Far beneath the palace of the treacherous King Minos, in the damp darkness of an inescapable labryinth,
在阴险的米诺斯国王的宫殿深处，在不可逃脱的迷宫的潮湿黑暗中，
a horrific beast stalks the endless corridors of its prison,
一个恐怖的怪兽在无尽的监狱走廊中徘徊，
enraged with a bloodlust so intense that its deafening roar shakes the Earth.
它充满狂怒杀气，发出震耳欲聋的怒吼震撼地球。
It is easy to see why the Minotaur myth has a long history of being disregarded as pure fiction.
不难理解为什么米诺陶洛斯神话长久以来被认为是纯属虚构的。
However, there's a good chance that the Minotaur and other monsters and gods were created by our early ancestors
但是，现在有机会让我们祖先所创造出的米诺陶洛斯、其他怪兽和神，
to rationalize the terrifying things that they saw in the natural world but did not understand.
能合理解释祖先们在自然界中看到的恐怖又无法解释的事物。
And while we can't explain every aspect of their stories,
虽然我们不能够解释这些故事的所有方面，
there may be some actual science that reveals itself when we dissect them for clues.
但是当我们把它们拆分为线索时，会有一些真实的科学可以解释它们。
So, as far as we know, there have never been human-bull hybrids.
就我们所知，世界上从未有人牛同体的混血生物存在。
But the earliest material written about the Minotaur doesn't even mention its physical form.
但是最早的关于米诺陶洛斯的文字材料并没有描述它的物理存在。
So that's probably not the key part of the story.
所以，外表并不是这个故事的核心部分。
What the different tellings do agree upon, however, is that the beast lives underground,
然而所有的版本都对得上的是那只怪兽生活在地下，
and when it bellows, it causes tremendous problems.
当它吼叫时，它会引起非常大的麻烦。
The various myths are also specific in stating that genius inventor Daedalus, carved out the labyrinth beneath the island of Crete.
不同版本的神话也都详尽地描述了天才发明家代达洛斯创造了克里特岛地底下的迷宫。
Archeological attempts to find the fabled maze have come up empty handed.
考古学家试图找出神话中的迷宫，结果一无所获。
But Crete itself has yielded the most valuable clue of all in the form of seismic activity.
但克里特岛本身以地震的形式提供了最有价值的线索。
Crete sits on a piece of continental crust called the Aegean Block,
克里特岛坐落在一块称为“爱琴板块”的大陆地壳上，
and has a bit of oceanic crust known as the Nubian Block sliding right beneath it.
而有一块名为“努比亚板块”的海洋地壳之一小部分，它正好滑在那大陆地壳的下方。
This sort of geologic feature, called a subduction zone, is common all over the world and results in lots of earthquakes.
这种地形称为“隐没带”，在全球都很常见，并且会造成许多的地震。
However, in Crete the situation is particularly volatile
然而在克里特岛，地震特别容易发生，
as the Nubian Block is attached to the massive buoyant continental crust that is Africa.
因为努比亚板块附在巨大漂浮的非洲大陆地壳上。
When the Nubian Block moves,
当努比亚板块移动时，
it does not go down nearly as easily or as steeply as oceanic crust does in most other subduction zones.
它无法如同其他隐没带的海洋地壳一样，轻易、急倾斜地下滑。

Instead, it violently and abruptly forces sections of the Mediterranean upwards in an event called uplift,
相反地，它突然且猛烈的力量反而把地中海区块向上推升，这称为“地壳隆起”，
and Crete is in uplift central.
而克里特岛刚好在隆起的中心。
In the year 2014, Crete had more than 1300 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or higher.
2014年，克里特岛发生了超过1300次地震，规模达到了2.0级或以上。
By comparison, in the same period of time, Southern California, a much larger area, experienced a mere 255 earthquakes.
通过比较，同样在此期间，比它大很多的南加州只发生255次地震。
Of course, we don't have detailed seismic records from the days of King Minos,
当然，我们没有米诺斯国王时期详细的地震记录。
but we do know from fossil records and geologic evidence
但我们确实可以从化石与地质的证据了解到，
that Crete has experienced serious uplift events that sometimes exceeded 30 feet in a single moment.
克里特岛经历多次重大的地壳隆起，有时一次就隆起超过30英尺。
Contrast this for a moment with the island of Hawaii,
来和夏威夷岛比较一下，
where earthquakes and volcanic activity were tightly woven to legends surrounding Pele, a goddess both fiery and fair.
夏威夷岛的地震和火山活动是和贝蕾的神话紧密联系在一起的，贝蕾是个既暴躁又美丽的女神。
Like the Minotaur, her myths included tales of destruction, but they also contained elements of dance and creation.
就像米诺陶洛斯一样，她的神话包含了毁灭的故事，但也包含了舞蹈和创造。
So why did Hawaii end up with Pele and Crete end up with the Minotaur?
为什么夏威夷和贝蕾相连，而克里特岛和米诺陶洛斯相连？
The difference likely comes down to the lava that followed many of Hawaii's worst earthquakes.
之间的不同可能归结于夏威夷岛多次剧震所流出的岩浆。
The lava on Hawaii is made of basalt, which once cooled, is highly fertile.
夏威夷的岩浆由玄武岩组成，一旦冷却，会非常肥沃。
Within a couple of decades of terrible eruptions,
在多次剧烈火山爆发的数十年内，
Islanders would have seen vibrant green life thriving on new peninsulas made of lava.
岛民看到了生机勃勃的绿色植物茂密地长在由岩浆构成的新半岛上。
So it makes sense that the mythology captured this by portraying Pele as creator as well as a destroyer.
因此依据以上现象，描述了贝蕾兼俱创造者与毁灭者的神话是有道理的。
As for the people of Crete, their earthquakes brought only destruction and barren lands,
对克里特岛人民而言，地震只会带来毁灭与贫瘠的土地，
so perhaps for them the unnatural and deadly Minotaur was born.
也许因此残暴又具破坏性的米诺陶洛斯应运而生。
The connections between mythical stories and the geology of the regions where they originated
神话故事与故事起源地的地质情况之间的关系，
teach us that mythology and science are actually two sides of the same coin.
告诉我们神话与科学，事实上是一体两面的。
Both are rooted in explaining and understanding the world.
两者都是根基于对这个世界的解释与了解。
The key difference is that where mythology uses gods, monsters and magic, science uses measurements, records and experiments.
关键差别在于，神话是使用神、怪兽与魔法，而科学是使用测量、纪录与实验。