Download МВ_Пр_перекл_История

МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ І НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ
СХІДНОУКРАЇНСЬКИЙ НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ УНІВЕРСИТЕТ ІМЕНІ
ВОЛОДИМИРА ДАЛЯ
МЕТОДИЧНІ ВКАЗІВКИ І ЗАВДАННЯ
ДО ПРАКТИЧНИХ ЗАНЯТЬ
з дисципліни «Іноземна мова. Практика перекладу»
(для студентів ІІІ - ІV курсів за напрямом підготовки“Історія”)
УЗГОДЖЕНО
на засіданні кафедри
іноземних мов
Протокол №7 від 09. 06.2009
Луганськ 2009
УДК 811. 111: 94: (07)
Методичні вказівки і завдання до практичних занять з дисципліни «Іноземна
мова. Практика перекладу» (для студентів ІІІ - ІV курсів за напрямом
підготовки “Історія”) /укл: І.Ю. Гусленко. - Луганськ: вид-во сну імені в. Даля,
2009. - ___ с.
Методичних вказівки призначені для студентів за напрямом підготовки
“Історія”. Вони можуть використовуватись на аудиторних заняттях з
дисципліни «Іноземна мова: Практика перекладу», а також для самостійної
роботи студентів ІІІ - ІV курсів. До посібника входять тексти та вправи на
закріплення.
Укладач:
І.Ю. Гусленко, ст. викл.
Відповідальний за випуск:
В.Е. Краснопольський, доц.
Рецензент:
М.Л. Крамаренко, доц.
2
ПЕРЕДМОВА
До посібника увійшли тексти, присвячені історичним подіям,
яки мали місце в Англії у період раннього середньовіччя. Він
складається з тринадцяти текстів, які висвітлюють проблеми римського,
англійського та саксонського завоювань, розвитку феодалізму в Англії,
появи першого парламенту та норманського завоювання у ХІІІ ст.
Основу посібника складає адаптований матеріал книги Дейва Моргана
«Коротка історія британського народу». До посібника також входять
тексти до самостійного читання, присвячені легендарній особистості
середньовіччя королю Артуру.
Кожен з тринадцяти розділів включає список термінів для
вивчення; вправи, в яких закріплюється надана в розділі лексика,
перевіряється рівень розуміння тексту, завдання на анотування
прочитаного тексту. Мета посібника – формування у студентів-істориків
вміння читати та перекладати наукову літературу зі спеціальності на
англійській мові та вести бесіду на фахові теми.
INTRODUCTION
EARLY BRITAIN
Vocabulary:
unable to subdue – не змогли підкорити
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Normans - Англи, Сакси, Юти, Нормани;
mixture - змішення рас
headline - заголовок
Fog Stops Cross-Channel Traffic - туман зупинив рух через канал
afford - дозволити собі;
merchants - купці;
qualities - якість
premier - перша
workshop - майстерня
misjudged - помилково судити
superiority - перевага
arrogance - зарозумілість
persistence - наполегливість
allow them to proudly claim – дозволяє заявити з гордістю
Britain has been many centuries in making. The Romans conquered
most of Britain, but were unable to subdue the fiercely independent tribes in
the west. And far north, further waves of invaders follow Angles, Saxons,
Jutes and Normans. All this contributes to the mixture we call English. For
many centuries this country was known simply as English and this historical
study must deal first with the development of England.
3
Much has been said and written about the British character. This
attitude is summed up in the legendary story of a headline which is supposed
to have appeared one morning in «The Times», as follows: Fog Stops CrossChannel Traffic. Continent Isolated. Even if this story is not true, it certainly
ought to be. Traditionally, the British have also been known as superior,
snobbish, aloof, hypocritical and unsociable.
The traditional opinion about the British or the English in earlier
centuries was based on the habits of those Britons who could afford to travel:
the diplomats and merchants. The qualities so justly criticized by observers in
other countries were the qualities of the upper class. Not the hypocrisy and
dishonesty were British monopolies. On the contrary, every exploiting class
in history has shared these characteristics. But the rules of Britain have been
in a position where these qualities were more obvious. Britain was for
centuries the premier trading nation, the first capitalist country, the workshop
of the world, and the centre of an empire upon which , it was proudly
claimed, the sun never set. Early in the history England won a reputation
expressed in the title of «Perfidious Albion». Here is an outside view from
the poem «England Expects» by the American Ogden Nash: «The character
of the British people has been misjudged for many centuries. As long as the
world had to judge England, the later Britain, from its experience of the
ruling class, it naturally came to very critical conclusions. The British ruling
class, with its record of success, developed the sense of superiority and
arrogance to an extreme degree. But in recent years many people have found
that there is another Britain, the Britain of the working people. They have
very different characteristics from those of the upper class». The British
people may appear to move very slowly, but so does history in Britain. They
may seem hard, stubborn and convinced, but when they are convinced and
when they start to move they show a high degree of persistence. It is not then
easy to stop them. I hope that this short outline of British History will explain
some of the great struggles of the British people, whose democratic spirit
allow them to proudly claim to have been the first people in Europe to have
tried, executed their king.
ASSIGNMENT TO INTRODUCTION
I. Check the meaning of the words in your dictionary:
superior; aloof; hypocritical; hard; convinced; snobbish; aside; unsociable;
stubborn; persistent.
II. Match a word in A with its opposite in B.
A
B
unsociable
inferior
superior
easy to deal with
4
hard
calm
scared
sleepy
awake
sociable
frustrated
sure
hypocritical
bored
interested
honest
III. Match a line in A with a line in B.
A
B
a. The Romans conquered most of 1. Of course, they were diplomats and
the Britains
merchants
b. Much has been said about the
British character
c. Some Britons could afford to
travel
2. And the sun there never set
d. The main tribes were Angles,
Jutes and Saxons
4. And this
characteristics.
3. But were unable to subdue the
tribes in the west.
country
has
other
e. Britain was for centuries the 5. But traditionally the British have
workshop of the world
been known as insular.
f. The British people may appear to 6. But this mixture was known simply
move very slowly
as English.
g. In recent years many people have 7. But so does the history in Britain.
found another Britain of the
working class
IV. Much has been said and written about English character. Is it true to
call Englishmen superior, snobbish, aloof, hypocritical and unsociable?
Answer the questions:
1. Is it true when we speak about the ruling class? Why is it true? Prove your
statements. Use the text.
2. Translate the words by Ogden Nash, the American writer. Do you agree
with his opinion about the Englishmen?
3. What are the national features of the English character?
V. Translate and remember the new words:
to conquer; a tribe; to subdue; to sum up; can afford; a trade; a judge; to
execute.
VI. Reading.
1. Check the meaning of the words in your dictionary:
landscape, mammal, shepherd, formative, self-consciously, woolsack, flock,
accidental.
5
2. Are the sentences true or false? Correct the false sentences:
a) Sheep had the most formal influence on Britain’s landscape.
b) Coal played the most important part in the English economy.
c) Lord Chancellor sits on an armchair in the House of Lords.
3. Text for reading.
Read the text about Britain by Gordon Winter. It will be continued after each
unit.
Throughout British history men have been landscape architects, though it
was only in the 18th century that the term began to be used self-consciously
by those who so skillfully laid out the parks of great houses. Next to man, the
other mammals that have had the most formative influence on our landscape
have been sheep. In past centuries sheep, and especially their wool, played
the part in the English economy that coal played in the 19th century, and that
oil is beginning to play now. Not for nothing does the Lord Chancellor sit on
a woolsack in the House of Lords. So it is not entirely accidental that sheep
figure fairly frequently in our history. In this, however, I should declare an
interest. Looking after sheep has long been among my part-time occupations,
and for the past 20 years I have been shepherd to my own small flock.
VII. Complete the text using the correct tense and form of the verb on
the right.
Many hundred years ago (about the 4th century
know
before our era) the country now called England was
live
________ as Britain and the people who ______ there were
belong
the Britons. They _______ to the Celtic race. The language
speak
they ______ was Celtic. Their culture, way of thinking and
understanding were primitive. In the first century before our
conquer
era Britain was _______ by the powerful State of Rome. The
live
Romans ______ on the peninsula which is now ____ Italy
call
and their language was Latin. They were practical men. They
were very clever at making hard roads and building bridges
and many-storied houses.
The Romans had _______ very much about Britain
hear
from travelers, and among other things, they were greatly
learn
interested to ____ that valuable metals were to be _________
find
in Britain. Finally, they decided to occupy the island. The
Romans ____ across the sea in galleys and the general who
sail
______ them was Julius Caesar. It was not easy to conquer
command
the Britons, and the Romans had to encamp troops all over
the country. It is from these camps that the English cities
arise
later ______. But the Romans and the natives of Britain did
become
6
not ______ one nation. The Romans _______ to make the
Britons work for them.
Soon the fall of the Roman Empire ______ As soon
as the Britons were __________ to themselves they ______
very little peace for many years. The next invaders were
some Germanic tribes _________ Angles, Saxons and Jutes
who ______ in the northern and central parts of Europe.
Britain split up into 7 kingdoms: Kent, Sussex Essex,
Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria which were at
war all the time.
The Angles, Saxons, Jutes ______ for the supreme power. In
some time they _________ one nation. The first king to rule
was Egbert. He was made king at the beginning of the 9th
century.
want
follow
leave
have
call
live
fight
become
TEXT I
ENGLAND IN MIDDLE AGES. PRE-FEUDAL AND EARLY FEUDAL
PERIOD
Vocabulary:
omit - опускати
wandering - кочовий
overspread - розповсюдились
hence - з тих пір
lay-out - устрій
chiefs or nobles – вожді та знать
engaged - зайнятий
blended - асимілюватися
kinship group – родова група
tribesmen – член роду
The Iberians - the ancient population of Britain. Omitting the
wandering hunters of the old age and the first people of the Neolithic period
that followed it, the earliest established fact is the arrival of immigrants who
came from the Mediterranean by the way of the Spanish peninsula, and are
consequently known as the Iberian race. They overspread the country and
absorbed. The Iberians followed the Biscay coast of France and made an
open-sea passage from Brittany to Cornwell. Hence they tended to expand
rather northwards than eastwards and their monuments are to be found
chiefly in the western half of Britain. The size and splendor of their
monuments speak of a numerous and well-organized people. The whole layout of Iberian civilization points to a certain specialization and division of
labour. What concerns the social structure of the Iberians, we may admit, that
7
on the one hand there must have been chiefs or nobles, on the other hand
people engaged in the cheapest and possibly servile labour.
Celtic tribes. Soon after 700 B.C., the first wave of Celtic invaders
entered Britain. These invasions were part of a widespread westward
movement of tall, fair-haired, warlike tribes. The Celtic conquerors blended
with their Iberian predecessors to varying extents in different parts of the
country. The basic unit of the Celtic tribe was the kinship group, or family
enlarged. While Celtic tribal society cannot be described as classless, its class
divisions as existed (chief, free tribesmen) seem to have been mainly the
result of the subjection of a native population.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT I
I. Read text I and find the key-terms. They are:
мати тенденцію, вожді та знать, загарбник, устрій, рабський труд,
родова група, розподіл праці, загарбник, член роду.
II. Match a line in A with a line in B.
A
B
a. The immigrants who came from
1. and made an open-sea passage
the Mediterranean Brittany
from Cornwell.
b. The Iberians followed the Biscay
coast of France
c. The whole lay-out of Iberian’s
civilization
d. The first wave of Celtic invaders
e. The Celtic invaders
2. entered Britain in 700 B. C.
3. was the kinship group or family
enlarged
4. are known as the Iberian race
5. points to a certain specialization
and division of labour.
f. The basic unit of the Celtic
6. were tall, fair- haired and warlike
tribe
tribes
III. Prepare for the seminar on «England in Middle Ages». Answer the
questions:
1. What was the ancient population of Britain?
2. Where did they come from?
3. Where did they tend to expand?
4. What did their lay-out point to?
5. What was their social structure?
6. When was the first wave of invasion?
7. What was the basic unit of the Celtic tribe?
8. Was Celtic tribal society classless?
IV. Reading.
1. Check the meanings of the words in your dictionary:
8
to be responsible for, pattern, squire, enduring merit, casually, to escape,
passionate, deep-seated.
2. Are the sentences true or false? Correct the false sentences.
a) The traditional pattern of an English village is a group of small houses
grouped round a big square.
b) The English have passionate love for the beauty of big cities.
c) The suburban gardens are better kept in Japan.
3. Text for reading.
Read the text about Britain by Gordon Winter. It will be continued after
each unit.
If the hand of man was largely responsible for giving Britain’s
landscape the qualities that we love and admire, what influence has been at
work that has enabled that hand to produce results of such enduring merit?
Why is the traditional pattern of an English village, of little houses grouped
casually round church, squire’s house and village green, so satisfying to
man’s emotional needs that whenever people can afford to do so they escape
from industrial townscapes to live in the villages? What is it that has given
the people of these islands their passionate and deep-seated love for the
beauty of the countryside? Why have organizations like the National Trust
and the National Trust for Scotland been conceived in Britain, to form a
model for other countries to follow in the rest of the western world? Why do
we still devote so much time and energy to town and country planning? Why
are suburban gardens better kept in Britain than anywhere else in the world?
TEXT II
ENGLISH CONQUEST
Vocabulary:
break-up - руйнування
shire - графство
justice - правосуддя
delegation - передача
hold (held) - володіти
money rent – грошова рента
to be bound to the soil – быть привязанным к земле
At this period England began to occupy the attention of the Danish
fleet. They had already developed new methods of war. The English were in
comparison, poorly armed. And only thanks to the military genius of Alfred,
the king of England the Danes were defeated. The activity of Alfred the Great
was directed to securing his kingdom against future invaders. The extent of
Alfred’s work in various fields is remarkable and its thoroughness is attested
by the long period of peace, which followed his death. Three generations
9
after the death of Alfred are generations of English culture and setting of
institutions. The now complete break-up of the tribal structure had been
accompanied by an advance towards feudalism. During the 10th c. the
consolidation of England into a single kingdom went hand in hand with the
creation of an organization into shires. In the sphere of justice, also great
strides were made in the direction of feudalism by way of the delegation of
royal rights to powerful individuals. The main agricultural unit — the manor.
The thing which is characteristic of the manor, a servile peasantry. A man
without land was neither free nor unfree. A free man was one who held land
on condition of military service , or one who paid a money rent. The serf or
villain was he who held land on condition of performing agricultural labour
on his lord’s land, he who was bound to the soil, whereas the freeman could
leave his land.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT II
I. The beginning of the 9th century was a troublesome time for England.
The Danes went to sea for plunder. When Alfred the Great was the king,
the danger was the greatest. Alfred the Great was Egbert’s son. Read the
first passage of the text and translate it from English into your native
language in a writing form.
II. Read text II and find the key-terms in this text:
займати, поразка, просування, розвивати, королівство, графство, бути
озброєним, покоління, правосуддя, феодальний маєток, грошова рента,
селянство, володіти землею, воєнна служба, бути прив’язаним до землі.
III. Match a line in A with a line in B.
A
B
a. England began to attract
1. England had a long period of
peace
b. The genius of Alfred
2. was a great advance towards
feudalism
c. The complete break-up of the tribal 3. the attention of the Danish fleet
structure
d. The thing which is characteristic of 4. who held land on condition of
the manor
military service
e. Thanks to Alfred
5. was one of the main reasons of
the Danes’ defeat
f. A free man was one
6. is servile labour
IV. Read the article from the newspaper «Moscow News» about Alfred
the Great and prove the epithets:
convinced, brave, persistent, courageous, wise, educated, superior,
independent.
ALFRED THE GREAT (871—899)
10
The beginning of the 10th century was a troublesome time for
England. Danish pirates called Northmen kept coming over the sea for
plunder. Each year their number increased. They sailed in their keels round
the coast of the Island fighting battles and trying to settle. When Alfred, the
grandson of Egbert, was made king in the year 871, England’s danger was
the greatest. Nevertheless, in a great battle the Northmen were defeated, and
Alfred hurried to make peace with them. The kingdom that was left in the
possession of Alfred was Wessex. For some years, the Anglo-Saxons had
time, under their wise king, to learn much that was useful. During this time
Alfred built up the first English Navy.
Alfred had learned to read and write when he was quite young. He
had travelled on the continent and visited France. He was a Latin scholar. He
is famous not only for having built the first navy but for trying to enlighten
his people. He drew up a code of laws. He translated the Church History of
Bede from the Latin into a language the people could understand, and a
portion of the Bible as well. To him the English owe the famous «AngloSaxon Chronicles», which may be called the first history of England. It was
continued for 250 years after the death of Alfred, till the reign of Henry II in
1154. Alfred died in Winchester, the capital of Wessex, in the year 899.
V. Alfred the Great was an outstanding personality. Translate some
sentences about him from Ukrainian into English:
1. Він довів, що він великий правитель.
2. Він не мав великої фізичної сили.
3. Його велич була пов’язана з мистецтвом миру.
4. Він був першим, хто почав відкривати школи для знаті.
5. Він запросив великих вчених приїхати до Англії.
6. Він переклав та опублікував три середньовічних бестселера.
VI. It is interesting to speak about the history of three generations after
the death of Alfred the Great. There are some facts but they are in
Ukrainian. Translate them into English:
1. Це був період руйнування племен та встановлення англійської
культури.
2. В Х столітті з’явилися і графства і королівства.
3. Феодальний маєток став головним в сільському господарстві.
4. Рабовласницький труд був характерним для феодального маєтку.
5. Вільною людиною вважався той, хто володів землею на умовах
воєнної служби або платив грошову ренту.
6. Раб – це людина, яка виконує сільськогосподарську повинність і не
міг залишити землю по своєму бажанню.
11
VII. Reading.
1. Check the meanings of the words in your dictionary:
related questions, ancient, to forbid, to imply, break, to escape, inspiration,
bulk.
2. Are the sentences true or false? Correct the false sentences:
a) English civilization doesn’t differ from that of France, Italy and Germany.
b) Most of the best things, created by people in Italy, are centered about the
countryside.
c) Chaucer found his inspiration in the life of the cities.
3. Text for reading.
Read the text about Britain by Gordon Winter. It will be continued after
each unit.
I believe that I know the answer to these related questions, though it
would take a second lifetime of study before I could claim to be sure. I
believe it is because English civilization differs from that of France and
Germany and Italy, and the other countries of Western Europe, in that it is
not emotionally based on cities (as the word civilization, the culture of cities,
normally implies) but is emotionally based on the countryside.
In Italy, with scarcely a break since Roman times, most of the best
things in life have centered on the towns, just as they did in the city-states of
Ancient Greece. The forests and mountains of the Italian landscape were dark
and forbidding and a traveler was glad to escape from them into the manmade beauty of the towns. Yet Chaucer, writing only a century later, looked
outside the towns to find grace and life and inspiration in the countryside.
And from Chaucer the beauty of the English countryside has remained the
inspiration for the great bulk of our lyric poetry.
TEXT III
NORMAN CONQUEST
Vocabulary:
consequences - наслідки
to be crowned – бути коронованим
sole – єдиний, наодинці
tenants-in-chief - дружинник
customary dues - мито
to levy taxes – стягувати мито
to exact services – вимагати повинностей
to grant – наділяти
The consequences of the Norman conquest are as follows: after king
William had been crowned at Westminster (London surrendered) by 1069 he
12
was ready for the next stage in the conquest. The completion of the conquest
was followed by a full confiscation of lands and a new division among the
Normans. It is at this point that we can say that feudalism is fully established
in England. Within a few years the whole of the land of the country passed
out of the hands of its old owners into the hands of the conquerors. The
essential political feature of feudalism was the delegation of power, and all
power was based upon ownership of land. The king was the sole and the
ultimate owner of all the land, and granted it to his tenants-in-chief in return
for military and other services and for payment of certain customary dues.
With the land was granted also the political right of governing its cultivators:
the right to hold courts of justice, to levy taxes and to exact services. So far as
the king was concerned the most important duty of his vassals was to follow
him in war. The king granted land to his vassals on his own terms, terms,
extremely favorable to himself. England had therefore, a development that
was unique in European history. From the start the power of the stage was
greater and the power of the feudal nobility was less. The century and a half
between the Conquest and Magna Charter was the period during which
feudalism existed in its most complete form in England.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT III
I. Check the meaning of the words in your dictionary after reading text
III:
crown, division, essential, sole, completion, establish, delegation of power,
nobility.
II. Translate these words from Ukrainian into English:
наслідки, стягувати мито, вимагати повинностей, наділяти землею,
дружинник, володар, повна конфіскація землі, передача власті.
III. State if the statements are true or false:
1. We say that feudalism was established in Great Britain.
2. The owners of the land were Englishmen.
3. Tenants-in-chief had no land.
4. Tenants-in-chief had to pay some customary dues.
5. Land granted some rights: a right to levy taxes, to exact services.
6. The king granted land on his own terms.
IV. Read the text using the words on the right in the correct form.
Norman Conquest
After the death of King Canute, the struggle between
the Anglo-Saxon earls for the supreme power ___ again. The
begin
Northmen who ______ in Normandy 150 years before ___(not)
settle
their chance. In the year 1066, the Norman Duke William ____
miss
the Channel and conquered the English in the great battle ___
cross
at Hastings. Within five years William the Conqueror ______
fight
13
complete master of the whole of England. The lands of most of
be
the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy were given to the Norman barons.
V. Work as translators:
1. 1069 рік був відзначився повним встановленням феодалізму в
Англії.
2. Завойовники стали господарями землі.
3. Влада базувалася на володінні землею.
4. Король роздавав землю васалам.
5. З самого початку влада держави була більше, а феодальної знаті
менше.
6. VI. Reading.
1. Check the meaning of the words in your dictionary.
castle, dominate, pliant, hold down, obstinate.
2. Are the sentences true or false? Correct the false sentences:
a) The Britons were very obstinate and strong-minded.
b) If the English had been a servile people, their culture would have become
urban.
3. Text for reading and translating.
Perhaps the character of our culture is one of the results of the
Norman Conquest, of the Normans’ need to build castles all over the land and
to live in those castles rather than in the cities in order to hold down and
dominate the strong-minded and obstinate people whose land they had taken.
Perhaps if the English, the Anglo- Saxons, had been a servile and pliant
people the Norman knights would have congregated in the cities once the
Conquest was over, and the culture of the English countries would have
become urban, like that of Germany, and the Italian republics. Perhaps that is
the heart of the matter: that the English great house is the direct cultural
descendant of the Norman motte and bailey, and no further explanation is
needed. Yet it seems to me that there must be some other case. I do not know.
TEXT IV
SAXON CONQUEST
Vocabulary:
remote - віддалений
traces - сліди
rule - правління
generally accepted - загальноприйнятий
tribal - племінний
pastoral – той, що займається вівчарством
to be disintegrated - розпадатися
county - графство
14
shire - графство
gain - придбати
property - власність
to arise- виникати
acquisition - придбання
minority - меншість
preacher - священик
Britain, as the most remote and among the most exposed of the
provinces was the earliest to fall away and lost most completely its Roman
character, for the reason that the traces of Roman rule in Britain were so few
and the English conquest so complete. The bulk of the invaders came from
among the most backward and primitive of the German tribes. These tribes,
the Angles and Saxons were close in speech and customs.
The third group of invaders was called traditionally Jutes. Generally
accepted name for them taken together, was English. In general, the social
organization of the invaders was still tribal. The English were an agricultural
rather than a pastoral people and even before they entered Britain their tribal
organization was rapidly disintegrated. In the 5th c. the raids were replaced by
something approaching national migrations. Later, in the 6th c. the advance
of the English was resumed. By this time the English had settled down into a
number of small kingdoms.
By the end of the 6th century seven kingdoms appeared in the North
Northumbria. Its two parts, Deira (corresponding to Yorkshire) and Bernicia,
appeared at times as separate kingdoms. East Anglia covered Norfolk,
Suffolk and part of Cambridgshire. Essex, Kent and Sussex correspond
roughly to the modern counties bearing the same names. Mercia occupied
most of the midland shires. This period is characterized by the growth of the
township and of social classes within it that forms the internal history of the
period between the English and Norman Conquest. Here begins the rough
division of labour between the man who fights in the wars and the man who
toils in the fields that lies at the roots of the feudal system. Very soon the
thane gained authority over his weaker neighbours. As early, perhaps, as 600,
the thane was well on the way towards becoming a feudal lord, the coerl –
well on the way of becoming a serf, private property on land was beginning
to take shape and well-defined social classes were everywhere arising.
At the same time the state, growing out of the military conquest and
division of the country was breaking its tribal organization. Such a process,
marked by the acquisition of special powers by a minority and at the expense
of the remainder of the people, is in fact the only way in which society can
advance beyond the tribal stage and must be regarded as essentially
progressive. All these tendencies were accelerated and given a precise legal
15
form by the introduction of Christianity. Christianity added also to the
existing division of labour between a fighter and a cultivator and the third
specialized activity, that of a preacher and man of learning.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT IV
I. Translate these terms into your native language and remember them:
the bulk of the invaders, German tribes, social organisation, pastoral people,
advance, disintegrate, settle down, county, shire, division of labour, fight in
the war, toil, accelerate, preacher.
II. Answer the questions to the text:
1. Who was called the English?
2. What was the social organization of the Saxon invaders?
3. The tribal organization of the English was not disintegrated, was it?
4. What kingdoms appeared in the 6th century?
5. By what is the period characterized?
6. When did the private property appear?
III. It is a summary of text IV. Translate it from Ukrainian into English.
Римське завоювання не сильно вплинуло на Британію. Воно
продовжувалося майже 400 років. Завдяки римлянам на територію
Британії проникло християнство. У IV столітті німецькі племена англів,
саксів і ютів захопили Британію, Всі племена мали багато спільного в
мові і традиціях. Ці племена традиційно називалися англійцями. В кінці
V – початку VI століть племінна організація почала розпадатися, що
заклало коріння феодальної системи: виникла приватна власність,
почався розподіл праці. Всі ці тенденції були прискорені введенням
християнства, яке додало до воїна і сільськогосподарського робітника
ще і людину розумової праці.
IV. Do this text in the writing form and insert the key words into the
gaps.
to divide up; to guess; barbaric; came sailing; lived; pagans; to adopt; drive
away; defend
Towards the end of the 4th century the invasion of all Europeans by
_____ peoples compelled the Romans to leave Britain, because they were
needed to ___ their own country. The fall of the Roman Empire followed
soon. As soon as the Britons were left to themselves they had very little
peace for many years. Sea-robbers ____ in ships from other countries, and
the Britons were always busy trying to defend themselves. Among these
Germanic tribes were some called Angles, Saxons and Jutes who ___ in the
central and northern parts of Europe. It was a wild and fearless race. The
Britons could never ___ them ____. They were forced ___ many of their
customs and learn to speak their languages. The Germanic tribes were ___
16
(that is to say they believed in many gods). The gods of the Anglo-Saxons
were: Tu - god of Darkness, Freia - goddess of Prosperity. When people
learned _______ time into weeks and the week into 7 days, they gave the
days the names of their gods. It is not hard _____ that Sunday is the day of
the sun, Monday - the day of the moon and so on.
V. Reading.
Make the written translation of the text.
It is one thing to argue that English civilization springs out of the
countryside and the quality of our civilization have long been mutually
supporting. By that I mean that the loveliness of the countryside has inspired
our literature and music and painting. And the character of our civilization
has in its turn helped to mould and adorn the landscape. These points are not,
I think, difficult to maintain. But why this should have happened in England
and to a lesser extent in Scotland, but not in the related cultures of France,
Germany and Italy is something that I find mystifying. Perhaps it is because
we live in an island, and the whole island provides, in itself, the feeling of
security and enclosure that continental peoples have only been able to create
within the walls of cities.
TEXT V
ROMAN CONQUEST AND OCCUPATION
Vocabulary:
reconnaissance - розвідка
penetration - проникнення
Christianity - Християнство
legion - легіон
to escape - уникати
Caesar’s two invasions were a little more than reconnaissance in
force. The first was made in the summer of 55 B.C. The second invasion was
an actual invasion, conquest of Britain. During this period a thorough
economic penetration of South-East Britain went on. It marked the growth of
trade and towns. The Roman occupation of Britain lasted nearly 400 years.
Certainly, Roman conquest and the Latin language and the Roman mode of
production affected to some extent the life of the Britons, but those effects
were not so much permanent. And, finally, Christianity, introduced by the,
remained the religion of those parts of Britain which escaped the English
conquest, penetrated thence to Ireland.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT V
I. Check the meaning of the words in your dictionary.
invasion, penetrate, affect, conquest, growth, permanent.
17
II. Answer the questions:
1. How many Roman invasions were there?
2. By what is this period characterized?
3. What invasion was an actual one?
4. How long did the Roman occupation last?
5. Christianity was introduced by the Romans, wasn’t it?
III. Translate the sentences from English into your native language. Use
them while retelling the text:
1. The Romans thought a great deal of fighting and they were so strong that
they usually managed to win most of the battles they fought.
2. Caesar wrote many interesting accounts of Britain. The art of writing was
very much advanced in Rome.
3. But clever as these soldiers were, it was not easy to conquer the Britons,
and the Romans had to encamp troops all over the country.
4. The names of many English towns never dropped the Latin endings, and
you can find Lancaster, Manchester, Worcester, Leicester, and many others
on the map.
IV. It is interesting to know. Read and translate the text.
The culture of the early Britons changed greatly under the influence
of Christianity. Christianity penetrated into the British Isles in the 3d century.
This was the time when the great Roman Empire was ruled over the northern
and western parts which included Britain, Gaule (France) and Spain. The
eastern part of the Roman Empire was ruled by Diocletian. The southern part
was ruled by two other emperors. Diocletian hated the Christians who were
then a secret religious sect. His fierce prosecution of the Christians caused
many of them to flee to Britain and Gaule. In the year 306, Constantine the
Great, the son of Constantine Chlora and Elene, the daughter of a British
Chief, became emperor over the whole of the Roman Empire. He stopped the
prosecution of the Christians and became a Christian himself. Christianity
was made the Roman national faith. It was brought to all countries belonging
to the Roman Empire. The Druids of the Celts in Britain disappeared. All
Christian churches were centralized in the city of Constantinople which was
made the capital of the Roman Empire. This religion was called the Catholic
Church («catholic» means «universal»). The Greek and Latin languages
became the languages of the Church all over Europe.
V. Reading.
1. Check the meaning of the words in your dictionary:
converse, urban, match, splendour, surpass, sustain, claim, boast.
2. Are the sentences true or false? Correct the false sentences:
a) London can be compared with Paris or Rome.
b) Parts of London are very beautiful.
18
c) Oxford, Cambridge, Bath are not as beautiful as London.
3. Text for reading.
The converse of my argument that civilization in the islands is based
on the countryside must be that our towns and cities are often surpassed by
the urban civilization of our West European neighbours. That point of view is
not difficult to sustain. I doubt whether anyone would claim that we have
cities in Britain that can match the perfection of Florence or Siena or Venice.
Neither, I imagine, would anyone seriously claim that London, as a capital
city, can be compared as a unity with Paris or Rome. Parts of London are of
unrivalled beauty. Edinburgh, of course, stands out in splendour among
British cities, and we can boast no other planned city like it. Oxford,
Cambridge, Bath, all have their devotees. On the other hand, there are
probably more individual buildings of outstanding quality in Britain, and
more beautiful villages, than in any other comparably small area in the world.
ТЕХТ VI
THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF DOMESDAY
ENGLAND
Vocabulary:
commissionaire - комісіонер
survey - перепис
levy of property tax – стягувати податок на власність
revenues - прибутки
unit - одиниця
worldly- світський
ecclesiastical - духовний
had to fit into framework – мали відповідати моделі
shepherd - пастух
ploughman - орач
open-field system - система відкритих полей
used to add- звичайно добавляли
20 years after the conquest William sent commissionaires to almost
every town, village throughout England with power to call together the
leading men of the township, to examine them, and to make a complete
survey of the economic life of the country. The survey had two objects: first to provide the necessary information for the levying of property tax and,
second, to give the king detailed knowledge of the extent and distribution of
the wealth, lands and revenues of his vassals. The survey presents more or
less accurate picture of the social structure of England at those times. The
unit of agricultural economy was manor. Some of these manors were held
directly from him by a number of vassals, worldly and ecclesiastical. They in
19
turn had a larger or smaller number of subvassals who were the actual holders
of the manors. Every village, however small or remote, had to fit into
framework, and society was graded into a series of groups mounting step by
step from the serf at the bottom to the king at the top.
The Domesday Survey classified the cultivators of the soil into
classes, and even numbered them, so that it is possible to present a rough,
statistical account of the population (taking into account the adult males).
Number population: slaves 9% 25.000; borders and cotters 32% 89.000;
villains 38% 106.000; tradesmen 18% 33.000.
Slaves were by the time of Domesday a rapidly vanishing class:
house-servants or shepherds and ploughmen on the lords’ land. Borders and
cotters were the holders of small patches of land outside the framework of the
open-field system. Though most of them were serfs, some were recognized as
free tenants. The villains, holders of 15—30 acres in the common fields, were
the centre around which the whole life of the manor revolved. Their services
were regularized and the manor revolved. Their services were regularized and
most often increased after the conquest. Like the slaves, the freemen of
Domesday were a declining class. Even in 1086 many who were free before
the Conquest had come to be considered unfree as the result of the change in
ownership of the land. After the Domesday period the free disappeared
rapidly. The Normans introduced into England a body of written and rigid
feudal law which tended to force all cultivators into the one group, that of
serfs with no legal rights against the lord of the manor. For the population
that time was one of the increasing burdens and general misery. Every trick
of the lawyers was used to add to these burdens, and besides his heavy labour
services the villain had all
sorts of disabilities.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT VI
I. Check the meaning of the terms in your dictionary and learn them by
heart:
survey, distribution of wealth, revenue, holders of land, vanishing (declining)
class, shepherds, borders, cotters, ploughman, open-field system, commonfield system, tend, slaves, tradesman.
II. Answer the questions to the text:
1. What was done 20 years later after the Conquest?
2. What were the two objects of Survey?
3. What was the main unit of agricultural structure?
4. Who was the holder of the manor?
5. What was the structure of society at this period?
20
III. Translate the sentences from Ukrainian into English:
1. Земля була конфіскована і передана норманнским баронам.
2. В Британії встановився феодалізм.
3. Головна риса феодалізму - делегування влади.
4. Дружинникам гарантувалася земля за військову службу або за якісь
інші заслуги.
IV. Match a line in A with a line in B.
A
B
1. Slaves were by the time
a. were the holders of land in the openfield system
2. Borders and cotters
b. was a declining class.
3. The villains were the centre
c. was characterized by misery
around which
4. Freemen
d. a vanishing class
5. The population
e. the life of the manor revolved
V. Make a written summary of the chapter.
VI. Reading.
1. Read the text about Britain by Gordon Winter. It will be continued after
each unit.
Even our mountains, which have been molded for thousands of
years by the erosion of sun and wind and rain, are beginning to crumble away
because of the erosion caused by human feet. Snowdon is the worst victim so
far, but it is not the only mountain to suffer. This is a major problem of
landscape management, and we are still only fumbling our way towards a
solution. In parts of the Lake District the National Trust has found that it can
control human erosion by closing specific paths, or areas of mountainside,
until they have had time to recover; but I suspect that that is no more than a
temporary palliative in the face of the general problem of overpopulation,
combined with increasing mobility and leisure. It seems to me inevitable that
we shall have to devise some form of rationing of access, in some parts of the
country, if we are to prevent crowds from destroying the scenery and the
solitude that they have come to admire.
2. Find the English equivalents for these words in the text:
викликати (быту причиною чогось), жертва, страждати, пейзаж,
управління, рішення, стежина, видужувати, підозрювати, збільшувати,
неминучий, запобігати, знищення, захоплюватися.
TEXT VII
STATE, BARON, CHURCH
Vocabulary:
at the expense – за рахунок
21
administration of justice - відправлення правосуддя
the affair of the state – державна справа
establishment- встановлення
the Exchequer - казначейство
a feudal body - феодальний орган
closest (control) – суровий (контроль)
recognized - визнаний
to extend - розповсюдитися
case - справа
alliance - союз
The Conqueror’s two sons, William II and Henry I, continued to
strengthen the power of the state at the expense of the feudal nobles. Henry
began a process of taking the administration of justice out of the hands of
private individuals and made it solely the affair of the state. Almost all
Henry’s innovations had a financial object, and one of the most important
was the establishment of a special department, the Exchequer, to deal with
the collection of revenue. Much of the king’s income came from the crown
manors, the rest from the property taxб, and the various feudal dues and aids.
All these were collected by the sheriff in each county and paid over to the
Exchequer, which was a special development of the king’s council, a feudal
body which originally consisted of the tenants-in-chief. On Henry’s death the
worst tendencies of feudalism had evident. Private wars and private castles
sprang everywhere. Hundreds of tyrants tortured and plundered the
unfortunate peasantry and chaos reigned everywhere. This atmosphere of
strained feudal anarchy was sharp enough to make the masses welcome an
attempt of the crown to diminish the power of nobles.
The state machinery which Henry I had set up was overhauled and
extended. More and more powers were given to the travelling commissioners
who represented the king in all parts of the country. Increased use was made
of the sheriffs as permanent representatives of the crown. At the same time
they were kept under the closest control. The interest of the crown was to do
away with unauthorized exactions so that its own revenue could be as large as
possible. Almost every reform of this age has its object the increasing and
better collection of the king’s dues. Apart from the barons, the increasing
power of the state had to meet the claims of the church to be recognized as an
independent, international organization. The struggle between church and
state in England was only a part of a battle that extended all over Europe with
varying results. The church in the main supported the centralizing actions of
the crown against the barons, the latter were opposed to the power of the
church courts.
22
These courts took cases away from the local feudal jurisdiction just
as much as from the crown courts, and the barons were suspicious of any
attempt on the part of the church to introduce Roman law because of the
support which it gave to state absolutism. Reasons of this kind explain the
unstable alliances and constant shifting of support which mark the three
cornered antagonism of crown, barons and church in the Middle Ages.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT VII
I. Check the meaning of the terms in your dictionary and learn them by
heart:
at the expense, administration of justice, affair of the state, establishments,
feudal body, feudal anarchy, to do away with something, to support the
centralizing actions, to oppose to the power, alliance.
II. Answer the questions to the text:
1. How many sons did William the Conqueror have?
2. What was the main aim of their policy?
3. What were the features of feudalism at this period?
4. What was Henry’s state machinery?
III. State if these statements are true or false:
1. The alliances of Crown, Baron and Church were unstable.
2. The power of the state wasn’t increasing in the Middle Ages.
3. Church wanted to be an independent international organization.
4. Church and State had no battle.
5. The barons opposed to the power of the state and church.
IV. Translate the text from Ukrainian into English.
Генрі I, син Вільяма Завойовника, продовжував в середні віки
політику зміцнення державної влади. Він зробив правосуддя справою
держави, організував Казначейство. Казначейство було феодальним
органом і складалося з дружинників. Воно займалося стягуванням
податків. Британія була поділена на графства. На чолі кожного графства
стояв шериф, який збирав феодальні податки і здавав в казну.
Величезна влада була надана комісіонерам, які були
представниками корони і здійснювали контроль над шерифами. Середні
століття увінчалися потрійним антагонізмом церкви, баронів і держави.
Держава хотіла бути єдиновладним правителем, церква хотіла бути
незалежною від держави, а барони хотіли позбавитися від опіки церкви і
держави.
V. It is interesting to know. Read and translate the text.
The First Universities
Most of the British writers and poets about whom we are going to
speak were educated at universities. It will be interesting to know how and
23
when the two great universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded in
England.
Before the 12th century people got to think that books and the
learning that was to be found in books belonged to the Church only, and that
common people who were not priests or monks had no business to meddle
with books or book-learning. But with the development of such sciences as
medicine and law, corporations of general study, called «universitas»
appeared in Italy and France. The fully developed university had four
faculties: three superior (higher) faculties, that of Theology, (the study of
religious books), of Canon Law (church laws) and of Medicine and one
inferior (primary) faculty, that of Art, where seven subjects were studied:
Latin Grammar, Rhetoric (the art of impressive speaking), Logic, Arithmetic,
Geometry, Astronomy and Music.
Paris was the great centre for higher education for English students.
In the middle of the 12th century a controversy on the study of Logic arose
among the professors. A group of professors were expelled. Followed by
their students, they went over to Britain and founded schools at the town of
Oxford in 1168 which formed the first university.
However, the plague and war and other trouble led to a temporary
dispersion of the schools. A second university was founded in 1209 in
Cambridge, to which a body of students migrated from Oxford. The
graduates were awarded with degrees: Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts
and Doctor.
Towards the end of the 13th century colleges where other subjects
were studied appeared around the universities.
It became the custom for students to go about from one great
university to another, learning what they could from the most famous
teachers in each place.
2. Continue the sentences:
a) It is interesting to know that the two great universities of Oxford and
Cambridge were founded...
b) With the development of such sciences as medicine and law the
universities appeared in...
c) The Universities had four faculties: ...
d) A group of professors and students expelled went to the town of Oxford
and founded the university in...
e) The second university was formed...
f) It became the custom for students...
TEXT VIII
THE GREAT CHARTER
24
Vocabulary:
securing - забезпечення
domains - маєток
retained – зберігати
rebellion - повстання
violation - порушення
involve - включати
Pope – Папа Римський
archbishopric - архієпископство
submitted - підкорилися
villeinage- кріпосна залежність
The period between the Conquest and 1200 was one of the growing
state power. It was recognized that the king had certain rights and duties - the
duty of keeping the peace, of leading the army in war, of securing his vassals
in the possession of their domains, and the right to levy certain dues, to exact
certain military and other services (ultimate owner of the land). In the same
way the vassal had his corresponding rights and duties. But the barons still
retained the right of rebellion. John, the ablest and most unscrupulous of the
kings, did make the attempt to pass beyond the power which the crown could
claim without a violation of the feudal law. He levied arbitrary feuds and
aids, he confiscated estates of his vassals. In short, he attempted to go beyond
the whole system of property relations lying at the root of the feudal system.
The church was similarly treated. The result was the complete isolation of the
crown from these sections that had previously been its strongest supporters.
At the very moment, having lost the support of barons, John became involved
in a direct dispute with Pope Innocent III over the filling of the vacant
archbishopric of Canterbury. All that manifests the fact that the movement
against John was to some extent of a popular character. Unwillingly he
submitted, and at Punnymede on June 15th 1215 he accepted the programme
of demands embodied by the barons in Magna Charter. Magna Charter has
been rightly regarded as a turning point of English history, but almost for
wrong reasons. It was not a «constitutional document». What it did was to set
out in detail the way in which John had gone beyond his rights as a feudal
overlord and to demand that his unlawful actions should stop. It marked the
alliance between the barons and the citizens of London by breaking the
freedom of merchants from arbitrary taxations. The most famous clause
declared that «no freeman» «...the second word excluded from any possible
benefit the overwhelming mass of the people who were still in villeinage».
More important was the clause setting up a permanent committee of 24
barons to see that John’s promises were kept. This particular device did not
work well, but it did open a new way along which the barons could conduct a
25
political struggle as a class rather than individuals. It also prepared the way
for the entry of new classes onto the political field. The contents of Magna
Charter shows that it expresses mostly the interests of barons. But
historically-progressive role of the Charter consists of the fact that the growth
of the influence of the layers of the population was great and it mainly
provided the success for the barons in their attempts to limit king’s power.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT VIII
I. Check the meaning of the terms in your dictionary and learn them by
heart:
domain, rebellion, violate — violation, submit, demand, unlawful action,
benefit, device, limit king’s power, influence.
II. Read the text. Answer the questions to it:
1. By what was the period between the Conquest and 1200 characterized?
2. What were king’s rights and duties?
3. The vassals in their turn had rights and duties, didn’t they?
4. Who was the king? What do you know about him?
5. Did the king violate the system of property relations in Britain? Why?
6. What were his relations with Church?
7. What is Magna Charter?
8. Is it a constitutional document?
9. Did 24 barons restrict the king’s power? How?
10. What is the historical role of Charter?
III. Translate this text from Ukrainian into English.
Період між часом Завоювання і 1200 роком характеризувався
зростаючою владою держави. Джон, який царював в цей час, спробував
порушити феодальні закони приватної власності. Через це він втратив
підтримку баронів і церковників. Хартія з'явилася як документ,
необхідний, перш за все баронам. Вона обмежувала владу короля. Цей
документ не можна вважати конституційним, але він підготував появу
нових класів на політичній арені.
IV. Comment upon the tense-forms of the verbs:
- it was recognized...
- John did make the attempt...
- he levied dues...
- Magna Charter has been regarded...
- Magna Charter shows that...
- it is mainly provided...
V. Reading.
Read the text and translate it into your native language orally:
26
In the past, of all the many influences that have fashioned our
landscape, the most important has been the need to grow food. That need, the
basic human necessity, is likely to provide the most reliable indicator when
we are seeking guidelines to fashion the landscape of the future. Whatever
else we may forecast about the future of these islands, it is clear that we shall
need to grow more of our own food.
We shall no longer be able to import half the temperate food we eat,
as we have so needlessly been able to do in the recent past. With few
exceptions the landscape that is fashioned by efficient farmers will provide
scenery that pleases the eye.
2. Give some derivatives of the words:
influence, prove, fashion, base, necessity, forecast, provide.
TEXT IX
PARLIAMENTARY ORIGINS
Vocabulary:
rely on – спиратися на
assume - набувати
clergy - духовенство
summoned - закликав
burgesses - бюргери
knights - лицарі
in the reign – під час правління
evidence - свідоцтво
proceedings - засідання
model - зразковий
tolls - податки
seized – захопили
Houses - палати
Convocation - скликання
Lords / Commons –палати Лордів і Общин
landowners- землевласники
battleground- поле битви
The barons who remained in opposition under Simon de Monford
were forced to rely on the other classes, and when in 1264 Simon defeated
Henry at Lewes a whole wing of his army was drawn off the citizens of
London. After Lewes the desertions from the baronial ranks went on, and the
movement began as a result to assume a really popular character. It included
the town merchants, the lesser landowners, those of the clergy who were
opposed to the growing power of the Papacy and the students of Oxford
drawn mostly from the middle and lower classes. It was under the
27
circumstances (the growth of economical and social significance of these
social elements) that de Monford summoned to his Parliament of 1265
representatives of the burgesses of the towns as well as two knights from
each shire.
The feudal period had created a growing differentiation between the
great barons and the lesser landowners or knights. While the former retained
bands of armed followers and looked to war and politics as their natural
activity, the latter were willing to live on their estates and made the largest
possible income from them. These knights were early drawn into local
government though the shire courts and in 1254 representative knights of the
shire were formally summoned to the Council.
In the reign of Henry’s son Edward Parliament assumed
permanently the form which de Monford had given it. There is no evidence
that at first the knights and burgers took any active part in the
proceedings.They were mainly to agree to the taxes which the king wanted to
draw up . Like the jury, Parliament was a royal convenience rather than a
right of the subject. Parliament was developed as a tax collecting apparatus,
and, if it became a focus for opposition, this was quite outside of the crown.
In 1295 Edward was seriously involved in wars with France and Scotland and
recently conquered Wales. He therefore summoned that is known as the
«Model Parliament» because it contained all the elements which were to
become recognized as necessary to make a full assembly. This Model
Parliament made a large grant of money. Edward levied a heavy property tax,
tolls on wool exports and seized some of the property of the church. These
levies were strongly resisted, and in 1297 the «Confirmation of the Charter»
was secured. Thus he acknowledged the right of the Parliament to vote taxes.
Edward promised, in effect that no new taxes would be raised in future
without the consent of Parliament.
The opposition was still largely of the traditional baronial type, but
what is important is the new parliamentary forms which this opposition was
beginning to make. It was during the same period that the final steps were
taken which gave Parliament its modern forms. At first all sections set
together as one body, and, inevitably, the proceedings were dominated by the
great barons. Then came a period of experiment. Sometimes there were three
«Houses» – barons, clergy and commons. Sometimes the knights of the shire
sat with the barons, sometimes with the burgesses. Then the clergy ceased to
sit in Parliament and formed their own Convocation, and the divisions into
Lords and Commons took place.
In this division the knights of the shire – representing the smaller
landowners — took their places in the Commons with the representatives of
the town merchants. This grouping, found only in England, was an exact
28
reflection of the unique distribution of class forces in this country toward the
close of the Middle Ages. Great power was concentrated in the hands of a
very small number of powerful noble families, mostly related to the crown
and fighting bitterly for supremacy among themselves. They saw in
Parliament a convenient means through which to dominate the state machine,
and its wide powers were in practice often exercised by the ruling clique of
nobles. The whole period was one of transition, of a delicate balance of class
forces and Parliament, at the same time a reflection and a battleground of
these forces.
ASSIGNEMENT TO TEXT IX
I. Check the meaning of the words in your dictionary and learn them by
heart:
assume popular character; clergy; summon the Parliament; burgesses; in the
reign; proceedings; royal convenience; knights; tax collecting apparatus; tolls
on wool; without the consent; Lords and Commons; landowner; cease;
Convocation.
II. Read and translate the text. Answer the questions to it:
1. Why did the barons rely on other classes?
2. When did the movement begin to assume popular character?
3. What classes did that movement consist of?
4. What did king Edward promise to Parliament?
5. What were the main «houses» of the Parliament? How many houses are
there now?
6. How were the «houses» represented?
7. For whom was Parliament a convenient means to dominate the state
machine?
III. Translate from Ukrainian into English:
1. Феодальний період створив зростаючу диференціацію між
баронами і меншою частиною лицарів і дрібних землевласників.
2. Не існує свідоцтва того, що бюргери і лицарі брали участь в
засіданнях парламенту.
3. Парламент розвивався як апарат для збору податків, і якщо він став
центром опозиції, то зроблено це було поза волею короля.
4. Зразковому парламенту вдалося заробити велику суму грошей.
5. Король Едвард обіцяв, що в майбутньому нові мита не будуть
збільшені без згоди парламенту.
6. На етапі експерименту з'явилися три палати: баронів, духівництва і
общин.
IV. It is interesting to know. Read the text by Hornby. Translate. Retell
the text.
29
1. People outside Great Britain believe and their belief seems reasonable, that
if a man is elected to sit in Parliament, he ought to have a seat.Indeeed, most
Parliaments provide each member not only with a seat, but with a reserved
seat, often a desk in which papers can be kept.
2. The House of Commons was rebuilt after the war. The new House of
Commons has many improvements, including air-conditioning and the
provision of microphones. It has however seats only for 2/3 of its 630
members. They have got the place for the Speaker, for the Opposition, the
places for Independent members, those who do not belong to either of the
two great political parties.
3. Another difference between the British House of Commons and
Parliamentary Chambers in many other countries is that in the House of
Commons there are benches. From this we get the terms «front benches»,
«back benches», «cross benches». The term «front benches» stands for the
two benches, one on each side of the House, as far as the centre of gangway.
The front bench on the Speaker’s right is for the Prime Minister and the
leading members of the Government. That on the Speaker’s left is for the
leader of the Opposition and those members of the Opposition who have
formed, or who are likely to form an alternative government. The back
benches are occupied by members who have no right to front bench seats.
The cross benches may be used by those Independent members who do not
vote regularly.
4. Only 4 members of the House of Commons have reserved seats. One, of
course, is the Speaker; another member is «the Father of the House of
Commons». The other two reserved seats are for the Prime Minister and the
leader of the Opposition.
5. If a member of the House of Commons wants to speak, he tries to catch the
Speaker’s eye. The Speaker decides who is to speak next. The member who
is named remains standing and speaks from the place where he has been
sitting. He must address the Speaker not the House as a whole. The only
members who speak from the Clerk’s table are the Government and
Opposition leaders.
6. When they vote in the House of Commons members have to leave their
benches and walk out into two corridors (called the lobbies). As they pass out
they are counted by 4 persons — two for each side - it may take 10—15
minutes before figures are announced.
TEXT X
KING ALFRED THE GREAT AND HIS ENGLAND
Vocabulary:
defeat - поразка
30
neglect - зневажати
revived - відроджувати
The 9th century with its break-up of tribal structure and its advance
to feudalism, in all its course was the century of Alfred the Great. Alfred’s
military achievements were no accident, his ability to profit by experience
amounted to genius. He saw and reminded the defects in the English
defensive system. He built a fleet of ships which were longer, higher, steadier
and faster than Danish ships, which was the main reason for the defeat of the
Danes. Despite the urgency of military problems Alfred did not neglect other
aspects of government. Alfred’s care for the administration of justice is
testified both by history and legend. He revived the dying practice of lawgiving, established a court school, learned to read Latin and translated the
world history of Orosius and Bede’s «Ecclesiastical History of English
People». Alfred also inspired the collection and systematic arrangement of
earlier annals and traditions of the English race, and the compilation now
known as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT X
I. Check the meaning of the terms in your dictionary and learn them by
heart:
break-up; advance; profit; tribal; achievement; defeat; administration of
justice; practice of law-giving.
II. Read the text and answer the questions:
1. The 9th century was marked by a break-up of tribal structure, wasn’t it?
2. What were the greatest military achievements of Alfred the Great?
3. Was he a well-educated person for his times? Why?
III. Match a word in A with its derivative in B. Translate them.
A
B
to break
remindment
tribe
break-up
to achieve
urgency
to profit
inspiration
to remind
arrangement
to defend
government
urgent
to testify
to revive
tribal
to inspire
profit
to arrange
establishment
to establish
achievement
to govern
defensive
to test
revival
IV. Read and translate the text about Alfred the Great.
31
ALFRED THE GREAT (871—899)
Born at Wantage 849 - buried at Winchester
The Witan, so it turned out, chose well, for Alfred, seasoned by
many battles, proved also to be a great ruler. Though he was not, so it is said,
a man of any great physical strength, yet he was a considerable warrior. He
defeated the Danish onslaught, led by Gurthrum in 878, at the famous battle
of Ethandun. In 884 Alfred received the submission not only of the English
but also of many Welsh princes, and, after 897, the Danes, too, had learnt not
to give him further trouble. Maraudings were successfully combated by
enlarging the navy, and the defenсes of the country were improved by
fortifying townships and by building forts.
But great though Alfred’s military achievements were, his real
greatness lay not in war, which only destroys, but in the arts of peace. Much
of Alfred’s work, like his culinary misfortune, is probably fabulous, but he
did three great things which must be noted, for they alone are enough to raise
him high above others of his age: he started, after the fashion of Charles the
Great, a court school to educate the nobility; he encouraged the greatest
scholars of the day to come to England; and he translated the «published»
three medieval «best sellers», Bede’s History, Boethius’s Consolation of
Philosophy and Gregory’s Pastoral Care. Thus indeed he gave to the English
their first literature, for hitherto all books had been written in Latin, the
Esperanto of scholars.
If ever a king deserved the epithet Great it was Alfred, for he was
not only great among warrior kings, but was wiser than his generation and
many of those who followed as well.
to season — загартовувати
warrior — боєць, воїн
onslaught — атака
marauding — грабіжка
to combat — відбивати
V. Retell the text according to the plan:
1. Facts about his life.
2. Political opinions.
3. Work habits.
4. Interests.
5. Ambitions.
VI. Write a similar profile about a politician, real or imaginary. Use
these expressions:
- a member of...
- represents...
- comes from...
32
- speaks... languages
- believes in...
- he likes going
- he’d like to do (stay)
VII. Reading.
Read this text by Gordon Winter and translate it into your native language in
the written form. Translate the ideas, not word by word.
With few exceptions, the landscape that is fashioned by efficient
farmers will provide scenery that pleases the eye. I know that there are those
who complain of factory farming, or of prairie farming when they see hedges
being grubbed out to create larger fields. In some cases the destruction of
hedges has gone too far, but when that happens it is not in the farmers’ longterm interest and cannot therefore be described as efficient farming. Fields
need to be big enough to be worked by today’s machinery; we cannot hope to
maintain the multiplicity of small fields that were enclosed when farms were
worked by horses and oxen. Some hedges, and areas of woodland, must be
retained because they provide shelter and windbreaks for livestock and crops,
and because they provide a habitat for the wild life which is a part of the
balance of nature, and without which efficient farming cannot continue.
Almost all farmers now accept this.
TEXT XI
CONCLUSION. RELICS OF THE ROMAN OCCUPATION
Vocabulary:
consists - складатися
well-to-do - заможний
Empire - імперія
barbarians - варвари
Britain was a Roman province from the first century A.D. until the
beginning of the 5th c. A.D. The area occupied covered south, east and
midland Britain and stretched north to the lowlands of Scotland, waste over
the whole Wales, but did not include Devan and Cornwell. Most of the
evidence for reconstructuring the life of Roman Britain consists of objects in
museums, and of buildings and monuments still to be seen. The conquest was
achieved by force of arms and until the end the Romans had to keep armies
on the frontiers especially in the North. We shall find therefore that in the
North of Britain and in Wales the relics are mostly military. While Roman
soldiers were defending the outposts of the Empire against Picts and Saxons
(Britons) a kind of provincial Roman life was developing in lowland Britain.
Various kinds of towns existed in Britain under the Roman
occupation. Among them was London, probably the commercial capital. Not
33
all the Roman-British people lived in towns. Many lived in native villages.
Some well-to-do people lived in the country estates that we know as villas.
The villa was a self-supporting farm and grew its own food. In some villas
small industries were carried on (in a farm in Gloucestershire the local wool
production has been found). The work on the farm was done by slaves. The
Roman occupation ceased in Britain because troops were withdrawn to try in
vain to defend the rest of the Empire against the barbarians.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT XI
I. Translate the terms from Ukrainian into English:
провінція, століття, займатися, протягнутися, включати, перестройка,
складатися з, об’єкт, армія, границя, реліквія, воєнний, захищати,
провінціальний, існувати, заможний, варвари, імперія, промисловість,
графство, продовжувати, даремно, підтримувати, раби, розвиватися,
комерційний.
II. Translate the sentences from Ukrainian into English:
1. Окупація Британії римлянами тривала протягом 400 років.
2. Фактично, були дві римські навали.
3. Римські завоювання привели до зростання міст і торгівлі на
території Британії.
4. Римляни принесли християнство, яке вплинуло на розвиток науки
та культури.
5. Латинська мова і римський спосіб життя змінили життя британців.
III. Continue the ideas; make your own text.
There were two Roman...
The first was...
The second was...
The Roman occupation lasted...
The Roman economic penetration was marked by...
Roman customs, mode of life... affected...
The Romans brought all these things by force that is why...
The provincial life was developing...
But the Romans and the Britons didn’t become...
VI. Read the text and put down 5 questions to it.
When the Saxon and other pagan tribes invaded Britain, they didn’t
spare their enemies. Most of the British Christians were put to death or driven
away and took refuge in Wales and Ireland where they lived, some as lonely
hermits, others in groups as brotherhoods. There, far from persecution they
could build churches and devote themselves to worship.
They told people stories of Christian martyrs and visitations by
saints (called «visions») which were typical of the literature of that time. It
34
was not until the end of the 6th century that monks came from Rome to
Britain again. The head of the Roman Church was Pope Gregory. He thought
he could spread his influence over England if he converted the people to
Christianity. Firm in this purpose, he sent monks to convert the AngloSaxons. The part of England where they landed was Kent and the first church
they built was in the town of Canterbury. Up to this day it is the English
religious centre. Later, Christianity spread to Northumbria where some
influence from the first Roman Christians still remained.
TEXT XII
THE NORMAN CONQUEST AND ITS EFFECTS
Vocabulary:
welded - злилися
rude - грубий
barbarous tongue – груба мова
yeomen - йомени
ordained - проголошено
pleadings - засідання
All the elements of the feudalism were already growing up in
England when the Norman conquest intensified the process of establishing
feudalism. All land was now held in feudal service, the services and dues
became more regular and definite, many English freemen cultivating village
lands became «villeins» — the new Norman lords did not bother about their
special privileges. And there was now the barrier of language between the
ruling class and the farming ruled class. For two centuries after the Norman
Conquest, England was ruled by foreign kings. Under their rule the AngloSaxon and Norman elements were gradually welded together. After the
Conquest Norman French became the language of the upper classes and the
Government. French was used in Parliament, in the law-courts, in all official
writings.
English was looked upon as a rude and barbarous tongue, and was
only heard on the lips of serfs and yeomen, or of those who were still proud
of the fact that they were native born. In the 14th c. English came into its own
again. In 1362 it was ordained that all pleadings in law courts should be in
English, and Parliament was first opened with an English speech. By the end
of the century the poet Chaucer had fixed English as the literary language of
the country by writing his «Canterbury Tales» in his own tongue.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT XII
I. Translate the terms from Ukrainian into English and remember
them:
35
завоювання, процес, певний, обробляти (землю), привілеї, правлячий
клас, зливатися, суд, грубий, засідання, проголошувати, фіксувати,
правити.
II. Answer the questions:
1. When was the Norman Conquest?
2. All the land was held in feudal service, wasn’t it?
3. What were the elements of feudalism at that time in England?
4. What was the state language?
5. Who had fixed English as the literary language?
III. Read and translate the text about Geoffrey Chaucer.
Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340 in London, soon after the
Hundred Years’ War broke out. His father was a wine merchant. But they
always lived only in rented houses and the poet didn’t inherit any property.
Many people, however, think he must have been educated at Oxford or
Cambridge but nothing is known about that.
At 20, Chaucer was in France serving as an esquire and was then taken
prisoner by the French. All his friends helped to ransom him.
On his return to England, Chaucer passed into attendance of Duke of
Lancaster, the fourth son of the king. At court he met travelers and men of
law who came to England from other countries, and the realities of life had
taught him more about the world than did all the absurdities taught by
churchmen at universities of the Middle Ages when the printing of books had
not yet been invented.
Chaucer’s earliest poems were written in imitation of the French
romances. Chaucer spoke French well and was fond of French poetry. It had
taught him rhyme and rhythm. He liked the metric principle of French verse.
He translated from the French a famous allegorical poem of the 13th century,
«The Romance of the Rose».
During 1373 and the next few years Chaucer travelled much and lived a busy
life. He made three trips to Italy, one to France, his next trip was to Florence.
There he came in contact with Italian literature.
Chaucer returned a changed man. Italy was the first country where
the bourgeoisie triumphed over feudalism, and it was there that Chaucer saw
the first city-republics. Italian literature was at its height and opened to
Chaucer a new world of art. To this period belong the following poems: «The
House of Fame», a poem «The Parliament of Birds».
The third period of Chaucer’s creative work begins from the year
1384 when he left behind the Italian influence and became entirely English. It
was at this time that he wrote his masterpiece, «The Canterbury Tales».
When the new king, Henry IV, came to the throne in 1399, the poet
36
immediately addressed a poem to him. Chaucer died in 1400 and was buried
in Westminster Abbey in London.
IV. Translate this information about Chaucer from Russian into English.
Чосер був видатним письменником XIV століття. У своїх
творах він писав про селян, але сам він був представником нового класу
буржуазії, що зароджувався. Він був першим, хто почав писати в
реалістичній манері.
Він народився в Лондоні, в 1340 році, після того, як вибухнула
Столітня війна. Його батьки були далеко небагатими людьми.
Вважається, що він здобув освіту в Оксфорді або в Кембриджі. Він
добре говорив по-французьки і захоплювався французькою поезією. У
1384 році він написав свій видатний твір «Кентерберійські розповіді».
TEXT XIII
SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES
Vocabulary
tenures - угіддя
at the will – за волею
render - надавати
protection - захист
fine - штраф
mortuary - похоронний
burdens - тягар
single – не одружений
From the 11th to the 13th century thorough progress was made in
technique and in utilizing waste lands, rural society and agricultural tenures
remained for the most part static. During the whole of that period the bulk of
cultivators were of villein status: they held their land «at the will of the lord»
and rendered him certain services in return for the protection he offered
against neighbors and outsiders. In addition to the performance of services,
the villein was under certain obligation fixed by customs. When a villein died
and his son took over the holdings, he had to pay a fine on entry. In view of
the mortuary fees payable to the church, the burdens on a dead man’s family
were abominably heavy and often reduced it to poverty. If a villein’s
daughter married, the lord of the manor received a compensation for the loss
of services which she rendered while single.
ASSIGNMENT TO TEXT XIII
I. Translate the terms from Russian into English and remember them:
угіддя, сільська спільнота, воля, захищати, пропонувати, обов’язок,
виконання, штраф, тягар, компенсація, володіння, похороні витрати.
37
II. Tell if the sentences are true or false. Correct the false ones:
1. Most cultivators were of freemen status.
2. Peasantry was given land in return for military service.
3. If a villein’s daughter married, the lord received compensation.
4. Villeins rendered lord some services but they didn’t receive any protection
from outsiders.
III. Choose any topic you like and write a report:
1. The Britons:
a) What can you say about the people who lived in Britain in the 4th century?
b) Who were they?
2. The Roman conquest:
a) When were the Britons conquered by Rome?
b) Who was their leader?
c) Did they become one nation?
3. The Celtic tribes:
a) What were they?
b) Who was their first king?
c) When did they come to Britain?
4. Alfred the Great:
a) What do you know about this outstanding person?
5. The features of feudalism in Britain:
a) When was it established?
b) How is feudalism connected with land?
6) The origins of the English Parliament
IV. Translate these terms from Ukrainian into English:
надавати захист, заможні люди, відказуватись (нехтувати), чинити опір,
припиняти, набувати (досягати), під час правління, відправлення
правосуддя , підтримувати, вигода, володар, прибутки, проникати,
гарантувати землю, скликати парламент, передача влади.
V. What do these terms mean? Explain their meaning in English or
simply translate:
tribes, lay-out, to reign, kingdom, a military service, chiefs and nobles,
kinship group, shire, merchants, to exact services, servile labour, break-up of
tribal organization, common and private property, to levy taxes, revenues.
VI. This text is on England of the 14th — 17th centuries. Translate it
from Ukrainian into English, but do not translate word by word.
За похмурим середньовіччям прослідував час, який увійшов до
літератури і мистецтва як «Ренесанс». Це слово вживалося для
позначення періоду в культурному розвитку Європи між XIV і XVII
століттями. Людина побачила світ в новому світлі. Великі географічні
38
відкриття Колумба і астрономічна система Коперника зіграли в цьому
важливу роль.
Фрідріх Енгельс писав, що «Ренесанс був часом, якому потрібні
були гіганти, і який породив гігантів».
Першою буржуазною країною стала Італія. Література цього
періоду вчила, що людина має право жити, любити, насолоджуватися
життям і розвивати свої таланти. Щастя людини залежить лише від
самої неї. Письменники Ренесансу стали засновниками теорій, які потім
допомагали людям боротися за свободу.
Ренесанс був часом найбільшої прогресивної революції, яку
будь-коли переживало людство.
39
TEXTS FOR READING
KING ARTHUR, THE MYTH
by David Nash Ford
Some people believe that King Arthur is so inextricably tied up in
Celtic Mythology that he must, in origin, have been, not a man at all, but a
god.
Like so many other characters featured in the Mabinogion, Arthur
in his earliest form, appears almost entirely mythical. He and his companions
have superhuman strength and abilities, and consort with giants and other
mythological creatures.
In the early Welsh poem "Preiddeu Annwfn", Arthur visits the Celtic
Underworld, Annwfn, and his adventures closely parallel those of the
cauldron-seeking god, Bran the Blessed. Even in Geoffrey of Monmouth's
"History of the Kings of Britain," and Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte
D'Arthur," upon being fatally wounded in battle, Arthur is carried to the
mystical Avalon, apparently the Underworld home of the Celtic god,
Afallach. Many legends around the country attest to Arthur's immortality. He
is said to be sleeping in one of numerous caves waiting to return and lead his
people.
The name Arthur itself appears to derive from the Celtic word Art,
meaning "bear". Could Arthur, like so many other Celtic gods, be merely a
personification of the many reverred animals of the wild? Later to become
humanized like Loucetios, one of several Celtic deities known to be able to
transform themselves into birds or beasts of the forest. Many such gods had
stellar associations and the constellation of Ursa Major or the Great Bear is
sometimes known as Arthur's Wain even today.
Three Bear-gods are known from the Celtic world. Strangely, they
acted as both champion of bear-hunters and protectors of the beast itself. The
most celebrated was, perhaps, Artio, worshipped near Berne in Switzerland
and around Trier in Germany; but she was actually a goddess. A male god,
Artaios, was reverred in Beaucroissant in Isere, where he was identified with
the Roman Mercury. In Britain there is scant evidence for the bear cult,
though a number of small jet bear talismans from Yorkshire may have
devotional associations. The god to which they probably relate, however,
derives his name from the alternative bear word, matus (Gaulish) or math
(Irish). Matunus appears to have had a shrine at Risingham, just north of
Hadrian's Wall.
Some theorists claim Arthur was a late addition to the Celtic
pantheon during a resurgence in pagan worship, or possibly a mythical hero,
the offspring of a human and a bear. There is no evidence for either. (See
Ashe 1985).
40
GUINEVERE
Variously portrayed in literature, she is called the daughter of King
Leodegrance (Lleudd-Ogrfan) of Cameliard by Malory, the daughter of King
Ogrfan Gawr (the Giant) of Castell y Cnwclas (Knucklas Castle) by Welsh
Tradition, the daughter of King Garlin of Galore by Germanic tradition, the
daughter of a Roman noble by Geoffrey of Monmouth and wife of King
Arthur by everyone. Her name is spelled differently depending on where
you look. It can be either the traditional Guinevere, or Guenevere, or
Guenievre, or Guenhumare or Ginevra. In Welsh, she is Gwenhwyfar; in
Cornish, Jenefer.
In all cases, she is surpassingly beautiful and desirable, if morally
lax from the time of the Vulgate Cycle (13th century) onward. She is either
forced into or conceives and engineers an extra-marital relationship with
Lancelot and is either condemned, according to law, or forgiven outright for
her sins. She either was a willing accomplice to Mordred's treachery against
Arthur, as suggested in Wace and Layamon, or was forced into it against her
will as stated in John Hardyng's "Chronicle" (1457). Early mentions of
Guinevere, in the Triads of the Island of Britain, give tantalising glimpses of
her original relationship with Mordred: he is shown forcing his way into
Arthur's Court, dragging the Queen from her throne and striking her, but the
reasons why are unknown. The incident may have been related to quarrels
between Guinevere and her sister, Mordred's wife, Gwenhwyfach, which are
said to have been the eventual cause of the Battle of Camlann.
Guinevere is frequently abducted in Romance, sometimes by King
Melwas of Somerset, sometimes by Mordred and sometimes by the
marauding tribes from the north. She meets her end sometimes in a convent
at Amesbury or Caerleon and sometimes she dies at the vengeful hand of
Lancelot. Scottish stories, recorded by Boece, indicate she died as a prisoner
of Mordred's followers at Barry Hill in Strathmore. She was buried at Meigle
where her memorial can still be seen. Despite this, her bones either were or
were not found by the monks of Glastonbury when they discovered the grave
of Arthur in 1191, depending upon which version of the burial cross
inscription you read.
Giraldus Cambrensis says the cross claimed Guinevere as Arthur's
"second wife". This appears to echo the story of the False Guinevere of
French Romance: an identical half-sister of the Queen fathered on the same
night who persuaded Arthur that she was his true wife. For two and a half
years, the King was separated from the real Guinevere until the deception
was uncovered. There is also an ancient Triad of the Island of Britain which
records Arthur's "Three Chief Queens": Gwenhwyfar daughter of Cywryd,
Gwenhwyfar daughter of Gwythyr ap Greidiol and Gwenhwyfar daughter of
41
Ogrfan Gawr. This may further indicate the confusion over the lady's
parentage as already alluded to. Alternatively, the three Guineveres could
show a common Triple-Goddess motif at the root of many later Celtic
characters.
Whatever Guinevere was or was not, she has been a useful tool in
the hands of the romancers throughout the centuries and has greatly enhanced
the legends of King Arthur.
MERLIN
Merlin first appears in extant records (Armes Prydein, Y Gododdin)
from the early 10th century as a mere prophet, but his role gradually evolved
into that of magician, prophet and advisor, active in all phases of the
administration of King Arthur's kingdom. He was apparently given the
name Emrys (or Ambrosius) at his birth in Caer-Fyrddin (Carmarthen). He
only later became known as Merlin, a Latinized version of the Welsh word,
Myrddin, taken from the place of his birth. Geoffrey of Monmouth is
thought to have invented this form (as he did so much else), since he did not
want his character to be associated with the French word, merde, meaning
"excrement".
Merlin was the illegitimate son of a monastic Royal Princess of
Dyfed. The lady's father, however, King Meurig ap Maredydd ap Rhain, is
not found in the traditional pedigrees of this kingdom and was probably a
sub-King of the region bordering on Ceredigion. Merlin's father, it is said,
was an angel who had visited the Royal nun and left her with child. Merlin's
enemies claimed his father was really an incubus, an evil spirit that has
intercourse with sleeping women. The evil child was supposed to provide a
counterweight to the good influence of Jesus Christ on earth. Merlin,
fortunately, was baptized early on in his life, an event which is said to have
negated the evil in his nature, but left his powers intact. The original story
was presumably invented to save his mother from the scandal which would
have occurred had her liaison with one Morfyn Frych (the Freckled), a minor
Prince of the House of Coel, been made public knowledge.
Legend then tells us that after the Roman withdrawal from Britain
and the usurpation of the throne from the rightful heirs, Vortigern was in
flight from the Saxon breakout and went to Snowdonia, in Wales, in hopes of
constructing a mountain fortress at Dinas Emrys where he might be safe.
Unfortunately, the building kept collapsing and Vortigern's house wizards
told him that a human sacrifice of a fatherless child would solve the problem.
One small difficulty was that such children are rather hard to find.
Fortunately for Vortigern's fortress, Merlin was known to have no human
father and happened to be available.
42
Before the sacrifice could take place, Merlin used his great visionary
powers and attributed the structural problem to a subterranean pool in which
lived a red and a white dragon. The meaning of this, according to Merlin, was
that the red dragon represented the Britons, and the white dragon, the Saxons.
The dragons fought, with the white dragon having the best of it, at first, but
then the red dragon drove the white one back. The meaning was clear. Merlin
prophesied that Vortigern would be slain and followed on the throne by
Ambrosius Aurelianus, then Uther, then a greater leader, Arthur. It would
fall to him to push the Saxons back.
True to the prophecy, Vortigern was slain and Ambrosius took the
throne. Later, Merlin appears to have inherited his grandfather's little
kingdom, but abandoned his lands in favour of the more mysterious life for
which he has become so well known. After 460 British nobles were
massacred at a peace conference, as a result of Saxon trickery, Ambrosius
consulted Merlin about erecting a suitable memorial to them. Merlin, along
with Uther, led an expedition to Ireland to procure the stones of the Chorea
Gigantum, the Giant's Ring. Merlin, by the use of his extraordinary powers,
brought the stones back to a site, just west of Amesbury, and re-erected them
around the mass grave of the British nobles. We now call this place
Stonehenge.
After his death, Ambrosius was succeeded by his brother, Uther,
who, during his pursuit of Gorlois and his irresistable wife, Ygerna (Igraine
or Eigr in some texts), back to their lands in Cornwall, was aided by Merlin.
As a result of a deception made possible by Merlin's powers, Uther was
transformed into the image of Gorlois. He entered their castle, managed to
fool Ygraine into thinking he was her husband, had his way with her and in
the course of things, conceived a child, Arthur. Poor Gorlois, not knowing
what was going on, went out to meet Uther in combat, but instead, was slain
by Uther's troops.
After Arthur's birth, Merlin became the young boy's tutor, while he
grew up with his foster-father, Sir Ector (alias Cynyr Ceinfarfog (the Fair
Bearded)). In the defining moment of Arthur's career, Merlin arranged for the
sword-in-the-stone contest by which the lad became king. Later, the magician
met the mystic Lady of the Lake at the Fountain of Barenton (in Brittany)
and persuaded her to present the King with the magical sword, Excalibur. In
the romances, Merlin is the creator of the Round Table, and is closely
involved in aiding and directing the events of the king and kingdom of
Camelot. He is pictured by Geoffrey of Monmouth, at the end of Arthur's life,
accompanying the wounded Arthur to the Isle of Avalon for the healing of
his wounds. Others tell how having fallen deeply in love with the Lady of the
Lake, he agreed to teach her all his mystical powers. She became so powerful
43
that her magical skills outshone even Merlin's. Determined not to be enslaved
by him, she imprisoned the old man in a glass tower, a cave or similarly
suitable prison. Thus his absence from the Battle of Camlann was ultimately
responsible for Arthur's demise.
According to Geoffrey's "Vita Merlini" (c. 1151), Merlin/Myrddin
was a sixth century prophet living in the north of Britain where his career
extended beyond Arthur. Merlin travelled north, after Camlann, to the court
of King Gwendoleu of Caer-Guenoleu (north of the Salway) where the locals
called him Lailoken (or Llallogan). Shortly afterward, a war broke out
between Merlin's Royal master and the three allies, King Riderch Hael (the
Generous) of Strathclyde and Kings Peredyr & Gwrgi of Ebrauc (York).
Gwendoleu was killed in the ensuing Battle of Ardderyd (Arthuret) and
Merlin, sent mad with grief at the death of his nephew and four brothers, fled
into the Caledonian Forest. He lived there in a mad frenzy for over a year,
becoming known as Myrddin Wylt (the Wild), before Riderch, who was his
brother-in-law, found him and brought him to safety in the Strathclyde Court.
Some scholars believe there were two Merlins: Myrddin Emrys and
Myrddin Wylt. The fact that Merlin apparently lived from the reign of
Vortigern (c.420) to the reign of Riderch Hael (c.580) would certainly
support this view. The stretch from Vortigern to Arthur is itself unlikely and
early versions of the "Vortigern at Dinas Emrys" story give the fatherless boy
as Emrys Wledig (Ambrosius Aurelianus) who was living in Campus Elleti
in Glywysing. Despite Myrddin Wylt's story indicating he may have had a
conceptual origin in one of the wild-man-in-the-woods motifs common to the
ancient folklore of the British Isles, this man's historicity is quite well
established. His real name, however, may have been Lailoken. Was this man
misplaced in time, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, to become King Arthur's
mentor, some memory of a similar character from Caer-Fyrddin giving rise to
his new name? PC Bartrum thinks not and points out that "fundamentally
there is only one Merlin/Myrddin, and some of the later legends cannot be
consistently classified as appropriate to one rather than the other."
His prison and/or burial place is said to be beneath Merlin's Mound
at Marlborough College in Marlborough (Wiltshire), at Drumelzier in
Tweeddale (Scotland), Bryn Myrddin (Merlin's Hill) near Carmarthen
(Wales), Le Tombeau de Merlin (Merlin's Tomb) near Paimpont (Brittany)
and Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island) off the Lleyn Peninsula (Wales).
Sources
Geoffrey Ashe (1980) A Guidebook to Arthurian Britain.
Geoffrey Ashe (1987) The Landscape of King Arthur
Peter C. Bartrum (1993) A Welsh Classical Dictionary.
James Douglas Bruce (1923) The Evolution of Arthurian Romance.
44
Учбове видання
МЕТОДИЧНІ ВКАЗІВКИ І ЗАВДАННЯ
ДО ПРАКТИЧНИХ ЗАНЯТЬ
з дисципліни «Іноземна мова»
(для студентів І - ІІ курсів за напрямом підготовки“Психологія)
Укладач
Гусленко Ірина Юріївна
Редактор
Техн. редактор
Оригінал-макет
Підписано до друку
Формат 60х84 1/16. Папір офсетний. Гарнитура Times.
Друк офсетний. Умови друку.
. Уч.-вид.
.
Тираж 20 прим. Вид.. №
. Заказ № . Ціна договірна.
Видавництво Східноукраїнського національного університету
імені Володимира Даля
Адреса видавництва: 91034, г. Луганськ, кв. Молодіжний, 20а
Телефон: 8(0642)41-34-12. Факс: 8(0642)41-31-60
E-mail: [email protected]
http:// www.snu.edu.ua
45
Учбове видання
МЕТОДИЧНІ ВКАЗІВКИ І ЗАВДАННЯ
ДО ПРАКТИЧНИХ ЗАНЯТЬ
з дисципліни «Іноземна мова»
(для студентів І - ІІ курсів за напрямом підготовки“Психологія)
Укладач
Гусленко Ірина Юріївна
Редактор
Техн. редактор
Оригінал-макет
Підписано до друку
Формат 60х84 1/16. Папір офсетний. Гарнитура Times.
Друк офсетний. Умови друку.
. Уч.-вид.
.
Тираж 20 прим. Вид.. №
. Заказ № . Ціна договірна.
Видавництво Східноукраїнського національного університету
імені Володимира Даля
Адреса видавництва: 91034, г. Луганськ, кв. Молодіжний, 20а
Телефон: 8(0642)41-34-12. Факс: 8(0642)41-31-60
E-mail: [email protected]
http:// www.snu.edu.ua
46