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We think that we have solved this most venerable and grand of geographic mysteries.
我們認為自己已經解決了最莊嚴宏大的地理謎題。
With those words, Joseph Judge of National Geographic magazine announced a major discovery in American history,
說完這番話，《國家地理》雜志的約瑟夫·賈琦就宣布了一個美國歷史上的重大發現，
the true spot where Christopher Columbus first landed in the new world.
克里斯多弗·哥倫布首次登錄新大陸的真正地點。
And the Geographic's declaration upsets the orthodox assertions of nearly every American history textbook.
《國家地理》的這次宣布讓美國歷史書里的傳統說法嘩然。
NPR's Frank Browning has this story.
下面請聽國家公共電臺弗蘭克·勃朗寧為您發回的報道。
The orthodox explanation of where Columbus first landed was carved in textbook stone
50多年前，關于哥倫布著陸地點的問題已經板上釘釘地寫在歷史書里，
more than forty years ago by the dean of Columbus historians, Samuel Elliot Morrison.
成了一直以來的說法。這個說法的來源就是哥倫布的史學家塞繆爾·艾略特·莫里森。
Morrison declared incontrovertible the evidence that Columbus first set foot on Watling Island in the eastern Bahamas.
莫里森無可爭議地宣布了證據，并表示哥倫布首次登陸華特林島是在巴哈馬群島東部。
But if the question were closed for Professor Morrison, now dead, it was not for numerous other students on nautical history.
雖然莫里森教授已駕鶴西去，無法再繼續研究這個問題，但無數后輩還是可以繼續研究航海史。
For the last five years, the National Geographic's Joseph Judge, has dispatched teams of historians,
最后的5年里，《國家地理》的約瑟夫·賈奇派出了數組歷史學家、
oceanographers, archaeologists and translators to find the true location and thereby to set straight the first footsteps of the American saga.
海洋學家、考古學家、翻譯，以求尋找哥倫布著陸的真正位置，從而糾正美國冒險傳奇始祖的歷史記載。
The famous fleet of Columbus, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria made its first landfall and its landing in the new world in 1492
哥倫布舉世聞名的船隊，妮娜號、皮塔號、圣瑪利亞號，于1492年首次在新大陸著陸，
at a small island in the eastern Bahamas, named today, Samana Cay.
登上了巴哈馬群島東部的一個小島，也就是今天的薩馬納巖礁。
The basic problem in identifying Columbus' landing point, which he named San Salvador in 1492, is that he left no clear markings.
確認哥倫布著陸地點的根本困難在于哥倫布并沒有留下明顯的標記。他將這里稱為圣薩爾瓦多。
Moreover, the log of Columbus' voyage now exists only in a transcription made by the Spaniard Bartolomay de las Casas,
此外，哥倫布的航海日志現在只有西班牙人巴托洛梅·德·拉斯卡薩斯的手抄本了，
and many of the descriptions are either vague or use archaic terminology.
其他的版本不是模糊不清，就是用了太多的古老術語。
Professor Morrison had based his conclusions on a straightforward reading of the log.
莫里森教授在閱讀了這版航海日志后就下了結論。
But he took no account of how Columbus' route would have been affected by constant ocean currents and winds.
但他并未考慮到哥倫布航海路徑會受到恒定洋流和海洋風的影響。
When the Geographic team took the same data and then adjusted them for the effect of wind and current,
《國家地理》派出的小組采集到了同樣的數據，并根據海洋風和洋流的影響對數據進行了調整，
they arrived at Samana Cay, to the southeast of Watling Island.
隨后他們來到了華特林島東南部的薩馬納巖礁。
Then to collaborate their findings, they went to points further down on Columbus' voyage, then backtracked according to the log notations,
為了整合發現的結果，他們繼續往下走了走，然后根據日志的備注回溯，
and again found that they landed not on Professor Morrison's Watling Island, but on Samana Cay.
并再次發現，他們并不是在莫里森教授認定的華特林島著陸的，而是在薩馬納巖礁。
Once on Samana, the team then returned to Columbus' log,
登錄薩馬納巖礁后，該小組就查看了哥倫布的日志，
to compare what they saw to Columbus' own visual description, recounted here by writer Judge in a film clip:
從而把他們的所見與哥倫布的進行比對。如下是賈奇在一段視頻中記錄的：
You need sediments on a ridge behind the beach. Here is the beach, right here.
海灘后身兒的山脊上應該有沉積物才對。這里是海灘，就是這里。
You need a lagoon with a very narrow entrance and that you have there.
這里應該有入口很窄的瀉湖，但那里才有。
You need a piece of land shaped like an island that is not, and that you have there.
這里應該是個外形很像小島一樣的地方，但那里才有。
In other words, every piece of geography that you're seeing before your eyes in this island is described in the Columbus' log.
換言之，這里的每個景象在哥倫布的日志里都有體現。
Moreover, Judge's team found archaeological traces of a settlement Columbus had mentioned finding on the actual island.
更為重要的是：賈奇小組發現了一些地質方面的蛛絲馬跡，這些蛛絲馬跡證明就是哥倫布曾提到在小島上發現的遺址。
So far, it is too early to know how the Geographic's discoveries will affect the literature of professional history.
目前為止，還無法得知《國家地理》小組的發現對于歷史會產生怎樣的影響。
But for those who worry about what may become of the site in an age of overnight historical theme parks,
有些人擔心，在當今這個歷史遺址可以一夜間變身主題公園的時代，
Bahamian Minister of Education, Paul Adderly, who attended the press conference, assured questioners that the island will be safe.
該遺址也會遭遇不幸。對此，參加了新聞發布會的巴哈馬教育部部長保羅保證說，該小島一根汗毛都不會少的。
In Washington, I'm Frank Browning reporting.
感謝收聽弗蘭克·勃朗寧為您從華盛頓發回的報道。
