人类大历史（2013）
Big History
第一季
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人类大历史（2013）
Big History S01E13
Part 2
March 29, 2021, 2:04 p.m.
across the steppes of Asia...
到非洲大草原
the African savannahs...
潘帕斯草原 和美洲的平地和草原
and the pampas, plains and prairies of the Americas.
草在哪里生长 动物就进化出食用它的能力
Where grass grows, animals evolve to eat it.
草的营养含量很低
Grass is pretty low-nutrient stuff.
单株草并没有太大价值
It doesn't have a lot of value to it,
但是草的数量无穷无尽
but it's in abundance.
所以牛为了利用这廉价的资源而进化
So cows evolved in order to make use of this fairly marginal resource.
牛开始在亚洲广阔的大草原上兴盛开来
Cows thrive across the vast, grassy plains of Asia...
还有非洲和欧洲
Africa and Europe.
但是在世界的另一端 美洲
But on the other side of the world- in the Americas-
数百万英亩的草地仍虚位以待
millions of acres of grasslands lie in wait.
这里没有牛 但它们已经在路上了
There are no cows here, but they're on their way.
感谢克里斯托弗·哥伦布
Thanks to Christopher Columbus.
这是哥伦布的第二次航行
It's Columbus's second voyage...
这次 西班牙人要来定居
and, this time, the Spanish have come to stay.
他们要在这儿创建一个西班牙的后花♥园♥
They're going to create a little pocket of Spain there...
这意味着要带来欧洲的农作物
and that means bringing over European crops to farm...
另外 还有欧洲的动物
and, especially, European animals.
牛是最重要的动物之一
And the cattle are some of the most important ones.
第一只踏足于美洲大♥陆♥的牛
The first cows to ever set hoof in the Americas...
不是进化来的 而是用海地的船运来的
arrive not by evolution, but by ship on the coast of Haiti.
因为数量少 人们对牛的需求很强烈
Because they're rare, cows are in demand.
在四十年内
And within 40 years...
他们从加勒比海岛扩散到了内陆
they spread from the islands of the Caribbean to the mainland...
当西班牙人在墨西哥的俘虏土著时
when Spanish governors in Mexico capture the native peoples...
西班牙人奴役他们
enslave them...
并用他们购买♥♥牛
and trade them for cattle.
曾经在墨西哥
Once in Mexico, the cows grow fat...
牛在新世界的草地上长得膘肥体壮
in a new world of grass.
它们开始在两大洲上扩散
And they begin to spread across two continents-
从墨西哥北部到美洲西南部
north from Mexico to the American Southwest...
以及阿根廷南部
and south to Argentina.
很快新的定居者跨越大西洋 带来更多的牛
Soon new settlers bring more cows across the Atlantic-
从葡萄牙到巴西
from Portugal to Brazil...
从北欧到东海岸
and from northern Europe to the eastern seaboard.
仅仅500年间 一开始的一小群牛
In just 500 years, what starts as a small handful of cows...
爆发到超过4亿头
explodes to over 400 million head of cattle.
这是世界上第一次牛的种群大爆发
It's the world's first cattle boom.
当牛在所有地区繁盛时
And while the cow now thrives everywhere...
大西洋将它们分隔成两个不同群体
the Atlantic separates them into two distinct populations-
东和西
east and west-
不同的地理条件决定了牛的命运
a difference of geography that will shape the destiny of the cow.
在旧世界 一场瘟疫即将来临
In the Old World, a plague is coming...
威胁到能抹杀欧洲的牛
that threatens to wipe out all the cattle in Europe.
大历史将一种微型杀手的肆虐
Big history connects the spread of a microscopic killer...
与一次世界上最强大帝国的侵略史
to an epic invasion...
联♥系♥起来
by the mightiest empire in the world.
由成吉思汗的子孙率领的蒙古军队
The Mongol army under Genghis Khan's sons and grandsons...
正围困俄♥国♥城市基辅
is besieging the Russian city of Kiev.
他们随行带着牛 因为蒙古人吃牛肉
They brought cattle with them, 'cause the Mongols ate cattle.
他们有如此多的牛 以至于牛的声音
They had so many cattle that the noise of the cattle...
盖过了城中人♥民♥的喊叫
actually drowned out the screams from the townspeople...
仿佛它们要将人们烧杀光
as they were putting people to fire and sword.
当人类在战场上互相搏斗
While man attacks man on the battlefield...
一个看不见的军队袭击了家畜
an invisible army attacks the livestock.
大历史聚焦到
Big history zooms in...
一个影响到世界格局平衡的单细胞
to a single cell that will upset the balance of power in the world.
蒙古的牛携带有一种叫牛瘟的病毒
The Mongols' cattle carry a virus called rinderpest.
这种病毒通过空气传播
The virus spreads through the air-
从蒙古牧群到俄♥国♥家畜
From the Mongol horde to the Russian livestock.
一旦感染 它们仅需六天就会死亡
Once infected, they die in as little as six days.
短时间内 牛瘟席卷了欧洲
Within a short period, rinderpest has spread into Europe...
大幅度减少了牛的数量
and decimated the cattle population.
纵观历史 它还会卷土重来
And it would recur throughout history.
1865年 一轮新的牛瘟爆发
In 1865, a new outbreak of rinderpest...
杀死了欧洲2亿头牛
kills 200 million cattle across Europe...
摧毁了欧洲的食物供给
devastating the food supply.
但是病毒从未跨越大西洋
But the virus never crosses the Atlantic...
所以新世界的牛得以幸存
so the cattle in the New World survive.
正如大历史所揭示
And as big history reveals...
时机决定一切
timing is everything...
因为横渡大洋的牛
because the cattle that cross an ocean...
躲过了微型病毒毁灭性的打击
escape the devastation of a microscopic virus...
使得世界的一端有对牛肉的巨大需求
that leaves one side of the world with a huge demand for beef...
而另一端有着充足的供应
and the other with a booming supply.
大历史告诉我们为何新世界会养活旧世界
So big history shows us why the New World will now feed the Old.
以及为何像狂野比尔的艾比利尼这种养牛小镇
And cattle towns like Wild Bill's Abilene...
会在全美不断涌现
spring up all across the Americas...
为了响应市场对牛肉的需求
to meet the need for beef.
大历史允许我们将欧洲的牛瘟
Big history allows us to draw a cattle disease in Europe...
和美国西部的发展结合在一起探讨
and the development of the Wild West all together in one common narrative.
牛瘟爆发以前 牛肉对于美国经济
The rinderpest outbreak makes beef more vital than ever...
从未如此重要
to the economy of the Americas.
然而它们基因中的秘密代码
But a secret encoded in their D.N.A...
揭示出人和野兽的隐藏联♥系♥
reveals a hidden link between man and beast.
大历史告诉我们 温顺的牛
Big history shows us that the humble cow...
是我们进化成人的关键
is a key to what makes us human-
把为我们大脑提供能量的肉类
connecting the meat that energized our brains...
和地球上最早出现牛的草原
to Earths early grasslands where cattle first emerge...
以及人们在全世界运输牛的一系列旅程
and a series of journeys where people spread cattle around the world...
还有与致命瘟疫的抗争
and save them from a deadly plague.
大历史揭示出 人和牛之间的联♥系♥
Big history reveals that the connection between man and cow...
要深的多
is much deeper...
这隐藏在它们的DNA中
and it's hidden in their D.N.A.
每个农场的每头牛
Every cow on every farm...
每块菲列牛排或每个快餐汉堡
every filet mignon or fast-foot burger...
全世界超过十亿头牛
over one billion cows around the world...
都可追溯到一个地方
all trace back to one place...
一个牧群
and one herd.
大多数人不认为牛是人类的一项发明
Most people don't think of the cow as a human invention...
但它确实是
but it is.
大历史依据着DNA中的证据
Big history tracks the D.N.A. evidence
回溯到牛的起源
back to the origin of cows...
1万5百年前
10,500 years ago.
在土耳其和伊朗之间 欧亚大♥陆♥的草原上
The grassy steppes of Eurasia between Turkey and Iran.
可怕的野牛在狂奔
The fearsome aurochs roams wild.
但是一些勇敢的农民决定驯化它们
But some brave farmers decide to tame them.
你面对着一个象征着原始力量和愤怒的怪兽
You have a monster that's really a symbol of primal strength and fury.
所以驯化它
Soto actually domesticate it...
会是一项相当疯狂的事业
would have been a pretty crazy undertaking.
那么你怎么让一个野兽对你言听计从呢
So how do you get' a monster to do what' you want?
改变它的DNA
Change the monster's D.N.A.
为了达成目标 你要先抓到一些小牛
To do that, you start small- capture some calves.
如果你能让它们繁衍
if you can get it to breed...
会得到一些后代
then it will have several offspring.
你可以挑选出最温顺的
You can pick the most docile of those-
最不危险的牛来繁衍
the one that is less dangerous- and then breed that one.
这些石器时代的牧民
These Stone Age herdsmen...
靠自己的双手推动了进化
take evolution into their own hands.
他们将野兽变成了温顺的家畜
They transform a wild beast into docile domestic cattle.
如今每头家牛
Every cow alive today...
都是这80头野牛的直系后代
is a direct' descendant' of this single herd of 80 aurochs.
是的 我们创造了家牛
Yeah, we made cows.
当我们创造出家牛时
When we invent the cow...
我们不仅用兽栏控制动物
we 're not only controlling an animal In a corral...
我们还利用了930万英里外的能源
we're harnessing energy from 93 million miles away.
食物提供的能量追根溯源来自太阳
Food is energy that comes, ultimately, from the sun.
它被植物获取 食草动物吃植物
It's seized by plants. Herbivores eat the plants.
人类不能吃草
Humans can't eat grass...
但人类可以吃食草动物
人类大历史（2013）
Big History
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