职称英语综合类阅读理解第24篇The Romance of Arthu

The Romance of Arthur亚瑟的传奇

Most cultures have some sort of hero who represents the best values of what its people believe in. 很多文化都有某类能代表他们民族深信的价值观的英雄。 The unusual thing about King Arthur is that legends of his heroism have persisted for several centuries and spread far beyond England, the place where they began. 有关亚瑟王的不同寻常的事情就是他的英雄主义传奇已经持续了几个世纪，并且影响力早已超越它所诞生的英国。

The earliest stories of King Arthur represent him as a warrior who fought and subdued the invading Norsemen in the years around A. D. 700. 在有关亚瑟王早期的故事中，他是一个战士，他在公元约700年抗击、震慑入侵的北欧人。 This much of the Arthurian tale is probably based on fact. 许多这类亚瑟王的故事大概是基于事实。Whether called Arthur or not, there is a body of evidence supporting the existence of such a warrior. 无论是否叫作亚瑟，大量证据证明是有这样一个战士存在的。It is the later embellishments of the tale whose authenticity is questionable. 后来这些故事被美化修饰，使得它们的真实性受到质疑。According to these, Arthur was born in a castle in Tintagel on the stormy western coast of England and because he was the illegitimate son of King Uther