6.The Damned Human Race(1939)

Passage Six

Mark Twain (1835-1910) was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, but lived as a child in Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. He took the pen name Mark Twain from the call of the pilots on the river steamers, which indicated that the water was twelve feet deep, a safe depth for a steamer. During his early years, he worked as a riverboat pilot, newspaper reporter, printer, and gold prospector. But then he turned to writing, and became one of the greatest American writers. The present text is taken from Letters from the Earth, one of his later works.

马克·吐温(1835-1910)原名塞缪尔·朗霍恩·克莱门斯，出生在密苏里州的佛罗里达州，但小时候住在密苏里州密西西比河边的汉尼拔。他的笔名马克·吐温来自于河上轮船上领航员的呼唤，这表明水有十二英尺深，这是轮船的安全深度。早年，他当过河船领航员、报纸记者、印刷工和淘金者。但后来他转向写作，并成为美国最伟大的作家之一。本文摘自他的后期作品之一《来自地球的书信》。

The Damned Human Race

Mark Twain

【1】I have been studying the traits and dispositions of the “lower animals,” 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 and to name it the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.

【2】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. These experiments were made in the London Zoological Gardens, and covered many months of painstaking and fatiguing work.

【3】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—that, and to provide some fresh meat for his table. 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.

【4】In order to determine the difference between an anaconda and an earl—if any—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.

【5】The facts 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 had 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.

【6】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 savings 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.

【7】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 tricks. These experiments convinced me that there is this difference between man and the higher animals: he is avaricious and miserly; they are not.

【8】In the course of my experiments, I convinced myself that among the animals, man is the only one that harbors insults and injuries, broods over them, waits till a chance offers, then takes revenge. The passion of revenge is unknown to the higher animals.

【9】Roosters keep harems, but it is by consent of their concubines, therefore no wrong is done. Men keep harems, but it is by brute force, privileged by atrocious laws which the other sex were allowed no hand in making. In this matter, man occupies a far lower place than the rooster.

【10】Cats are loose in their morals, but not consciously so. Man, in his descent from the cat, has brought the cat's looseness with him but has left the unconsciousness behind—the saving grace which excuses the cat. The cat is innocent, man is not.

【11】Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity—these are strictly confined to man; he invented them. Among the higher animals, there is no trace of them. They hide nothing; they are not ashamed. Man, with his soiled mind, covers himself. He will not even enter a drawing room with his breast and back naked, so alive are he and his mates to indecent suggestion.

【12】Man is “The Animal that Laughs.” But so does the monkey, as Mr. Darwin pointed out; and so does the Australian bird that is called the laughing jackass. No—Man is the Animal that Blushes. He is the only one that does it—or has occasion to.

【13】At the head of this article, we see how “three monks were burnt to death” a few days ago, and a prior “put to death with atrocious cruelty.” Do we inquire into the details? No; or we should find out that the prior was subjected to unprintable mutilations.

【14】Man—when he is a North American Indian—gouges out his prisoner's eyes; when he is King John, with a nephew to render untroublesome, he uses a red-hot iron; when he is a religious zealot dealing with heretics in the Middle Ages, he skins his captive alive and scatters salt on his back; in the first Richard's time, he shuts up a multitude of Jew families in a tower and sets fire to it.

【15】In Columbus's time, he captures a family of Spanish Jews and but that is not printable; in our day in England, a man is fined ten shillings for beating his mother nearly to death with a chair, and another man is fined forty shillings for having four pheasant eggs in his possession without being able to satisfactorily explain how he got them.

【16】Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it. It is a trait that is not known to the higher animals. The cat plays with the frightened mouse, but she had this excuse, that she does not know that the mouse is suffering.

【17】 The cat is moderate—unhumanly moderate, she only scares the mouse, she does not hurt it; she doesn't dig out its eyes, or tear off its skin, or drive splinters under its nails—man-fashion; when she is done playing with it, she makes a sudden meal of it and puts it out of its trouble. Man is the Cruel Animal. He is alone in that distinction.

【18】The higher animals engage in individual fights, but never in organized masses. Man is the only one that deals in the atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only animal that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and with calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out, as the Hessians did in our Revolution, and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel.

【19】Man is the only animal that robs his helpless fellow of his country—takes possession of it and drives him out of it or destroys him. Man has done this in all the ages. There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner, or that has not been taken away from owner after owner, cycle after cycle, by force and bloodshed. Man is the only Slave.

【20】And he is the only animal who enslaves. He has always been a slave in one form or another, and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another. In our day, he is always some man's slave for wages, and does that man's work, and this slave has other slaves under him for minor wages, and they do his work. The higher animals are the only ones who exclusively do their own work and provide their own living.

【21】Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people’s countries, and keeps them from grabbing slices of his—and in the intervals between campaigns, he washes the blood off his hands and—works for “the universal brotherhood of man”—with his mouth.

【22】Man is the Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion—several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself, and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven.

【23】He was at it in the time of the Caesars, he was at it in Mohammed's time, he was at it in the time of the Inquisition, he was at it in France for a couple of centuries, he was at it in England in Mary's day, he has been at it ever since he first saw the light. The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out, in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.

【24】Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. Indeed, my experiments have proven to me that he is the Unreasoning Animal. Note his history as sketched above. It seems plain to me that whatever he is, he is not a reasoning animal.

【25】In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which the other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Among my experiments was this: In an hour, I taught a cat and dog to be friends. I put them in a cage. In another hour, I taught them to be friends with a rabbit. In the course of two days, I was able to add a fox, a goose, a squirrel, and some doves. Finally, a monkey. They lived together in peace, even affectionately.

【26】Next, in another cage, I confined an Irish Catholic, and then, as soon as he seemed tame, I added a Scotch Presbyterian. Next, a Turk; a Greek Christian; a Methodist from Arkansas; a Buddhist from China. Finally, a Salvation Army Colonel from Wapping. Then I stayed away two whole days.

【27】When I came back to note results, the cage of Higher Animals was all right, but in the other there was but a chaos of gory odds and ends of turbans and plaids and bones and flesh—not a specimen left alive. These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail and carried the matter to a Higher Court.

【28】And so I find that we have descended and degenerated, from some far ancestor—some microscopic atom wandering at its pleasure between the mighty horizons of a drop of water perhaps—insect by insect, animal by animal, reptile by reptile, down the long highway of perfect innocence, till we have reached the bottom stage of development—namable as the Human Being. Below us—nothing.

第六课

可恶的人类

马克·吐温

【1】我一直在研究“低等动物”的特征和性格，并将它们与人类的特征和性格进行对比。我觉得这个结果很丢脸。因为它迫使我放弃我对达尔文的“人类从低等动物进化而来”理论的忠诚，而把它命名为“人类从高等动物进化而来”。

【2】在得出这个令人不快的结论的过程中，我并没有猜测、推测或猜测，而是使用了通常所说的科学方法。也就是说，我对每一个提出的假设都进行了实际实验的严格检验，并根据结果采用它或拒绝它。这些实验是在伦敦动物园进行的，经过了几个月艰苦而劳累的工作。

【3】我的一些实验很有趣。在我阅读的过程中，我遇到过这样一个案例:许多年前，在我们的大平原上，一些猎人为了娱乐一位英国伯爵而组织了一次水牛狩猎，同时也为他的餐桌提供了一些鲜肉。他们玩得很开心。他们杀死了72只这样的大动物;吃了其中一只的一部分，剩下的七十一只腐烂了。

【4】为了确定蟒蛇和伯爵(如果有的话)之间的区别，他们把七只小牛幼崽关进了蟒蛇的笼子。这只心存感激的爬行动物立刻把其中的一只咬碎吞了下去，然后心满意足地躺下。它对小牛不再感兴趣，也没有伤害它们的倾向。我用其他的蟒蛇做了这个实验;结果总是一样的。

【5】事实证明，“伯爵”和“蟒蛇”的区别在于“伯爵”是残忍的，而“蟒蛇”不是;伯爵肆意破坏他不需要的东西，但蟒蛇不会。这似乎表明蟒蛇不是伯爵的后裔。这似乎也表明伯爵是蟒蛇的后裔，在过渡过程中失去了很多东西。

【6】我注意到，许多人积累了数以百万计的钱，花不完，却表现出对更多钱的狂热渴望，为了部分满足这种欲望，他们毫不顾忌地骗取无知和无助的人的微薄积蓄。我给一百种不同的野生和驯养动物提供了积累大量食物的机会，但它们没有一个愿意这样做。

【7】松鼠、蜜蜂和某些鸟类会积累食物，但当它们收集到过冬的食物时就会停下来，无法说服它们诚实地或用诡计来增加食物。这些实验使我确信，人类与高等动物之间存在着这样的区别:人类贪婪而吝啬;动物不是。

【8】在我的实验过程中，我使自己确信，在所有动物中，只有人会把侮辱和伤害藏在心里，耿耿于怀，等待机会出现，然后采取报复行动。复仇的激情是高级动物所没有的。

【9】公鸡有后宫，但这是他们的妃嫔同意的，因此没有错。男人有后宫，但这是靠蛮力，是由残酷的法律赋予的特权，而这些法律是不允许女性参与制定的。在这件事上，人的地位比公鸡低得多。

【10】猫在道德上是放荡的，但不是自觉的。人类从猫进化而来，把猫的散漫性也带来了，但却把无意识抛在了身后，这是给猫开脱的可取之处。猫是无辜的，人不是。

【11】下流、庸俗、淫秽，这些都是严格限于人类的;他发明了它们。在高等动物中，没有他们的踪迹。他们什么也不隐瞒;他们并不感到羞耻。人用污秽的心灵掩盖了自己。他甚至不会光着胸和背走进客厅，他和他的伙伴们对猥亵的暗示是如此的活跃。

【12】人是“会笑的动物”。但正如达尔文先生指出的那样，猴子也是如此;澳大利亚的一种鸟也被称为“笑蠢蛋”。人不是会脸红的动物。他是唯一一个这样做的人，或者有机会这样做的人。

【13】在这篇文章的开头，我们看到几天前“三个和尚被烧死了”，还有一位修道士“被残忍地处死”。我们要调查细节吗?不;或者我们应该发现院长遭受了无法发表的残害。

【14】人，当他是北美印第安人的时候，会挖出囚犯的眼睛;当他是约翰国王的时候，为了使侄子不惹麻烦，他就用一块烧红的铁;在中世纪，当他是一名宗教狂热者，与异教徒打交道时，他活剥俘虏的皮，并在他的背上撒盐;在理查一世时期，他把一大批犹太人家庭关在一座高塔里，然后放火烧了它。

【15】在哥伦布的时代，他捕获了一个西班牙犹太人家庭，但这并没有记录;在我们今天的英国，一个人因为用椅子把他的母亲打得几乎要死了而被罚款10先令，另一个人因为拥有4个野鸡蛋而不能令人满意地解释他是如何得到这些蛋的而被罚款40先令。

【16】在所有的动物中，只有人是残忍的。他是唯一一个以制造痛苦为乐的人。这是高等动物所不知道的特性。猫和受惊的老鼠玩耍，但她有这个借口，她不知道老鼠正在受苦。

【17】猫是温和的，非人类的温和，她只吓唬老鼠，她不伤害它;她不会挖出它的眼睛，扯掉它的皮肤，也不会像男人那样在它的指甲里插碎片;当她玩完后，她突然把它当饭吃，让它摆脱麻烦。人是残忍的动物。在这一点上，他是独一无二的。

【18】高等动物进行个体战斗，但从不进行有组织的集体战斗。人类是唯一一个在战争中犯下暴行的人。他是唯一一种把他的兄弟们聚集在他身边，冷血而平静地去消灭他的同类的动物。人类是唯一一种动物，为了肮脏的工资，他们会像黑森人在我们的革命中所做的那样，去帮助屠杀那些没有伤害过他，也没有和他争吵过的异族人。

【19】人是唯一从无助的同胞手中抢夺家园的动物，占有家园，把他赶出家园，或者毁灭他。人类自古以来就是这样做的。地球上没有一英亩土地属于它的合法所有者，也没有一英亩土地不是被一个又一个的所有者，用武力和流血从一个又一个的所有者手中夺走的。人是唯一的奴隶。

【20】人是唯一奴役人的动物。他总是以这样或那样的形式成为奴隶，并且总是以这样或那样的方式奴役其他奴隶。在我们这个时代，他总是为了工资而成为某个人的奴隶，替那个人干活，而这个奴隶又有其他奴隶在他下面，拿很少的工资，替他干活。高等动物是唯一只做自己的工作，养活自己的动物。

【21】人是唯一的爱国者。他在自己的国家，在自己的旗帜下，把自己和其他国家区别开来，嘲笑其他国家，不惜重金，让大批穿着制服的刺客在身边，抢夺别人的国家，不让他们抢夺他的国家，在战争的间隙，他洗掉手上的血迹，用他的嘴为“人类的普遍兄弟情谊”而工作。

【22】人是宗教动物。他是唯一的宗教动物。他是唯一拥有真正宗教的动物，其中有好几种。人是唯一一种爱邻居如爱自己的动物，如果邻居的信仰不正确，他会割断邻居的喉咙。他在尽他最大的努力为他的兄弟铺平通往幸福和天堂的道路，把地球变成了一个墓地。

【23】在凯撒时代，在穆罕默德时代，在宗教裁判所时代，在法国有几个世纪的历史，在玛丽时代的英国有几个世纪的历史，从他第一次看到光明的时候就开始了。高等动物没有宗教信仰。我们被告知，在来世，他们将被排除在外。我想知道为什么?这似乎是有问题的品味。

【24】人是理性的动物。这就是他们的主张。我认为这是可以争论的。事实上，我的实验已经向我证明，他是一个没有理性的动物。请注意他的历史概述如上所述。在我看来，很明显，不管他是什么，他都不是理性动物。

【25】事实上，人是不可救药的愚蠢。其他动物很容易学会的简单事情，他却学不会。我的实验是这样的:在一个小时内，我教会了一只猫和一只狗成为朋友。我把它们放在笼子里。又过了一个小时，我教他们和一只兔子做朋友。在两天的时间里，我加了一只狐狸、一只鹅、一只松鼠和一些鸽子。最后，一只猴子。他们和平相处，甚至是相亲相爱。

【26】接着，在另一个笼子里，我关了一只爱尔兰天主教徒，等它似乎驯服了，我又加了一只苏格兰长老会教徒。下一个是土耳其人;希腊基督徒;一位来自阿肯色州的卫理公会教徒;一个来自中国的佛教徒。最后一位来自华平的救世军上校。然后我离开了整整两天。

【27】当我回来查看结果时，高等动物的笼子还好好的，但另一个笼子里却堆满了血淋漓的头巾、格子布、骨头和肉的零头，没有一个活着的动物。这些理性动物在一个神学细节上产生了分歧，并将此事提交给了高等法院。

【28】因此，我发现，我们是从某个遥远的祖先，也许是某个在一滴水的广阔视野间自由自在地游荡的微观原子，一个昆虫接着一个昆虫，一种动物接着一种动物，一种爬行动物接着一种爬行动物，沿着完美无瑕的漫长道路不断下降和退化的，直到我们到达发展的最底层，可称为人类。在我们下面什么也没有。