萬物簡史 第3期:引言(3)

So thank goodness for atoms.

所以，謝天謝地，有了原子。

But the fact that you have atoms and that theyassemble in such a willing manner is only part ofwhat got you here.

不過，有了原子，它們心甘情愿地聚集在一起，這只是你來到這個世界的部分條件。

"To be here now, alive in the 21st century and smartenough to know it,

你現(xiàn)在在這個地方，生活在21世紀，聰明地知道有這回事，

you also had to be the beneficiary of an extraordinary string of biological good fortune.

你還必須是生物方面一連串極不尋常的好運氣的受益者。

Survival on Earth is a surprisingly tricky business.

在地球上幸存下來，這是一件非常微妙的事。

Of the billions and billions of species of living thing that have existed since the dawn of time,most-99.99%-are no longer around.

自開天辟地以來，存在過上百上千億物種，其中大多數(shù)--據(jù)認為是99.9%--已經不復存在。

Life on Earth, you see, is not only brief but dismayingly tenuous.

你看，地球上的生命不僅是短暫的，而且是令人沮喪的脆弱的。

It is a curious feature of our existence that we come from a planet that is very good atpromoting life but even better at extinguishing it.

我們產生于一顆行星，這顆行星善于創(chuàng)造生命，但又更善于毀滅生命，這是我們的存在的一個很有意思的特點。

The average species on Earth lasts for only about 4 million years,

地球上的普通物種只能延續(xù)大約400萬年，

so if you wish to be around for billions of years, you must be as fickle as the atoms that madeyou.

因此，若要在這里待上幾十億年，你不得不像制造你的原子那樣變個不停。

You must be prepared to change everything about yourself-shape, size, color, speciesaffiliation, everything-and to do so repeatedly.

你要準備自己身上的一切都發(fā)生變化--形狀、大小、顏色、物種屬性等等--反復地發(fā)生變化。

That's much easier said than done, because the process of change is random.

這說起來容易做起來難，因為變化的過程是無定規(guī)的。

"protoplasmal primordial atomic globule", as the Gilbert and Sullivan song put it,

從\"細胞質的原始原子顆粒\"，到有知覺、

to sentient upright modern human has required you to mutate new traits over and over in aprecisely timely manner for an exceedingly long while.",

能直立的現(xiàn)代人，要求你在特別長的時間里，以特別精確的方式，不斷產生新的特點。

So at various periods over the last 3.8 billion years you have abhorred oxygen and then dotedon it,

因此，在過去38億年的不同時期里，你先是討厭氧氣，后又酷愛氧氣，

grown fins and limbs and jaunty sails, laid eggs, flicked the air with a forked tongue, beensleek, been furry,

長過鰭、肢和漂亮的翅膀，生過蛋，用叉子般的舌頭舔過空氣，曾經長得油光光、毛茸茸，

lived underground, lived in trees, been as big as a deer and as small as a mouse, and a millionthings more.

住過地下，住過樹上，曾經大得像麋鹿，小得像老鼠，以及超過100萬種別的東西。

The tiniest deviation from any of these evolutionary shifts,

這些都是必不可少的演變步驟，

and you might now be licking algae from cave walls or lolling walrus-like on some stony shore

只要發(fā)生哪怕最細微的一點偏差，你現(xiàn)在也許就會在舔食長在洞壁上的藻類，或者像海象那樣懶洋洋地躺在哪個卵石海灘上，

or disgorging air through a blowhole in the top of your head before diving 60 feet for a mouthfulof delicious sandworms.",

或者用你頭頂?shù)谋强淄鲁隹諝?，然后鉆到18米的深處去吃一口美味的蚯蚓。