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LESSON 4 The condor of the andes
第四課 安第斯山的禿鷹
In those sterile heights Nature withholds her fostering influence alike from vegetable and from animal life. The scantiest vegetation can scarcely draw nutriment from the ungenial soil, and animals shun the dreary and shelterless wilds. The condor, or South American vulture, alone finds itself in its native element amidst these mountain deserts. On the inaccessible summits of the Cordillera, and at an elevation of from 10,000 to 15,000 feet, this bird builds its nest, and hatches its young in the months of April and May.
在那些貧瘠的高山上，大自然鮮有植物、動(dòng)物的生命跡象。稀少的植物艱難地從堅(jiān)硬的土壤中吸取營(yíng)養(yǎng)，而動(dòng)物則避開(kāi)這些沉寂的，毫無(wú)遮蔽的荒野。禿鷹，或南美禿鷹，獨(dú)自在荒山野地里尋找自身所需的食物。這種鳥(niǎo)在科迪勒拉山脈難以接近的山峰上，在海拔1萬(wàn)到1.5萬(wàn)英尺的高處筑巢安家，在4月和5月孵化幼鳥(niǎo)。
Few animals have attained so wide a celebrity as the condor. This bird was known in Europe at a period when its native land was numbered among those fabulous regions which are regarded as the scenes of imaginary wonders. The most extravagant accounts of the condor were written and read; and general credence was granted to every story which travellers brought from the fairy-land of gold and silver. It was only at the commencement of the present century that Humboldt overthrew the extravagant notions that had previously prevailed respecting the size, strength, and habits of this extraordinary bird.
很少有動(dòng)物能像禿鷹那樣廣為人知。這種鳥(niǎo)在歐洲為人熟知，因?yàn)槿藗冋J(rèn)為這種動(dòng)物會(huì)在很多奇幻仙境的地區(qū)筑巢，那些地方令人神往。有關(guān)禿鷹最夸張的描述被文字記載和口頭傳誦。只要從金銀仙境來(lái)的旅行者所講的故事，大家都篤信不疑。直到本世紀(jì)初，Humboldt推翻了那些民間流傳的關(guān)于這種非凡鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)的體型、力量及習(xí)性的概念。
The full-grown condor measures, from the point of the beak to the end of the tail, from four feet ten inches to five feet; and from the tip of one wing to that of the other, from twelve to fourteen feet! This bird feeds chiefly upon carrion; it is only when impelled by hunger that it seizes living animals, and even then only the small and defenceless, such as the young of sheep, vicunas, and llamas.
一只成年禿鷹，其喙到尾巴的長(zhǎng)度約為4尺10英寸到5尺；從翅膀的一端到另一端的長(zhǎng)度為12尺至14尺！這種鳥(niǎo)主要以腐肉為食；只有在饑不擇食的情況下才會(huì)抓活動(dòng)物果腹，甚至包括那些弱小、無(wú)防御能力的動(dòng)物，比如小羊羔、小羊駝和美洲駝。
It cannot raise great weights with its feet; which, however, it uses to aid the power of its beak. The principal strength of the condor lies in its neck and in its feet; yet it cannot, when flying, carry a weight exceeding eight or ten pounds. All accounts of sheep and calves being carried off by condors are mere exaggerations.
它的雙腳無(wú)法承重較大物體，因此，當(dāng)它抓起重物時(shí)需要其喙的幫助。禿鷹主要的力量在于它的頸和雙腳，不過(guò)它飛行時(shí)抓住的物體不能超過(guò)8英鎊或者10英鎊。因此，所有關(guān)于禿鷹抓綿羊與牛的說(shuō)法都是夸大其詞。
