THSE years in histry which I have been telling yu abut are knwn as the daysf chivalry-which means the timesf ladies and gentlemen. The lrd and his family were the gentlemen and the ladies. All thether peple， by far the greater number， were just cmmn peple.
There were n schls fr these cmmn peple. Little was dne fr them. They were taught t wrk and nthing else. The snsf a lrdf a castle， hwever， were very carefully taught. Even they were taughtnly tw things， hw t be gentlemen and hw t fight. Reading and writing were thughtf n imprtance； in fact， it was usually cnsidered a wastef time t learn such things.
This is the way the snf a lrd was brught up. He stayed with his mther until he was seven yearsld. When he reached the agef seven he was called a page； and fr the next seven years-that is， until he was furteen， he remained a page. During the time he was a page， his chief business was t waitn the ladiesf the castle. He ran their errands， carried their messages， waitedn tables， etc. He als learned t ride a hrse and t be brave and curteus.
When he was furteen yearsld， he became a squire and remained a squire fr the next seven years； that is， until he was twenty-ne. During the time he was a squire he waitedn the men， as he had waitedn the ladies when he was a page. He attended t the men"s hrses， went t battle with them， led an extra hrse， and carried anther spearr lance， in case these shuld be needed.
When he was twenty-ne yearsld， if he had been a gd squire and had learned the lessns that he was taught， he then became a knight. Becming a knight was an imprtant ceremny like graduating exercises， fr the grwn by was nw t take up the businessf a man.
To get ready fr this ceremny， first， he bathed. This may nt seem wrth mentining， but in thse daysne very rarely tk a bath， smetimes nt fr years. He was then dressed in new clthes. Thus washed and dressed， he prayed all night lng in the church. When day came， he appeared befre all the peple and slemnly swre always t d and t be certain things：
To be brave and gd
To fight fr the Christian religin
To prtect the weak T hnr wmen
These were his vws. A white leather belt was then putn him and gld spurs fastenedn his bts. After this had been dne， he knelt， and his lrd struck himver the shulders with the flat sidef a swrd， saying as he did s， "I dub thee knight."A knight went int battle cvered with a suitf armr madef irn ringsr steel plates like fish scales， and with a helmetr hdf irn. This suit prtected him frm the arrws and lancesf the enemy.f curse if they had had any shtr shell， armr wuld have been n use at all， but they had n such things then.
Knights were s cmpletely cvered by their armr that when sides became mixed up in fighting， they culd nt tellne anther apart. It was impssible t knw wh were friends and wh were enemies.
S the knights wre，n theutsidef the cat that wentver their armr， a designf an animal， such as a lin，rf a plantr a rser a crssr smernament， and this design was knwn as a catf arms.
A knight， as I tld yu， was firstf all taught t be a gentleman， and s we smetimes speakfne wh has gd manners and is curteus， especially t ladies， as knightlyr chivalrus. When a knight came int the presencef a lady he tkff his helmet. It meant， "Yu are my friend， and s I d nt need my helmet." That is why gentlemen raise their hats nwadays when they meet ladies.
But the mst imprtant thing the knights had t learn was t fight. Even their games were play fights.
Each cuntry and each age has had itswn gamesr sprts in which it has taken special delight. The Greeks had theirlympic Games. The Rmans had their charit races and gladiatrial cntests. We have ftball and baseball. But the chief sprtf the knights was a kindf sham battle called the turnament.
The turnament was held in a field knwn as the lists. Large crwds with banners flying and trumpets blwing wuld gather arund the lists t watch the sham fight， as crwds nwadays flck t a big ftball game waving pennants and tting hrns. The knightsn hrseback tk their places atppsite endsf the lists. They carried lances， the pintsf which were cvered s that they wuld nt make a wund. At a given signal， they rushed tward the centerf the field and tried with their lances t thrw eachtherff their hrses. Thewinner wh succeeded in thrwing thether knights was presented with a ribbnr a keepsake bynef the ladies， and a knight thught as muchf this trphyf victry as the winnerf a cup in a tennis turnament nwadays.
Knights were very fndf hunting with dgs. But they als hunted with a trained bird called a falcn， and bth lrds and ladies delighted in this sprt. The falcn was trained like a hunting dg t catchther birds， such as wild ducks and pigens， and als small animals. The falcn was chained t the wristf the lrdr lady， and its head was cvered with a hd as it was carriedut t hunt. When a bird was seen， the hd was remved， and the falcn， which was very swift， wuld swp dwn upn its prey and capture it. Thereupn the hunter wuld cme up， take the captured animal， and put the hdn the falcn again. The men， hwever， usually preferred hunting the wild bar， which was a kindf pig withMan with falcn ( 带着猎鹰的骑士 )man"s sprt.
【中文阅读】
sharp tusks， fr this was mre dangerus and therefre suppsed t be mref a现在我讲述的历史上的那些年份被称为骑士制度时期--指的是绅士和贵妇的 年代。领主及其家庭成员是绅士和贵妇。所有其他人，比绅士贵妇数目多很多的人， 只是平民。
没有供这些平民上的学校。几乎没有人为他们做这些。他们只被传授干活的技 能，别的什么也不学。不过城堡领主的儿子则被非常精心地教育着，即使只教他们 两件事情--怎样做绅士和怎样打仗。看书写字被认为无足轻重；事实上，学这些 东西通常被认为是浪费时间。
领主的儿子就是这样被养育成人的。他和母亲在一起呆到 7 岁。满 7 岁时，他被称为骑士侍童；接下来的 7 年里--就是说，到 14 岁，他始终是骑士侍童。在这 段时间里，他是个小听差，主要任务是侍候城堡里的贵妇人。替她们跑腿，传信，服侍她们进餐，等等。他也学习骑马，学做勇敢无畏谦恭的人。
14 岁时，他成为骑士扈从，在接下来的 7 年里，就是说，直到他 21 岁，他始终 是骑士扈从。在这段时间里，他是个随从，就像他当骑士侍童时侍候贵妇人那样侍 奉骑士。他照料骑士的马匹，跟随他们作战，还牵着另一匹马，扛着另一支长枪或 长矛，以备不时之需。
21 岁时，如果他是一名表现良好的骑士扈从，已经学会了所教的课程，那么他 就成了一名骑士。成为骑士，就像毕业仪式，是一项重要的典礼，因为这个男孩已 经成年，现在要开始男人的事业了。
为这项典礼做好准备，首先他要沐浴。这看上去也许不值一提，但是那时候洗 一次澡非常难得，有时很多年都不洗澡。沐浴后他穿上新衣服。就这样沐浴更衣后， 他在教堂里祈祷整整一晚上。当白天来临时，他出现在所有人面前，庄严宣誓表示 要始终做什么样的事，成为什么样的人：
要勇敢，正直 要为基督宗教而战 要保护弱者 要尊重女士这些就是他的誓言。接着，有人为他系上一条白色皮带，在他的靴子上扣上金 马刺。这些做完以后，他跪下，领主一边用剑的扁平的侧面在他双肩上拍打几下， 一边说："我授予你骑士爵位。"骑士投入战斗时披挂着铠甲，铠甲用铁环或鱼鳞似的钢片制成，还戴着头盔或 铁制头罩。这套盔甲保护他免受敌人弓箭和长矛的伤害。当然喽，要是他们中了子 弹或炮弹，盔甲就一点用也没有了，但是那时候他们没有这些武器。
骑士们全身被盔甲包得严严实实，双方混战在一起的时候，他们根本无法区分 彼此。不可能知道谁是敌谁是友。
所以骑士在罩在铠甲上的外衣外面佩戴一种动物图案，比如狮子，或者植物图 案，或者玫瑰图案，或者十字形图案或其他饰物，这种图案被称为盾徽。
正如我告诉过你，骑士首先被教育成一名绅士，所以现在有时候我们把一个举 止文雅、谦恭有礼，尤其对女士彬彬有礼的人，说成具有骑士风范或有骑士风度。 骑士在贵妇人面前，会摘掉头盔，意思是"你是我朋友，所以我不需要头盔"。这就 是为什么当今有风度的男士遇见女士要脱帽致敬。
但是骑士必须学会的最重要的事情是打仗。甚至他们的运动都是打仗比赛。 每个国家、每个时代都有自己的比赛或运动，从中获得不同寻常的乐趣。希腊人有奥林匹克运动会。罗马人有战车比赛和角斗士比武。我们现在有足球和棒球比 赛。但是骑士们的主要运动是一种模拟战，被称为马上比武大会。
马上比武大会在称为"比武场"的场地举行。大量民众挥舞着旗帜、吹着喇叭 聚集到比武场周围观看模拟战，就像如今观众成群结队摇着三角旗、吹着号角去看一场盛大的足球比赛一样。骑士们骑着马，在比武场两端各就各位。他们手执长矛， 长矛的尖端已经被裹住，这样就不会造成一点伤害。约定的信号一发出，骑士们就 冲向场地中央，设法用长矛把对方挑下马来。将另一方骑士挑下马者为胜利者，将 得到一位贵妇人授予的一条绶带或一份纪念品。骑士看待这种胜利纪念品和如今网 球联赛的获胜者看待赢得的奖杯是一样的。
骑士们非常热衷带着狗打猎。但是打猎时他们也会带上一种训练过的叫做猎鹰 的鸟。领主和贵妇们都以这项消遣为乐。猎鹰像猎狗一样受过训练，捕捉像野鸭、 鸽子这样的鸟，也捕捉小动物。带出去打猎时，猎鹰拴在领主或贵妇的手腕上，头 上罩着头罩。一发现鸟，就被摘去头罩，猎鹰迅速地扑向猎物，捉住它。随即，猎 手赶上前，拾起捕获的猎物，重新给猎鹰带上头罩。不过男人通常喜欢猎取长着锋 利獠牙的野猪，因为这更加危险，所以被认为是更适合男人的消遣运动。
