The Brave Men of Calais

Many years ago, King Edward III of England took the town of Calais from the French king. He could not take it by force, for the walls were very strong, but he succeeded by another plan. He placed his soldiers all round the walls, and would let no one go into the town to take food to the people. Inside the walls, the people waited bravely, but at last all their food was eaten, and then they knew that if they tried to hold the town any longer they would starve.

So the governor¹ sent word to King Edward that he would give up the city, and begged him to have mercy² on the people.

But Edward was angry. "Tell your masters," said he to the messenger³, "that I will not spare the people unless six of the chief men come out to me, with their feet bare, and ropes around their necks."

At this sad news, the poor starving people cried aloud. But soon six brave men were found who were ready to die for their countrymen, and, with their feet bare and ropes around their necks, they went out to the place where King Edward was waiting, with Queen Philippa and the English nobles⁴.

"Great king!" said the men, "we bring you the keys of our town, and we pray you to have mercy on us."

But the king would not listen. "Take them away and cut off their heads," he cried angrily. And when his nobles begged him to spare such brave enemies he would not listen to them.

Then Queen Philippa, whose heart was filled with pity for the poor men, fell upon her knees.

"My lord," she cried, "if you love me, give me the lives of these men."

King Edward could not bear to see his beautiful queen in tears upon the ground, so he raised her, saying: "Lady, I wish you had not been here, for I cannot say you nay⁵. Take the men, they are yours."

Then Queen Philippa joyfully⁶ led the brave men away, and gave them food and clothes, and sent them back to their friends. So they, and all the people of Calais, were saved.

1 governor   

n.统治者，地方长官(如省长，州长，总督等)

参考例句：

• The governor was an expert at fencing with reporters.这位州长是搪塞新闻记者的能手。
• He was elected governor of the state of California.他当选为加州州长。

2 mercy   

n.仁慈，宽恕，怜悯

参考例句：

• Mercy to the enemies means cruelty to the people.对敌人的仁慈就意味着对人民的残忍。
• It is a mercy that you did not go.你幸好没有去。

3 messenger   

n.报信者，先驱

参考例句：

• By the time the messenger reached him,the damage had been done.送信人赶到他那儿时，损失已经造成了。
• I'll order a special messenger to deliver the document.我会派专人把文件送去。

4 nobles   

尊贵的人( noble的名词复数 )； （中世纪后期的）英国金币（约合英国旧币六先令八便士或半马克）； （英国）爵士

参考例句：

• The nobles of Florence built splendid palaces. 佛罗伦萨的贵族建造了许多雄伟的建筑物。
• When the nobles rebelled, the king battled them. 当贵族谋反时，国王便出兵攻打他们。

5 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

6 joyfully   

adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
• During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。