Lady Godiva was an Anglo-Saxon woman who lived in England during the 11th century. She was the wife of Leofric, Lord of Coventry. According to legend, her husband forced his people to pay such heavy taxes that Lady Godiva felt sorry for them. She asked her husband to reduce the heavy taxes. Her husband said he would if she would ride naked through the town. He thought he was safe in making this promise, but to his astonishment, Lady Godiva accepted the challenge. She asked all the people in the town to stay indoors and closed their shutters as she went by. Then she rode through the streets on a white horse, and her long flowing hair was her only clothing. All the people of the town honoured her request except the town tailor, Tom, who peeped through a shutter and was struck blind. To this day, people still call someone who gets sexual pleasure from watching others secretly a "peeping Tom".（英語小故事帶翻譯www.fenghuangtongcheng.cn ）

翻譯：

戈黛娃夫人是十一世紀(jì)的一個(gè)英國貴婦，丈夫是考文垂的利奧弗里克伯爵。據(jù)說她丈夫在當(dāng)?shù)貦M征暴斂，老百姓苦不堪言。戈黛娃夫人很同情老百姓，就請求丈夫減輕賦稅。伯爵說可以減稅，但有個(gè)條件，戈黛娃須赤裸身體騎馬在城里走一遭。他心想這下會把妻子難住。不料戈黛娃卻一口答應(yīng)下來。她先通知城里所有的人都待在家里，在她路過時(shí)緊閉門窗。然后她騎著一匹白馬，以長發(fā)蔽體，穿過街市。所有的人都尊重她的請求，除去城里一個(gè)叫湯姆的裁縫。湯姆人窗縫偷偷向外張望，登時(shí)眼睛就變瞎了。在英語里，窺視他人以獲得性快感的人被叫做"peeping Tom".

題外話：19世紀(jì)末以前，英國考文垂曾每年舉行一次戈黛娃夫人裸體騎馬過市的儀式以紀(jì)念這位女人的英雄事跡。這個(gè)儀式在十七世紀(jì)一度受到清教徒的抵制，認(rèn)為有傷風(fēng)化。1678年儀式恢復(fù)舉行，但在1826年，由于清教主義再度興起，儀式中的戈黛娃夫人開始著裝。