An illustrated kingdom of real, fantastical plants | Nirupa Rao

翻译人员: psjmz mz 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

I have a challenge for you.

我想给大家一个挑战。

The next time you're stuck in traffic,

下次你堵车时，

take a minute to take a look at the sea of cars around you.

花一分钟看看你周围的车流。

How many car companies do you think you could recognize?

你觉得你能认出多少汽车公司？

I'm not even really into cars,

我对汽车不是很感兴趣，

but I think I'd do fairly well.

但我想这个问题并不难。

But then look beyond the cars

那么再看看车窗外，

to the trees that line the side of the road.

路边的那些树木。

How many of those could you identify?

你能识别出多少来？

Probably not as many, right?

可能不是很多，对吧？

Year upon year,

年复一年，

we grow further and further away from nature

我们离自然越来越远，

to the point where we have to question:

以至于会开始好奇：

What experience of nature will the next generation have?

我们的下一代 对自然的体验是怎样的？

And if that generation lacks a sort of emotional connection

如果那一代人对他们的环境

with their surroundings,

缺少情感连接，

then will they bother to fight and save it

那么当我们最需要 投入环境怀抱的的时候，

when we need it most?

他们会努力拯救自然吗？

My name is Nirupa Rao, and I'm a botanical artist.

我叫尼鲁帕 · 饶（Nirupa Rao）， 是一名植物艺术家。

In short, that means I paint plants,

简短地说，我通常用水彩

usually with watercolor,

为植物为主题作画，

in a way that aims to be not only aesthetically appealing

以一种不仅具有美学吸引力，

but also scientifically accurate.

但同时具备科学精确度的方式。

And I'm well aware that this is quite an odd profession

我很清楚， 对一个 21 世纪的印度都市人来说，

for a 21st-century urban Indian --

这是个非常奇怪的职业——

some might say outdated in the age of the camera --

有些人会说，这种形式 在镜头主导的时代已经过时了——

but here's how my journey began.

但我的旅途就是这样开始的。

A few years ago,

几年前，

I met two naturalists who work with the Nature Conservation Foundation:

我遇到两位在自然保护基金会 工作的自然学家：

Divya Mudappa and T.R. Shankar Raman.

Divya Mudappa 和 T.R. Shankar Raman.

And now interestingly,

有意思的是，

they actually began their careers working with animals,

他们最开始的职业是保护动物，

but they soon came to realize

但他们很快意识到，

that if they were to protect those animals,

如果他们要保护那些动物，

they'd also have to protect their habitats --

他们还得保护它们的栖息地——

that is, the trees they live off.

即它们生活的树林。

And so they started a rainforest restoration program

于是他们启动了 一个雨林复苏项目，

aimed at growing local trees that local birds and animals rely on.

旨在种植当地鸟类和动物 赖以生存的树木。

And they were looking to visually document them in some way,

他们还想用通过 视觉的方式进行记录，

but the photographers they approached came up empty-handed.

但他们询问过的摄影师 却往往束手无策。

These trees were up to 140 feet tall.

这些树高达 140 英尺，

That's 26 times my height.

是我身高的 26 倍。

Try capturing giants like that in a single camera frame.

可以想象用单帧相机 捕捉这些参天大树的难度。

Besides, the surrounding greenery was just too dense

另外，周围的草木太茂密了，

to clearly isolate a single tree.

很难清晰的分离其中一棵树。

And so together, we decided to give good old painting a shot.

于是，我们一起决定 给老画笔一个机会。

And to tell you the truth,

说实话，

even when I was standing there right in front of them,

即便当我站在它们前面，

it was difficult to see the entire tree.

也很难看清楚整颗树。

So instead I'd study the buttress up close

所以我就近距离研究 树的支撑部分，

and then climb up the hill to see its crown rising above the canopy.

然后爬上山去观察顶部的树冠。

And then with Divya, and she there as aide,

在 Divya 的帮助下，

we could piece these pieces of the puzzle together

我们就可以 把这些碎片信息拼凑在一起

into the final painting.

形成最终的画面。

For a lot of people who don't know the jungles

对大多数不知道丛林

as well as these naturalists,

和这些自然学家的人来说，

these paintings are the only way that they'll get to see these trees

这些画作是他们能看到 这些树木全貌的

in their entirety.

唯一方法。

We were able to document 30 of the region's most iconic species

我们得以记录下该地区 30 种最具代表性的物种，

along with their fruit, flowers, seeds and leaves.

以及它们的果实、花朵、 种子和叶子。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Through this process,

通过这个过程，

the jungles really came alive to me.

这些丛林在我面前活了起来。

They morphed from this undifferentiated sea of green

它们从一片毫无差别的绿色海洋，

into individual species with individual characters.

变成了具有个体特征的个体物种。

And I think a lot of people just tend to see plants as background scenery,

我知道很多人只是倾向于 把植物视作背景，

assuming that their immobility makes them uninteresting.

认为静止的状态让它们显得很无趣。

But I began to see that it is that very rootedness that makes them fascinating,

但我开始意识到，正是这种 扎根的本性让它们如此迷人，

the ingenious ways in which they adapt and respond

它们适应和应对威胁

to threats and opportunities

和机遇时的

on timescales that make our heads hurt to imagine.

独特方式让我们难以想象。

And I couldn't help but wonder:

我止不住想：

What if I could tell their stories,

如果我可以讲述它们的故事，

showcase their complexity?

展示它们的复杂性会怎样？

Perhaps we'd all start to think of plants a little differently.

也许我们都会开始 从不同的角度看待它们。

And in fact, in my family, plants have always been a source of fascination.

事实上，在我的家族， 植物一直是魅力的来源。

My grand-uncle, Father Cecil Saldanha,

我的伯祖父， 塞西尔·沙尔丹哈（Cecil Saldanha），

was the first to document the flora of our home state of Karnataka

是第一个记录我们家乡 卡纳塔克邦植物的人，

back in the '60s.

那是在 60 年代。

And my mother has all of these memories

我的母亲拥有所有这些记忆，

of being a little girl watching this entire enterprise unfold.

当时她还是一个小女孩， 见证了整个事业在她眼前展开。

And consequently,

因此，

I've come to associate plants with adventure and discovery

我也自然而然的 把植物和冒险、发现和惊奇

and excitement.

联系在一起。

And so I knew I didn't just want to paint roses and sunflowers.

我知道我不单喜欢玫瑰和菊花，

I wanted to paint the kinds of plants that botanists like my uncle work with.

我还想要画我叔伯那样的植物学家 经常打交道的植物。

And so I set out to create a book,

于是在国家地理学会的支持下，

supported by the National Geographic Society,

我开始写一本书，

on the weirdest, wackiest plants we could find

记录我们能在世界上 生物多样性最丰富的地区——

in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world:

印度自己的西高止山脉——

India's very own Western Ghats.

找到的最奇特、最古怪的植物。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Take a look at these fantastic jewel-like sundews.

看看这些奇异的珠宝般的茅膏花。

They grow in regions where nutrient content in the soil is poor,

它们生长在土壤养分含量低的地区，

and so they have a little way of supplementing their diets.

并且有个丰富饮食结构的方法。

They lure, trap and ingest insects using mucilaginous glands on their leaves.

它们利用叶子上的粘液腺 来引诱、诱捕和摄食昆虫。

The little insects are attracted to the sweet secretions,

小昆虫被甜甜的分泌物所吸引，

but once they come in contact,

但一旦接触，

they are ensnared and the game is up.

就中了圈套，成了盘中餐。

And you might notice

你们可能注意到了，

that the sundews very cleverly hold their flowers on tall, thin stems

茅膏花非常巧妙地 把花托在又高又细的茎上，

high above their murderous leaves

高于那些有害的叶子，

to avoid trapping potential pollinators.

以避免捕获潜在的传粉者。

Further inside the jungle,

在丛林深处，

you might meet the strangler fig.

你可能会遇到扼杀者无花果。

It grows in areas where sunlight is scant

它生长在阳光稀少的地方

and competition is intense.

且竞争激烈。

And so it has a strategy to sort of cut in line and get ahead.

所以它有一种插队领先的策略。

You see, its seeds are dispersed by birds

它的种子是由鸟类传播的，

that drop them atop the branches of existing trees.

它们把种子撒在现有的树枝上。

And that little seed will start to germinate from there,

那颗小种子就会从那里开始发芽，

sending its shoots upward to the sky

把它的枝条伸向天空，

and its roots all the way down to the ground,

它的根一直扎入泥土中，

all the while strangling the host tree, often to death.

直到把宿主树勒住， 常常是勒死。

And even if that host tree dies and rots away,

即使宿主树死了，腐烂了，

the strangler will persist

“扼杀者”也会

as a hollowed-out column of roots and branches.

以镂空的根枝形态继续存在。

And if that didn't impress you,

如果这还不够让人印象深刻，

let me show you one of my personal favorites:

我再给你们展示 我最喜爱的植物之一：

the Neelakurinji.

尼拉库林吉花（Neelakurinji）。

When it blossoms,

当它开花的时候，

it does so in unison,

所有花朵会同时绽放，

covering entire hillsides in carpets of blue.

为整个山坡覆盖上蓝色的“地毯”。

This is its pollination strategy known as "gregarious flowering,"

这就是它被称为 “群居开花”的授粉策略，

in which it invests all of its resources into a single, spectacular event

即把所有资源投入到 单一壮观的事件中，

aimed at attracting pollinators to the feast --

一场吸引传粉者的盛宴——

which is easily done,

这很容易做到，

considering the Neelakurinji is all that can be seen for miles around.

鉴于尼拉库林吉花 在几英里内都能看到。

But here's the catch:

但这里有个问题：

it happens only once every 12 years.

它每 12 年才发生一次。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

And soon after seeding,

在授粉后不久，

these flowers will die,

这些花将会死去，

not to be seen again for the next 12 years.

下次看到它绽放， 还要再等 12 年。

This is our way of telling a story of the Western Ghats:

这就是我们讲述西高止故事的方式：

through plants and through their ecosystems

透过植物和它们的生态系统，

and the various ways in which they interact

以及它们和栖息地的主角们

with players in their habitats.

多样化的互动方式。

It's glorious, isn't it?

很美好，不是吗？

But the way things are going,

但事实是，

we can't be sure that the Neelakurinji will come out to play again

我们无法确定尼拉库林吉花 在下一个 12 年

in the next 12 years.

还能如常绽放。

The further and further we grow from nature,

我们离自然越远，

the more we are almost literally blind to it

我们对它们，和我们的活动

and the effects that our activities have on it.

对它们的影响就越来越不了解。

And that's what it's called -- "plant blindness":

这就是所谓的“植物盲”：

the increasing inability to really register the plants around us

越来越多的人无法真正 将我们周围的植物

as living beings.

视为生物。

The two scientists that coined this term,

创造这个术语的两位科学家，

Elisabeth Schussler and James Wandersee,

Elisabeth Schussler 和 James Wandersee,

contend that plants lack certain visual cues.

认为植物缺乏某些视觉线索。

They don't have faces,

它们没有面孔，

they don't move,

无法移动，

and we don't perceive them as threats.

我们也不把它们视为威胁。

And so with the increasing onslaught of information that our eyes receive,

随着我们眼睛接收到的信息越多，

we just deprioritize registering plants,

我们直接把注意力 从植物身上移开了，

simply filtering out information that we view as extraneous.

简单地过滤掉了 我们认为无关的信息。

But stop to think about that.

但请不要再这样想了，

Are plants really extra?

植物真的是多余的吗？

Are they just nature's backdrop?

它们只是大自然的背景吗？

Or are they the fundamental building blocks

还是说它们是所有生命

upon which all life is based,

赖以生存的基石，

the starting points of our ecosystems

我们生态系统的起点

and the reason why earth is sustainable for life to this day?

和今天地球仍然能够 维持生命的原因？

I leave you with these images from a program called "Wild Shaale,"

最后我要展示的这些照片 来自“Wild Shaale”项目，

which in Kannada means "wild school."

在埃纳德语里是“野外学校”的意思。

It's run by a conservationist, Krithi Karanth.

它的经营者是一位环保主义者 克里蒂・卡朗斯（Krithi Karanth）。

And her team turned some of my illustrations

她的团队把我的一些插图

into games that village children could play with and learn from.

变成了村里的孩子们 可以玩耍和学习的游戏。

And I can tell you they were so excited to see plants that they recognized --

我可以告诉你们，他们对认出了 画中的植物感到非常兴奋——

the trees that the monkeys play on,

有猴群玩耍的树木，

the flowers they use at their harvest festival,

他们在丰收节使用的花朵，

the fruit they use to wash their hair.

他们用来洗头的水果。

And it's that sort of familiarity which, when celebrated,

这种熟悉感在庆祝的时刻

turns to love,

变成了爱，

which then turns into an urge to protect.

然后又转变为保护的冲动。

It's really time we open our eyes to the world around us,

是时候，让我们睁开眼睛， 去观察周遭的世界，

to this entire kingdom that's hidden in plain sight.

去欣赏隐藏在眼前的 这一整个王国。

And so the next time you're stuck in traffic,

所以下次当你遇上堵车时，

you know what to do.

你就知道该怎么做了。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）