TED演讲:达顿解释达尔文主义的美的理论(5)

Consider briefly¹ an important source of aesthetic² pleasure, the magnetic pull of beautiful landscapes.

想一下简单且重要的审美愉悦的来源，美丽风景的吸引力。

People in very different cultures all over the world tend to like a particular kind of landscape,

全世界在完全不同的文化背景下的人们，都倾向于某种特定的风景，

a landscape that just happens to be similar to the pleistocene savannas⁴ where we evolved.

这种风景恰巧与我们进化而来的更新纪大草原相似。

This landscape shows up today on calendars, on postcards,

今天这类风景在日历中、明信片中、

in the design of golf courses and public parks and in gold-framed pictures that hang in living rooms from New York to New Zealand.

高尔夫球场设计和公共公园中，还有挂在起居室中的镶金画框中找到，从纽约到新西兰都能看到。

It's a kind of Hudson River school landscape featuring open spaces of low grasses interspersed⁵ with copses of trees.

这是一种有点像哈得逊河画派的风景画，描绘了开阔的原野上低低的草地点缀着些许树木。

The trees, by the way, are often preferred if they fork near the ground,

顺便说一下，通常这些树开叉离地面较低，

that is to say, if they're trees you could scramble⁶ up if you were in a tight fix.

也就是说，如果有紧急情况，你可以爬到这些树上。

The landscape shows the presence of water directly in view, or evidence of water in a bluish distance,

风景中会在视野可见范围内能直接看到水流，或是远处的黛青色暗示着水的存在，

indications of animal or bird life as well as diverse greenery and finally -- get this -- a path or a road,

指明有动物或鸟类生命的迹象，还有各种不同的绿色植物，最后--还有这个--一条小径或是一条路，

perhaps a riverbank or a shoreline, that extends into the distance, almost inviting⁷ you to follow it.

也许是河岸或是海岸，延伸向远方，几乎就是在邀请你沿着它走下去。

This landscape type is regarded as beautiful, even by people in countries that don't have it.

这种类型的风景大家一致公认是很漂亮的，甚至生活在没有这种风景的人们也是这样认为的。

The ideal savanna³ landscape is one of the clearest examples where human beings everywhere find beauty in similar visual experience.

理想的热带稀树大草原风景是最显著的例证之一，在世界各地的人都能找到有相似的视觉体验的美。

1 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

3 savanna   

n.大草原

参考例句：

• The savanna is also the home of meat-eaters--the lion,leopard,and hyena who feed on the grasseaters.大草原也是食肉动物的家乡--狮子、豹、鬣狗--它们都是以草食动物维持生命的。
• They sped upon velvet wheels across an exhilarant savanna.他们的马车轻捷地穿过一片令人赏心悦目的大草原。

4 savannas   

n.（美国东南部的）无树平原( savanna的名词复数 )；（亚）热带的稀树大草原

参考例句：

• Therefore the jungles and the savannas know of no juvenile delinquency! 因此，丛林和荒原里没有“少年犯罪。” 来自辞典例句
• My soul flits away into the virgin forests and to the savannas. 我的灵魂飞向森林中的处女地和广漠的平原。 来自互联网

5 interspersed   

adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The grass was interspersed with beds of flowers. 草地上点缀着许多花坛。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

7 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。