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Yet elsewhere the arguments in “How to Love Animals” are arresting. After pondering which sea creatures feel pain, Mr Mance rules that mussels, clams and oysters can be eaten in good conscience. He argues that cows raised for beef have better lives overall than those on dairy farms. It is usual to condemn trophy-hunters who cross continents to shoot lions, but “if anyone wants to stop wasteful killing for pleasure, they should focus on farming.”
但《如何愛動物》中的其他論點卻很有吸引力。在仔細琢磨了會感到痛苦的海洋生物類別之后，曼斯先生規定，人們可以問心無愧地食用貽貝、蛤蜊和牡蠣。他還認為，肉用牛的生活總體上要比奶牛場的奶牛過得更好。人們通常會譴責那些跨越大洲獵殺獅子且戰績顯赫的狩獵者，但“如果有人想要阻止這種以享樂為目的的浪費性獵殺，那他們應該著重關注畜牧業。”
As Mr Mance travels from the fishing ports of northern Spain to a Polish hunting lodge, he encounters plenty of strange ideas. Some activists believe seats in parliament should be reserved for people representing the interests of domesticated animals. Others recommend editing wild species’ genes so that they no longer harm other creatures with which they share habitats. There is apparently a case for letting captive elephants communicate with their counterparts in other zoos, through a device nicknamed the “Elephone”.
當曼斯從西班牙北部的漁港前往波蘭的一個狩獵小屋時，他見識到了很多奇怪的想法。一些活動人士認為，議會席位理應留給那些為家畜爭取利益的人。其他活動人士則建議對野生物種進行基因編輯，從而讓它們不再傷害共享棲息地的其他生物。顯然，讓圈養的大象通過一種名為“Elephone”的設備與其他動物園的同類進行交流的想法也顯得合情合理了。
No shortage of evangelists insist that technology will improve the lives of animals. Mr Mance is sceptical, concluding that restraint will achieve more than ingenuity. Even if his best line is borrowed from Martin Luther King —“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”—he is a skilful writer who never shies away from painful stories, and leavens even the grimmest episodes with humour. He also has a rare ability to couch strenuous ethical arguments in terms that are warmly familiar.
不乏有傳道士堅持認為科技將改善動物的生活。但曼斯先生對此持懷疑態度，他斷定，約束所帶來的成就將超越獨創力。縱然他書中最好的一段文字是借用的馬丁·路德·金的名言——“人類的道德弧線雖然很長,但是它是最終是通向平等的”——但他還是一名嫻熟的作家，他從不回避痛苦的故事，即使是最陰暗的情節也會被他寫出幽默感。他還擁有一種罕見的能力，能夠用大家親切熟悉的術語來闡述激烈的道德論題。
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