纪录片《我们的地球》 第154期 富饶丛林(09)

The cacophony¹ of competing calls seems deafening² to us,

刺耳的声音震耳欲聋，

but frogs' ears are tuned³ to hear only the calls of their own kind.

可蛙类只能听到同类的声音。

The songs of courtship echo from all around.

蛙求爱的声音此起彼伏。

Male gliding⁴ leaf frogs leap from the treetops.

雄性红眼叶蛙，正从树顶下落。

To slow their descent, they use their huge webbed feet as parachutes.

在慢镜头下，可以看到它们用自己巨大的蹼趾控制方向，如同降落伞。

These large tree frogs spend most of their lives in the high canopy⁵ and only come down when it's time to breed.

这些大树蛙大部分时间在高高的树冠层生活，只有在交配期才下来。

Once settled, they begin to serenade their unseen females.

站定之后，他们开始给还没出现的雌蛙唱小夜曲。

Now it's time for the females to make their move.

现在是雌蛙展开行动的时候了。

There's no shortage of suitors, but this female has already made her choice.

虽然不乏众多的求爱者，可这只雌蛙已经做出了决定。

She's heading towards the loudest call because loud calls come from big frogs, and big is best.

她在朝鸣声最大的雄蛙走去，对雌蛙来讲雄蛙叫得大声就是美。

But to reach him she must run the gauntlet of a gang of smaller suitors.

雌蛙赶过去要注意其他小一号的雄蛙。

Their only chance of mating is to make a sneaky interception⁶. He scored.

那些雄蛙的交配机会就是鬼鬼祟祟地进行偷袭。这只雄蛙得手了。

But with more females arriving all the time, it's not over until the fat frog stops singing.

有更多的雌蛙正在往那边赶去，雌蛙们不会停止移动，除非大雄蛙停止歌唱。

Feet, so vital for gliding, are now put to other uses.

脚蹼用来滑翔，也可以用来干别的事情。

1 cacophony   

n.刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• All around was bubbling a cacophony of voices.周围人声嘈杂。
• The drivers behind him honked,and the cacophony grew louder.后面的司机还在按喇叭，且那刺耳的声音越来越大。

2 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

3 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

5 canopy   

n.天篷，遮篷

参考例句：

• The trees formed a leafy canopy above their heads.树木在他们头顶上空形成了一个枝叶茂盛的遮篷。
• They lay down under a canopy of stars.他们躺在繁星点点的天幕下。

6 interception   

n.拦截；截击；截取；截住，截断；窃听

参考例句：

• Aerial photography can provide valuable information on precipitation, evapotraspiration, interception, and runoff. 航空摄影可提供有关降水量、蒸发蒸腾量、入渗和径流量的有价值的资料。
• Light interception and distribution in hedgerow orchards with different alleyway widths is indicated in Fig. 56. 图56显示篱壁果园不同行间宽度的光能截取和分配的情况。