Перевести. many years ago, there lived a king in england. his name was richard coeur de lion. coeur de lion is french. it means lion-hearted. it is strange that an english king had a french name. more than a hundred years before this king, a french duke named william came to england. he defeated the english, and became the king of england. he took many frenchmen or normans with him. these normans were all poor but very proud. they came with william to help him fight. he promised to give them money and lands. so duke william stole lands, houses and money from the saxon nobles and gave them to the normans. the saxon nobles became the servants of the proud normans. so, there were two races in england. each spoke their own language. each hated the other. when richard became king there was still a great hatred between the two races. richard coeur de lion was a brave and noble man. he loved brave men and noble deeds. he hated all mean and cruel, and the cowards who did them. he was ready to help the weak. richard himself was not gentle. he was very angry and terrible in battle. he loved to fight with people who were stronger or better armed than himself and never hurt the weak. but richard did not stay in england. far over the seas there is a country of palestine. christian people in all ages think gratefully of that country. but at that time it was in the hands of the enemies. so christian people gathered big armies of brave men from every country and sent them to try to win it back. brave king richard too fought for this city. so he gathered as much money and brave men as he could, and set out for the holy land. before he went away he called two bishops. he thought they were good and wise men, and said to them: ‘take care of england while i am away. rule my people wisely and well, and i will reward you when i return.’ the bishops promised to do as he asked. king richard had a brother. his name was prince john. he was different from king richard in every way. he was not at all a nice man. he was jealous of richard because he was king. he was angry because he wanted to rule while richard was away. john said to the bishops, ‘you must let me rule while the king is away.’ and the bishops let him to do so. deep down in his wicked heart john meant to make himself king and never let richard come back any more. a sad time began for the saxons. john tried to please the normans. he hoped they could help to make him king. he gave them land and money. he took it from the saxons and gave it to the normans. many of the saxons became homeless. they lived a wild life in the forests. one of the few saxon nobles was robert, earl of huntingdon. he had one son. his name was robert too, but people called him robin. he was a favourite with everyone. he was tall, strong, handsome, and full of fun. he was brave and fear-less too. he was the best archer in all the countryside. he never hurt the weak and poor. robert of huntingdon had a bitter enemy. one day this enemy came with many soldiers to kill the earl and take all his goods and lands. there was a terrible fight. in the end, robert and all his men were killed. his house was burned and all his money stolen. only robin was saved. he was the best archer and no soldier could go near him. he fought bravely till the last. but when he saw that his father was dead and his home in flames, he didn’t fight any longer. he took his bow and arrows and went to the forest of sherwoodprince john’s men were close behind him. on and on he went, deeper and deeper into the trees. at last he sat under a great tree. his heart was full of anger and thoughts of revenge. cruel men in one day took everything. his father, his home, servants, land, money and his name. robin loved the forest. soon it comforted him. at last the tears came hot and fast, and sobs shook him. the bitterness and anger went out of his heart; only unhappiness was there. in the evening robin said his prayers and swore an oath. this was the oath: ‘i swear to honour god and the king, to help the weak and fight the strong, to take from the rich and give to the poor, so god will help me with his power.’ then he lay down on the grass under the trees and fell asleep. and this is how robin hood first came to live in the green wood and have all his wonderful adventures.

alina15299    2   13.07.2019 02:20    1