38 The first calender

Future historians will be in a unique position when they come to record the history of our own times.

未来的历史学家在写我们这一段历史的时候会别具一格。

They will hardly know which facts to select from the great mass of evidence that steadily accumulates.

对于逐渐积累起来的庞大材料,他们几乎不知道选取哪些好。

What is more, they will not have to rely solely on the written word.

而且,也不必完全依赖文字材料。

Films, videos, CDs and CD-ROMs are just some of the bewildering amount of information they will have.

电影、录像、光盘和光盘驱动器只是能为他们提供令人眼花缭乱的大量信息的几种手段。

They will be able, as it were, to see and hear us in action.

他们能够身临其境般地观看我们做事,倾听我们讲话。

But the historian attempting to reconstruct the distant past is always faced with a difficult task.

但是,历史学家企图重现遥远的过去可是一项艰巨的任务。