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But here and there, on the tops of high rocks, they saw the castles of the Aegeans and those they did not attack for they feared the metal swords and the spears of the Aegean soldiers and knew that they could not hope to defeat them with their clumsy stone axes.For many centuries they continued to wander from valley to valley and from mountain side to mountain side Then the whole of the land had been occupied and the migration had come to an end.
不過在各處的高山頂上，他們也看見了愛琴海人的城堡。他們沒敢對之下手。愛琴誨人士兵使用金屬刀劍與長矛，赫愣人知道，憑自己手里的粗陋石斧，絕對是討不到任何便宜的。在許多世紀里，他們就這樣四處游蕩，往來于一個又一個山谷與山腰。后來，等全部的土地都被他們占領，他們便定居下來作了農民。
That moment was the beginning of Greek civilisation. The Greek farmer, living within sight of the Aegean colonies, was finally driven by curiosity to visit his haughty neighbours. He discovered that he could learn many useful things from the men who dwelt behind the high stone walls of Mycenae, and Tiryns.
這就是希臘文明的開始。這些希臘農民住在看得見愛琴海人殖民地的地方，終于忍不住好奇心，去拜訪了他們的高傲鄰居。他們發現，原來自己可以從這些居住在邁錫尼和蒂林斯的高大石墻后面的人們那里學到許多有用的東西。
He was a clever pupil. Within a short time he mastered the art of handling those strange iron weapons which the Aegeans had brought from Babylon and from Thebes. He came to understand the mysteries of navigation. He began to build little boats for his own use.
他們是絕頂聰明的學生。沒用多久，便學會了如何使用愛琴海人從巴比倫和底比斯買回的那些奇怪的鐵制武器，也弄懂了航海的奧秘。于是，他們開始自己建造小船，出海航行。
And when he had learned everything the Aegeans could teach him he turned upon his teachers and drove them back to their islands. Soon afterwards he ventured forth upon the sea and conquered all the cities of the Aegean. Finally in the fifteenth century before our era he plundered and ravaged Cnossus and ten centuries after their first appearance upon the scene the Hellenes were the undisputed rulers of Greece, of the Aegean and of the coastal regions of Asia Minor. Troy, the last great commercial stronghold of the older civilisation, was destroyed in the eleventh century B.C., European history was to begin in all seriousness.
當他們學會了愛琴海人的所有技藝，便掉轉矛頭，把自己的老師趕回了愛琴海島嶼。不久，他們冒險渡海，征服了愛琴海上的所有城市。最后，在公元前15世紀，他們洗劫了克諾索斯，將其夷為平地。就這樣，在赫愣人初次登上歷史舞臺10世紀后，他們成為了整個希臘、愛琴海和小亞細亞沿岸地區的無可爭議的主人。公元前11世紀，古老文明的最后一個偉大貿易中心特洛伊被希臘人摧毀。歐洲歷史于此便真正開始了。
