Перевод

The Norman Conquest of England

The conquest of England by the Normans began in 1066 with the battle of Hastings, where the English fought against the Normans. The conquest was complete in 1086.
Who were these Normans who conquered England?
They were Vikings or “Norsemen”, men fr om the North. Some 150 years before the conquest of England they came to a part of France, opposite England, a part which we now call Normandy.
What did the Norman Conquest do to England?
It gave it French kings and nobles. The Normans also brought with them the French language. After the Norman Conquest there were three languages in England. There was Latin, the language of the church and the language in which all learned men wrote and spoke; the kings wrote their laws in Latin for some time after the Conquest. Then there was French, the language, which the kings and nobles spoke and which many people wrote. Finally, there was the English language which remained the language of the masses of the people. Some men might know all these languages; many knew two; but most of the people knew only one. There were some people who understood the French language though they could not speak it. Rich people who owned land, the landowners, often knew French and Latin. But poor people, the peasants did not understand French or Latin. They understood only English.
In time, however, came the general use of the English language. About 1350 English became the language of law; and at that time lived the first teacher who taught his boys to read and write English and to translate, not fr om Latin into French, but fr om Latin into English. Then between 1350 and 1400 lived Wyclif who made the first complete translation of the Bible into English, and Chaucer, “the Father of English poetry”.
But the English language when it came into general use was not quite the same as it was before the Conquest. The grammar remained, but many words came into it fr om the French language.


The Tower

Here is the Tower of London. Hundreds of years ago the Tower was a castle. It was planned by William the Conqueror to keep London under the control of his government and to defend the city.
The oldest part of it is the square building which is called the White Tower. The walls were built later, in the thirteenth century.
For many years the Tower was a state prison. Many famous and infamous people were kept there.
At present many people visit the Tower as a museum.


Brown Wolf

One day John Smith and his wife Mary found a dog. He was a very wild and strange dog. The dog was weak and hungry, but he did not let them touch him and ate the food they gave him when they went away.
When the dog was strong again, he disappeared.
A few months later, when Smith was in a train, he saw his dog. The dog was running along the road. Smith got off the train at the next station, bought a piece of meat, caught the dog, and brought him home again. There he was tied up for a week.
At the end of the week Smith tied a metal plate to the dog with the words “Please, return to Smith, Ellen California”, and set the dog free. He disappeared again.
This time he was sent back by the train, was tied up for three days, was set free on the fourth day and disappeared again.
As soon as he received his freedom, he always ran north. The dog always came back hunger and weak and always ran away fresh and strong.
At last the dog decided to stay with the Smiths, but a long time passed before they could touch him. They called the dog “Wolf”.
One summer day a stranger came to the place wh ere Smith and his wife lived. As soon as the dog saw him, he ran to the stranger and licked his hands with his tongue. Then the stranger said:
“His name isn’t Wolf. It’s Brown. He was my dog.”
“Oh,” cried Mary, “you are not going to take him away with you? Leave him here, he is happy.”
The stranger then said, “His mother died and I brought him up on condensed milk. He never knew any mother but me. Do you think he wants to stay with you?”
“I am sure of it.”
“Well”, said the stranger. “He must decide it himself. I’ll say goodbye and go away. If he wants to stay, let him stay. If he wants to come with me, let him come. I will not call him to come.”
For some time Wolf watched the man. He waited for him to return. Then he ran back to wh ere Smith and his wife sat. He tried to drag Smith after the stranger. The dog wanted to be at the same time with the old master and the new one. The stranger disappeared. The dog lay down at the feet of Smith. Mary was happy. A few minutes later the dog got up and ran after the old master. He never turned his head. Faster and faster the dog ran along the road and in a few minutes he was gone.







Robin Hood

Robin Hood is a legendary hero of England. He lived in the twelfth century. The legend said Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest with his merry men.
Robin Hood and his merry men took money from the rich and gave it to the poor. There are many stories about them. Here is one of them.
One day Robin Hood was walking through the forest with his men when he saw a young man. The young man was wearing a very fine red coat and singing merrily. The next morning Robin Hood saw the same young man without his fine coat. The young man was looking very sad. Robin Hood sent Little John to bring the young man. When the young man came to Robin Hood the latter asked him, “What is your name?” The young man answered that his name was Allan-a-Dale. Then Robin Hood asked:
“Have you any money?” Allan-a-Dale answered, “I have only five shillings and a ring that I have kept for seven years. I wanted to marry a nice young girl. Yesterday I went to marry her, but her father is against it. He wants to marry her to a rich old man. Now I am unhappy.” Robin Hood asked the young man:
“What will you give me and my merry men if we help you to get your girl back again?” Allan-a-Dale had neither money nor gold, but he promised to be Robin Hood’s true servant. So Robin Hood decided to help Allan-a-Dale and they all went to the town wh ere the girl lived. When they came to the town they saw the girl Allan loved. She was going into the church with the rich old man. Robin Hood and his men went into the church and asked the priest to marry the girl to Allan-a-Dale. When the priest refused, Robin Hood pulled off the priest’s coat and put it on Little John. So Little John married the young people and they returned together to the merry Greenwood.


Great Britain

The British Isles lie in the north-west of Europe. They consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and many smaller ones. Great Britain, the largest island in Europe, includes England, Scotland, and Wales. It is separated from Ireland by the Irish Sea, and from the Continent by the English Channel and the Straits of Dover. Great Britain and Northern Ireland form the United Kingdom (UK).
The surface of England and Ireland is flat, but the surface of Scotland and Wales is mountainous. The mountains are almost all in the western part. The highest mountain in the United Kingdom is Ben Nevis in Scotland (1343 m). The longest river is the Severn. It is in the south-west of England. The Thames is not so long as the Severn, it is shorter. The sea enters deeply into the land and has a great influence on the climate, which is damp but rather mild: the winter is not very cold and the summer is not very hot.
Over 57 million people live in the United Kingdom. Most of the people of Great Britain live in big towns and cities.
The capital of the country is London. The main industrial centres are Sheffield and Birmingham wh ere iron goods are made, Manchester, the cotton centre of England, and others.
The important ports of the country are London, Liverpool, Glasgow and others.


Scotland

Scotland lies to the north of England. People who live in Scotland are Scots.
The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, but Scotland has no separate Parliament, for the Scottish MPs (Members of Parliament) sit with the English ones in Westminster in London.
Edinburgh is not the largest city in Scotland, Glasgow, which has a population of over one million, is twice as large as Edinburgh.
Even so, Edinburgh remains the center of the life of Scotland. Here are the administrative centers of the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force, the chief banks and offices; and the famous university.
Edinburgh, unlike Glasgow, has no large factories. Publishing is its well-known industry. It has been famous for its printers since the early years of the sixteenth century, when the first Scottish printing-press was set up within its walls. The publishing of books is today a very important industry. Much printing is done for London publishing houses, and there are many paper-mills near Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is a beautiful city. The first thing you see in Edinburgh is the Rock – the very large hill in the middle of the city, on which stands Edinburgh Castle. The Castle looks like a castle from a fairy-tale, and parts of it are more than a thousand years old. From the top of the Castle there is a beautiful view of the hill and the sea.
Besides the Castle there are many other interesting buildings, such as Holy rood Palace which is the old royal residence, the Art Gallery, the University of Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is famous for many things: its festivals (plays and music), its college of medicine, its museums and libraries, and for its writers Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and others.