《那些古怪又让人忧心的问题》第124期:日不落帝国的日落(2)
Fourteen territories
Britain has 14 overseas territories, the direct remnants of the British EmPire.
英国现在有14处海外领土，这些都是曾经的大英帝国的残留。Many newly independent British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations. Some of them, like Canada and Australia, have Queen Elizabeth as their official monarch. However, they are independent states that happen to have the same queen; they are not part of any empire.1
许多新独立出来的英国殖民地都加入了英联邦，其中一些诸如加拿大、澳大利亚等国家的官方君主都是伊丽莎白女王，但它们都是独立的国家，只是恰好君主都是同一个而已，它们现在不属于任何帝国。1
The Sun never sets on all 14 British territories at once (or even 13, if you don't count the British Antarctic Territory). However, if the UK loses one tiny territory, it will experience its first Empire-wide sunset in over two centuries.
太阳不会同时在所有的14处（或13处，如果你不把英属南极领地算在内的话）领土上落下。不过，只要英国失去一处小领地，它就会经历200多年来整个帝国的首次日落。Every night, around midnight GMT, the Sun sets on the Cayman Islands, and doesn't rise over the British Indian Ocean Territory until after 1:00 A.M. For that hour, the little Pitcairn Islands in the South Pacific are the only British territory in the Sun.
每天晚上在格林威治时间午夜前后，开曼群岛上空的太阳就会落下，而太阳要在凌晨1点以后才会在英属印度洋领地升起。在这段时间内，南太平洋上小小的皮特凯恩群岛是唯一能够看到太阳的英国领地。The Pitcairn Islands have a population of a few dozen people, the descendants of the mutineers from the HMS Bounty. The islands became notorious in 2004 when a third of the adult male population, including the mayor, were convicted of child sexual abuse.
皮特凯恩岛上只有几十人，都是当年英国皇家海军“邦蒂号”上的叛变船员的后裔。2004年一桩丑闻让这个小岛变得臭名远扬，因为包括市长在内的三分之一的成年男性居民性侵儿童的罪名成立。As awful as the islands may be, they remain part of the British Empire, and unless they're kicked out, the two-century-long British daylight will continue.
不管这个小岛有着怎样不堪的往事，它仍是大英帝国的一部分。除非你把它一脚踢出帝国版图，否则大英帝国长达2个世纪之久的白天仍将继续。Will it last forever?
永远都是白天吗？Well, maybe.
呵呵，也许吧。In April of 2432, the island will experience its first total solar eclipse since the mutineers arrived.
再过400多年，在2432年的5月份，这个小岛将经历自叛逃者登陆以来首次日全食。Luckily for the Empire, the eclipse happens at a time when the Sun is over the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. Those areas won't see a total eclipse; the Sun will even still be shining in London.
对于大英帝国来说有一点是幸运的，那就是日食发生的时候太阳在加勒比海地区开曼群岛上空。这些地区不会看到日全食，而且在伦敦太阳还好好地挂在空中呢。In fact, no total eclipse for the next thousand years will pass over the Pitcairn Islands at the right time of day to end the streak. If the UK keeps its current territories and borders, it can stretch out the daylight for a long, long time.
事实上，在接下去的几千年里皮特凯恩岛上空都不会发生日全食，也就不会终结大英帝国的日不落神话。如果英国还能继续保持现有的领土范围的话，那么它的白天还能持续好长好长一段时间呢。But not forever. Eventually-many millennia in the future-an eclipse will come for the island, and the Sun will finally set on the British Empire.
但不会永远都是白天。最终在几千年后的某一天，皮特凯恩岛上空将会发生日全食，长久以来挂在大英帝国上空的太阳也就终于会落下。1 That they know of.
1． 任何他们所知的帝国。
