whom we'll encounter again at various times,

以后经常会提到此人
owned a great deal of land in the center of England

他在英格兰中部地区
in the counties of Nottinghamshire,

诺丁汉郡德比郡希罗普郡
Derbyshire and Shropshire, and he was described at the time

拥有大片土地他当时被称为
as being like "A prince in four counties in the heart of England."

"坐拥英格兰中心四郡的王子"
he was the biggest landowner by far in that whole region.

他是该地区最大的地主
So, in any one county those who possessed the land

鉴于此在许多郡县当中拥有土地的人
constituted its natural governing class

就自然成了统治阶级
and some of them had been in that position for generations.

他们当中有些人已经在这个阶级延续数代了
But whatever pride they took in their rank

无论他们对其等级和祖先
and their ancestry they knew very well

有多么自豪他们清楚知道
that it was based ultimately upon the land that they possessed

这一切都是因为拥有土地