万物简史 第465期:生命在前进(7)

 Dismounting to assist her, Walcott discovered that the horse had turned a slab¹ of shale² that contained fossil crustaceans³ of an especially ancient and unusual type. 沃尔科特跳下马来扶她，却发现马将一块页岩圈了个身。页岩里有一种特别古老、特别罕见的甲壳纲动物的化石。

Snow was falling—winter comes early to the Canadian Rockies—so they didn't linger, but the next year at the first opportunity Walcott returned to the spot. 天正下着雪——在加拿大的落基山脉，冬天来得很早——因此他们没有久留。但是，到了第二年，沃尔科特一有机会就回到了现场。

Tracing the presumed route of the rocks' slide, he climbed 750 feet to near the mountain's summit. 他沿着岩石估计会滑行的路线攀登了200多米，爬到接近山顶的位置。

There, 8,000 feet above sea level, he found a shale outcrop, about the length of a city block, 在海拔2438米的地方。他发现了一个页岩露头，长度大约相当于城市的一个街区，

containing an unrivaled array of fossils from soon after the moment when complex life burst forth⁴ in dazzling profusion—the famous Cambrian explosion. 里面蕴藏着一大批化石，远自复杂生命大爆爱——即著名的寒武纪大爆发——之后不久的时候。

Walcott had found, in effect, the holy grail of paleontology. 沃尔科特发现的实际上是古生物学的圣杯。

The outcrop became known as the Burgess Shale, 那片露头后来被称之为布尔吉斯页岩，

and for a long time it provided "our sole vista⁵ upon the inception⁶ of modern life in all its fullness," as the late Stephen Jay Gould recorded in his popular book Wonderful Life. 取自它所在的山冈的名字。在很长时间里，正如已故的斯蒂芬·杰伊·古尔德在他深受欢迎的著作《奇异的生命》中所说的，它是“惟一向我们充分展示现代生命起端的地方”。

Gould, ever scrupulous⁷, discovered from reading Walcott's diaries that the story of the Burgess Shale's discovery appears to have been somewhat embroidered⁸, 在阅读沃尔科特日记的过程中，向来细心的古尔德发现，有关发现布尔吉斯页岩的故事似乎有点儿添油加醋，

Walcott makes no mention of a slipping horse or falling snow—but there is no disputing that it was an extraordinary find. 沃尔科特既没有提及马失前蹄，也没有谈到天下着雪——但那是一项非同寻常的发现，这是无可争议的。

It is almost impossible for us whose time on Earth is limited to a breezy few decades to appreciate how remote in time from us the Cambrian outburst was. 我们在地球上只能存在短短的几十年，因此几乎不可能体会到寒武纪大爆发离我们有多么遥远。

1 slab   

n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上

参考例句：

• This heavy slab of oak now stood between the bomb and Hitler.这时笨重的橡木厚板就横在炸弹和希特勒之间了。
• The monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab.这座纪念碑由两根垂直的柱体构成，它们共同支撑着一块平板。

2 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

3 crustaceans   

n.甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These crustaceans provide a valuable food source for some fish. 这些甲壳纲动物是某些鱼类重要的食物来源。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时，它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。 来自辞典例句

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

6 inception   

n.开端，开始，取得学位

参考例句：

• The programme has been successful since its inception.这个方案自开始实施以来一直卓有成效。
• Julia's worked for that company from its inception.自从那家公司开办以来，朱莉娅一直在那儿工作。

7 scrupulous   

adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的

参考例句：

• She is scrupulous to a degree.她非常谨慎。
• Poets are not so scrupulous as you are.诗人并不像你那样顾虑多。

8 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。