FEURPE had been in the dark fr three hundred years. Yu knw what I mean. There were nt enugh educated peple t make it bright.
The Arabs were bright， but they were nt in Eurpe.
In 800 there was a man-a king-wh by his might and pwer was able t jin the piecesf Eurpe tgethernce again t frm a new Rman Empire. He was nt a Rman， hwever， but a Frank. Franks， yu remember， werenef the Germanic tribes that ruled Eurpe after the endf the Rman Empire. This kingf the Franks was named Charles. He was a grandsnf the Charles the Hammer wh had stpped the Muslims at Turs， and he was called by the French name Charlemagne， which means Charles the Great.
Charlemagne at first was kingf France alne， but he was nt satisfied t be kingf that cuntrynly. He sn cnquered the cuntriesn each sidef him， partsf Spain and Germany. He built his capital in a place in Germany called Aachen，r Aix-la-Chapelle in French. At Aix-la-Chapelle there were warm springs which made fine baths， and Charlemagne was very fndf bathing and was a fine swimmer.
A large partf Italy was then ruledver by the ppe. But the ppe was having a gd dealf truble with sme tribes in the nrthf Italy， and he asked Charlemagne if he wuldn"t cme dwn and cnquer them. Charlemagne was quite ready and willing t help the ppe， s he wentver int Italy and easily settled thse trublesme tribes. The ppe was grateful t Charlemagne fr this and wished t reward him.
Nw， Christians everywhere used t make trips t Rme inrder t pray at the great Churchf St. Peter， which had been builtver the spt where St. Peter had been crucified. Well， at Christmas time in the Year 800 Charlemagne paid such a visit t Rme.n Christmas day he went t the Churchf St. Peter and was praying at the altar when the ppe came frward and put a crwnn his head. The ppe then hailed him Emperr， and as the ppe at that time culd make kings and emperrs， Charlemagne became emperrf Italy added t thether cuntriesver which he already ruled. Charlemagne"s empire was nw like a new but smaller Rman Empire， but with this big difference： it was ruledver nt by a Rman， but by a Frank.
In thse days， few peple had any educatin， and hardly anyne culd readr write. Charlemagne wanted an educatin. He was s anxius t knw everything there was t be knwn. He wanted t be able t d everything anyne culd d， but there was nne in hiswn cuntry wh knew enughr was able t teach him. In England， hwever， there was a very learned mnk named Alcuin. He knew mre than anyne else in Nrthern Eurpe， s Charlemagne invited Alcuin t cmever frm England and teach him and his peple. Alcuin taught bth Christian literature and als sme Latin and Greek writings that had survived the yearsf warfare in Eurpe.
Charlemagne learned all these things very easily， but when it came t the simple matterf learning t write he fund this very hard. He did learn t read， but he seemed unable t learn t write. It is said that he slept with his writing pad under his pillw and practiced whenever he awke. Yet he never learned t write much mre than his name. He did nt begin t study until he was a grwn man， but he keptn studying all the restf his life. T make sure thatthers wuld have thepprtunity he missed， Charlemagnerdered every mnastery in his kingdm tpen a schl. He alspened a schl right in hiswn palace. Why d yu suppse he did that？
In spitef the fact that Charlemagne"s daughters were princesses， he had them taught hw t weave and sew and make clthes and ck just as if they had t earn theirwn living. Althugh Charlemagne was such a rich and pwerful mnarch and culd have everything he wanted， he preferred t eat plain fd and dress in plain clthes. He did nt like all the finery that thse abut him lved.ne day， just t make his nbles see hw ridiculusly dressed they were in silks and satins， he tk themut hunting in the wds while a strm was gingn， s that he culd laugh at them. Yu can imagine hw their silk and satin rbes lked after being saked with rain， cvered with mud， and trn by briers.
Althugh his tastes were simple in mattersf dress， he made his hme a magnificent palace. He furnished it with gld and silver tables and chairs andther grgeus furniture. He built in it swimming pls and a wnderful library and a theater and surrunded it with beautiful gardens.
At this time and all thrugh the Dark Ages peple had a strange wayf findingut whether a persn had stlenr cmmitted a murderr anyther crime. The persn suspected was nt taken int curt and tried befre a judge and a jury t see whether he was telling the truth and had dne the thingr nt. Instead he was made t carry a redht irn fr ten steps，r t dip his arm int biling water，r t walkver red-ht cals. If he were nt guilty， it was thughtn harm wuld cme t him，r if he was burned， it was thught that the bum wuld heal right away. This was called trial byrdeal. It prbably started frm the stry tld in the Biblef Shadrach， Meshech， and Abedneg， wh， yu remember， in the timef Nebuchadnezzar， had walked thrugh the fiery furnace unharmed because they had dne n wrng. Thugh Charlemagne was s intelligent， he believed in the trial byrdeal. Tday we have n such cruel and unfair wayf findingut whetherne is guiltyr nt. Yet we sayf a persn wh has a ltf truble that seems t be a testf his character， "He is ging thrugh anrdeal."While Charlemagne was living， there was a caliph in far-ff Baghdad named Harun， which is the Arabic spellingf Aarn. Yu may have heardf him if yu have read anyf the Arabian Nights， fr the striesf the Arabian Nights were written at this time， and Harun is described in them. Althugh Harun was a Muslim， nt a Christian， and thugh he was rulerf an empire that fught the Christians， nevertheless he admired Charlemagne very much. T shw hw much he thughtf him， he sent him valuable presents-amngther things， a clck which struck the hurs， which yu remember， was an inventinf the Arabs. This was a great curisity， fr there were then n clcks in Eurpe. Peple had t tell time by the shadw the sun castn a sundial，r else by the amuntf waterr sand that drippedr ranut frmne jar t anther. He als sent Charlemagne an elephant， which was a great curisity at the curtf the Frankish king.
Harun was a very wise and gd rulerver the Muslims， and that is why he came t be called al-Rashid， which means the Just. D yu remember what Greek was als called the Just？ Harun used t disguise himself as a wrkman and g abut amng his peple. He wuld talk with thse he met alng the street and in the market place， trying t findut hw they felt abut his gvernment and abut things in general. He fund they wuld talk freely t him when he was dressed inld clthes， fr then they did nt knw wh he was but thught him a fellw wrkman. In this way， Harun learned a great deal abut his peple"s trubles and what they likedr didn"t like abut his rule. He then wuld g back t his palace and giverders t have rules and laws made t crrect anything that seemed wrngr unjust.
After Charlemagne died there was nne great enughr strng enugh t hld the new Rman Empire tgether， andnce again it brke up int small pieces； and， "All the king"s hrses and all the king"s men culd nt put it tgether again."【中文阅读】
欧洲"在黑暗之中"过了三百年，你明白我的意思吧。那个时期受过良好教育 的人太少，还不足以让欧洲摆脱黑暗。
阿拉伯人是有智慧的，但是他们不在欧洲。
在公元 800 年，有一个人--一个国王--他凭借自己的势力和权力把四分五 裂的欧洲重新统一起来，形成一个新的罗马帝国。不过，这个人并不是罗马人，而 是法兰克人。你记得吧，法兰克人是在罗马帝国终结之后统治了欧洲的日耳曼部落 的一个分支。这位法兰克人国王名叫查理，他就是"铁锤查理"的孙子，"铁锤查 理"曾在图尔抵挡住了穆斯林的进攻。查理的法语名字叫查理曼，意思是"查理 大帝"。
查理曼最初只是法国的国王，但他并不满足只做这个国家的国王。不久，他就 征服了他南北两侧的国家，西班牙和德国的一些地方，把自己的都城建在了德国一 个叫亚琛的地方，法语称艾克斯拉沙佩勒。亚琛这个地方有温泉，形成了完美的温 泉浴场，查理曼很喜欢游泳，况且他游泳也游得很好。
那时，意大利的大部分地区由教皇管理。但是意大利北部的一些部落很不安分， 给教皇造成了很大的麻烦。于是他就问查理曼是否愿意南下去征服这些部落。查理 曼十分爽快，表示愿意帮教皇这个忙，于是，他越过边界进入意大利，轻而易举地 解决了这些令人烦恼的部落。教皇为此对查理曼非常感激，想要回报他。
对了，过去各地的基督徒常旅行到罗马去，为的是能在圣彼得大教堂祈祷。圣 彼得大教堂就建在圣彼得受难的地方。那么，在公元 800 年圣诞节期间，查理曼也 为此到了罗马。在圣诞节那天，他去了圣彼得大教堂，正当在他祭坛前祈祷的时候， 教皇走上前，给他戴上了一顶王冠。接着，教皇高呼他为"皇帝"，由于教皇那个时 候是可以任命国王和皇帝的，所以，除了他已经统治的其他国家，查理曼此时又成 了意大利的皇帝。现在，查理曼的帝国就像一个新的、但是小一点的罗马帝国，不 过有个很大的区别：它是由法国人统治的，而不是罗马人。
在那个时代，没有什么人受过教育，几乎没有人会读书写字。查理曼缺乏教育。 他非常渴望学到一切现有的知识。他还希望凡是别人能做到的事，自己也能做到， 但是在他自己的国家，没有人具备这么多的知识和能力做他的老师。不过，在英格 兰，有个非常博学的教士名叫阿尔昆，他比北欧的任何人都有学问。于是，查理曼 邀请他从英格兰过来教育他和他的国民。阿尔昆既教基督教文献，又教一些拉丁语 和希腊语的著述，这些著述是经过欧洲多年战争后幸存下来的。
查理曼学习所有这些知识毫不费力，但是学到写字这么简单的事情的时候，他 却发现很难。他确实学会了阅读，但好像就是学不会写字。据说，他睡觉的时候把 写字簿放在枕头下面，只要一醒来就开始练习。可是，学来学去，他除了自己的名 字还是什么都不会写。查理曼是在成年后才开始学习知识的，但是在他此后的一生中从未中断过学习。为了使别人得到自己曾经错过的机会，查理曼下令他王国里的 每个修道院都要开办一所学校。就在自己的宫殿里，他也办了一所学校。你们想想 他为什么要这样做呢？
虽然查理曼的女儿们都贵为公主，但他还是要她们学习织布、缝纫、做衣服和 烹饪，就好像她们得自己谋生一样。虽然查理曼是那样一个有权有势的君主，可以 得到自己想要的一切，但他却喜欢吃素净的食物，穿朴素的衣服。他身边的人都爱 穿高雅华丽的衣服，而他却不喜欢。有一天，为了让那些贵族们知道他们穿着绫罗 丝绸是多么可笑，查理曼在暴风雨大作的时候，带这些贵族去森林里打猎，这样他 就可以笑话他们了。你能想象这些贵族的丝绸长袍在雨水中淋个透湿、上面沾满泥 浆，又给荆棘划破以后看上去是多么狼狈吧？
尽管查理曼在穿着这类事上不大讲究，他却给自己的家建造了一个富丽堂皇的 宫殿，宫殿里面摆放的都是金银桌椅和其他华丽的家具。他还在宫殿里建了几个游 泳池、一个挺不错的图书馆和一个剧院，宫殿四周是美丽的花园。
在这个时期以及整个愚昧的"黑暗时代"1，人们用一种奇怪的方式来查明一个人 是否偷窃、杀人或犯了其他的罪。嫌疑犯不是被带上法庭，在法官和陪审团面前受 审讯来判断他是否说了真话和是否真的犯了罪，而是被迫拿着一块烧红的铁块走十 步，或是把胳膊浸入沸水，又或是光脚在炽热的煤炭上走过去。人们认为如果他没 有犯罪，这样做根本不会伤到他，还认为，即使他被烧伤了，也会马上痊愈。这叫 做"神明裁判"。它可能起源于圣经里面沙得拉、米煞和亚伯尼歌的故事，你还记得 吧，这三人在尼布甲尼撒时期从烈火熊熊的炉中走出而未受伤，因为他们没有做过 坏事。虽然查理曼这么聪明，但是却相信"神明裁判"。现在，我们不会用这样残 酷、不公平的手段来查明一个人是否犯了罪。不过，如果我们说到某个人经受了很 多磨难，这些磨难似乎在考验他的品行，我们就会说"他在接受神明裁判"。
在查理曼在世的时候，遥远的巴格达有个名叫哈伦的哈里发，"哈伦"是用阿拉 伯语拼写的"亚伦"2。如果你读过《一千零一夜》里的故事，你可能就听说过他，因 为《一千零一夜》的故事就是在这个时期写成的，这些故事中有对哈伦的描述。尽 管哈伦是穆斯林而非基督徒，是与基督徒对抗的帝国统治者，但是他却非常赞赏查 理曼。为了表示查理曼在他心中的位置，哈伦给他送去很多贵重的礼物--其中之 一件就是一座报时的钟，你还记得吧，钟是阿拉伯人发明的。这可是一大珍奇之物， 因为那时欧洲还没有时钟。人们根据太阳投射在日晷上的影子，或者根据水或沙子 从一个罐子漏入到另一个罐子里面的数量来判断时间。他还送给查理曼一头大象， 这头大象在法兰克王国的宫廷里，也成了一大稀罕。
哈伦是一位非常英明、优秀的穆斯林统治者，这就是为什么他后来被称作"赖 世德"，意思就是"公正者"。你还记得哪位希腊人也被称作"公正者"吗？哈伦过 去常装扮成工匠，到民众中去四处看看。他总是和在大街上、市场上遇到的人交谈，1 欧洲史上自公元500年至1000年的时期--译者注。
2 亚伦是圣经中的人物，摩西之兄--译者注。
设法了解人们对他的管理和国家总体情况有什么想法和态度。他发现自己穿着旧衣 服的时候，人们愿意和他无拘无束地交谈，因为他们不知道他是谁，还以为他是和 他们一起干活的人。就这样，哈伦了解到许多民间疾苦以及关于他的统治，人们对 哪些是满意的或不满意的。然后，他回到自己的宫殿，下令改正那些看来是错误或 不公平的法则和法规。
查理曼死后，没有一个既强大又强硬的人能把这个新罗马帝国拢在一起了，于 是它又一次四分五裂，又像那首童谣所说，"国王的马，国王的兵，无法还它原来 的样"。
公元 800 年