Genesis II: When Mother Nature Needs a Helping Hand 再现创世纪:大自然帮手

課文朗讀

課文中英文講解

繁體中文譯本

In the book of Genesis in the Bible, God created the earth from nothing. And from nothing he created life and populated the earth with animals, plants, and people. This is just a story, but in Africa a group of experts working on the Genesis IIproject are attempting to play God by recreating a national park from a ruined wasteland.

上帝在圣经创世纪中从浑屯中创造出天地，也从浑屯中创造了生命，让动物、植物与人类居住于此。或许，这只是个故事，但在非洲，一群专家正着手进行一项「再现创世纪」的计划，试图扮演上帝的角色，把一片荒原改造成国家公园。

The park is Mera National Park in Kenya. It was once a world renowned animal refuge, a modern day Eden. In 1980s, the effects of war, fire, and poaching left the entire stock of wild animals wiped out, and the land so damaged that few species ever returned. Twenty-five years after the tragedy the Kenya government decided to bring Mera back to life. They asked foreign governments for funding, and sought the help of hundreds of vets, zoologist, and park rangers. They called the project Genesis II.

这座就是梅鲁国家公园，它曾一度是座闻名世界，如现代伊甸园般的动物庇护中心。但在1980年间，战争、大火以及盗猎的结果让这座公园整个野生物种消灭殆尽，土地贫瘠到几乎没有动物愿意回来栖息。这个悲剧发生二十五年后，肯亚政府决定让梅鲁公园恢复生机。他们向外国政府要求资助，并寻求上百名兽医、动物学家、公园管理员协助这项他们称做「再现创世纪」的计划。

Just like in the original Genesis story, the land had to be populated with animals and plants. To prepare for this, the savannah was scorched to allow nutritious grasslands to grow. Then animals were brought in. Hundreds of elephants, rhinos, zebras, giraffes, and other savannah creatures were captured in nearby national parks, and then carefully shipped over.

正如原本的创世纪故事，这片土地必须要充满动物与植物。为了达到这个目的，先要焚烧莽原让有机的草地再度生长，然后再将动物引入。上百只在邻近国家公园所捕猎的大象、犀牛、斑马、长颈鹿与其他莽原动物就被小心翼翼地运送到此。

The Genesis II project is testing the limits of our ability to recreate nature, or, give Mother Nature a helping hand. Stumbling blocks the size of, well, elephants, have and will continue to arise. But what can you expect? After all we are only human.

这个「再现创世纪」的计划真正考验人类重建或是帮助大自然重建的能力与极限，许多如「大象」般巨大的阻碍会不断地出现。但谁能预料到将来会怎样?我们毕竟只不过是人哪!

Vocabulary

refuge [ˋrɛfjudʒ] n. 庇护所；收容所

poach [potʃ] v. 偷猎

stock [stɑk] n. 存货

nutritious [njuˋtrɪʃəs] adj. 有营养的，滋养的

More Information

Genesis [ˋdʒɛnəsɪs] n.（大写）《创世纪》（旧约圣经第一卷）

populate [ˋpɑpjə͵let] v. 使居住于

attempt [əˋtɛmpt] v. 试图；企图

Eden [ˋidn] n.（《圣经》中亚当和夏娃最初居住的）伊甸园

wipe out: 彻底消灭或摧毁某事物 to destroy

vet [vɛt] n. 兽医(= veterinarian)

ranger [ˋrendʒɚ] n. 国有森林护林员，国家公园管理员

savannah [səˋvænə] n. 大草原

scorch [skɔrtʃ] v. 烧焦，烤焦

grassland [ˋgræs͵lænd] n. 牧草地

bring in 引进, 引入

rhino [ˋraɪno] n. 犀牛（= rhinoceros）

giraffe [dʒəˋræf] n. 长颈鹿

stumbling block:  绊脚石；困难  an obstacle or impediment.

課文中英文講解

In Mera National Park, it was not enough for wildlife experts to preserve the natural environment. They had to recreate it out of a war-torn wasteland. The challenges facing them were enormous.

在梅鲁国家公园，野生动物专家光是保护自然生态还不够，他们得重新改造这个饱受战火摧残不断的不毛之地。而他们正面临的是重大的挑战。

In the first place, they had to transport thousands of large wild animals from reserves across Africa to Mera. It’s always dangerous to move wild animals. The stress on them can lead to heart attacks, or weakened immune systems. Anesthetizing the animals helps minimize the results, but it can lead to other problems. One rhino, for example, escaped while still drugged and wandered around in the bush, blind and half-asleep, for hours.

首先，他们得从非洲各地的保护区运送数千只大型野生动物到梅鲁，而迁移野生动物是非常危险的。牠们可能因为紧张而导致心脏病发或免疫力降低。将其麻醉有助于将压力减到最低，但却可能导致其他问题。比方说犀牛在药效期间逃脱，呈现半睡眠状态在树丛中盲目地闲晃了数小时。

The Genesis teams also had to consider how to keep the animals safe from humans, and vice versa. Elephants in particular had to be kept out of local farmer’s fields. The Mera teams approached this problem threefold: one, they build an electric fence around the park; two, they educated local people on how the park benefited them; three, they trained park rangers to deal with poachers. Poachers are usually well-armed and pose a deadly threat not only to animals but also to tourists. The rangers had to learn how to use deadly force.

创世纪小组亦须考虑如何保护动物免于人类的伤害，同时也避免动物伤害人。尤其是要防止大象接近农地。梅拉小组由三方面来解决这个问题:第一，他们在公园周围架设电篱笆；第二，他们教育当地民众有关公园带来的好处；第三，他们训练公园管理员如何对付盗猎者。盗猎者通常全副武装，这不仅对动物也对游客构成严重的威胁。管理员们必须学会使用致命武力与其抗衡。

In the end, Mera improved so much that animals from nearby reserves started to move thereon their own. When the first tourists return later this year, the rebirth of this remarkable park will be complete.

终于，梅鲁国家公园的环境有了很大的改善，邻近保护区的动物于是开始主动迁移到这里。今年稍晚，当首批游客再度回到这里时，这个杰出的公园再生计划也将宣告完成。

－By Rober Kelly

Vocabulary

enormous [ɪˋnɔrməs] adj. 巨大的

reserve [rɪˋzɝv] n. 保留地；保护区；禁猎区

immune [ɪˋmjun] adj. 免疫的

approach [əˋprotʃ] v. 着手处理

remarkable [rɪˋmɑrkəb!] adj. 值得注意的；非凡的

More Information

anesthetize [əˋnɛsθə͵taɪz] v. 使麻醉；使麻痹

drug [drʌg] v. 使服麻醉药

bush [bʊʃ] n. 灌木，灌木丛

vice versa【拉】反之亦然

keep out of 不让某人或某物进入

pose [poz] v. 造成，引起

on one's own 独自地

complete [kəmˋplit] v. 完成

Meru National Park