介绍:
Walden [ˈwɔldən] (Issue 148)
12. Brute Neighbors (7)
[13] I took up the chip on which the three I have particularly described were struggling, carried it into my house, and placed it under a tumbler[ˈtʌmblə] on my window-sill, in order to see the issue. Holding a microscope to the first-mentioned red ant, I saw that, though he was assiduously[əˈsɪdjʊəslɪ] gnawing at the near fore leg of his enemy, having severed[ˈsevəd] his remaining feeler, his own breast[brest] was all torn away, exposing what vitals he had there to the jaws of the black warrior, whose breastplate was apparently too thick for him to pierce; and the dark carbuncles[ˈkɑːbʌŋkls] of the sufferer's eyes shone with ferocity such as war only could excite. They struggled half an hour longer under the tumbler, and when I looked again the black soldier had severed the heads of his foes from their bodies, and the still living heads were hanging on either side of him like ghastly['ɡɑːstli] trophies at his saddle-bow, still apparently as firmly fastened as ever, and he was endeavoring with feeble struggles, being without feelers[ˈfiːləs] and with only the remnant of a leg, and I know not how many other wounds, to divest[daɪˈvest] himself of them; which at length, after half an hour more, he accomplished. I raised the glass, and he went off over the window-sill in that crippled state. Whether he finally survived that combat[ˈkɒmbæt], and spent the remainder of his days in some Hotel des Invalides[ˈɪnvəlɪds], I do not know; but I thought that his industry would not be worth much thereafter. I never learned which party was victorious, nor the cause of the war; but I felt for the rest of that day as if I had had my feelings excited and harrowed by witnessing the struggle, the ferocity[fəˈrɒsɪtɪ] and carnage[ˈkɑːnɪdʒ], of a human battle before my door.
[14] Kirby and Spence tell us that the battles of ants have long been celebrated and the date of them recorded, though they say that Huber is the only modern author who appears to have witnessed them. "Æneas Sylvius," say they, "after giving a very circumstantial account of one contested with great obstinacy[ˈɒbstɪnəsɪ] by a great and small species on the trunk of a pear tree," adds that "'this action was fought in the pontificate[pɒnˈtɪfɪˌkeɪt] of Eugenius the Fourth, in the presence of Nicholas Pistoriensis, an eminent lawyer, who related the whole, history of the battle with the greatest fidelity[fɪˈdelɪtɪ].' A similar engagement between great and small ants is recorded by Olaus Magnus, in which the small ones, being victorious[vɪkˈtɔːrɪəs], are said to have buried the bodies of their own soldiers, but left those of their giant enemies a prey to the birds. This event happened previous to the expulsion[ɪkˈspʌlʃən] of the tyrant Christiern the Second from Sweden['swiːdn]." The battle which I witnessed took place in the Presidency of Polk, five years before the passage of Webster's Fugitive-Slave Bill.
我拿起那个我刚才特别描述的有三只蚂蚁打斗的木片，进了我的屋子，把它放到一个平底玻璃杯里端到我的窗台上，为了看看事态进展。抓着显微镜凑近首先提到的那只红蚂蚁，我看到了，虽然他执著地咬着敌人的前腿根几乎要把剩余部分切断，可自己的胸膛也被撕开了，对着黑蚂蚁的下巴裸露了自己的重要器官，他的胸甲明显太厚刺不穿；忍受者的眼睛黑暗血红闪出的凶残只有这样的战斗能够激发。他们在玻璃瓶底搏斗了半个小时，当我再次去看，那黑衣战士已经从躯干上切掉了他仇敌的脑袋，可那依然没有断气的脑袋挂在他头两边就像可怕的奖赏挂在他的鞍桥旁，显然仍然牢固，而且他仍然在虚弱地挣扎，没了触须和仅剩一条腿的残部，我不知道还有多少其他伤，会从挣脱他们中得来；终于又过了半小时，他完成了。我举起显微镜，他就那样踉踉跄跄地爬过了窗台离开。是不是最终他幸存下来活在某个荣军院消磨了生命剩余的日子，我不得而知；但是我想他的业绩以后将慢慢失去价值。我也不知道哪一方获胜，和战争的起因；可我那天其余的时间都在为目睹了这一幕激动和揪心，就如同在我的门前上演了一幕人类战斗的残暴和屠杀。
卡比和斯彭斯给我们讲述了很久以前著名的蚂蚁之战，并且记录下日期，虽然他们说胡贝尔是仅有的现代作家似乎目睹了它们。“爱涅阿斯•西尔维亚斯”他们说，“在给出了相当详尽的描述，关于一颗梨树干上一个大个儿的蚁群和小个儿的蚁群的一场相当顽强的争夺，”附带着说：“‘这次战斗行动发生在尤金四世执掌教皇，有一位著名的律师尼古拉斯•皮斯托利西斯在场，他讲述了全过程，以极大的信度记下关于这场战役的历史。’同样的一场大小蚂蚁之战是由奥留斯•玛格努斯记下，在那场战役里小蚂蚁获胜，据说掩埋了同伴的尸体而把他们巨人般的敌人死尸暴露给飞鸟去猎取。这事件发生于瑞典暴君克里斯蒂安二世被驱逐之前。”我目睹的这场蚂蚁大战发生在波尔克总统执政期间，韦伯斯特蓄奴法案通过五年之前。
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