Royal espionage
王室諜報活動
Alfred the Great acted as his own spy, visiting Danish camps disguised as a minstrel. In those days wandering minstrels were welcome everywhere. They were not fighting men, and their harp was their passport. Alfred had learned many of their ballads in his youth, and could vary his programme with acrobatic tricks and simple conjuring.
While Alfred's little army slowly began to gather at Athelney, the king himself set out to penetrate the camp of Guthrum, the commander of the Danish invaders. These had settled down for the winter at Chippenham: thither Alfred went. He noticed at once that discipline was slack: the Danes had the self-confidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual. They lived well, on the proceeds of raids on neighbouring regions. There they collected women as well as food and drink, and a life of ease had made them soft. Alfred stayed in the camp a week before he returned to Athelney. The force there assembled was trivial compared with the Danish horde. But Alfred had deduced that the Danes were no longer fit for prolonged battle: and that their commissariat had no organization, but depended on irregular raids.
So, faced with the Danish advance, Alfred did not risk open battle but harried the enemy. He was constantly on the move, drawing the Danes after him. His patrols halted the raiding parties: hunger assailed the Danish army. Now Alfred began a long series of skirmishes -- and within a month the Danes had surrendered. The episode could reasonably serve as a unique epic of royal espionage!
BERNARD NEWMAN Spies in Britain
New words and expressions 生詞與短語
espionage
n. 間諜活動
Alfred
公元871-899 年間任英國國王
Danish
adj. 丹麥的，丹麥人的，丹麥語的
minstrel
n. 中世紀的吟游歌手
wandering
adj. 漫游的
harp
n. 堅琴
ballad
n. 民歌
acrobatic
adj. 雜技的
conjuring
n. 魔術
Athelney
n. 阿塞爾納(英國一個小島)
Chippenham
n. 切本哈姆(英國一個城市)
thither
adv. 向那里
Dane
n. 丹麥人
slack
adj. 渙散的
conqueror
n. 征服者
casual
adj. 馬虎的，隨便的
precaution
n. 預防，警惕
proceeds
n. 所得
assemble
v. 集合
trivial
adj. 微不足道的
prolonged
adj. 持久的
commissariat
n. 軍糧供應
episode
n. 一個事件，片斷
epic
n. 史詩
harry
v. 騷擾
assail
v. 襲擊
skirmish
n. 小規(guī)模戰(zhàn)斗
本文參考譯文
阿爾弗雷德大帝曾親自充當間諜。他扮作吟游歌手到丹麥軍隊的營地里偵察。當時，浪跡天涯的吟游歌手到處受歡迎，他們不是作戰(zhàn)人員，豎琴就是他們的通行證。阿爾弗德年輕時學過許多民歌，并能穿插演一些雜技和小魔術使自己的節(jié)目多樣化。
阿爾弗雷德人數不多的軍隊開始在阿塞爾納慢慢集結時，他親自潛入丹麥入侵司令官古瑟羅姆的營地。丹麥軍已在切本哈姆扎下營準備過冬，阿爾弗雷便來到此地。他馬上發(fā)現丹麥軍紀律松弛，他們以征服者自居，安全措施馬馬虎虎。他們靠掠奪附近的地區(qū)的財物過著舒適的生活。他們不僅搜刮吃的喝的，而且搶掠婦女，安逸的生活已使丹麥軍隊變得軟弱無力。
阿爾弗雷德在敵營呆了一個星期后，回到了阿塞爾納。他集結在那里的軍隊和丹麥大軍相比是微不足道的，然而，阿爾弗雷德斷定，丹麥人已不再適應持久的戰(zhàn)爭，他們的軍需供應處于無組織狀態(tài)，只是靠臨時搶奪來維持。
因此，面對丹麥人的進攻，阿爾弗雷德沒有貿然同敵人作戰(zhàn)，而是采用騷擾敵人的戰(zhàn)術。他的部隊不停地移動，牽著敵人的鼻子，讓他們跟著跑。他派出巡邏隊阻止敵人搶劫，因而饑餓威脅著丹麥軍隊。這時，阿爾弗雷德發(fā)起一連串小規(guī)模的進攻，結果不出一個月，丹麥人就投降了。這一幕歷史可以說是王室諜報活動中最精彩的篇章。
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