煉金術士的仙丹夢
撰文及考題設計／British Council 英協教育中心 Brian Welter 中譯／陳怡君 （中央社編譯）
It’s a scene right out of Harry Potter. In a dark room with a roaring fireplace to his back, a white-bearded man with a long black robe pours a mysterious liquid from a fancy glass bottle. The liquid collects in a large metal bowl before dis¬appearing through long pipes. It drips out at the end, a different colour and smell than when it was poured in. All his life, the man has been working on perfecting that liquid, the drink that would cure everything. Has he finally succeeded?
這是《哈利波特》的場景：在黑暗的斗室一爐熊熊燃燒的壁火前，一位蓄著白鬚、罩著長黑袍的男子，從一罐造型特殊的玻璃瓶中倒出神祕液體。這些液體蓄集於一大盆金屬碗中，再注於長管內。最後滴出時，其色澤與氣味皆與當初倒入時完全不同。這名男子終其一生致力於研發此液體，這種藥水能治癒任何疾病。他最後有成功嗎？
The man was practicing alchemy, which was a branch of knowledge that pre-dated the Scientific Revolution. Alchemy appeared as early as three thousand years ago and continued to develop in many different parts of the world for hundreds of years, playing a key role in the foundations of modern chemistry. Alchemists, the people who studied and experimented in this field, couldn’ t just claim something as true. They attempted to discover the truth through observing nature like modern scientists do.
這位男子正在進行所謂的煉金術，是一門比科學革命還早的學問。煉金術的起源可追溯至3,000 年前，並在世界各地持續發展了數百年，為現代化學的奠基扮演了舉足輕重的角色。煉金術士，是研究並實驗煉金術的學者，他們並不隨便地論證某觀點為真；就像現代科學家一般，他們藉由觀察自然現象，嘗試釐清真相。
Alchemists’ many interests included medicine, physics, and astrology. These individuals had two main aims. First, some wanted to turn ordinary metals such as copper into gold and silver. Second, some wanted to find a medicine that would cure everything and even let people live indefinitely. They called that unique drink an elixir.
煉金術士擁有廣泛的興趣包括醫學、物理、與星象。他們有兩個目標：第一，他們想要將尋常金屬，例如銅，轉變成金或銀；第二，他們想要尋找一種能治百命使人長生不老的藥品。他們稱這獨特的藥水為「仙丹」。
Why did western alchemists believe that an elixir was possible? Based on the writings of ancient Greek philosophers and Egyptian alchemists, they claimed that the world was composed of four basic elements: earth, wind, fire, and water. Interestingly, they also believed in a fifth element that contained a perfect balance of these four basic ones. Some writers called that the “quintessence,” from the Latin quinta essentia, where quinta means five. Alchemists debated the exact nature of this fifth element. Some saw it as a perfect balance of the four other elements.
為什麼西方的煉金術士深信仙丹之說是可行的呢？根據古老希臘哲學家與埃及煉金術士的手稿記載，他們認為這個世界是由四大基本元素所組成：土、風、火與水。有趣的是，他們更認為存在「第五元素」，維持這四大元素的完美平衡。有些作者稱之為「精粹」，是由拉丁語quinta essentia而來， quinta就是五的意思。煉金術士對於這第五元素的性質仍有爭議。有些認為它就是四大元素的絕妙平衡。
If the fifth element was so important, where could it be located? Some thought that it could only be seen in the heavens, where it existed in a pure form and made up the stars. Others believed that it could also be discovered on Earth in nature in an impure form. These alchemists believed that the pure quintessence could be produced in a process similar to making whiskey or vodka which is called distillation.
如果第五元素是如此重要，那它會存在哪裡？ 有些人認為只有在天堂才會被發現，以純化的形式構成星宿；有人認為它可以不純的形式在大自然中存在。這些煉金術士相信純化的精粹是可以藉由類似釀威士忌、伏特加的蒸餾法來製造的。
Not surprisingly, medieval European alchemists, working in the years 1100-1400, spent a lot of their time trying to learn about distillation processes. Many alchemical writings contain pictures or drawings of the equipment and the steps that were required.
不意外地，在中古世紀約西元1100-1400年間的歐洲煉金術士，花了他們大半輩子時間研究蒸餾技法。許多煉金術士的手稿亦包括了器材的繪圖以及需要的步驟。
Alchemy in Europe went through a boom period after many alchemical writings were translated from Arabic into Latin, the language of learning of the Middle Ages, in the 1100s. One of the leading alchemists was the Englishman Roger Bacon. Owing to his religious beliefs, he wanted to improve the world. He hoped to find an elixir to end much human s uffering. M any p eople t oday s ee h im a s one of the greatest scientists of the Western Middle Ages.
歐洲的煉金術，在大量煉金術手稿從阿拉伯文譯成中古世紀的學術語言拉丁文後，進入興旺時期。其中著名的煉金術士之一，即是英國人羅傑‧ 貝肯。憑藉著他的宗教信仰，他想要濟世救人。他希望能找到仙丹配方來終結人們的苦痛。現今許多人們仍視他為西方中古世紀最偉大的煉金術士之一。
Astrology, the study of the effect of the planets and stars on humans and life on Earth, played an important role in the study of the elixir for Bacon and many others. The elixir would only work when the stars and planets were in a positive relation¬ship to Earth. Astrology gave alchemists a handy explanation as to why their elixirs failed to cure ill health: The stars weren’ t in the right position!
星象學，研究星球與星宿對地球人類生命的影響之學問，在貝肯與其他人對仙丹的研究中亦扮演了重要的角色。仙丹只有在星宿與星球在對地球達到正面關係時才有效。當煉金術士的仙丹無法有效治癒疾病時，星象學的理論給了煉金術士一個很方便的理由：星宿並不在正確的位置上。
One reason alchemists were often regarded as strange is because the science was never taught at universities. Physics and medicine were established and respected scientific disciplines in the Middle Ages, and astronomy, the scientific study of the stars and planets, was needed in order to establish important religious festivals. Alchemy was the forgotten science. Therefore, alchemists never succeeded at establishing a standard of practice.
煉金術士不被視為正統最主要的理由是因為這門學問從未在大學中被教導。物理與醫學是在中古世紀被建立而成為被重視的科學定律，而研究星球與行星的星象學則因需建立重要的宗教節慶而受到重視；煉金術是一個被遺忘的學問，因此， 煉金術士從未成功地建立標準流程。
As isolated individuals with a few books and tools for experiments, some feared alchemists were into evil magic. This is regrettable, because their search for the truth could have been aided if they had been able to get established in universities and governments. One basic principle of alchemy that lives on in modern science is the belief that a real experiment based on real facts would produce the same result by different individuals. Of course, that would have included the same astrological conditions, something that modern science rejects. Nonetheless, just as with modern chemistry, knowledge produced from alchemy came through trial and error.
有些被孤立而猜忌的煉金術士，也許擁有幾本書與實驗器材，於是走偏進入邪魔歪道。這是很可惜的，因為若他們能在大學與政府內建立一套學問，他們對於真理的追求也許可以得到資助。一個煉金術亦通用於現代科學的基本原則是：一個根據事實而設計的實驗是可以由不同個人進行而
得到相同的結果；當然，這可能還得包括相同的星象，這點現代科學並不採信。儘管如此，就像現代化學一樣，煉金術的知識是建立在試誤學習上。
Whether alchemy was a science, a form of magic, or simply a kind of pre-chemistry remains under debate. One thing that is to be admired about alchemists is their love and respect of nature. They believed that nature was good and beautiful and that it held great and wonderful secrets waiting to be discovered.
不論煉金術是否是一門科學，一道魔術，或是一門爭議性的類化學，煉金術士值得肯定的一點是他們對於自然的熱愛與尊敬。他們深信自然是善良而美好的─藏著偉大而美妙的祕密等待著被發掘。
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