電影《自然世界草原土撥鼠：語言大師（2010）》Part1-中英文對照

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The North American prairies， home to the bison。

北美的大草原 是野牛的故鄉

But this film isn‘t about the bison，

但本片並不是講述野牛的

It’s about a tiny creature that lives beneath the bison‘s feet -

而是生活在野牛腳下的一種小巧的動物

The prairie dog。

土撥鼠

You might easily overlook

你很容易忽視土撥鼠

the prairie dog until it opens its mouth。

直到它張嘴叫喚

It’s a little animal with a big voice。

這是種有大嗓門的小動物

A team of scientists believe

一些科學家們相信

this noise is in fact a very complex language，

這聲音其實是種複雜的語言

which is remarkable for an animal many see as lowly vermin。

這對被視為有害低等動物的它們來說是很了不起的

So， what are they saying？

那它們在說什麼

To find out，

為了找到答案

scientists have devised a set of cunning experiments。

科學家們設計了一套巧妙的試驗

But could these barks， squeaks and chirps really be a language？

但這些唧唧喳喳的喊叫真的是種語言嗎

To our human ears，

對於人耳

this just sounds like a lot of unnecessary noise，

這只是不必要的噪音

but to other prairie dogs

但對其他土撥鼠來說

it‘s all part of a jolly good conversation。

是愉快對話的一部分

That is， if you believe this man，

如果你相信這個人的話

prairie dog expert Professor Con Slobodchikoff。

土撥鼠專家肯·斯羅布奇科夫教授

Prairie dogs have the most

土撥鼠掌握著

complex natural language that’s been decoded so far。

迄今所知最為複雜的自然語言

They have words for different predators，

它們對不同的掠食者有不同的詞

they have descriptive words for

它們用形容詞

describing the individual features of predators。

來描述掠食者的特徵

So it‘s a pretty complex language that has a lot of elements。

所以這是種包含許多元素的複雜語言

A relative of the squirrel

一種松鼠的親戚

with a language second only to humans in its complexity？

卻有著複雜度僅次於人類的語言

That’s a bold claim。

這是個大膽的斷言

But Con has a problem。

但肯有個困難

He‘s fighting an in-built prejudice against these little rodents。

他要改變的是人們對這種小齧齒動物的固有成見

Convincing the wider world that prairie dogs are great linguists

讓大眾相信土撥鼠是偉大的語言學家

is proving a tough challenge。

是個困難的挑戰

He believes if we just get to know them a little better，

他相信如果我們能更瞭解它們一點

understand their world， then we might just see his point of view。

瞭解它們的世界 我們也許就能明白他的觀點了

Life as a prairie dog is complicated。

土撥鼠的生活是複雜的

It’s not just a simple matter of eating grass

並不僅僅是簡單的吃草

and minding your own business。

和做好自己的事情

You have to share your space with lots of other prairie dogs。

你必須和許多其他的土撥鼠分享生活空間

Every prairie dog is part of a big community called a town。

每隻土撥鼠都是叫做“鎮”的大社群的一份子

The largest prairie dog towns stretch over tens of miles，

最大的土撥鼠鎮能延綿數十英里

their excavated homes pockmarking the prairie landscape。

它們挖掘的洞穴令大草原滿目瘡痍

Living together requires impeccable social skills。

居住在一起需要有高超的社交技巧

Kissing is all the rage in prairie dog town。

親吻在土撥鼠鎮最是風行

A little taste of saliva is

唾液的交換

like a calling card that helps identify a visitor。

就像名片一樣互表身份

Prairie dogs， though， are nervous creatures，

土撥鼠是神經緊張的動物

always on the lookout for signs of trouble across town。

總在注意鎮上是否有麻煩事的苗頭

But what is there to worry about？

他們在擔心什麼呢

Prairie dogs aren‘t the only animals living in the town。

土撥鼠並不是鎮上的唯一種族

Squatters have moved into some of their vacant burrows。

侵佔者搬進了空穴裡

All these strangers make prairie dogs a little nervous。

這些陌生動物讓土撥鼠有些緊張

And so they should be。

它們也理應如此

Prairie dogs are under attack from all quarters。

從所有方位都能攻擊土撥鼠

There are times when they must

它們必須能夠感覺出來

feel besieged by animals that want to eat them。

自己已經被當成獵物包圍

Even when they retreat to their underground burrows，

即便它們撤回地下的洞穴時

the prairie dogs can’t really relax。

土撥鼠也不能放鬆

With no safety anywhere， above or below ground，

由於不論地上還是地下都不安全

prairie dogs have come up with a clever strategy

土撥鼠發明了一個聰明的策略

for dealing with these threats。

來應對這些威脅

They shout。

那就是吼叫

Very loudly。

大聲吼叫

Technically speaking， it‘s an alarm call。

嚴格說來 這是警報

You might still be wondering why Con

你也許仍舊奇怪

would choose such a humble subject to study animal language。

為什麼肯選擇如此弱小的物種來研究動物語言

After all， there are more likely animal linguists -

畢竟還有更像是語言家的動物

whales or monkeys。

比如鯨或者猴子

But there was something about those prairie dog alarm

但土撥鼠的警報系統

calls that piqued his interest。

引起了他的興趣

With so many predators living in prairie dog town， Con wondered，

他想知道在危機四伏的鎮上

do the prairie dogs have just one call，

土撥鼠是隻有一種警報

or do they have different calls for the different predators？

還是對不同掠食者有不同的警報

There’s only one way to find out。

只有一種方法能揭開謎底

Con must test their calls。

肯必須測試這些警報

He‘s on his way to a remote ranch in the north of New Mexico。

他正駛往新墨西哥州北部的一個大牧場

It’s a heaven for prairie dogs。

那是土撥鼠的天堂

Two species live here， Gunnison‘s and black-tails。

有兩個品種 剛寧森氏和黑尾

Joining him are two of his students，

與他一道的是他的兩名學生

Patricia Dennis， who will help record the calls，

帕特麗夏·丹尼斯將負責錄下警報

and Bill Briggs， who’s devised a series of experiments

而比爾·布里格斯則負責設計一系列試驗

to test the prairie dogs。

來給土撥鼠測試

Together， this team hopes to show once and for all

這個小隊想告訴所有人

that we have underestimated the little prairie dog。

我們低估了小土撥鼠

First of all， Con looks for signs of predators in his research area。

首先 肯要尋找地區中掠食者的標誌

Here‘s a badger excavation。

這是獾挖掘的

This is very fresh。

剛挖不久

It probably happened in the last day or two。

大概就在過去的一兩天

This is the way that badgers typically hunt。

這就是獾典型的狩獵方式

They’ll excavate a prairie dog burrow and then go inside，

他們會挖開土撥鼠的洞穴然後潛入其中

and while the prairie dogs are sleeping，

在土撥鼠睡覺的時候

they will eat the prairie dogs

吃了土撥鼠

and then they‘ll also sleep inside the burrow。

然後睡在洞穴裡

They typically excavate a number

它們會在某一特定區域

of burrows all around us in a particular area，

挖掘其中的數個洞穴

and then they move on to another place

在吃完居住在某一洞穴系統內

once they’ve eaten all the prairie dogs

所有的土撥鼠之後

that live in a particular burrow system。

將會轉移到下一個地方

The presence of predators is welcome news for Con。

掠食者的出現對肯來說是個好訊息

The prairie dogs should be on a state of alert，

土撥鼠應該處於警戒的狀態中

and that‘ll mean good alarm calls。

而這意味著高質量的警報聲

But waiting for predators to appear

但等待掠食者出現

would be far too time-consuming。

會很耗時間

These imaginative scientists have a solution -

這些充滿想象力的科學家們有個解決方案

they bring their own。

用他們自備的掠食者

Time to set up the first experiment。

是時候準備第一個試驗了

Bill must keep the dummy predator under wraps

比爾必須保證假的掠食者在找到合適位置前

while he finds a suitable spot。

不被暴露

Some prairie dogs are already a little spooked。

部分土撥鼠已然受驚

Con uses his car as a screen to hide behind。

肯用他的車作為屏障躲在其後

It’s important that no-one is visible。

看不到人是非常重要的

The predator is revealed。。。

掠食者出現了

。。A plastic coyote without any legs。

一隻沒有腿的塑膠土狼

It seems like an encouraging result。

看來是個振奮人心的結果

The prairie dogs are certainly being vocal。

土撥鼠很顯然大聲喊叫了

What‘s really wonderful about this

真正奇妙的是

is that other individuals are chiming in

其他的土撥鼠也陸續加入

just in response to the vocalisation，

迴應發出的警報

so they don’t even have to see the stimulus

所以它們甚至不需要親眼看到掠食者

in order to know that this is a coyote， and they start yelling。

就能知道這是土狼並開始喊叫

Every call recorded must subsequently be analysed by Con。

所有錄音都要經過肯的分析

We can hear the difference in the calls

我們能聽出來

between the different predators，

對於不同掠食者的警報是不同的

but that‘s not really enough for us。

但這還不夠

What we really need is some sort of analytical tools

我們真正需要的是一種分析工具

for measuring what the frequency and time elements in the call are。

來測量這些警報中的頻率與時間元素

And so this software here allows us to do this。

而這個軟體就可以做到

This is our alarm call elicited for a coyote，

這是從對土狼的警報中分離出來的

and we can hear that it has a series of rhythmic chirps。

我們能聽到一系列有節奏的叫聲

Let me stop it at this point。

我停在這個點上