"The ancient Hawaiians were astronomers," wrote Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii's last reigning monarch, in 1897.
“古夏威夷人都是天文学家，夏威夷最后一位统治君主——利留卡拉尼女王在1897年写道。
Star watchers were among the most esteemed members of Hawaiian society.
观星人曾经是夏威夷社会中最受人敬重的群体。
Sadly, all is not well with astronomy in Hawaii today.
但可悲的是，夏威夷如今的天文学却发展地不那么好。
Protests have erupted over construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope(TMT), a giant observatory that promises to revolutionize humanity's view of the cosmos.
三十米望远镜（简称TMT）是一座巨型天文观测台，它有望彻底改变人类对宇宙的认知，它的修建遭到了人们的抗议。
At issue is the TMT's planned location on Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano worshiped by some Hawaiians as the piko, that connects the Hawaiian Islands to the heavens.
有争议的是TMT的计划建造地点——莫纳克亚山，它是被一些夏威夷人信奉为“piko”（夏威夷本地语言中代表着“大海的浪花”，“冲浪运动”，并引申有“阳光”，“生命”，“健康”等含义）的休眠火山，他们认为此山连接着夏威夷群岛和天堂。
But Mauna Kea is also home to some of the world's most powerful telescopes.
但是莫纳克亚山也是世界上一些功能最强大的天文望远镜的集中地。
Rested in the Pacific Ocean, Mauna Kea's peak rises above the bulk of our planet's dense atmosphere, where conditions allow telescopes to obtain images of unsurpassed clarity.
莫纳克亚山坐落于太平洋，其顶峰穿透地球浓密的大气层。在那里，天文望远镜可以捕捉到无比清晰的画面。
Opposition to telescopes on Mauna Kea is nothing new.
反对在莫纳克亚山建造天文望远镜已经不是什么新鲜事了。
A small but vocal group of Hawaiians and environments have long viewed their presence as disrespect for sacred land and a painful reminder of the occupation of what was once a sovereign nation.
长久以来，少数夏威夷人和环保主义者把那些天文望远镜看作是对那片神圣土地的亵渎，并且会使人们想起这个曾经的主权国家被占领的惨痛回忆。
Some blame for the current controversy belongs to astronomers.
一些人把如今的争议归因于天文学家。
In their eagerness to build bigger telescopes, they forgot that science is the only way of understanding the world.
他们渴望建造更大的天文望远镜，却忘记了科学不是理解世界的唯一途径。
They did not always prioritize the protection of Mauna Kea's fragile ecosystems or its holiness to the island's inhabitants.
他们并不总是把保护莫纳克亚山脆弱的生态环境或维护莫纳克亚山对岛上居民而言的神圣地位放在优先位置。
Hawaiian culture is not a relic of the past; it is a living culture undergoing a renaissance today.
夏威夷文化并非历史的遗产；实际上，它是正在复兴的、有着生命力的文化。
Yet science has a cultural history, too, with roots going back to the dawn of civilization.
然而科学也是有文化史的，其发展史也要追溯到文明之初。
The same curiosity to find what lies beyond the horizon that first brought early Polynesians to Hawaii's shores inspires astronomers today to explore the heavens.
起初，探索地平线外的世界的好奇心将波利尼西亚人带到了夏威夷海岸，如今同样的好奇心也在吸引着天文学家不断探索天空。
Calls to disassemble all telescopes on Mauna Kea or to ban future development there ignore the reality that astronomy and Hawaiian culture both seek to answer big questions about who we are, where we come from and where we are going.
呼吁拆除莫纳克亚山上的所有的天文望远镜或者未来禁止安装新天文望远镜的人们忽视了一个事实：即天文学和夏威夷文化二者都在寻求回答关于我们是谁，我们来自哪里，以及我们将向何处去的严肃问题。
Perhaps that is why we explore the starry skies, as if answering a primal calling to know ourselves and our true ancestral homes.
可能这就是为什么我们要不断探索星空，就好像回应最初的召唤，了解我们自己以及我们真正的祖籍。
The astronomy community is making compromises to change its use of Mauna Kea.
天文学界正在做出让步来改变其对莫纳克亚山的使用。
The TMT site was chosen to minimize the telescope's visibility around the island and to avoid archaeological and environmental impact.
TMT的选址将最大程度缩小天文望远镜在岛上的可见度，来避免对考古及环境产生影响。
To limit the number of telescopes on Mauna Kea, old ones will be removed at the end of their lifetimes and their sites returned to a natural state.
为了限制莫纳克亚山上的天文望远镜数量，旧的天文望远镜在寿命终结后会被拆除，其原址也会恢复自然状态。
There is no reason why everyone cannot be welcomed on Mauna Kea to embrace their cultural heritage and to study the stars.
任何人都有理由去欣然接受莫纳克亚山的文化遗址，同时还可以去研究星空。