In the summer of 1936, the Princeton chapel had been packed for a memorial service for George V.
在1936年的夏天,人们在普林斯顿的小教堂里悼念乔治五世。
There was a professor in the Graduate College who harped upon his admiration for the royalty in a way that to educated English ears seemed only vulgar.
有一个研究生院的教授,一直在喋喋不休地歌颂王室,这对于受过教育的英国人来说,是非常正常的事。
As for George V's successor, the revelations of Edward VIII's Mediterranean cruise and Mrs Simpson created a particular sensation at Princeton.
至于乔治五世的继承人爱德华八世和辛普森夫人到地中海度假的新闻,在普林斯顿引起了一阵轰动。
Alan wrote to his mother on 22 November:
艾伦在11月22号写信给他的妈妈:
I am sending you some cuttings about Mrs Simpson as representative sample of what we get over here on this subject.
我寄给你一些剪报,是我们这里对于辛普森夫人的一些看法。
I don't suppose you have even heard of her, but some days it has been 'front page stuff' here.
我觉得你可能没听说过她,但这些天她已经成了这里的头条了。
Indeed, the British newspapers maintained their silence until 1 December, when the bishop of Bradford remarked that the King stood in need of God's grace, and Baldwin showed his hand.
事实上,英国的报纸确实对这件事一直保持沉默,直到12月1日,布拉德福德的主教指出,国王需要承当上帝的恩典,鲍德温也出来发表了观点。
On 3 December, Alan wrote:
12月3日,艾伦写到:
I am horrified at the way people are trying to interfere with the King's marriage.
我不明白人们为什么要干涉国王的婚姻。
It may be that the King should not marry Mrs Simpson, but it is his private concern.
也许国王不该和辛普森夫人结婚,但这是他的私事。
I should tolerate no interference by bishops myself, and I don't see that the King need either.
我不接受主教的说法,我也不认为国王需要承当什么。
But the King's marriage was not a private matter, but one that reflected upon the British state.
但是国王结婚并不是私事,这会影响整个英国。
It was a prophetic episode for Alan, 'horrified' at government interference with an individual life.
艾伦反对政府对私生活的干预,这是一个很超前的想法,
For his class, the horror was rather that the King himself had betrayed King and Country, a logical paradox more upsetting than any that Russell or Gdel had found.
他的阶级普遍反对的是国王对国家的背叛,这是一个比哥德尔和罗素的发现更加严重的逻辑悖论。