6 The Matter of the Royal Seal

CHAPTER 6 The Matter of the Royal Seal King Henry woke from his nap in a state of panic. He knew that he was dying and wanted to make sure that everything would run smoothly when he was gone. The king of England had so many responsibilities. What if Edward had trouble? Was his son feeling too much stress? Was that why he was speaking so strangely? King Henry called Lord Hertford to his

亨利国王从睡梦中惊醒，惊慌失措。 他知道自己快死了，想确保他死后一切都能顺利进行。 英格兰国王肩负着如此多的责任。 如果爱德华有麻烦怎么办？ 他的儿子压力太大了吗？ 所以他说话才那么奇怪吗？ 亨利国王把赫特福德勋爵叫到他的房间

room. He was one of the king's most trusted friends. He knew almost all of the king's business. In fact, he was among the few people who knew how long the king had been sick. He also knew that Prince Edward had been taking over some of the king's work. "We need to finish our work," King Henry said. "We'll need the royal seal to complete these new laws." Henry was finding it difficult to breathe. He spoke very slowly to save his strength. "I loaned the seal to Prince Edward a few days ago. Please get it from him." "Of course, Your Majesty," Hertford said. He went straight to Prince Edward's room. When he got there, Hertford found Tom working on his Latin homework. He appeared to be studying very hard. Hertford wondered if the prince's sick mind made it more difficult to learn.

房间。他是国王最信任的朋友之一。 他几乎知道国王所有的事情。 事实上，他是少数几个知道国王病了多久的人之一。 他还知道爱德华王子一直在接管国王的一些工作。 “我们需要完成我们的工作，”亨利国王说。 “我们需要皇家印章来完成这些新法律。” 亨利感到呼吸困难。 为了节省体力，他说得很慢。 “几天前我把这枚印章借给了爱德华王子。 请从他那里拿出来。”“当然，陛下。”赫特福德说。 他径直走向爱德华王子的房间。 当赫特福德到达那里时，他发现汤姆正在做拉丁文作业。 他看起来学习很努力。 赫特福德想知道，王子的病态精神是否使学习变得更加困难。

"Sir, your father sent me," Hertford said and bowed before Tom. "He asked that I bring the royal seal to him." Tom looked up from his textbook. He was very confused. What on Earth was a royal seal? "I beg your pardon, Lord Hertford," Tom said, "but I don't understand." "The royal seal," Hertford tried again. "Your father loaned it to you last week. We need it to finish some important business." Tom looked around the room. Would he even recognize the seal if he saw it? "Can you describe it to me?" he asked quietly. Poor Tom knew he was disappointing Hertford, but he was doing the best he could. "It has a handle and a gold disk at the bottom." Tom shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen that." He thought for a moment. "Perhaps the true prince already returned it." Tom noticed the look on

“先生，是你父亲派我来的。”赫福德说着向汤姆鞠了一躬。 “他要我把皇家印章带给他。” 汤姆从课本上抬起头来。 他很困惑。皇家印章到底是什么？ “请原谅，赫福德勋爵，”汤姆说，“我不明白。” “皇家印章。”赫特福德又试了一次。 “你爸爸上星期借给你的。 我们需要它来完成一些重要的事情。” 汤姆环顾了一下房间。 如果他看到海豹，他能认出来吗？ “你能给我描述一下吗？”他平静地问。 可怜的汤姆知道他让赫特福德失望了，但他已经尽力了。 “它有一个把手，底部有一个金盘。” 汤姆摇了摇头。“不，我很抱歉。 我还没见过。”他想了一会儿。 “也许真正的王子已经归还了。” 汤姆注意到了他的表情

Hertford's face. "I mean, perhaps I returned it last week." Hertford spent the next few minutes trying to convince Tom that the royal seal— whatever it may be—was somewhere in the room. Tom just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. Well, Hertford thought as he walked back to the king's room, the prince may be mad but at least he's still polite. When Hertford told King Henry that the royal seal was lost, the king sighed heavily. "I hope my son recovers quickly. It simply won't do to have a mad prince, let alone a mad king."

赫特福德的脸。“我的意思是，也许我上周还了。” 接下来的几分钟，赫特福德试图让汤姆相信，皇家印章——不管它是什么——就在房间的某个地方。 汤姆只是笑了笑，耸了耸肩。 “好吧，”赫特福德一边走回国王的房间，一边想，“王子也许是疯了，但至少他还是有礼貌的。” 当赫特福德告诉亨利国王国玺丢失时，国王沉重地叹了口气。 “我希望我的儿子早日康复。 一个疯王子是不行的，更别说一个疯国王了。”