神秘的月球 第2期

 　　The stones seem to be arranged so they track the movements

　　立石的排列
　　of the moon through the sky from month to month.
　　似乎逐月追踪着月亮在夜空中的位置
　　Nowadays we're not really fully 1 aware of
　　其实我们现在并不知道
　　what the moon's doing in the sky, we know short days in the winter,
　　月球在天上做什么，我们知道冬天白昼较短
　　long days in the summer,
　　夏天白昼较长
　　but the moon's plodding 2 on doing the same
　　其实月亮的变化也一样
　　sort of thing over much longer cycles.
　　只不过周期长得多
　　And whereas we nowadays aren't fully aware of
　　现代人也许不知道
　　where the northernmost moon rises or sets,
　　月亮升起、落下的极北
　　or the southernmost,
　　或极南位置为何
　　our prehistoric 3 ancestors five thousand years ago
　　但我们的史前老祖宗在五千年前
　　did know and they set these stones out
　　就知道了并以这些石头
　　to mark these extreme positions of the moon.
　　标示月亮的位置
　　Most of all the stones could predict the timing 4
　　立石阵最惊人的是可以预测
　　of a spectacular and rare lunar event.
　　罕见壮观月球事件的时间
　　To the south of Callanish is a range of hills
　　卡拉尼什南部有一座
　　which resemble a woman lying on her back.
　　看似一名仰卧女子的山峰
　　Every 18 years the full moon rises out of the hills.
　　每隔18年，满月会从山峦间升起
　　It rolls along the woman's body and then vanishes.
　　沿着女子身体的曲线移动，然后消失
　　But moments later it is re-born
　　但数分钟后
　　right in the centre of the stone circle!
　　在立石圈的中央再度出现
　　Legend says that anyone
　　据说
　　who witnessed this magical event
　　任何目睹此事件的人
　　would be blessed with the gift of fertility.
　　都会多子多孙
　　It has always been the full moon above
　　满月
　　all else that has stirred the human spirit.
　　让人心旌摇撼
　　Yet the moon has no light of its own,
　　但是月亮本身并不会发光
　　its glow is simply reflected sunlight.
　　月光不过是反射的阳光
　　As it orbits our planet the portion
　　月球绕着地球运行时
　　of the sunlit surface that we see changes.
　　被太阳照射的受光面会改变
　　This gives us the phases of the moon
　　这就是月亮的阴晴圆缺
　　a twenty nine and a half day cycle
　　月亮将在为期29.5天的周期内
　　that waxes to full and then wanes 5 back to new.
　　由朔到望，再由望到朔
　　When the moon is full the night sky glows
　　满月时夜空的亮度
　　ten times brighter than when it's new.
　　是新月时的十倍
　　And on this night the same full moon
　　这天晚上
　　can be seen from every corner of the earth.
　　世上任何一个角落都可以看到相同的一轮满月
　　It has always inspired awe 6.
　　它向来让人敬畏之心油然而生
　　In times gone by,
　　过去
　　the full moon was believed to bring out
　　人们认为月亮会引出人性的黑暗面
　　our darker selves in a monthly wave of madness and bloodshed.
　　所以每个月都会有疯狂、血光之灾
　　The word "lunacy" derives 7 from the Latin word
　　英文“疯狂”的字根来自拉丁文中的月亮
　　for moon and crimes that happened at this time
　　在满月期间发生的罪案
　　were looked upon more leniently 8.
　　往往会被从宽发落
　　But when it comes to nature,the moon's impact isn't legend.
　　但是月亮对大自然的影响并不是神话