雙語+MP3|美國學生世界歷史71 掉了腦袋的國王

71
A King Who Lost His Head
掉了腦袋的國王

     THE next king was King Charles I. He was the son of King James, whom you have just read about, and he was "a chip off the old block." Like his father he believed in the Divine Right of Kings, that he alone had the right to say what should be done or what should not be done, and he treated the English people as King John had; that is, as if they were made simply to serve his pleasure and to do as he said.
     But this time the people didn't carry him off, as they had King John, to agree to a paper. They started to fight. The king made ready to fight for what he thought his rights. He got together an army of lords and nobles and those who agreed with him. Those who took his side even dressed differently from those who were against him. They grew their hair in long curls and wore a broad-brimmed hat with a large feather and lace collars and cuffs of lace even on their breeches.
     Parliament also got together an army of the people who wanted their rights. They had their hair cut short and wore a hat with a tall crown and very simple clothes. A country gentleman named Oliver Cromwell trained a regiment of soldiers to be such good fighters that they were called Ironsides.
     The king's army was made up of men who prepared for battle by drinking and feasting. The parliamentary army prayed before going into battle and sang hymns and psalms as they marched.
     At last after many battles the king's army was beaten and King Charles was taken prisoner. A small part of Parliament then took things into their own hands, and though they had no right to do so, they tried King Charles and condemned him to death. They found him guilty of being a traitor and a murderer and other terrible things. He was taken out in front of his palace in London in the year 1649, and his head was cut off. People now feel that this was a shameful thing for the parliamentary army to do to the king, and even at that time only a part of the English people were in favor of it. He might have been sent away instead of being killed, or he might have had his office of king taken away from him.

King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell（國王查理一世和奧利弗?克倫威爾）
     Oliver Cromwell, the commander of the parliamentary army, then ruled over England for a few years. He was a coarse-looking person with very rough manners, but honest and religious, and he ruled England as a stern and strict father might rule his family. He would stand no nonsense. Once when he was having his picture painted-for there were no photographs then-the artist left out a big wart he had on his face. Cromwell angrily told him, "Paint me as I am, wart and all." Cromwell was really a king although he called himself Protector.
     When Cromwell died, his son became ruler after him, just as if he were the son of a king, but the son was unable to fill his father's shoes. He meant well, but he hadn't the brains or the ability that his father had, and so in a few months he resigned. Oliver Cromwell had been so strict that the English people had forgotten about their troubles under the Stuarts. So in 1660 when the English found themselves without a ruler, they invited the son of the monarch they had beheaded, and once more a Stuart became king. This was Charles II.
     Charles was called the Merry Monarch because all he seemed to think about was eating and drinking, amusing himself, and having a good time. He made fun of things that were holy and sacred. To revenge himself on those who had put his father to death he had those of them who were still living killed in the most horrible way one could think of. Those that were dead already, Oliver Cromwell among them, were taken from their tombs; then their dead bodies were hanged and afterward beheaded.
     In his reign that old and terrible disease, the plague, broke loose again in London. Some people thought that God had caused it, that He was shocked by the behavior of the king and his people especially toward holy things, that He was punishing them. The next year, 1666, a great fire started and burned up thousands of houses and hundreds of churches. But the Great Fire, as it was called, cleaned up the disease and dirt and was therefore really a blessing. London had been a city of wooden houses. It was rebuilt of brick and stone.
     Only one more Stuart ruler shall I tell you about-or rather a royal pair, William and Mary-because in their reign the fight between the people and their kings was once for all finally settled. In 1688 Parliament drew up an agreement called the Bill of Rights, which William and Mary signed. This agreement made Parliament ruler over the nation, and ever since, Parliament-not the king-has been the real ruler of England. This was called the Glorious Revolution. It was glorious because there was no war. I think we have heard enough of the Stuarts for a while.