4.She dressed herself like a man，mounted a horse，wore a sword and spurs；and，thus equipped，set out for the camp.Dangers and difficulties beset her path.The very servants who followed her had thoughts at one time of flinging her over a precipice.When Charles the Dauphin first heard of her approach，he burst into a fit of laughter at the idea of France being delivered by a young girl，when men in armour could not save it.But the simple and natural manner of Joan won a way for her through all difficulties.
5.“Gentle Dauphin，”said she，“I am Joan the Maid.I come with a commission from the King of Heaven to drive your enemies out of Orleans，aand to conduct you to Rheims，where you shall receive the crown of France，which is your right.”From this straightforward declaration she never wavered.And all the most learned priests and doctors could not make her out to be anything but a simple and sincere country girl，bent on fulfilling a mission which she firmly believed to have been intrusted to her directly by God.
6.After some hesitation and delay she was made a general，and received a staff of attendants and a guard of horsemen.She wore complete armour；her sword was an old blade，marked with five crosses；her banner was of white satin with lilies of gold on it，and was inscribed with sacred names and figures；and she rode on a milk-white charger.The soldiers of that day were，as soldiersoften are，very wicked and brutal；but she would have none around her exceptmen who attended regularly to their religious duties.
7.Advancing to Orleans with some of the greatest generals of France，the Maid entered the city by water，while the citizens were engaged in a furious attack on the lines of the besiegers.For seven months the English army had been trying in vain to take this important post；but now their hopes of success grew very faint.On one occasion，Joan got up on the wall to make a speech to the advanced posts of the English，in which she threatened them with woe and shame if they did not go away from France.The English officer who commanded at that place roughly told her to go home and mind her cows.
8.Then came a large French army to strengthen the garrison；and the English，as if unnerved by the presence of her they called the Witch，stupidly allowed it to pass without hindrance into the city.Starting suddenly from her bed，and calling for her sword，Joan insisted that they should all go out at oncea Rheims.-Ninety miles north-east of Paris.There the French Kings，with very few exceptions，wereconsecrated，from 1179to 1830.
and fight the English.They went，and captured a tower which the English had seized.
9.But the leaders were not always ready to obey the Maid；and in a day or two she had a quarrel with some of them.They advised caution，while she was in favour of a sudden dash on two great towers which the English had taken.The common soldiers were so fond of Joan，that their captains were forced to give her her own way.In the face of a great storm of arrows and of stone balls shot from cannons，the French attacked the towers，but tried in vain for four hours to take them.At last Joan took a scaling-ladder in her hand，and placedit against the wall.As she was going up the ladder，an archer，who had beenwatching her，drew an arrow and shot her in the neck.She fell into the ditch，from which a French knight hastily carried her to a safe place.
10.When the arrow was drawn out，the poor girl wept with the pain；but she soon grew calmer，and in a little while she was again at the ditch，directing the attack.Her re-appearance so frightened the English-who thought that her witchcraft had enabled her to heal a deadly wound，or that she had actually risen from the dead-that they gave up the towers，and next day abandoned the siege of Orleans.
11.By-and-by，Charles the Seventh was crowned at Rheims.Joan stood by the altar with her white banner in her hand；and，when the golden circlet was placed on the head of Charles，she knelt down weeping at his feet and said，-“Gentle King，now is fulfilled the will of God，who would have you come hither to Rheims to be consecrated，and show that you are the true King，to whom the kingdom of France rightly belongs.”
12.In the next spring she went with her soldiers to the city of Compiegne，bwhich was besieged by the Burgundiansand their English allies，and forced
her way into the town.She soon made one of her usual dashes on the besiegers，and gained some success；but on her return to the town，just as her force had gained the drawbridge，and she，fighting to the last，was about to ride over it，an archer caught her foot and pulled her from the saddle.She was at once surrounded and made prisoner.
13.A year later she died by fire in the fishmarket of Rouen.In vain the English，to whom her captor sold her，tried to make her acknowledge that she was an impostor.Frightened by the prospect of the stake，she was at one time almost on the point of doing so，when a sacred light seemed to shine into hera Compiegne.-Sixty miles north of Paris.
b The Burgundians.-The adherents of the Duke of Burgundy，the head of a faction opposed to the party of Charles.
cell，and the old sweet voices came stealing through the gloom of the night to cheer and strengthen her heart.
14.Next day she showed her resolve by putting on once more the soldier‘s dress，which she had laid aside.This sealed her doom.Carried in a cart to the place of execution，she was tied to a stake，and a cap with four dreadful words，“Heretic，Relapsed，Apostate，Idolater，”was put on her head.The match was then applied to the fagots，and amid the crackling flames and rolling smoke Joan died with a cross in her hand，and the name of the Saviour on her lips.
中文阅读
1.奥尔良城位于卢瓦尔河北岸，当时被英军全面包围，形势危急，全城父老可能不保。有一天，一位农村女孩出现在远道而来的统治者面前，说她是上帝派来专门对付他的。这时的她是一个17岁的美少女，一头乌黑亮丽的长发，深深的眼窝里是一双真挚而深情的眼睛。她是从小在多雷米a土生土长的牧羊女，每到夏天便在山坡上放羊，林荫之下草场之上，闭上眼便开始憧憬殉道的圣徒，他们的故事在她眼里伟大而又平凡。
