The rivers are littered with empty lodges and broken dams.
每一次建筑都是征服大自然的尝试…
Every construction is an attempt to tame nature…
最终还是大自然会取得胜利
and nature will always win,in the end.
情况对草原犬鼠来说 甚至更糟
Things are even tougher for prairie dogs.
夏天 土地干燥
In summer,the land dries.
牛和野牛可以移♥动♥
The cattle and buffalo can move,
但犬鼠不可以 而且家庭成员们也无处可去
but the dog towns can’t and the families have nowhere else to go.
穴鸮一家都可以飞行了 它们来去自如
The owl family can all fly now. They can come and go.
草原犬鼠以仅存的草为食
The prairie dogs eat the remaining grass,
直到它们附近变成风沙浸蚀区
until their neighbourhood becomes a dust bowl.
它们面临着饿死的危险
They face starvation.
幼崽仅有几个月大
The young are a few months old
现在整个群体转攻击它们
and now the colony turns against them.
邻居们开始相互捕食幼崽
Neighbours start to hunt down cubs.
即使是表亲或者阿姨也会反♥目♥成仇
Even cousins and aunts turn nasty.
每逢干旱年份 就有超过一半的幼崽被杀
In a dry year,up to half of the young are killed.
在地下束手无策 在视野之外
Stuck underground,out of sight,
家变成了一座监狱 一座坟墓
their home becomes a prison,a tomb.
房♥屋里剩下的
Salvation does come in the end
几个幸存者终于等来了救助
for the few survivors inside their houses.
到了秋天 雨水会再将池塘灌满
In autumn,the rains replenish the land
春天 草地会再发新芽
and,in spring,the grass grows back
草原犬鼠没有造成永久的破坏
The prairie dogs have done no permanent damage.
它们在为花♥园♥除草施肥的同时
They help the grassland over the years,
间接地帮助草地越过一年
by mowing and fertilising their gardens.
周围又恢复到和往常一样
The neighbourhood returns to normal
河狸也在下游的几公里处 开始了新生活
The beavers have started a new life a couple of miles downstream.
它们找到了几代以前建造的池塘
They have found ponds built generations ago,
弃用已久 杂草丛生
overgrown and abandoned.
它们已经修好了水坝 重开了沟渠
They have repaired the dams and re-opened the canals.
这里的树木已经再生
The trees here have regenerated,
多亏这些丰富的淤泥 阻塞了旧的池塘
thanks to the fertile silt clogging the old ponds.
我们开始了解 为什么不是每个动物都要建造家园
We can begin to see why not every animal makes a home.
不能长♥期♥依靠一个地方
You can’t rely on one place for long.
对许多动物来说 风险太大
For many,the risks are too great.
在季节性的大迁徙中 得不到休息 忍♥饥挨饿
The restless and the hungry follow the seasons in great migrations.
世界总处在变化之中
The world is constantly changing
即使最聪明的动物也很难赶上
and even the wisest animals struggle to keep up.
这些是地球上的流浪者
These are the homeless of the Earth
不久前 我们也是它们之中的一员
and,until recently,we were among them.
我们怎么成为杰出房♥屋建造者的呢？
So how did we become the greatest homemaker of all?
我们最近的亲缘动物伙伴 仍然无家可归
Our closest animal relatives are still homeless,
甚至无法遮蔽风雨
unable even to keep out of the rain.
猿和猴子 不建造庇护所
Apes and monkeys don’t make shelters,
虽然猩猩的手和头脑 可以轻而易举的完成这项工作
though a gorilla’s hands and brain are easily up to the job.
这些山里的猩猩的首要工作 是寻找新鲜食物
The priority for these mountain gorillas is to find fresh food,
所以它们持续前进 一个房♥子会拖它们的后腿
so they keep moving. A house would only tie them down.
然而 能力也会得以展现
The signs of an ability,however,are here.
只要能用一个临时的屋顶 总胜过没有
An improvised roof is better than none,while it lasts.
我们的猿兄弟 用编织的树枝造床 或者平台
Our ape cousins build beds,or even platforms,woven from branches.
但从不把它当屋顶 而坐在下边
But they never sit under them,like a roof.
我们制♥作♥庇护所 或许从编织树条开始的
We may have started with twisting branches into shelters,
但还有另一种方法可以遮蔽风雨
but there is another way to get out of the rain.
在肯尼亚苏萨山 狒狒在山洞里过夜
In Kenya,on Mount Suswa,baboons use caves at night.
像这样的山洞 往往含有最早期人类居住的证据
Caves like these contain the earliest evidence of human habitation.
猴子的手指和平衡能力
The monkeys’ fingers and sense of balance
使它们得以沿着峭壁行走 豹子和土狼无法到达
take them along ledges impossible for leopards and hyenas to follow.
我们许多的恐惧症 也许就起源于此
Many of our phobias may have originated here,
因为这里的蝙蝠和蛇
with bats and snakes,
还有黑夜中奇怪、可怕的噪音
and strange,ghostly noises in the dark.
我们也许至多在几十万年以前
We probably became serious builders
才开始成为真正的建造者
only a few hundred thousand years ago,at the most.
我们取得了非凡的成就
It is extraordinary what we have achieved.
我们很少意识到这一切有多么脆弱
We don’t often realise how fragile all this is.
动物社区的一切问题我们都有
Our cities have all the problems of animal cities –
窃贼和擅住者 把食物运进 垃圾清出
burglars and squatters,and getting the food in and the rubbish out.
我们要供养城市 占尽土地
To feed the city,we eat up the wilderness.
我们忘记了这样做的同时 也把动物们赶出了它们的家园
We forget that we kick animals out of their homes to do so.
也许我们能从难民那里得到启示
Maybe we can be reminded by the refugees,
像是城市里的游隼和鸽子
by an urban generation of peregrines and pigeons,
海鸥、蝙蝠和狐狸
gulls and bats and foxes.
如果我们允许动物可以和我们分享世界
Animals will share our world,if we let them.
我们能够留有空间 提供保护、提供食物和温暖
We can make space and help with protection,food and warmth.
我们也养家糊口 应该明白
We are homemakers,we understand.
我们建造的世界 也应该有动物的家
We can build a world,surely,where animals can have a home,too.
# 我现在就回家 我现在就回家
# I’m coming home,I’m coming home
# 告诉世界 我现在就回家
# Tell the world I’m coming home
# 让雨水洗去
# Let the rain wash away
# 昨日的伤痛
# All the pain of yesterday
# 我知道我的家人在期待
# I know my kingdom awaits
# 他们已经原谅了我的错误
# And they’ve forgiven my mistakes
# 我现在就回家 我现在就回家
# I’m coming home,I’m coming home
# 告诉世界我回来了 #
# Tell the world I’m coming. #