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We have been brought up to fear insects.
我们自幼就在对昆虫的惧怕中长大
We regard them as unnecessary creatures that do more harm than good.
我们把昆虫当作害多益少的无用东西
We continually wage war on them,
人类不断同昆虫斗争
for they contaminate our food, carry diseases, or devour our crops.
因为昆虫弄脏我们的食物 传播疾病 吞噬庄稼
They sting or bite without provocation;
它们无缘无故地又叮又咬
they fly uninvited into our rooms on summer nights,
夏天的晚上 它们未经邀请便飞到我们房间里
or beat against our lighted windows.
或者对着露出亮光的窗户乱扑乱撞
We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps,
我们在日常生活中 不但憎恶如蜘蛛 黄蜂之类令人讨厌的昆虫
but of quite harmless one like moths.
而且憎恶并无大害的飞蛾等
Reading about them increases our understanding without dispelling our fears.
阅读有关昆虫的书能增加我们对它们的了解 却不能消除我们的恐惧心理
Knowing that the industrious ant lives in a highly organized society
即使知道勤奋的蚂蚁生活在具有高度组织性的社会里
does nothing to prevent us from being filled with revulsion
当看到大群蚂蚁在我们精心准备的午间野餐上爬行时
when we find hordes of them crawling over a carefully prepared picnic lunch.
我们也无法抑制对它们的反感
No matter how much we like honey,
不管我们多么爱吃蜂蜜
or how much we have read about the uncanny sense of direction which bees possess,
或读过多少关于蜜蜂具有神秘的识别方向的灵感的书
we have a horror of being stung.
我们仍然十分害怕被蜂蜇
Most of our fears are unreasonable,
我们的恐惧大部分是没有道理的
but they are impossible to erase.
但无法消除
At the same time, however, insects are strangely fascinating.
同时 不知为什么昆虫又是迷人的
We enjoy reading about them,
我们喜欢看有关昆虫的书
especially when we find that, like the praying mantis,
尤其是当我们了解螳螂等过着一种令人生畏的生活时
they lead perfectly horrible lives.
就更加爱读有关昆虫的书了
We enjoy staring at them, entranced as they go about their business,
我们喜欢入迷地看它们做事
unaware (we hope) of our presence.
它们不知道（但愿如此）我们就在它们身边
Who has not stood in awe at the sight of a spider pouncing on a fly,
当看到蜘蛛扑向一只苍蝇时
or a column of ants triumphantly bearing home an enormous dead beetle?
一队蚂蚁抬着一只巨大的死甲虫凯旋归时 谁能不感到敬畏呢
Last summer I spent days in the garden watching thousands of ants
去年夏天 我花了好几天时间站在花园里观察成千只蚂蚁
crawling up the trunk of my prize peach tree.
爬上我那棵心爱的桃树的树干
The tree has grown against a warm wall on a sheltered side of the house.
那棵树是靠着房子有遮挡的一面暖墙生长的
I am especially proud of it,
我为这棵树感到特别自豪
not only because it has survived several severe winters,
不仅因为它度过了几个寒冬终于活了下来
but because it occasionally produces luscious peaches.
而且还因为它有时结出些甘甜的桃子来
During the summer,
到了夏天
I noticed that the leaves of the tree were beginning to wither.
我发现树叶开始枯萎
Clusters of tiny insects called aphids
结果在树叶背面找到成串的
were to be found on the underside of the leaves.
叫作蚜虫的小虫子
They were visited by a large colony of ants
蚜虫遭到一窝蚂蚁的攻击
which obtained a sort of honey from them.
蚂蚁从它们身上可以获得一种蜜
I immediately embarked on an experiment which,
我当即动手作了一项试验
even though it failed to get rid of the ants,
这项试验尽管没有使我摆脱这些蚂蚁
kept me fascinated for 24 hours.
却使我着迷了24小时
I bound the base of the tree with sticky tape,
我用一条胶带把桃树底部包上
making it impossible for the ants to reach the aphids.
不让蚂蚁接近蚜虫
The tape was so sticky that they did not dare to cross it.
胶带极粘 蚂蚁不敢从上面爬过
For a long time,
在很长一段时间里
I watched them scurrying around the base of the tree in bewilderment.
我看见蚂蚁围着大树底部来回转悠 不知所措
I even went out at midnight with a torch
半夜 我还拿着电筒来到花园里
and noted with satisfaction (and surprise)
满意地（同时惊奇地）发现
that the ants were still swarming around the sticky tape
那些蚂蚁还围着胶带团团转
without being able to do anything about it.
无能为力
I got up early next morning
第二天早上 我起床后
hoping to find that the ants had given up in despair.
希望看见蚂蚁已因无望而放弃了尝试
Instead, I saw that they had discovered a new route.
结果却发现它们又找到一条新的路径
They were climbing up the wall of the house
它们正在顺着房子的外墙往上爬
and then on to the leaves of the tree.
然后爬上树叶
I realized sadly
我懊丧地感到
that I had been completely defeated by their ingenuity.
败在了足智多谋的蚂蚁的手下
The ants had been quick to find an answer
蚂蚁已很快找到了相应的对策
to my thoroughly unscientific methods!
来对付我那套完全不科学的办法
