世界小史 第177期:遙遠的邊境

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Beyond the distant frontiers all aroundwere fierce, barbarian tribes waiting to raid and pillage the rich provinces.

因為在遙遠的邊境的那一邊到處都有未開化的、好戰(zhàn)的名族，他們很想侵入各富庶的行省，掠奪那里的財富。

The Germans, who lived in the north at the otherside of the Danube and the Rhine,

在北方，在多瑙河和萊茵河的彼岸，那里居住著日耳曼人，

were especially troublesome – Caesar hadalready clashed with them during his conquest of Gaul.

他們讓羅馬人尤其感到頭疼。凱撒在占領(lǐng)法國時就已和他們交戰(zhàn)過。

Tall and powerfully built, they towered overthe Romans and frightened the life out of them.

他們是身材高大、強壯有力的人，單憑其魁梧的身量就嚇唬住了羅馬人。

Not only that, but their country, nowGermany, was in those days a land of swamps and dark forests in which Romanlegions were forever losing their way.

他們的國家，即今日的德國，也還布滿茂密的森林和黑乎乎的沼澤地，使羅馬軍團在其中失去方向。

But, above all, the Germans simply weren'tused to living in fine, centrally heated villas.

但是主要是日耳曼人自己不習慣居住在有集中供暖設施的漂亮別墅里，

They were peasants and herdsmen, as theRomans themselves had once been, and they preferred to live as they always had,in isolated wooden farmsteads.

他們是農(nóng)民，羅馬人從前也曾是這樣的農(nóng)民，他們居住在很分散的、用木頭構(gòu)造的農(nóng)家房屋里。

Educated Romans from the cities liked towrite about the great simplicity of the Germanic way of life, the plainness andausterity of their traditions,

在拉丁語論文里曾報道過他們的羅馬大城市居民如今喜歡講述日耳曼人的極度簡樸而嚴格的生活習俗，

their love of warfare and their loyalty totheir chieftains.

他們的好斗和他們對部落首領(lǐng)的忠誠。