万物简史 第552期:达尔文的非凡见解(1)

 25 Darwin's Singular Notion 第二十五章 达尔文的非凡见解

In the late summer or early autumn of 1859, 1859年夏秋之交，

Whitwell Elwin, editor of the respected British journal the Quarterly Review, was sent an advance copy of a new book by the naturalist¹ Charles Darwin. 英国一家很有名的杂志《季度评论》的编辑威特惠尔·艾尔文收到了博物学家查尔斯·达尔文一本新书的样本。

Elwin read the book with interest and agreed that it had merit, but feared that the subject matter was too narrow to attract a wide audience. 艾尔文饶有兴致地读完了这本书，认为它有一些价值，可是又担心它的主题过于狭窄，恐怕不足以吸引广大读者的目光。

He urged Darwin to write a book about pigeons instead. 他要求达尔文写一本有关鸽子的书，

"Everyone is interested in pigeons," he observed helpfully. “每个人都对鸽子感兴趣。”他热情地建议说。

Elwin's sage² advice was ignored, 艾尔文的热情建议没有被采纳，

and On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation³ of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life 1859年11月底，《物种起源由自然淘汰的作用而来，或优良的族类在生存竞争中保存》

was published in late November 1859, priced at fifteen shillings. 正式出版了，每本定价为15先令。

The first edition of 1,250 copies sold out on the first day. 第一版上市的第一天就卖出了l250本，

It has never been out of print, and scarcely out of controversy⁴, in all the time since, 自那以后就一直未曾绝版过，而且由它所引发的争议，也一直从未停息过，

not bad going for a man whose principal other interest was earthworms and who, but for a single impetuous decision to sail around the world, 对于一个喜欢蚯蚓到了无以复加的程度，要不是出于一时冲动环游了世界，

would very probably have passed his life as an anonymous⁵ country parson known for, well, for an interest in earthworms. 终其一生很可能只是一个默默无闻的乡村牧师的人来说，这实在是一件非常了不起的事。

Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, 查尔斯·罗伯特·达尔文1809年2月12日出生

(An auspicious⁶ date in history: on the same day in Kentucky, Abraham Lincoln was born.) （那是历史上一个吉利的日子：亚伯拉罕·林肯同一天出生在美国肯塔基州。）

in Shrewsbury, a sedate⁷ market town in the west Midlands of England. 在英格兰中部偏西一个宁静的小市镇什鲁斯伯里。

His father was a prosperous and well-regarded physician. 他的父亲是一位受人尊敬的内科医师，

His mother, who died when Charles was only eight, was the daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, of pottery⁸ fame. 母亲是著名的制陶世家乔西亚·韦兹伍德的女儿，她在达尔文年仅8岁的时候就去世了。

 

1 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

2 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

3 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

6 auspicious   

adj.吉利的；幸运的，吉兆的

参考例句：

• The publication of my first book was an auspicious beginning of my career.我的第一本书的出版是我事业吉祥的开始。
• With favorable weather conditions it was an auspicious moment to set sail.风和日丽，正是扬帆出海的黄道吉日。

7 sedate   

adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的

参考例句：

• After the accident,the doctor gave her some pills to sedate her.事故发生后，医生让她服了些药片使她镇静下来。
• We spent a sedate evening at home.我们在家里过了一个恬静的夜晚。

8 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。