The world’s most mysterious book - Stephen Bax

Prevoditelj: Katarina Mikjel Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

Deep inside Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

U srcu Knjižnice rijetkih knjiga i rukopisa Beinecke Sveučilišta Yale

lies the only copy of a 240-page tome.

nalazi se jedini primjerak sveska od 240 stranica.

Recently carbon dated to around 1420,

Nedavno je metodom 14C utvrđeno da je iz oko 1420.,

its vellum pages features looping handwriting

a na stranicama od veluma ističu se vijugavi rukopis

and hand-drawn images seemingly stolen from a dream.

i ručno oslikani prizori kao iz sna.

Real and imaginary plants,

Stvarne i izmišljene biljke,

floating castles,

lebdeći dvorci,

bathing women,

kupačice,

astrology diagrams,

astrološki dijagrami,

zodiac rings,

zodijački prsteni

and suns and moons with faces accompany the text.

te sunca i mjeseci s licima prate tekst.

This 24x16 centimeter book is called the Voynich manuscript,

Ta knjiga dimenzija 24 x 16 cm naziva se Voynichevim rukopisom

and its one of history's biggest unsolved mysteries.

i jedan je od najvećih neriješenih misterija u povijesti.

The reason why?

Zašto?

No one can figure out what it says.

Zato što nitko ne zna o čemu govori.

The name comes from Wilfrid Voynich,

Ime je dobila po Wilfridu Voynichu,

a Polish bookseller who came across the document at a Jesuit college

poljskome knjižaru koji je nabasao na nju na isusovačkom koledžu

in Italy in 1912.

u Italiji 1912.

He was puzzled.

Bio je zbunjen.

Who wrote it?

Tko ju je napisao?

Where was it made?

Gdje je sastavljena?

What do these bizarre words and vibrant drawings represent?

Što te bizarne riječi i živopisni crteži predstavljaju?

What secrets do its pages contain?

Kakve tajne kriju njezine stranice?

He purchased the manuscript from the cash-strapped priest at the college,

Kupio je rukopis od svećenika s koledža kojemu je trebao novac

and eventually brought it to the U.S.,

i naposljetku ga donio u SAD,

where experts have continued to puzzle over it for more than a century.

gdje više od stoljeća zbunjuje stručnjake.

Cryptologists say the writing has all the characteristics of a real language,

Kriptolozi kažu da pismo ima sve značajke pravog jezika,

just one that no one's ever seen before.

ali ni jednog dosad viđenog.

What makes it seem real is that in actual languages,

Stvarnim se čini zato što se u stvarnim jezicima

letters and groups of letters appear with consistent frequencies,

slova i skupine slova pojavljuju dosljednom učestalošću,

and the language in the Voynich manuscript

a jezik iz Voynicheva rukopisa

has patterns you wouldn't find from a random letter generator.

sadržava obrasce kakve ne može stvoriti nasumičan generator slova.

Other than that, we know little more than what we can see.

Osim toga, ne znamo puno više od očitog.

The letters are varied in style and height.

Slova se razlikuju po stilu i veličini.

Some are borrowed from other scripts, but many are unique.

Neka su posuđena iz drugih pisama, no mnogo ih je jedinstvenih.

The taller letters have been named gallows characters.

Viša slova prozvana su "vješalima".

The manuscript is highly decorated throughout

Cijeli je rukopis ukrašen

with scroll-like embellishments.

vijugavim ukrasima.

It appears to be written by two or more hands,

Čini se da su ga pisala barem dvojica autora,

with the painting done by yet another party.

a oslikao ga je netko treći.

Over the years, three main theories about the manuscript's text have emerged.

S vremenom su se pojavile tri glavne teorije o tekstu rukopisa.

The first is that it's written in cypher,

Prema prvoj, riječ je o šifri,

a secret code deliberately designed to hide secret meaning.

tajnom kodu namjerno osmišljenom da prikrije tajno značenje.

The second is that the document is a hoax

Prema drugoj, dokument je prijevara,

written in gibberish to make money off a gullible buyer.

besmislica namijenjena izvlačenju novca od lakovjernog kupca.

Some speculate the author was a medieval con man.

Neki nagađaju da je autor srednjovjekovni prevarant.

Others, that it was Voynich himself.

Drugi, da je to sam Voynich.

The third theory is that the manuscript is written in an actual language,

Prema trećoj teoriji rukopis je napisan na stvarnom jeziku,

but in an unknown script.

ali nepoznatim pismom.

Perhaps medieval scholars were attempting to create an alphabet

Možda su srednjovjekovni učenjaci pokušavali stvoriti abecedu

for a language that was spoken but not yet written.

za govorni jezik koji još nije imao pismo.

In that case, the Voynich manuscript might be like the rongorongo script

U tom bi slučaju Voynichev rukopis mogao biti poput pisma rongorongo

invented on Easter Island,

izmišljenog na Uskršnjem otoku,

now unreadable after the culture that made it collapsed.

koje je postalo nerazumljivo nakon propasti kulture koja ga je stvorila.

Though no one can read the Voynich manuscript,

Iako nitko ne može pročitati Voynichev rukopis,

that hasn't stopped people from guessing what it might say.

to nije spriječilo nagađanja o njegovu sadržaju.

Those who believe the manuscript was an attempt to create

Oni koji rukopis smatraju pokušajem stvaranja

a new form of written language

novog oblika pisanog jezika

speculate that it might be an encyclopedia

nagađaju da bi mogao biti enciklopedija

containing the knowledge of the culture that produced it.

koja sadržava znanja kulture iz koje potječe.

Others believe it was written by the 13th century philosopher Roger Bacon,

Drugi vjeruju da ga je napisao Roger Bacon, filozof iz 13. stoljeća

who attempted to understand the universal laws of grammar,

koji je pokušao shvatiti univerzalne zakone gramatike,

or in the 16th century by the Elizabethan mystic John Dee,

ili elizabetinski mistik iz 16. stoljeća John Dee,

who practiced alchemy and divination.

koji se bavio alkemijom i vračanjem.

More fringe theories that the book was written by a coven of Italian witches,

Prema nekonvencionalnijim teorijama knjigu je napisao koven talijanskih vještica

or even by Martians.

ili čak Marsovci.

After 100 years of frustration,

Nakon stogodišnjeg neuspjeha

scientists have recently shed a little light on the mystery.

znanstvenici su nedavno barem malo rasvijetlili taj misterij.

The first breakthrough was the carbon dating.

Prvi pomak bilo je datiranje metodom 14C.

Also, contemporary historians have traced the provenance of the manuscript

Usto su suvremeni povjesničari

back through Rome and Prague to as early as 1612,

pratili put rukopisa preko Rima i Praga unatrag sve do 1612.,

when it was perhaps passed from Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II

kada je možda prešao iz ruku cara Svetog Rimskog Carstva Rudolfa II.

to his physician, Jacobus Sinapius.

u ruke njegova liječnika Jacobusa Sinapiusa.

In addition to these historical breakthroughs,

Uz ta povijesna otkrića,

linguistic researchers recently proposed the provisional identification

lingvisti su nedavno predložili privremenu identifikaciju

of a few of the manuscript's words.

nekoliko riječi iz rukopisa.

Could the letters beside these seven stars spell Tauran,

Ispisuju li slova uz ovih sedam zvijezda možda riječ Tauran,

a name for Taurus,

naziv za Bika (Taurus)

a constellation that includes the seven stars called the Pleiades?

tj. zviježđe u kojem je sedam zvijezda po imenu Plejade?

Could this word be Centaurun for the Centaurea plant in the picture?

Je li ova riječ možda Centaurun za biljku različak (Centaurea) na slici?

Perhaps, but progress is slow.

Možda, ali napredak je spor.

If we can crack its code, what might we find?

Razbijemo li šifru, što bismo mogli otkriti?

The dream journal of a 15th-century illustrator?

Dnevnik snova ilustratora iz 15. stoljeća?

A bunch of nonsense?

Gomilu besmislica?

Or the lost knowledge of a forgotten culture?

Ili izgubljeno znanje zaboravljene kulture?

What do you think it is?

Što vi mislite?