lies the only copy of a 240-page tome.

世上只有一本的奇書，共240頁

Recently carbon dated to around 1420,

藉由碳 - 14 年代測定法可知該書約在 1420 年製成

its vellum pages features looping handwriting

其牛皮紙上有極具特色的手寫文字

and hand-drawn images seemingly stolen from a dream.

還有手作繪畫，內容豐富有如來自夢自境

Real and imaginary plants,

書中有真實可見的植物，也有想像的花卉

floating castles,

漂浮著的城堡

bathing women,

沐浴中的女人

astrology diagrams,

占星術的圖譜

zodiac rings,

星象圈

and suns and moons with faces accompany the text.

太陽及月亮的各種樣貌伴以文字

This 24x16 centimeter book is called the Voynich manuscript,

這本書的長 24 寬 16 公分，被稱為伏尼契手稿

and its one of history's biggest unsolved mysteries.

堪稱世上最神秘的一本書

The reason why?

原因為何呢？

No one can figure out what it says.

沒有人知道這本書寫的是什麼

The name comes from Wilfrid Voynich,

書名來自於伏尼契這個人 （ Wilfrid Voynich ）

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

他是波蘭的書商，他在耶穌會看到這本書

in Italy in 1912.

當時是 1912 年的義大利

He was puzzled.

他困惑不解

Who wrote it?

書是誰寫的？

Where was it made?

在哪兒寫的？

What do these bizarre words and vibrant drawings represent?

這些奇怪的文字和生動的圖畫代表什麼意思？

What secrets do its pages contain?

書裡有什麼秘密？

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

他從耶穌會裡的一位金錢拮据的牧師那兒買下此書，

and eventually brought it to the U.S.,

最後帶到了美國，

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

之後的一百年間美國的專家也對此書來歷不解

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

解秘專家認為書裡的手寫文字具有一般真實語言的特性，

just one that no one's ever seen before.

但是沒有任何人看過這種文字

What makes it seem real is that in actual languages,

之所以看起來像是真實的語言

letters and groups of letters appear with consistent frequencies,

是因為書中字母和字群重覆出現的頻率有一致性

and the language in the Voynich manuscript

從伏尼契手稿所使用的語言中

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

可見到的語言模式不同於隨機字母產生器所產生的字詞

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

除此之外，我們還可以知道更多

The letters are varied in style and height.

字母高度形式各有不同

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

有些似乎借自別的文字，有些則很獨特

The taller letters have been named gallows characters.

高的字母被命名為吊桿字符

The manuscript is highly decorated throughout

手稿全篇有許多圖案點綴

with scroll-like embellishments.

如像卷軸式的裝飾畫

It appears to be written by two or more hands,

看起來應有兩個以上的人撰寫，

with the painting done by yet another party.

另外有一個人畫圖

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

多年來，有三種理論試圖解釋手稿的內容

The first is that it's written in cypher,

第一種是手稿是用密碼的方式書寫，

a secret code deliberately designed to hide secret meaning.

作者有意利用密碼來隱藏真實的含義

The second is that the document is a hoax

第二種理論認為文稿是個騙局

written in gibberish to make money off a gullible buyer.

裡面所寫的文字根本是無意義的塗鴉，用以騙取出錢的買家

Some speculate the author was a medieval con man.

有些人憶測作者是中世紀的詐欺人士

Others, that it was Voynich himself.

也有人認為作者就是伏尼契本人

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

第三種理論認為手稿是真實的語言，

but in an unknown script.

但書寫的文字無人知

Perhaps medieval scholars were attempting to create an alphabet

也許是中世紀的學者，想要創造出新的字母系統

for a language that was spoken but not yet written.

因為該語言只有口說形式並無書寫文字

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

若是如此，伏尼契手稿可能像是朗格朗格符號

invented on Easter Island,

是在復活節島上被發明的文字，

now unreadable after the culture that made it collapsed.

因為使用該語言的文明消失而無人能閱讀

Though no one can read the Voynich manuscript,

雖然伏尼契手稿無人能懂，

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

但仍有許多人猜測其內容為何

Those who believe the manuscript was an attempt to create

許多人相信手稿是要創造

a new form of written language

書寫語言的新形式

speculate that it might be an encyclopedia

他們猜測手稿可能是一部百科全書

containing the knowledge of the culture that produced it.

內容是手稿寫成時的文化萬象

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

另有些人相信手稿的作者是十三世紀的哲學家培根

who attempted to understand the universal laws of grammar,

培根試著去研究世界通用的文法原則

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

或者作者可能是十六世紀伊莉沙白期時期的英國傳奇人物約翰迪伊

who practiced alchemy and divination.

他曾是練金術士，並會占卜

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

更不一樣的理論認為此書是義大利的女巫們所寫，

or even by Martians.

也有人猜是火星人留下的

After 100 years of frustration,

經過一百年的掙扎

scientists have recently shed a little light on the mystery.

科學家近日在揭開手稿的秘密上有了一點進展

The first breakthrough was the carbon dating.

首先是碳元素的鑑定確定了手稿寫成的時間

Also, contemporary historians have traced the provenance of the manuscript

同時，現代的歷史學家追蹤手稿的出處

back through Rome and Prague to as early as 1612,

可以追溯到約 1612 年的羅馬和布拉格，

when it was perhaps passed from Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II

手稿可能是由神聖羅馬帝國皇帝魯道夫二世

to his physician, Jacobus Sinapius.

交給他的醫生 Jacobus Sinapius

In addition to these historical breakthroughs,

除了這些歷史性的突破外，

linguistic researchers recently proposed the provisional identification

語言學家近日提出了

of a few of the manuscript's words.

手稿文字的來歷

Could the letters beside these seven stars spell Tauran,

七星圖畫旁的文字可能是拼成 Tauran，

a name for Taurus,

金牛座的名稱之一，

a constellation that includes the seven stars called the Pleiades?

由名為昴宿星團的七顆星所組成？

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

Centaurun 也有可能是圖片中的植物？

Perhaps, but progress is slow.

可能，但進展緩慢

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

如果我們能解出密碼，我們會發現什麼呢

The dream journal of a 15th-century illustrator?

十五世紀的插畫師的夢日記？

A bunch of nonsense?

還是毫無意義的文字？

Or the lost knowledge of a forgotten culture?

或是一個被遺忘的文明所失去的知識？

What do you think it is?

你覺得它是什麼？