5000-Word Bedside English Learning Reader 2: The Three Musketeers (English-Chinese Contrastive Translation)

Author: Wang Ruoping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The Three Musketeers (English-Chinese Parallel Edition) Recommendation: Free yourself from the boundaries of English communication with 5,000 words! Good English is "read" out! The Three Musketeers is a historical novel by the French romantic writer Alexandre Dumas. Set against the historical backdrop of the reign of King Louis XIII of France, where the Cardinal Richelieu held immense power, it depicts how Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, along with D'Artagnan, remain loyal to the king and fight against the cardinal, thereby reflecting the intrigue within the ruling class. D'Artagnan is the son of a declining noble family from Gascony in 17th-century France. He admires his hometown compatriot, Tréville, who is the captain of the king's musketeers and deeply beloved by the king. Arriving in Paris with nothing but his fists, he aspires to become a musketeer. There, he meets Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and after a series of encounters, the four become inseparable companions. At the time, King Louis XIII and the cardinal were engaged in a power struggle, with the king secretly praising D'Artagnan and his friends for their victories over the cardinal's men, while the cardinal harbors resentment. The cardinal had long been envious of the beauty of Queen Anne of Austria but had never won her favor, so he schemes to undermine the relationship between the king and the queen. Faking a letter from the queen, he lures her former lover, the Duke of Buckingham, to Paris. The duke, playing along, finally meets the queen and confesses his love, to which the queen gifts him a diamond brooch as a token of remembrance. The cardinal uses this opportunity to spread slander against the king, urging him to organize a court ball where the queen would wear the brooch gifted by the king. As the ball's date draws near, the queen is in despair, but her maid, Bonnefoy, devises a plan. She asks D'Artagnan for help. D'Artagnan, instantly smitten with Bonnefoy, agrees to risk his life. With the full support of his three friends, they travel to England separately. After a series of, only D'Artagnan arrives on time to explain the situation to the Duke of Buckingham and retrieve the brooch, saving the queen from urgent trouble and foiling the cardinal's plot. Enraged, the cardinal directs his wrath toward the rival Buckingham and exploits the conflict between Catholics and Protestants to provoke a war between France and England, hoping to eliminate Buckingham to settle his score. To achieve this, the cardinal secretly sends his spy—Mérida, a woman as beautiful as a peach blossom and as venomous as a snake—to England to assassinate Buckingham. However, D'Artagnan's servant, Planchet, arrives in England in advance and informs Winterfield, who promptly captures Mérida and imprisons her. In prison, she seduces Planchet, who later rescues Mérida and kills Buckingham. On her way back to France, Mérida encounters Bonnefoy, D'Artagnan's lover, and poisons her. D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis relentlessly pursue Mérida, joining forces with Winterfield and a hangman to finally capture her as she attempts to escape. They uncover Mérida's true identity: she was once a poor nun who, unwilling to remain single, seduced a young priest and ran away with him. When the priest was imprisoned for selling church relics, she was branded with a criminal mark by the hangman—her brother. Later, Mérida abandoned the young priest and married a local count through deception. When her secret was exposed, she fled to England, where she tricked Winterfield's brother into marrying her. With her numerous crimes, Mérida was hated by all and was executed by the riverbank. Learning that D'Artagnan had repeatedly thwarted his plans, the cardinal orders his loyalist Rochefort to capture him. D'Artagnan, remaining composed and honest, explains the situation clearly. Impressed by his courage and wit, the cardinal is moved to admire his talent and not only spares him but also promotes him to the rank of second captain of the musketeers. Meanwhile, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis each find their own place in the world.