TED演讲 :世人不知的亚马逊人智慧(2)

 He was rescued by a group of isolated¹ Indians called the Mats's.  他被一群叫做Matsés的与世隔绝的印第安人救了下来。

They beckoned² for him to follow them into the forest, which he did.  他们示意他跟随他们进入丛林，他照做了。

There, they took out palm leaf baskets. 在那里，他们拿出了棕榈树叶筐，

There, they took out these green monkey frogs a these are big suckers, they're like this a and they began licking them.  里面他们拿出了这种绿色的猴蛙，个头都是大家伙，有这么然后他们开始舔这种蛙。

It turns out, they're highly hallucinogenic.  这种蛙有高度的致幻作用。

McIntyre wrote about this and it was read by the editor of High Times magazine.  麦金太尔把这个写了出来，《鼎盛时期》杂志的编辑看了。

You see that ethnobotanists have friends in all sorts of strange cultures.  从中你可以看出民族植物学家在各种奇怪的圈子都有朋友。

This guy decided³ he would go down to the Amazon and give it a whirl, or give it a lick, and he did, and he wrote,  这名编辑决定自己去亚马逊爽一下，舔一下，他真这样做了，他写到，

My blood pressure went through the roof,  我的血压爆表了，

I lost full control of my bodily functions,  我对我的身体机能完全失去了控制。

I passed out in a heap,  我昏厥了，

I woke up in a hammock six hours later,felt like God for two days.  六个小时后我在一张吊床里醒来，两天内都觉得自己跟神仙似的。

An Italian chemist read this and said, I'm not really interested in the theological aspects of the green monkey frog.  一位意大利化学家读后说，我对这种绿猴蛙魔幻的一面没太大兴趣，

What's this about the change in blood pressure?  可这个血压变化是怎么回事？

Now, this is an Italian chemist who's working on a new treatment for high blood pressure  现在，这名意大利化学家正在研究新的治疗高血压的方法，

based on peptides in the skin of the green monkey frog,  用的就是绿猴蛙皮肤中的肽，

and other scientists are looking at a cure for drug-resistant Staph aureus.  而其他科学家也正在研究用这个肽来治疗耐药性的金黄色葡萄球菌。

How ironic⁴ if these isolated Indians and their magic frog prove to be one of the cures.  如果这些隔绝的印第安人和他们的魔蛙是答案的话，那该有多讽刺。

Here's an ayahuasca shaman in the northwest Amazon, in the middle of a yage ceremony.  这里是一位亚马逊西北部的死藤水萨满，在卡皮木仪式中。

I took him to Los Angeles to meet a foundation officer looking for support for monies to protect their culture.  我带他去洛杉矶见一位基金会工作人员，寻求资金来保护他们的文化。

This fellow looked at the medicine man, and he said,  这个工作人员看了看这位药师，说，

You didn't go to medical school, did you?  你没上过医学院吧？

The shaman said, No, I did not.  萨满回答，没有。

He said, Well, then what can you know about healing?  他说，那么，对治病你能懂什么？

The shaman looked at him and he said, You know what? If you have an infection, go to a doctor.  萨满看着他，说，你知道么？如果你有感染，那你去看医生。

But many human afflictions are diseases of the heart, the mind and the spirit.  但很多人类疾病是心灵，头脑，和灵魂的病。

Western medicine can't touch those. I cure them.  西医治不了。我能。

But all is not rosy⁵ in learning from nature about new medicines.  但是从自然中提炼新药物也并不是那么美好。

This is a viper⁶ from Brazil,the venom⁷ of which was studied at the Universidade de Sao Paulo here.  这是条巴西毒蛇，毒液经圣保罗大学研究，

It was later developed into ACE⁸ inhibitors.  后来发展成ACE抑制剂。

This is a frontline treatment for hypertension.  治疗高血压的尖端药物。

Hypertension causes over 10 percent of all deaths on the planet every day.  地球上人类每天超过10%的死亡是因为高血压。

This is a $4 billion industry based on venom from a Brazilian snake,  这是个价值40亿美元的行业，用的就是巴西蛇的毒液，

and the Brazilians did not get a nickel.  但巴西人却一分钱也没得到。

This is not an acceptable way of doing business.  这样的做法是不可接受的。

The rainforest has been called the greatest expression of life on Earth.  热带雨林被称作地球上最伟大的生态体系。

There's a saying in Suriname that I dearly love:  苏里南有一句谚语我很喜欢：

The rainforests hold answers to questions we have yet to ask.  热带雨林中有我们还未知晓的问题的答案。

1 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

2 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

5 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

6 viper   

n.毒蛇；危险的人

参考例句：

• Envy lucks at the bottom of the human heart a viper in its hole.嫉妒潜伏在人心底，如同毒蛇潜伏在穴中。
• Be careful of that viper;he is dangerous.小心那个阴险的人，他很危险。

7 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

8 ace   

n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的

参考例句：

• A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
• He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。