It was late March 2026. The war in Iran was raging(激烈的；肆虐的). Donald Trump had threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants. Newspapers across the world raced to cover(封面；覆盖物) this. Not Country Life. The British magazine instead offered a cover with two lambs on it and, inside, a feature on “The chickens that lay our favourite eggs”. It was similarly off-news(远离新闻的) for the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic (its cover had a lovely picture of a thatched cottage) and of the Ukraine war (a lovely picture of the coast). The second world war was marginally(稍微；勉强地) more newsy(新闻多的；有新闻价值的). On September 16th 1939 the magazine offered: “Golf—The Game in War-Time”.
那是2026年3月底。伊朗战争正激烈进行。唐纳德·特朗普威胁要摧毁伊朗的发电厂。世界各地的报纸争先报道此事。《乡村生活》却没有。这本英国杂志反而在封面上刊登了两只羊羔，内页则是一篇题为“为我们提供最爱鸡蛋的鸡”的特写。同样，在新冠疫情爆发时，它也远离新闻（封面是一张可爱的茅草屋图片），在乌克兰战争时（封面是一张可爱的海岸图片）。二战时它勉强多了些新闻性。1939年9月16日，杂志提供了：“高尔夫——战时的游戏。”
Britain offers two kinds of country life. There is “country life”, the simple act of living in the country. Then there is Country Life, an upper-case(大写字母的), upper-class magazine that is related to country living (it feature(以……为特色；刊载)s a lot of cows) but that is also very different (it features a lot of country houses and croquet lawn(槌球草坪)s).
英国有两种乡村生活。一种是“country life”，即简单的乡村居住行为。另一种是《乡村生活》，一本大写字母的、上流社会的杂志，它与乡村生活有关（刊登很多牛），但又非常不同（刊登很多乡村别墅和槌球草坪）。
Country Life is less a mere publication than an institution(制度；惯例；机构). British novelists satirise(讽刺；讥讽) it. British landmarks are sold in it (in 1915 Stonehenge(① 背景：巨石阵位于英格兰威尔特郡，是新...) was flogged(出售（尤指快速或廉价地）) for £6,600, or £602,340 in today’s money). British royalty reads it: Charles is a fan. The other British royal family, the Beckhams, rather like it, too: David reads it from cover to cover. It is, like the royals, surprisingly popular; 40,000 buy it each week.
《乡村生活》与其说是一份出版物，不如说是一种体制。英国小说家讽刺它。英国地标通过它出售（1915年巨石阵以6600英镑售出，相当于今天的602,340英镑）。英国王室阅读它：查尔斯是粉丝。另一个英国王室家庭——贝克汉姆一家——也很喜欢它：大卫从头读到尾。它就像王室一样，出人意料地受欢迎；每周有4万人购买。
Featuring Harriets and Camilla
封面哈丽特们与卡米拉