William Caxton / 威廉·卡克斯顿
William Caxton is famous for being the first person to print books in the English language.
威廉·卡克斯顿因成为第一位用英语印刷书籍的人而有名
William was born in 1422.
威廉出生于1422年。
The exact date of his birth is not known.
他的出生确切日期不详。
At the age of 16, he went to London to become an apprentice to a merchant.
16岁时，他前往伦敦成为一名商人的学徒。
He later moved to Bruges in Belgium which at that time was the centre of the European wool trade.
他后来搬到比利时的布鲁日，当时那里是欧洲羊毛贸易的中心。
In Bruges he became a very successful merchant and an important member of the merchant community.
在布鲁日，他成为了一名非常成功的商人，并成为商人社区的重要成员。
From 1462 to 1470, he was an English diplomat and also represented his fellow merchants in trade negotiations.
从1462年到1470年，他是一名英国外交官，同时也代表他的同胞商人在贸易谈判中出席。
During this time he became interested in translating and publishing books.
在此期间，他开始对翻译和出版书籍产生兴趣。
In the early 1470s, William Caxton spent some time in Cologne, Germany learning how to print books.
在1470年代初，威廉·卡克斯顿曾在德国科隆呆过一段时间，学习如何印刷书籍。
William then returned to Bruges in 1472 where he and a Flemish friend set up a printing press.
威廉随后于1472年返回布鲁日，他和一位弗拉芒朋友一起建立了一台印刷机。
Consequently, he printed the first book in English, which was called ‘The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye’.
因此，他印刷了第一本英文书，名为《特洛伊故事汇编》
Visitors to London can actually see this book on display in the British Library.
到伦敦的游客实际上可以在大英图书馆看到这本书的展示。
In 1476, William moved back to London where he set up a printing workshop and book shop close to Westminster Abbey.
1476年，威廉搬回伦敦，在威斯敏斯特大教堂近开设了一个印刷作坊和书店。
William went on to translate and publish other famous books such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ and Thomas Malory’s ‘The Death of Arthur’.
威廉继续翻译并出版其他著名书籍，如杰弗里·乔叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》和托马斯·马洛里的《亚瑟之死》。
In total, William Caxton printed more than 100 books in his lifetime, many of which he translated himself from French, Latin and Dutch.
威廉·卡克斯顿一生共印刷了100多本书，其中许多是他自己从法语、拉丁语和荷兰语翻译的。
William not only printed and published books, he also imported thousand of books printed in other countries.
威廉不仅印刷和出版书籍，他还进口了成千上万本在其他国家印刷的书籍。
His printing press reduced the price of books so that many more people could afford to read these great works of literature and helped spread the English language throughout the world.
他的印刷机降低了书籍的价格，使更多的人能够负担得起阅读这些伟大的文学作品，并帮助英语在全球传播。
He is also credited with helping to standardise the spelling of English words.
他还被认为帮助标准化了英语单词的拼字。
William Caxton died around 1491 and he is buried in a local church graveyard in Westminster.
威廉·卡克斯顿大约于1491年去世，他埋葬在威斯敏斯特当地教堂的墓地里。
In 1954, a memorial was unveiled just outside ‘Poet’s Corner’ in Westminster Abbey in recognition of his contribution to the popularity the English language.
1954年，在威斯敏斯特大教堂“诗人角”外揭幕了一座纪念碑，以表彰他对英语语言普及所做的贡献。