万物简史第644期:一个星球,一次实验(4)（打印版）

Remarkably, Rothschild's collecting efforts were neither the most extensive nor the most generously funded of the nineteenth century.

不可思议的是，在19世纪，无论从规模还是从投资方面来讲，罗特希尔德的标本收集都不是最大的。

That title almost certainly belongs to a slightly earlier but also very wealthy British collector named Hugh Cuming,

这项桂冠几乎肯定属于比他稍早而又同样十分富裕的英国收藏家休.康明。

who became so preoccupied with accumulating objects that he built a large oceangoing ship and employed a crew to sail the world full-time,

康明非常痴迷于标本收集，为此专门订造了一艘大型远洋船，并且雇佣了全职的船员到世界各地收集标本

picking up whatever they could find—birds, plants, animals of all types, and especially shells.

鸟类、植物，各种动物，尤其是贝壳。

It was his unrivaled collection of barnacles that passed to Darwin and served as the basis for his seminal study.

他们搜集了数量众多的藤壶后来转送给达尔文，作为他正在从事的有关生殖方面研究的基础。

However, Rothschild was easily the most scientific collector of his age, though also the most regrettably lethal,

不过，罗特希尔德确实是那个时代最具有科学头脑的收集者，同时也是最可悲的杀戮者，

for in the 1890s he became interested in Hawaii, perhaps the most temptingly vulnerable environment Earth has yet produced.

因为到了19世纪90年代，他开始对夏威夷产生兴趣，那里也许是地球上最具吸引力而又是最容易遭受破坏的地方。

Millions of years of isolation had allowed Hawaii to evolve 8,800 unique species of animals and plants.

数百万年的与世隔绝使得8800种独特的动植物在夏威夷进化。

Of particular interest to Rothschild were the islands' colorful and distinctive birds,

尤其使罗特希尔德感兴趣的是那里五颜六色的珍稀鸟类，

often consisting of very small populations inhabiting extremely specific ranges.

这些鸟类数量往往都不多，活动的范围也十分狭窄。

The tragedy for many Hawaiian birds was that they were not only distinctive, desirable, and rare

对于夏威夷的许多鸟类来说，它们的可悲之处不仅在于它们特点鲜明，惹人喜爱，非常稀少

a dangerous combination in the best of circumstances—but also often heartbreakingly easy to take.

它们危险地集这些特点于一身，而且令人伤心的是，它们往往还十分容易被捕提到。

The greater koa finch, an innocuous member of the honeycreeper family, lurked shyly in the canopies of koa trees,

体形较大的寇阿根思树雀科鸣鸟，美色食虫鸣鸟中的一种无害的鸟儿，经常怯生生地栖息，在寇阿相思树树阴中，

but if someone imitated its song it would abandon its cover at once and fly down in a show of welcome.

可是只要有人模仿它的叫声，它就会立即飞下来以示欢迎。

The last of the species vanished in 1896, killed by Rothschild's ace collector Harry Palmer,

最后一只雀科鸣鸟于1896年被罗特希尔德手下最得力的助手哈里.帕尔默杀害，从此销声匿迹。