昔日的英国王室

PART THREE: VICTORIA - MOTHER OF THE EMPIRE

Introduction Queen Victoria reigned longer than any other British Monarch: 63 years!

She was an honest, highly dedicated monarch and was dearly loved by her people. During her reign British became the richest and most powerful nation in the world.

The Victorian Age was a time of great change in the way people lived and worked. The train replaced the stage-coach and electricity was used for lights. It was also a time of exceptional achievements in science and industry.

In other parts of the world photography, cars and telephones were invented.

Victoria was the first monarch that was photographed. Charles Dickens,Emily and Charlotte, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde and other great writes created their masterpieces during the Victorian Age.

The British Empire grew and expanded around the world. It became so vast that "the sun never set on it".

Commerce and industry prospered, and created a lot of wealth. People moved from the country to industrial towns and cities to work in factories.

This was the beginning of the Industrial Age.

Chapter One: The Lonely Princess On 24 May 1819 a little princess was born at Kensington Palace in London. Her name was Alexandrina Victoria. She was the daughter of the Duke of Kent, King William's brother, and a German Princess, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg.

Victoria's father died when she was a baby. Her childhood was lonely and dull. She had no friends to play with. Her favorite toys were dolls. She rarely went out because her mother was very protective. She grew up with her mother and her strict German governess , Baroness Lehzen. Victoria adored Baroness Lehzen.

Victoria later wrote that she "had no brothers or sisters to live with - never had a father, and did not know what a happy home life was."

The young Princess loved animals and had three pets: a dog called Dash, a canary and a parakeet. She had private lessons in many subjects from half past nine in the morning to six in the evening. She loved singing and dancing.

At the age of twelve Victoria said, "I see I am nearer the throne than I supposed." On that day she made a promise, "I will be good."

When Victoria was 13 her mother decided that she must see Britain and that the British people must see her. The young Princess travelled to Wales,the Midlands, Yorkshire and the south coast. She was welcomed with enthusiasm everywhere.

These journeys were not a holiday but a part of her education.

Victoria wrote about her journey in her diary. She did not know that thousands of poor children worked in factories and mills in terrible conditions. They never went to school and often died at a young age. She also learned that working people lived in small, dark houses and were often hungry.

On Victoria's seventeenth birthday her German cousin, Prince Albert,came to visit her. Victoria liked him immediately. Her mother thought Prince Albert was the ideal husband and Victoria agreed!

At five in the morning on 20 June 1837 Victoria received the news: King William IV died that night and she was now the Queen! She was only eighteen and knew very little about government or politics. At half past eleven that morning she went to meet her advisers, the Privy Councillors .

She spoke and behaved calmly, and everyone admired her.

The young Queen now lived at Buckingham Palace, away from the strict control of her mother. Victoria enjoyed going to the opera and the ballet, and began horse riding. Since she was short (almost 5 foot = 1.5 meters) she felt taller on a horse!

Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister, was the most important person in Victoria's early years as Queen. He was a kind and loyal friend. He gave her advice and helped her understand politics and government.

In 1839 Victoria's cousin, Albert, visited her again. This is what she wrote in her diary: "Albert really is quite charming and so excessively handsome.

My heart is quite going ." Victoria loved Albert and proposed to him!

(Albert could not propose because he was of lower rank.)

They were married in 1840. Victoria and Albert loved each other very much. She called him "an angel." However, Albert was a foreigner and not everyone liked him. Parliament did not give Albert a title and many Londoners said rude things about him.

Albert was intelligent, well-educated and responsible. He was very interested in science, music and the arts. Victoria learned from Albert to be a dedicated monarch. The Queen asked for his help on government affairs and they always worked together.

格列佛游记

Part Five: A Voyage to Broblingnay 

I was very happy to be back in England, after my adventures in Lilliput and Blefuscu. I often thought about the two countries. I hoped they were not fighting each other again.

My next voyage began when I took a job on the ship Adventure. There was a very big storm and a terrible wind. The wind blew the ship off course , and we did not know where we were. Then one of the sailors saw that we were near land. We needed some fresh water, so some of us decided to take a ship's boat to the land.

When we came to the beach, we could not see any houses. I walked a little distance, but there was no sign of a village or town.

'No one lives here,' I thought. I was disappointed, and I turned to walk back to the boat. Then I saw that the other sailors were already in our boat.

They were going away from the land very fast—and there was a huge creature following them in the water! The sailors were very frightened. I

watched as they took the boat back to the ship.

Now I was alone, and I was frightened. I was afraid of the huge creature. I

ran away from the beach. I ran to the top of a hill, and then I had a surprise.

There were fields here — but they were not ordinary fields of corn and grass.

Everything was very big. Then I saw a man —but he was as tall as a church!

The corn was much taller than me, and I hid in it.

The giant called some other people. They were all giants, too. They began to cut the corn where I was hiding. I was very scared, and I cried out loudly.

The first giant heard my cry, and he stopped work. He looked at the corn,

and then he looked at the ground. He saw me. He reached down and picked ① off course：偏离航道。21 / 48

me up. He held me between his fingers and looked at me for a while. I was very frightened to be so high in the air. I thought he would throw me onto the ground. I spoke to him, to show that I was a man like him. He seemed pleased that I could speak. Then I used signs to explain that his fingers were hurting my sides. He understood what I wanted to say, and he put me gently in his pocket. He carried me to the farm.

'Look at this,' he said.

He put his hand in his pocket, and took me out. 'What do you think it is?'

he asked.

The farmer looked at me for a moment.

He put me on the ground, and studied me carefully for a moment. He looked at my clothes, which he seemed to think were a natural part of my body.

'It's an animal,' he said. 'But I don't know what kind of animal it is.'

'I'm not an animal!' I shouted. 'I'm a man, like you.'

I walked backwards and forwards in front of the farmer and his men. I

wanted to show them that I would not run away. They sat on the ground around me, and watched me with interest. I took off my hat. Then I pulled out my money and gave it to him. He looked at the money for a while, but he did not know what it was. Then I tried to speak to him.

'It can speak!' the farmer said. 'I don't know what it is — but I think I'll keep it.'

The farmer took me to his house. Everybody was eating dinner when we arrived. The farmer asked his wife what she thought of me. At first she thought I was a horrible little insect. She was frightened of me, the way ① natural：天生的。22 / 48

English ladies are frightened of spiders . Then, when she saw that I

understood what was happening, she lost her fear. She soon became a good friend.

The farmer put me on the table, and he gave me something to eat and drink.

The farmer's son, who was about ten years old, then reached forward and picked me up. He held me in the air by my legs, and I was very frightened.

The farmer was angry with his son, and ordered him to put me down. Then he slapped his son on the ear very hard, and told him to leave the table. I

remembered how children can be cruel to little animals, and I decided to make a friend of the boy. I used signs to show the farmer that I wanted him to forgive his son. The farmer smiled, and told his son to return to the table.

When he had sat down again, I went to the boy and kissed his hand.

The family cat came into the room during dinner. I was very scared of this huge animal, but I was determined not to show my fear. I walked up and down in front of the animal for a while, and the enormous cat seemed frightened of me! Then the nurse brought in the baby of the family, who was about one year old. The baby saw me, and wanted to play with me. It put me into its mouth, and I thought it would eat me. I cried out very loudly, and the baby dropped me. Luckily, her mother caught me, or I would have been killed in the fall.

After dinner the farmer's wife put me onto her bed to sleep. She covered me with a handkerchief, and I soon fell asleep.

I was woken by a strange noise on the bed. I looked up, and there were two enormous rats on the bed — they were as big as dogs. I took out my ① spiders：蜘蛛。

② slapped：打耳光。

③ enormous：巨大的。23 / 48

sword, and attacked them. I killed one of the rats, and the second one ran away. Now I knew that it was dangerous to be small!

When the farmer's wife came into the room, she saw the body of the rat on the bed. She was very happy that I was not hurt. The farmer and his wife had a daughter. She was nine years old, and she became my friend. She looked after me very well, and she taught me many things. She told me that the name of the country was Brobdingnag. She gave me lessons in their language. I called her Glumdalclitch, which is the word for 'little nurse' in their language. She called me Grildrig, which means 'little man' in their language.24 / 48