The Battle of Falkirk / 法尔基克之战
The Battle of Falkirk was a famous battle between England and Scotland.
福尔基克之战是英格兰和苏格兰之间著名的战役。
When Margaret, the queen of Scotland died in 1290, there was no obvious heir to the Scottish throne.
当苏格兰女王玛格丽特在1290年去世时，苏格兰王位没有明显的继承人。
The Scottish nobility gave the English king, Edward I the task of choosing the next Scottish monarch.
苏格兰贵族让英格兰国王爱德华一世负责选择下一个苏格兰君主。
Edward chose a man called John Balliol, who was a descendant of a previous Scottish king.
爱德华选择了一个叫约翰·巴利奥的男人，他是之前一位苏格兰国王的后代。
Edward considered John Balliol a weak man and thought that he could easily control him.
爱德华认为约翰·巴利欧是个软弱可欺的人，觉得他很容易就能控制住他。
However, Edward soon realised that he had made a mistake when John refuse to help England fight the French in France.
不过，爱德华很快意识到自己犯了一个错误，当约翰拒绝帮助英格兰在法国打击法国人时。
John even formed an alliance with France in 1295 to fight the English.
约翰在1295年甚至与法国结盟来对抗英格兰。
Edward I was, of course, furious with this betrayal and in 1296 he sent an army to invade Scotland.
爱德华一世当然对这一背叛感到非常愤怒，于是他在1296年派军队入侵苏格兰。
After several battles in Scotland, Edward captured John Balliol and decided that he would rule Scotland himself.
在苏格兰经过几场战斗后，爱德华抓住了约翰·巴利奥，并决定自己统治苏格兰。
The next year the Scots revolted against Edward and Edward sent another army to Scotland to squash this revolt.
第二年，苏格兰人反抗爱德华，爱德华派了一支军队去苏格兰镇压这个叛乱。
A Scottish army and the English army met at a place called Stirling Bridge.
一支苏格兰军队和英格兰军队在一个叫斯特林桥的地方相遇。
The Scottish army had the advantage of higher ground and the English army was trapped by a nearby river and marshy ground.
苏格兰军队占据了较高的地势，而英军被附近的河流和湿地困住了。
The English army was thus easily defeated.
英格兰军队就这样轻易地被打败了。
This defeat, however, did not deter Edward I.
不过，这场失败并没有让爱德华一世气馁。
After agreeing a truce with the King of France, Edward organised a second invasion of Scotland.
在与法国国王达成休战协议后，爱德华组织进行了第二次入侵苏格兰。
Edwards army consisted of 2000 cavalry and 12,500 infantry.
爱德华的军队由2000名骑兵和12500名步兵组成。
The Scottish army consisted of 1000 cavalry and 5000 infantry.
苏格兰军队由1000名骑兵和5000名步兵组成。
Edward heard that the Scottish arm was approaching the town of Falkirk.
爱德华听说苏格兰军队正接近法尔基克镇
Edward thus moved his army to an area south of Falkirk and waited for Scottish army to arrive.
爱德华于是把他的军队移到法尔基尔南部的一个地区，等待苏格兰军队到来。
When the Scottish army arrived they formed 4 ‘hedgehogs’, a formation of men with large spears, designed to stop attacks by the English cavalry.
当苏格兰军队到达时，他们组成了4个“刺猬”，这是一种用大长矛形成的阵型，用来阻止英格兰军队骑兵的攻击。
In between the 4 ‘hedgehogs’ were Scottish archers.
在四只‘刺猬’之间是苏格兰弓箭手。
Behind the Scottish ‘hedgehogs’ and archers were the Scottish knights on horseback.
苏格兰的‘刺猬’和弓箭手后面是骑马的苏格兰骑士。
The English army had their knights at the front of the army.
英格兰军队的骑士在军队的最前面。
Behind the English knights were the archers and then the men with spears.
英格兰军队的骑士后面是弓箭手，再后面是持矛的士兵。
In between the two armies was an area of flat marsh land.
在两军队之间有一片平坦的沼泽地。
The battle started when the English knight attacked the Scottish knights at the rear of the Scottish army.
战斗开始于英格兰骑士攻击苏格兰军队后方的苏格兰骑士。
The English knights went around the marsh and attached the Scottish knights from both the left and right sides.
那些英格兰骑士绕过沼泽，从左右两侧袭击苏格兰骑士。
This attack quickly destroyed the Scottish cavalry.
这次攻击很快摧毁了苏格兰骑兵。
The English cavalry then turned their attention to the Scottish ‘hedgehogs’ and archers but with little effect.
英格兰骑兵随后将注意力转向了苏格兰的‘刺猬’和弓箭手，但效果不大。
Many English horses were killed when they attacked the ‘hedgehogs’ so the English cavalry retreated.
很多英国马在攻击‘刺猬’时被杀，所以英国骑兵撤退了。
It was then the English archers turn to attack.
然后轮到英军弓箭手进攻了。
The Scottish ‘hedgehogs’ were an easy target for the English archers.
苏格兰的‘刺猬’对英格兰弓箭手来说是个简单的目标.
The English bow was longer, stronger and therefore had a greater range than the Scottish bow.
英式弓更长、更强，所以射程比苏格兰弓大。
In addition, the Scottish archers were inexperienced and poorly-armoured.
另外，苏格兰弓箭手经验不足，盔甲也很差。
As soon as the English arrows started to rain down on the Scottish troops, the ‘hedgehogs’ broke apart.
一旦英格兰的箭雨开始落在苏格兰部队上，‘刺猬’就散开了。
The English cavalry and infantry then attacked again and the remaining Scottish troops scattered.
英格兰军队的骑兵和步兵又发动攻击，剩下的苏格兰军队四散而逃。
Following his victory, Edward I installed his own governors in Scotland which sometimes provoked resistance.
爱德华一世获胜后，在苏格兰任命了他自己的总督，这有时会引发抵抗。
There was no more large-scale battles between England and Scotland after the Battle of Falkirk, but small-scale attacks continued on each other’s countries for many years.
在福尔基克战役之后，英格兰和苏格兰之间没有再发生大规模战斗，但两国之间的小规模袭击持续了很多年。
Despite the ‘Act of Union’ in 1707 which sealed the bond between England and Scotland and created Great Britain, there are still many Scottish people who resent England’s prosperity, power and influence, and seek to re-establish a fully independent Scotland.
尽管1707年的《联合法案》巩固了英格兰和苏格兰之间的联结，并建立了大不列颠，但仍然有很多苏格兰人对英格兰的繁荣、权力和影响感到不满，并寻求重新建立一个完全独立的苏格兰。