原文: A Legendary King - King Arthur

The story of King Arthur is one that has been told for hundreds of years.

There have been poems, books and even films made of his life, all of them telling the story a little differently.

The basic story is this. There was a sword stuck in a stone. The legend said that whoever could remove the sword would become King of England and save the country. Many brave knights tried to pull the sword out, but they all failed. One day, a young boy called Arthur was walking past the stone. He didn’t know it, but he was in fact the son of an old king. He pulled the sword out of the stone and became the new King of England.

The stories of Arthur as King are tales of bravery and nobility. His closest advisor was Merlin, a powerful wizard. Arthur lived in a castle called Camelot with his beautiful wife, Guinevere. In the castle he had a round table, where he sat with his knights. It was round so that there was no one at the head of the table (which is where the most important person would usually sit) and Arthur and his knights were all equal.

Arthur, with his famous magical sword Excalibur, and his closest knights Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad, fought against the forces of evil in England. These were led by Arthur’s half-sister, Morgan, who was a witch. After many battles, there was only one left to fight. Arthur and his knights finally won the battle against Morgan’s army, and England was safe! However, Arthur had been hurt, and was dying. He threw his sword into a lake, where the magical Lady of the Lake could look after it, and then he died. He was buried in Avalon, in the south-west of England. According to the legend, Arthur will rise again to save England if it is ever in danger in the future.

But did Arthur really exist? Some say he was a Roman, others say a Briton fighting the invading Saxons, but there is no proof of his existence. But perhaps this doesn't matter. The story of a great, noble and brave king, who died to save his country, is one that people of all generations find fascinating, even today.

译文: 一个具有传奇色彩的国王 -- 亚瑟王

    亚瑟王的故事已经流传了千年。诗歌，书籍，甚至电影里都描绘过他的一生，而所有的这些故事却都是有点区别的。

    这有一个很简单的故事，是说一把牢牢地插在石头里的剑的。传说，无论是谁，只要能够拔出那把剑就可以成为英格兰的国王，拯救整个国家。许多勇敢的骑士都试图去拔剑，但是他们都失败了。有一天，一个叫亚瑟的年轻小伙子路过了这块石头。他并不知道自己的身世，他其实就是老国王的儿子。亚瑟把剑拔了出来，成为了英格兰的新国王。

    亚瑟王的故事都是充满了勇气和高贵气息的传说。他最亲近的顾问是一位法术高强的男巫，名叫梅林。亚瑟和他美丽的妻子桂妮薇娅，住在卡米洛特城堡。在城堡里他有一张圆桌，他和他的骑士们都坐在那里。由于是张圆形桌所以没有首位次位之分（通常只有那些最重要的人才可以入座），因此亚瑟和他的骑士们都是平等的。

    亚瑟用他那把著名的有魔力的圣剑，和他最亲近的骑士兰斯洛特和加拉哈，打败了英格兰的邪恶势力。而这一切都是由亚瑟同父异母的姐姐摩根 – 一名女巫 – 主导的。多次战争后，终于只剩下最后一仗了。亚瑟和骑士们最终打败了摩根的军队，英格兰得救了！然而，亚瑟受了伤，奄奄一息。他把圣剑扔进湖中，在那湖中女士会照管好它，然后亚瑟就死去了。他被葬在英格兰西南部的阿瓦隆。据传说，如果将来英格兰再次陷入危险之境，亚瑟会醒过来，拯救这个国家！