2012年12月26日水曜日

St. Elmo's fire/ Woody Guthrie翻訳

・・・・まだ終わっていません・・・

Saint Elmo's blue

He's lost his sailing shoes
He couldn't believe it when he heard the news
They took away his fire
The saint's retired
聖者は、退役した

He walked down to the water
Stopped a passing sailor
And said please don't pray to Peter
You know he stole my fire
He said he was a saint but he's a liar
彼は水辺に歩いて降りた
そして彼は往き過ぎる水兵を止め
どうかペテロに祈りを捧げないで下さいと言った
彼が私の火を知らぬ間に盗んだ事を知っていますね
彼は聖者だが、嘘吐きだったと言った

He flew over the ocean
To see if it was true
Stopped at every fishing boat
And tried to light the sail
To no avail
彼は、それが真実だったかどうか確認する為に
海の上を高く飛んだ
釣り船を悉く停め
何の役にも立たない為に
帆船に灯かりを点(とも)そうとした

He turned around and he headed home
Still bleeding from his wounds
Wondering just how much does
A saint has to prove
What more can I do?
彼は向きを変え、故国に向かった
傷口から猶も血を流しながら
実際どれだけ役に立つか首を傾げながら
聖者は私が他に何を為し得るか、示さなければならない

Saint Elmo's Blue
He's got a lot of time and nothing to do
Saint Elmo's blue

15:58 2012/12/26水曜日

St. Elmo's fire(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

St. Elmo's fire on a ship at sea
St. Elmo's fire (also St. Elmo's light is a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a coronal discharge from a sharp or pointed object in a strong electric field in the atmosphere (such as those generated by thunderstorms or created by a volcanic eruption).
St. Elmo's fire is named after St. Erasmus of Formiae (also called St. Elmo, the Italian name for St. Erasmus), the patron saint of sailors.
The phenomenon sometimes appeared on ships at sea during thunderstorms and was regarded by sailors with religious awe for its glowing ball of light, accounting for the name.
Because it is a sign of electricity in the air and interferes with compass readings, some sailors may have regarded it as an omen of bad luck and stormy weather.
Other references indicate that sailors may have actually considered St. Elmo's fire as a positive omen (as in, a sign of the presence of their guardian saint).

Characteristics

Physically, St. Elmo's fire is a bright blue or violet glow, appearing like fire in some circumstances, from tall, sharply pointed structures such as lightning rods, masts, spires and chimneys, and on aircraft wings.
St. Elmo's fire can also appear on leaves, grass, and even at the tips of cattle horns.
Often accompanying the glow is a distinct hissing or buzzing sound. It is sometimes confused with ball lightning.
In 1750, Ben Franklin hypothesized that a pointed iron rod would light up at the tip during a lightning storm, similar in appearance to St. Elmo's fire.

Cause

St. Elmo's fire is a mixture of gas and plasma, as are flames in general and stars.
The electric field around the object in question causes ionization of the air molecules, producing a faint glow easily visible in low-light conditions.
Roughly 1000 volts per centimeter induces St. Elmo's fire; the number depends greatly on the geometry of the object.
Sharp points lower the required voltage because electric fields are more concentrated in areas of high curvature, so discharges are more intense at the ends of pointed objects.

Conditions that can generate St.Elmo's fire are present during thunderstorms, when high voltage levels are present between clouds and the ground underneath. Air molecules glow due to the effects of such voltage, producing St. Elmo's fire.

The nitrogen and oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere causes St. Elmo's fire to fluoresce with blue or violet light; this is similar to the mechanism that causes neon lights to glow.