万物简史 第559期:达尔文的非凡见解(8)

 Darwin kept his theory to himself because he well knew the storm it would cause. 达尔文没有把他的理论公之于世，殴为他太清楚这将会对社会产生怎样的震撼了。

In 1844, the year he locked his notes away, a book called Vestiges¹ of the Natural History of Creation roused much of the thinking world to fury 在1844年，在达尔文把手稿锁进抽屉里的那一年，有一本名为《创造的自然史之残迹》激起了思想界的勃然大怒，

by suggesting that humans might have evolved from lesser² primates³ without the assistance of a divine creator. 因为它提出人类可能是从比较低等的灵长类动物进化而来的，在此过程中没有得到创造世界的神灵的帮助。

Anticipating the outcry, the author had taken careful steps to conceal⁴ his identity, 作者事先估计到会掀起轩然大波，便十分小心地将自己的身份隐匿起来。

which he kept a secret from even his closest friends for the next forty years. 这个秘密保守了40年之久，连他最亲近的朋友也不知道。

Some wondered if Darwin himself might be the author. Others suspected Prince Albert. 有的人猜测作者可能是达尔文，有的人怀疑是阿尔伯特亲王。

In fact, the author was a successful and generally unassuming Scottish publisher named Robert Chambers⁵ 实际上，作者是一位成功而又不事张扬的苏格兰出版商，他的名字叫罗伯特·钱伯斯，

whose reluctance⁶ to reveal himself had a practical dimension as well as a personal one: his firm was a leading publisher of Bibles. 他不愿意暴露自己有其实际的以及个人的考虑：他经营的是一家专门出版《圣经》的著名公司。

Vestiges was warmly blasted from pulpits throughout Britain and far beyond, but also attracted a good deal of more scholarly ire. 《残迹》不仅受到国内外宗教人士的抨击，也饱受众多学术界人士的批判。

The Edinburgh Review devoted⁷ nearly an entire issue — eighty-five pages — to pulling it to pieces. 《爱丁堡评论》用了将近整整一期的篇幅——长达85页——将它批得体无完肤。

Even T. H. Huxley, a believer in evolution, attacked the book with some venom⁸, unaware⁹ that the author was a friend. 连进化论的拥护者T.H.赫胥黎也对这本书进行了猛烈的抨击，可是他一点儿也没有意识到，该书的作者是他的一位朋友。

(Darwin was one of the few to guess correctly. （达尔文是仅有的几位猜测正确的人之一。

He happened to be visiting Chambers one day when an advance copy of the sixth edition of Vestiges was delivered. 达尔文碰巧在《创造的自然史之残迹》第6版样书到达的那一天拜访钱伯斯。

The keenness with which Chambers checked the revisions was something of a giveaway, though it appears the two men did not discuss it.) 尽管两人似乎并没有谈起此书，但是钱伯斯检查样书时的专注神情无意间泄露了他内心的秘密。）

 

1 vestiges   

残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不

参考例句：

• the last vestiges of the old colonial regime 旧殖民制度最后的残余
• These upright stones are the vestiges of some ancient religion. 这些竖立的石头是某种古代宗教的遗迹。

2 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

3 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

4 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

5 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

6 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

7 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。

8 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。

9 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。