All excerpts are from tamed anduntamed. It's a collection of articles written by 2 columnists about animals. This one is from ElizabethMarshallThomas.
Different information
-Liz-
It's difficult to summarize how any individual animal perceive the world, but it's extra difficult to do this for dogs in general. No other species, not even our own, can approach the dog in physical variety -- a big Great Dane can be over three feet tall at the shoulder and weigh about two hundred pounds, yet it belongs to the same species as the Chihuahua, and weighing maybe nine pounds.
第二稿
描述某一物種如何體驗這個世界是件困難的事，要描述狗的話那就更加困難了。 因為狗在體型上的多樣性不是其他生物所能望其項背的，即使人類也不行。 拿一隻巨型的大丹犬來說，他最高的肩高可以達到三英尺，體重可達兩百英鎊；可是跟他同一種的吉娃娃，也許只有九英鎊！
第一稿
要描述任何單一物種如何體驗這個世界是一件困難的事情，但是用一段文字來描寫所有的狗是如何體驗這個世界那就更困難了。 因為沒有其他物種能夠比得上狗在體型上的多樣性，即使人類也不行。 拿一隻巨型的大丹犬來說，他最高的肩高可以達到三英尺，體重可達兩百英鎊；可是跟他同一種的吉娃娃，也許只有九英鎊！
So to start with vision, your height makes a difference. Just as you can see father when up on a ladder than when standing on the ground, so can a Great Dane see farther than a Chihuahua, a fact I notice every day when outdoors with my Chihuahua, whose visual world doesn't go beyond the lawn, or even much beyond his little nostrils when we're in long grass. If you lie on your side with your head on the ground, you'll get an idea of his range. He therefore isn't informed by vision as much as are those who are taller.
我們先說說視覺吧，你的身高會造成視覺範圍的差異。 站在梯子上會比在地上看得遠，所以大丹狗會比吉娃娃看得更遠。 我每次溜我的吉娃娃時都會觀察到這個現象，他的視線無法超過草坪，如果草長一點，那他的視線只能停在自己的鼻尖。 如果你側躺著，頭放在地上，你約略可以感受他的視覺範圍。 因為這高度的問題，吉娃娃從視覺上得到的訊息遠比其他高個兒來的少。
How about hearing? Here he does better. When he hears a meaningful sound, he turns to face it just as we would, as if to see what made it, and he's sensitive to sound even when he's sleeping. At night he sleeps in my bed under the covers, and if he hears a suspicious noise he leaps up barking.
那聽覺呢？ 這個他就比較在行了。 當他聽到一個有意思的聲音，他會跟我們一樣轉身回頭去看看，聲音是哪兒來的；甚至睡覺時他對聲音也很敏感。 他晚上睡在我的被窩裡， 如果他聽到可疑的聲音，他會立刻跳出來汪汪大叫。
Of course, dogs are best informed by scent, and as we all know their sense of smell is vastly better than ours. What's interesting about this little dog, therefore, is his realism about scent information. When he's in my office and hears something, he jumps up to look out the window, sniffing as he does. Thus he opens his eyes, his ears, and his nose to any evidence he can collect about what he's just heard.
當然，狗最好的感官是嗅覺，大家都知道狗狗嗅覺的靈敏是遠遠超過人類的。 我這吉娃娃最有趣的地方就在於他自己是多重視嗅覺所帶來的訊息！ 當他在我的書房聽到窗外的聲音，他不僅僅是跳起來試著望出窗外，甚至看可以看到他用力的抽動著鼻子。 在同一時間裡，他睜大了眼睛，豎起了耳朵和鼻孔來收集所有的資訊，試圖知道聲音來源到底是啥。
This changes when we go outside. There the world of odors is readily available, and he run here and there with his nose to the ground, or, because he grew up in a city and is a city dog by heart, he also goes to my car and sniffs the tires.
但是當他到戶外的時候，一切都不一樣了。 在戶外，這個世界的氣味是隨手可得，無論走到哪兒，他的鼻子總是貼著地面； 又因為他在城市裡長大，總是帶點城裡的習慣，他總會走向我的車去聞聞車子的輪胎。
It makes sense if you think about it. A sight or sound can vanish in an instant, but a scent will cling. A sigh or sound may be experienced quickly and tends to transmit just a tiny, very specific amount of information -- often more than enough to tell you what you need to know. But it doesn't compare to a scent, as a scent remains available for a long time, and just one sniff can load you with all kinds of information.
仔細想想，這是有道理的。 聲色往往一過即逝，氣味卻會纏繞不走。 我們可以很快速地體驗聲音和影像，他們傳遞的訊息很獨特份量卻只有一點點 -- 大部分時候這一點點就足夠我們的所需。 但是這些是不能和氣味相比，氣味常常可以纏留很長一段時間， 而且只要鼻子一吸就會帶給你一堆的訊息。
Let's say you look out the window and think you glimpse a mountain lion in your field. You gasp and run out the door and around the house to see it better. The dog run with you. But then then nothing is there. You, the human, see and hear nothing, the ground is dry and hard, and if in fact there was a mountain lion, it left no tracks.
打個比方，假設你看出窗外好像發現了一隻美洲獅在你的院子裡。 你哇的一聲趕快跑出門到後院去看個仔細。 你的狗也跟了過來。 但是當你走到後院時，什麼也沒發現。 你，這個人類，無論用看的還是用聽的，什麼也沒有，地是又乾又硬，如果真有美洲獅，他也不可能留下任何足跡。
For all you know, the whole thing was an illusion. But while you stand there, looking around and wondering, the dog learns that a very large cat has just passed by, a female about four years old with kittens for whom she was lactating; that she had eaten recently, not from a fresh meat but carrion from a carcass, probably a small animal; and she moved her bowel not long before you saw her, so there's a scat in the woods, maybe fiver hundred feet from where you're standing.
對你來說，美洲獅不過是一個幻覺。 但就在你呆呆站在院子裡，傻傻的不知道往哪裡看時，你的狗已經知道剛剛有一隻很大個兒的貓經過這裡，這隻貓是一個母的，大概四歲左右，剛生了幾隻小貓並且在給他們餵奶； 她最近吃才吃了一餐，不是特別好的一餐，因為不是新鮮的肉類，而是吃點死去的屍體，多半屬於小型動物；另外這隻貓就在你看到她不久前才大過便，可能就在不遠處的林子裡，離你站的地方五百英呎左右。
You are (in this case) a mature human being with a college degree, and your dog is just a little nobody, utterly dependent on your care. But in the end, who knows more about your surroundings? You or him?
(在這個例子裡)你是一個大學畢業的成人，你的狗完全要依靠你才能過活，什麼也不行。 但是說到最後，你認為誰才真正了解你所居住的環境，是你還是你的狗？
My favorite story about the power of the scent involves our marvelous veterinarian, Chuck DeVinne. He's also our neighbor, and once when he was away on a trip, his dog went missing. Now and then his dogs escape, and usually they come by my house, but since I hadn't seen them I was afraid that Chuck's dog was lost. The entire neighborhood was on high alert, but our vision and hearing gave us nothing.
我最喜歡的一個有關嗅覺的故事來自我們那個總是令人驚奇的獸醫，恰克。德維尼。 他同時也是我們的鄰居。 有一次他去旅行時，他的狗失蹤了。 以前，他養過不少狗，他們也都會自己去附近逛逛，通常都會到我家來走走。 但是，這一次我一個影子都沒瞧見，於是心中有了不祥的預感。 左鄰右舍也都提高了警覺，不過，我們的視覺和聽覺一點幫不上忙。
But Chuck knew what to do. As soon as he got home, he collected the clothes from his trip that were to be laundered and bundled them into his car. He ran the motor with the heat on until the car was hot and the contents were warmed, then he opened the windows and rove slowly through the area where the dog was last seen. His scent poured from the car for the wind to carry. It clung to the bushes along the road that led to his house, and his dog found her way home quickly.
只有恰克知道要做什麼。 他一回到家，就把他帶去旅行準備要洗的衣服都全部丟到車裡。 然後他發動引擎，開足了暖氣，等到車子裡面發熱，衣服都暖起來了，他打開車窗然後慢慢開著車子到他的狗最後一次出現的地方。 他的氣味從車子裡散發出去，透過窗子被風散播。 沿著這條回家的路，這味道纏繞在每一棵樹上。 他的狗很快的就自己找到路回家了。
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