Chapter 2 - The Early Days of Britain / 第二章 - 不列颠的早期历史

After the Western Roman Empire西罗马帝国/ˈwesərn ˈroʊmən ˈempaɪər/ fell, all of the countries国家/ˈkʌntriz/ that had once belonged属于/bɪˈlɔːŋd/ to Rome were free自由的/friː/ of Roman rule. One of those countries was Britain不列颠/ˈbrɪtən/.

Do you remember flying over Britain不列颠/ˈbrɪtən/ on your magic carpet魔毯/ˈmædʒɪk ˈkɑːrpɪt/? The Roman soldiers士兵/ˈsoʊldʒərz/ in Britain were fighting战斗/ˈfaɪtɪŋ/ fierce, dangerous危险的/ˈdeɪndʒərəs/ warriors战士/ˈwɔːriərz/ who were painted blue蓝色的/bluː/.

These warriors战士/ˈwɔːriərz/ were called Celts凯尔特人/kelts/. The Celts lived in Britain before the Romans invaded入侵/ɪnˈveɪdɪd/ the island岛屿/ˈaɪlənd/. They weren't happy高兴的/ˈhæpi/ to see the Romans arrive到达/əˈraɪv/!

And even though the Romans set up camps营地/kæmps/ and towns城镇/taʊnz/ in the south part of Britain, they never managed设法做到/ˈmænɪdʒd/ to conquer征服/ˈkɑːŋkər/ all of the Celts. When the Western Roman Empire fell, the Celts drove赶走/droʊv/ the last Roman soldiers out of their country国家/ˈkʌntri/. Now Britain was theirs again.

The Celts were proud自豪的/praʊd/ of their fighting strength力量/streŋθ/. They praised赞扬/preɪzd/ men who had courage勇气/ˈkɜːrɪdʒ/ in battle战斗/ˈbætəl/. They sang songs歌曲/sɔːŋz/ and told stories故事/ˈstɔːriz/ about great warriors.

Specially trained训练的/treɪnd/ singers歌手/ˈsɪŋərz/ called bards吟游诗人/bɑːrdz/ learned stories about the chieftains酋长/ˈtʃiːftənz/ and battle heroes英雄/ˈhɪroʊz/ of long ago. The stories weren't written写下的/ˈrɪtən/ down; instead, bards learned them from each other and memorized记住/ˈmeməraɪzd/ them so that they could be told again and again.

These stories told Celtic children孩子们/ˈtʃɪldrən/ that it was good好的/ɡʊd/ to be strong强壮的/strɔːŋ/ and warlike好战的/ˈwɔːrlaɪk/.

One story told around the fires火堆/ˈfaɪərz/ of the Celts was of Craith克雷斯/kreɪθ/ and his companions伙伴们/kəmˈpænjənz/, three warriors with special powers. The story might have sounded something like this...

The Celts who lived in Britain didn't all belong属于/bɪˈlɔːŋ/ to the same kingdom王国/ˈkɪŋdəm/, and they didn't all obey服从/oʊˈbeɪ/ the same king国王/kɪŋ/. Britain was full of different tribes部落/traɪbz/ of Celts. And each tribe followed a different king.

Old, old stories tell us that one of these kings was named Vortigern沃提庚/ˈvɔːrtɪɡərn/. Vortigern ruled a wealthy富有的/ˈwelθi/, powerful强大的/ˈpaʊərfəl/ tribe of Celts in the middle of Britain. His people人民/ˈpiːpəl/ obeyed him, and the warriors who fought for him followed his commands命令/kəˈmændz/. But Vortigern still wasn't happy. Other tribes of Celts from up north kept attacking攻击/əˈtækɪŋ/ his kingdom, and Vortigern was tired厌倦的/ˈtaɪərd/ of fighting them off! He wanted help帮助/help/.

Vortigern sent a message信息/ˈmesɪdʒ/ across the North Sea北海/nɔːrθ siː/, to barbarian蛮族/bɑːrˈberiən/ tribes called the Angles盎格鲁人/ˈæŋɡəlz/ and the Saxons撒克逊人/ˈsæksənz/. "Come and help me fight against my enemies敌人/ˈenəmiz/!" he said. "If you do, I'll give you land土地/lænd/ to live on, here in Britain."

So the Angles and the Saxons came across the North Sea, into Britain, and helped Vortigern fight his enemies. They liked喜欢/laɪkt/ Britain, so they settled定居/ˈsetəld/ down and stayed there. They sent word back to their friends朋友/frendz/: "Come live in Britain with us! There's plenty of room空间/ruːm/ here." So more and more Angles and Saxons sailed航行/seɪld/ across the North Sea to Britain. The whole middle part of Britain filled up with Angles and Saxons.

The Celts didn't like all these barbarians蛮族人/bɑːrˈberiənz/ in their country. But there were so many Angles and Saxons that they couldn't drive赶走/draɪv/ them all out. Soon, the south and east part of Britain was completely occupied占领/ˈɑːkjupaɪd/ by Angles and Saxons. They divided分割/dɪˈvaɪdɪd/ the land into seven kingdoms王国/ˈkɪŋdəmz/. Today, we call this part of Britain England英格兰/ˈɪŋɡlənd/, a name that comes from the word Angle. We call the people who lived there Anglo-Saxons盎格鲁-撒克逊人/ˈæŋɡloʊ ˈsæksənz/.

Poor Celts! First the Romans attacked攻击/əˈtækt/ them. Now the Anglo-Saxons had driven驱逐/ˈdrɪvən/ them out of their own land. Some of the Celts decided to make the best of it. They married结婚/ˈmærid/ the Anglo-Saxons and lived with them in peace和平/piːs/. But other Celts retreated撤退/rɪˈtriːtɪd/ up into the north and west of Britain, to live by themselves. Today, we call the countries where the Celts lived Scotland苏格兰/ˈskɑːtlənd/, Ireland爱尔兰/ˈaɪərlənd/, and Wales威尔士/weɪlz/.

Do you remember that the Celts told stories to each other, rather than writing书写/ˈraɪtɪŋ/ them down? The Angles and the Saxons didn't do very much writing either. They didn't write down their history历史/ˈhɪstəri/. They didn't write down their stories. And they didn't keep records记录/ˈrekərdz/ of what they did every day. So although we know that the Angles and Saxons lived in England for a long time, we don't know what they did during all those years!

This time in England is called the Middle Ages中世纪/ˈmɪdəl ˈeɪdʒɪz/ or the Dark Ages黑暗时代/dɑːrk ˈeɪdʒɪz/. It is a "dark" time to us because we can't read about what happened in the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The only stories that we have from this time are stories that were passed down from one bard to the next by word of mouth.

The Anglo-Saxons told stories about their heroes英雄/ˈhɪroʊz/, just as the Celts did. One of these stories was about a monster怪物/ˈmɑːnstər/ named Grendel格伦德尔/ˈɡrendəl/ and the great warrior who conquered征服/ˈkɑːŋkərd/ him—Beowulf贝奥武夫/ˈbeɪoʊwʊlf/. The story of Beowulf is one of the oldest stories in the English language英语/ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/. It may have been told and retold for years before it was finally written down. The story was written in poetry诗歌/ˈpoʊətri/, because poetry was easier to remember and perform for other people.