万物简史 第506期:丰富多彩的生命(2)

 Back here are specimens¹ collected by Joseph Banks in Australia, 这里放着约瑟夫·班克斯在澳大利亚采集的标本，

Alexander von Humboldt in Amazonia, Darwin on the Beagle voyage, and much else that is either very rare or historically important or both. 亚历山大·冯·洪堡在亚马孙河流域采集的标本，以及达尔文在乘“贝格尔”号船远航中采集的标本——还有其他大量标本，不是非常稀有的，就是具有重要历史意义的，或者二者兼之。

Many people would love to get their hands on these things. A few actually have. 许多人会喜欢伸出手去摸一摸，有的还真的这么做了。

In 1954 the museum acquired an outstanding ornithological² collection from the estate of a devoted³ collector named Richard Meinertzhagen, l954年，博物馆从一位名叫理查德·迈纳茨哈根的热心的收藏家那里获得了一批出色的鸟类标本。

author of Birds of Arabia, among other scholarly works. 迈纳茨哈根是《阿拉伯半岛的鸟类》的作者，还写过许多别的学术著作。

Meinertzhagen had been a faithful attendee of the museum for years, 在许多年里，他一直是博物馆的一名忠实的参观者，

coming almost daily to take notes for the production of his books and monographs⁴. 为了写自己的书和专著差不多每天都来做笔记。

When the crates⁵ arrived, the curators excitedly jimmied them open to see what they had been left 箱子到达以后，管理人员连忙撬开来看看里面是什么东西，

and were surprised, to put it mildly, to discover that a very large number of specimens bore the museum's own labels. 说得婉转点儿也是吃惊地发现，大批标本上贴着博物馆自己的标签。

Mr. Meinertzhagen, it turned out, had been helping⁶ himself to their collections for years. 原来，迈纳茨哈根多年来一直在为他们“收藏”标本。

It also explained his habit of wearing a large overcoat even during warm weather. 这就解释了为什么他有穿大衣的习惯，即使在暖和的夏天。

A few years later a charming old regular in the mollusks department—"quite a distinguished⁷ gentleman," I was told, 几年以后，软体动物部门的一位可爱的老常客——人家告诉我，他“还是一位挺杰出的绅士”

was caught inserting valued seashells into the hollow legs of his Zimmer frame. 正当他把价值连城的海贝壳塞进他的齐默助行架的空心腿里时，他被当场发现。

I don't suppose there's anything in here that somebody somewhere doesn't covet⁸, “我认为，总是有人对这里的东西垂涎三尺。”

Richard Fortey said with a thoughtful air as he gave me a tour of the beguiling⁹ world that is the behind-the-scenes part of the museum. 理查德·福泰一面领着我参观博物馆的不对外开放部分，一面若有所思地说。

 

1 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ornithological   

adj.鸟类学的

参考例句：

• Is there an ornithological reason for keeping them in separate cages? 用独立的笼子养鸟，有什么鸟类学的原因吗？ 来自电影对白
• Mere amateurs in 2009 will make ornithological history in China by discovering birds unknown to science. 在即将来临的2009年里，中国鸟类学史大概会由不打眼的业余人士通过发现未知的鸟类而刷新。 来自互联网

3 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

4 monographs   

n.专著，专论( monograph的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The scholarly monographs were published as pamphlet. 学术专著是以小册子形式出版的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Subsequent individual monographs will proceed at increasing levels of sophistication. 此后几集将继续提高论述水平。 来自辞典例句

5 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

8 covet   

vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西)

参考例句：

• We do not covet anything from any nation.我们不觊觎任何国家的任何东西。
• Many large companies covet these low-cost acquisition of troubled small companies.许多大公司都觊觎低价收购这些陷入困境的小公司。

9 beguiling   

adj.欺骗的，诱人的v.欺骗( beguile的现在分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等）

参考例句：

• Her beauty was beguiling. 她美得迷人。
• His date was curvaceously beguiling. 他约会是用来欺骗女性的。 来自《简明英汉词典》