07.Catherine Parr

7.Catherine Parr
7．凯瑟琳·帕尔
We sat silently for a while. Outside it was beginning to get dark. Margaret looked at the floor, then at her hands, then at the floor again. I waited. I knew what she was thinking. Then suddenly she looked at me, and the questions came all at once.


我们默默地坐了片刻。外面，天渐渐地暗了下来。玛格丽特的目光一会儿盯着地板，一会儿看着她的手，一会儿又回到了地板上。我等待着。我知道她在想什么。突然她看着我，问题一下子全都涌了出来。


How could you do it, my lady? How could you marry that terrible man? Weren't you afraid? Why didn't you hide... or... or run away?'


“你怎么会那么做呢，夫人？你怎么能嫁给那个可怕的男人呢？难道你不害怕吗？你为什么不躲起来……或者……或者跑掉呢？”


I smiled at her. 'Listen to the full story, and then perhaps you'll understand. I was very different to Henry's other wives. I was thirty-one years old and Henry was my third husband. My first two husbands were old men too. They both died and I didn't have any children with them. But Herny didn't really want a wife, Margaret. He wanted a friend, and a nurse, and a mother for his three children.'


我朝她笑了笑。“听我把故事讲完，也许你就会明白的。我和亨利的其他妻子很不一样。我31岁了，亨利是我的第三任丈夫。我的前两位丈夫年龄也很大。他们都去世了，我也不曾跟他们有过孩子。但亨利并不真想要一个妻子，玛格丽特。他想要的是一个朋友，一个护士，一个可以做他三个孩子的母亲的女人。”


Oh, I see,' said Margaret slowly. 'He wanted someone to look after him. So how did it all happen, then?'


“噢，我明白了，”玛格丽特慢慢地说，“他想找个人来照顾他。那么，这一切又是怎么发生的呢？”


It began at a party at Hampton Court Palace. I remember it very well. While I was dancing with my friend Thomas Seymour, I turned round and saw Henry. His blue eyes were watching me. He was too ill to dance, but later that evening he asked to talk with me. I was a little afraid. I knew so many different stories about him. He was one of the most famous kings in Europe, and he was also famous for killing people who made him angry—Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and many, many others. And of course, he was also very fat and ugly!


“那开始于汉普顿王宫的一次聚会上。我记得非常清楚。我和我的朋友托马斯·西摩跳舞时，一转身，看见了亨利。他的一双蓝眼睛正注视着我。他已经病得不能跳舞了，但后来，就在那天晚上，他邀请我谈话。我有点儿害怕。我听说过他许多不同的故事。他是欧洲最有名的国王之一，他也以处决惹他生气的人而闻名——安妮·博伦，凯瑟琳·霍华德，还有其他许许多多的人。当然，他还又丑又胖！


After that evening he began to send me presents, and he asked me to visit him at Hampton Court Palace.


“自那晚之后，他就开始给我送礼物，他还请我去汉普顿王宫看他。


At this time I was friendly with Thomas Seymour. He was a fine young man and I was in love with him. We talked about getting married. Then I got a letter from King Henry. He wanted to marry me. What could I do? I loved Thomas, but my family wanted me to be the Queen of England. And in the end, I had to marry Henry.'


“这时我正和托马斯·西摩交往密切。他是个优秀的年轻人，我和他相爱了。我们已开始谈婚论嫁。这时我收到亨利国王的来信，他说他想娶我。我能怎么办呢？我爱托马斯，但我的家人想让我成为英格兰王后。最后，我不得不嫁给亨利。”


But were you happy?' asked Margaret.


“但你高兴吗？”玛格丽特问。


Well, sometimes I was. I loved being Queen. I had beautiful clothes and expensive jewels. But it was also very difficult at times. Henry was often ill with his bad leg, and when his leg hurt, he became angry and shouted at me. Once he nearly sent me to the Tower. I said something about the Church of England, and he didn't agree with me and got very, very angry. He didn't say anything then, but a few days later his soldiers came to take me away.'


“唔，有时我很快乐。我喜欢做王后。我有漂亮的衣服，珍贵的珠宝。但有时又感觉非常不易。亨利的病腿经常犯病，腿疼时，他就变得很暴躁，对我大喊大叫。有一次，他差点儿把我也送进伦敦塔。我说起一些关于英格兰国教的事情，他不同意我的看法，而且非常非常生气。当时他并没有说什么，但几天后他的卫兵就要把我带走。”


Oh no!' said Margaret. 'What did you do?'


“哦，不！”玛格丽特大声叫道，“那你怎么办了？”


I cried and cried. I told him that I agreed with his every word, and that he was my teacher and I was only a stupid woman. And then I cried some more, and said I didn't understand anything about the church. I only talked to help him forget his bad leg.'


“我不停地哭喊着。我告诉他我赞成他的每一句话，他是我的老师，而我只是一个愚蠢的女人。然后我又哭诉着，说我对宗教一无所知，我只是想说些什么以帮他忘记自己腿部的疼痛。”


And was that true?' asked Margaret.


“那是真的吗？”玛格丽特问道。


Of course not! But I had to say something, and after that we were friends again.'


“当然不是！但我必须说些什么，那以后我们又和好了。”


So you didn't love him.'


“那么说你并不爱他了。”


No, I didn't, but I learned to like him some of the time. He was a clever and interesting man—and he was the King of England!'


“是的，我不爱他，但有时我试着去喜欢他。他是个聪明而又有趣的人——还有，他是英格兰的国王！”


And what about his three children?'


“他的三个孩子呢？”


I felt sorry for them. They had a difficult and lonely life. I tried to be a good mother to them all. I was friendly with Princess Mary, played games with Elizabeth and young Edward, and helped them with their studies in different languages. Of course, Henry and I didn't have any children together.'


“我很同情他们，他们都过着艰难而孤独的生活，我尽力去做他们的好母亲。我对玛丽公主很好，也和伊丽莎白和小爱德华做游戏，并帮助他们学习各国语言。当然，亨利和我并没有我们自己的孩子。”


Suddenly there was a knock at the door. 'Come in!' I called. A young man walked into the room. He was holding some beautiful red and gold flowers.


突然传来了敲门声。“请进！”我大声应道。一个年轻人走了进来，手里拿着一束漂亮的红色和金黄色的花。


These are for Catherine Parr,' he said.


“这是给凯瑟琳·帕尔的。”他说。


For me?' I said. 'Who are they from?'


“给我的？”我说，“谁送的？”


There's a note here.' He gave me a piece of paper, smiled, and left the room.


“这儿有张便条。”他递给我一张纸，笑着离开了。


I read the note quickly.


我很快地看了一下便条。


Dear Catherine, you are my true love. You are my flower. I think of you every hour. I wait for you. Tom.


亲爱的凯瑟琳，你是我的真爱，你是我的花朵，我时刻都在想念着你。我等你。汤姆。


What does it say?' asked Margaret.


“便条上写了些什么？”玛格丽特问。


I can't tell you,' I laughed.


“我不能告诉你。”我笑道。


But who are the flowers from?'


“可这些花是谁送的呢？”


Thomas Seymour.'


“托马斯·西摩。”


Oh, the young man who wanted to marry you before. Does he still love you? Are you going to marry him?'


“噢，那个以前想娶你的年轻人。他依然爱你吗？你打算嫁给他吗？”


I don't know, Margaret. Henry only died three weeks ago.' I was silent for a minute. and then I said, 'It's true, I still like Thomas. I often think about him. Some people say he's only interested in two things: women and money. But I don't believe them. He has enemies, you see, because he comes from a famous family. Jane Seymour was his sister, so Thomas is one of King Edward's uncles.'


“我不知道，玛格丽特。亨利三个星期前才去世。”我沉默了片刻，然后说道，“真的，我仍然喜欢托马斯。我经常想起他。有人说他只对两样东西感兴趣：女人和金钱，但我不相信。他有敌人，你知道，因为他出身名门。简·西摩是他姐姐，所以托马斯是爱德华国王的一个舅舅。”


Will Edward be a good king, do you think?' asked Margaret.


“你认为爱德华会成为一个好国王吗？”玛格丽特问。


Yes, I think so. He's a very clever child. He often writes me letters in different languages, and he's only nine years old. But I'm worried about him because he's often ill. England needs a strong king. Henry was a bad husband, but he was a strong King of England. If Edward dies, who knows what will happen?'


“是的，我想他会的。他是个非常聪明的孩子，经常用不同的语言给我写信，而且他只有九岁。但我为他担心，因为他经常生病。英格兰需要一个身体强壮的国王。亨利不是一个好丈夫，但他是英格兰一个很有魄力的国王。如果爱德华死了，谁知道会发生什么事呢？”


It was dark outside now. I looked at Margaret and said, 'So, now you have heard all about King Henry and his six wives, and one day you can tell the story to your children and your grandchildren.'


现在外面已经全黑了。我看着玛格丽特说：“现在你已听完了亨利国王和他六个妻子的全部故事，将来你可以把这个故事告诉给你的子孙们。”


I think that people will always remember King Henry because of his six wives,' said Margaret. She opened the box and took out the letters. She looked at them, putting them back one by one into the box.


“我想人们会永远因为亨利国王有六个妻子而记住他的。”玛格丽特说。她打开盒子，把所有的信都拿了出来。她看了看它们，又一封一封地放回到盒子里。


Divorced—beheaded—died—divorced—beheaded.' she closed the box and looked at me. 'And still alive!'


“离婚的——砍头的——去世的——离婚的——砍头的，”她盖上盒子看着我，“依然活着的！”


We both laughed.


我们都笑了起来。


What are you going to do with the letters, my lady?'


“夫人，你打算把这些信怎么办呢？”


Nothing, Margaret. It will he our secret.'


“什么也不干，玛格丽特。这将是我们的秘密。”


?　　?　　?


?　　?　　?


Catherine Parr married Thomas Seymour in May 1547, a few months after Henry's death. They were married for fifteen months. Catherine had a baby girl called Mary, but six days after the baby was born, Catherine died. After her death, Thomas Seymour tried to become Princess Elizabeth's lover. He was beheaded because of this.


1547年5月，也就是亨利去世几个月后，凯瑟琳·帕尔嫁给了托马斯·西摩。他们的婚姻维持了15个月。凯瑟琳生了个女儿，取名玛丽，但孩子出生六天后，凯瑟琳就去世了。她死后，托马斯·西摩竭力想成为伊丽莎白公主的情人，他因此被处死了。


King Edward was often ill, and he died just before his sixteenth birthday. Then Mary, Katherine of Aragon's daughter, became Queen. She was Queen for five years. She married Philip of Spain, but did not have any children. Mary was a strong Catholic and she killed many people who were not Catholics.


爱德华国王经常生病，在他16岁生日前夕不幸夭折。后来玛丽，也就是阿拉贡的凯瑟琳的女儿，做了女王。她在位五年。她嫁给了西班牙的菲利浦，但他们从未生育。玛丽是个狂热的天主教徒，她杀死了很多非天主教徒。


Next, Elizabeth, Anne Boleyn's daughter, became Queen. She was Queen of England for forty-five years. This was the time of Shakespeare and Sir Walter Raleigh. Elizabeth was a very great Queen, but she never married, and had no children, Henry married six times because he wanted a son—and he wanted his son and his son's sons to be Kings of England after him. But when Queen Elizabeth died, King Henry's family came to an end, and a Scottish King became King of England.


再后来，伊丽莎白，即安妮·博伦的女儿，做了女王。她统治英格兰达45年之久。这正是莎士比亚和沃尔特·雷利爵士的时代。伊丽莎白是位非常伟大的女王，但她终生未嫁，也未生育。亨利结了六次婚，就是想要个儿子——他希望他的子孙后代都能继他之后成为英格兰国王。但当伊丽莎白女王去世后，亨利国王的家族也走到了尽头，一位苏格兰国王统治了英格兰。