BBC地球系列：非洲（2013）

非洲北部
North Africa.
在摩洛哥阿特拉斯山脉高耸的群山中
High in Morocco's Atlas Mountains,
巴巴利猕猴躲在冰冷的雪松中颤抖
Barbary macaques shiver in the icy cedars.
这些猕猴的祖先逃到这里
The ancestors of these monkeys fled here
因为他们的故乡被灾难所摧毁
from a disaster that overwhelmed their homeland.
如今他们被困在这与世隔绝的非洲一隅
Now, trapped in this isolated corner of Africa,
无法再回到那遥远的南方土地
there's no going back to the land farther south.
深处这白雪弥漫的避难之所
Even in this snowy refuge,
他们从未忘记被迫迁来此处的原因
there's a reminder of what drove them here.
非洲太阳的无穷力量
The unbridled power of the African sun.
在炽热阳光的照耀下
Under its intense gaze,
积雪不多会儿就融化了
the snow can't last for long.
雪水给低地带来了生命的气息
Melt water should bring life to the lowlands.
数百条激流似瀑布般南下
Hundreds of torrents cascade southwards.
却终将消逝
But each is flowing towards extinction.
在山脉南边的200英里处
Just 200 miles south of the mountains,
河流在此蒸发殆尽
the rivers are vaporised.
炽热的大地将生命燃尽
Life has been burnt off the land.
这就是巴巴利猕猴要躲避的灾难之地
This was the apocalypse from which the Barbary macaques fled.
出其不意 势不可挡
The sudden and unstoppable advance
地球上最大的沙漠
of the greatest desert on the planet.
撒 哈 拉 沙 漠
撒哈拉沙漠彻底改变了北非
The Sahara transformed North Africa.
现在它的面♥积♥
Today, it covers an area
和美国一样大
the size of the United States.
相当于整个非洲大♥陆♥的三分之一
One-third of the entire African continent.
此地是世界上最热的地区之一
This is one of the hottest places on Earth.
无情的太阳炙烤大地
The merciless sun,
释放出高达1500万度的热量
a colossal 15-million-degree nuclear reactor,
无情地摧毁了这片大地上的一切生命
blasted life from the surface of the land.
危害不曾停止
It still wreaks havoc.
一丝微风就可以造成灾难
A faint breath of wind can be the beginning of disaster.
据游牧人叙述 风沙会吞噬整个村庄
Nomads tell of entire villages being engulfed,
让骆驼群消失
camel trains disappearing,
住在帐篷里的人们惨遭活埋
and people buried alive inside their tents.
一片沙尘暴可以横跨1000英里
A sandstorm can be 1,000 miles across.
经过这样的毁坏 能活下来就是奇迹了
It seems miraculous that anything can survive such devastation.
许多生物在这场浩劫中惨遭灭绝
The Saharan apocalypse wiped out many creatures,
但至今 仍有一些物种
but, today, some still cling on,
在大沙漠的边缘顽强地存活了下来
in the lands around the margins of the great desert.
这里十分干燥
It's very dry here.
有些年份 甚至滴雨不下
Some years, the rains fail entirely.
一匹格氏斑马独自前行着
A lone Grevy's zebra.
他重达半吨♥
He weighs close to half a tonne,
不喝水也能行走三天
and could go for three days without drinking.
就像猕猴一样
Like the macaques,
他的祖先也是从撒哈拉沙漠逃离至此
his forebears were refugees from the advancing Sahara.
此处灌木丛生 十分干燥
The land is scrubby and dry.
但这匹种马已经将此地占为己有
But this stallion has claimed it as his own.
几个月来 他一直在等候访客
He's been waiting months for visitors.
也就是雌斑马
Female visitors.
如果她们喜欢这里
If they like his territory,
就会多逗留一会儿
they might stay a while.
这么久以来他第一次有了交♥配♥的机会
It's his first chance to mate for a very long time.
可惜没成功
Hardly a success.
也许雌斑马们想找个更优质的伴侣
Perhaps his visitors are looking for a more impressive partner.
另一个挫折出现了
There's another setback.
那些雌斑马后面
The females were being followed,
跟着一队年轻雄斑马
a posse of young males,
每只都是一个对手
every one, a rival.
是时候该分出强弱胜负了
It's time to separate the men from the boys.
种马赶走了一个又一个对手
One by one, the stallion sees them off.
雌马们则在旁观战
The females had ringside seats.
目睹着他的刚强勇猛
And his prowess has not gone unnoted.
百炼钢变成了绕指柔
Machismo gives way to tenderness.
在这里生存 必须把握住每个机会
Around here, you have to take every opportunity,
获取食物 水和配偶
be it for food, for water or for mates.
雌格氏斑马群是个流动的群体
Female Grevy's are a fickle bunch.
马群决定继续前行了
The herd have decided to move on.
毫不留恋地离开
All of them.
这匹种马也许再也见不到她们了
The stallion may never see them again.
但马群中很可能已经有雌马怀了他的骨肉
But there's a chance that one is now carrying his foal.
在这片险恶的大地 那已经算是完胜了
In this harsh land that must count as a triumph.
然而 太阳的威力无法震慑地底世界
The sun's power cannot, however, reach far underground.
与地面不同 地下的环境
Below, in stark contrast,
十分稳定 易于忍♥受
conditions are stable and tolerable.
这里生活着地球上最奇怪的哺乳动物
And home to one of the planet's strangest mammals.
瞧瞧这只裸鼹鼠
Meet the naked mole rats.
这些剑齿裸鼹鼠在沙漠中熬不过一天
These sabre-toothed sausages wouldn't last a day in the desert.
运用特殊的地下拍摄手段 我们看到
Special filming tunnels allow us to see
他们很适应地下的生活
how well adapted they are to the subterranean life.
他们在每个方向上都能来去自如
They can run equally well in both directions,
狭窄的空间不是问题
so tight space is no problem.
他们的皮毛都退化了
They have lost their fur.
最奇怪的是 与白蚁和蚂蚁一样
And, most bizarrely, they live in social colonies,
他们也过着群体生活
much like termites or ants.
挖了一会儿后
After time spent digging,
工鼠们聚在一起休息
the workers come together to relax.
但有一点与其他群居动物非常不同
But one here is very different from all the rest.
那就是鼠后
Their queen.
鼠后的重量是臣民们的两倍
Twice as heavy as her subjects,
她毫无顾忌地在工鼠身上横行霸道
and not afraid to throw her weight around.
在此群体中 她是每位工鼠的母亲
She is the mother of every worker in the colony,
而且几乎总是处在不断怀孕的状态
and exists in a near-continuous state of pregnancy.
甚至现在 24个小宝宝
Even now, two dozen babies
正在她的肚子里动来动去
are pulsating within her swollen belly.
偶尔地
Just occasionally,
众多孩子中 有一只会受到特殊的待遇
one of her brood is raised differently.
她的一个女儿成了公主
A daughter becomes a princess.
直到现在 这位年轻的公主
Until now, this youngster's enjoyed
依然享受着慵懒优越的生活
a lazy, privileged life.
但好日子持续不了多久了
But not for much longer.
她有一项使命要完成
She has a destiny to fulfil.
裸鼹鼠没有办法
The surface is a place
在地面呆很长时间
where no naked mole rat can survive for long.
但公主为寻得如意郎君 不惜一切代价
But a princess will risk everything to search for a partner.
她觅夫急切
The quest is urgent.
空气中弥散着诱惑的气味
There's an enticing smell in the air.
她顺着气味向下钻去 到达安全之所
A seductive scent draws her downwards, to safety.
终于找到了自己的如意郎君
She's sniffed out a partner.
他正形单影只
He too is alone,
渴望在清冷的洞穴中开辟新的王国
and eager to start a new colony in his lonely burrow.
两个月后
Two months later,
公主登基为女王
the princess has become a queen.
开始了新的统治
And a new tyranny begins.
虽然拥有顽强的生命力
Tough though they are,
这些生活在北非边缘的生物
such refugees living on the edges of North Africa
却无法存活于撒哈拉沙漠的中心地带
cannot survive in the heart of the Sahara.
然而在尼日利亚南部
And yet here, in southern Nigeria,
一群生物正准备穿过
there are creatures preparing to journey
那片大沙漠的中心
right across the centre of that great desert.
家燕
Barn swallows.
他们在象草丛中栖息过冬
They spent the winter roosting in a forest of elephant grass.
现在 是离开的时候了
But now, it's time for them to leave.
全部两百万的家燕
All two million of them.
他们的体型很小
They're tiny,
只有两枚一英镑的硬币那么重
each weighing the same as a couple of one pound coins,
要飞回欧洲的繁殖地
yet the journey to their breeding grounds in Europe
路途有3千英里之遥
is over 3,000 miles long.
摆在他们面前的是巨大的死亡陷阱
Ahead of them lies a vast death trap.
撒哈拉沙漠漫无边际 无法绕道而行