The Standing Stones 復活節島神秘巨石像 ( 地球村生活美語月刊2015年4月號)

Among the most mysterious phenomena1 of early civilization2 are the megaliths3, standing stones erected by the ancients before history began.  The stones ranged from1 a few kilograms to many tons and were either placed in rows or circles or had faces sculpted4 in them, but no one knows why.
在古文明最神秘的現象之中，包括了巨石陣，也就是歷史記載之前由古代人所豎立的高大立石。這些石頭，從幾公斤到幾噸重都有，並且排列成行、或擺成圓圈、或石面上刻畫著臉，但是這麼做的原因無人知曉。

Beth : Have you ever been to Stonehenge, the place in England with enormous5 stones in a horseshoe arrangement?
貝絲：你去過巨石陣嗎？也就是位在英國，有許多巨大石頭排成馬蹄鐵形狀的地方？

Brian : Yes, it blew my mind2.  Archaeologists6 have found evidence of human activity as early as 11,000 years ago in that place.  For some reason, at about 3100 BC people piled the earth to make a donut-shaped mound and sunk7 pine posts8 around the outer edge.  Later, from 2100 to 1500 BC, the stones were erected.
布萊恩：有啊，那讓我感到相當震撼。考古學家在那裡找到早在一萬一千年前人類活動的證據。由於某些原因，在大約西元前三千一百年時，人們在地上做了一個環狀的土丘，並且沿著外緣周圍插上松木柱子。後來，在西元前兩千一百年到一千五百年之間， 石頭才被豎立起來。

Beth : Wow, I heard that no one is sure whether the same civilization did these things or not.
貝絲：哇啊，我聽說沒有人確定是否是同一個文明社會做了這些事情。

Brian : That’s true, and no one really knows why so many generations toiled9 so hard.
布萊恩：沒錯，而且也沒人知道為什麼如此多世代，要這麼辛勞的做這件事。

Beth : I also read that those 25-ton stones were quarried10 18 miles away and dragged to the Stonehedge site.  To do that, they had to cut flat trails through the forest and use wooden sledges11 to drag the stones.
貝絲：我還讀到這些二十五噸的大石頭，是在十八英里遠的地方開採的，並且被拖曳到巨石陣的地點。為了搬運這些石頭，他們必須剷平森林闢出一條平坦的小道，並且使用木橇來拖拉石頭。

Brian :  The theories range from it being an astronomical observatory3, a place for religious worship, or even a livestock12 corral.  It is amazing that the remains of over 1,000 other stone rings have been found throughout the British Isles and Northern France.  One is so large that it surrounds the English village of Avebury, with some standing stones weighing up to 60 tons!
布萊恩：關於巨石陣的推測，從它是天文觀測台、到宗教崇拜的地點、甚至是家畜的圍欄等都有。驚人的是，在不列顛諸島和法國北部各處，找到超過一千座的環狀石頭遺跡。其中一座遺跡規模如此龐大，包圍了英國村莊埃夫伯里，其中某些豎立的石頭高達六十噸重！

Beth :  The place I’m pining for1 is Easter Island, a 65-mile-long island where there are many carved stone heads on the hills and cliff tops.
貝絲：我渴望拜訪的地方是復活節島，在這個六十五英哩長的島上，山丘和懸崖上擁有許多石雕的頭像。

Brian :  Yeah, I read about it.  Supposedly, Polynesians settled1 the remote2 Pacific island around 400 A.D.  They had no contact with the outside world until a Dutch explorer discovered them in 1722.  Baffled3, they approached the island and saw those big carved sculptures and expected to see an advanced4 civilization.
布萊恩：對，我曾讀到過。據說波利尼西亞人在大約西元前四百年時，來到這座偏遠的太平洋島嶼定居。他們一直和外界沒有任何接觸，直到在1722年被一名荷蘭探險家發現。感到困惑的探險家在靠近島嶼時，看到這些巨大的雕刻石像，並且預期會看見一個先進的文明社會。

Beth : Yes, but when they went on the island they found it to be a wasteland5, barren6 of trees and animals.  There were 2,000 natives there, but they were not organized, had few possessions7, and many were starving.
貝絲：是啊，但是當他們上岸時，他們發現島上是一片荒地，沒有樹木和動物。島上住著兩千名土著，但是這些土著沒有組織，擁有的物品也很少，並且有許多人在挨餓。

Brian :  Scientists wonder how 900 stone statues, many of them 12 meters tall and weighing over 80 tons, were quarried, moved and sculpted without tools.
布萊恩：科學家納悶這九百座石像，是如何在沒有工具的情況下被開採、搬運、和雕刻，而許多石像高達十二公尺，並且重量超過八十噸。

Beth :  I saw a documentary that says scientists and archaeologists examined8 pollen9 and ancient trash pits and pieced together2 what they thought happened.
貝絲：我看過一部紀錄片，裡面說到科學家和考古學家考察花粉和古代垃圾坑，然後拼湊出他們認為所發生的事。

Brian :  The article I read said the Polynesians arrived to a densely10 forested subtropical paradise.  They built heavy wooden canoes11 and flourished12 by deep-sea fishing.  They erected the megalithic faces as tributes to their gods.
布萊恩：我讀到的文章，說到波利尼西亞人來到一個森林茂密的亞熱帶天堂。他們建造龐大的木製獨木舟，並且靠深海捕魚而蓬勃地發展。他們豎立起這些巨石面孔，以向他們的神致敬。

Beth :  Yes, and the population reached 20,000, but then they started separating into competing tribes.  To show status they erected more and more statues, as if in a competition.
貝絲：是的，然後當人口到達兩萬人時，他們開始分裂成相互競爭的部落。為了展現地位，他們像在競爭一般的豎立起更多的石像。

Brian :  Unfortunately, the race for glory cost the civilization.  Chopping down3 the last of the trees in the 1400s cut them off from the sea because they could no longer build boats to fish.
布萊恩：可惜的是，為了榮耀的競爭，也讓這個文明社會付出代價。當他們在十五世紀時砍下最後剩餘的樹木時，也斷絕了他們和大海的聯繫，因為他們無法再繼續造船來捕魚。

Vocabulary(字彙)
1.   phenomena (n.)   現象
2.   civilization (n.)      文明社會
3.   megalith (n.)          巨石
4.   sculpt (v.)            雕刻
      sculpt  sculpted  sculpted
5.   enormous (adj.)         巨大的；龐大的
6.   archaeologist (n.) 考古學家
7.   sink (v.)             把⋯插入
      sink  sank  sunk
8.   post (n.)       柱；樁
9.   toil (v.)        辛苦；勞累
      toil  toiled  toiled
10. quarry (v.)        從採石場採石
      quarry  quarried  quarried
11. sledge (n.)         滑架；橇；犁
12. livestock (n.)       家畜

Idioms, Phrases, etc. (片語)
1.   range from A to B (v. phr.) 範圍從⋯到⋯
The banquet attendees ranged from teenagers to elderly retirees.
2.   blow one’s mind (idiom) 使某人驚異
It blows my mind to think of all the celebrities who have died young.
3.   astronomical observatory (n. phr.) 天文觀測台
Isn’t there supposed to be an astronomical observatory on top of Taipei 101?

( 回地球村生活美語精采文章選單 )