Name: 【TED-Ed】世界上最神祕的書--斯蒂芬-巴克斯。 (【TED-Ed】The world’s most mysterious book - Stephen Bax)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T06:58:13.000Z
Duration: 4 min 43 s

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

耶魯大學的拜內克古籍善本圖書館中深蔵著

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

書中有真實可見的植物，也有想像的花卉

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.

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

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？

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，

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，

What makes it seem real is that in actual languages,

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

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.

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.

The manuscript is  highly decorated throughout

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.

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

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

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，

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

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,

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

Those who believe the manuscript was an attempt to create

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.

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

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，

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

In addition to these  historical breakthroughs,

linguistic researchers recently proposed the provisional identification

Could the letters beside these seven stars spell Tauran,

七星圖畫旁的文字可能是拼成 Tauran，

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？

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?

Or the lost knowledge  of a forgotten culture?

或是一個被遺忘的文明所失去的知識？

字幕列表影片播放

【TED-Ed】世界上最神祕的書--斯蒂芬-巴克斯。 (【TED-Ed】The world’s most mysterious book - Stephen Bax)

practice

random

attempt

deliberately