THE SETTING OF THE STAGE

舞臺的搭建

HIGH up in the North in the land called Svithjod, there stands a rock. It is a hundred miles high and a hundred miles wide. Once every thousand years a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak.

在一個叫做Svithjod的地方的北部高地上矗立著一塊巖石。它高100英里，寬也是100英里。有一個小鳥每隔1000年就飛到這塊石頭上打磨她的嘴。

When the rock has thus been worn away, then a single day of eternity will have gone by.WE live under the shadow of a gigantic question mark.

當這塊巖石就這樣被磨平時，漫長的一天也就過完了。我們生活在這個巨大疑問的陰影中。

Who are we?

我們是誰？

Where do we come from?

我們來自何方？

Whither are we bound?

我們將去向何處？

Slowly, but with persistent courage, we have been pushing this question mark further and further towards that distant line, beyond the horizon, where we hope to find our answer.

緩慢地，但是伴隨巨大的勇氣，我們把這個疑問朝著終極距離越推越遠，超出了地平線——我們希望在那里找到我們的答案。

We have not gone very far.

我們并沒有走出多遠。

We still know very little but we have reached the point where (with a fair degree of accuracy) we can guess at many things.

我們依然知道的很少，但是我們已經(jīng)達到了可以猜測許多事情的那個點（具備相當程度的精確性）。

In this chapter I shall tell you how (according to our best belief) the stage was set for the first appearance of man.

在這一章中，我將會告訴你人類第一次出現(xiàn)的舞臺是如何搭建起來的（按照我們最好的信仰）。

If we represent the time during which it has been possible for animal life to exist upon our planet by a line of this length, then the tiny line just below indicates the age during which man (or a creature more or less resembling man) has lived upon this earth.

如果我們用下面這條線的長度表示動物可能存在這個星球上的時間，那么底下的那一小段短線就是人類（或者多少像人類一樣的生物）在地球上曾生存的時間。

Man was the last to come but the first to use his brain for the purpose of conquering the forces of nature. That is the reason why we are going to study him, rather than cats or dogs or horses or any of the other animals, who, all in their own way, have a very interesting historical development behind them.

人類是最后出現(xiàn)在地球上，但卻最先為了征服自然的目的使用他的大腦。這就是我為什么研究人類的原因，而不是研究貓、狗或馬，或別的什么動物。人類以自己的方式，在這些動物之后進行了有趣的歷史進程。

In the beginning, the planet upon which we live was (as far as we now know) a large ball of flaming matter, a tiny cloud of smoke in the endless ocean of space.Gradually, in the course of millions of years, the surface burned itself out, and was covered with a thin layer of rocks. Upon these lifeless rocks the rain descended in endless torrents, wearing out the hard granite and carrying the dust to the valleys that lay hidden between the high cliffs of the steaming earth.

在剛開始的時候，我們生存的這個星球（就我們目前所知道的）是一個燃燒的大球體，一團云煙在漫無邊際的海洋上。漸漸的，幾百萬年過去了，地球表面都燒干了，覆蓋上了一層薄的巖石。降雨在這些寸草不生的巖石上導致無休止的洪水，洪水磨穿了巖石并把塵埃帶到了溪谷，溪谷隱藏在高聳的懸崖之中，在這個氤氳的地球上。

2016年2月14日功課

Finally the hour came when the sun broke through the clouds and saw how this little planet was covered with a few small puddles which were to develop into the mighty oceans of the eastern and western hemispheres.

這一刻終于來臨，太陽穿破云層，照耀到這個被“小水坑”覆蓋的小星球。這些“小水坑”發(fā)展成了東西半球浩瀚的海洋。

Then one day the great wonder happened. What had been dead, gave birth to life.

直到有一天，奇跡發(fā)生了。之前的無聲無息，孕育了生命。

The first living cell floated upon the waters of the sea.

第一個活的細胞漂浮在海平面之上。

2016年2月15日 功課

For millions of years it drifted aimlessly with the currents.But during all that time it was developing certain habits that it might survive more easily upon the inhospitable earth.Some of these cells were happiest in the dark depths of the lakes and the pools.They took root in the slimy sediments which had been carried down from the tops of the hills and they became plants.

幾百萬年以來，這個活細胞面無目的地隨波漂流。但是在這個過程中，它發(fā)展出了特殊的習性。以使自己可以在這個惡劣的地球上更容易的生存下去。那些細胞中的一些更喜好湖泊和池塘黑暗的深處。它們就在那由山頂上沖下來的濕滑的沉淀物上扎根，它們就變成了植物。

Others preferred to move about and they grew strange jointed legs, like scorpions and began to crawl along the bottom of the sea amidst the plants and the pale green things that looked like jelly-fishes. Still others (covered with scales) depended upon a swimming motion to go from place to place in their search for food, and gradually they populated the ocean with myriads of fishes.

其它的更喜歡移動，它們長出了奇怪的連接的腿，像蝎子似的。它們在海底爬行，在植物和像水母一樣暗綠色的東西之間。更有一些其它的（覆蓋有鱗片）在尋找食物時靠游動從一個地方到另一個地方，漸漸地大海被無數(shù)的魚類占據(jù)了。

2016年2月16日功課

Meanwhile the plants had increased in number and they had to search for new dwelling places.There was no more room for them at the bottom of the sea.Reluctantly they left the water and made a new home in the marshes and on the mud-banks that lay at the foot of the mountains.Twice a day the tides of the ocean covered them with their brine.For the rest of the time, the plants made the best of their uncomfortable situation and tried to survive in the thin air which surrounded the surface of the planet.After centuries of training, they learned how to live as comfortably in the air as they had done in the water.They increased in size and became shrubs and trees and at last they learned how to grow lovely flowers which attracted the attention of the busy big bumble-bees and the birds who carried the seeds far and wide until the whole earth had become covered with green pastures, or lay dark under the shadow of the big trees.

同時，這些植物數(shù)量也在增長，它們不得不尋找新的棲息地。在海底已經(jīng)沒有更多的空間供它們生存。它們很不情愿的離開了水里，在山腳下的沼澤里和泥窩里建立了新家。一天兩次的潮汐使它們浸末在海水里。接下來的時間，這些植物充分利用它們的不利環(huán)境，竭力在這個星球表面稀薄的空氣中生存下去。經(jīng)過幾個世紀的訓練，它們學會了怎樣舒服的在空氣中生存，就像它們曾經(jīng)在水里那樣生活。它們在形狀上也變大了，變成了灌木和樹木。最終它們學會了生長出美麗的花朵，通過花朵吸引忙碌的大黃蜂和鳥兒。大黃蜂和鳥兒把植物們的種子帶到遙遠廣闊的地方，以至于整個地球都被綠草覆蓋，或者埋藏在大樹下的陰暗地方。

2016年2月17日

But some of the fishes too had begun to leave the sea, and they had learned how to breathe with lungs as well as with gills. We call such creatures amphibious, which means that they are able to live with equal ease on the land and in the water. The first frog who crosses your path can tell you all about the pleasures of the double existence of the amphibian.

但是，一些魚類也開始離開大海，并且它們開始學習用肺部像腮那樣呼吸。我們稱這種生物為兩棲動物，既它們可以自由的在陸地上和海里生活。你面前跳過的青蛙可以告訴你兩棲動物雙重生活方式的全部樂趣。

2016年2月18日功課

Once outside of the water, these animals gradually adapted themselves more and more to life on land. Some became reptiles (creatures who crawl like lizards) and they shared the silence of the forests with the insects. That they might move faster through the soft soil, they improved upon their legs and their size increased until the world was populated with gigantic forms (which the hand-books of biology list under the names of Ichthyosaurus and Megalosaurus and Brontosaurus) who grew to be thirty to forty feet long and who could have played with elephants as a full grown cat plays with her kittens.

一旦離開了水里，那些動物漸漸的是自己越來越適合在陸地上生存。一些變成了爬行動物（就是像蜥蜴一樣爬行的動物），它們與昆蟲一起分享森林的靜謐。它們可以在松軟的土地上快速爬行，它們改進自己的肢體和增大自己的體格，直到這個世界充滿了龐然大物（這些龐然大物在生物學手冊里叫做魚龍，雷龍或者斑龍）。這些大家伙可以長到30-40英尺長，它們和大象玩耍就像一只成年貓和他的貓仔兒玩一樣。

2016年2月19日

Some of the members of this reptilian family began to live in the tops of the trees, which were then often more than a hundred feet high.They no longer needed their legs for the purpose of walking, but it was necessary for them to move quickly from branch to branch.And so they changed a part of their skin into a sort of parachute, which stretched between the sides of their bodies and the small toes of their fore-feet, and gradually they covered this skinny parachute with feathers and made their tails into a steering gear and flew from tree to tree and developed into true birds.

這些爬行類家族中的一些成員開始在樹頂上生活，那時候的樹通常有超過一百英尺高。它們不再需要用腿來行走，但還需要用腿從一個樹枝跳到另一個樹枝。因此它們的一部分皮膚變成了一種翼膜，這些翼膜從它們身體的側(cè)面延伸到前肢的小趾。漸漸地這些翼膜被羽毛覆蓋，尾巴也成了一個轉(zhuǎn)向裝置。它們從一棵樹上飛到另一棵樹上，發(fā)展成了真正的鳥類。

2016年2月20日

Then a strange thing happened. All the gigantic reptiles died within a short time. We do not know the reason. Perhaps it was due to a sudden change in climate. Perhaps they had grown so large that they could neither swim nor walk nor crawl, and they starved to death within sight but not within reach of the big ferns and trees. Whatever the cause, the million year old world-empire of the big reptiles was over.

然后，奇怪的事情發(fā)生了。短時間內(nèi)所有的爬行動物全部死了。我們不知道原因。也許是因為一次突然的氣候變化。也許是因為它們長的太大了，以至于都不能走動，也不能游動或爬行了。最后眼看著高大的厥類和樹木卻夠不到，就活活餓死了。不管什么原因吧，這些幾百萬年年齡的地球統(tǒng)治者——巨大的爬行動物滅亡了。

2016年2月21日

The world now began to be occupied by very different creatures. They were the descendants of the reptiles but they were quite unlike these because they fed their young from the ``mamm?'' or the breasts of the mother. Wherefore modern science calls these animals ``mammals. '' They had shed the scales of the fish. They did not adopt the feathers of the bird, but they covered their bodies with hair. The mammals however developed other habits which gave their race a great advantage over the other animals.?

這個世界開始被不同的物種所占領(lǐng)。它們是爬行動物的后代，但它們與爬行動物差別非常大。因為它們用母獸的乳房喂養(yǎng)幼獸。因此現(xiàn)代科學家稱這些動物為“哺乳類動物”。它們已經(jīng)褪去了魚類的鱗片。但它們沒有采用鳥類的羽毛，而是身體上覆蓋著毛發(fā)。這些哺乳類動物發(fā)展了其它習性，使它們在與其他動物競爭是獲得巨大的優(yōu)勢。

2016年2月22日

The female of the species carried the eggs of the young inside her body until they were hatched and while all other living beings, up to that time, had left their children exposed to the dangers of cold and heat, and the attacks of wild beasts, the mammals kept their young with them for a long time and sheltered them while they were still too weak to fight their enemies. In this way the young mammals were given a much better chance to survive, because they learned many things from their mothers, as you will know if you have ever watched a cat teaching her kittens to take care of themselves and how to wash their faces and how to catch mice.

這種物種的雌獸把幼卵放置在身體內(nèi)部，直到幼獸長成把它孵出來。直到孵出之時，才將它們的孩子暴露在寒冷、酷熱和野獸的攻擊等危險中。哺乳動物要讓它們的幼仔和它們一起生活很長時間，給它們提供保護。因為幼仔還太小不能防御它們的天敵。這樣以來，幼仔成活的幾率就很大啦，因為它們從母親身上學習了很多事情。如果你曾經(jīng)觀察過一只貓教它的貓仔如何照顧他們它們自己——怎樣洗臉以及怎樣抓老鼠，你就會明白啦。

2016年2月23日

But of these mammals I need not tell you much for you know them well. They surround you on all sides. They are your daily companions in the streets and in your home, and you can see your less familiar cousins behind the bars of the zoological garden.

但是關(guān)于那些哺乳動物我不需要和你講太多，因為你非常了解它們。它們在四周包圍著你。它們在大街上，在家里陪伴著你，你可以在動物園的圍欄后面看見你的遠房表弟。

And now we come to the parting of the ways when man suddenly leaves the endless procession of dumbly living and dying creatures and begins to use his reason to shape the destiny of his race.

現(xiàn)在我們來到另一部分——人類何時突然脫離那個無休止的枯燥的生物生死循環(huán)，人類開始用自己的理智曲塑造自己的命運。

2016年2月24日

One mammal in particular seemed to surpass all others in its ability to find food and shelter. It had learned to use its fore-feet for the purpose of holding its prey, and by dint of practice it had developed a hand-like claw. After innumer- able attempts it had learned how to balance the whole of the body upon the hind legs. (This is a difficult act, which every child has to learn anew although the human race has been doing it for over a million years. )

一個哺乳動物尤其在尋找食物和庇護所的能力上遠超其它物種。為了握住它的獵物，它學會了使用它的前肢，并且經(jīng)過練習它發(fā)展出了像手一樣的爪子。在無數(shù)次的嘗試之后，它學會了怎樣在后腿站立時保持平衡。（這是一個艱難的動作，每個小孩子都不得不重新學習這個動作，盡管人類已經(jīng)這么做超過幾百萬年了。）

This creature, half ape and half monkey but superior to both, became the most successful hunter and could make a living in every clime. For greater safety, it usually moved about in groups. It learned how to make strange grunts to warn its young of approaching danger and after many hundreds of thousands of years it began to use these throaty noises for the purpose of talking.

這種生物半猿半猴，但又比兩者都高級，它們成為了最成功的捕獵者并且可以在任何地方存活。為了更大的安全性，它們通常群體活動。它學會了怎樣發(fā)出奇怪的咕噥聲以通知它的孩子危險的靠近，千萬年之后，它們開始使用這些喉嚨發(fā)出的聲音來交談。

This creature, though you may hardly believe it, was your first ``man-like'' ancestor.

這個生物，盡管你可能不大愿意相信，就是你第一個“類人”祖先。