英倫古堡謎情

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All over Britain there are ruins of castles that reflect their entire past. Each castle represents the hardships of those who fought for the lands and those who suffered while building them so many centuries ago. Each castle has stood up to wars, the power of past kings, weather, and much more as time has passed through Britain.

Over the years, legends and myths have focused on these castles. Each legend and myth makes the castles come more alive to those who believe in them.

Castell1) Coch

This castle was built in the 1870's and is located near South Wales and Cardiff2). Lfor Bach was once the owner of this castle many decades ago, and it is told that he hid a treasure in the nearby tunnel which leads to Cardiff Castle. Rumors say that it is guarded by three eagles waiting for Lfor to return to collect his treasure.

Luffness Castle

In the basement of this castle is a massive door leading to a chamber3) with a vault4) lock and no windows that was once used as a simple cloakroom5). The family kept this door open at all times, but one day the door was found locked and the key was missing. The whole family was surprised, as no one admitted locking the door. The door was so massive that it could not be broken down without major upheaval6), so it was left locked. One day the son of the family thought of shining a torch through the loop7) of the door. As the light lit up the room, he discovered that the key was on the inside of the room. There was nothing else in the room, except for the old table where coats were put. To this day the door remains locked from the inside without any knowledge of how it was done.

Toddington Castle

This castle is located just west of Luton8) and was built during the 13th century. This castle has a local legend that tells about a witch who was imprisoned within the castle mound and died. It is told that her spirit remains within the castle and if you put your ear to the floor on Easter you can hear her cooking below.

Castell Gwynionydd

A legend rests on this castle that states the devil was the one who built it. It is said the devil had a problem with Teifi9) and had planned on drowning them and throwing them under a shoveling of dirt to keep them locked away. On his way, the devil met a cobbler10) with worn shoes. They talked, and after learning of the devil's plan, the cobbler pointed out that it was still a reasonable distance until he would reach his destination. The cobbler displayed his shoes as evidence of how many he had worn out on this great distance. Listening to him, the devil did not think his plan was worth so much effort and threw down his spade11). Doing so, he formed the mound that later was named Castell.

眾多的城堡遺跡遍布英倫，毫無保留地述說著他們的過去。每座古堡都顯示出多個世紀(jì)以前守衛(wèi)領(lǐng)地和修筑城堡的人們的艱辛。隨著英倫三島物換星移，每座城堡都經(jīng)歷了戰(zhàn)火紛飛、君主更替、日曬雨淋以及其他各種洗禮。

年復(fù)一年，傳說和神話都緊緊圍繞這些城堡展開。對于信眾而言，每個傳說和神話都使得這些古堡更具有生命力。

寇克城堡

該城堡建于19世紀(jì)70年代，毗鄰南威爾士和加的夫。數(shù)十年前，艾弗·巴赫曾是這座城堡的主人，傳說他將一批珍寶藏在了附近通往加的夫城堡的地道里。更有流言說寶藏由三只鷹守衛(wèi)，等待著艾弗取回他的寶藏。

拉夫尼斯城堡

在該城堡的地下室里有一扇巨大的門，這扇門通往一間裝有保險鎖卻沒有窗戶的房間，該房間曾經(jīng)被用作簡易衣帽間。城堡的主人一直開著這扇門，但是有一天，這家人突然發(fā)現(xiàn)門被鎖上了，鑰匙也找不到了。全家人都感到十分驚奇，因?yàn)闆]有人承認(rèn)自己鎖過門。這扇門如此結(jié)實(shí)，不大動干戈一番根本就打不開，所以這家人就任其鎖著。一天，這家人的兒子突發(fā)奇想，拿來火把通過門上的洞往房間里照。當(dāng)房間被照亮?xí)r，他發(fā)現(xiàn)鑰匙在房間里。除了用于放置衣物的舊桌子外，房間里空空如也。直到今日，這扇門仍然從里面鎖著，但它究竟是如何鎖上的卻無人知曉。

托丁頓古堡

該城堡坐落于盧頓市的正西方，建于13世紀(jì)。關(guān)于這座城堡有一個當(dāng)?shù)氐膫髡f：有一個女巫被囚并死于城堡的土堆中。據(jù)說她的靈魂仍在城堡內(nèi)，如果你在復(fù)活節(jié)那一天把耳朵貼在地板上，就能聽到她在下面烹飪。

格溫尼阿尼德城堡

關(guān)于這座城堡的傳說稱，它的建造者是魔鬼。據(jù)說，這個魔鬼與泰菲發(fā)生了過節(jié)，所以他計劃溺死那里的人們，并把他們?nèi)拥揭荤P泥土下，把他們永遠(yuǎn)困起來。在路上，魔鬼遇到了一個腳穿破鞋子的修鞋匠。他們交談起來，在知道了魔鬼的計劃后，修鞋匠指出，他離目的地還有很長一段距離。修鞋匠展示了他磨損嚴(yán)重的鞋子來證明這段距離有多遙遠(yuǎn)。聽了修鞋匠的這番話，魔鬼覺得他的計劃并不值得花費(fèi)這么多的工夫，于是就把鐵鍬扔到了一邊。鐵鍬丟落之處形成了一個土堆，后來它就被稱為“城堡”。

Vocabulary

1. castell: 威爾士語，意同英語中的castle一詞。

2. Cardiff [5kB:dIf] n. 加的夫[英國威爾士東南部港市](威爾士首府)

3. chamber [5tFeImbE(r)] n. 室

4. vault [vC:lt] n. 儲藏室；(銀行等存放貴重物品的)金庫，保險庫

5. cloakroom [5klEJkrum] n. 衣帽間

6. upheaval [Qp5hi:vEl] n. 激變，劇變；動亂

7. loop [lu:p] n. (墻上的)觀察孔；透光孔；狹孔

8. Luton [5lU:tEn] n. 盧頓[英國英格蘭中南部城市]

9. Teifi: 泰菲，位于威爾士地區(qū)，該地區(qū)湖泊、溪流眾多，以其豐產(chǎn)的漁業(yè)而聞名。

10. cobbler [5kCblE] n. 補(bǔ)鞋匠，制鞋匠

11. spade [speId] n. 鏟；鍬