Paul Doss, Yellowstone National Park geologist, told me soon after climbing off an enormous Harley-Davidson motorcycle  黄石国家公园的地质学家保罗·多斯对我说。他刚从一辆大型哈利-戴维森牌摩托车上下来，

　　and shaking hands when we met at the park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs early on a lovely morning in June. 跟我握了握手。6月一个美好的清晨，我们在位于马默斯温泉的公园总部相遇。

　　A native of Indiana, Doss is an amiable, soft-spoken, extremely thoughtful man who looks nothing like a National Park Service employee. 多斯是印第安纳州人，和蔼可亲，说话低声细语，很会关心别人，看上去根本不像是个公园管理局的雇员。

　　He has a graying beard and hair tied back in a long ponytail. 他胡子灰白，头发往后扎成一根小辫。

　　A small sapphire stud graces one ear. 一只耳朵上戴着个小小的蓝宝石饰针。

　　A slight paunch strains against his crisp Park Service uniform. 笔挺的公园管理局制服有点紧，显得大腹便便。

　　He looks more like a blues musician than a government employee. 他看上去与其说是像个政府雇员，不如说是像个勃鲁斯音乐乐师。

　　In fact, he is a blues musician (harmonica). 实际上，他真还是个勃鲁斯音乐乐师（演奏玻璃钟琴）。

　　But he sure knows and loves geology. 但是，他确实懂得并热爱地质学。

　　"And I've got the best place in the world to do it," “这儿是世界上搞地质最棒的地方。”

　　he says as we set off in a bouncy, battered four-wheel-drive vehicle in the general direction of Old Faithful. 他一面说，我们一面上了一辆四轮驱动的旧汽车，朝老实泉驶去。

　　He has agreed to let me accompany him for a day as he goes about doing whatever it is a park geologist does. 他答应让我陪他一天，无论他作为公园的地质学家在这一天里将干什么。

　　The first assignment today is to give an introductory talk to a new crop of tour guides. 今天的第一项任务是为新一拨的导游上一堂基础课。

　　Yellowstone, I hardly need point out, is sensationally beautiful, 我无须指出，黄石公园是个极其美丽的地方，

　　with plump, stately mountains, bison-specked meadows, tumbling streams, a sky-blue lake, wildlife beyond counting. 这里有丰饶而瑰丽的山脉，野牛遍布的草地，潺潺作响的小溪，碧蓝碧蓝的湖泊，数不清的野生动植物。

　　"It really doesn't get any better than this if you're a geologist," Doss says. “要是你是个地质学家，这儿确实是个最佳的工作场所，”多斯说，

　　"You've got rocks up at Beartooth Gap that are nearly three billion years old, “比尔图思豁口那儿有着将近30亿年前的岩石，

　　three-quarters of the way back to Earth's beginning—and then you've got mineral springs here" 可以追溯到地球起始之时四分之三的历程，还有这儿的矿泉。”

　　he points at the sulfurous hot springs from which Mammoth takes its title, where you can see rocks as they are being born. 他指了指几处温泉，马默斯温泉的名字由此而来，那儿你可以看到正在形成的岩石。