IF yu put a P in frntf Russia it makes-Prussia. This was the namef a little cuntry in Eurpe that was later a partf Germany. Russia was big， and Peter made it great. Prussia was small， but anther king made it als great. This king was named Frederick. He， t， lived in the eighteenth century， but a little later than Peter， and he， t， was called "the Great"-Frederick the Great.
Frederick"s father， wh was the secnd kingf Prussia， had a hbby fr cllecting giants as yu might cllect pstage stamps. Wherever he heardf a very tall man， n matter in what cuntry and n matter what it cst t get him， he bughtr hired him. This cllectinf giants he made int a remarkable cmpanyf sldiers， which was his special pride.
He was a very cranky， crss， and bad-temperedld king. He treated his children terribly， especially his sn Frederick， whm he called Fritz. Fritz had curls and liked music and petry and fancy clthes. His father didn"t like this， fr he wanted a sn wh wuld be a sldier and fighter. His father， when angry， used t thrw dishes at him， lck him up fr days at a time， and feed himn bread and water and whip him with a cane. Finally Fritz culd stand it n lnger， and he ran away. He was caught and brught back. His father was s angry with his sn fr disbeying and acting as he had dne that he was actually ging t have him killed-yes， put t death-but at the last minute was persuaded nt t d it.
But here is a strange thing： When Fritz grew up t be Frederick， he turnedut t be just what his father wanted him t be-a great sldier and fighter. He still lved petry and even tried t write pems himself， and he was very fndf music and he played the flute very well indeed. But Frederick wanted abve everything else t make his cuntry imprtant in Eurpe； fr befre his time it wasf little accunt， and nne paid much attentin t it.
Nw， the neighbring cuntry t Prussia was Austria. Austria was ruledver by a wman named Maria Theresa. Maria Theresa had becme rulerf Austria at the same time that Frederick had becme kingf Prussia. Sme peple said that a wman shuld nt rule a cuntry and they wanted t use this as an excuse t start a war. Frederick"s father had prmised t let Maria Theresa alne-hehad prmised nt t fight just because she was a wman-but when Frederick became king， he wanted t add a partf Austria t hiswn cuntry， s he simply helped himself t the piecef Maria Theresa"s cuntry that he wanted. He didn"t care if she was a wmanr what his father had prmised.f curse this started a war. Befre lng almst every cuntry in Eurpe was fighting either with Frederickr against him. But Frederick ntnly succeeded in getting what he was after； he succeeded in hldingn t it.
Maria Theresa， hwever， wuld nt give up. She wanted t get back what had been wrngfully taken away frm her. She began quietly and secretly t get ready fr anther war against Frederick. Quietly and secretly she gtther cuntries t prmise t help her. But Frederick heardf what she was ding， and suddenly he attacked her again， and fr seven lng years this next war wentn. This was called the Seven Years" War. Frederick keptn fighting until he had beaten Austria fr gd and until he had gained his purpse， which was t make his little cuntryf Prussia the mst pwerful cuntry in Eurpe. He still heldn t the partf Austria that he had at first taken away. Maria Theresa was a great queen， and she wuld have wn against Frederick had he been anrdinary king. But she had t strng a ruler against her. Frederick wasnef the wrld"s smartest generals and t much fr her.
The Seven Years" War， strange t say， was fughtut ntnly in Eurpe but in far-ff America， als. England had taken Frederick"s side. France andther cuntries had taken sides against him. The English settlers in America， wh weren Frederick"s side， fught the French settlers， wh were against him. When Frederick wn in Eurpe， the English in America als wn against the French in America. I am telling yu all this because that is why we in America speak English insteadf French tday. If Frederick had lst in Eurpe and the English had lst in America， France wuld have wn， and we here in America wuld prbably nw speak French insteadf English.
Frederick， like smether kings we have heardf befre， thught nthingf lyingr cheatingr stealing if he had t inrder t get the betterfther cuntries. Fair meansr ful means made n difference t him. But hiswn peple he treated as if they were his children and did everything he culd fr them. Like a liness with her cubs， he fught fr his family， even with the wrld against him.
There was a mill clse by Frederick"s palace that belnged t a pr miller. As it was nt a pretty thing t be s near， the king wanted t buy it inrder t tear it dwn and get ridf it. But the miller wuld nt sell. Althugh Frederick the Greatffered a large sumf mney， the miller refused. A great many kings wuld simply have taken the mill and perhaps put the miller in jailr put him t death. Frederick did neither， fr he thught his lwliest subject had his rights74 A Prince Wh Ran Away 369and that if he didn"t want t sell he shuldn"t be made t. He left the miller undisturbed， and the mill stands tday as it did then， clse t the palace.
Thugh Frederick was a German， strange t say， he hated the German language. He thught it the languagef the uneducated. He himself spke French and wrte in French andnly spke German when he had t talk t his servantsr thse wh did nt understand French.
【中文阅读】
如果你把"P"放在"Russia"（俄国）前面--就成了"Prussia"（普鲁士）。普 鲁士是一个欧洲小国的名字，后来它成了德国的一部分。俄国是大国，彼得让它成 为强国。普鲁士是小国，但是也有一个国王让它也成了强国。这位国王名叫腓特烈。 他也生活在 18 世纪，但比彼得稍晚一些，而且他也被称为"大帝"--腓特烈大帝。
腓特烈的父亲是普鲁士的第二任国王，有收集巨人的爱好，就像你会收集邮票一样。无论在哪里他听说有非常高的人，不管是在哪个国家，也不管要花多少钱， 他都一定把这个人买来或雇来。他将这些收集到的巨人组成一支引人注目的军队， 他为拥有这样一支军队深感骄傲。
他是个非常古怪、暴躁、爱发脾气的老国王。他对待自己的孩子很粗暴，特别 是对他的儿子腓特烈，他喊他弗里茨。弗里茨长了一头卷发，喜欢音乐、诗歌和花 哨的衣服。他的父亲不喜欢他这样，因为他希望他的儿子将来成为一名士兵和战士。 他父亲生气时，经常向他扔盘子，还一连把他关上几天，只给他面包和水，甚至用 藤条鞭打他。最后弗里茨再也无法忍受，就逃跑了。他被抓了回来。他父亲见儿子 这么不听话、不争气，一气之下，竟要杀掉他--真的，要处死他--不过在最后 一刻他被人劝住了。
但是不可思议的是，当小弗里茨长大成为腓特烈之后，他恰恰成为他父亲所期望 的那样--成为一个了不起的士兵和战士。他仍然热爱诗歌，甚至想要自己写诗，他 非常喜爱音乐，能把长笛吹得很好。但是腓特烈最大的愿望是让他的国家成为欧洲重 要的国家；因为在他继位之前，普鲁士一直是无足轻重的小国，没有人把它放在眼里。
普鲁士的邻国是奥地利，由一个名叫玛丽亚 特蕾西亚的女人统治。在腓特烈 成为普鲁士国王的同时，玛丽亚 特蕾西亚登上了奥地利的王位。有些人说女人不应 该统治国家，还想用这个做借口发动战争。腓特烈的父亲曾答应过不干涉玛丽亚 特 蕾西亚--他承诺过不打仗正是因为她是女人--但是腓特烈成为国王后，他希望 将奥地利的一部分土地纳入自己国家。他既然想要玛丽亚 特蕾西亚国家的那块土 地，那他就去把它夺过来好了，他才不在乎她是否是女人，或者他父亲曾经答应过 什么。这样战争自然就打起来了。不久以后，几乎欧洲每个国家都参战了，要么是 支持腓特烈，要么是反对他。但是腓特烈不仅成功地得到了他想得到的地盘，还牢 牢地把它掌控在手里。
然而玛丽亚 特蕾西亚没有认输。她想要夺回别人从自己这里以不正当手段抢 走的东西。她开始悄悄地、秘密地准备再一次和腓特烈交战。悄悄地、秘密地，她 说服了其他一些国家答应帮助她。但是腓特烈得知了她的动静，就向她发起了突然 袭击，这第二次战争持续了七年之久，被称为"七年战争"。腓特烈一仗接一仗地 打，直到他打得奥地利再也翻不了身，从而达到自己的目的，让小国普鲁士成为欧 洲最强大的国家。他依然占据着最初从奥地利抢过来的那块土地。玛丽亚 特蕾西亚 是个了不起的女王，如果腓特烈是个一般的国王，她一定会取胜。但是这个与她对 抗的统治者太强大了。腓特烈是世界上最聪明的将军之一，她实在不是他的对手。
说来奇怪，七年战争不仅在欧洲进行，连遥远的美洲那边也打起来了。英国支 持腓特烈。法国和其他一些国家反对腓特烈。在美洲支持腓特烈的英国殖民者和反 对他的法国殖民者开战了。当腓特烈在欧洲取胜时，在美洲的英国人也战胜了那里 的法国人。我之所以告诉你所有这一切是因为这件事解释了一个重要问题：为什么 现在美国人说英语，而不说法语。如果腓特烈在欧洲战败，英国人在美洲也败给了 法国人，那么现在美国人就很可能说法语而不是英语了。
腓特烈，和我们以前听说的其他一些国王一样，认为撒谎、欺骗或偷盗都无所 谓，如果为了战胜其他国家，不得不这么做的话。正当的手段或卑鄙的手段，对他 来说没有什么区别。但是他对待自己的人民却很忠实，就好像他们是自己的孩子， 他为他们尽了最大的努力。就像带着幼崽的母狮子一样，他为自己的大家庭而战， 即使全世界都与他为敌，他也不在乎。
在腓特烈的王宫旁边有一个磨坊，磨坊是一个穷磨坊主的。因为这磨坊离王宫 太近了，碍眼，国王想把它买下来，以便拆除清理掉。但是磨坊主不肯卖。尽管腓 特烈大帝出一大笔钱，磨坊主还是拒绝了。换了大多数国王就会直接占了磨坊，说 不定还会把磨坊主投进监狱或处死掉。腓特烈什么也没有做，因为他认为即使最卑 微的臣民也有自己的权利，如果他不想卖，就不应该逼他卖。他没有再打扰磨坊主， 如今磨坊还和以前一样直立在王宫旁边。
说来奇怪，虽然腓特烈是德国人，但是他却讨厌德语。他认为只有没有教养的 人才说德语。他自己平时讲法语，用法语写作，当他不得不和仆人或不懂法语的人 说话时他才讲德语。
公元 1750 年
