Castles

Castles. Written and illustrated by Paula Schricker.

城堡。 葆拉·施里克 撰文并绘图。

What is a castle? During the Middle Ages, many great castles were built across Europe. The castles were made to protect people from their enemies. They had thick, tall walls and watchtowers where guards stood watch over the castle. The people who lived in the castles were the nobility, or nobles. However, they were not the only people living in the castles. The people who served and protected the nobility also lived within the castle walls. The nobles not only owned and lived in the castle, they also owned much of the land stretching beyond the castle. They were loyal to the king. Their loyalty helped the king control even more land.

什么是城堡呢？ 中世纪时期，欧洲各地建起了许多宏伟的城堡。 建造城堡是为了保护人们免受敌人侵犯。 城堡有又厚又高的城墙和瞭望塔，守卫会在塔上看守整座城堡。 住在城堡里的是贵族阶层，也就是贵族。 不过，城堡里并非只有贵族居住。 侍奉和保护贵族的人也住在城堡围墙内。 贵族不仅拥有、居住在城堡里，还拥有城堡外延伸出去的大片土地。 他们效忠于国王。 他们的效忠帮助国王掌控了更多土地。

Living outside the castle was another class of people called commoners. They were the craftsmen and farmers who lived in small towns and villages and on farms not far from the castle. The commoners were loyal to the nobles. They paid taxes which allowed the nobles to live privileged

住在城堡外的是另一个阶层，叫做平民。 他们是工匠和农民，居住在小镇、村庄，以及离城堡不远的农场上。 平民们效忠贵族。 他们缴纳税赋，让贵族能过上特权生活

The First Castles The first type of castle was called a motte and bailey. The motte was a high mound of dirt with a wooden tower built upon it. A wooden fence, called a palisade, was built out from the motte. The palisade formed a wall surrounding the bailey, or the yard, that held the kitchen, hall, stables, and other buildings belonging to the noble.

最早的城堡 第一种城堡被称为土岗城郭城堡。 土岗是一座高高的土堆，顶上建有一座木塔。 从土岗向外建造了一圈木栅栏，叫做栅栏壁垒。 栅栏壁垒围成围墙，环绕着城郭也就是庭院，里面建有厨房、大厅、马厩和贵族的其他建筑。

Later, castles had stone moths or towers. Many of these castles also featured moats. Moats were ditches, often filled with water, that surrounded the castle. As time passed, castles were built with bigger towers and walls. They became larger, with more rooms and passages. They came to look more and more like the large castles we see today. These castles were well built and have withstood the test of time.

后来，城堡建起了石制土岗和塔楼。 这类城堡中很多还配有护城河。 护城河就是环绕城堡的壕沟，通常灌满了水。 随着时间推移，人们建起了拥有更大塔楼和城墙的城堡。 城堡变得更大，拥有更多房间和通道。 模样也越来越接近我们如今见到的大型城堡。 这些城堡建造精良，经受住了时间的考验。

outside the castle. Newly built castles were painted with a mixture of lime and water. This mixture gave the castle walls a fresh, clean coat of white. For this reason, the mixture was called whitewash. Every castle's design was different. Still, they had many of the same features. Most had towers or turrets, and many castles had an inner and an outer wall. Many also had a very strong building in the center of the castle. This building was called a keep.

城堡外侧。 新建的城堡会刷上石灰和水的混合涂料。 这种混合涂料能给城堡墙刷上一层干净清新的白色。 因此，这种涂料被叫做白灰浆。 每座城堡的设计都各不相同。 但它们都有许多共同特征。 大多数城堡都有塔楼，很多城堡还设有内外两层城墙。 很多城堡的中心还有一座非常坚固的建筑。 这座建筑叫做城堡主塔。