The Chocolate Hills of Bohol 巨人級甜點菲律賓巧克力山 @ 【精英翻譯】的部落格

The Chocolate Hills of Bohol 巨人級甜點菲律賓巧克力山

精英翻譯社轉自: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0061/328900/web/

by William Ryan

The Philippines' Chocolate Hills are a one-of-a-kind destination. Just don't expect any chocolate.
菲律賓的巧克力山是獨一無二的景點。只是別指望有巧克力可以品嚐。

The Philippines offers a vast reasure trove of tourist delights, and among them are the Chocolate Hills on the island of Bohol. It's a unique landscape, consisting of between 1,200 and 1,700 cone-shaped hills. Averaging just 30 to 50 meters high, they are scattered within a 50-square-kilometer area. During the dry season, their surreal beauty is enhanced when the hills change color from green to brown, making them look like giant mounds of chocolate. No trees or clumpsof vegetation grow on them, and the rice and corn farming in the surrounding land provides a beautiful green backdrop.

菲律賓提供了極其豐富的旅遊景點，其中包括保和島上的巧克力山。它是一個獨特的景觀，由一千兩百至一千七百座錐形山丘組成。山丘的平均高度僅三十至五十公尺高，零星散布於五十平方公里範圍內。旱季期間，當山丘從綠色轉變成土褐色時，更增加了其夢幻般的美感，使它們看起來像是巨大的巧克力堆。沒有樹木或叢生植物在上面生長，而種植在周圍的稻米和玉米提供了一幅美麗的綠色背景。

The highly popular attraction gives a significant boost to tourism on the island and serves as a geological curiosity. In a culture fond of legend and myth, there are competing explanations of how the Chocolate Hills came to be. One legend claims the landscape was created by giant children pretending to bake cakes from mud and sand in the heat of the sun, molding them in giant, half-coconut shells. More romantic audiences prefer the legend of the young, handsome giant, Arogo. He fell in love with a mortal, and upon her death, Arogo's giant teardrops formed the Chocolate Hills.

這個廣受歡迎的景點對該島的觀光業有很大的助益，而且是地質學上的瑰寶。在一個愛好傳說與神話的文化中，對於巧克力山是如何形成有著分歧的解釋。一個傳說聲稱，這個景觀是由巨人小孩所創造的，他們假裝用泥土和沙子做蛋糕、將它們放進巨大的半椰子殼中塑形並在太陽高溫下烘烤。比較浪漫的觀眾偏愛年輕俊俏的巨人阿拉貢的傳說。阿拉貢愛上了一個凡人，在她過世的時候，他巨大的淚珠形成了巧克力山。

Most geologists believe the Chocolate Hills resulted from marinelimestone sustaining thousands of years of weathering. Other possible theories include the uplifting of coral deposits from below the Earth's surface. Some experts argue that the cone-shaped hills were produced by sea eruptionsin a massive geological shift coupled with rain and erosion over the past thousand years. No matter how they got there, the Chocolate Hills in Bohol are a fascinating and unique addition to the scenery.