第54课

旁白 neutral

We have been brought up to fear insects.

我们从小就被教导要害怕昆虫。

旁白 neutral

We regard them as unnecessary creatures that do more harm than good.

我们认为它们是多余的生物，弊大于利。

旁白 neutral

We continually wage war on them, for they contaminate our food, carry diseases, or devour our crops.

我们不断地与它们作斗争，因为它们会污染我们的食物，传播疾病，或吞噬我们的庄稼。

旁白 neutral

They sting or bite without provocation; they fly uninvited into our rooms on summer nights, or beat against our lighted windows.

它们无故蜇人或咬人；在夏天的夜晚，它们不请自来地飞进我们的房间，或拍打我们点亮的窗户。

旁白 neutral

We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths.

我们不仅害怕蜘蛛或黄蜂等令人不快的昆虫，也害怕像飞蛾这样完全无害的昆虫。

旁白 neutral

Reading about them increases our understanding without dispelling our fears.

阅读有关它们的文章增加了我们的理解，却无法消除我们的恐惧。

旁白 neutral

Knowing that the industrious ant lives in a highly organized society

即使知道勤劳的蚂蚁生活在一个高度组织化的社会中，

旁白 neutral

does nothing to prevent us from being filled with revulsion when we find hordes of them crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch.

也无法阻止我们在一群蚂蚁爬满精心准备的野餐时感到厌恶。

旁白 neutral

No matter how much we like honey,

无论我们多么喜欢蜂蜜，

旁白 neutral

or how much we have read about the uncanny sense of direction which bees possess, we have a horror of being stung.

无论我们读过多少关于蜜蜂拥有不可思议的方向感，我们都害怕被蜇。

旁白 neutral

Most of our fears are unreasonable, but they are impossible to erase.

我们大部分的恐惧都是不合理的，但它们又难以消除。

旁白 neutral

At the same time, however, insects are strangely fascinating.

然而，与此同时，昆虫又有着奇特的魅力。

旁白 neutral

We enjoy reading about them, especially when we find that, like the praying mantis, they lead perfectly horrible lives.

我们喜欢阅读有关它们的文章，特别是当我们发现，像螳螂一样，它们过着极其可怕的生活时。

旁白 neutral

We enjoy staring at them, entranced as they go about their business, unaware (we hope) of our presence.

我们喜欢凝视它们，着迷地看着它们忙碌，希望它们没有察觉到我们的存在。

旁白 neutral

Who has not stood in awe at the sight of a spider pouncing on a fly,

谁不曾敬畏地看着蜘蛛扑向苍蝇，

旁白 neutral

or a column of ants triumphantly bearing home an enormous dead beetle?

或一队蚂蚁凯旋地将一只巨大的死甲虫搬回家呢？

旁白 neutral

Last summer I spent days in the garden watching thousands of ants crawling up the trunk of my prize peach tree.

去年夏天，我在花园里花了好几天时间，观察成千上万的蚂蚁爬上我那棵珍贵的桃树树干。

旁白 neutral

The tree has grown against a warm wall on a sheltered side of the house.

这棵树长在房子避风处的一面暖墙边。

旁白 neutral

I am especially proud of it,

我特别为它感到自豪，

旁白 neutral

not only because it has survived several severe winters, but because it occasionally produces luscious peaches.

不仅因为它熬过了好几个严酷的冬天，还因为它偶尔会结出甜美的桃子。

旁白 neutral

During the summer, I noticed that the leaves of the tree were beginning to wither.

夏天的时候，我注意到树叶开始枯萎了。

旁白 neutral

Clusters of tiny insects called aphides were to be found on the underside of the leaves.

树叶的背面可以发现成群的微小昆虫，叫做蚜虫。

旁白 neutral

They were visited by a large colony of ants which obtained a sort of honey from them.

一大群蚂蚁来访，从它们那里获取一种蜜露。

旁白 neutral

I immediately embarked on an experiment which even though it failed to get rid of the ants kept me fascinated for twenty-four hours.

我立即开始了一项实验，尽管它未能除掉蚂蚁，但却让我着迷了二十四个小时。

旁白 neutral

I bound the base of the tree with sticky tape, making it impossible for the ants to reach the aphides.

我用胶带缠住了树的底部，使蚂蚁无法接触到蚜虫。

旁白 neutral

The tape was so sticky that they did not dare to cross it.

胶带非常粘，它们不敢越过。

旁白 neutral

For a long time, I watched them scurrying around the base of the tree in bewilderment.

我长时间地看着它们困惑地在树底跑来跑去。

旁白 neutral

I even went out at midnight with a torch and noted with satisfaction (and surprise)

我甚至在午夜带着手电筒出去，满意地（也惊讶地）注意到

旁白 neutral

that the ants were still swarming around the sticky tape without being able to do anything about it.

蚂蚁仍然在胶带周围聚集，却无计可施。

旁白 neutral

I got up early next morning hoping to find that the ants had given up in despair.

第二天早上我早早起床，希望能看到蚂蚁已经绝望地放弃了。

旁白 neutral

Instead, I saw that they had discovered a new route.

结果，我发现它们开辟了一条新路线。

旁白 neutral

They were climbing up the wall of the house and then on to the leaves of the tree.

它们正在爬上房子的墙壁，然后爬到树叶上。

旁白 neutral

I realized sadly that I had been completely defeated by their ingenuity.

我伤心地意识到，我完全被它们的足智多谋打败了。

旁白 neutral

The ants had been quick to find an answer to my thoroughly unscientific methods!

蚂蚁很快就找到了应对我这种完全不科学的方法的办法！