全球各地的月食神话
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Eclipses haven't always been events that people looked forward to. Many ancient cultures saw solar or lunar eclipses as a challenge to the normal order of things， says E. C. Krupp， director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles， California. "Things that shouldn't be happening are happening."
Howling at the Moon
"[The Inca1）] didn't see eclipses as being anything at all good，" says David Dearborn， a researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California， who has written extensively on how the Inca viewed astronomy. Accounts written by Spanish settlers in the New World record the Incan practices surrounding eclipses， he says.
Among the collected myths is a story about a jaguar2） that attacked and ate the moon. The big cat's assault3） explained the rusty4） or blood-red color that the moon often turned during a total lunar eclipse.
The Inca feared that after it attacked the moon， the jaguar would crash5） to Earth to eat people， Dearborn says. To prevent that， they would try to drive the predator away by shaking spears6） at the moon and making a lot of noise， including beating their dogs to make them howl and bark.
A Substitute King
The ancient Mesopotamians7） also saw lunar eclipses as an assault on the moon， says Krupp. But in their stories， the assailants8） were seven demons.
Traditional cultures linked what happened in the sky to circumstances on Earth， he says. And because the king represented the land in Mesopotamian culture， the people viewed a lunar eclipse as an assault on their king. "We know from written records [that Mesopotamians] had a reasonable ability to predict lunar eclipses，" says Krupp. So in anticipation of an eclipse， they would install9） a surrogate10） king intended to bear the brunt11） of any attack.
"Typically， the person declared to be king would be someone expendable12），" Krupp says. Though the substitute wasn't really in charge， he would be treated well during the eclipse period， while the actual king masqueraded13） as an ordinary citizen. Once the eclipse passed， "as you might expect， the substitute kings typically disappeared，" Krupp says， and may have been dispatched14） by poisoning.
Healing the Moon
The eclipse myth told by the Hupa， a Native American tribe from northern California， has a happier ending.
The Hupa believed the moon had 20 wives and a lot of pets， says Krupp. Most of those pets were mountain lions and snakes， and when the moon didn't bring them enough food to eat， they attacked and made him bleed. The eclipse would end when the moon's wives would come in to protect him， collecting his blood and restoring him to health， Krupp says.
To the Luise?o tribe of southern California， an eclipse signaled that the moon was ill， says Krupp. It was tribe members' job to sing chants15） or prayers to bring it back to health.
Modern Myths
Not all cultures view an eclipse as a bad thing， says Jarita Holbrook， a cultural astronomer at the University of the Western Cape in Bellville， South Africa， in an interview last year.
"My favorite myth is from the Batammaliba people in Togo and Benin in Africa，" she says. In this myth， the sun and the moon are fighting during an eclipse， and the people encourage them to stop. "They see it as a time of coming together and resolving old feuds16） and anger，" Holbrook says. "It's a myth that has held to this day."
人们并非自古以来就很期待见到日食或月食这种现象。很多古文明将日食或月食视为对万物正常秩序的一种挑衅，美国加利福尼亚州洛杉矶市格里菲斯天文台台长E. C.克虏伯表示：“即发生了不应该发生的事情。”
对月吼叫
“在印加人眼中，月食根本就不是什么好事儿。”加利福尼亚州劳伦斯・利弗莫尔国家实验室研究员戴维・迪尔伯恩说道。他在印加人如何看待天文现象方面著述颇丰。他说，迁居新大陆的西班牙殖民者所著的诸多文献中都记录了印加人所做的与月食密切相关的各种行为。
在印加人的神话故事集里，有一则神话故事讲到了一只攻击和吞食月亮的美洲豹。正是因为遭到这只美洲豹的攻击，月亮才会在月全食时常常呈现出红褐色或血红色。
迪尔伯恩说，印加人担心这只美洲豹攻击完月亮之后会闯到地球上来吃人，为防止这种情况发生，他们就会对着月亮挥舞长矛，并制造大量噪音（包括通过殴打他们的狗使其嚎叫狂吠），试图借此赶走这只猛兽。
偷换国王
古美索不达米亚人也认为月食是月亮受到攻击的表现，克虏伯说。只不过他们故事里的袭击者是七个恶魔。
他说，传统文化将天象变化和地球上的状况联系在了一起。由于在美索不达米亚文化里，国王代表土地，于是人们就将月食视为对国王的攻击。“我们从书面文献中得知，美索不达米亚人拥有较好的预测月食的能力。”克虏伯说。因此，在预计月食即将来临之际，他们就会任用一个旨在首当其冲的假国王。
“一般来说，被宣布为假国王的人会是一个可以被牺牲的人。”克虏伯说。虽然假国王没有实权，但人们在月食期间仍会好好服侍他，而真国王则要伪装成平民。一旦月食结束，“如你所料，假国王总会消失不见，” 克虏伯说，可能已经被毒死了。
治愈月亮
胡帕人是美洲土著部落的一支，生活在加利福尼亚州北部地区。他们讲述的月食神话结局更美好一些。
胡帕人认为月亮有20位妻子和众多宠物，克虏伯说。这些宠物大多是山狮和蛇，一旦月亮没有给它们足够的食物，它们就攻击月亮，致其流血。当月亮的妻子们出面保护他，收集他的血液并帮他康复时，月食就会结束，克虏伯表示。
克虏伯说，对于加利福尼亚州南部地区的卢伊塞诺部落而言，月食是月亮生病的征兆。部落成员要唱圣歌或做祷告，以帮助月亮康复。
现代神话
南非贝尔维尔市西开普大学文化天文学家嘉瑞塔・霍尔布鲁克去年接受采访时称，并非所有文化都认为月食是不祥之兆。
“我最喜欢的月食神话出自非洲多哥和贝宁的巴坦马利巴族。”她说。在这个神话故事中，太阳和月亮在月食期间相互打斗，人们则呼吁它们停手。“他们把月食看作是一个大家聚在一起解决旧仇宿怨的时机，”霍尔布鲁克说，“这个神话一直保留至今。”
1. Inca： 印加人，南美洲古代印第安人
2. jaguar [?d??ju?（r）] n. 美洲豹
3. assault [??s??lt] n. 猛攻；强攻
4. rusty [?r?sti] adj. 红褐色的
5. crash [kr??] vi. 哗啦啦地猛冲直闯
6. spear [sp??（r）] n. 矛
7. Mesopotamian： 美索不达米亚人。美索不达米亚是古希腊人对两河流域的称谓，意为“（两条）河流之间的地方”，这两条河指的是幼发拉底河和底格里斯河。在两河之间的美索不达米亚平原上产生和发展的古文明被称为两河文明或美索不达米亚文明，大于现今的伊拉克，其存在时间从公元前6000年到公元前1世纪，是人类最早的文明之一。
8. assailant [??se?l?nt] n. 袭击者；攻击者
9. install [?n?st??l] vt. 正式任命；任用
10. surrogate [?s?r??t] n. 代替者
11. bear the brunt： 首当其冲。brunt [br?nt] n. （……的）压力，冲力
12. expendable [?k?spend?bl] adj. [正式] （人）可牺牲的；可抛弃的
13. masquerade [?m?sk??re?d] vi. 化装；装扮成；冒充
14. dispatch [d??sp?t?] vt. [旧]处决；杀死
15. chant [t??nt] n. 单调的圣歌；单调的祈祷文
16. feud [fju?d] n. 世仇；积怨