黄石公园（2009）

The females are paying a little more attention now.
雌性总算多看了一眼
The bull has succeeded in gathering a fair-sized harem.
公牛成功地组建出其规模合理的后宫
But the females are still not quite ready to mate.
但现在母牛还没做好交♥配♥准备
They are now focused on feeding as much as they can
在安静地往低处转移之前
before moving lower still.
她们目前专注于尽可能多地觅食
But the elk are being watched.
但这头麋鹿被盯上了
Over the summer, wolves have been less mobile because of their young pups
夏天里 他们因为幼崽而不太走动
but their strength is building again.
但他们正在重拾力量
The elk get twitchy and head for the cover of trees.
麋鹿惊慌起来 跑到树林里找掩护
They may be a little safer here
在这里他们相对比较安全些
but the food in the forest is far less nutritious than on the river banks.
可是森林里的食物营养成份远不如在河岸上的
If they want to eat well and avoid wolves this winter,
如果他们又想吃得好又想在冬天避免狼群
they'll need to keep on moving.
他们就得继续迁徙
As the elk move gradually downwards,
当麋鹿逐渐地向低处迁移
they follow the rivers out of Yellowstone's central plateau.
他们一路顺着从黄石公园中♥央♥高地流出的河流
The rivers, in turn, follow the path of glaciers
而河流 则循着在上一个冰河时代
that flowed from this great bowl in the last ice age
从周围山峦的包围中冲开一条路
and carved their way right through the barrier of surrounding mountains.
并流出这个巨碗的冰河的径迹
Today, these valleys are escape routes
今天 这些山谷成为
for animals from the returning ice of winter.
动物们从重返这里的冬天冰雪之中逃脱之路
Lower down, the valleys broaden, the rivers slow
往低处去 山谷变宽 河流变缓
and a richer variety of trees grows in the alluvial soils,
在冲积的土壤里长出品种丰富的树林
the perfect home for Yellowstone's most industrious creature.
成为黄石公园里最为勤勉的生物完美的家园
A beaver can fell a cottonwood tree in just a few hours,
一只海狸只需数小时就能放倒一棵三角叶杨树
hundreds in a year.
一年能弄倒数百棵
The beaver doesn't chew through the whole trunk,
海狸不会啃断整个的树干
just enough to make the tree unstable.
只要做到让树变得不稳
It then retreats
它就可以后撤
and lets the wind do the rest.
让风来完成剩余的事情
It cuts branches into more manageable lengths
它把树枝切割到比较易掌控的长度之内
and then swims them down a network of purpose-built canals towards the dam.
然后带着树枝朝着水坝里一个用途运河网络游去
The pond gives this beaver protection from predators
池塘给这只海狸防备掠食者提供保护
and the canals allow it to forage far into the forest,
而运河让它能深入森林里面搜寻粮草
carrying many times its own weight with ease.
轻易地多次携带相当于它自己的重量的东西
Autumn is the busiest time of year for beavers.
秋天是海狸一年之中最忙碌的时间
It won't be so easy to make repairs when the pond is frozen over.
当池塘整个被冻结的时候修理工作将不会这么容易
The sound of running water is their stimulus
流水的声音刺♥激♥他们
to shore up gaps with timber and plug leaks with mud.
用木材支撑缝隙并用泥巴堵漏
But the dam not only serves the beavers.
但水坝不只是为海狸服务
Moose come here from the forests around
驼鹿从附近森林来到这里
to feed on weeds that thrive in the beaver's shallow pond.
以海狸的浅池中生长茂盛的杂草为食
The weed is rich in vital sodium that the forest can't easily provide.
杂草富含重要的钠这是森林不容易提供的
But now that winter is approaching,
但现在冬天的脚步逼近
another essential role for the dam is revealed.
水坝另一个重要作用体现了出来
These smaller branches are not for fixing the dam,
这些更小的树枝不是修复水坝用的
they're for eating.
是拿来吃的
The beaver secures them to the mud in the lake bottom.
海狸将它们贮藏在湖底的泥里
In just a few weeks, this lake will be frozen
几个星期内 这个湖就会被冻结
and the beavers won't be able to cut and move trees.
海狸将不再能够砍伐和搬运树木
But they will be able to swim right under the ice
但是他们能够在冰面之下游来游去
to feed from this underwater larder.
并从这个水下食品贮藏室找吃的
Moose also eat twigs and branches
驼鹿也吃大小树枝
and often try to take advantage of the beaver's hard labour.
还经常想要占辛苦劳作海狸的便宜
This young male is getting a little too close to the beaver's larder.
这头年轻雄鹿离海狸的食品贮藏室有点太近了
Autumn is not a time for sharing.
秋天不是分享食物的时候
It's mid-September.
现在是九月中旬
As the sun drops further in the sky,
当太阳远落天边
the aspens, cottonwoods and maples
白杨 三角叶杨树和枫树
start shutting down for the winter.
开始为过冬落叶
They now digest the green pigments in their leaves
他们现在消化树叶中的绿叶色素
to claw back what nutrients they can into the trunk and roots.
尽他们所能夺回营养 输送入树干和树根之内
What's left behind make the colours of autumn.
剩余的东西造就了秋天的颜色
Groves of aspen all turn at the same time.
白杨树林在同一时间变色
Each grove descended from one tree,
每棵树牵动一整个树林
interconnected by roots,
连气同根
colour-coordinated.
色调统一
As cold air sinks further down from the mountains,
当冷空气从山里进一步下沉
it brings autumn mist to Yellowstone's valleys.
它给黄石公园的山谷带来秋天的雾
It was in the autumn of 1 870
1870年的秋天
that the first official exploration party to Yellowstone
为创建世界上首个国家公园
began to plan for the creation of the world's first national park,
对黄石公园的做了首次正式勘探
the beauty of Yellowstone's autumn
黄石公园秋天的美丽
inspiring a complete change in the way we value the wild.
导致人们对野生的评价方式发生完全的转变
For the last six weeks of strutting and herding,
在过去六个星期的炫耀和争夺后
male elk have eaten almost nothing.
公麋鹿几乎是不吃不喝
They are exhausted.
他们疲惫不堪
This bull has done well.
这头公鹿干得很漂亮
He has successfully held on to his harem.
他成功地维持了他的后宫
And now the females are finally coming into season.
现在雌性终于进入发♥情♥期
But they are being distracted by another male.
但来了另外一头雄性使她们分心
If a bull elk can't dominate all rivals,
如果一头公麋鹿战胜不了所有的对手
he can't have access to the females
他就没有机会获得母牛
and all his effort will have been in vain.
那他之前所有的努力将会枉费
Now he must gather the last of his strength.
现在他必须聚集他剩余的全部力量
The rival wants to take him on.
对手想要取而代之
The aim is to get an antler point into his neck.
目标是将一只鹿角插入他的脖子
But they are evenly matched.
但是他们势均力敌
Neither can penetrate the other's guard.
谁也不能突破对方的防守
Now it's all about power.
现在力量是关键
A well-aimed thrust or a broken neck will kill.
一次瞄准好的突刺或受伤的脖子将是致命的
This challenger is lucky to get off with just a parting stab in the rump.
这个挑战者很幸运的逃离只在走之前臀部受了一刺
The victor returns to his females.
胜利者回到雌鹿那里
His young will be born next spring.
他的后代将在来年春天出生
But the prospects are not so good for a defeated bull.
但对一只被击败的公鹿前景就没这么好了
After all this effort,
在所有这些努力之后
he will now have to wait until next autumn to try his luck again.
他现在只好等着来年秋天再试试他的运气
That's if he even makes it.
那还得要他做得到才有可能
Bull elk, exhausted by the rut,
因发♥情♥而筋疲力尽的公麋鹿
struggle to survive the Yellowstone winter.
还得努力在黄石公园冬天里求生
It's now October
现在是十月
and the winter is catching up with the elk once more.
冬天正在再一次追赶麋鹿的脚步
An early flurry of snow is a sign that it's time to make a decision.
早冬的大雪宣告到该作决定的时候了
To stay is to face the certainty of snow and wolves.
留下来不可避免的要面对大雪和狼群
To go offers the chance of an easier life,
离开则有机会过上相对舒适的生活
but the uncertainty of the world beyond Yellowstone.
但要面对黄石公园之外千变万化的世界
Every autumn, thousands of elk do leave Yellowstone.
每个秋天 数以千计的麋鹿会离开黄石公园
And, as they go, they cross an invisible line
而且 当他们离去 他们将越过一条
out of the protection of the National Park.
隐形的界线而失去国家公园的保护
Here they confront new danger.
在这里他们面临新的危险
Dressed in orange to avoid each other, but a colour that elk can't see,
穿着可让彼此避开的 而麋鹿看不见的橘色
hunters come to the forests just around Yellowstone in October
猎人们在♥十♥月♥来到黄石公园周边的森林
to shoot elk.
来猎杀麋鹿
Elk, of course,
对麋鹿来说 当然
have no understanding of park boundaries or of Yellowstone.
不可能理解什么是公园界限或黄石界限
To them, this is simply an instinctive migration
对他们 这只是本能的迁徙
to find more hospitable land, so they just keep going.
为了寻找更宜人的土地 而不停前进
Beyond the ring of hunting lands,
越过环状狩猎带
the natural mosaic of forest and grass
森林和草地的天然马赛克
is replaced by an alien geometry.
被截然不同几何形状代替
Circles of irrigated grass,
圆周型的人工灌溉草地
squares of maize,
正方形的玉米地
golf courses,
高尔夫球场
the signature patterns of mankind.
人类活动的标记
It's unlikely they'll be welcome here.
在这里他们不太可能受到欢迎
By now, the pronghorn have pushed further
到如今 叉角羚已经比黄石公园的任何动物
than any of the Yellowstone's animals.
都走得更远了
Out of forests, through farmland
从森林中走出 穿过农场
and down into the wide prairies
下到他们的落矶山脉
at the foot of the Rocky Mountains themselves.
脚下的广袤的草原
Their search for winter grazing
他们为了在冬天找寻食物