If we were asked exactly what we were doing a year ago，we should probably have to say that we could not remember But if we had kept a book and had written in it an account of what we did each day，we should be able to give an answer to the question.

　　It is the same in history Many things have been forgotten because we do not have any written account of them Sometimes men did keep a record of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire or in a war.Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that time and place did not know how to Write.For example，we know a good deal about the people who lived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for those who lived after them.But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 years ago in central Africa. because they had not learned to write. Sometimes.of course，even if the people cannot write，they may know something of the past.They have heard about it from older people，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most important happenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations For most people are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past.This we may call ‟remembered history’.Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us as written history is，because words are much more easily changed when used again and again in speech than when copied in writing.But where there are no written records，such spoken stories are often very helpful.

当我们被问起准确的说书一年之前的这个时候我们正在做什么，我们可能不得不承认记不得了。但是，如果我们有个册子，上面记录了每天我们做过什么的话，这个问题就不难给出答案了。

　　对于历史的记录也是如此。许多事情由于没有任何书面的记录而被人遗忘。有时也有人会对于他们国家发生的重要事件进行记录，但是这些记录往往毁于火灾或者战乱。有时也因为那个地方或那个时代的人不会写字，而根本不会有书面记录的存在。譬如说，因为中国4千年前的古人会写字而且给后人留下了很多文献，所以我们对那个时代的中国人十分了解;但是对于甚至2百年前的中非人，由于他们不会写字，而使我们对其几乎一无所知。

　　当然了，有的时候就算人们不会写字，对于过去的历史也会多少有些了解。也许是从老一辈的那里听说的，或者从一些由重大事件编出的歌曲和舞蹈中了解的——这些传说和歌舞是从很多辈人流传下来的。很多人都喜欢夸耀他们的父辈在过去的丰功伟绩，我们把这个叫做“remembered history”(记忆中的历史)。现在一些记忆中的历史已经变成了文字而保留了下来。由于反复经过口头传送的历史远比书面记录的历史变化大，这种历史不如书面历史那么精确和有价值。但是，在没有书面历史存在的时候，这种口头流传的故事就很有帮助了。