Lesson 26

The past life of the earth

It is animals and plants which lived in or near water whose remains are most likely to be preserved, for one of the necessary conditions of preservation is quick burial, and it is only in the seas and rivers, and sometimes lakes, where mud and silt have been continuously deposited, that bodies and the like can be rapidly covered over and preserved.
生活在水里或水边的动植物的遗骸最有可能被保存下来，因为保存的必要条件之一是快速掩埋，而只有在泥沙不断沉积的海洋、河流甚至湖泊中，尸体之类的东西才能被迅速覆盖并保存下来。
But even in the most favourable circumstances only a small fraction of the creatures that die are preserved in this way before decay sets in or, even more likely, before scavengers eat them.
但即使在最有利的环境下，也只有一小部分死亡的生物能在腐烂开始前，或者更有可能在食腐动物吃掉它们之前，以这种方式被保存下来。
After all, all living creatures live by feeding on something else, whether it be plant or animal, dead or alive, and it is only by chance that such a fate is avoided.
毕竟，所有活着的生物都是靠以其他东西为食来生存的，无论是植物还是动物，死的还是活的，而这种命运仅仅是偶然才得以避免。
The remains of plants and animals that lived on land are much more rarely preserved, for there is seldom anything to cover them over.
陆地上的动植物遗骸保存得更为罕见，因为几乎没有什么东西能覆盖它们。
When you think of the innumerable birds that one sees flying about, not to mention the equally numerous small animals like field mice and voles which you do not see, it is very rarely that one comes across a dead body, except, of course, on the roads.
当你想到人们看到的四处飞翔的无数鸟类，更不用说那些你看不见的同样众多的像田鼠和鼹鼠这样的小动物时，你会发现，除了在路上，人们很少偶然发现尸体。
They decompose and are quickly destroyed by the weather or eaten by some other creature.
他们分解并被天气迅速摧毁，或被其他生物吃掉。
It is almost always due to some very special circumstances that traces of land animals survive, as by falling into inaccessible caves, or into an ice crevasse, like the Siberian mammoths, when the whole animal is sometimes preserved, as in a refrigerator.
陆地动物的痕迹得以留存几乎总是由于一些非常特殊的情况，例如掉进难以进入的洞穴，或掉进像西伯利亚猛犸象那样的冰裂缝，此时整个动物有时会被保存下来，就像在冰箱里一样。
This is what happened to the famous Beresovka mammoth which was found preserved and in good condition.
这就是那头被发现保存完好且处于良好状态的著名别列佐夫卡猛犸象所经历的事情。
In his mouth were the remains of fir trees—the last meal that he had before he fell into the crevasse and broke his back.
他嘴里残留着冷杉树——这是他在掉进裂缝摔断背之前吃的最后一餐。
The mammoth has now been restored in the Palaeontological Museum in St. Petersburg.
猛犸象现在已经在圣彼得堡的古生物博物馆被修复了。
Other animals were trapped in tar pits, like the elephants, sabre-toothed cats, and numerous other creatures that are found at Rancho la Brea, which is now just a suburb of Los Angeles.
其他动物被困在沥青坑中，像大象、剑齿虎以及在兰乔拉布雷亚发现的无数其他生物，那里现在只是洛杉矶的一个郊区。
Apparently what happened was that water collected on these tar pits, and the bigger animals like the elephants ventured out on to the apparently firm surface to drink, and were promptly bogged in the tar.
显然，发生的情况是水聚集在这些沥青坑上，而像大象这样的大型动物冒险走到看似坚硬的表面去喝水，结果迅速被困在了沥青中。
And then, when they were dead, the carnivores, like the sabre-toothed cats and the giant wolves, came out to feed and suffered exactly the same fate.
然后，当它们死后，像剑齿虎和巨狼这样的食肉动物出来觅食，也遭受了完全相同的命运。
There are also endless numbers of birds in the tar as well.
焦油里也有无数的鸟。