Kees Moeliker: How a dead duck changed my life

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Zheqing Fang 校对人员: dahong zhang

This is the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam,

这是鹿特丹的自然历史博物馆，

where I work as a curator.

我在这里行馆长之职。

It's my job to make sure the collection stays okay,

我的工作就是确保这些收藏品完好，

and that it grows,

展品越来越丰富，

and basically it means I collect dead animals.

这意味着我收集一些死去的动物。

Back in 1995,

回溯到1995年，

we got a new wing next to the museum.

博物馆旁边建了一座辅楼。

It was made of glass,

它是由玻璃制作的，

and this building really helped me to do my job good.

这个建筑非常好的帮助我改善工作。

The building was a true bird-killer.

因为这个建筑是个不折不扣的鸟类杀手。

You may know that birds don't understand

你们知道有玻璃，而那些鸟类却不知道

the concept of glass. They don't see it,

它们根本看不出来，

so they fly into the windows and get killed.

于是撞上玻璃而身亡。

The only thing I had to do was go out,

我唯一需要做的就是走出去，

pick them up, and have them stuffed for the collection.

将它们捡起来，然后填些东西制成标本。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And in those days,

在那些日子里，

I developed an ear to identify birds

我渐渐有了闻声识鸟的能力

just by the sound of the bangs they made against the glass.

只需要通过分辨鸟撞上玻璃时，不同的“呯”。

And it was on June 5, 1995,

那是在1995年的6月5日，

that I heard a loud bang against the glass

我听到物体撞上玻璃时巨大的“呯”声

that changed my life and ended that of a duck.

它改变了我的生命，也终结了一个鸭子的生命。

And this is what I saw when I looked out of the window.

这就是我当时所看到的窗子

This is the dead duck. It flew against the window.

这就是那只死去的鸭子，它撞上了玻璃

It's laying dead on its belly.

肚皮朝下死去了。

But next to the dead duck is a live duck,

但是贴着死去的鸭子是一只活着的鸭子，

and please pay attention.

请各位仔细看

Both are of the male sex.

这两只都是雄性

And then this happened.

接下来发生的

The live duck mounted the dead duck,

活着的鸭子爬上了死去的鸭子身上，

and started to copulate.

然后开始交配。

Well, I'm a biologist. I'm an ornithologist.

好吧，我是一个生物学家，我是一个鸟类学家。

I said, "Something's wrong here."

我说，“这里一定是发生了错误。”

One is dead, one is alive. That must be necrophilia.

一只死的，一只活的……这必然是恋尸癖啊！

I look. Both are of the male sex.

我再看，都是雄性……

Homosexual necrophilia.

同性恋尸癖啊！

So I -- (Laughter)

所以我……（笑声）

I took my camera, I took my notebook,

我拿出相机，拿出笔记本，

took a chair, and started to observe this behavior.

搬来一张椅子，然会开始观察这一行为。

After 75 minutes — (Laughter) —

过了75分钟之后——（笑声）——

I had seen enough, and I got hungry,

我觉得看够了，而且感到很饥饿。

and I wanted to go home.

于是我想回家。

So I went out, collected the duck,

所以我走出去，收回这只鸭子，

and before I put it in the freezer,

在我放进冷藏柜之前，

I checked if the victim was indeed of the male sex.

我再一次检查这个牺牲者是否确实是雄性。

And here's a rare picture of a duck's penis,

这儿是一个罕见鸭子阳具的图片，

so it was indeed of the male sex.

所以它确确实实是雄性。

It's a rare picture because there are 10,000 species of birds

这张照片之所以罕见，是因为鸟类有10000多种

and only 300 possess a penis.

但只有300种左右拥有阳具。

[The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos (Aves:Anatidae)]

[野生绿头鸭（鸟类：鸭科）的首例同性恋尸癖行为研究]

I knew I'd seen something special,

我知道我看到了一些很特别的现象

but it took me six years to decide to publish it.

但却让我用了六年的时间来决定将它发表。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I mean, it's a nice topic for a birthday party

我的意思是，这可能是在生日宴会上很出彩的话题

or at the coffee machine,

或者在咖啡机旁的闲聊，

but to share this among your peers is something different.

但是将它作为学术分享到同行之间，就发生了质的变化

I didn't have the framework.

我当时还没有一个框架，

So after six years, my friends and colleagues urged me to publish,

所以在六年之后，我的朋友和同事催促我将它发表，

so I published "The first case of homosexual necrophilia

所以我发表题为“首例绿头鸭

in the mallard."

的同性恋尸癖行为“

And here's the situation again.

于是又是相同的情景，

A is my office,

A是我的办公室，

B is the place where the duck hit the glass,

B是那只鸭子撞上玻璃的地方，

and C is from where I watched it.

C是我观察行为的地方，

And here are the ducks again.

现在又是那对鸭子。

As you probably know, in science,

你可能会想，在科学界，

when you write a kind of special paper,

你写出了一篇特别的文章，

only six or seven people read it.

只有6个或7个人去读它，

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But then something good happened.

但这也是一件好事，

I got a phone call from a person called Marc Abrahams,

我接到来自一位叫做马克·亚伯拉罕斯的来电，

and he told me, "You've won a prize with your duck paper:

他告诉我，”你的鸭子论文已经获奖了：

the Ig Nobel Prize."

诺贝尔搞笑奖。”

And the Ig Nobel Prize —

而这个诺贝尔搞笑奖——

(Laughter) (Applause) —

（笑声）（掌声）——

the Ig Nobel Prize honors research

诺贝尔搞笑奖的荣誉研究

that first makes people laugh, and then makes them think,

先让人们开怀大笑，之后开始思考

with the ultimate goal to make more people

它的宗旨是让更多的人

interested in science.

对科学产生兴趣。

That's a good thing, so I accepted the prize.

这是一件好事，所以我接收了这个奖项。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I went -- let me remind you that Marc Abrahams

我来到——让我重提下这位马克·亚伯拉罕斯

didn't call me from Stockholm.

他并不是从斯德哥尔摩打电话给我，

He called me from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

而是来自马塞诸萨州的剑桥。

So I traveled to Boston, to Cambridge,

于是我来到波士顿，前往剑桥，

and I went to this wonderful Ig Nobel Prize ceremony

我参加这场诺贝尔搞笑典礼的盛会

held at Harvard University, and this ceremony

地点是在哈佛大学，而这场典礼

is a very nice experience.

真是一次美妙的经历。

Real Nobel laureates hand you the prize.

由真正的诺贝尔获奖者授予你这份奖项。

That's the first thing.

这只是个开端。

And there are nine other winners who get prizes.

那里还有九个其他的获奖者，

Here's one of my fellow winners. That's Charles Paxton

这是其中之一，查尔斯·帕克斯顿

who won the 2000 biology prize for his paper,

他的论文获得2000年的生物奖，

"Courtship behavior of ostriches towards humans

“鸵鸟的向人类作出的求偶行为

under farming conditions in Britain."

在英国的农场条件下。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I think there are one or two more

我认为这里有一两个更多的

Ig Nobel Prize winners in this room.

诺贝尔搞笑奖获得者在这个大厅里。

Dan, where are you? Dan Ariely?

丹，你在哪里？丹·阿雷利？

Applause for Dan.

请掌声欢迎丹。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Dan won his prize in medicine

丹获得了医学奖

for demonstrating that high-priced fake medicine

他演示了昂贵的假药

works better than low-priced fake medicine.

药效要比廉价的假药要好。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So here's my one minute of fame,

这就是我获奖的那一刻

my acceptance speech,

我在发表获奖感言

and here's the duck.

这是那只鸭子。

This is its first time on the U.S. West Coast.

这是它第一次来到美国西海岸

I'm going to pass it around.

我希望大家可以传阅。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Yeah?

如何？

You can pass it around.

你可以将它传给其他观众，

Please note it's a museum specimen,

请注意它是一个博物馆的标本，

but there's no chance you'll get the avian flu.

所以你不会感染禽流感……

After winning this prize, my life changed.

在这次获奖之后，我的生活发生了改变。

In the first place, people started to send me

起初，有人开始给我寄一些东西

all kinds of duck-related things,

都是些关于鸭子的物品，

and I got a real nice collection.

然后我获得了非常好的收藏。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

More importantly,

更为重要的是，

people started to send me their observations

人们开始寄给我他们自己的观测

of remarkable animal behavior,

关于动物与众不同的行为，

and believe me, if there's an animal misbehaving on this planet,

请相信我，如果在这个星球上那只动物发生了不正常行为，

I know about it.

我肯定会被告知。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

This is a moose.

这是一只麋鹿。

It's a moose trying to copulate

这只麋鹿试图去交配……

with a bronze statue of a bison.

和一只野牛的铜像。

This is in Montana, 2008.

发生在2008年的蒙大纳州。

This is a frog that tries to copulate with a goldfish.

这是一只青蛙试图和一只金鱼交配，

This is the Netherlands, 2011.

发生在2011年的荷兰。

These are cane toads in Australia.

它们是澳大利亚的“甘蔗蟾蜍”。

This is roadkill.

下面的这只是被撞死的，

Please note that this is necrophilia.

请注意这又是一起恋尸癖，

It's remarkable: the position.

而且尤为不寻常的是——体位……

The missionary position is very rare in the animal kingdom.

这种传教士姿势在动物界是非常罕见的。

These are pigeons in Rotterdam.

这些是鹿特丹的鸽子

Barn swallows in Hong Kong, 2004.

家燕，2004年的香港

This is a turkey in Wisconsin

这是一只威斯康辛州的火鸡

on the premises of the Ethan Allen juvenile correctional institution.

在伊森艾伦未成年犯管教机构的房屋上

It took all day,

交配历时一整天，

and the prisoners had a great time.

囚犯们度过了一段美好的时光

So what does this mean?

那么这些现象意味着什么？

I mean, the question I ask myself,

我是说，我问自己，

why does this happen in nature?

为什么这些现象自然而然的发生了？

Well, what I concluded

好吧，我得出的结论是

from reviewing all these cases

通过回顾这些个例

is that it is important that this happens

这些现象发生的关键是

only when death is instant

只有当死亡是瞬间发生

and in a dramatic way

伴随戏剧化的方式

and in the right position for copulation.

又正好适合交配的体位

At least, I thought it was till I got these slides.

直到我看到接下来的这组幻灯片。

And here you see a dead duck.

这里你可以看到一只死掉的鸭子

It's been there for three days,

它死在那里已经三天了

and it's laying on its back.

然而姿势是仰天朝上。

So there goes my theory of necrophilia.

所以我之前关于恋尸癖的理论并不完全正确。

Another example of the impact

另一个例子是

of glass buildings on the life of birds.

玻璃建筑对鸟类生命的影响。

This is Mad Max, a blackbird who lives in Rotterdam.

这是现实版“精卫”，一只生活在鹿特丹的乌鸦。

The only thing this bird did was fly against this window

这只鸟每天做的事情，就是与这堵玻璃的斗争

from 2004 to 2008, day in and day out.

从2004年一直到2008年，日以继夜的重复。

Here he goes, and here's a short video.

它要冲向玻璃了，请看视频。

(Music) (Clunk)

（音乐）（呯）

(Clunk)

（呯）

(Clunk)

（呯）

(Clunk)

（呯）

So what this bird does

这只鸟所做的

is fight his own image.

是与他在玻璃中的镜像斗争。

He sees an intruder in his territory,

他以为在自己领地出现了入侵者，

and it's coming all the time and he's there,

而且只要他在，“敌人”也在……

so there is no end to it.

所以他想终结这种情况。

And I thought, in the beginning -- I studied this bird for a couple of years --

我在最初的时候——我已经研究这只鸟很多年了——

that, well, shouldn't the brain of this bird be damaged?

我想这只鸟的大脑会不会被撞坏？

It's not. I show you here some slides,

确实不会，我给你们展示这些幻灯片，

some frames from the video,

是从视频的节选，

and at the last moment before he hits the glass,

在它即将碰到玻璃的临近时刻，

he puts his feet in front,

他把他的脚放在前面，

and then he bangs against the glass.

然后才重击到玻璃上。

So I'll conclude to invite you all to Dead Duck Day.

最后，我邀请大家能来参加死鸭子节。

That's on June 5 every year.

每年的6月5日。

At five minutes to six in the afternoon,

在下午的5点55分，

we come together at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam,

我们聚在鹿特丹的自然历史博物馆，

the duck comes out of the museum,

把鸭子从博物馆中取出，

and we try to discuss new ways

我们试着探讨用新的方式

to prevent birds from colliding with windows.

来保护鸟类防止撞上玻璃。

And as you know, or as you may not know,

或许你们知道，也或许不清楚，

this is one of the major causes of death

这是全世界的鸟类

for birds in the world.

最显著的致死因子之一。

In the U.S. alone, a billion birds die

单是在美国，十亿鸟类

in collision with glass buildings.

死于玻璃建筑的碰撞。

And when it's over, we go to a Chinese restaurant

当聚会结束之后，我们前往中国餐馆

and we have a six-course duck dinner.

享受一次六道菜的晚餐。

So I hope to see you

我希望能见到大家

next year in Rotterdam, the Netherlands,

在明年的荷兰鹿特丹，

for Dead Duck Day.

庆祝死鸭子节。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Oh, sorry.

哦，对不起。

May I have my duck back, please?

请问我可以取回我的鸭子吗？

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑声）（掌声）

Thank you.

谢谢。