love her?' asked Margaret.


“国王有没有试着去爱她呢？”玛格丽特问。


No, he didn't. He wanted to divorce her.'


“不，他没有。他总想着和她离婚。”


And did he?'


“离了吗？”


Yes, after six months.'


“离了，六个月后。”


How did he do that?'


“他怎么离的婚？”


Well, he learned that in her country Anne was engaged at one time to marry another man.'


“嗯，他得知安妮在德国时曾一度和另外一个人订了婚。”


And so he divorced her?'


“所以他就和她离婚了？”


Yes, poor Anne was only Queen for six months.'


“是的，可怜的安妮只当了六个月的王后。”


And they didn't have any children, did they?'


“他们没有孩子，是吧？”


No, Henry didn't sleep with Anne.'


“没有，亨利从未和她同床共枕。”


But what happened to her? Is she still alive?'


“但她怎么样了呢？仍然健在吗？”


Oh yes. But let's read her letter and see what she says.'


“哦，是的。咱们读一下她的信，看她说些什么。”


Perhaps it's a love letter,' said Margaret.


“可能这是封情书。”玛格丽特说。


If it is, I'm sure that she never got a reply!' said Uncle William, laughing. He opened the letter and began to read.


“如果是的话，我肯定她从未得到过回音！”威廉叔叔大笑着说。他打开信开始读了起来。


Palace of Richmond


里士满宫


20th July 1540


1540年7月20日


Dear Henry


亲爱的亨利：


You are a very good brother to me! Thank you for giving me five hundred pounds a year and the Palace of Richmond. I spend hours walking round the gardens here—the trees and flowers are wonderful.


对我来说，你真是个好哥哥！谢谢你每年给我500英镑，并让我住在里士满官。我每天花很多时间在花园里散步——这儿的树和花漂亮极了。


I have decided that I shall not go back to my country. I have thought about it carefully, and I know now that England is my real home. I feel so happy here. How can I leave all my dear English friends and my beautiful garden?


我已决定不回德国了。我仔细考虑过，知道现在英格兰才是我真正的家。我在这儿很快乐。我怎么舍得离开我亲爱的英格兰朋友们和这美丽的花园呢？


Come and visit me soon, dear brother.


亲爱的哥哥，快来看看我吧。


　Your loving sister


爱你的妹妹


　Anne


安妮


She sounds really happy,' said Margaret, surprised.


“听起来她真的很快乐。”玛格丽特惊讶地说。


I think she is,' said Uncle William. 'She didn't make trouble for the King about her divorce, so he was pleased with her. And then, of course, he was free to marry his next wife.'


“我想是的，”威廉叔叔说，“国王和她离婚，她没有找任何麻烦，所以他对她很满意。随后，当然，他就可以自由地去娶下一位妻子了。”


The fifth one,' said Margaret. 'And who was she?'


“第五个妻子，”玛格丽特说，“她是谁呢？”


Catherine will tell you all about her. I must leave you now, ladies.' He stood up, and came to kiss me goodbye.


“凯瑟琳会把她的一切都告诉你的。我现在必须走了，女士们。”他站起身来，过来和我吻别。


Goodbye, Uncle,' I said. 'Come again soon.'


“再见，叔叔，”我说，“希望很快又能再见到你。”


Oh, I will, I'd like to read the rest of those letters.' He looked at Margaret. 'Be good, young lady.' He smiled at us both and left the room.


“哦，我会来的，我很想读一下其余的信。”他看着玛格丽特，“别淘气，年轻的女士。”他朝我们两个人笑了笑，就离开了房间。