世界小史 第41期:行星

 Today we know that these are the stars that are close to us, and that they turn with the earth around the sun.

今天我们知道，那是和地球一道绕着太阳转动的星星。

They are called planets.

人们称它们为行星。

But the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians couldn't know that, and so they thought some strange magic must lie behind it.

可是这个事实，古代巴比伦尼亚人和亚述人不可能知道，所以他们认为，其中必有某种神秘的魔术。

They gave a name to each wandering star and observed them constantly, convinced that they were powerful beings whose positions influenced the destinies¹ of men,

他们给每一个游星取了名字并持续不断的观测它们，他们认为，这些星星是威力巨大的生命之物，它们的位置对人类的命运具有一定的意义，

and that by studying them they would be able to predict the future.

通过研究这些星星的位置他们就能够预测未来。

This belief in the stars has a Greek name: astrology.

这种信仰就叫占星术，或者用一个希腊词就叫“astrology”。

Some planets were believed to bring good luck, others misfortune²: Mars³ meant war and Venus, love.

人们认为某些行星带来幸运，某些行星带来不幸。火星表示战争，金星表示爱情。

To each of the five planets known to them they dedicated⁴ a day, and with the sun and the moon, that made seven.

人们给他们已知的五个行星奉献一个日子，算上太阳和月亮恰好是七个行星。

This was the origin of our seven-day week.

这就产生了我们今天的七天星期制度。

In English we still say Satur (Saturn)-day, Sun-day and Mon (moon)-day, but the other days are named after different gods.

在英语中我们仍然说星期六（土星日），星期日（太阳日），星期一（月亮日），而其他日子是按不同的神命名的。

In other languages–such as French or Italian–most of the days of the week still belong to the planets that the Babylonians first named.

在其他语言中——比如法语、意大利语——一个星期中的大多数日子还是按巴比伦人起初那样以行星命名的。

Would you ever have guessed that our weekdays had such a strange and venerable history, reaching back all those thousands of years?

你可曾猜到我们普通的日子有着一段如此可敬可叹的、历时数千年之久的历史吗？

1 destinies   

命运( destiny的名词复数 )； 天命； 天数； 主宰事物的力量

参考例句：

• the destinies of nations 国家的命运
• The need for villagers to control their own destinies has prompted a new plan. 村民们想要掌握自己的命运，这促成了一项新的计划。

2 misfortune   

n.不幸，厄运，逆境，不幸事故，灾难

参考例句：

• It is said to be an omen of misfortune.那被认为是一种不幸的先兆。
• She had the misfortune to break her leg.她不幸摔断了腿。

3 Mars   

n.火星，战争

参考例句：

• As of now we don't know much about Mars.目前我们对火星还知之甚少。
• He contended that there must be life on Mars.他坚信火星上面一定有生物。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。