加拉帕戈斯群岛（2006）（2）

It gets away
但是它受到了惊吓
but the petrel is stunned
猫头鹰盯着它企图回去下面
The owl spots it trying to get back underground
另一只猫头鹰看到了，它想要抢走猎物
A second owl is watching but now makes a challenge
它只能自己捕食了
It’ll have to hunt for itself
猫头鹰勉强才钻进洞穴的入口
It can just squeeze into the entrance hall of one of the tunnels
现在它等着海燕进洞
Now it waits for a petrel coming in
在其他岛屿也有短耳猫头鹰 但只有在热诺维萨岛才有以这种方式捕食的种类
There are short-eared owls on other islands but only on Genovesa have they learnt to hunt like this
似乎地图上每座岛屿都有同样奇特的故事
And it seems that every island on the map has a similarly strange story to tell
加拉帕戈斯以这些行动缓慢的巨龟命名是由道理的
It’s not surprising the Galapagos are named after these lumbering giants
乌龟巨大的圆顶屋状的壳看起来就像它们栖息的这座岛
Their great dome shells look just like the islands they inhabit
那些常年下雨的高海拔岛屿，有时生长着特别茂盛的草木
Those islands high enough to catch rain can be surprisingly lush
在这里，圆形龟壳有利于乌龟
Here, the round shells are perfect for budging
完美地从树枝下挤过而不给缠住
through the undergrowth without getting snagged
但是，在其他低海拔的岛屿几乎从不下雨
But on other lower islands there’s almost no rain
这里的乌龟显得非常的不同
And here, the tortoises look very different
它们的龟壳前部呈现出一种曲线形的拱状结构
They have shells with a curved arch at the front
外表真的很像“加拉帕戈”即西班牙语里的“马鞍”
that looks just like a Spanish saddle or Galapagos
事实上，岛屿正是以这种龟命名的
The islands were actually named after these tortoises
这里的乌龟在地面上吃不到什么东西
Here there’s so little to eat on the ground
所以他们只有伸长脖子才能够得着美味的植物
that they need to stretch their necks to reach more suckling vegetation
拱状形的龟壳不会妨碍乌龟把脖子伸得特别长
The curved arch in their shells allows for that extra stretch
在加拉帕戈斯的其他岛屿上，生命呈现出不同的演变进程
On different islands, Galapagos life is taking a different course
然而，那时达尔文并没有意识到
As yet, Darwin was unaware of it
但随着贝格尔号♥从一座岛屿开到另一座 达尔文把握了每一次上岸的机会
But as the Beagle hopped from island to island he took any opportunity to go ashore
在弗若里安♥南♥岛，邮局海湾的沙滩上遇到
On the island of Floreana he was met on the beach at Post Office Bay
加拉帕戈斯有史以来第一批移♥民♥的总督
by a governor of the first ever settlement in the Galapagos,
英国人罗森
an Englishman called Lawson
罗森讲述了关于加拉帕戈斯生物的奇特现象
Lawson’s tales of the strange Galapagos life
激发了达尔文深入岛屿进行考察的兴趣
encouraged Darwin to go deep into the interior of the islands
他每到一处都要采集标本
And wherever he went, he collected
他见到了乌龟，但只见到那种由圆顶屋形龟壳的乌龟
He saw the tortoises, though only the dome shelled kind
因而他并没有发现龟壳形状的秘密
so didn’t see their secret
他看到了长着不同喙的小鸟，但没有想到它们都属于雀科
He saw the little birds with their different beaks but didn’t guess they were all finches
他把一只小鸟叫做“乌鸫”，另一只叫做“鹪鹩”
He called one a black bird another a wren
还有一种叫做“嘲鸟”
There was anothe bird too, the mockingbird
这种嘲鸟好像和南美洲的嘲鸟是近亲，但又有着某种差异
He’d seen them in South America but these were somehow different
现在他还不知道这种差异有何意义
For now he had no idea how important that difference would be
随着达尔文越来越深入岛屿的中心地带
As Darwin went further and further into the heart of the islands
他看到了从未有博物学家看过的景象
He found a sight to Galapagos that no naturalist had seen before
在弗洛雷阿纳岛和桑地亚哥岛的高地上，他都发现了神奇的森林
In the highlands of Floreana and Santiego he found enchanted forests
在极少数的地方，他发现了淡水
And in a handful of places he found freshwater
方圆600英里内唯一的淡水资源
the only freshwater for 600 miles
鸭子在里面戏水
Ducks dabble as though in a park
乌龟在厚厚的火山泥泞中嬉戏打滚
Tortoises wallow in thick volcanic mud
军舰鸟从外面残酷的世界来这里饮水
Frigatebirds come from the harsh world outside to drink
这不是什么地狱，而是人间的伊甸园
This is no hell on earth but garden of Eden
达尔文问了自己一个关键的问题
Darwin asked himself the crucial question
“为什么这些小鸟孕育了如此奇异而独特的生命？”
Why are these small islands blessed with such strange and unique life?
然而就在距离真♥相♥仅几步之遥时
But just a breath away from revelation
达尔文却只能随船离开，从此一去不返
Darwin was taken away never to return
1835年10月20日傍晚
At sunset on the 20, October, 1835
贝格尔号♥启航前往塔希提岛之后便返回了出发地
The Beagle set sail for Tahiti and then home
然而，损失只是一部分
But all was now lost
神奇的岛屿已经施了魔法
the enchanted islands had cast their spell
达尔文离开加拉帕戈斯不久之后就开始有了重要发现
No sooner had Darwin left the Galapagos than he began to see the truth
在他长时间对采集的标本进行分类的时候
As he spent the long hours at sea sorting through his collections
一种标本突然引起了他的注意
one specimen suddenly caught his attention
不是巨龟，不是雀鸟，而是嘲鸟
not tortoise, not finch, but mockingbird
我在四个不同的岛上都采集了标本
I have specimens from 4 different islands
在两座岛上的看起来一样，但另两座却不一样
On 2 islands they appear the same the other 2 they are different
在一座岛上的种类，在另一个岛上是不能找到的
In each island, each kind is exclusively found
岛屿不同，嘲鸟也不同
Different islands within sight of each other have different mockingbirds
它们的羽毛与都其他岛上的略有差异
with slightly different feather and like the finches slightly different beaks
如同雀科鸟一样，它们的喙也都各有特点
达尔文现在想起了罗森总督说起过的一件事
Darwin now remembered something governor Lawson had told him about tortoises
总督说自己能分辨出哪一只乌龟来自哪一座岛屿
He claimed to could tell which island the tortoise came from just by the shape of its shell
仅凭龟壳的形状就可以
岛屿不同龟也不同
Different island, different tortoise,
道理相同
same thing
他从加拉帕戈斯壮观的风景中 看出了这些岛屿都在不断地变化
He had seen from the dramatic Galapagos landscape that the islands were constantly changing
那么有没有可能，生物也在变化？
Could living things be changing too?
他的遐想穿越时空
He began to see back through time
我仿佛看到了天地造物的过程
I fancied myself brought near to the very act of creation
他看到了加拉帕戈斯在海底喷发的火山烈焰中诞生
He saw that the Galapagos had been born of fire,
那时毫无生机
sterome from the depths of the ocean
然而生命却从别处而来
but life had then come from elsewhere
先是出现在与世隔绝的加拉帕戈斯的一个岛上
In isolation on the Galapagos
接着出现在一个又一个的其他岛上
and then further isolation from island to island
生命的形态从一种变为另一种
it had changed one form into another
达尔文在刹那间看见了加拉帕戈斯最大的秘密
Darwin had caught a fleeting glimpse of Galapagos’ great secret
新的植物，新的动物——新的生命，正在由岛屿本身创造
New plants, new animals, new life was being made by the islands themselves
他在其他的物种里寻找同样的形态
He looked for the same pattern in other species
有一天，这种小雀鸟将以他命名
One day, the little finches would be named after him
但尽管他采集了那个时代最好的有完整喙系列的标本
but though he had the best collection to date with a whole range of different beaks
但仍然无法分辨哪只雀鸟来自哪座岛
He hadn’t thought to label which islands they came from
因此，现在这些标本还没什么用
So for now, they couldn’t help
至于那些巨龟，带到船上的有四五十只成年龟
And as for the tortoises, 45 adults were brought aboard the Beagle
但是，所有龟都被吃掉
but every one had been eaten
龟壳也扔在大海里了，再也无法找到了
Their shells thrown over board lost for ever
达尔文不能回去，他永远无法知晓雀鸟的喙
Unable to return, Darwin would never know the true story of the finches’ beaks
和巨龟的壳所隐藏的秘密
and the tortoises’ shells
然而在嘲鸟身上，他发现了进化的蛛丝马迹
But in the mockingbirds he had caught a glimpse of evolution
1859年，离开加拉帕戈斯24年后
In 1859, 24 years after leaving the Galapagos
查尔斯·达尔文的《物种起源》终于面世了
Charles Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ was finally published
这本书永远地改变了世界
It changed the world for ever
直到临终他都一直坚信
Until the end of his days, he always held on to one certainty
荒岛加拉帕戈斯是他所有思想的起源
that the lonely Galapagos islands were the origin of all his views,
是《物种起源》的起源
the origin of ‘The Origin of Species’
巨龟给古代的水手流下了如此深刻的印象 以至他们就把整座岛屿以它命名
Giant tortoises so impressed the ancient mariners that they named these islands after them
龟肉成为海盗供给物的来源
Their fat flesh fuels the pirate’s plunder
在龟壳里隐藏着解开地球上最大的秘密的线索
In their shells is a clue to the greatest mystery on earth
但是对龟而言，生活却是如此简单
But for a tortoise, life is simple
刚刚下了一场雨，它们便爬到阿尔塞多火山峰顶绿油油的草地上
The recent rain draws them to the green meadows on the summit of Alcedo volcano
不仅为了吃那里丰盛的草，也为了繁衍后代
not just for the lush grazing but to breed
雄龟在向雌龟求爱
He tries to seduce her
极尽所能
everything in time
这种求爱仪式可能会令人想到“永恒”两个字
This age old ritual may remind us of permanence
然而，这是大错特错了
but that couldn’t be further from the truth
巨龟的后代可能会长有与前代有一点点不同的龟壳
The offspring of these tortoises may have a slightly different shell
这将使它们在岛上的生存能力更强一点
that gives them a slightly better chance of surviving on their island
连这些行动如此缓慢，寿命如此长的动物也在发生变化
Even these animals that move so slow, and live so long are changing
从我们第一次来到这些岛上到现在，我们对它们的了解也发生了变化
Since people first came to these islands our understanding of them has changed too
加拉帕戈斯并非地狱
The Galapagos is not hell on earth
它是生命进化最活生生的例子
but a vibrant, living demonstration of evolution of life
在这里，在这与世隔绝的小世界中
Here on this little world within itself
我们仿佛更加接近那个伟大的事实
we seem to be brought somewhat closer to the great fact
最大的秘密
that mystery of all mysteries
地球上首次的新生命的诞生
the first appearance of new beings on this earth
在下一集中
In the next episode
我们将共同探索加拉帕戈斯的生命形态是怎样被自然的力量所左右
we discover how life in Galapagos is driven by elemental forces of change
过去的、现在的、还有未来的
Past, present and future