So it’s no secret that I’ve got a soft spot for sloths.

众所周知 我特别喜欢树懒

I founded the Sloth Appreciation Society; our motto?

我成立了“树懒鉴赏社会” 我们的座右铭是？

“Being fast is overrated.”

“速度快并没有那么出色”

I think the sloth is the true king of the jungle.

我觉得树懒才是真正的森林之王

But its reputation has been besmirched for centuries.

但几百年来它的名声一直都被玷污了

Every since it was first discovered people have misunderstood sloths.

从人们第一次发现树懒起 它就一直被误解

The first explorers that went to the New World and saw sloths described them—in no uncertain terms—as absolute losers.

第一批抵达新大陆的探险家们见到树懒后 确定无疑地将它们称为彻底的失败者

There was a conquistador, a Spanish conquistador, I think he was the first to describe the sloth,

那是一名西班牙征服者 我觉得他是第一个描述树懒的人

said it was “the stupidest animal that could be found on the planet.”

他说树懒是“这颗星球上能找到的最愚蠢的动物”

Then they were saddled with a name that speaks of sin, and just misunderstood for an incredibly long time.

于是它们就一直背负着代表罪恶的名声 被人们误解了很长时间

And again, they are an animal that people think of as being some kind of evolutionary loser;

人们认为它是进化的失败品；

because they’re slow we think that they are therefore kind of stupid and useless.

因为它们动作很慢 所以我们就觉得它愚蠢又没用

“Well, they can’t run from danger so how do they survive?”

“有危险的时候它们跑都跑不赢 那还怎么存活呢”

Well, they actually survive very well indeed, which is why I think they are the true kings of the jungle.

但其实它们活得特别好 所以我才觉得它们是真正的森林之王

Because there was a survey done in a Panamanian rainforest,

因为有人在巴拿马雨林中做过一项调查

and they found that it was something like a third of the mammalian biomass in that particular forest was made up of sloths.

发现那片雨林里的哺乳类生物有三分之一左右都是树懒

So that’s like you take all the mammals from the forest—a third—a third of that mass would have been taken up by sloths.

也就是说 你集结那片森林里所有的哺乳动物——三分之一——有三分之一都是树懒

So all the rest was all the rats, all the ocelots, all the tapirs, everything else took up two thirds,

剩下的都是些鼠类 豹猫 貘 其他所有的占了三分之二

but a third of it was sloths, which is just a huge amount!

但有三分之一都是树懒 那可是个不小的数字

I mean that’s a very successful creature.

这说明它们非常成功

Partly we just don’t realize that because they’re very hard to see, they’re very stealthy.

我们之所以没意识到这一点 部分是因为它们很难被人发现 它们总是很隐秘

So one of the things, the great things about being really slow is you don’t really get noticed,

所以速度慢最大的好处之一就是你不会轻易被发现

which—if you’re trying not to be eaten—is really quite a good idea.

如果你不想被吃掉 这可是个很好的点子

So monkeys for instance: you are always aware of monkeys.

比如说猴子：猴子总能引起注意

When they turn up there’s a lot of crashing around and fruit being thrown to the ground,

只要有猴子出现 就会有各种吱呀声 还有水果被扔到地上的声音

and they make a lot of noise.

它们会制造出很多噪音

The sloth is moving very slow, with extraordinary control.

树懒的动作很慢 它们有极其出色的控制力

I always watch them and think “Wow the core control of that animal is amazing!”

每当我看着它们总会想“哇 这家伙的核心控制力简直是太厉害了！”

It’s like watching Swan Lake in slow motion, I mean they really just move so fantastically slowly.

就像是在看慢动作的《天鹅湖》 它们的动作真是难以置信地慢

But those slow movements, we think, slip under the radar of the Harpy eagle as it’s swooping around the canopy;

但正是这些慢动作让它们能躲过在高空中翱翔的角雕的眼睛

they simply don’t get noticed.

它们根本就不会被发现

And I think one of the reasons why the early explorers so misunderstood the sloth is because they were viewing it the wrong way up!

我觉得早期的探险家之所以会误解树懒 其中一个原因就是他们看待问题的角度不对

So I think when the conquistadors first arrived in the New World they would have been brought examples of animals,

所以当西班牙征服者第一次抵达新大陆的时候 各种各样的动物闯入眼帘

they wouldn’t have gone into the jungle and observed them in situ, they would have been brought animals.

他们并没有深入雨林去好好研究这些动物 他们只是遇到啥就看啥

And with the sloth this is an inverted quadruped; it is designed, it has evolved to live its life upside down,

而树懒这种倒立的四足动物；它被造物主造成 进化成倒着生活的动物

because that’s incredibly energy efficient.

因为这种方式特别节省能量

If you live your life upside-down the only muscles that you really needed to work are these ones,

如果你是倒立着生活 你唯一需要锻炼的肌肉就是这些

so they can hook on and hang like a happy hairy hammock

让它们可以勾在树上 像个快乐的毛茸茸的吊床一样

and just get on with the busy business of digesting their very indigestible food.

只需要忙着消化那些难以消化的食物

They’re basically sort of dangling fermenting bags of food.

其实它们就像是挂在那儿的食物发酵袋

But that upside-down existence requires very little energy,

但那种倒挂的生活方式只需要很少的能量

so they have almost got rid of the muscles that are like triceps, that hold us erect;

所以它们基本没有能让我们站立起来的三头肌之类的肌肉

they just have the muscles that you use to sort of draw yourself along.

只有那种拉着自己往前走的肌肉

When I’m at rest sitting in this chair I’m using quite a lot of muscles to hold myself upright, but sloths don’t need any of those.

我坐在这张椅子上休息的时候 用到了很多肌肉才能坐直 但树懒不需要任何这些肌肉

So when the early explorers were brought sloths, of course they were taken out of their context:

所以当早期的探险家遇到树懒的时候 把树懒从它们的生活环境中剥离了出来

they were no longer dangling from the tree.

它们不再是悬挂在树上

The thing about the inverted existence is that it requires 50 percent,

这种倒立的生物只需要50%

around 50 percent of the muscles of an upright existence, so it’s much more energy efficient.

只需要站立生物大约50%的肌肉 所以它们特别节省能量

The problem is if you turn a sloth the wrong way up gravity removes its dignity,

问题是如果你把树懒翻转过来 重力会让它很难堪

and it sprawls on the ground and is forced to sort of, like mountaineering on a flat surface, I mean it really is a pitiful sight!

它会爬在地上 被迫在平地上做着登山一样的动作 那种画面真是太可怜了！

They sort of drag themselves along like this.

它们会像这样拽着自己往前走

And that, of course, would have been how the early explorers would have seen them:

当然了 那就是最初的探险家见到它们的样子：

as a ludicrous quadruped that’s sort of sprawled on the ground and can’t hold itself up.

一种滑稽的四足动物 趴在地上 身体立不起来

So I think that was where this idea that they were “useless” came from, and it stuck.

所以我觉得这就是树懒“无用”这种说法的来源 而它早就过时了