2022年经济学人 科学世家赫胥黎（2）

（单词翻译）

And although Julian lived until 1975—leading UNESCO and the London Zoo and mentoring¹ David Attenborough—his life, like his grandfather’s, bore a distinctly Victorian stamp.

尽管朱利安活到了1975年--在世时一直领导着联合国教科文组织和伦敦动物园，且一直指导大卫·爱登堡--但他的人生就像他祖父的一样，带有明显的维多利亚时代印记。

Both Huxleys tried to instil² order in the chaotic³, confusing world around them.

两位赫胥黎都试图给他们所处的混乱世界注入秩序。

At best, that meant understanding it; at worst, it involved sinister⁴ forms of control, as in Julian’s lifelong enthusiasm for eugenics.

往好了说，是了解世界；往坏了说，就是用邪恶的方式掌控世界，朱利安毕生对优生学的热情就是个例子。

Sometimes positive and negative impulses co-existed.

有时，积极和消极的冲动是并存的。

Thomas hailed the end of slavery in America but sneered⁵ at racial equality.

托马斯为美国奴隶制的终结而欢呼，但对种族平等嗤之以鼻。

Julian denounced Nazi⁶ pseudo-science yet advocated the “semi-compulsory” sterilisation of the disabled almost in the same breath.

朱利安谴责纳粹伪科学，但同时又主张对残疾人进行“半强制性”绝育。

Meanwhile, though they spent their professional lives categorising the natural world, both found themselves obsessed⁷ with points at which the scientific method broke down.

与此同时，尽管他们在职业生涯中，一直在对自然界进行分类，但两人都发现自己痴迷于科学无法解释的观念。

Thomas, a renowned⁸ rationalist, confessed a fascination⁹ with spiritualism.

托马斯是一位著名的理性主义者，却也承认自己对唯心主义很着迷。

Julian embraced palmistry and new-age ideals of cosmic convergence.

朱利安也信奉手相术和宇宙汇聚的新时代理想。

For all their zealous¹⁰ support of evolution, its implications haunted them.

尽管他们热衷于支持进化论，但它的影响一直困扰着他们。

They saw the animal lurking¹¹ inside man.

他们看到了潜伏在人类体内的兽性。

And the humanity in animals.

也看到了动物身上的人性。

Influenced by Darwin’s interactions with orangutans, Thomas hypothesised that the line between apes and people was etched so thinly that a clever ape could best a dull human.

受达尔文与猩猩互动的影响，托马斯推测类人猿和人类几乎没有区别，聪明的类人猿可以胜过愚钝的人类。

Julian was an early, vociferous¹² campaigner for endangered animals and a founder¹³ of the modern conservation movement.

朱利安是早期的濒危动物积极活动家，也是现代保护运动的创始人。

In Guy the Gorilla¹⁴, he found a creature he adored “perhaps more than anyone”, Ms Bashford writes, and a mind he felt was equal to his own.

巴什福德写道，他对大猩猩盖伊的喜爱“可能超过任何人”，他觉得他的思想和自己的是一样的。

Julian longed to communicate with Guy, but never could.

朱利安渴望与盖伊交流，但从未成功过。

The Huxleys wrote about evolution as a romance, an epic¹⁵ of progress and transformation¹⁶.

两位赫胥黎把进化论写成了一部传奇故事，一部关于进步和变革的史诗。

In their own lives and observations they also saw the cruelty of science and the bleaker¹⁷ aspects of inheritance: the madness, the sorrow, the chained ape’s pained, silent gaze.

在他们自己的人生和观察结果中，他们也看到了科学的残酷和遗传的阴暗：疯狂、悲伤，被锁链锁住的猿猴痛苦而沉默的凝视。

Both sides, and both men, are painstakingly¹⁸ illuminated¹⁹ by Ms Bashford.

巴什福德对这两方面，以及这两个人都进行了十分仔细的描写。

Balancing scholarly rigour with an eye for the absurd, her book reveals the human drama behind scientific fact.

学术严谨与叙述荒谬相平衡，她的书揭示了科学事实背后的人类戏剧性。