Solar Empire--Heavens Above IV

　　In English, in addition to Sunday and Moonday, Satu rday also reveals its ancient roots.

　　As our ancestors struggled to find explanations in the heavens for the natural events on Earth, after days and weeks, they found a solution to their next challeng e, not in the sun, but in another heavenly body.

　　From the earliest days of recorded time, we know mo st people had calculated the cycles of the moon at betw een twenty-nine and thirty days. Today, the moon cycle is merely an adornment to the modern clock. Yet, even t he word we use to describe a thirty day period, a month , or a moonth, instantly reveals its celestial inspirat ion.

　　Towering over all these cycles, our days, weeks and months, is the year. The seasonal year that gave life t o crops derive form the sun. The greatest of our heaven ly bodies, the sun offers the fundamental organizing pr inciple of the modern world. We calculate everything fr om our own age to the eras of great civilizations in th is one basic division of time. For most civilizations t hrough the ages, the sun was considered a life-giving f orce to all earthly creatures, and by its cycle, we hav e ordered and structured our lives. Civilizations, anci ent and modern, have created some of the world's most m agnificent monuments in tribute to the sun's powers. Ev en the earliest civilizations, created monuments with a n uncanny ability to accurately track the sun's seasona l cycles.

　　to be continued

　　Notes:

　　1．Druid: n. 德鲁伊特(古代克尔特人中一批有学识的人，担任祭司、教师和法官或当巫师、占卜者等 )druidism: 德鲁伊特教；德鲁伊特教教义或仪式等

　　2．astray: adj. 迷路，离开正道

　　3．On the ceilings of… day and night. 埃及庙宇天花板上的红点显示太 阳在空中运行的轨迹，像是在感谢太阳带来的昼夜变化。

　　4．sundial: n. 日晷

　　5．attune: v. 使合拍，使协调eg.old methods not attuned to t he times 跟时代不合拍的老办法attune oneself to living in Europe 使 自己适应欧洲的生活

　　6．pulsar: n. 脉冲星手表(一种在美国获专利权的数字显示电子手表)

　　7．imposing: adj. 气势宏伟的，给人印象深刻的eg.an imposing buildi ng 一座气势宏伟的建筑物an imposing appearance 堂堂仪表

　　8．Nordics: n.北欧人，斯堪的纳维亚人

　　9．adornment: n. 装饰品，饰物

　　10．tribute: n. (表示敬意的)礼物、颂词、称赞

　　11．uncanny: adj. 超人的，不寻常的eg.an uncanny ability to f oresee the future 预见未来的超人本领

　　选自“探索”频道《苍穹寻奇》