The Legend of Nessie

The Legend of Nessie, written by Sherry Sterling.

《尼西传说》，谢里·斯特林 著

Introduction. Is the Loch Ness Monster a myth or a legend? People have described seeing something strange emerging from the dark waters of Loch Ness in Scotland. They describe an animal similar to the descriptions of ancient dragons or sea serpents. The monster has a dark body, long neck, sheep -like head, and two or more humps on its back. The monster, called Nessie, is named after the lock, or lake, in which it lives.

引言 尼斯湖水怪是神话还是传说呢？ 有人称曾看到奇怪的东西从苏格兰尼斯湖的深水中现身。 他们描述这种动物，和古代龙或者海蛇的外形描述很相似。 这只怪物身体颜色深，脖子修长，头像绵羊，背上有两个甚至更多隆起。 这只名叫尼西的怪物，就以它栖息的这片湖命名。

Strange creatures of the sea are found in many legends, myths, and stories. Scottish myths have been passed down about a water spirit called a kelpie that looks like a horse. When sailors first started sailing beyond the site of land, they talked about seeing monsters at sea. Some of those monsters were described as being so large that they could swallow a ship. According to legend, these huge, horrible beasts guarded treasure at the bottom of the sea. Could Nessie be one of these monsters of myth or legend?

许多传说、神话和故事里都记载了神秘的海洋怪物。 苏格兰神话里代代流传着水妖凯尔派，它外形长得像马。 当水手刚开始航行到看不见陆地的远海时，就说他们在海上见过怪物。 据说有些怪物体型大到能吞下整艘船。 传说中，这些巨大可怕的野兽在海底守护着宝藏。 尼西会不会就是这些神话传说里的怪物之一呢？

The loch called Ness. The body of water that is rumored to be home to the legendary loch ness monster is large. In fact, it's the largest body of fresh water in the British Isles. Loch Ness is 24 miles, 39 kilometers long, only 1 mile, 1 .6 kilometers wide, and over 800 feet, 244 meters deep in some places. It's much deeper than the seas that surround the British Isles. Loch Ness was formed during the last ice age. At that time, the land now called Scotland split in two and earthquakes made a trench. Then glaciers covered that trench until about 12 ,000 years ago. When the ice melted, it filled the trench with water to form a loch.

这个湖名叫尼斯湖。 传说中这只传奇水怪的栖身水域面积很大。 实际上，它是不列颠群岛最大的淡水水体。 尼斯湖长24英里，合39公里，宽仅1英里，合1.6公里，部分区域深度超过800英尺，合244米。 它比环绕不列颠群岛的海域还要深得多。 尼斯湖形成于上一个冰河时代。 那时，如今的苏格兰陆地一分为二，地震造就了一道海沟。 之后冰川覆盖了这道海沟，一直持续到约一万两千年前。 冰川融化后，水填满了海沟，形成了尼斯湖。

Loch Ness' water is very cold. Peat, a layer of dead plant material, is thick in the water of Loch Ness. The peat allows light to travel only as deep as a few yards. As a result, sunlight can't warm the water, making it too cold for people to swim in. The top 100 feet, 30 .5 meters, warms up to 54 degrees Fahrenheit, 12 degrees Celsius in the summer. The rest stays at 42 degrees Fahrenheit, 6 degrees Celsius all year round. Because of this, most life in the loch, such as fish and seals, stays close to the surface.

尼斯湖的水温非常低。 泥炭，也就是死亡植物堆积形成的层状物，在尼斯湖水中积累得很厚。 泥炭让光线只能穿透几码深。 因此阳光无法给整湖水升温，水温太低，不适合人们游泳。 夏季，湖面下100英尺（30.5米）的表层最高水温可达华氏54度，也就是12摄氏度。 其余水域全年水温都保持在华氏42度，也就是6摄氏度。 正因如此，湖里大多数生物，比如鱼类和海豹，都生活在靠近湖面的区域。

Monster sightings. For over 1 ,400 years, curious people have taken Nessie sightings seriously. Scientists have even used NASA's computers, along with underwater cameras and other equipment, to test the lock. But long before this testing began in the 1970s, other sources saw the

水怪目击事件 一千四百多年来，好奇的人们一直很重视尼西的目击记录。 科学家甚至动用了NASA的计算机，搭配水下相机和其他设备探测这片湖。 但早在20世纪70年代这项探测开始之前，就有其他记录称看到了