TED演讲:树木之间如何交流(2)

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So grandpa ran up with his shovel² to rescue the poor dog.  爷爷匆忙抄起一把铁铲，跑过去救那只可怜的狗。

He was down there, swimming in the muck.  那狗掉进了深处，在淤泥里挣扎。

But as grandpa dug through that forest floor, I became fascinated with the roots, 但在爷爷挖开森林的地面的时候，我却被那些露出的树根深深地吸引了，

and under that, what I learned later was the white mycelium and under that the red and yellow mineral horizons.  我后来发现了，在树根下面有很多白色的菌丝，再下面就是红色和黄色的矿质土层了。

Eventually, grandpa and I rescued the poor dog, but it was at that moment that I realized 当然最终我和爷爷救出了那只可怜的狗，但也就是在那时我意识到，

that that palette of roots and soil was really the foundation of the forest. 正是树根和土壤的混合构成了森林的基础。

And I wanted to know more. So I studied forestry³. 于是我就想了解更多。所以我开始学习林业学。

But soon I found myself working alongside the powerful people in charge of the commercial harvest. 但后来很快我发现我的工作是在那些负责商业化采集的、那些有权有势的人周围。

The extent of the clear-cutting was alarming, 在森林中皆伐的范围已经敲响了警钟，

and I soon found myself conflicted by my part in it.  我很快意识到我所处位置的矛盾性。

Not only that, the spraying and hacking⁴ of the aspens and birches  不仅如此，为了种植更具有商业价值的松树和冷杉，

to make way for the more commercially valuable planted pines and firs was astounding⁵. 从而喷死或者砍伐掉山杨和桦树的规模也非常让人震惊。

It seemed that nothing could stop this relentless⁶ industrial machine.  看上去好像没什么能阻止这些无情的工业机器了。

So I went back to school, and I studied my other world. 所以我回到了学校，转而研究我的“新世界”。

You see, scientists had just discovered in the laboratory in vitro  你知道，科学家们那时已经在实验室的试管中发现了

that one pine seedling⁷ root could transmit carbon to another pine seedling root. 一棵松树的幼苗根系可以将碳转移到另一颗松树的幼苗根系上。

But this was in the laboratory, and I wondered, could this happen in real forests? I thought yes. 但这仅仅是在实验室里，所以我想：这也会发生在真正的森林里吗？我觉得是的。

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