An illustrated kingdom of real, fantastical plants | Nirupa Rao

譯者: Hui Wen Kong 審譯者: Helen Chang

I have a challenge for you.

我給你個挑戰。

下次你遇到塞車時，

The next time you're stuck in traffic,

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

花一分鐘去看看你周圍的汽車之海。

How many car companies do you think you could recognize?

你覺得你可以認出多少汽車公司？

I'm not even really into cars,

我對汽車並沒有很感興趣，

but I think I'd do fairly well.

但是我覺得我的表現應該會蠻好的。

But then look beyond the cars

但再看看在這些車外的

to the trees that line the side of the road.

路旁樹木。

How many of those could you identify?

你能識別出多少來？

Probably not as many, right?

或許沒這麽多，對吧？

Year upon year,

一年又一年的，

we grow further and further away from nature

我們離大自然越來越遠

to the point where we have to question:

到我們甚至會問這樣的問題：

What experience of nature will the next generation have?

「我們的下一代 會有什麼樣的大自然體驗呢？」

And if that generation lacks a sort of emotional connection

如果那代人對於環境缺乏情感的連接，

with their surroundings,

then will they bother to fight and save it

那麼在亟需時，他們會費力 去爭取和拯救它嗎？

when we need it most?

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

我叫尼魯帕·饒，是個植物藝術家。

In short, that means I paint plants,

簡短地來説，就是我畫植物，

usually with watercolor,

而通常我會用水彩，

in a way that aims to be not only aesthetically appealing

以一種不僅可以有美感，

but also scientifically accurate.

也同時是科學精準的方式。

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

我也十分清楚，

21 世紀的都市印度人 視此為非常奇怪的職業——

for a 21st-century urban Indian --

some might say outdated in the age of the camera --

有些人或許會說 這在相機時代已過時了——

but here's how my journey began.

但是我的旅程就是這樣開始的。

A few years ago,

幾年前，

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

我遇到了兩名在自然保護基金會 工作的自然學家：

Divya Mudappa and T.R. Shankar Raman.

迪維亞·木達帕 和 T.R.香卡·拉曼 。

And now interestingly,

有意思的是，

they actually began their careers working with animals,

其實他們的最初職業是和動物有關，

but they soon came to realize

可是後來他們發現，

that if they were to protect those animals,

如果要保護這些動物，

they'd also have to protect their habitats --

就也需要保護牠們的棲息地——

that is, the trees they live off.

也就是，牠們賴以生存的樹木。

And so they started a rainforest restoration program

於是他們啓動恢復雨林專案，

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

主要是種植當地鳥類和動物 賴以生存的樹木。

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

並且想要用某種方式 在視覺上記錄它們，

but the photographers they approached came up empty-handed.

可是他們找來的攝影師卻空手而歸。

These trees were up to 140 feet tall.

這些樹木高達 140 英尺。

That's 26 times my height.

那是我身高的 26 倍。

Try capturing giants like that in a single camera frame.

試試看用單眼鏡頭捕捉這些巨大的東西。

Besides, the surrounding greenery was just too dense

況且，四周圍的花草樹木太茂密了，

to clearly isolate a single tree.

無法凸顯一棵樹。

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

所以，我們一起決定試一下繪畫。

And to tell you the truth,

説實話，

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

就算我站在它們前面，

it was difficult to see the entire tree.

也很難看到整顆樹。

So instead I'd study the buttress up close

所以我就近距離地 研究支撐著樹的部分，

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

還爬上山看高出來的樹冠。

And then with Divya, and she there as aide,

然後在迪維亞的幫助和陪同下，

we could piece these pieces of the puzzle together

我們把這些拼圖的碎片拼起來，

into the final painting.

形成了最終的畫。

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

對許多不知道叢林的人

as well as these naturalists,

和這些大自然學家來說，

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

這些畫是能讓他們看得到 這些樹木全貌的唯一途徑。

in their entirety.

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

我們記錄這地區 30 種 最具代表性的種類，

along with their fruit, flowers, seeds and leaves.

以及它們的果實、花、種子和葉子。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Through this process,

通過這個過程，

the jungles really came alive to me.

在我眼裏，這森林真的活了起來。

They morphed from this undifferentiated sea of green

它們從一片無差別的綠海

into individual species with individual characters.

變成了具有個體特徵的個體物種。

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

我還覺得很多人傾向於 把植物視為背景，

assuming that their immobility makes them uninteresting.

因無法移動而無趣。

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

但是我開始意識到， 正是生根使它們如此地迷人，

the ingenious ways in which they adapt and respond

它們適應和應對 威脅和機遇時的巧妙方式

to threats and opportunities

on timescales that make our heads hurt to imagine.

讓我們難以想像。

And I couldn't help but wonder:

而我不禁想：

What if I could tell their stories,

如果我可以講述它們的故事，

showcase their complexity?

展示它們的複雜性，那會怎樣呢？

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

或許我們都會開始對植物有所改觀。

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

實際上，在我的家族， 植物向來都是我們很欣賞的東西。

My grand-uncle, Father Cecil Saldanha,

我的叔公，塞西爾·薩爾達尼亞，

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

是第一個在六十年代裏記錄我們家鄉 卡納塔克邦植物群的人。

back in the '60s.

And my mother has all of these memories

還有，我媽擁有著這些記憶，

of being a little girl watching this entire enterprise unfold.

她記得自己曾經是那個 見證這整個事業發展的小女孩。

And consequently,

這也導致

I've come to associate plants with adventure and discovery

我把植物和冒險、 發現和興奮聯繫在一起。

and excitement.

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

這讓我知道我不單只想要 畫玫瑰花和向日葵。

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

我想要畫像我叔叔那樣的植物學家 為之工作的植物。

And so I set out to create a book,

於是在國家地理學會的支持下，

supported by the National Geographic Society,

我開始寫了一本書，

on the weirdest, wackiest plants we could find

講述著我們在這世上 最多樣化生物的地區之一——

in one of the most biodiverse regions in the world:

印度自己的西高止山脈——

India's very own Western Ghats.

能找到的最奇怪、最古怪的植物。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Take a look at these fantastic jewel-like sundews.

看看這些奇妙的珠寶般的茅膏菜。

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

它們生長在土壤養分含量低的地區，

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

所以它們有個補充飲食的小方法。

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

它們利用著葉子上的黏液腺 來引誘、誘捕和攝食昆蟲。

The little insects are attracted to the sweet secretions,

這些小昆蟲被甜甜的分泌物吸引了，

but once they come in contact,

但牠們一旦接觸，

they are ensnared and the game is up.

就中了圈套，沒戲唱了。

And you might notice

還有，你可能會發現

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

茅膏菜花非常巧妙地 把花固定在又高又細的莖上，

high above their murderous leaves

高於那些有害的葉子，

to avoid trapping potential pollinators.

以避免困著潛在的傳粉者。

Further inside the jungle,

在叢林深處，

you might meet the strangler fig.

你可能會遇到扼殺者無花果。

It grows in areas where sunlight is scant

它生長在陽光稀少

and competition is intense.

和競爭激烈的地方。

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

所以它有個插隊領先的策略。

You see, its seeds are dispersed by birds

你看，它的種子是由鳥類傳播的，

that drop them atop the branches of existing trees.

它們把種子撒在現有的樹枝上。

And that little seed will start to germinate from there,

那小種子會從那裏開始發芽，

sending its shoots upward to the sky

它的萌芽會伸向天空，

and its roots all the way down to the ground,

而它的根會往下扎入地面，

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

一直勒著宿主樹，直到它死了為止。

And even if that host tree dies and rots away,

即使宿主樹死了、腐爛了，

the strangler will persist

「扼殺者」也會以空心柱狀的 根和樹枝形式繼續生存著。

as a hollowed-out column of roots and branches.

And if that didn't impress you,

如果那沒打動你，

let me show you one of my personal favorites:

讓我秀給你我最愛的其中一個：

the Neelakurinji.

內拉庫林吉。

When it blossoms,

當它開花時，

it does so in unison,

它會一致綻放，

covering entire hillsides in carpets of blue.

把整個山坡覆蓋成一片藍色。

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

這是它的授粉策略， 名為 「群居開花」，

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

它把所有的資源投入一個壯觀的事件，

aimed at attracting pollinators to the feast --

主要是吸引傳粉者參與盛宴——

which is easily done,

這很容易做到，

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

因為內拉庫林吉在數英里内都能看到。

But here's the catch:

但有個問題：

it happens only once every 12 years.

它每 12 年才發生一次。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

And soon after seeding,

結籽後不久，

these flowers will die,

花就凋謝，

not to be seen again for the next 12 years.

在接下來的 12 年裡都見不到。

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

這就是我們講西高止故事的方式：

through plants and through their ecosystems

透由植物、生態系統

and the various ways in which they interact

和其他生物在棲息地的 各種互動方式。

with players in their habitats.

It's glorious, isn't it?

很壯麗，不是嗎？

But the way things are going,

可是事情的進展，

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

我們不能確定內拉庫林吉

是否會在下一個 12 年裡再出現。

in the next 12 years.

The further and further we grow from nature,

我們離大自然越來越遠，

the more we are almost literally blind to it

就越會忽略它，

and the effects that our activities have on it.

看不見我們活動所對它的影響。

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

就是我們所謂的「植物盲」：

the increasing inability to really register the plants around us

越來越無法將四周圍的植物視為生物。

as living beings.

The two scientists that coined this term,

那兩位把這詞串聯的科學家，

Elisabeth Schussler and James Wandersee,

伊麗莎白·舒斯勒和詹姆斯·溫德西，

contend that plants lack certain visual cues.

認為植物缺乏某些視覺提示。

They don't have faces,

它們沒有臉蛋，

they don't move,

也不會動，

and we don't perceive them as threats.

所以我們不把它們視為威脅。

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

隨著我們眼睛收到的信息越來越多，

we just deprioritize registering plants,

看見植物成了不優先之事，

simply filtering out information that we view as extraneous.

直接過濾掉我們視為多餘的信息。

But stop to think about that.

但請停止這樣的想法。

Are plants really extra?

植物真的是多餘的嗎？

Are they just nature's backdrop?

它們只是大自然的背景嗎？

Or are they the fundamental building blocks

還是説它們是所有生物

upon which all life is based,

賴以生存的基建築模塊，

the starting points of our ecosystems

我們生態系統的起點

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

還有今天地球仍然能夠持續生命的原因？

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

我留給你們的照片來自 《野生沙阿萊》節目，

which in Kannada means "wild school."

在卡納達語語裏的意思是「野外學校」。

It's run by a conservationist, Krithi Karanth.

環保主義者克里希·卡蘭斯的 經營著這間學校。

And her team turned some of my illustrations

她的團隊把我的一些插圖

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

變成了鄉村孩子們可以玩和學習的遊戲。

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

他們興奮地認出一些植物時——

the trees that the monkeys play on,

猴子們在樹木上玩耍，

the flowers they use at their harvest festival,

他們用在豐收節的花，

the fruit they use to wash their hair.

以及他們用來洗頭髮的果實。

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

正是頌讚的熟悉感

turns to love,

變成了愛，

which then turns into an urge to protect.

這也變成了一種想要保護的衝動。

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

真是睜大眼睛 看我們周圍世界的時候了，

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

看這整個隱藏在眼前的王國。

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

所以下次如果你再遇到塞車，

you know what to do.

就知道該怎麽做了。

(Applause)

（掌聲）