WHAT wuld yu d if yu knew the wrld was cming t an end next week，r even next year？
The peple wh lived in the tenth century thught the Bible said smething that meant that the wrld was cming t an end in the Year 1000-which was called the millennium frm the Latin wrd meaning a thusand years.
Sme peple were glad that the wrld was cming t an end. They were s pr and miserable and unhappy here that they were anxius t g t heaven， where everything wuld be fine and lvely-if they had been gd here. They were particularly gd and did everything they culd t earn a place fr themselves in heaven when thisld wrld shuld end.
thers were nt s anxius t have the wrld cme t an end. But， they thught， if it were cming t an end s sn， they might as well hurry up and enjy themselves here while they still had a chance.
Well， the Year 1000 came， and nthing happened. At first peple simply thught that a mistake had been made in cunting the years-that there had nt really beenne thusand years since Christ"s birth. The years went by， and still peple waited fr the end. They reread their Bibles and thught perhaps it meant a thusand years after Christ"s death， insteadf his birth. As time wentn， withut any change， they began t think the end was delayed fr sme reasn they culd nt explain. It was nt fr many years after the millennium that mst peple came at last t realize that the wrld was nt ging t stp after all.
Everynce in a while smene wh thinks he knws mre thanthers says the endf the wrld is nt farff， but we may be quite sure that the wrld will keepn ging lng after we have all grwn up and died andur children have dne the same.
At this time， when peple were lking fr the endf the wrld， there was in the nrthf Eurpe a peple wh did nt becme Christians until arund the year 1000 and cared nthing abut what the Bible said as t the endf the wrld. They belnged t the same family as the Danes wh had cme t England in the timef Alfred. They were called Nrsemenr Vikings. They were bld seafaring men， as hardy and unafraid as the Phenician sailrsfld. Their bats were painted black and had prws carved with figuresf sea mnstersr dragns. They sailed the nrthern seas and went farther westward tward the setting sun than anyther sailrs that we knw abut had ever gne. They had discvered Iceland and Greenland， and at last under their chief wh was named Leif Ericsn they reached the shresf America. Abut the same year that the Christians in Eurpe were expecting the endf the wrld-the Year 1000-the Vikings had gne t what sme peple thught was the endf the wrld.
The Vikings called this new place Vinelandr Wineland because they fund grapes， frm which wine is made， grwing there. They tld stries called sagas abut their vyages t Vineland， and we can still read these stries. In the sagas， Vineland is described as a beautiful cuntry， rich with grass and timber and wild wheat， with abundant animals and fish， and mild in winter. The Vikings met peple living there whm we nw call Native Americans.
We"re nt sure exactly where these adventurus peple went. We knw that they reached Newfundland， Canada and they may have gne as far suth as Cape Cd in Massachusetts. The Vikings did nt stay fr very lng in America， althugh they cntinued t sail the Nrth Atlantic. We cannly wnder if Clumbus knew abut the Vineland sagas and their stries abut the land acrss the Atlantic， westf Eurpe.
【中文阅读】
如果你知道下周或是明年，这个世界就要走到尽头，你会怎么做呢？
生活在 10 世纪的人们认为，《圣经》上说的有些话（启示录：20）意味着，世界会在公元 1000 年的时候终结--拉丁文称为"千禧年"，就是一千年的意思。 有些人对世界即将结束感到很高兴，他们在这个世界穷困潦倒，痛苦不堪，巴不得赶紧去天堂，那里所有的一切都是美好而迷人的--如果他们在这个世界老老 实实的。他们规规矩矩，尽可能做好事，为了在这个旧世界结束后，能在天堂赢得 自己的一席之地。
而另一些人并不急于让这个世界结束。但是，他们觉得如果这个世界真的很快 就要结束了，倒不如趁现在还有机会赶紧玩个痛快吧。
好了，公元 1000 年到了，什么都没有发生。最初，人们只是以为在计算年份时 出了错--还没有真正到耶稣诞生后一千年。一些年过去了，还有人在等待世界末 日的到来。他们又重读了圣经，觉得圣经所指的大概是耶稣"死"后的一千年，而 不是他诞生后一千年。随着时间流逝，世界还是没有任何变化，人们开始猜测世界 末日是因为某种未知的原因而推迟了。在千禧年过去没有许多年，大多数人最终意 识到，世界末日根本就不会来了。
49 The Endf the Wrld 243
偶尔，某个自以为比别人高明的人会说，距离世界末日那天不远了，但是，我 们可以相当肯定的是，世界在我们长大成人和死后，直到我们的孩子们成年和死后 都会始终存在。
就在人们探寻世界末日的时候，在北欧有一个民族，他们在大约公元 1000 年以 前，还没有成为基督徒，对圣经里所说的世界末日一点也不感兴趣。他们和在阿尔 弗烈德时期迁移到英国的丹麦人属于同一个种族，叫做挪威人或维京人。他们是勇 敢的以航海为业的人，和古时的腓尼基水手一样吃苦耐劳，无所畏惧。他们的船漆 成黑色，船头刻着海怪和龙的图案。他们在北方海域航行，还向西朝着日落的方向 行进，走得比我们所知道的以往任何水手都要远。他们发现了冰岛和格陵兰岛。最 后，在名叫利夫 埃里克松的首领率领下，他们到达了美洲的海岸。在欧洲的基督徒 期待世界末日的同一年--公元 1000 年--维京人到达了有些人认为是世界尽头的 地方。
维京人把这个新地方叫做"葡萄地"，因为他们发现那儿生长着可以酿酒的葡 萄。他们讲述了他们在到"葡萄地"的途中发生的故事，这些故事叫"萨迦"，我们 现在还可以读到这些故事。在"萨迦"中，"葡萄地"被描述为一个美丽的地方，那 里青草、树木和野小麦生长繁茂，还有很多飞禽走兽和鱼类，而且冬天气候温暖。 维京人还遇到了生活在那里的当地人，现在我们称这些人为美洲印第安人。
我们不能确切知道这些爱冒险的人都去了哪些地方，我们知道他们到了纽芬兰 岛、加拿大，可能还向南远至马萨诸塞州的科德角半岛。维京人在美洲并没有待很 久，不过他们继续在大西洋北部航行。我们很想知道哥伦布是否知道有关"葡萄地" 的"萨迦"和维京人在欧洲之西、大西洋对岸那片土地上的故事。
