前言

总结

• Alfred the Great acted his own spy, visiting Danish camps disguised as a minstrel.

act as 比单纯的served as 更加表现出掩盖，装的性子

动名词的后置部分更加的简练，同时出现了diguised as minstrel来作修饰成分。

同时注意时态，这里都是在描述过去的事物。

• They were not fighting men, and their harp was their passport.

passport通行证，凭证，用得非常简洁准确。

• the king himself set out to penetrate the camp of Guthrum

set out to penetrate the camp of sb　出发、动身、悄悄潜入。这么复杂地含义就这样简单的表述出来。

• There had settled down for the winter at Chippenham: thither Alfred went.

settled down for the winter at Chippenham 停下来准备过冬！经典的表述！

thither Alfred went.　thither　向那里——》这里的倒装强调了，Alfred的方向一致出发性，表示了一起走的特点

• He noticed at once that discipline was slack: the Danes had the self-confidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual.

be at slack ——》轻松的状态

• They lived well, on the proceeds of raids on neighboring regions.

依靠劫掠生活的表达

• There they collected women as well as food and drink, and a life of ease had made them soft.

重视这种精炼的短句表达

• But Alfred had deduced that the Danes were no longer fit for prolonged battle: and that their commissariat had no organization, but depended on irregular raids.

复杂的长句——》但是结构很清晰，转折特别是提示逻辑推理方向和结论的重点词汇。

• So, faced with the Danish advance, Alfred did not risk open battle but harried the enemy.

did not risk sth 用动词表达来代替instead of 这样的介词词组表达

• The episode could reasonably serve as a unique epic of royal espionage!

经典总结句——这是历史的史诗！

#背诵

Alfred the Great acted his own spy, visiting Danish camps disguised as a minstrel. In those days wandering minstrels were welcome everywhere. They were not fighting men, and their harp was their passport. Alfred had learned many of their ballads in his youth, and could vary his programme with acrobatic tricks and simple conjuring.
While Alfred's little army slowly began to gather at Athelney, the king himself set out to penetrate the camp of Guthrum, the commander of the Danish invaders. There had settled down for the winter at Chippenham: thither Alfred went. He noticed at once that discipline was slack: the Danes had the self-confidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual. They lived well, on the proceeds of raids on neighboring regions. There they collected women as well as food and drink, and a life of ease had made them soft.
Alfred stayed in the camp a week before he returned to Athelney. The force there assembled was trivial compared with the Danish horde. But Alfred had deduced that the Danes were no longer fit for prolonged battle: and that their commissariat had no organization, but depended on irregular raids.
So, faced with the Danish advance, Alfred did not risk open battle but harried the enemy. He was constantly on the move, drawing the Danes after him. His patrols halted the raiding parties: hunger assailed the Danish army. Now Alfred began a long series of skirmishes -- and within a month the Danes had surrendered. The episode could reasonably serve as a unique epic of royal espionage!