纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 002奥杜瓦伊石质切割工具（3）

Marrow¹ fat doesn't sound tremendously appetising, but it is hugely nutritious² - fuel not just for physical strength but also for a large brain. The brain is an extremely power- hungry mechanism³. Although it accounts for only 2 per cent of our body weight, it consumes 20 per cent of our entire energy intake⁴, and it requires constant nourishment⁵. Our ancestors of nearly two million years ago, secured their future by being really rather sneaky.

骨髓虽不是什么美味，但营养丰富，既能增强体力，又能滋养大脑。人脑是非常耗能的生理结构，尽管重量仅为体重的2%，却可消耗20%的能量摄入，并需要源源不断的养分供给。200万年前，我们的祖先正是用这样一种相当卑鄙的方式保障了他们的未来。

When stronger, faster fiercer predators⁶ were at rest out of the heat, 'they' were able to look for food. Using tools like this one to obtain bone marrow, the most nutritious part of a carcass, they set in train an ancient virtuous⁷ circle. This food for body and mind, meant that larger-brained individuals would survive to breed larger-brained children, capable in their turn of making ever more complex tools, and you and I are just the latest iteration of this continuing process.

那些强壮、迅捷、凶猛的狩猎者乘凉休息时，我们的祖先便伺机而动，寻找食物。他们利用这类工具获得最有营养的骨髓，建立起了远古时代的良性循环系统：脑体积较大的原始人生存下来，相应地繁衍出脑体积较大的后代，这些后代继而能制作出更加复杂的工具，你我不过是这一周而复始的循环过程的终端。

Lots of animals use objects, particularly of course apes, but what sets us apart from them at this moment in our evolution is that, unlike them, we make tools before we need them. And once we have used them we keep them to use again. It's the beginning of the tool box.

能够利用物品的动物不在少数，类人猿就是一典型代表。但在人类进化史的这一点上，能将我们和这些动物相区别的是，我们可以依据需求制作工具，使用过后，我们会保存工具以备不时之需——这就是工具箱的由来。

The human brain then carries on evolving steadily⁸ over thousands of years. And what's really interesting, is that our brain starts to become asymmetrical⁹ as it gets to grips with a whole range of different functions - logic¹⁰, language, the co-ordinated movement needed for tool-making, imagination and creative thought - quite unlike the ape's brain, which remains¹¹ smaller and symmetrical. So what we're looking at in this chopping tool is the moment at which we became distinctly smarter and with an impulse not just to make things, but to imagine how we could make things 'better'.

随后的几千年，人脑稳步进化。有趣的是，随着人脑功能的分化，衍生出逻辑、语言、以及与制作工具、想象力和创造性思维相关的协调运动等，人脑开始变得不再对称，与类人猿小而对称的大脑形成对比。所以，这个工具记录了这样一个时刻，我们不仅拥有了更加聪明的头脑和制作工具的冲动，而且尝试着精益求精。

"This object sits at the base of a process which has become almost obsessive¹² amongst human beings. This object is something created from a natural substance for a particular purpose, and in a particular way, with a notion in the maker's mind of what he needed it for.

“这件工具是人类苛求完美的最初表现。这件物品是制作者依据需要，利用自然物加以创造，为特殊的目的服务，用特殊的方式打制。

Is it more complex than was needed to actually serve the function which he used it for? I think you could almost say it is. Did he really need to do one, two, three, four, five chips on one side and four on the other? Could he have got away with two? I think he might have done so.

那么这件工具的复杂程度是否已经超出所需？我想你可以这样讲。他真的需要在一面炮制一，二，三，四，五次，另一面四次吗？两次行不行？我想他本可以这样做。

I think the man or woman who held this, made it just for that particular job and perhaps got some satisfaction from knowing that it was going to do it very effectively, very economically and very neatly¹³. In time, you'd say he'd done it beautifully but, maybe not yet ... the start of a journey." (David Attenborough)

我想拿着这件特别设计的工具的人，当预料到那些复杂工序将使它操作起来非常有效、省力、灵活时，大概是获得了某种满足感。最终，你会承认他把工具做的很精美，但现在还为时过早……这才仅仅是千里之行的第一步。”——大卫?阿滕伯勒(David Attenborough)

1 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。

2 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

4 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

5 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

6 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

8 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

9 asymmetrical   

adj.不均匀的，不对称的

参考例句：

• Most people's faces are asymmetrical.多数人的脸并不对称。
• Folds may be gentle and symmetrical,or sharp and asymmetrical.褶皱可以是平缓而对称的，也可以是陡峭而非对称的。

10 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

13 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。