万物简史 第644期:一个星球,一次实验(2)

that if you wished to find all the dodos in a vicinity you had only to catch one and set it to squawking,

要是你想找到附近的所有渡渡鸟，你只要抓住其中的一只，并且让它叫个不停，

and all the others would waddle¹ along to see what was up.

所有其他的同类就会摇摇摆摆地走过来，看看究竟发生了什么事。

The indignities² to the poor dodo didn't end quite there.

对于可怜的渡渡鸟的摧残并没有到此为止。

In 1755, some seventy years after the last dodo's death, the director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford³

在最后一只渡渡鸟死后大约70年，也就是1755年，牛津阿什莫利恩博物馆的馆长

decided⁴ that the institution's stuffed dodo was becoming unpleasantly musty and ordered it tossed on a bonfire.

发现该馆的渡渡鸟标本发了霉，就命令手下的人将它扔到火里烧掉。

This was a surprising decision as it was by this time the only dodo in existence, stuffed or otherwise.

这真是一个令人吃惊的决定，因为那可是世上仅有的——不论是标本还是活物一只渡渡鸟了。

A passing employee, aghast, tried to rescue the bird but could save only its head and part of one limb.

一个碰巧路过的员工被他的这一举动吓坏了，试图将那只鸟从火中救出来，可是最终只救出了它的头和一部分腿。

As a result of this and other departures from common sense, we are not now entirely⁵ sure what a living dodo was like.

这样做的结果，以及由于别的背离常识的举动，我们现在几乎不能完全确定一只活着的渡渡鸟长什么样。

We possess much less information than most people suppose

我们所拥有的信息比大多数人想像的要少得多

a handful of crude descriptions by "unscientific voyagers, three or four oil paintings, and a few scattered⁶ osseous fragments," in the somewhat aggrieved⁷ words of the nineteenth-century naturalist⁸ H. E. Strickland.

正如19世纪博物学家H.R.斯特里克兰不无愠怒地描绘的那样，“几个不值科学的海员”写的几段简单的描述、“三四幅油画，以及几块散落的骨头碎片”，就是有关渡渡鸟的全部资料。

As Strickland wistfully observed, we have more physical evidence of some ancient sea monsters and lumbering⁹ saurapods

依照斯特里克兰的说法，我们所掌握的有关一些古代海兽和庞大的蜥脚类动物的资料比渡渡鸟还要具体得多。

than we do of a bird that lived into modern times and required nothing of us to survive except our absence.

而后者一直生存到现代，它们对我们别无所求，只要求我们远离它们，以便活下去。

So what is known of the dodo is this: it lived on Mauritius, was plump but not tasty, and was the biggest-ever member of the pigeon family,

综合起来，我们所知道的有关渡渡鸟的情况足这样的：它生活于毛里求斯，体态丰满，但味道并不鲜美，是鸠鸽家族中个儿最大的成员。

though by quite what margin¹⁰ is unknown as its weight was never accurately¹¹ recorded.

不过，它的个儿究竟有多大，我们不知道，因为它的体重从未有过精确的记录。

Extrapolations from Strickland's "osseous fragments" and the Ashmolean's modest remains¹² show that it was a little over two and a half feet tall

根据斯特里克兰所提到的“骨头碎片”以及阿什莫利恩的残缺标本，我们可以大致推测出它的身高约80厘米，

and about the same distance from beak¹³ tip to backside.

从嘴尖到臀部的距离几乎相等。

1 waddle   

vi.摇摆地走；n.摇摆的走路(样子)

参考例句：

• I am pregnant.I waddle awkwardly and my big stomach pressed against the weight of the world. 我怀孕了，我滑稽可笑地瞒珊而行，大肚子上压着全世界的重量。
• We waddle and hop and have lots of fun.我们走起路来摇摇摆摆，还一跳一跳的。我们的生活很有趣。

2 indignities   

n.侮辱，轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The soldiers who were captured suffered many indignities at the hands of the enemy. 被俘的士兵在敌人手中受尽侮辱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What sort of indignities would he be forced to endure? 他会被迫忍受什么样的侮辱呢？ 来自辞典例句

3 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

7 aggrieved   

adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• He felt aggrieved at not being chosen for the team. 他因没被选到队里感到愤愤不平。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is the aggrieved person whose fiance&1& did not show up for their wedding. 她很委屈，她的未婚夫未出现在他们的婚礼上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

9 lumbering   

n.采伐林木

参考例句：

• Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
• Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家，伐木业十分重要。

10 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

11 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。