The world’s most mysterious book - Stephen Bax

Najtajanstvenija knjiga na svetu - Stiven Baks (Stephen Bax)

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

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

Duboko unutar biblioteke Bajneke za retke knjige i rukopise Univerziteta Jejl,

lies the only copy of a 240-page tome.

nalazi se jedini primerak toma od 240 stranica.

Recently carbon dated to around 1420,

Nedavno je utvrđeno pomoću ugljenika da potiče iz oko 1420,

its vellum pages features looping handwriting

njegove stranice od veluma sadrže kukast rukopis

and hand-drawn images seemingly stolen from a dream.

i ručno nacrtane prizore koji kao da su otrgnuti iz sna.

Real and imaginary plants,

Stvarne i izmišljene biljke,

floating castles,

lebdeći zamkovi,

bathing women,

kupačice,

astrology diagrams,

astrološki dijagrami,

zodiac rings,

prstenovi zodijaka,

and suns and moons with faces accompany the text.

kao i sunca i mesece s licima, sve to prati tekst.

This 24x16 centimeter book is called the Voynich manuscript,

Ova knjiga od 24x16 centimetara se naziva Vojničevim rukopisom

and its one of history's biggest unsolved mysteries.

i to je jedna od najvećih istorijskih nerešenih misterija.

The reason why?

Zbog čega?

No one can figure out what it says.

Niko ne može da razume o čemu govori.

The name comes from Wilfrid Voynich,

Ime potiče od Vilfrida Vojniča,

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

poljskog prodavca knjiga koji je naišao na dokument na jezuitskom fakultetu

in Italy in 1912.

u Italiji 1912.

He was puzzled.

Bio je zbunjen.

Who wrote it?

Ko ga je napisao?

Where was it made?

Gde je sastavljen?

What do these bizarre words and vibrant drawings represent?

Šta ove bizarne reči i šarenoliki crteži predstavljaju?

What secrets do its pages contain?

Kakve tajne njegove stranice sadrže?

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

Kupio je rukopis od sveštenika sa fakulteta, koji je bio u oskudici,

and eventually brought it to the U.S.,

i na kraju ga je doneo u SAD,

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

gde zbunjuje stručnjake više od jednog veka.

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

Kriptolozi kažu da rukopis ima sve karakteristike stvarnog jezika,

just one that no one's ever seen before.

samo nekog koga niko ranije nije video.

What makes it seem real is that in actual languages,

Stvarnim ga čini to što se u stvarnim jezicima

letters and groups of letters appear with consistent frequencies,

slova i slovne grupe pojavljuju s doslednom učestalošću,

and the language in the Voynich manuscript

a jezik iz Vojničevog rukopisa

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

ima obrasce koji se ne zatiču kod nasumičnog generatora slova.

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

Mimo toga, znamo malo više od onog što je očito.

The letters are varied in style and height.

Slova se razlikuju u stilu i veličini.

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

Neka su pozajmljena iz drugih spisa, ali mnoga su jedinstvena.

The taller letters have been named gallows characters.

Veća slova su nazvana "vešalima".

The manuscript is highly decorated throughout

Rukopis je do kraja ukrašen

with scroll-like embellishments.

vijugavim ukrasima.

It appears to be written by two or more hands,

Izgleda kao da su ga napisale dve ili više ruku,

with the painting done by yet another party.

a da je slike napravio neko treći.

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

Vremenom su se pojavile tri glavne teorije o tekstu rukopisa.

The first is that it's written in cypher,

Prva glasi da je napisan šifrovano,

a secret code deliberately designed to hide secret meaning.

kao tajna šifra namerno osmišljena da sakrije tajno značenje.

The second is that the document is a hoax

Druga glasi da je dokument prevara,

written in gibberish to make money off a gullible buyer.

napisan kao besmislica kako bi od naivnog kupca izmamio novac.

Some speculate the author was a medieval con man.

Neki nagađaju da je autor srednjovekovni prevarant.

Others, that it was Voynich himself.

Drugi da se radi lično o Vojniču.

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

Treća teorija je da je rukopis napisan na stvarnom jeziku,

but in an unknown script.

ali na nepoznatom pismu.

Perhaps medieval scholars were attempting to create an alphabet

Možda su srednjovekovni učenjaci pokušavali da naprave alfabet

for a language that was spoken but not yet written.

za govorni jezik, koji još uvek nije imao pismo.

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

U tom slučaju, Vojničev rukopis bi mogao da bude poput rongorongo pisma,

invented on Easter Island,

izumljenog na Uskršnjim ostrvima,

now unreadable after the culture that made it collapsed.

koje nije više čitljivo jer je nestala kultura koja ga je sastavila.

Though no one can read the Voynich manuscript,

Iako niko ne može da čita Vojničev rukopis,

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

to nije sprečilo ljude da nagađaju o čemu govori.

Those who believe the manuscript was an attempt to create

Oni koji veruju da je rukopis bio pokušaj stvaranja

a new form of written language

novog oblika pisanog jezika,

speculate that it might be an encyclopedia

nagađaju da bi moglo da se radi o enciklopediji

containing the knowledge of the culture that produced it.

koja sadrži znanje o kulturi iz koje je potekla.

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

Drugi veruju da ga je napisao filozof iz XIII veka, Rodžer Bejkon,

who attempted to understand the universal laws of grammar,

koji je pokušavao da razume univerzalne zakone gramatike;

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

ili da ga je napisao u XVI veku elizabetanski mistik Džon Di,

who practiced alchemy and divination.

koji je vežbao alhemiju i vračanje.

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

Nekonvencionalnije teorije tvrde da je knjigu napisao skup italijanskih veštica

or even by Martians.

ili čak Marsovci.

After 100 years of frustration,

Nakon 100 godina nerviranja,

scientists have recently shed a little light on the mystery.

naučnicu su nedavno bar malo osvetlili misteriju.

The first breakthrough was the carbon dating.

Prvi pomak je bio utvrđivanje datuma putem ugljenika.

Also, contemporary historians have traced the provenance of the manuscript

Takođe, savremeni istoričari su otkrili putovanje rukopisa

back through Rome and Prague to as early as 1612,

nazad kroz Rim i Prag sve do 1612.

when it was perhaps passed from Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II

kada je možda prešao od Svetog rimskog cara Rudolfa II

to his physician, Jacobus Sinapius.

do njegovog lekara, Jakobusa Sinapiusa.

In addition to these historical breakthroughs,

Uz ova istorijska otkrića,

linguistic researchers recently proposed the provisional identification

istraživači lingvisti su nedavno predložili privremenu identifikaciju

of a few of the manuscript's words.

nekoliko reči iz rukopisa.

Could the letters beside these seven stars spell Tauran,

Da li slova pored ovih sedam zvezda ispisuju Tauran,

a name for Taurus,

naziv za Taurus,

a constellation that includes the seven stars called the Pleiades?

sazvežđe koje uključuje sedam zvezda po imenu Plejade?

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

Da li bi ova reč mogla da bude Centaurun za biljku centareu na slici?

Perhaps, but progress is slow.

Možda, ali napredak je spor.

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

Kad bismo mogli da ga dešifrujemo, šta bismo otkrili?

The dream journal of a 15th-century illustrator?

Dnevnik snova ilustratora iz XV veka?

A bunch of nonsense?

Gomilu besmislica?

Or the lost knowledge of a forgotten culture?

Ili izgubljeno znanje o zaboravljenoj kulturi?

What do you think it is?

Šta vi mislite o čemu se radi?