Where did Russia come from, why is it so big, and what are the differences between it and its neighbors?
俄罗斯起源于哪里，为何幅员如此辽阔，它和其邻国有什么不同呢？
The answers lie in an epic story of seafaring warriors, nomadic invaders, and the rise and fall of a medieval state known as Kievan Rus.
答案就在航海战士、游牧入侵者以及被称为“基辅罗斯”的中世纪国家兴衰的史诗故事中。
In the first millennium, a large group of tribes spread through the dense woodlands of Eastern Europe.
公元后的第一个千年，一个庞大的游牧民族开始向东欧繁茂的森林扩张。
Because they had no writing system, much of what we know about them comes from three main sources: archaeological evidence, accounts from literate scholars of the Roman Empire and the Middle East, and, lastly, an epic history called the Primary Chronicle compiled in the 12th century by a monk named Nestor.
由于他们没有文字记载这段历史，我们主要通过三个途径了解它：考古学的佐证，当时罗马帝国和中东地区文学家的记述以及《往年纪事》(Primary Chronicle)，它是由一名叫涅斯托尔的游僧编篡的一部有时代意义的历史著作。
What they tell us is that these tribes who shared a common Slavic language and polytheistic religion had by the 7th century split into western, southern and eastern branches, the latter stretching from the Dniester River to the Volga and the Baltic Sea.
书中记述这些部落共用一套语言系统——斯拉夫语，共同信仰多神教，在公元七世纪，他们分裂成西部、南部和东部三个分支，东部分支从德涅斯特河伸展到伏尔加河、波罗的海等地。
As Nestor's story goes, after years of subjugation by Vikings from the north, who, by the way, did not wear horned helmets in battle, the region's tribes revolted and drove back the Northmen, but left to their own devices, they turned on each other.
在涅斯托尔记载的故事中，当地人在遭受了北边维京人的多年侵扰后(这里说的并不是带着牛角帽子的维京人)，奋起反抗并把他们驱赶了出去，但只剩他们自己的时候，又相互把矛头指向对方。
Such chaos ensued that, ironically, the tribes reached out to the foreigners they had just expelled, inviting them to return and establish order.
讽刺的是，这样的混乱促使他们寻求之前的敌人——维京人的帮助，邀请他们回来帮助建立秩序。
The Vikings accepted, sending a prince named Rurik and his two brothers to rule.
维京人欣然同意了，派遣来他们的王子留里克和他的两个兄弟回来统治。
With Rurik's son, Oleg, expanding his realm into the south, and moving the capitol to Kiev, a former outpost of the Khazar Empire, the Kievan Rus was born,
同时，留里克的儿子奥列格开始向南部扩张，他们的帝国不久后迁都到基辅，那是哈扎尔帝国从前的前哨，这意味着基辅罗斯帝国的诞生。
"Rus" most likely deriving from an old Norse word for "the men who row."
“罗斯”来自一个古老的挪威语，意思是 “划桨人”。
The new princedom had complex relations with its neighbors, alternating between alliance and warfare with the Khazar and Byzantine Empires, as well as neighboring tribes.
这个新成立的国家和他的邻国有着十分复杂的关系，它改变了哈扎尔和拜占庭帝国之间的利害关系，对其他的邻近部落也同样有些影响。
Religion played an important role in politics, and as the legend goes, in 987, the Rus prince Vladamir I decided it was time to abandon Slavic paganism, and sent emissaries to explore neighboring faiths.
宗教在当时的政治系统中有着重要的影响，随着故事的发展，在公元987年，罗斯的王子——弗拉基米尔一世决定是时候放弃斯拉夫的异教信仰了，他向邻国派去使者，让他们去研究当地的宗教。
Put off by Islam's prohibition on alcohol and Judaism's expulsion from its holy land, the ruler settled on Orthodox Christianity after hearing odd accounts of its ceremonies.
他无法忍受伊斯兰不喝酒的传统，接受不了犹太人被驱逐出圣地的凄惨，在听说了基督教的各式庆典后，他接受了正统基督教(东正教)。
With Vladimir's conversion and marriage to the Byzantine emperor's sister, as well as continued trade along the Volga route, the relationship between the two civilizations deepened.
通过弗拉米尔的转变，还有他和拜占庭皇妹的联姻以及伏尔加河上蓬勃发展的贸易，两个帝国的关系更加紧密了。
Byzantine missionaries created an alphabet for Slavic languages based on a modified Greek script while Rus Viking warriors served as the Byzantine Emperor's elite guard.
罗斯帝国的维京战士在拜占庭帝国做一流守卫的同时，拜占庭的传教士根据改良版的希腊字母为斯拉夫语创造了一套新的字母表。
For several generations, the Kievan Rus flourished from its rich resources and trade.
在很长一段时间后，基辅罗斯由于自身丰富的资源和蓬勃发展的贸易变得十分强大。
Its noblemen and noblewomen married prominent European rulers, while residents of some cities enjoyed great culture, literacy, and even democratic freedoms uncommon for the time.
他们的贵族在与欧洲其他统治者联姻的同时，当地居民还享受着他们自己伟大的文化、文学甚至是当时罕有的民主自由。
But nothing lasts forever.
但是好景不长。
Fratricidal disputes over succession began to erode central power as increasingly independent cities ruled by rival princes vied for control.
兄弟间争夺继承权的斗争使中央集权逐渐瓦解，王子争夺着不同城市的统治权。
The Fourth Crusade and decline of Constantinople devastated the trade integral to Rus wealth and power, while Teutonic crusaders threatened northern territories.
当日耳曼的十字军逐渐抵达北部时，随着第四次十字军战争和君士坦丁堡的沦陷，基辅罗斯因贸易而积攒的财富和权力慢慢沦陷。
The final blow, however, would come from the east.
然而，压死骆驼的最后一根稻草来自东部。
Consumed by their squabbles, Rus princes paid little attention to the rumors of a mysterious unstoppable hoard until 1237, when 35,000 mounted archers led by Batu Khan swept through the Rus cities, sacking Kiev before continuing on to Hungary and Poland.
王子们执着于眼前的争吵，忽视了当地对一个神秘快速发展的组织的流言，直到公元1237年，成吉思汗率领着3万5千名骑兵横扫了基辅罗斯的所有城市，洗劫了首都基辅后又前往匈牙利以及波兰。
The age of Kievan Rus had come to an end, its people now divided.
基辅罗斯的时代告一段落，原基辅罗斯的居民如今也散布在世界各地。
In the east, which remained under Mongol rule, a remote trading post, known as Moscow, would grow to challenge the power of the Khans, conquering parts of their fragmenting empire, and, in many ways, succeeding it.
在仍被蒙古人统治着的东方，有一个叫做莫斯科的贸易点成长起来，能挑战可汗的权力，他们夺回了破碎帝国的部分领土之后势如破竹。
As it absorbed other eastern Rus territories, it reclaimed the old name in its Greek form, Ruscia.
他们逐渐吸收了原属基辅罗斯的东部领土，改变了原来的名字，用了希腊发音，叫Ruscia。
Meanwhile, the western regions whose leaders had avoided destruction through political maneuvering until the hoard withdrew came under the influence of Poland and Lithuania.
与此同时，西部地区的统治者们一直通过一些政治手段规避风险直到蒙古骑兵撤退，但他们仍然遭受着波兰和立陶宛的影响。
For the next few centuries, the former lands of Kievan Rus populated by Slavs, ruled by Vikings, taught by Greeks, and split by Mongols would develop differences in society, culture and language that remain to the present day.
在接下来的几个世纪，基辅罗斯的这片领土上曾填满了斯拉夫人，他们曾被维京人统治、被希腊人教导、被蒙古人瓜分，最终形成了社会、语言、文化的多元，一直延续到今天。