和所有好听的故事一样
Like all good stories,
这个故事也发生在一个暴风骤雨的夜晚
this one has a dark and stormy beginning.
亚利桑那州酷热的夏天进入到了一个惊天动地的尾声
Arizona’s blistering summer has come to an earth-shattering end.
这是六个月来的第一场雨
This is the first rain to fall here in six months.
预示着一个新王朝的诞生
It heralds the birth of a new empire.
想象一个深入地下的世界
Imagine a world deep underground.
它的统治者是一位冷酷的女王
ruled by a ruthless queen.
八年后 她和她的军队将会发挥恐怖的统治力量
Over eight years, she and her armies will unleash a reign of terror.
建立一个规模宏大的帝国
Building an empire of epic proportions.
采取冷酷有效的方式消灭劲敌
Eliminating rivals with brutal efficiency.
数千条生命将在保卫她王国的斗争中牺牲
Thousands will perish in defence of her realm.
这是她达到权力顶峰的故事
This is the story of her rise to power.
暴风雨之后的早晨
The morning after the storm,
一只孤独的蜜蚁蚁后在仍然潮湿的沙漠上徘徊
a lone honey ant queen wanders the still-damp desert.
因为这场雨的缘故
Triggered by the rain.
她从一个深入地下的巢穴中爬了出来
she emerged from a distant underground nest
就在几个小时前
just a few hours ago.
机遇将她带到马蹄峡谷
Chance has carried her to Horseshoe Canyon,
在这个戏剧性的舞台上她即将迈出踉跄的第一步
a dramatic backdrop for her first faltering steps.
雨水软化了质地坚硬的土壤
The rain has softened the hard-packed soil
为她开挖巢穴提供了足够的条件
just enough for her to begin digging a nest.
在何处挖掘的选择可能会是她一生中最重要的决定
Where she digs is perhaps the most crucial decision of her life.
如果她挑选了一个好地点 这些挖掘工作将会成为
If she picks a good spot, these excavations will become
一个伟大帝国的基础 可是如果她选错了
the foundations of a great empire, but if she makes a bad choice,
她的帝国就会顷刻覆灭
she won’t last for long.
面对成堆的难题 她需要帮助
With the odds stacked against her, she needs help.
那将来自于另一只新出现的蚁后
It comes in the shape of another newly-emerged ant queen.
按照符合她高贵身份的仪式 她接受了审视
She is inspected with the formality her regal status requires.
新人获得了加入的许可
The new recruit is allowed to join.
一般情况下蚁后会对另一只采取挑衅的态度
Usually aggressive towards one another,
所以对大多数蚁类来说 这种合作情形是很不寻常的
co-operation like this is very unusual for most ant species.
作为创建者的蚁后有某些特别之处
There’s something about the founding queen
似乎会吸引其他的蚁后
that seems to attract others to her.
第三只蚁后出现了
A third queen appears.
用来挖掘的这几个小时有限而短暂
These few short hours spent digging
蚁后们能看到沙漠的时间仅此一段
is the only time these queens will ever see their desert home.
未来的二十年她们很可能会在地下度过
They could spend the next twenty years deep underground.
更多新人来到了这里
More recruits are drawn to the scene.
可能是受到了信息素的吸引
perhaps attracted by pheromones.
仅在几个小时内蚁后们就会把自己埋入掩体中
In just a few hours, the queens have sealed themselves into their bunker
在黑暗中度过一生
and a life of perpetual darkness.
对创建者来说
For the founding queen,
和这些劲敌分享自己的巢穴似乎是疯了
sharing her nest with all these rivals seems like madness.
但沙漠生存的经济学法则是数量制胜
But the economics of desert survival is a numbers game.
至少就此刻而言
And for the moment at least,
这一共享的生活是她未来的关键
this communal life is the key to her future.
现在每只蚁后都会产下她第一批小小的卵
Each queen now lays her first batch of tiny eggs,
每一个都比大头针的平头还要小
each no bigger than a pinhead.
很多新的巢穴只有两到三只蚁后
Many new nests contain two or three queens.
第一窝卵的数量少于100枚
limiting the initial brood to less than 100 eggs.
但这十只蚁后已经产下了 300多枚卵
But these ten queens have produced well over 300 eggs.
等它们孵化出来 蚁群立刻就会变成一个超级大国
And when they hatch, the colony will become an instant superpower.
对创建者来说 收容房♥客的最大好处就在于此
For the founding queen, this is the main advantage to taking in lodgers.
如果卵没有保持干净和涂抹上含抗菌素的唾沫
If the eggs are not kept clean and coated with antibiotic saliva,
它们立刻会因为真菌侵蚀而腐烂
they would quickly be smothered by fungi and rot away.
不久卵孵化了
The eggs soon hatch.
蚁后们喂养它们贪吃的幼虫迅速成长并化为蛹
Fed by the queens, the voracious larvae grow quickly and then pupate.
卵产下几周之后
A few weeks after the eggs were laid.
第一批小而白皙的工蚁从这些丝茧中孵化出来
the first tiny, pale workers emerge from these silky cocoons.
所有的工蚁都是不能生育的雌蚁
All ant workers are female and sterile.
不能繁衍自己的后代
Unable to reproduce themselves,
它们生存的唯一目的就是为蚁后们服务
their sole purpose in life is to serve the queens.
它们的身体逐渐变黑变硬
They darken as their bodies become harder
做好了担负起自己职责的准备
and then they are ready to take up their duties.
有的会呆在地下
Some stay underground,
照顾蚁后们和剩下的卵
tending to the queens and to the remaining brood.
其他的则向地面进发
Others head for the surface for a first look
第一次看到这个陌生的新世界
at their strange new world.
创建者挑选了一个好地点作为自己的领地
The founding queen picked a good spot to stake her claim.
巢穴建在马蹄峡谷入口的一个旧畜栏里
The nest is in an old corral at the mouth of Horseshoe Canyon.
旧水罐的水
It’s the water in the old tanks
还有附近的溪流为此处的生命提供了可能性
and the nearby stream that makes life possible here.
在沙漠中创造出绿洲
Creating an oasis in the desert.
比一粒米还小的蚂蚁们
Smaller than a grain of rice, the tiny ants
来自于畜栏蚁群
from the Corral colony
它们在地面上迈出了试探性的第一步
take their first tentative steps above ground.
它们整个王国的覆盖面♥积♥只有几平方米
Their entire kingdom encompasses just a few square metres.
只有获得必需品的满足才能在这片领地生存下去、
They must get everything they need to survive from this territory.
这里不是伊甸园
While it’s no Garden of Eden.
以蚂蚁的角度来看
from an ant’s perspective,
为了达到这一点还有很多事要做
it has a lot going for it.
这里有提供粮食的植物
There’s plants to provide food.
附近的橡木会提供隐蔽
And shader,from a nearby dak tree.
但是也有负面的问题-来自于邻居们的嘈杂声
But there is a down side – it comes with noisy neighbours.
*母牛眸*
COWS MOOING
当地的大农场主仍在使用这些旧畜栏
The old corrals are still used by local ranchers
他们在峡谷里放牧
who graze their herds in the canyon.
那是能吃苦耐劳的品种
They’re a tough breed.
母牛的生活用水
The cows depend on the water
由水泵从很深的地下抽上来流入畜栏处的水罐里
pumped from deep underground into the tanks at the corral.
新的巢穴就靠近其中之一
And the new nest is close to one of the main trails.
所以牲口从不会离开太远
So the cattle are never far away.
但对蚂蚁们造成真正威胁的不是母牛们
But it’s not the cows that are a real danger to the ants.
而是埋伏在离家近得多的狩猎者们
There are predators lurking much closer to home.
沙子下隐藏着一位猎人一只蚁狮
Concealed beneath the sand is a stealthy hunter. An ant lion.
悄悄地 它们挖了陷阱来捕捉猎物
Unseen, they dig traps to snare their victims.
首先 蚁狮幼虫在地上划出一个圈
First, the ant lion larva scribes a circle on the ground.
然后 越挖越深 螺旋式地接近中心
then, digging deeper, it spirals in towards the centre.
一旦完成 狩猎者会把自己埋在下面
Once finished, the predator buries itself at the base
耐心等待
and waits.
斜坡的角度恰好是不稳定的临界点
The angle of the slope is just the right side of unstable.
一只脚踏错 就会控制不住地滑下去
put one foot wrong and it becomes a slippery slope
然后噩梦般地结束
to a nightmarish end.
蚁狮操纵着它的猎物
The ant lion toys with its prey.
将蚂蚁引到实施致命一击的地点
Manoeuvring the ant into position to administer the killer bite.
注入毒素使其麻痹
Paralyzed by the injected poison.
将猎物拽入地下 吸出其重要的肉汁
the victim is dragged underground and its vital juices sucked out.
但是挣扎在生死线上的
But in the struggle for survival,
落单的工蚁只是白白消耗体力
the odd worker is expendable.
无经验的畜栏种群遇到的都是那样的事
The fledgling Corral colony is all that matters.
在黑暗中 蚁后们饥饿难耐
In the darkness, the queens are slowly starving to death.
为了维持生命它们已经耗尽了自己的能量
They have been breaking down their own muscles to stay alive.
所以小工蚁们带回家的任何食物都是极为重要的
So any food the tiny workers can bring home is crucial.
它们的挣扎担负着重任
They struggle with huge loads.
并不富足的供应使这些蚁后
These meagre supplies allow the queens
重新变得强壮 开始生产更多的卵
to regain some of their strength and to start laying more eggs.
通过共用资源
By pooling their resources,
蚁后们在她们的第一个重大挑战中生存下来
the queens have survived their first major challenge.
但这一同盟并不能持久
but this coalition can’t last.
紧张的局势已经形成 蚁后们相互推挤着抢占位置
Tensions are already on the rise as the queens jostle for position
在女王的宫殿里
within the royal court.
娇弱的一方要顺从地向支配者屈膝
The weaker crouch submissively before the more dominant,
包括创建者
including the founding queen.
微妙的部署开始了
So begins the delicate manoeuvring
很快就会产生致命的影响
that will soon take on a deadly significance.
位于领导层低端的那些
Those at the bottom of the hierarchy
在接下来的考验中几乎没有存活的可能
have little chance of surviving the coming trials.
另一个对领导权的争斗已经在地面上展开
Another struggle for control is also beginning above ground.
畜栏蚁巢不是马蹄峡谷中唯一的蚁巢
The Corral nest is not the only one in Horseshoe Canyon.
大小相似的蚁群们散乱地分布在沙漠里
The desert floor is littered with similar sized colonies
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