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 fully¹ 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 plodding² 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 prehistoric³ 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 timing⁴

　　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 wanes⁵ 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 awe⁶.

　　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" derives⁷ 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 leniently⁸.

　　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

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 plodding   

a.proceeding in a slow or dull way

参考例句：

• They're still plodding along with their investigation. 他们仍然在不厌其烦地进行调查。
• He is plodding on with negotiations. 他正缓慢艰难地进行着谈判。

3 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

4 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

5 wanes   

v.衰落( wane的第三人称单数 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• The moon waxes till it becomes full, and then wanes. 月亮渐盈，直到正圆，然后消亏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The moon waxes and wanes every month. 月亮每个月都有圆缺。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

7 derives   

v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• English derives in the main from the common Germanic stock. 英语主要源于日耳曼语系。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derives his income from freelance work. 他以自由职业获取收入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 leniently   

温和地，仁慈地

参考例句：

• He marked the paper leniently. 他改考卷打分数很松。
• Considering the signs he showed of genuine repentance,we shall deal leniently with him. 鉴于他有真诚悔改的表现，我们将对他宽大处理。