黑色曼巴蛇之舞 曼巴蛇

　　It was one of those pearly grey African dawns, the sky was slightly overcast and a heavy dew had settled. Further down the valley hippos were sloshing about along the edge of a shallow lake, and a dove was calling a song that I always connect with Africa. ①A pride of lions had been close-by for most of the night but now they were quiet, and the impala, moving with dainty elegance down the slope to my left, were calm. It was cool, the sun would not be up for another ten minutes or so, everything poised in anticipation for that transition from night to day. I was sitting in front of a simple house of whitewashed mud bricks, occupied by a Belgian zoologist who was studying roan and eland, as well as being part of a team working on a management plan for the Akagera Park. Its 965 square miles, plus an additional 123 square miles of Mutara game reserve, in the north-eastern corner of Rwanda in Central Mrica, account for some ten per cent of the total surface area of the country. Although a small park by African standards, it is surprisingly large for a tiny country like Rwanda, ②straining at the seams with people desperate for a tiny fragment of land to grow something to eat.
　　Stanley came here in 1876 on one of his journeys seeking for the truth about the source of the Nile. He had come up the Akagera river and had climbed a hill to take in the view of the broad valley of the Akagera, which he called the Alexandra Nile, filled with lakes and papyrus swamps. Beyond the valley he could see "ridge after ridge, separated from each other by deep parallel basins, or valleys, and behind these, receding into dim and vague outlines, towered loftier ridges. About sixty miles off, to the north-west, rose a colossal sugar-loaf clump of enormous altitude, which I was told was the Ullmbiro mountains". The distant peaks were actually the Virunga Volcanoes, home of mountain gorillas which would remain unseen by Europeans until 1902. The broad valley with its lakes and papyrus swamps are home for sitatunga (aquatic antelopes) and the rare shoebill stork. In 1987 we discovered lions on the floating islands of papyrus where they preyed on the sitatunga, presumably swimming from island to island. This is a terrain where walking is a wet experience and rather like moving around on a giant water bed.
　　The Akagera landscape is rich and varied; the steep hills with their neat parallel ridges form an almost complete savannah ecosystem intersected by strips of forest; huge areas to wander in for days without seeing another human being - so different to the traffic jams of the Kenyan Parks. Akagera was the site for successful re-introductions of giraffe and elephant, and there was an ambitious plan to do the same for wild dogs but momentum for that project died with the war in Rwanda that sadly resulted in mines being senselessly laid in the park and countless animals being shot to feed soldiers.
　　As I sat, watching the dawn, Akagera was still peaceful; the war was still two years away. I felt uncomfortable but only because I had to leave this place. The sun was now up, drying off the dew and bringing the first tsetse flies. Reluctantly, I packed the landcruiser and joined the dirt road that leads from Shama to Gabiro at the entrance to the park some forty minutes drive distant. By my side were binoculars and camera in case we encountered something interesting. The road slowly ③wound its way along the foot of a line of hills; past the turning where we had looked for the female black rhino and her calf; past the place where we could always count on seeing a large herd of buffalo; and I was beginning to think that the journey would be uneventful until, on rounding a corner we encountered two large snakes, at the edge of the dirt road coiled around each other in a vigorous dance that I immediately thought was a courtship activity. It did not take long to realize that we were looking at two large black mambas. It took about half a minute to ④weigh up the situation through binoculars; black mambas are extremely dangerous, known to pursue victims at high speed, but these two seemed so preoccupied with each other, I decided to slowly and carefully open the door and crawled in front of the car, ending up sitting on the ground with my back resting against the front fender less than ten metres away from the two snakes. Remarkably, the two mambas continued their dance, ignoring me and the car. With the 300mm lens resting on my knees, I had a wonderful view of their behaviour, which continued for at least five minutes before they moved into the long grass at the edge of the road, out of view. I decided not to pursue them.
　　I was wrong in thinking that the two mambas were engaged in courtship. There is little doubt that the two mambas were two adult males in combat, a wrestling match that ends up in one of them being exhausted, and fleeing. It is probable that a female was nearby and the males were fighting for the right to mate with her. Harry Green, from the University of California at Berkeley, writes that "male-male combat is recorded for mambas as well as various vipers, colubrids and other elapids. Mating is typically a quieter affair, without the extensive intertwining or the upraised foreparts."
　　It was one of those incredibly lucky encounters, completely unpredictable and one that will never be forgotten. It lifted the bleak mood of departure as we continued on down the road that led us out of the park at Gabiro.
　　
　　Adrian Warren is a wildlife photographer for the BBC.
　　
　　那是非洲惯有的一个呈珍珠灰色的黎明，天空有点儿阴沉，浓重的露水已然停息。在河谷下游更远的地方，河马在一个不深的湖泊中沿着边缘游走，一只鸽子正在唱着一首总是令我联想到非洲的歌曲。一群狮子在夜里的大部分时间里都呆在附近，但现在它们安静了，而步伐优雅地从斜坡之上来到我身侧左方的黑斑羚也是安安静静的。天气清爽，太阳过10分钟左右才会升起，万物祥和，期待着夜晚到白昼的过渡。我当时就坐在一所粉刷过的泥砖简易房前，屋中住着一位比利时动物学家，此人正在研究杂色马和大羚羊，而且是规划阿卡盖拉公园管理方案的团队中的一员。此地位于岸姆里卡中部地区卢旺达的东北角，幅员965平方英里，再额外算上123平方英里的牧塔拉禁猎区，总共占据了该国全部地表面积的10%左右。尽管按照非洲的标准来说，它是一个小型公园，但对于卢旺达这个有无数民众渴望得到一小块土地来耕作谋生的小国家来说，却是惊人的辽阔。
　　1876年，曾展开旅行追寻尼罗河源头的斯坦利（注：此人全名Henry Stanley，英国探险家、记者）到这里来过一次。他沿着阿卡盖拉河逆流而上，攀爬上了一座山峰来观赏阿卡盖拉河的河谷景致，而这条满是湖泊和纸草沼泽的河流则被他称之为亚历山大尼罗河。在河谷的对岸，他可以看到，“一座座的山脊，被深邃、平行的盆地或河谷相互隔开，而更高的山脊则耸立在其后，化为了模糊而又朦胧的轮廓。大约在西北方向60英里处，隆起一座海拔极高的巨大圆锥形土丘，我被告知那是厄伦比罗群山”。那些遥远的山峰其实就是维龙加火山群，那里是欧洲人于1902年发现的山地大猩猩的栖息之所。这条散布着湖泊和纸草沼泽的宽广河谷栖息着泽羚（水栖羚羊）和稀有的鲸头鹳。1987年，我们在长满纸草的浮岛上发现了一些狮子，它们在捕食着那些可能是在岛屿间游动的泽羚。在这里的地形走动，就是涉水而行，特像是在一张巨大的水床上移动。
　　阿卡盖拉的景色丰富多变：陡峭山峦中那些平行划一的山脊造就了一个有林带在其间穿梭、几近完整的大草原生态系统；巨大的地带行走数日都见不到人影――与肯尼亚公园里的交通堵塞反差甚大。阿卡盖拉这个地方成功地再度引进了长颈鹿和大象，而且曾经有一个雄伟的计划也要将豺狗引进进来，但那个项目因卢旺达发生的战乱而不了了之，那场战争不幸地造成公园里被愚蠢地埋下了地雷，无数动物被枪杀来为士兵充饥。
　　就在我坐观黎明的时候，阿卡盖拉仍旧是宁和的；那场战争仍是两年后的事情。而我感到不安，只是因为我不得不离开此地。太阳现在升起来了，晒干了露水并招引来了第一拨采采蝇。我不情愿地把东西装进“陆地巡洋舰”，驶上了从夏马到嘎比罗的土路，而嘎比罗就位于公园出口处，距此约有40分钟的车程。我身边放着双筒望远镜和照相机，以防我们会遇到什么有意思的事情。这条路沿着一列群山的山麓缓慢地曲折向前；路过了一个我们曾于此找寻黑色雌性犀牛和其幼崽的弯道；路过了我们总是能指望着看到大群水牛的地方；而就在我开始觉得这次旅行将会是平淡无奇的时候，在绕过一个拐角处后，我们遇到了两条大蛇，在土路边上相互盘绕着，跳着起劲的舞蹈，我立即就想到了那是一个求偶行为。没过多久，我们就意识到，我们正在观看着两条黑色的曼巴蛇。而通过双筒望远镜，大约用了半分钟就对情况有了了解；黑色曼巴蛇是极度危险的，以快速捕食猎物著称，不过这两条似乎却是异常缠绵于彼此，我做出了决定，慢慢地、小心翼翼地打开车门，爬到了车前，在距离这两条蛇不到10米的地方，背靠着前保险杠席地而坐。奇怪的是，这两条曼巴蛇在继续着它们的舞蹈，对我和汽车不加理睬。通过我膝盖上的300 毫米镜头，我清楚地观察到了它们的行为，这一行为持续了至少5分钟，随后它们就钻到路边高高的草丛里，淡出了视线。而我决定不去追随它们。
　　我想错了,这两条曼巴蛇并不是在忙着求爱。几乎可以肯定，这两条曼巴蛇是两条争斗中的成年雄蛇，在进行着一场角力比赛，其结果是它们中有一条精疲力竭，逃之夭夭。可能的情形是，有一条雌蛇就在附近，而这两条雄蛇就是在争夺与其交配的权利。加利福利亚大学伯克利分校的哈利・格林撰述过：“对于曼巴蛇以及各种各样的蝰蛇、无毒之蛇和毒蛇，雄性间的争斗是有案可查的。而交配通常是一件更为隐秘的事情，是不会过分纠缠或是将（蛇的）前身挺立起来的。”
　　那是多次幸运至极的经历之一，完全没有先兆，而且是一次难忘的经历。它在我们再度驶上通往嘎比罗、将我们送出这个公园的路上时，将离别的沮丧一扫而空。
　　
　　艾德里安・沃伦是英国广播
　　公司的野生动植物摄影师
　　
　　pearly /`p8li/ adj.珍珠似的
　　overcast /`9uv9k3st/ adj.阴天的；阴暗的
　　dew /dju:/ n.露；露水
　　hippo /`hip9u/ n.河马
　　slosh /sl4H/ v.(常与about连用)涉水而行
　　impala /im`p7l9/ n.黑斑羚
　　dainty /`deinti/ adj.秀丽的；优美的
　　poise /p4iz/ v.平衡；泰然自若
　　whitewash /`(h)waitw4H/ v.粉刷
　　roan /r9un/ n.杂色马
　　eland /`1l9nd/ n.大羚羊
　　seam /s1m/ n.接缝；线缝
　　papyrus /p9`pai9r9s/ n.纸草
　　swamp /sw4mp/ n.沼泽；湿地
　　recede /ri`s1d/ v.后退
　　lofty /`l4(:)fti/ adj.高高的
　　colossal /k9`l4sl/ adj.巨大的；庞大的
　　sugar-loaf /`HuG9 l9uf/ adj.圆锥形的
　　clump /kl7mp/ n.土块
　　gorilla /G9`ril9/ n.大猩猩
　　aquatic /9`kw2tik/ adj.水生的；水栖的
　　antelope /`2ntil9up/ n.羚羊
　　shoebill stork鲸头鹳
　　prey /prei/ vi.捕食
　　savannah /s9`v2n9/ n.(南美)大草原
　　intersect /,int9`sekt/ vt.横断
　　giraffe /_i`r3f/ n.长颈鹿
　　wild dog 豺狗
　　momentum /m9u`ment9m/ n.推进力；势头
　　mine /main/ n.地雷
　　tsetse /`tsetsi/ n.采采蝇
　　binoculars /bi`n4kjul9z/ n.双眼望远镜
　　rhino /`rain9u/ n.犀牛
　　buffalo /`b7f9l9u/ n.(印度、非洲等的)水牛
　　courtship /`k5tHip/ n.求爱
　　mamba /`m3mb9/ n.曼巴(非洲有毒树蛇)
　　preoccupy /pri(:)`4kjupai/ v.使全神贯注；迷住
　　viper /`vaip9/ n.毒蛇
　　colubrid /`k4lubrid/ n.无毒蛇类
　　elapid /`el9pid/ n.毒蛇类
　　intertwine /,int9(:)`twain/ v.纠缠；缠绕
　　bleak /bl1k/ adj.凄凉的
　　
　　① a pride of 一群（狮子）
　　② strain at 在……吃紧
　　③ wind one"s way蜿蜒前进
　　④ weigh up估量