The Busy Autumn in Iberia伊比利亚半岛上的秋天

⊙ Sabine Holzer ⊙丁一 译

World Gallery 世界风情馆

The Busy Autumn in Iberia伊比利亚半岛上的秋天

⊙ Sabine Holzer ⊙丁一 译

口语指南针

本文讲述的是季节性很强的事，因而有不少关于时间的表达。除了我们常见的when外，作者采用了不同的时间表达方式，如：only open at…、Soon people here will be celebrating All Saint’s Day,the first of November、during、coincide等，建议同学们多留意、勤积累，在写作时学以致用。

Donana,it’s in the southwestern corner of Europe.A wetland like no other anywhere else in the world,it’s full of life.1)marsh [mɑːʃ] n.沼泽Marshes,pine forests and sand.

Some flowers only open at this time of year,in October.This species2)sprout [spraʊt] v.长出，发芽sproutsfrom a3)bulb [bʌlb] n.植物的球茎bulbthat can only be found in Iberia.It’s popularly known in Spain as the quitameriendas,or snack4)suppressor [sə΄presə（r）] n.镇压者，抑制物suppressor,because it5)emerge [ɪ΄mзːdʒ] v.出现，显露emergeswhen the days are growing shorter and there’s less time between lunch and dinner.So it blooms when there’s no longer time to have a mid-afternoon snack.There’s always some insect ready to6)savour [΄seɪvə（r）] v.品味savoursome7)nectar [΄nektə（r）] n.花蜜nectarand in exchange,8)fertilise [΄fзːtɪlaɪz] v.使受精fertiliseeach season’s flowers.But autumn’s flowers are few and that’s why so much life gathers around them.What’s more,they don’t last long.Time is working against them and in favour of the cold.

Soon people here will be celebrating All Saint’s Day,the first of November.The season’s first freeze will kill off the9)prey [preɪ] v.捕食preying10)mantis [΄mæntɪs] n.螳螂mantisesthat were born last spring.At the end of their lives when death is near is when this mantis can behave in the most extreme ways.Like eating the male during11)copulation [ˌkɒpjʊ΄leɪʃən] n.交配copulationor fighting another female.Two females have coincided on the same prime spot from where they wanted to release their12)pheromone [΄ferəməʊn] n.[生化]信息素pheromonesto call out to any male that might still survive.But more than a fight over13)territory [΄terɪtərɪ] n.地盘，领地territory,this is going to be a fight14)fuel [fjuːəl] v.刺激，推动fuelledby hunger.There’s little food left in the15)ecosystem [΄iːkəʊˌsɪstəm] n.生态系统ecosystem.The mantises may be the only insects that are still active.So the body of one of their16)peer [pɪə（r）] n.同辈peersmay provide the last available proteins to lay one more17)batch [bætʃ] n.一批，一组batchof eggs.Yes,mantises can be18)cannibal [΄kænɪb（ə）l] n.同类相食的动物cannibals.

The season’s first freeze will kill off the preying mantises that were born last spring.

Last year、last month、last week、last night……形容词last在修饰时间名词的时候，中国学生都习惯将它理解为相对于目前所处时间段而言的上一个时间段，于是不管我们在一年中的什么时候，last spring和last June也就常常被误解成“去年春天”和“去年六月”。其实，last的原意是指“刚刚过去的，最近的”（just past,most recent），所以如果我们身处十月，last spring就是指今年春天（刚刚过去的春天），而last June则指今年六月（刚刚过去的六月），这是我们在阅读时要特别注意的一点。

参考译文

位于欧洲西南角的多尼亚纳是世界上独一无二的湿地，到处一片生机盎然，这里有沼泽、松林和沙地等地理及生态体系。

有些花只在十月盛开。这个从球茎发芽的品种只生长在伊比利亚半岛，西班牙人大多称之为秋水仙，又名“小食遏制者”。因为它在白昼渐短、午餐与晚饭间隔变短的时节开花。也就是说，在它开花的那些日子里，人们连下午的餐间点心也没有时间享用。但在自然界，总有一些昆虫乐于在此时采蜜，而作为回报，它们会给每个季节的花卉授粉。不过，秋天绽放的花并不多，因此秋水仙的周围热闹非凡，而且它们的生命很短暂。时间于它们不利，因为寒冬将至。

很快便是人们庆祝11月1日万圣节的日子。这个季节的第一次严寒会冻死今年春天才降生的所有捕食螳螂。生命将尽时，螳螂的行为极端异常，如雌螳螂在交配时会把雄性吃掉，或与其他雌性打斗。这里是雌螳螂释放信息素以吸引仍然活着的雄性的绝佳地点，有两只在此狭路相逢。然而，它们并非旨在争夺地盘，而是为饥饿而战。它们身处的生态系统已经没剩下多少食物了，螳螂可能是为数不多，依然活跃的昆虫之一，因而同类的身体可以提供仅剩的蛋白质，让它们多产些卵。是的，螳螂也可以同类相食。