纪录片《非洲》 第67期:撒哈拉沙漠（8）（在线收听）

This is the White Desert, in Egypt.

眼前是埃及境内的白沙漠

The landscape is littered with giant chalk pillars,

此处遍布着巨大的柱形白垩

carved by innumerable sandstorms.

是由长期的风沙侵蚀而成

This glaring white oven is lethally hot.

这些耀眼的白岩石极其炙热

Food here is almost non-existent.

在这里根本无法找到食物

But there's a rare gift from a passing camel.

但路过此处的骆驼会留下珍贵的小礼物

The smell has lured dung beetles from miles around.

粪便的气味能够引来数英里外的蜣螂

For them, this is manna from heaven.

对他们来说 这就是天上掉下的馅饼

One dung ball could provide enough food

一个粪球足以供这只雌蜣螂

to last this female beetle the rest of her life.

享用一辈子了

But she has a problem.

但她面临一个问题

To keep it fresh,

为了保持粪便的新鲜

she must bury it in moist ground.

她必须把粪球埋入潮湿的土壤中

And that's not easy to find.

那可不容易找到

The temperature has already risen ten degrees.

此时 温度已上升了10度

This lizard avoids the roasting sand.

这只蜥蜴逃离了炽热的沙地

Only 30 centimetres above the surface,

虽然离地面只有30厘米

it's significantly cooler.

但已经凉快多了