The story of life in photographs | Frans Lanting

翻译人员: Tealc Wu 校对人员: Tony Yet

Nature's my muse and it's been my passion.

自然是我的缪斯，也一直是我的激情所在。

As a photographer for National Geographic, I've portrayed it for many.

作为国家地理的一名摄影师，我对它进行了很多的描绘。

But five years ago, I went on a personal journey.

五年前我进行了一次私人旅行。

I wanted to visualize the story of life.

我想描绘生活中的故事。

It's the hardest thing I've ever attempted,

这是我遇到过最困难的事情，

and there have been plenty of times when I felt like backing out.

有很多次我都想打退堂鼓了。

But there were also revelations.

但我也得到了一些启示。

And one of those I'd like to share with you today.

今天我就想和你分享其中的一个。

I went down to a remote lagoon in Australia, hoping to see the Earth

我去了澳大利亚一个遥远的咸水湖，希望看到地球

the way it was three billion years ago,

三十亿年以前的样子。

back before the sky turned blue.

回到之前天空还是蓝色的日子。

There's stromatolites down there --

那里有叠层石

the first living things to capture photosynthesis --

第一种进行光合作用的生物

and it's the only place they still occur today.

也是现在仅存的一处。

Going down there was like entering a time capsule,

走向那里就像是进入了时间胶囊，

and I came out with a different sense of myself in time.

当我出来时时间感完全不一样了。

The oxygen exhaled by those stromatolites

叠层石所散发出的氧气

is what we all breathe today.

正是我们今天所呼吸的。

Stromatolites are the heroes in my story.

叠层石是我故事里的英雄。

I hope it's a story that has some resonance for our time.

我希望这个故事在今天也能引起一些共鸣。

It's a story about you and me, nature and science.

这是一个关于你和我，自然和科学的故事。

And with that said, I'd like to invite you for

正如上所说，我很乐意邀请你

a short, brief journey of life through time.

来一次简短的时间旅行。

Our journey starts in space, where matter condenses into spheres over time ...

我们的旅行是从太空开始的，在那里随着时间的流逝物质浓缩成了球体。

solidifying into surface, molded by fire.

凝固成表面，被火改造成各种形状。

The fire gave way, Earth emerged -- but this was an alien planet.

当火退去时，地球显露出来-但这时还像是一个外星球。

The moon was closer; things were different.

月亮离我们更近，所有的东西和现在都不一样。

Heat from within made geysers erupt -- that is how the oceans were born.

地底的热气使得间歇泉喷涌而出-海洋就这样形成了。

Water froze around the poles and shaped the edges of the Earth.

水在两极附近冻结，形成了地球的边界。

Water is the key to life, but in frozen form, it is a latent force.

水是生命的关键，即使是处于冰冻状态，也是一种潜在的力量。

And when it vanishes, Earth becomes Mars.

而一旦它蒸发了，地球就变成如火星般。

But this planet is different -- it's roiling inside.

但这个星球与众不同之处就在于，它的内部是运动的。

And where that energy touches water, something new emerges: life.

在那里能量遇到水，生命就由此产生了。

It arises around cracks in the Earth.

它上升并包围了地球。

Mud and minerals become substrate; there are bacteria.

泥土和矿石垫在最底下，那里有细菌。

Learn to multiply, thickening in places ...

它们学着繁殖，在那里慢慢变厚。

Growing living structures under an alien sky ...

生命结构就在外星空下形成了。

Stromatolites were the first to exhale oxygen.

叠层石是最先释放氧气的。

And they changed the atmosphere.

它们改变了大气层。

A breath that's fossilized now as iron.

有些就被成为了铁矿石。

Meteorites delivered chemistry, and perhaps membranes, too.

陨石释放出化学物质，或许还有薄膜。

Life needs a membrane to contain itself

生命需要有东西来承载自己

so it can replicate and mutate.

这样它才能复制和变异。

These are diatoms, single-celled phytoplankton

这里面有硅藻类，一种单细胞浮游生物

with skeletons of silicon ...

它们有着硅质的骨骼。

circuit boards of the future.

这就是未来的电路板。

Shallow seas nurtured life early on, and that's where it morphed

浅滩更早的孕育了生命，在这里

into more complex forms.

它们变异成为更高级的形式。

It grew as light and oxygen increased.

随着光和氧气的增多它们不断成长。

Life hardened and became defensive.

生命变得坚强起来而且具有了攻击性。

It learned to move and began to see. The first eyes grew on trilobites.

它开始学着移动和观看。三叶虫最早长出眼睛。

Vision was refined in horseshoe crabs,

视界也被重新定义随着马蹄蟹

among the first to leave the sea.

第一个离开大海。

They still do what they've done for ages, their enemies long gone.

虽然它们依旧做着千百年来一直做着的事，但它们的敌人早已不复存在。

Scorpions follow prey out of the sea. Slugs became snails.

蝎子跟随它们的猎物离开大海，蛞蝓变成了蜗牛。

Fish tried amphibian life. Frogs adapted to deserts.

鱼开始尝试两栖生活。青蛙也适应了干旱的气候。

Lichens arose as a co-op. Fungi married algae ...

地衣连成一片。菌类和水藻一起生长。

clinging to rock, and eating it too ... transforming barren land.

它们依附在岩石上，也以此为食。改善着贫瘠的土地。

True land plants arose, leafless at first.

真正的陆上植物开始产生，首先是裸子植物。

Once they learn how to stay upright, they grew in size and shape.

一旦它们知道如何生长，它们就长得更高更大。

The fundamental forms of ferns followed,

其次是基本形式的蕨类

to bear spores that foreshadowed seeds.

产生孢子，这是预示种子。

Life flourished in swamps.

生命在沼泽里繁荣起来。

On land, life turned a corner. Jaws formed first; teeth came later.

在陆地上，生命也有了转变。最开始是长出颚，接着是牙齿。

Leatherbacks and tuataras are echoes from that era.

大海龟和大蜥蜴就是那个时代的产物。

It took time for life to break away from water,

它们花费了毕生的时间来离开水，

and it still beckons all the time.

但一直未能如愿。

Life turned hard so it could venture inland.

生活变得艰难起来所以才到内陆冒险

And the dragons that arose are still among us today.

那时候崛起的恐龙现在仍在我们中间。

Jurassic Park still shimmers in part of Madagascar,

侏罗纪公园仍然闪烁着生命的光芒在马达加斯加局部

and the center of Brazil,

和巴西的中心。

where plants called "cycads" remain rock hard.

而苏铁依然顽强的存活到今天

Forests arose and nurtured things with wings.

森林产生并孕育出生有双翼的东西。

One early form left an imprint, like it died only yesterday.

一个早期的形式留下了印记，好像昨天才去世。

And others fly today like echoes of the past.

今天和其他人一样飞过去的回声。

In birds, life gained new mobility.

鸟类中，生活有了新的流动性。

Flamingos covered continents. Migrations got underway.

火烈鸟遍布各大洲。它们开始远途迁徙。

Birds witnessed the emergence of flowering plants.

鸟类见证了开花植物的出现。

Water lilies were among the first.

睡莲是第一批。

Plants began to diversify and grew, turning into trees.

植物开始多样化和增长，变成树木。

In Australia, a lily turned into a grass tree,

在澳大利亚，百合变成了草本植物，

and in Hawaii, a daisy became a silver sword.

而在夏威夷，菊花成为银剑。

In Africa, Gondwana molded Proteas.

在非洲，山龙眼在冈瓦那大陆出现。

But when that ancient continent broke up, life got lusher.

但是，当这一古老的大陆解体，生命变得更加繁盛。

Tropical rainforests arose, sparking new layers of interdependence.

热带雨林产生，引发新层次的相互依存关系。

Fungi multiplied. Orchids emerged, genitalia shaped to lure insects ...

真菌成倍增加。兰花的出现，外生殖器形成用来吸引昆虫。

a trick shared by the largest flower on Earth.

也是地球上最大的花惯用的一个手法。

Co-evolution entwined insects and birds and plants forever.

昆虫，鸟类和植物永远协同进化。

When birds can't fly, they become vulnerable.

当鸟不能飞，他们变得脆弱。

Kiwis are, and so are these hawks trapped near Antarctica.

鹬鸵和这些鹰因此被困南极洲。

Extinction can come slowly, but sometimes it arrives fast.

消亡有时很缓慢，但有时却来得很快。

An asteroid hits, and the world went down in flames.

当小行星撞上来，整个世界陷入火海。

But there were witnesses, survivors in the dark.

但也有证人，幸存者在黑暗中。

When the skies cleared, a new world was born.

当天空开朗，一个新的世界诞生了。

A world fit for mammals. From tiny shrews [came]

一个适合的哺乳动物。从小型的鼩，

tenrecs, accustomed to the dark.

马岛猬习惯于黑暗。

New forms became bats. Civets.

新形式成为蝙蝠。果子狸。

New predators, hyenas, getting faster and faster still.

他们新的天敌，鬣狗跑得也是越来越快。

Grasslands created opportunities.

草原创造了机会。

Herd safety came with sharpened senses.

羊群为了安全生就了敏锐的感官。

Growing big was another answer, but size always comes at a price.

变得越来越大是另外一个答案，但规模一直是要付出代价的。

Some mammals turned back to water.

一些哺乳动物又回到水中。

Walruses adapted with layers of fat. Sea lions got sleek.

海象长出了几层脂肪。海狮变得浑身圆滑。

And cetaceans moved into a world without bounds.

鲸目动物已无物可敌。

There are many ways to be a mammal. A 'roo hops in Oz;

有很多方法变成哺乳动物。一头袋鼠在澳洲蹦跳。

a horse runs in Asia; and a wolf evolves stilt legs in Brazil.

马出现在亚洲，而狼在巴西变成了细长腿。

Primates emerge from jungles, as tarsiers first,

灵长目动物摆脱了丛林，眼镜猴是第一个，

becoming lemurs not much later.

狐猴不久也出来了。

Learning became reinforced. Bands of apes ventured into the open.

学习能力变得更强。一群猿冒险进入了开放地带。

And forests dried out once more. Going upright became a lifestyle.

森林不断地干涸。往上发展成为一种生活方式。

So who are we? Brothers of masculine chimps,

那我们又是谁？男性黑猩猩兄弟。

sisters of feminine bonobos? We are all of them, and more.

女性倭黑猩猩的姐妹。我们就是从它们发展来的，可能还有更多的来源。

We're molded by the same life force.

我们都是被同样的生命力所塑造。

The blood veins in our hands

静脉血液在我们的手中

echoed a course of water traces on the Earth.

就像水在地球上的流过的痕迹。

And our brains -- our celebrated brains --

我们的大脑-我们著名的大脑-

reflect a drainage of a tidal marsh.

反映了潮汐沼泽的水系。

Life is a force in its own right. It is a new element.

生活是一种能支配自我的力量。这是一个新的因素。

And it has altered the Earth. It covers Earth like a skin.

它改变了地球。它涵盖地球一样的皮肤。

And where it doesn't, as in Greenland in winter,

在生命没有触及的地方，比如冬季里的格陵兰岛，

Mars is still not very far.

那里的景象与火星也相去不远。

But that likelihood fades as long as ice melts again.

但是，这很可能消失，只要冰融化了。

And where water is liquid, it becomes a womb

当水变成液体时，它成为一个子宫。

for cells green with chlorophyll -- and that molecular marvel

细胞因为有了叶绿素变成绿色-这个分子的奇迹在于

is what's made a difference -- it powers everything.

它改变了一切。它是一切的动力。

The whole animal world today lives on a stockpile

现在的整个世界的动物生活在细菌库里，

of bacterial oxygen that is cycled constantly

在这里氧气能通过植物和藻类不断地循环，

through plants and algae, and their waste is our breath,

它们消耗的正是我们呼出的东西，

and vice versa.

反之亦然

This Earth is alive, and it's made its own membrane.

地球是有生命的，它作出了自己的膜。

We call it "atmosphere." This is the icon of our journey.

我们称它为大气圈。这是我们这一旅程的标记。

And you all here today can imagine and will shape where we go next.

今天在这里大家可以想像，并将形成我们下一个要的地方。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Thank you. Thank you.

谢谢。谢谢。