The world’s most mysterious book - Stephen Bax

Translator: Sylvia He

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

喺耶魯大學嘅 拜內克古籍缮本圖書館度

lies the only copy of a 240-page tome.

有本 240 頁嘅孤本書

Recently carbon dated to around 1420,

經碳年代測定法鑑定為 大概 1420 年嘅書

its vellum pages features looping handwriting

佢嘅牛皮頁上有圈形嘅字跡

and hand-drawn images seemingly stolen from a dream.

有好似夢境嘅圖案

Real and imaginary plants,

有真嘅同想像出來嘅植物

floating castles,

有空中漂浮嘅城堡

bathing women,

喺度沖涼嘅女人

astrology diagrams,

占星術圖

zodiac rings,

星座戒指

and suns and moons with faces accompany the text.

同有人面嘅日月

This 24x16 centimeter book is called the Voynich manuscript,

呢個長 24 厘米，闊 16 厘米 嘅書叫做伏尼契手稿

and its one of history's biggest unsolved mysteries.

係歷史上最大嘅未解之謎之一

The reason why?

點解呢？

No one can figure out what it says.

因為冇人知道呢本書講咩

The name comes from Wilfrid Voynich,

書名來自一個叫 威爾弗雷德．伏尼契嘅人

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

佢係個波蘭嘅書商

in Italy in 1912.

喺 1912 年喺意大利嘅 一個耶穌會學校度撞啱見到呢本書

He was puzzled.

呢本書使佢困惑

Who wrote it?

邊個寫咗呢本書嚟？

Where was it made?

喺邊度寫嘅？

What do these bizarre words and vibrant drawings represent?

呢哋古怪嘅文字 同充滿活力嘅圖案代表咩？

What secrets do its pages contain?

書裡邊到底有咩秘密？

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

教會學校手頭緊 於是賣咗個手稿畀佢

and eventually brought it to the U.S.,

之後佢帶咗手稿去美國

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

喺美国，專家繼續被本書所困惑

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

密碼學家話，書裡文字 有一個真正語言含有嘅全部特徵

just one that no one's ever seen before.

只不過從來冇人見過呢個語言

What makes it seem real is that in actual languages,

點解噉講嚟？ 因為喺真實嘅語言裡邊

letters and groups of letters appear with consistent frequencies,

文字或者特定嘅文字組合 會以一定嘅頻率出現

and the language in the Voynich manuscript

伏尼契手稿裡邊嘅語言含有嘅特徵

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

唔可能係隨機生成

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

除咗呢啲，其他就唔清楚喇

The letters are varied in style and height.

字母嘅風格同高矮各有唔同

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

有啲字母係抄自其他語言 但係好多字母係獨一無二嘅

The taller letters have been named gallows characters.

高一啲嘅字母被稱為「托架抄本」

The manuscript is highly decorated throughout

呢部手稿從頭到尾

with scroll-like embellishments.

都有漩渦形嘅裝飾圖案

It appears to be written by two or more hands,

佢好似有兩個人以上嘅筆跡

with the painting done by yet another party.

而畫畫就係另外一班人

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

噉多年以来， 關於呢本書有三種推測

The first is that it's written in cypher,

第一种，呢本書用密文

a secret code deliberately designed to hide secret meaning.

專登掩蓋某啲秘密

The second is that the document is a hoax

第二种，呢本書就係

written in gibberish to make money off a gullible buyer.

整出來呃人錢財嘅局

Some speculate the author was a medieval con man.

有人認為啲作者就係個中世紀嘅老千

Others, that it was Voynich himself.

有人認為係伏尼契自己設局

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

第三种推測係 呢個手稿確實係一種特殊語言寫嘅

but in an unknown script.

只不過冇人明

Perhaps medieval scholars were attempting to create an alphabet

又或者，寫呢本書嘅人係

for a language that was spoken but not yet written.

一群嘗試為一種口頭語言 建立字母嘅中世紀學者

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

如果係噉，伏尼契手稿就可能

好似復活島嘅朗格朗格手稿

invented on Easter Island,

now unreadable after the culture that made it collapsed.

因為當年嘅文明已經消失 宜家就冇人睇得明

Though no one can read the Voynich manuscript,

儘管冇人明白伏尼契手稿

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

但係有好多人仲喺度估佢講咩

Those who believe the manuscript was an attempt to create

有人認為佢喺度創造

a new form of written language

一種新嘅書面語言

speculate that it might be an encyclopedia

伏尼契手稿又可能係個

containing the knowledge of the culture that produced it.

創造呢種語言嘅文化嘅百科全書

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

仲有人諗伏尼契手稿嘅作者 係 13 世紀哲學家羅傑培根

who attempted to understand the universal laws of grammar,

培根曾經嘗試理解 所有語言共有嘅語法法則

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

手稿嘅作者又可能係 16 世紀 伊麗莎白時代嘅神秘主義者尊迪

who practiced alchemy and divination.

尊迪曾經研究過煉藥術同占卜術

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

更加邊緣嘅理論認為 作者係一班意大利嘅巫婆

or even by Martians.

甚至有人諗作者係火星人

After 100 years of frustration,

度橋度咗成百年後

scientists have recently shed a little light on the mystery.

啲科學家終於有咗啲頭緒

The first breakthrough was the carbon dating.

第一個突破就係用碳素測年法

Also, contemporary historians have traced the provenance of the manuscript

測到呢份手稿嘅起源

back through Rome and Prague to as early as 1612,

大概喺 1612 年嘅羅馬或者布拉格

when it was perhaps passed from Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II

佢可能係神聖羅馬帝國皇帝魯道夫二世

to his physician, Jacobus Sinapius.

轉手畀佢嘅醫生 雅各布斯．希納皮亞斯

In addition to these historical breakthroughs,

除咗呢哋突破

linguistic researchers recently proposed the provisional identification

啲語言學家啱啱

暫定識別咗手稿裡邊嘅幾個文字

of a few of the manuscript's words.

Could the letters beside these seven stars spell Tauran,

呢度七粒星隔离嘅文字 會唔會係 Tauran

a name for Taurus,

既係金牛座嘅别稱

a constellation that includes the seven stars called the Pleiades?

一個包含昴宿星團嘅星座？

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

呢個字會唔會係 Centaurun 即係圖裡邊嘅矢車菊？

Perhaps, but progress is slow.

有可能嘅，不過進展就好慢

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

如果我哋破解咗密碼，我哋會發現咩？

The dream journal of a 15th-century illustrator?

一個 15 世纪插圖家嘅夢記？

A bunch of nonsense?

一堆胡言亂語？

Or the lost knowledge of a forgotten culture?

仲係一個被遺忘嘅文明嘅 失傳嘅知識？

What do you think it is?

你點睇嚟？