Wilberforce had been briefed (or so it is generally assumed) by the ardent anti-Darwinian Richard Owen, who had been a guest in his home the night before. 此前一天晚上，理查德·欧文曾到威尔伯福斯家做客。理查德·欧文是一位狂热的反达尔文主义者，他和威尔伯福斯通了个气（反正大家是这么认为的）。

As nearly always with events that end in uproar, accounts vary widely on what exactly transpired. 正像许多引起轰动的事件一样，人们对这件事的经过众说不一，莫衷一是。

In the most popular version, Wilberforce, when properly in flow, turned to Huxley with a dry smile 不过最为流行的版本是，衣冠楚楚、仪态威严的威尔伯福斯转向赫胥黎，

and demanded of him whether he claimed attachment to the apes by way of his grandmother or grandfather. 冷笑着问他是否敢于宣称他是通过他的祖母或祖父的任何一方由猿进化而来的。

The remark was doubtless intended as a quip, but it came across as an icy challenge. 威尔伯福斯本来想说一句俏皮话，可是却被曲解为咄咄逼人的挑衅。

According to his own account, Huxley turned to his neighbor and whispered, 根据赫胥黎自己说，他转向他的邻座悄声说：

"The Lord hath delivered him into my hands," then rose with a certain relish. “我从上帝那里接生了他。”然后意味深长地立起身来。

Others, however, recalled a Huxley trembling with fury and indignation. 然而，其他人回忆说，赫胥黎气得浑身发抖。

At all events, Huxley declared that he would rather claim kinship to an ape 他称无论如何，他都宁愿与猿猴沾亲，

than to someone who used his eminence to propound uninformed twaddle in what was supposed to be a serious scientific forum. 而不愿与一个在严肃的科学殿堂利用其名声发表娓娓动听但离题甚远的废话的人带故。

Such a riposte was a scandalous impertinence, as well as an insult to Wilberforce's office, and the proceedings instantly collapsed in tumult. 这样一句尖锐的反驳中带有强烈火药味的回答，不仅极大地刺伤了威尔伯福斯，并且使全场一片哗然。

A Lady Brewster fainted. 一位名叫布瑞斯特的太太当场昏厥过去；

Robert FitzRoy, Darwin's companion on the Beagle twenty-five years before, wandered through the hall with a Bible held aloft, shouting, "The Book, the Book." 罗伯特·菲茨罗伊——25年前达尔文在“贝格尔”号船上的同伴在大厅里四处徘徊，手里高举着一本圣经，大声喊道：“圣经，圣经！”

(He was at the conference to present a paper on storms in his capacity as head of the newly created Meteorological Department.) （他是刚刚成立的气象局局长，准备提交一篇有关暴风雨的论文。）

Interestingly, each side afterward claimed to have routed the other. 有趣的是，双方事后都声称彻底击垮了对方。