CHAPTER 7 FOREIGN AFFAIRS

CHAPTER 7 FOREIGN AFFAIRS

During the next two or three years，the Queen and Prince Albert seized every opportunity for travel，short though their journeys had to be. They visited not only several of the lordly mansions of England，but they also spent a few days in Belgium and made a short stay at the court of the French King. In 1844，they went again to Scotland，and this time“Vicky”，as they called the Princess Royal，was old enough to go with them. There were two more children in the royal nursery by this time，and the Queen wrote in her journal that“Alice，the baby，and good Bertie”came to bid the travelers farewell. She was quite delighted that Vicky stood at the window of a little inn and bowed to the people outside. One of her hosts on this visit to Scotland was the Duke of Argyll. She describes in her journal his son，the two-year old Marquis of Lorne，and calls him“such a merry，independent little child.”

One of the disadvantages of being a sovereign is that the simplest acts are looked upon as being of political significance. Victoria wished to meet the French King，to whom Prince Albert was distantly related，and she did not wish to talk politics. On her visit to France she was interested in seeing the King's boat and its many rowers in white，with red sashes；in the royal chapel，the first Roman Catholic church that she had ever entered；in the little picnic that the King ordered in the forest；in the white caps of the peasant women，their bright-colored clothes；and she noted even the tone of the church bells，and said that it was much prettier than that of the bells in England. She enjoyed her visit a great deal；but far away in Russia the keen-eyed Emperor Nicholas was watching her movements，and he was not quite pleased. “The government of Turkey will soon fall to pieces，”he said to himself，“and if it does，France would like to secure a piece of that country. If England should help her，she might be able to do so，and this visit looks as if England and France were becoming too friendly.”The result of the Czar's meditations was that word was sent to the Queen that he was on his way to visit her and might be looked for at once. Queen Victoria had expected him to come the following year，but he liked to make visits in this sudden fashion，and there was nothing to do but to prepare for him as best she could in forty-eight hours，for she had no longer time in which to make ready.

The Queen had not been especially anxious for the visit，she feared there would be“constraint and bustle”；but she soon found that quiet，simple ways of living were most pleasing to her guest，and she wrote to King Leopold，“He is very easy to get on with.”His greatest interest was in military matters，and he was so much of a soldier that he said he felt without his uniform almost as if he had been skinned. He was taken to a review，of course，and this he thoroughly enjoyed.

“Won't you allow me to ride down the line，”he asked the Queen，“so I can see my old comrades? ”

Down the line he went，and was greeted everywhere with enthusiastic cheers. When the Duke of Wellington appeared，the crowd began to cheer for him，for the man who had won the battle of Waterloo was the nation's hero. “Please don't，please don't，”he said，riding along close to the crowd. “Don't cheer for me；cheer for the Emperor.”

This military Emperor had his own ideas about what the bed of a soldier should be，even if the soldier was at the head of an empire，and before he took possession of his bedroom at Windsor Castle，he had his camp bed set up，and sent to the stables for straw to stuff the leather case that formed his mattress.

The Emperor was delighted with his visit，and when the Queen invited him to come again，he said rather sadly：“You do not know how difficult it is for us to do such things.”Then he kissed the royal children and the hand of the Queen，and made his farewells. The Queen kissed him，as sovereigns are expected to do at the beginning and end of a state visit，and the reception of the great Czar was over. “By living in the same house together quietly and freely，I not only see these great people，but know them，”said the Queen as simply as if she herself were not one of the“great people.”

注释

lordly[´lɔːdli]adj. 贵族的

mansion[´mænʃ∂n]n. 大厦，官邸

Bertie女王的长子Albert（阿尔伯特）的昵称

Argyll阿盖尔郡（英国苏格兰原郡名）

marquis[´mαːkwis]n. 侯爵（位于公爵之下，子爵或男爵之上的贵族地位及头衔）

significance[siɡ´nifikəns]n. 重要性，意义

rower[´rəuə（r）]adj. 划船手

sash[sæʃ]n. 腰带

fall to pieces破碎，崩溃

secure[si´kjuə]v. 获得，把…搞到手

meditation[medi´teiʃən]n. 沉思，冥想

look for希望

e.g. We may look for a change of weather in March. 我们希望三月份天气会改变。

constraint[kən´streint]n. 拘束，拘谨

bustle[´bʌs∂l]n. 匆忙，忙碌

military[´milit∂ri]adj. 军事的

review[ri´vjuː]n. 正式阅兵，检阅

cheer[tʃiə]v. 欢呼

take possession of拥有，占有

stable[´steibəl]n. 马厩

stuff[stʌf]n. 塞满，填充

mattress[´mætris]n. 床垫，垫褥