国家地理 蓝脚鲣鸟

The mating ritual of each species on Earth has certain, well, peculiarities¹.

地球上每一个物种它们的交配惯例中都存在某种怪癖。

As you might tell it from the name of the species itself, blue-footed boobies are no exception to this rule.

从这个物种的名字你就可以看出，蓝脚鲣鸟也不例外。

Here in the Galapagos Islands, this pair of blue-footed boobies check each other out.

在加拉帕戈斯群岛，这一对蓝脚鲣鸟正在检查这彼此。

Now, what is the most important quality the female looks for in a male: good looks? A steady income? Beachfront property?

那么在寻找另一半时，雌性最看重的是什么：长得帅？收入稳定？海边小别墅？

Well, those are important, but they pale in comparison to having blue feet.

那些都很重要，但是与拥有一双蓝色脚掌相比，以上这些可就相形见绌了。

Hence, this dance- the revelation of foot color, so that the female will not by mistake mate with a red-footed booby, or even a crab-footed booby.

因此，这种舞姿—揭露了脚掌的颜色，所以雌性不会把它们和红脚鲣鸟或是蟹脚鲣鸟弄混。

Now, let's say though an iguana² wanders into a booby land.

现在比如说，有只鬣蜥蜴在鲣鸟领地徘徊。

The boobies tend to breed where the marine³ iguana spend the night, so this iguana does have a reason to be here.

鲣鸟会海鬣蜥睡觉的地方繁育，所以鬣蜥蜴还是有理由呆在这里的。

Not that the boobies care. They force the poor iguana to run a gantlet of pecking beats.

这些鲣鸟并不在乎。它们会用嘴巴啄着可怜的鬣蜥蜴。

Hey, let me out of here, man! This is worse than a fraternity hazing⁴.

啊，让我出去！这比兄弟会受欺辱还糟糕。

The iguana finds its way out, which I guess in this case, you could say is the,er, booby prize- aha, sorry.

鬣蜥蜴发现逃生出路，这种情况下，我猜你或许会说这怕不是一个安慰奖吧。

1 peculiarities   

n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪

参考例句：

• the cultural peculiarities of the English 英国人的文化特点
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another. 他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

2 iguana   

n.美洲大蜥蜴，鬣鳞蜥

参考例句：

• With an iguana,you really don't have to say surprise.惊喜两字已经不足以形容这只鬣鳞蜥了。
• I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguanadj.打开计算机准备制作一部关于我的宠物蜥蜴的电影。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 hazing   

n.受辱，被欺侮v.（使）笼罩在薄雾中( haze的现在分词 )；戏弄，欺凌（新生等，有时作为加入美国大学生联谊会的条件）

参考例句：

• With labor, the hazing period ends. 费了好大力气，痛苦的时期终于过了。 来自互联网
• A high-gloss paint surface is one that directly reflects light with minimum hazing or diffusion. 高度光洁的漆表面可以直接反射光源。 来自互联网