美国学生人类历史 第133期:查理曼大帝(5)

 Twice the Carolingian lands were divided, by the treaties of Verdun in the year 843 and by the treaty of Mersen-on-the-Meuse in the year 870. 卡罗林王朝的国土被两次瓜分，一次是根据公元843年的凡尔登条约，一次是根据公元870年在缪士河畔签订的默森条约。

The latter treaty divided the entire Frankish Kingdom into two parts. 后者把整个祛兰克王国一分为二。

Charles the Bold received the western half. "勇敢者"查理接管了帝国的西半部分，

It contained the old Roman province called Gaul where the language of the people had become thoroughly¹ romanized. 包括旧罗马时代的高卢行省。

The Franks soon learned to speak this language and this accounts for the strange fact that a purely² Germanic land like France should speak a Latin tongue. 在这一地区，当地居民的语言早已全盘拉丁化，这就是法兰西这样一个纯属日尔曼民族的国家，用的却是拉丁语的原因。

The other grandson got the eastern part, the land which the Romans had called Germania. 查理曼的另一个孙子获得了帝国的东半部分，即被日尔曼族人称为"日尔曼尼"的地方。

Those inhospitable regions had never been part of the old Empire. 这片蛮荒强悍的土地从来就不属于罗马帝国的辖区。

Augustus had tried to conquer this "far east," 奥古斯都大帝（渥大维）曾试图征服这片"遥远的东方"，

but his legions had been annihilated³ in the Teutoburg Wood in the year 9 and the people had never been influenced by the higher Roman civilisation⁴. 不过当公元9年他的军队在条顿森林全军覆没后，他再未做过此类尝试。该地区的居民没有受过高度发展的罗马文明的教化，

They spoke⁵ the popular Germanic tongue. 他们使用的是普通的条顿方言。

The Teuton word for "people" was"thiot." 条顿语里，"人民"（people）被称为"thiot"，

The Christian⁶ missionaries⁷ therefore called the German language the "lingua theotisca" or the "lingua teutisca," the "popular dialect" 基督教传教士因此把日尔曼民族使用的语言叫做"大众方言"或"条顿人的语言"（linguateutisca），

and this word "teutisca" was changed into"Deutsch" which accounts for the name "Deutschland." "teutisca"一词后来逐渐演变为"deutsch"，这就是"德意志"（deutschland）这一称呼的来源。

As for the famous Imperial Crown, it very soon slipped off the heads of the Carolingian successors and rolled back onto the Italian plain, 至于那顶众人觊觎的帝国皇冠，它很快从卡罗林王朝继承者的头上，滚回到意大利平原，

where it became a sort of plaything of a number of little potentates⁸ who stole the crown from each other amidst much bloodshed 成为一些小君主、小权谋家手里的玩物。他们相互争斗，通过屠杀和流血盗得皇冠，

and wore it(with or without the permission of the Pope) until it was the turn of some more ambitious neighbour. 戴在头上（不管教皇陛下允许与否），不久便为另一个更强大的邻居夺走。

1 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

2 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

3 annihilated   

v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃

参考例句：

• Our soldiers annihilated a force of three hundred enemy troops. 我军战士消灭了300名敌军。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We annihilated the enemy. 我们歼灭了敌人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 potentates   

n.君主，统治者( potentate的名词复数 )；有权势的人

参考例句：

• Among high-fashion potentates, Arnault has taken an early lead on the Internet. 在高级时装大亨中，阿诺尔特在互联网方面同样走在了前面。 来自互联网