《经济学人》双语：在印度城市看到蛇是一种怎样的体验
《经济学人》双语：在印度城市看到蛇是一种怎样的体验？
文/Irene-自由英语之路
【本篇内容简述】
【Para1】引入：7月26日，《印度时报》孟买版关于一条岩石巨蟒的新闻报道，汽车中，集装箱中，渔网中，海滩边等。一名28岁的男子为社交媒体制作视频，将蛇缠绕在脖子上，被咬身亡。
【Para2&3】蛇进城的原因：大雨将蛇和其他爬行动物赶出洞穴，去城市寻求温暖、庇护和美食。树叶，角落，垃圾，老鼠等。
【Para4&5】蛇的保护组织：去年一个月内发现了25条蟒蛇。6月份 ，SARRP拯救了130只爬行动物，比去年增加了14%。另一个组织的负责人说，蛇目击事件归因于三个因素--气候变化导致的极端降雨、开发侵占孟买森林和成堆溃烂的垃圾破坏了城市。
【Para6】结尾与评论：相关蛇保护组织组织正在努力教育公众区分毒蛇和其他毒蛇。每年有58000名印度人死于蛇咬伤，世界上蛇咬伤死亡率最高的国家。最后一句--尊重这些生物的最好办法可能是多了解他们。
标题：
Human-animal conflict
Snakes in the city
Reptiles are an increasingly common sight in the urban jungle
人畜冲突
城市里的蛇
爬行动物在印度城市里越来越常见
原文日期：2021年8月7日
Paragraph 1：
“IT’S BEEN raining snakes amid the recent heavy downpour,” reported the Mumbai edition of the Times of India on July 26th, in a news piece about a rock python which “refused to be evicted” from an autorickshaw.
7月26日，《印度时报》孟买版一篇关于一条岩石巨蟒的新闻报道说：“在最近的倾盆大雨中，这条巨蟒’拒绝被驱逐’出一辆汽车。”
The same paper contained reports of three other pythons rescued from a shipping container, and yet another that was found trapped in a fisherman’s net. A lost python spotted on a city beach made the papers the next day.
同一份报纸还报道了另外三条从集装箱中获救的蟒蛇，还有一条被发现困在渔网中。第二天，一条在城市海滩上发现的失踪蟒蛇登上了报纸。
Later that week a 28-year-old man found a snake in the distant suburbs, wrapped it around his neck and walked through a nearby market area as his friends made videos for social media. He died after it bit him three times.
那个星期晚些时候，一名28岁的男子在遥远的郊区发现了一条蛇，他把蛇缠在脖子上，然后在附近的一个市场区域散步，他的朋友们正在为社交媒体制作视频。它咬了他三次后，他就死了。
Paragraph 2:
It is not literally raining snakes. But a week of torrential downpours has had the same effect, driving snakes and other reptiles out of their burrows and into the city, where they seek warmth, shelter and gastronomic delights.
这并不是真的在下蛇雨。但一周的倾盆大雨也产生了同样的效果，将蛇和其他爬行动物赶出洞穴，进入城市，在那里它们寻求温暖、庇护和美食。
Paragraph 3:
There are plenty to be found. Mumbai is highly built up and densely populated.
有很多东西可以找到。孟买建筑高度发达，人口稠密。
But it is also full of ground-level foliage, warm nooks such as car engines, and lots of rubbish, the last of which attracts rats that make New York’s rodents look malnourished. The rats, in turn, attract hungry snakes.
但它也充满了地面的树叶，温暖的角落，如汽车引擎，和大量的垃圾，垃圾吸引老鼠，这使得这些啮齿动物看起来营养不良。老鼠反过来吸引饥饿的蛇。
Paragraph 4:
“Rock pythons are rarely found in cities,” says Santosh Shinde of Spreading Awareness on Reptiles & Rehabilitation Programme (or SARRP, Sanskrit for snake), the outfit that rescued the reptile in therickshaw.
“岩石蟒蛇在城市里很少见，”桑托什·辛德说，他是爬行动物宣传和康复计划（SARRP，梵语中蛇的意思）的负责人，该组织在人力车中拯救了这只爬行动物。
Nonetheless, he says, “Last year we found 25 pythons in one month.” As for venomous snakes, it would be easier to list the parts of Mumbai they are not found. SARRP rescued 130 reptiles in June, when the monsoon starts, up 14% from last year.
尽管如此，他说，“去年我们在一个月内发现了25条蟒蛇。”至于毒蛇，列出孟买未被发现的毒蛇会更容易。在季风开始的6月份，SARRP拯救了130只爬行动物，比去年增加了14%。
Paragraph 5:
“In the summer we get a lot of snakes that are dehydrated and in the monsoon displacement is very common,” says Madhurita Gupta of the Snake Conservation Trust, another serpent-saving society.
另一个拯救蛇的协会——蛇保护信托基金会的马杜里塔·古普塔说：“在夏天，我们会有很多蛇脱水，在季风季节，流离失所是很常见的。”
“But this year it has become too much.” She attributes the increasing number of snake-sightings to three factors: extreme rainfall driven by climate change, development encroaching on Mumbai’s forests and the piles of festering garbage that blight the city.
“但今年这种情况已经太多了。”她将越来越多的蛇目击事件归因于三个因素：气候变化导致的极端降雨、开发侵占孟买森林和成堆溃烂的垃圾破坏了城市。
Paragraph 6:
When people see a snake, they “immediately go to pray or throw [an auspicious] red cloth”, says Dr Gupta. Or they “try to kill or attack it, and then they get bitten”.
古普塔博士说，当人们看到蛇时，他们“立即去祈祷或扔（一块吉祥的）红布”。否则如果他们“试图杀死或攻击它，然后他们就会被咬”。
Her staff are trying to teach the public to distinguish venomous snakes from others.
她的工作人员正在努力教育公众区分毒蛇和其他毒蛇。
So is Mr Shinde, who argues that, just as people know the difference between a Doberman and a Pomeranian, they should be able to tell a harmless rat snake from the deadly “big four”: cobras, kraits and two types of viper.
申德先生也是如此，他认为，正如人们知道杜宾犬和波美拉尼亚犬的区别一样，他们应该能够区分无害的鼠蛇和致命的“四巨头”：眼镜蛇、金环蛇和两种毒蛇。
The WHO reckons 58,000 Indians die every year of snake bites. Official estimates are lower, but still high enough to give India the highest snakebite-mortality rate in the world.
世卫组织估计，每年有58000名印度人死于被蛇咬。官方估计数字较低，但仍足以使印度成为世界上蛇咬伤死亡率最高的国家。
On August 13th this year, Hindus mark Naag Panchami, a day on which snakes are worshipped. The best way to honour the creatures may be to learn a little more about them.
今年8月13日，印度教徒纪念纳格·潘查米，这是一个供奉蛇的日子。尊重这些生物的最好办法可能是多了解他们。
（恭喜读完本篇，英语阅读量548左右）
【重点词汇】（9个）
autorickshaw/trk/(in India) a light three-wheeled vehicle driven by a motorcycle engine.
n. 三轮机动车(印度)
torrential/trenl/falling in large amounts.
adj. 奔流的；倾泻的，如注的；猛烈的
gastronomic /ɡstrnmk/connected with cooking and eating good food.
adj. 烹任学的；美食法的
foliage/flid/the leaves of a tree or plant; leaves and branches together.
n. 植物；叶子（总称）
nook/nk/A nook is a small and sheltered place.
n. 角落；隐匿处；核武器；凹处
Sanskrit /snskrt/
n. 梵文adj. 梵文的
rickshaw=ricksha/rk/a small light vehicle with two wheels used in some Asian countries to carry passengers. The rickshaw is pulled by sb walking or riding a bicycle.
n. 人力车；黄包车
displacement/dsplesmnt/Displacement is the forcing of people away from the area or country where they live.
n. 流离失所，逐出家园，取代，位移
festering/fstr/
adj. 化脓的；充满仇恨的；腐烂的
【重点句子】（3个）
Mumbai is highly built up and densely populated.
孟买建筑高度发达，人口稠密。
As for venomous snakes, it would be easier to list the parts of Mumbai they are not found.
至于毒蛇，列出孟买未被发现的毒蛇会更容易。
The best way to honour the creatures may be to learn a little more about them.
尊重这些生物的最好办法可能是多了解他们。
【重点词根】（1+4个）
gastronomic＝gastronome+ic
词根gastro- 源自希腊语 gaster "stomach, belly." = stomach, 表示“胃”，如：
gastronome [ɡstrnm] n. 吃货，爱吃的人, 讲究吃的人
gastrologist[gs"trldist] n. 烹饪学者, 美食家, 胃病学家
gastralgia[ɡstrld] n. 胃痛, 胃神经痛
gastroscope[ɡstrskp] n. 胃镜, 胃窥镜
【本篇读后感】
印度是一个很有特色的国家，与宗教信仰有关，这个国家的很多动物的地位很高，比如牛，这篇文章的蛇。本文最后一句--The best way to honour the creatures may be to learn a little more about them.尊重这些生物的最好办法可能是多了解他们。这个办法同样适合其他领域。
一起踏上--自由英语之路