Chapter 17: Knights and Samurai / 第十七章：骑士与武士

The knights骑士/naɪts/ who lived in England's castles城堡/ˈkæsəlz/ got their land土地/lænd/ from the king国王/kɪŋ/ because they were good fighters战士/ˈfaɪtərz/. They were better at fighting than at anything else!

So when there were no wars战争/wɔːrz/ to fight in, these knights wandered游荡/ˈwɑːndərd/ around the countryside乡村/ˈkʌntriˌsaɪd/ fighting. They threatened威胁/ˈθretənd/ peasants农民/ˈpezənts/, rode over the crops庄稼/krɑːps/, killed animals, raided monasteries修道院/ˈmɑːnəˌsteriːz/, and stole from churches教堂/ˈtʃɜːrtʃɪz/.

So the leaders领导者/ˈliːdərz/ of the Christian church教会/tʃɜːrtʃ/ began to teach that knights owed loyalty忠诚/ˈlɔɪəlti/ to God, not just to the king. A knight had a sacred神圣的/ˈseɪkrɪd/ duty职责/ˈduːti/ to defend the church and to take care of the weak: women, monks and priests, widows, and orphans.

Knights were supposed to be more than just good fighters. They were like policemen警察/pəˈliːsmən/, responsible for protecting保护/prəˈtektɪŋ/ others and making sure that laws法律/lɔːz/ were obeyed. This new way of being a knight was called "chivalry骑士精神/ˈʃɪvəlri/."

Chivalry meant that a knight had to be brave勇敢的/breɪv/, loyal忠诚的/ˈlɔɪəl/, honest诚实的/ˈɑːnɪst/, generous慷慨的/ˈdʒenərəs/, and good at fighting. He had to fight for the church whenever it was threatened受到威胁/ˈθretənd/. Most of all, he had to protect保护/prəˈtekt/ women.

Becoming a knight was a long, complicated复杂的/ˈkɑːmplɪˌkeɪtɪd/ process. When you were seven, you would begin to learn how to ride骑马/raɪd/ and how to fight with a sword剑/sɔːrd/ and spear长矛/spɪr/. Your family might send you to stay with another family so that you could train训练/treɪn/ with other boys.

In this training camp, you become a page侍童/peɪdʒ/. You learn how to put on heavy armor盔甲/ˈɑːrmər/ and how to carry your shield盾牌/ʃiːld/ properly. You learn how to take care of a horse马/hɔːrs/ and how to clean your saddle马鞍/ˈsædəl/ and bridle马笼头/ˈbraɪdəl/.

When you are fourteen or so, you become a servant仆人/ˈsɜːrvənt/ to one particular knight. Now you are called a squire侍从/skwaɪr/. You look after the knight's horse and armor, help him to put his armor on and take it off, clean his armor and weapons武器/ˈwepənz/ after a fight.

In the meantime, you go on learning how to fight. And you also learn how to be polite礼貌的/pəˈlaɪt/: how to speak courteously有礼貌地/ˈkɜːrtiəsli/ and eat neatly, how to carve meat and serve it, and how to behave at a great feast盛宴/fiːst/.

Finally you go through a ceremony仪式/ˈserəˌmoʊni/ in which you become a knight. You go to the lord's castle and spend an entire night praying祈祷/ˈpreɪɪŋ/ in the castle chapel教堂/ˈtʃæpəl/. The next morning, you take a cold bath and dress in three colors: a white shirt to remind you of purity纯洁/ˈpjʊrəti/.

Now you have a squire of your own, and you can take part in the first big tournament比武大会/ˈtɜːrnəmənt/ of the year. Knights used to wear "chain mail锁子甲/tʃeɪn meɪl/," made out of thousands of tiny steel rings linked together.

Your squire straps your sword onto your belt and puts your helmet头盔/ˈhelmɪt/ on. It covers your whole face, except for narrow eye slits where you can see out. Your friends only recognize you because of the special symbol painted on your shield. This symbol, or coat of arms纹章/koʊt ʌv ɑːrmz/, tells everyone who you are.

But no one points at you, and finally it's time for you to joust马上长矛比武/dʒaʊst/. Your squire gives you a blunt-ended lance长矛/læns/, and you trot down to the end of the ring and turn around. Another knight is waiting to charge at you! You hear the crowd shouting your name. You've won the joust!

Knights and lords were part of English life during the Middle Ages中世纪/ˈmɪdəl eɪdʒɪz/. But England wasn't the only country that had a feudal system封建制度/ˈfjuːdəl ˈsɪstəm/, where knights swore to obey lords in exchange for land. Far, far to the east, a very different country also had knights and lords. Only in this country, the knights were called samurai武士/ˈsæmʊˌraɪ/.

We've already read about Japan, which lies right off the coast of the giant country of China. Japan and England are both islands岛屿/ˈaɪləndz/. But the two islands could not be more different. England is one large island; Japan is made up of four long, thin islands, surrounded by almost four thousand smaller ones.

And while England is a peaceful island covered with forests and calm fields, Japan's islands have sixty-five active volcanoes火山/vɑːlˈkeɪnoʊz/. The Japanese islands were formed by the collision of two parts of the earth's crust地壳/krʌst/, which pushed up against each other and formed a ridge with molten lava熔岩/ˈlɑːvə/ beneath it.

And throughout Japan, hot springs, called onsen温泉/ˈoʊnsen/, bubble and steam up from the earth, heated by the molten rock beneath the surface. Japanese samurai used to bathe in these hot springs.

We've already read about the Yamato emperors皇帝/ˈempərərz/ of Japan, who wanted Japan to develop its own way of life rather than borrowing the Chinese ways of living. But this emperor, who lived in a huge elaborate palace宫殿/ˈpæləs/, was treated more like a god than like an emperor.

He was almost never seen, and he certainly didn't run his country. He left all of that to his noblemen贵族/ˈnoʊbəlmən/, who were called daimyos大名/ˈdaɪmjoʊ/. But the daimyos quarreled with each other and didn't take care of the country either.

So the daimyos hired warriors战士/ˈwɔːriərz/ to protect them. They promised these warriors land and money—and these warriors, called samurai, promised in return to protect the daimyos and their land from bandits强盗/ˈbændɪts/. Just like English knights, samurai took land from a lord and gave service in return.

The samurai also wore armor, but their armor was made out of iron plates, lacquered涂漆的/ˈlækərd/ with bright colors and tied together with silk and leather strips. The lacquer paint kept the iron from rusting in Japan's damp air. And their helmets were shaped into faces, often with elaborate iron mustaches胡须/ˈmʌstæʃɪz/, and painted to look snarling and fierce.

They spent years learning how to fight with special curved swords, called katanas武士刀/kəˈtɑːnəz/. Young samurai were taught to perform different sword-strokes, named after animals like the cat, the monkey, and the bird. Many samurai thought that their katanas had magical powers魔力/ˈmædʒɪkəl ˈpaʊərz/.

Just like English knights, samurai lived in castles. But Japan had more wood than stone, and although the castles had stone foundations, their walls and towers were often made of timber木材/ˈtɪmbər/. Knights in England followed the code of chivalry, but samurai had their own code, called "the way of the warrior."

A samurai always had to defend his daimyo, or lord, no matter what. And if he had to fight for his lord, he was required to win—or die. To be taken prisoner俘虏/ˈprɪzənər/ was a terrible humiliation羞辱/hjuːˌmɪliˈeɪʃən/ for a samurai. If he showed cowardice懦弱/ˈkaʊərdɪs/ or fear of death, he was expected to kill himself with a special sword in a complicated ceremony called seppuku切腹/ˈsepʊkuː/.

But these fierce warriors also wrote poetry诗歌/ˈpoʊətri/ and made beautiful gardens花园/ˈɡɑːrdənz/. Many samurai wrote short poems called haiku俳句/ˈhaɪkuː/ in praise of nature.

Samurai even learned how to dance gracefully. As a matter of fact, one of the greatest samurai warriors ever, General Oda Nobunaga织田信长/ˈoʊdə noʊbʊˈnɑːɡə/, did a beautiful dance with a fan in front of his soldiers before leading them into war! Samurai used to say, "Practice the arts of peace on the left hand, and the arts of war on the right."