帝国征程32

One of the most unforgettable details in the entire Bayeux Tapestry is this seemingly incidental detail of a mother and child turned refugee, fleeing from their burning house, maybe even Hastings, resigned to their fate, not looking back. This is the first of the images that will echo through European art, through Rubens, Goya and Picasso's Guernica, of the victims of war, of civilians, of innocence. But William soon discovered there was no easy route to get from Pevensey to London. The country behind the town was waterlogged, crossed by little river valleys that fed into the sea. But there was one old Anglo-Saxon trail that could take him to the Roman road going north through Kent, and it was for mastery of this ancient, muddy, rutted track, for the most gruelling battle in early British history would be fought.

贝叶挂毯中最令人难忘的一个细节就是，这看似偶然的情景，一对母子变成了难民从他们着火的家中逃出，有可能是黑斯廷斯战役的幸存者，低头任命，从此背井离乡。这是第一幅影响了整个欧洲艺术界的作品，影响了鲁宾斯·戈雅，毕加索的格尔尼加，战争中那些无辜百姓的悲惨命运。但是很快威廉就发现，从佩文西打回伦敦没有捷径，镇子后面的村庄已经被水淹没，横穿村庄的山涧直注入大海。但是有一条古老的盎格鲁撒克逊小路，能够向北穿过肯特，到达罗马驿道，为争夺占领这条古老而泥泞的小路。早期不列颠史上最惨烈的鏖战，即将在此打响。