It is more precious than emeralds and dearer than fine opals.

它比绿宝石和白石更珍贵。

I didn't realize that people didn't wear opals.

我没意识到人们不戴猫眼石。

And for their audacity, the earth rewarded them with a fist-sized, record-breaking opal.

因为他们大胆，地球奖励他们破记录、有拳头般大白石。

But mining black opal isn't easy.

但想要开采黑欧泊，可不是件容易。

And a lot of the black opal is found here, at Lightning Ridge.

其中大量黑欧泊就产自这里——闪电岭。

That porous material that was the bone got filled in with little spheres, opal, basically.

骨头多孔材料被填充了小球体，基本上是白石。

Farintosh, said he. Ah yes, I recall the case; it was concerned with an opal tiara.

法林托歇，他说，啊，是，我想起了那个案子，是一件和猫儿眼宝石女冠冕有案子。

Bits of silica settled into the gel and then grew into the spheres that make up opal.

少量二氧化硅沉淀在凝胶中，之后成长为构成欧泊球状体。

Nearer at hand, they are like huge blocks of purest marble inlaid with pearl and opal gems.

近了看则像是很多块镶着珍珠和白石光洁无比大理石。

So this is an opal from Australia which is where a lot of the great opals come from.

这是一种来自澳大利亚白石，许多很棒白石都来自澳大利亚。

Like quartz, opal is made of silica.

同石英一样，欧泊由二氧化硅组成。

The Halley's Comet opal is a marvel, but its uniqueness is, paradoxically, the most usual thing about it.

哈雷慧星白石是个奇迹，但矛盾是，它独特性正是它最寻常之处。

And in rare cases, petrified wood, shells, teeth, and even bones of extinct organisms are made of opal.

在极少数情况下，木变石、贝壳、牙齿甚至是灭绝生物骨骼都形成了欧泊。

These tiny spheres scatter light, giving opal its characteristic rainbow sheen.

这些小球状体分散了光线，赋予了欧泊最具特色五彩光泽。

One of the most famous specimens is a pliosaur nicknamed Eric, an almost-complete marine reptile preserved in opal.

最著名范本之一便是一只昵称叫埃里克上龙，这是一只几乎完好保存在欧泊内部海洋爬行动物。

Opal is formed when silica-rich groundwater hardens in rock over millions of years.

欧泊形成过程是：富含二氧化硅地下水在岩石里经过几百万年硬化沉淀。

Some of these experts include the opal as a fifth precious stone while others consider the pearl in this class.

其中有些专家把猫眼石列为第五种宝石，而有些专家则认为珍珠才是第五种宝石。

They follow these spots, called " nobbies, " hoping to find more opal deeper in the rock.

他们跟着这些小点走，这些点被叫做“nobbies”，希望往深处能挖出更多欧泊。

The human factor is the biggest factor in finding opal.

找欧泊，最大变数其实是人。

It's there that an opal begins its life as something surprisingly abundant: water.

白石出人意料地诞生于一种随处可见资源当中——水。