The Great Fire of London伦敦大火

张宁

The Great Fire of Lonndon is a fascinating story from history; without it. London would be avery different place today.The Great Fire of London facts

London was a big city in 1666. Half a million people lived there.

The houses were made of wood. and the lanesl between them were very narrow.

The fire started on Sunday， September 2nd in the baker's shop of Thomas Farynor， bakerof King Charles II. in Pudding Lane. His ovens were on overnight， making bread. and somehowthey caused a fire. In the early hours of the morning the choking 2 smoke woke him up. Herescued his family and ran outside. as the shop burned down. His maid3 was not so lucky， andshe did not escape4.

The summer of 1666 had been very hot and dry， and the fire soon spread.

It was indeed the mayors whom many blame for not stopping the spread of the Great Fireof London. It was standard practice at that time to demolis 6 houses on the path of the flames.creating "fire-breaks". The mayor refused to do this though， as he was worried about the cost ofrebuilding. When he first saw the fire he is reported to have said that it could soon be put out.

It is true that several fire engines fell into the Thames while they were being filled withwater.

It was the diarist Samuel Pepys who realized how great the threat7 was. and took the newsto the king.

King Charles took commands at once， ordering the demolition9 0f houses， and the settingup of fire posts7 extra fire fighters， and fire fighting equipment. He even joined in the firefighting himself.

Even with the king's efforts. the fire burned for four days， before the fire-breaks. and thewind changing direction. stopped the spread.

Amazingly， not many people died in the Great Fire of London. Some people say sixteen，other people say only six.

After the fire， the king ordered that London should be rebuilt. with buildings made frombricks and stone. Christopher Wren was the architectlo in charge. It took ten years to rebuild.

倫敦大火是历史上很有意思的故事;没有它，伦敦如今将是一个完全不同的地方。伦敦大火的实际情况

伦敦在1666年是一个大城市。有50万人住在那里。

那些房子是用木头做的，它们之间的小巷也很窄。

大火发生在9月2日，星期日，起始于伦敦布丁巷国王查理二世的面包师托马斯·法里诺的面包店。他做着面包的烤箱开了一夜，不知怎么引起了火灾。清晨，令人窒息的浓烟把他弄醒了。在他的店铺被烧毁的时候，他救了家人，跑了出去。他的女仆没有那么幸运，她没能逃过一劫。

1666年的夏天又热又干燥，火势很快就蔓延开了。

确实有许多人指责市长没有阻止伦敦大火的蔓延。当时的标准做法是拆除火焰路径上的房屋，建立“防火带”。但市长拒绝这样做，因为他担心重建的成本。据报道，当他第一次看到火时，他说火很快就能被扑灭。

真实情况是，有几辆消防车在注水时掉进了泰晤士河。

是日记作家塞缪尔·佩皮斯意识到这场火灾的威胁有多大，并把这个消息告诉了国王。

查理国王立即接管了指挥权，命令拆除房屋，建立消防哨所，并召集额外的消防队员和调集消防设备。他甚至也参加了救火。

即使有国王的努力，大火还是燃烧了四天，直到防火带的完成以及风向的改变，才阻止了火势的蔓延。

令人惊讶的是，在伦敦大火中死亡的人并不多。有些人说是16个，其他人则说只有6个。

大火发生后，国王下令重建伦敦，用砖石建造建筑。克里斯托弗·雷恩是负责重建工作的建筑师。重建伦敦花了十年的时间。

（英语原文选自：history-for-kids.com）