The Lowest Animal

The Lowest Animal

By: Mark Twain.

I

have been studying the traits and dispositions of

the lower animals (so- called), and contrasting

them with the traits and dispositions of man. I

find the result humiliating to me. For it obliges

me to renounce my allegiance to the Darwinian

theory of the Ascent of Man from the Lower

Animals; since it now seems plain to me that the

theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and

truer one, this new and truer one to be named the

Descent

of Man from the Higher Animals.

In proceeding toward this unpleasant conclusion I

have not guessed or speculated or conjectured, but

have used what is commonly called the scientific

method. That is to

say,

I have subjected every

postulate that presented itself to the crucial test of

actual experiment, and have adopted it or rejected

it

according to the result. Thus I verified and

established each step of my course in its turn

before advancing to the next. These experiments

were made in the London Zoological Gardens, and

covered many months of painstaking and fatiguing

work.

Before particularizing any of the experiments, I

wish to state one or two things, which seem to

more properly belong in this place than further

along. This, in the interest of clearness. The

massed experiments established to my satisfaction

certain generalizations, to wit:

1.

That the human race is of one distinct species.

It exhibits slight variations (in color, stature,

mental caliber, and so on) due to climate,

environment, and so forth; but it is a species by

itself, and not to be confounded with any other.

2.

That the quadrupeds are a distinct family, also.

This family exhibits variations (in color, size,

food preferences, and so on; but it is a family

by itself).

最低等的动物

马克

.

吐温

我一直 在研究（所谓的）低等动物

的特点和习性，把它们与人类的特

点 和习性进行对比。我发现研究的

结果使我感到羞愧。因为它使我不

得不背弃原来坚信不移的达尔文理

论：

“

人是从低等动物上升进化的

”

。

这 一理论应该让位给另一个更为正

确的新理论，这个更为正确的新理

论将命名为

“

人是从高等动物堕落退

化的

”

。

在得出这一令人不愉快的结论过程

中，我没有作任何猜想、揣测或臆

断，而是运用通常所谓的科学 方

法。这就是说，我把每一个自动呈

现出来的假想放到真正的实 验中进

行严格的检验根据检验的结果决定

取舍，我验证并确定每 一个步骤之

后，再顺次处理下一个步骤。这些

实验是在伦敦动物 园进行的，付出

了好几个月费力耗神的劳动。

在具体 叙述一次实验之前，我想先

提出几点，看来在这里提出来比放

在 后面更为合适，这样做有利于讲

清问题。从整个实验中概括出令我

满意的以下几点：

1.

人类是一个独特的物种。由于气

候

< /p>

、环境等条件，在肤色、身

材、智力等方面显示出细微的差

异。但是它是一个独立的物种，不

会与其他任何物种互相混淆。

2.

四足动物是一个独特的科。这个

科在肤色、体积和食物选择等方面

显示出差

异，但它是一个独立的科。

3.

That the other families (the birds, the fishes, the

insects, the reptiles, etc.) are more or less

distinct, also. They are in the procession. They

are links in the chain, which stretches down

from the higher animals to man at the bottom.

Some of my experiments were quite curious. In

the course of my reading I had come across a case

where, many years ago, some hunters on our Great

Plains organized a buffalo hunt for the

entertainment of an English earl. They had

charming sport. They killed seventy-two of those

great animals; and ate part of one of them and left

the seventy-one to rot. In order to determine the

difference between an anaconda and an earl (if any)

I caused seven young calves to be turned into the

anaconda’s cage. The grateful reptile immediately

crushed one of them and swallowed it, then lay

back satisfied. It showed no further interest in the

calves, and no disposition to harm them. I tried

this experiment with other anacondas; always with

the same result. The fact stood proven that the

difference between an earl and an anaconda is that

the earl is cruel and the anaconda isn’t; and that

the earl wantonly destroys what he has no use for,

but the anaconda doesn’t. This seemed to suggest

that the anaconda was not descended from the earl.

It also seemed to suggest that the earl was

descended from the anaconda, and had lost a good

deal in the transition.

I was aware that many men who have accumulated

more millions of money than they can ever use

have shown a rabid hunger for more, and have not

scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out

of their poor servings in order to partially appease

that appetite. I furnished a hundred different kinds

of wild and tame animals the opportunity to

accumulate vast stores of food, but none of them

would do it. The squirrels and bees and certain

birds made accumulations, but stopped when they

had gathered a winter s supply, and could not be

persuaded to add to it either honestly or by

chicane. In order to bolster up a tottering reputa-

tion the ant pretended to store up supplies, but I

was not deceived. I know the ant. These

3.

其他的科

——

鸟、鱼、昆虫、爬

虫等

——

也或多或少地各有特点。他

们处在一个系列之中。

< br>

他们是一个生

物链中的各个环节，从高等动物一直

到最底层的人类。

< br>我的实验中有一些是很奇怪的。我在

阅读资料时看到一件事：多年前在我