我叫Francis Hall My name is Francis Hall.
我一生都在森林之中 I've spent my life in forests,
看着树木发芽 生长 死去 watching trees be born, grow and die.
我看不到他们生长的样子 As I couldn't see them growing,
我想 他们不会动 也没人动得了他们吧 I presumed they were immobile.
我听不到他们的声音 Because I couldn't hear them,
我想 他们也会这样安静下去吧 I imagined they were silent.
跨越时间 Over time.
他们是那么地有生命力 I discovered they were prodigiously alive.
当我刚成为植物学家时 我从未想过 When I first became a botanist, I never imagined
如此壮阔的热带雨林会在短短50年内 that the great tropical forests would vanish before my eyes
消失在我们眼前 in barely 50 Year.
他们曾是参天的巨树 They were so huge...
数百万年前 我们在林冠之顶出生 Millions of years ago, we were born in the highest branches of the canopy
今天 我们遗忘了他们 but we have forgotten that.
在一切都太迟之前 Before it's too late, I would like
我想和你们分享这段一生的旅程 to share this lifetime journey with you.
将这份热诚传递给你们 Tell you about my great passion,
这个关于树的故事 关于热带雨林的故事 the story of the trees, of the great tropical forests.
翻译：E子 校对：E子 拉轴：E子 压制：E子
从前有一片森林
我探访过世界上所有的雨林 I have visited all the world's forests.
我在林冠下行走 I have walked on the canopy.
我探索过数英里的林下植被 I have explored miles of undergrowth.
但每一次 At all times,
我都会被树木的生存能力所震撼 I was amazed by the great trees' ability
而他们甚至不用移动 to live without moving.
这些木头曾经多少次 How many times have these wooden beings
挑战了我的才智 challenged my own intelligence?
为了在不动的情况下生存 To live... without moving.
他们悄无声息地发明了多少种 They have invented another way of being alive,
另类的生存之道 almost imperceptible.
这些神秘的植物天才们 The mysterious universe of plant genius.
在热带的原始森林中 In the tropical primary forest,
我看到了世界上最大的美丽和富饶 I have seen our world's greatest beauties and riches.
亿万种植物 亿万种动物 Billions of plants, billions of animals,
彼此不可或缺 彼此亲密连接 all mutually indispensable, intimately connected,
有时甚至共同消亡 sometimes so close that they end up blending.
我也曾见过人们在几天之内就将一棵古树 I have seen men seize ancient trees in just days.
几乎是瞬间地摧毁 运走 贮存 In no time at all, one can destroy, take, collect
再成片伐倒 and chop them down.
那又需要多少个世纪去重建这一切呢 Yet how many centuries are needed to rebuild?
这个过程又如何逆转呢 How can the process be reversed?
这种绝望的情绪让我无比地愤怒 This feeling of helplessness fills me with anger
和悲哀 and sadness.
从远古走来 Since the dawn of time,
植物给予我们呼吸的空气 plants have given us the air that we breathe.
难道只有让他们为我们消逝 我们才会记得吗 Must they vanish for us to remember that?
谁能重新创造生命 Who can recreate life?
生命本身 Life alone.
剩下的就交给时间吧 It's a matter of time.
曾经生活在这的巨树 洒下无数的种子以防万一 The great trees that lived here have sown a multitude of seeds,
年复一年 日复一日 season after season, just in case.
林下的荫蔽就像对种子们施下的睡眠咒 The shade of the undergrowth acted like a sleeping spell on them.
现在 它们将修复这座被破坏的森林 They will now mend the mutilated forest.
阳光邀请它们重新诉说这一段生命的故事 Light invites them to begin the story anew.
森林比我们更能经受时光的考验 它们有重生的力量 The forest will outlive us. It has the power of rebirth.
前提是人类允许它们 But only if men leave it in peace
在平静中度过七个多世纪 for more than seven centuries.
这里就是重生的故事开始的地方 This is where the tale of a rebirth begins.
这些树是先锋植物 These trees are pioneers.
注释：先锋植物指群落演替中最先出现的植物。先锋植物具有生长快、种子产量大、 扩散能力强等特点，但不适应相互遮荫和根际竞争，很容易被后来的种群排挤掉。
它们都在迅速地生长 They grow rapidly. They are all alike.
在几天之内 生根发芽 In a few days, they sprout.
几个月内 它们的丰枝阔叶便能遮蔽土地 In a few months, they shelter the ground with their leaves.
水 空气 阳光 Water, air and sun
沁入拓荒者们的枝叶 enter the pioneers' leaves.
叶绿素默默转化着 Chlorophyll transforms them.
高大之物拔地而起 A huge being rises up.
是树 A tree!
光合作用创造的奇迹 The miracle of photosynthesis.
当先锋植物刺入苍穹时 In their rush towards the sun,
它们无法抵御 the pioneers cannot create defences
植食性动物攻击它们的第一批叶子 to fight the herbivores that attack their first leaves.
当它们损坏的叶子无法收集阳光时 And when its damaged leaves cannot capture the light,
树就死了 也饿死了它们的敌人 the tree dies, deprived of energy.
为了抵御这些敌人 一些先锋植物寻求动物的帮助 To repel attacks, certain pioneers call animals to the rescue.
注释：又名伞树，荨麻科号角树属，该属下多数种为喜蚁性植物。中美洲和南美洲雨林的标志性植物。
当号角树生出新叶时 When Cecropia grows a new leaf,
叶基会出现一些类似蚂蚁卵的东西 things that look just like ant eggs appear at its base.
效果立竿见影 The result is instant.
蚂蚁们打开了树在茎上生出的 The ants open small doors created by the tree
小门 along its stem.
蚂蚁们在这里安了家 The ants make themselves at home.
它们在每一节上钻孔 They bore openings between each level.
昆虫们很快占据了号角树全部的高度 The insects soon occupy Cocropia mror its full height.
号角树也能静静地生长了 Cecropia can grow in peace.
这些蚁族提供了防御 Its tenants ensure its defence.
在第一粒种子发芽的50年后 50 years after the first seeds germinate,
这些先锋植物到了成熟期 the pioneers reach maturity.
命不久矣 They won't live any longer.
同生 Born at the same time,
共死 they die together.
它们的基因决定了它们注定短暂地存在 The brevity of their existence is inscribed in their genes.
隐藏在地下的微小动物们 The minute fauna hidden in the ground
将这片朽木的森林 turns this forest of dead wood
转化成肥沃 疏松的腐殖土 into a rich, loose humus.
这是属于分解者的混乱世界 This is the unsettling world of the decomposers.
它们将落到地上的一切消化 They digest everything that falls to the ground
让它们重归生命的循环 to return it to the cycle of life.
次生林 The secondary forest
取代了原始森林 replaces the primary one.
这些树在先锋植物的荫蔽下发芽 Its trees sprouted in the pioneers' shade.
在朽木的滋养下生长 They are nourished by their fallen wood.
于是 森林的重建进入了第二阶段 Thus begins the second stage in the forests reconstruction.
这需要几个世纪的时间 It will take several centuries
来让那些被破坏的巨型迷宫 to put back together the huge puzzle
重归自然 wiped out by deforestation.
阳光再次组织起了林下植被的结构 Light, once again, organises the layout of the undergrowth.
无数的树叶仿佛太阳能电池 The countless leaves, like solar cells,
树枝将树叶伸向太阳 the branches that raise the leaves to the sun,
粗大的树干将树冠升向天空 the big trunks that lift the treetops to the sky...
要成为一棵树 必须得是倾斜和平衡的大师 Being a tree means excelling in the art of slanting, balanced.
开枝散叶 树基务坚 As the branches spread, the base of the trunk grows thicker,
巨树的根部愈发巨大 strengthening the giant's foundation.
树的地下世界 The underground world of trees
和地上世界一样纷繁和重要 is as vast and important as the visible part.
树根和锚的作用不尽相同 Roots don't really act as anchors.
它们是水的收集者 They are above all water collectors.
它们和各种奇异的菌丝和蘑菇 They work with strange filaments, fungi,
以及各种隐秘 但重要的生物共同作用 secret but key actors in the life of the forest.
水是树的生命之源 Water is vital for trees.
真菌通过伸展表皮下的细小触手 The fungi help the reels to collect it
帮助树根收集水分 by spreading their minute tentacles beneath the surface.
作为回报 树木将从空气中获得的能量分享给它们 In return, the tree shares the energy from its aerial parts with them.
即便一百年之后 After one hundred years,
次生林依然像一个空空的躯壳 the secondary forest is still like an empty shell.
五个世纪之后 Over five centuries,
它将容纳越来越多的的动物 it will host more and more living creatures
以及丰富多样的植物 and a rich and varied plant life
它们将彼此联系 that will connect with each other.
这种联系在林下植物的每一层中出现 The interaction begins on every level of the undergrowth,
小至不及细胞 大至参天巨木 from the infinitely small to the infinitely large.
藤蔓在林下植物成荫之前蔓延开来 Vines spread before the undergrowth is cast into shadow.
我发现了这一植物现象 I find these plants phenomenal.
它们无需生出巨大的固定的树干 They don't tire themselves making huge, sedentary trunks.
自有他人代劳 Others do that for them.
它们在地上谨慎地 Discreet on the ground,
跟着树干形成的阴影爬行 they follow the shade of a tree's trunk.
一旦定好根基 Having found a base,
它们便爬向天空 如饥似渴地吸收着阳光 they climb up to the sky to gorge on the sun.
喜林芋的藤蔓吸引了我 The philodendron vine fascinates me.
在接近地下的部分 It is camouflaged by the bark
它伪装成树皮的样子来免入捕食者之口 near the ground, within reach of predators' jaws.
几尺高后 它便一展勃勃生机 A few feet higher up, it becomes exuberant,
只要它认为已经安全了 as if it finally felt safe.
为什么它能掌握如此精妙的诡计 How did this plant acquire such a subtle strategy?
这一秘密困扰着我 That mystery is beyond me.
我对百香果的故事情有独钟 I'm particularly fond of the passion vine's story.
注释：又名鸡蛋果，西番莲科西番莲属。果瓤多汁液，花大而美丽。
我们都知道 You know this plant.
它会结实非常美味的百香果 It bears the delicious passion fruit.
让我们离题片刻 看看大自然这座最伟大的进化实验室吧 Let's digress with this vine via the great evolutionary laboratory.
改变一下时间的尺度 我们将看到森林 By changing the timescale, we shall see how the forest creates
如何创造一个百香果的新物种 new species of passion vine.
在森林中 百香果只有一个敌人 In the forest, the passion vine has a single enemy,
袖蝶的幼虫 the Heliconius butterfly caterpillars
注释：袖蝶属袖蝶科，有毒。多剌的幼虫几乎都取食西番莲属的植物，主要分布于南美洲。
它们通过吞食百香果的叶子繁衍生存 that have devoured its leaves for generations.
有一天 有一株百香果 One day, during a mutation,
突变成了高毒性品种 a passion vine became highly toxic.
免除了捕食者的侵扰 Rid of its predators,
这一新品种开始繁荣昌盛 this new species of vine began to prosper.
直到一只新品种毛毛虫的出现 Until a new species of caterpillar appeared,
它能免疫百香果的毒素 immune to the vine's poison.
这种蝴蝶在捕食者的筛选下 也进化出了毒素 The butterfly became toxic for its predators.
这些新的袖蝶可以不费任何代价地 In all impunity, this new Heliconius
毁灭百香果 started devastating passion vines.
于是又有各种各样的百香果出现了 Other species of vine then appeared
它们的叶子的形状能骗过蝴蝶 changing the shape of their leaves to fool the butterflies.
这个小伎俩开始是完美的 The trick worked perfectly
直到蝴蝶们发现了一种花粉非常多的花 until the butterfly found a flower whose pollen was so rich
蝴蝶能够存活更长的时间 it was able to live much longer,
长到足够让它们学会辨认那些伪装后的百香果叶子 long enough to learn to recognise the passion vine's disguised leaves.
一种新的百香果诞生了 A new passion vine appeared.
它会生出假的卵 It produced fake eggs
来让蝴蝶认为这些位置已经被占了 to make the butterfly believe the place was already occupied.
我先说到这里 这场游戏还将有来有回地进行下去 I'll stop there but, in this game of to and fro,
45种袖蝶 45 species of Heliconius butterflies
以及150种百香果 and 150 species of passion vines
相继在几十年内出现 appeared in just a few decades.
还有数百万的物种 And there are millions of species
就是通过这种方式诞生的 that come to life in the same way.
这些永无止境的独特故事 These countless individual stories
共同组成了森林的历史 contribute to the history of the forest.
时光荏苒 The years pass
次生林继续生长 The secondary forest continues to grow.
它的树现在能长到40米高 Its trees are now around 130 feet tall.
从上到下 From the ground up,
它都能提供栖息的场所 they offer a host of dwellings
来供数不清的生物寻求安家之所 to countless creatures seeking new areas to oolonise.
森林砍伐曾让无数物种流离失所 Deforestation made many species flee.
经过漫长的时光 他们回家了 They return over time.
食草动物 The leaf eater
吸引着肉食动物 attracts the flesh eater.
食物链渐渐重组成型 The food chain gradually forms anew.
一些新的居民在森林的重生中非常重要 Some new arrivals play a key role in the foresfs rebirth.
它们远道而来 From distant lands,
带来那些没有逃离毁灭的树木的种子 they bring the seeds of trees that didn't survive destruction.
经过这番命运的波折 Through such twists of fate,
森林恢复了它许多的珍宝 the forest recovers some of its gems
比如毒子榄树 最美的大型热带树 like the moabi, the most beautiful of the great tropical trees.
注释：山榄科毒子榄属，亚热带或热带潮湿低地树种。目前因生境丧失濒临绝种。
这小小的种子 蕴藏着70米巨木的可能 This seed contains the promise of a 220-foot giant.
这是一个 The first seconds
能活过1000年的生物 生命中的第一秒 of a creature that will live more than 1,000 years.
次生林的恢复伴随着特定的现象 The secondary forests renewal occurs through spectacular phenomena
也发生在许多细小的事情中 but also countless tiny events,
如此重复无数次 repeated millions of times.
树顶的长势 The flourishing of the tall trees' tops
决定了下层动植物的生活节奏 sets the rhythm for the plants and animals living below.
哪里有一片阳光 Wherever there's a patch of light,
哪里就有一片叶子去捕捉 there's a leaf to catch it.
哪里有一片叶子 哪里就会有觊觎这个位置的植物 And wherever there's a leaf, there's someone to covet it.
如果我们把森林所有的动物称一下重 If we were to weigh the forests animals,
那么所有的蚂蚁加起来 the ants in their entirety
将超过其它所有动物的总和 would outdo the combined weight of all the other animals.
他们生活在雨林的每一层 They work on every level.
这些小小的搬运工 在林中上下穿梭 Tiny transporters, they carry huge amounts
搬运了无数的叶子和泥土 of leaves and soil between the upper and lower forest.
作为园丁 它们在树顶上种下植物 As gardeners, they grow plants in the treetops
来制造巢穴 to make their nests.
作为农夫 As farmers,
它们收集蚜虫生产的蜜露 they gather the honeydew produced by stinging insects
注释：蜜露是蚜虫及介壳虫等从肛门排出的含糖的液体。蚂蚁不仅搬运蚜虫， 甚至会修建土制的牧场来圈养蚜虫，还有专门的放牧者防止蚜虫被瓢虫等吃掉。
而蚜虫吸吮树汁为食 that feed on the trees' sap.
白蚁也令我印象深刻 Termites impress me.
它们每天都分解大量的枯木 All day long, they decompose huge amounts of dead wood.
执着地将泥土带上天空 They stubbornly carry soil to the sky
来搭建它们远离地面的要塞 to build their fortress high above the ground.
从无限小 到无限大 From the infinitely small to the infinitely large,
森林之帆由雨林苍生缓慢编织着 the canvas uniting all living beings is slowly woven.
这张帆布 虽然还未完成 但已足够结实 This canvas, as yet incomplete, is already dense enough
去增强猎食者与被猎者之间的张力 to heighten the tension between hunter and hunted,
巢穴和栖所渐渐减少 for nests and dwellings to become rare,
弱者迁徙 躲避强敌 for the weak to migrate to escape the strong.
现在 森林有了两面 The forest now has two faces,
白天的一面 黑夜的一面 one by day and one by night.
我爱森林的黎明 胜过一切 More than anything, I love dawn in the forest.
这脆弱的瞬间伴随着昼行性动物鸣咏 This fragile moment when the song of the day's animals
和夜行性动物的嗥啼 blends with the cries of the night creatures.
他们中有多少隐匿于树林 How many of them are hidden in the trees?
树木之间 The trees
也在秘密地交流着 communicate in secret.
不是用声音 而是用气味 Not with sounds but scents.
一系列的气味组成了它们的语言 Stringing scents together as we do words,
在遥远的距离上传递着信息 they send their messages over long distances.
诱惑 吸引 Seducing, attracting.
拒绝 或者撩动 Rejecting or enchanting,
它们的影响也蔚为壮观 their influence is considerable.
和动物一样 Like all living beings.
树也需要一位伴侣来繁殖 Trees need a mate in order to reproduce,
或者帮助它们传粉 or to pass on their pollen at least.
花应运而生 That's why flowers are born.
它们用形状 颜色 气味吸引动物 They charm the animal with their shape, colour and scent.
通过将花蜜藏在心窝 By hiding a little nectar at their heart, they invite it
来邀请动物传粉 to roll in their pollen.
之后动物们来到其它花上 Then the animal moves on to other flowers
将这些植物委托它们递送的珍贵货物 carrying further and further the precious load
带去越来越远的地方 entrusted to it by the plant.
完美的计划 The technique is perfect.
这些在花中的树 被小心地带到了遥远的地方 The tree in bloom carries out, remotely and discreetly,
有些事 实在是让动物们煞费苦心 something that causes so much toil and energy for animals,
比如繁衍 the act of mating.
树从不担负无用之物 Trees do not burden themselves with useless things.
花也要为果让路 Flowers give way to yawn fruit
悄然离去 that will grow in secret.
当树被攻击时 它们也会发出警报 When they're attacked, trees sound the alarm.
它们释放出气味信号 They release odorous signals that elicit an instant reaction
来引起它们邻居的反应 from their neighbours.
它们的树叶会变得有毒 苦涩 恶心 Their leaves then become toxic, bitter er repulsive.
所有的捕食者只能去别处觅食 All the predator can do is go elsewhere to eat.
3个世纪之后我们再次来到这片次生林 We find the secondary forest trees three centuries later.
它们已经变得无比庞大 They have become giants.
它们还在为了阳光互相争夺领地 They new fight each other for a place in the sun.
将它们的邻居置于阴影之下 Putting a neighbour in the shade kills it
从而杀死它们 and makes it vanish.
一些树甚至亲自上阵肉搏 Some trees even engage in a bodily struggle.
绞杀植物的种子从天而降 The strangler fig seed arrives via the air.
当其它的树还在昏暗的阳光下 While the other trees, year after year,
苟延残喘 年复一年 grew patiently in the dim light of the woods,
这些种子已经俯视众生 this seed overtakes everyone.
它们在最高的枝头上发芽 夺取最多的阳光 It sprouts on high branches, making the most of the sun's energy.
新生的树将根部送入土中 On sprouting, the young tree sends its roots to the ground.
根 Roots?
这些锁链一旦相互接触 Genuine lassos that immediately weld together
就立即焊连在一起 as soon as they touch.
这种斗争将持续数十年 The struggle will last several decades.
直到宿主油尽灯枯 The tree slowly wastes away.
向林下植被陨落 Down in the undergrowth,
其它的得利者也在树叶落地之前 profiteers try to seize its dead leaves
争取分一杯羹 before they touch the ground.
对我来说 棕榈 For me, the basket palm
是它们中最特别的 is the most spectacular of them.
它们的陷阱能捕获这些树叶 Its traps can toil all these leaves.
分解者则帮助它们生产自己的腐殖质 where the decomposers help it to produce its own humus.
现在有那么多的生物居住在这片林下空间 So many creatures live in the undergrowth now
每一片 每一粒有机物 that every scrap, every particle
都是一顿引来无数竞争的大餐 is a meal opportunity fought over in countless ways.
这场斗争终于有了结果 The struggle comes to an end.
绞杀植物吞食了它的被害者 The strangler fig has dew-toured its victim.
取代了其在森林中的位置 Taking its place in the forest,
它将宿主的残枝分解 为自己的枝条腾出位置 It has cannibalised its wood to make its own branches.
它逐渐成形 It has taken its shape.
被征服者只剩下在巨大树干中 All that remains of the vanquished is a gaping void
一副千疮百孔的空壳 in the middle of the vanquished's huge trunk.
经年累月 雨林的天花板渐渐合上 Over time, the forests ceiling closes.
地上的植物由于缺少光照逐渐消失 On the ground, the low plants have vanished through lack of light.
开阔的林下空间 说明这是一片成熟的森林 This open undergrowth indicates a mature forest.
如你所见 As the eye can see,
你很难找到同一个科的两棵树 it's hard to find two trees of the same family.
这不是一个巧合 This is not an accident.
在一个地方静止不动地生活几个世纪 Living motionless on the same spot for centuries
意味着要承受被迁徙的捕食者攻击的风险 means accepting the impossibility of fleeing predators' attacks,
以及漫长时光中的病害和寄生虫 disease and parasites that accumulate overtime.
成熟的树不会承受很多的伤害 The adult tree can bear all that without too much harm
但对于落在脚下的种子 but if its seeds fall at its feet.
它们已经被判了死刑 They are irretrievably condemned.
树唯一的出路 The tree's only solution
就是将它们送得尽可能的远 is to scatter them as far as possible.
微小的震动 Minute vibrations spread
能通过大地传达数英里 through the ground for miles,
直到那些饥肠辘辘的动物脚下 to the feet of a hungry, waiting animal.
讽刺的是 How ironic...
这些树养活这些森林中的生物 The trees feed the forest creatures
只为了一件事 for one good reason:
传播它们的种子 to transport their seeds.
果实就是这场计谋中的诱饵 The fruit is merely the bait in this ruse.
树甚至在其中装满糖分 The trees even fill their fruit with sugar
以及诱人的芳香 and delicious aromas.
难以抗拒 They're irresistible.
这招很奏效 The trick works.
未来的小树被这位强壮的小姐 The future tree is carried off in a huge stomach
在巨大的胃中带走了 carried by strong MS
她还有一颗寻求旅行的心 and a brain always seeking to travel.
有一些树甚至 Some trees even make
将果肉粘在果核外面 the flesh stick to the fruit's stone.
这些贪吃的动物就会吃上很久 The glutton will suck it at length
直到很远的地方才将其吐掉 before finally spitting it out.
这样种子也被带到了更远的地方 Thus the seed travels even further.
我不禁在想 这些森林中的树 It amuses me to think that each forest tree
都在某种程度上和动物一同旅行过 travelled part of the way with an animal.
那它们又怎么会止步于此 How did it end up here?
因为一次猎杀 还是一阵小憩 During a hunt or a nap?
时间对树来说是如此不同 Time is so different for trees.
动物的生命对他们来说是多么短暂 Animal life must seem so brief to them.
动物掌控了空间 植物掌控了时间 The animal rules over space, the tree overtime.
树其实是很好的旅行家 Trees are in fact great travellers.
他们借着这世间一切的力量旅行 They use all the mobile forces of the natural world.
水为舟 鸟为筝 兽为车 风为翼 By water, on wings, on foot, on the wind,
他们的足迹踏遍每一片大陆 they can spread to every continent.
有的甚至能穿越海洋 I even know of trees that can cross the oceans.
森林再次繁茂 The forest is luxuriant again.
这都仰赖热带每天丰富的降水 But it depends a great deal on the daily tropical rain showers.
一旦数日无雨 If there are just a few days without rain,
叶子便开始枯萎 the leaves begin to wither.
尤其是那些生长在树枝上 Particularly those of plants living on branches
没有树干 远离地面的植物 or trunks, far from the ground.
它们没有贮存水的方法 They have no way to stock water.
炎热之时 In the heat,
森林中充满了气味 the forest is rich with scents.
这一次 它们升向空中 This time, they rise to the sky.
树木呼唤雨水的到来 The trees call for rain.
气味分子吸附住空气中的水分子 The scent molecules trap water vapour
组成的凝结核 hanging in the air.
足以形成云雾 This suffices to form clouds.
就仿佛这些树 It's as if the trees
将雨存在它们的头顶 kept the rain above their heads
以便随时给自己清凉一下 to refresh themselves at will.
回到原始森林 Back in the primary forest,
奇异的树木在绽放着花朵 exceptional trees bloom.
它们的树干值得它们所见证的几个世纪 They have trunks worthy of the centuries that they have seen.
700年前 700 years ago.
这棵参天大树还只是一粒小小的种子 This giant was a tiny seed.
树是具现化的时间 Trees embody time.
树内部的这股力量 The forces at work within such trees
非常可观 are considerable.
树根吸收水分 The roots draw water,
导管将水推上70米的高空 vessels carry it upwards to 220 feet above the ground.
树叶将其转换为汁液 The leaves turn it into sap
再送回到枝条和树根中 that returns to the branches and roots.
树通过这种流动生存 A tree lives through this flow.
直到它不能将水送至顶部 When it can not hanger rake water to its top,
它便停止了生长 it stops growing.
这是它生长的唯一限制 That's the only limit to its ascent.
毒子榄树是一种新出现的树 The moabi is new an emergent tree,
它们中有的可以控制整片森林海洋 one of those that dominate the forest ocean
长达上千年 for over a thousand years.
林冠 The canopy.
原始森林活跃的表面 The active surface of the primary forest,
生命如此丰富 不同于地球上任何地方 where life abounds like nowhere else on earth.
在这里 森林触碰着天空 Here, the forest touches the sky.
在这里 无数的萌芽在这里同呼吸 Here, thousands of individuals sprout, grow
共生长 and breathe at the same time.
树的终焉之时 一棵树便是一个世界 At the end of its life, a tree is a world of its own,
如同一座岛 like an island.
它是数百种植物的家 It's the home for hundreds of plant species,
也是数百种动物的家 occupied in turn by hundreds of animal species,
当然也是无数更小的生物的家 also inhabited by smaller creatures.
当我们靠近观察 On inking a closer look,
我们会发现这个更小的世界 we discover that these tinier worlds
是如此地微小 are infinitely small.
而这些生物聚集在一起 The accumulation of these creatures
也成了危及树木平衡的重担 becomes a burden that endangers the tree's balance.
这些抵抗重力数个世纪的庞然大物 也将屈服 This giant that defied gravity for centuries is going to surrender.
巨树的死亡 The death of great trees
是森林成熟的最佳信号 is the perfect sign of the forests maturity.
大树回归地面 森林重新洗牌 It reshuffles the cards by returning to the ground
倒下的身形表明了它曾有多么大的重量 the huge quantity of matter represented by the fallen tree.
它也为数个世纪未曾见到一缕阳光的林下空间 It also brings light to the undergrowth
带来了光明 that hadn't seen any for centuries.
一棵树的倒下 意味着新循环的开始 A tree that falls is a genuine revolution.
当大树倒下 When it happens.
树顶的世界遇见了树底的世界 The world of the canopy meets that of the undergrowth.
尽管上面的生物居住在同一个地方 Despite living in the same place,
它们却从未谋面 they had never met before.
在阴影中等待着的先锋植物的种子 The seeds of pioneers were waiting in the shade.
它们马上开始了修复的进程 They instantly launch the healing process.
一个新的循环开始了 A new cycle begins.
这么多年 我在森林上 I've spent so many years in forests.
花了身为人一生的时间 A whole human lifetime.
用树的时间观去思考 让我头晕目眩 Thinking in tree time makes my head spin.
当你能活这么久时 世界是怎样的 What does the world look like when you live so long?
我研究了许多 我学习了许多 I've worked a lot, I've learned a lot
但我仅仅碰触到这些世界的谜团的大门 but I've merely touched on this world's mysteries.
在这里 我能感受到生命的力量 Here, I sense the power of life's forces,
生命的创造 生命的狂想 their creativity, their whims.
我欣赏着这超越了我理解的雄伟壮丽 Something that goes beyond me but whose grandeur I appreciate.
我无法接受这样美丽的世界消失 I cannot accept the disappearance of this world.
我的故事到这里就要结束了 My story is at its end.
我听见了原始民族在丛林下渐渐消失的低语 I hear the murmur of primitive peoples fading in the undergrowth,
带着人类来自森林的记忆一同消失了 carrying off the memory of man who came from the forest.
曾经 我们都与树木平静地生活在一起 In the past, we lived in peace with the trees.
我们的祖先像尊重神明一样尊重他们 Our ancestors looked on them as respectable and benevolent gods.
如今 我们被自己的力量所伤害 Today, we are victims of our own might.
再看看那片树林 Let us look at trees.
宁静之下 In their motionless serenity,
是我们出生的地方 lie the roots of what was our birthplace
我们智慧的根源 and our wisdom.
翻译 E子 校对 E子 拉轴 E子 压制 E子