我们不骑斑马的真正原因：英语精读讲义

Sheep weren't always this fluffy.

羊并不总是这么毛茸茸的。

We fluffy-fied them by breeding the fluffiest in each generation. 用詞

我们通过让每一代最毛茸茸的羊繁衍，把它们“毛茸茸化”了。

This is domestication,

这就是驯化，

sculpting wild animals for better human use. 習語

塑造野生动物，让它们更好地为人类所用。

As we saw in part one,

正如我们在第一部分看到的，

for early man,

对于早期人类来说，

animals were powerful tools,

动物是强大的工具，

food, clothing, transportation, tractors.

既是食物、衣服、交通工具，又是拖拉机。

Yet, though there were animals everywhere,

然而，尽管到处都是动物，

only a handful were domesticated in the pre-modern world.

在前现代世界中，只有少数动物被驯化。

What made these different?

是什么让它们与众不同？

Let's make a domestication checklist, 語氣意圖

让我们列一个驯化清单，

shall we?

好吗？

First up, feedable.

首先，好喂养。

A cow is a machine that turns grass into steak, 表達脈絡

牛是一台把草变成牛排的机器，

and a tiger a machine that turns steak into tiger.

而老虎是一台把牛排变成老虎的机器。

10 lb of grass make a pound of steak

10磅草能产出一磅牛排，

and 10 lb of steak make a pound of tiger.

而10磅牛排能长出一磅老虎。

But these have the same number of calories,

但由于它们所含的热量是一样的，

so you might as well just eat the cow and save yourself a lot of work. 短語搭配

所以你还不如直接吃牛，省去一堆麻烦。

So pure carnivores,

所以纯肉食动物，

you're not going to domesticate just because of thermodynamics.

仅从热力学角度来看，你就不可能去驯化它们。

You're looking for herbivores that aren't picky. 用詞

你要找的是不挑食的食草动物。

They should eat something that's everywhere that you can't eat.

它们应该吃那些随处可见但你又不能吃的东西。

Any omnivores better be happy eating whatever and better be super worth it. 語法

任何杂食动物最好是什么都乐意吃，而且最好超级有价值。

We are, however, putting the pig before the pen here 習語

不过，我们在这里有点本末倒置了，

because first we need to catch something that's friendly.

因为首先我们需要抓到一些友好的动物。

Okay, obviously catching a carnivore is a bad idea anyway

好吧，显然抓食肉动物无论如何都是个坏主意，

because their day job is murder, 習語

因为它们的日常工作就是谋杀，

but plenty of omnivores like grizzlies moonlight in murder.

但很多像灰熊这样的杂食动物也会兼职谋杀。

No safety in vegetarians either.

素食动物也并不安全。

Buffalo are terrifying tanks for all the reasons mentioned before.

水牛是可怕的坦克，原因之前已经提过了。

Hippos hold the murder high score in Africa.

河马在非洲保持着谋杀最高纪录。

Giraffes look real dorky until you consider their striking range.

长颈鹿看起来傻乎乎的，直到你见识到它们的攻击范围。

Lions mostly leave them alone.

狮子通常对它们敬而远之。

Animals it would be awesome to domesticate are not coincidentally super dangerous.

那些驯化起来会很棒的动物，通常也非常危险，这绝非巧合。

War bears would be a hell of an advantage for your tribe,

战熊对你的部落来说绝对是个巨大的优势，

but it's not going to happen.

但这不可能发生。

And if it's big and not dangerous,

还有，如果它体型庞大又不危险，

it's a nervous wreck. 習語

它很可能是个神经质。

Try sneaking up on a gazelle.

试着偷偷靠近一只瞪羚看看。

Rhymes with LOL.

英文里它还和“LOL（大笑）”押韵呢。

Sure, you and a team of buddies could spend the whole day marathon jogging it down to exhaustion,

诚然，你和一群伙计可以花一整天马拉松式地把它追到筋疲力尽，

but if it doesn't break its own neck as you try to drag it back home,

但如果你想把它拖回家时，它没摔断自己的脖子，

then it's going to casually leap out of whatever pen you built for it.

那它也会随随便便从你为它建的任何围栏里跳出去。

Okay, next up.

好了，下一个。

Some animals have reproductive preferences that make them incompatible with captivity.

有些动物有繁殖偏好，使它们不适合圈养。

Looking at you, pandas. 語氣意圖

说的就是你们，大熊猫。

The time and energy humans have spent to get pandas to get on with it is comical. 講解

人类为了让大熊猫繁衍后代所花费的时间和精力简直滑稽。

Hunter-gatherers need an animal so eager to breed it gets it wrong sometimes. 語法

狩猎采集者需要的是一种非常渴望交配，甚至有时会弄错对象的动物。

Not an animal whose mating seasons they have to keep careful track of. 短語搭配

而不是一种需要他们仔细记录交配季节的动物。

So friendly, feedable, and fecund.

所以，要友好、好喂养，并且繁殖力强。

It also needs to grow up fast.

它还需要长得快。

This gets us to the heart of domestication versus taming. 表達脈絡

这就触及了驯化与驯服的本质区别。

Again, to domesticate a species is to change it to make it better for us. 語法

再说一次，驯化一个物种是为了让我们能更好地利用它而改变它。

And side note here,

顺便提一下，

we domesticate plants as well.

我们也驯化植物。

We've bred them to be monstrous versions of their wild selves.

我们把它们培育成了它们野生状态下的“怪物”版本。

So when hippies talk about going back to nature,

所以当嬉皮士谈论回归自然时，

they forget that these plants are just as man-made as this Pop-Tart. 語法

他们忘了这些植物和这个果酱馅饼一样，都是人造的。

Anyway, back to the animals.

无论如何，回到动物身上。

The pig porkification project succeeded because pig generations are shorter than human generations.

猪的“猪肉化”项目成功了，因为猪的世代比人类的世代短。

A single clever human can make porky progress in their lifetime.

一个聪明的古人在他的一生中就能在养猪上取得进展。

Compare and contrast elephants.

把大象拿来对比一下。

2 years to make a calf,

怀胎要2年，

5 years in between calves,

两胎之间隔5年，

9 years until female maturity,

雌性成熟要9年，

15 years for males.

雄性要15年。

You've got to be kidding, elephants. 語氣意圖

你在开玩笑吧，大象。

There's no time for this.

我们没这个时间。

But humans can still tame elephants.

但人类仍然可以驯服大象。

You can catch an elephant and train it not to freak out around humans, 短語動詞

你可以抓住一头大象，训练它在人类面前不惊慌，

then put it to work.

然后让它干活。

But elephant domestication would require accurate records over several human lives.

但大象的驯化需要跨越几代人的准确记录。

Never mind that keeping one or two tamed elephants around is incredibly costly, 表達脈絡

更不用说养一两头驯服的大象成本高得惊人，

which is why war elephants only happened on occasion in already complex societies.

这就是为什么战象只偶尔出现在已经很复杂的社会中。

Tame elephants are a luxury.

驯服的大象是一种奢侈品。

Hence this rule of thumb. 習語

因此有这样一个经验法则。

If it's on a farm,

如果它在农场里，

it's domesticated. 用詞

它就是被驯化的。

If it's in a circus,

如果它在马戏团里，

it's tame.

它就是被驯服的。

Finally, families.

最后，家庭观念。

Okay, zebra versus horses.

好了，斑马对比马。

Horses are civilization game-changers. 用詞

马是改变文明的游戏规则改变者。

It's remarkable to think that from thousands BC until the telegraph,

令人难以置信的是，从公元前几千年直到电报发明，

a dude on a horse was the best internet available. 習語

骑在马上的小伙子就是最好的“互联网”。

Horses were domesticated in Eurasia,

马在欧亚大陆被驯化，

but humans started in Africa,

但人类起源于非洲，

which has zebra.

那里有斑马。

Why didn't the first humans ride out of Africa on the backs of zebra to conquer the world?

为什么最早的人类没有骑着斑马走出非洲去征服世界？

Because zebra are bastards.

因为斑马就是混蛋。

They live to kick and bite,

它们活着就是为了踢和咬，

dangerous in a pre-penicillin world. 文化背景

在青霉素发明前的世界里，这是极其危险的。

And zebra also have a ducking reflex,

而且斑马还有低头躲闪的反射动作，

making them very frustrating to lasso.

导致用套索套它们非常令人抓狂。

In addition to being a real pain in the ass animal, 習語

除了是一种让人非常头疼的动物之外，

zebra lack a family structure.

斑马还缺乏家庭结构。

Horse herds hierarchy.

马群有等级制度。

You can see it when they travel in a line.

当它们排成一队行进时你就能看出来。

The male, top female,

雄性首领、顶级雌性、

her foals, second female,

她的幼崽、第二雌性、

her foals, and so on.

她的幼崽，以此类推。

Humans, by capturing and taming the lead male, 語法

人类通过捕捉并驯服首领雄马，

become head horse.

成为“头马”。

Lots of barnyard animals are barnyard animals

许多农场动物之所以能成为农场动物，

because they have family values humans exploit. 習語

是因为它们拥有可供人类利用的家庭价值观。

They just grow up with the idea that this human is a funny sort of take-charge cow or whatever. 短語搭配

它们只是伴随着这样一种观念长大的：这个人类是一头有趣的、喜欢发号施令的“牛”或什么的。

No big deal.

没什么大不了的。

Chickens will peck, peck, peck

鸡会啄、啄、啄，

until they've worked out who's top chicken. 短語動詞

直到它们搞清楚谁是“头鸡”。

But you know who's really top chicken?

但你知道谁才是真正的“头鸡”吗？

We're top chicken.

我们才是“头鸡”。

Dogs and cats,

狗和猫，

this is what makes them different.

这正是它们的不同之处。

Dogs will love you and defend you and hunt with you

狗会爱你、保护你、和你一起打猎，

because you're part of the pack.

因为你是群体的一部分。

Dogs live to be useful to us,

狗活着就是为了对我们有用，

which in the modern world means falling over to play dead, 短語搭配

在现代世界，这意味着倒下装死，

but they love it.

但它们乐在其中。

Bang.

砰。

Good girl,

乖女孩，

good girl.

乖女孩。

Whereas a cat is a tiny tiger that lives in your house. 習語

而猫是一只住在你家里的微型老虎。

Okay, back to these guys.

好了，回到这些家伙身上。

For zebra, there's no such thing as society.

对于斑马来说，没有社会这回事。

They hang out in groups because it's a good survival strategy,

它们成群结队是因为这是一个好的生存策略，

but they don't really care.

但它们其实并不在乎彼此。

Catch a zebra and his family won't follow.

抓住一只斑马，它的家人不会跟着来。

Try to ride him and you'll be lucky to keep your fingers. 語氣意圖

试图骑它，你能保住手指就算幸运了。

Zebra look like horses on the outside, 習語

斑马外表看起来像马，

but not on the inside.

但内心根本不像。

So that's the checklist.

这就是驯化清单。

Friendly, feedable, fecund, family-friendly. 表達脈絡

友好、好喂养、繁殖力强、适合家庭。

It's not a long checklist,

这不是一个很长的清单，

but for hunter-gatherers,

但对于狩猎采集者来说，

any animal they wanted to domesticate needed everything,

他们想驯化的任何动物都需要具备所有这些条件，

which is why in early human history

这就是为什么在早期人类历史中，

only a baker's dozen of big animals were domesticated the world over. 習語

全世界只有十三种大型动物被驯化。