BUT Rme with the Rman Empire had had its day. The empire had risen as high as it culd. It was Rme"s turn t fall. It was Rme"s turn t be cnquered. But yu cannt guess what peple were t d the cnquering and t be next in pwer.
Invasins frm the nrth ( 来自北方的入侵 )Fr centuries there had been Germanic tribes livingn the nrthern brdersf the Rman Empire. Every nw and then they tried t crssver the brder int Rman lands， and the Rmans had t be cnstantly fighting them t keep them back where they belnged. Julius Caesar had fught with them. S had Marcus Aurelius and s had Cnstantine. The Rmans called these peple barbarians， which is what they called all peple wh were nt Rmans. The Rmans believed that all barbarians were fierce and warlike.
Manyf these Germanic peple had light hair and blue eyes； that is， they were what we call blnds. The Greeks and Rmans andther peple wh lived arund the Mediterranean Sea had dark hair and dark eyes. They were what we call brunettes.
Althugh smef the Germanic peples had mved int the Rman Empire， many lived in sparsely ppulated areas， nt in cities. They lived in huts madef wd， smetimesf branches wven tgether-like a large basket. The wmen raised vegetables and tk caref the cws andhrses. The men did the hunting and fighting and blacksmithing. Blacksmithing was very imprtant， fr the blacksmith made the swrds and spears with which they fught and the tls with which they wrked. That is why the name Smith was s hnred amng them.
When the men went t battle they wre the headsf animals they had killed， anx"s head， hrns and all，r the headf a wlfr bearr fx. This was t make themselves lk fierce and t frighten the enemy.
Bravery was the chief thing the men thught gd. A man might lie， he might steal， he might even cmmit murder， but if he was a brave warrir， he was called a gd man. The Germanic tribes did nt have a king. They elected their chiefs， andf curse they always chse the man wh was the bravest and strngest. But he culd nt make his sn ruler after him. He was mre like a president than a king.
These nrthern peple had an entirely different setf gds frm thsef Greece and Rme. Theirchief gd， as yu might guess， was the gdf war， and they called him Wden. Wden was als theGermanic warrir日耳曼战士gdf the sky. He was like the tw Greek gds， Zeus and Ares， put tgether. Wden was suppsed t live in a wnderful palace in the sky called Valhalla， and many tales are tldf the wnderful things he did andf the adventures he had. Wednesday， which wasnce Wdensday， is named after him. That is why there is a letter d in this wrd， althugh we dn"t prnunce it.
After Wden， Thr was the next mst imprtant gd. He was the gdf thunder and lightning. He carried a hammer with which he fught great giants wh lived in the far-ff cld lands and were called ice-giants. Thursday， which wasnce Thrsday， is named after him.
Anther gd was named Tiu， and frm his name we get Tuesday， and anther Freya， frm whm we get Friday， s that furutf sevenfur days are named after Germanic gds， in spitef the fact that nnef us believe in these gds.
f thether three daysf the week， Sunday and Mndayf curse are named after the sun and mn， and Saturday is named after a Rman gd， Saturn.
Abut the year 400 A.D. these nrthern neighbrs were becming particularly trublesme t the Rmans. They began t push their way dwn int the nrthern partf the Rman Empire， and after a few years the Rmans culd hld them back n lnger. Twf these Germanic tribes wentver int Britain， and the Rmans wh were living there fund it wisest t getut， g back t Rme， and leave the cuntry and its native peple t the invaders.
These tribes wh settled in Britain were knwn as Angles and Saxns. S the cuntry came t be called the landf the Angles，r， fr shrt， Angle-land. After the wrds Angle-land were saidver fr many years， they became England， which is what we call the cuntry tday. The peplef England are still knwn by the full name Angl-Saxns， and this is the name by which we call anyne descended frm these tribesf Angles and Saxns wh settled in Britain abut 400 A.D.
Anther tribe called the Vandals went int Gaul. Gaul is where France is nw. Then they keptn dwn int Spain， stealing， smashing， burning， and destrying. They crssedver by bats int Nrth Africa. They damagedr destryed everything they came upn. S tday when anyne damagesr destrys prperty wickedly， we call him a vandal. If yu cut up yur desk， tear yur bks，r scratch namesn wallsr fences， yu， t， are a vandal.
A tribe called the Franks fllwed the Vandals int Gaul， and there they stayed， giving the name France t that cuntry.
The peple nrthf Italy were the Gths. They had a leader by the namef Alaric. Alaric and his Gths crssedver the muntains int Italy and rbbedr destryed everythingf value they culd lay their handsn. They then enteredRme and carried away whatever they wanted， and the Rmans culd nt stp them. But the wrst was yet t cme.
【中文阅读】
但是，罗马城和罗马帝国已过全盛时期。这个帝国的强盛已经达到了巅峰，现 在轮到罗马走向衰落，轮到罗马被别的国家所征服了，可是你肯定猜不到哪个民族 的人将征服罗马，并成为下一个世界霸主。
几千年来，日耳曼部落一直生活在罗马帝国的北部边界地区。他们时不时地穿 过边界进入罗马境内，因此，罗马人不得不经常和他们交战，把这些人赶回他们自 己的领土。尤利乌斯 恺撒和他们交战过，马可 奥勒留和君士坦丁也和他们交战 过。罗马人把这些人叫做"野蛮人"，甚至把除了自己之外的所有人都叫做野蛮人。 罗马人认为所有的野蛮人都是凶猛、好战的。
多数日耳曼人都是浅色头发，蓝色眼睛，也就是我们所说的金发碧眼。希腊人 和罗马人以及其他生活在地中海周围的人都是深色头发，黑色眼睛。我们现在称他 们黑发黑眼。
尽管有些日耳曼人已经迁移到罗马帝国，但他们多数都生活在人烟稀少的地区 而不是在城市。他们住在木头做的小屋里，有时这种小屋就是用树枝编起来的-- 像个大篮子一样。女人们种菜，饲养牛马；男人们打猎，作战和打铁。打铁是非常 重要的，因为铁匠可以制作战剑和长矛，还有各种用以生产的工具。这就是为什么 "史密斯"（铁匠的音译）这个名字在他们中间非常受尊敬的原因。
每当男人们出去作战，他们都戴着自己杀死的兽头，公牛的头、角，或是狼、 熊和狐狸的头。这样做是为了让他们看上去显得凶狠，让敌人感到害怕。
"勇敢"是男人们最看重的事情。男人可以撒谎，可以偷窃，甚至可以杀人，但 如果他是个勇敢的战士，就可以被人说成是个好人。日耳曼部落没有国王，他们的 首领通过选举产生，当然，他们总是选出最勇敢、最强壮的人。不过，首领不能让 自己的儿子成为他的继任者，所以部落的首领更像是总统而不是国王。
这些北方民族的人信奉的一些神灵和希腊人、罗马人所信奉的神灵完全不是一 回事。你也许能猜到，他们的主神是战神，叫沃登。沃登也是天神，他就像是希腊 的两个神灵--宙斯和阿瑞斯的结合体。据说沃登住在天上一个叫瓦尔哈拉的美丽 宫殿里，有很多童话讲述他的精彩故事和冒险经历。星期三（英文是 Wednesday）曾 经写作 Wdensday，就是以沃登（Wden）的名字命名的。因此，这个单词里面有个 字母 d，但是我们并不发 d 的音。
托尔是排在沃登后面的另一位最重要的神灵。他是雷电之神。他随身带着一把 铁锤，用它来和住在远方寒冷地带的巨人们作战，这些巨人叫"冰巨人"。星期四（英文是 Thursday）以前是 Thrsday，就是以托尔（英文是 Thr）的名字命名的。 另一位神叫蒂乌（英文为 Tiu），人们以他的名字命名了星期二（英文 Tuesday）。
还有一位神灵叫弗蕾亚，星期五（英文 Friday）就源于她的名字"Freya"。因此，我 们的一周七天中有四天都是以日耳曼神灵的名字命名的，虽然我们根本没人信奉这 些神灵。
一 周 里 剩 下 的 那 三 天， 星 期 天（Sunday） 和 星 期 一（Mnday） 当 然 是 以日（Sun）、月（Mn）而命名的。而星期六（英文 Saturday）是用一位罗马神灵 萨杜恩（Saturn）的名字命名的。
大约在公元 400 年时，这些北方的邻居成了最让罗马人头痛的麻烦。他们开始 流窜进入罗马的北部地区，这样过了几年，罗马人再也不能把他们驱逐出去了。这 些日耳曼部落中有两支部族进入了不列颠地区，住在那里的罗马人发现最明智的做 法就是离开那里，回罗马去，而把那块土地和当地的原住民让给这些侵略者。
在不列颠安顿下来的两支部落分别是盎格鲁人和撒克逊人，因此这个国家后来 被叫做盎格鲁人的土地，或者简略地讲，就是"盎格兰"。"盎格兰"这个词说了很 多年后，就变成了"英格兰"，这是我们今天对该国的称呼。英格兰人现在的全称仍 然是"盎格鲁－撒克逊人"，而且我们把所有公元 400 年时在不列颠定居的盎格鲁和 撒克逊部落的人的后代都叫做盎格鲁－撒克逊人。
另一支叫汪达尔的部落进入高卢地区，高卢就是现在的法国。接着，他们继续 南下到西班牙，沿途烧杀抢掠。后来，他们又乘船到达北非。他们一路走到哪里， 就在哪里大肆破坏。所以，现在当有人恶意地破坏、毁坏财物时，我们就称他为 "汪达尔人"。如果你用刀子乱刻书桌、撕坏课本或在墙壁或围墙上乱写乱画，那你 也是个汪达尔人了。
在汪达尔部落之后，有一支叫法兰克的部落进入了高卢，他们后来就定居下来， 并把那个国家定名为"法国"。
意大利北部的民族是哥特人，他们有个领袖叫阿拉里克。后来，阿拉里克和他 领导的哥特人翻山越岭进入了意大利，在那里洗劫并摧毁了所有他们见到的值钱的 东西。接着，他们侵入了罗马，大肆抢掠任何他们想要的东西，罗马人却毫无办法 阻止他们。但是，最糟糕的还在后面呢！
公元 400 年