英格兰湖区牧羊人 45000人为之着迷的生活

 　　The Herdwick Shepherd, James Rebanks, is the latest of several generations to have tended flocks in the Lake District, but he now has a book and 45,000 Twitter followers¹ entranced by the starkly² beautiful scenes he photographs every day. Here he explains what his life is like and why his documenting of it appeals to so many people.

　　牧羊人詹姆斯·理班克斯是湖区最新几代放牧人中的一员，他已经出版了一本书，在推特（Twitter）上有45000个粉丝，大家都被他每天用相机被拍下的纯粹自然美景迷住了。下面他给我们介绍了他每天的生活，以及为什么他的记录能吸引这么多人。

　　People have farmed sheep and cattle in the English uplands for 4-5,000 years - it is a culture as old as the pyramids.

　　在英格兰的高地上，人们牧羊牧牛的历史已经长达四、五千年了，这是一种跟金字塔一样久远的文化。

　　The Lake District fells are mostly "common land" - with legal grazing rights held by the graziers (the landlord often has no grazing rights). I have always been involved in the family farm and have worked with the sheep since I was very small with my grandfather. Today we farm about 600 sheep.

　　湖区的高地大都是公共用地，放牧权由放牧人持有（地主通常没有放牧权）。自我小时候起，我就一直和我爷爷在自家的牧场里一起放羊。如今，我们有差不多600只羊。

　　英格兰湖区牧羊人 45000人为之着迷的生活

　　I started tweeting about three years ago, initially³ as an experiment to see if anyone was interested. It quickly became clear that they were in large numbers. I have written poems and journalism⁴ for more than 15 years, and realised that this was a good way to be creative with pictures and words about our way of life. We now have 44,000 followers and some recent video clips of our puppies were viewed 600,000 times.

　　我大约从3年前开始发推特，一开始只是想看看有没有人感兴趣。很快我们就发现很多人都很喜欢。我有15年的写诗和做新闻的经验，我发现用图片和文字记录我们的生活方式很有新意。我们现在有44000个粉丝，最近我们家小狗的一些视频短片已经有60万次播放量了。

　　The Lake District is the UK's nominated site for World Heritage status in 2016-17 - its unique pastoral farming system is a key part of its historic significance. It is one of the world's most amazing surviving historic farming landscapes.

　　湖区是英国境内入选2016-17年世界文化遗产提名的地方，它独特的畜牧系统是给这个地方赋予历史性意义的关键。那里有世界上现存的最令人叹为观止的畜牧景观。

　　The children's author Beatrix Potter left 15 farms and 4,000 acres in her will to the National Trust and specified⁵ the need to protect and sustain the traditional Herdwick farming system. The trust owns many thousands of sheep in its landlord's flocks and they are taken on by the tenants⁶ of their farms.

　　儿童文学作家比阿特丽克斯·波特在她的遗嘱里给National Trust（旨在保护英国最具历史价值和自然美的土地与建筑的组织）赠与了15个牧场和4000英亩的土地，并指明要用于保护和维持传统的赫德威克畜牧系统。在地主的牧场里，这个组织拥有数千只绵羊，它们由牧场的承包人照管。

　　Herdwick sheep are native to the Lake District. There are about 50,000 breeding females, but the number is declining due to environmental schemes - 95% of them live in a 20-mile radius⁷ of each other. They are classed as "at risk" because of the threats to them.

　　赫德威克绵羊是湖区本地的品种。仍能繁育的雌性绵羊大约有5万只，但是由于政府开发地产导致环境破坏，这个数字正在减少，它们中95%都相互隔着20英里的距离。由于种种威胁，它们已经被列为濒危物种。

　　Herdwick sheep are "hefted", which means they hold without fences to a place on the fell, or hill or mountain, because they are taught a sense of belonging by their mothers in their first summer. This stretches back countless⁸ centuries and has never been broken.

　　赫德威克绵羊是很“恋家”的。也就是说，在高地或者山上，不用篱笆圈起来它们都会自己待在某一块地方，因为在它们出生后的第一个夏天，母羊会教它们不要离开属于它们的地方。这种现象已经有好几个世纪的历史了，而且从未被打破过。

　　DNA⁹ analysis suggests that Herdwick sheep really did come by boat with the Vikings a thousand or more years ago. Their closest relatives live far to the north.

　　DNA分析表明，赫德威克绵羊确实是一千多年前由维京人船运带来的。与它们血缘关系最近的物种都生活在遥远的北方。

　　Because flocks graze the fells together a system of lug¹⁰ (ear) and smit (body) marks has evolved to identify the sheep, and these are captured in the Lake District Shepherd's Guide which has been published for more than 200 years. Similar systems exist for reindeer¹¹ herders in Norway and Sweden.

　　因为不同的羊群会一起在高地上吃草，所以牧羊人有一套耳朵和身体的标识系统来区分不同的羊群，这种方法被记录在了200多年前出版的《湖区牧羊指南》里。挪威和瑞典的驯鹿牧人也用着类似的系统。

　　The average income of a Lake District fell farmer is ?8,500, according to figures from Newcastle University. Lambs are sold for a quarter of their real price in 1970.

　　根据纽卡斯尔大学的数据，湖区高地农场主的平均收入是8500英镑。在1970年，羊的售价仅是它真正价值的四分之一。

　　It is a tough way to make a living.

　　他们的生活十分艰难。

1 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

2 starkly   

adj. 变硬了的,完全的 adv. 完全,实在,简直

参考例句：

• The city of Befast remains starkly divided between Catholics and Protestants. 贝尔法斯特市完全被处在天主教徒和新教徒的纷争之中。
• The black rocks stood out starkly against the sky. 那些黑色的岩石在天空衬托下十分显眼。

3 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

4 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

5 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

6 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

7 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

8 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

9 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

10 lug   

n.柄，突出部，螺帽；(英）耳朵；（俚）笨蛋；vt.拖，拉，用力拖动

参考例句：

• Nobody wants to lug around huge suitcases full of clothes.谁都不想拖着个装满衣服的大箱子到处走。
• Do I have to lug those suitcases all the way to the station?难道非要我把那些手提箱一直拉到车站去吗？

11 reindeer   

n.驯鹿

参考例句：

• The herd of reindeer was being trailed by a pack of wolves.那群驯鹿被一只狼群寻踪追赶上来。
• The life of the Reindeer men was a frontier life.驯鹿时代人的生活是一种边区生活。