書蟲 一個國王的愛情故事：皇族明星

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3　The Royal Star

3　皇族明星

After a year at Oxford University, Edward went to fight in the First World War. He wrote:

在牛津大學學習了一年之后，愛德華參加了第一次世界大戰(zhàn)。他寫道：

I lived in a house with twenty-five other soldiers. At night we talked about our lives and our families. It was very interesting.

我和其他25名士兵住在一間房子里。晚上，我們就談各自的生活和家庭。談話十分有趣。

I could speak freely to different people—rich and poor, young and old. But I also saw the blood and noise of war.

我可以和各種各樣的人隨意交談——無論是富人還是窮人，年輕人還是老年人。但我也領略了戰(zhàn)爭的血腥和喧囂。

One day in 1916 my driver took me to the town of Loos in Belgium. I got out of the car and walked to the top of the hill. Down below me there was heavy fighting and I felt very sad.

1916年的一天，我的司機送我去比利時的盧斯鎮(zhèn)。我下了車，往山頂走去。山下正進行著激烈的戰(zhàn)斗，我心里十分難過。

An hour later I returned to my car. I'll never forget what I saw. My driver was dead. While I was away, somebody shot him in the neck.

一小時后，我回到汽車上。我永遠也忘不了我看到的那一幕。我的司機死了。我離開的時候，有人射中了他的頸部。

When the war finished in 1918, Edward returned to Buckingham Palace. One night he was talking to his father in the dining room.

1918年戰(zhàn)爭結束后，愛德華回到白金漢宮。一天晚上，他在餐廳里同父親交談。

I don't understand why countries fight,' the Prince said. 'The war has finished, but nothing has changed. There are still millions of poor and hungry people. It's not right. Somebody must do something!'

“我不明白國家之間為什么要打仗，”王子說，“戰(zhàn)爭已經結束了，但一切依舊。還是有許許多多的人生活在貧困中，忍饑挨餓。這不公平?？偟糜腥俗鲂┦裁矗?rdquo;

Well,' King George replied, 'you can't change the world if you sit by the fire. You must travel. Meet people. Talk to them. Listen to what they say. And then, when you are King, you can make the world a better place.'

“嗯，”喬治國王答道，“光坐在壁爐旁是不能改變世界的。你得出去走走。去和人們結識一下，與他們談一談，聽聽他們說些什么。這樣，當你成為國王的時候，就可以把世界變得更美好。”

And so, in 1920, Edward left England again. During the next five years he travelled 240000 kilometres and visited 45 different countries.

于是，1920年，愛德華再次離開英國。在隨后的5年里，他行程達24萬公里，訪問了45個國家。

He saw India, Argentina, Nigeria, Mexico, New Zealand, Germany, and Japan. When he came to Toronto, in Canada, there were 500000 people in the streets to meet him. Everywhere thousands of people waited to see him — there were crowds of 190000 in Cape Town, 300000 in Paris, 500000 in New York, and 750000 in Melbourne.

他訪問了印度、阿根廷、尼日利亞、墨西哥、新西蘭、德國和日本。當他到達加拿大多倫多時，受到50萬人的夾道歡迎。每到一處，都有成千上萬的人盼著一睹他的風采——在開普敦有19萬人，在巴黎有30萬人，在紐約有50萬人，在墨爾本有75萬人。

Edward is the first royal star,' one newspaper wrote, 'and he is now the most famous man in the world. In the old days princes were cold and bored. But Edward is different. He gets out of his car and walks down the street. Every two or three minutes he stops and speaks with the crowd. He laughs. He smiles. He shakes a thousand hands. He is a man of the people with a heart of gold.'

“愛德華是第一位皇族明星，”一家報紙這樣寫道，“他是目前全世界最有名的人。以前的王子都態(tài)度冷漠而厭煩。但愛德華不同。他從汽車里出來，在街上走。每隔兩三分鐘，他就停下來和人們交談。他有時開懷大笑，有時面帶微笑。他和上千人握手。他平易近人，有顆金子般的心。”