BBC Earth｜灵长类动物的母性情感

The Emotions of Motherhood in Primates｜BBC Earth

All over the world, you can see animals wrestling with the emotions a newborn brings, but it's clearest in primates.
在世界各地，你都能看到动物们与新生儿带来的情绪搏斗，但在灵长类动物身上表现得最明显。

In Madagascar, ring-tailed lemurs have to stay together to survive, particularly in a drought. One of the babies is too weak to hold on. Lemurs can't easily carry their young, so the mother faces an appalling dilemma. If she's separated from the others for too long, they could attack her as an outsider. She has to choose between her baby and herself.
在马达加斯加，环尾狐猴必须呆在一起才能生存，特别是在干旱的时候。其中一只幼崽太虚弱了，不能抓紧母亲。携带幼崽对狐猴来说不是件易事，所以母亲面临着一个可怕的困境。如果她和其他人分开太久，他们可能会把她当作局外人攻击。她必须在孩子和自己之间做出选择。

The mother moves to follow the troop, but she returns five times. Her mind must be struggling back and forth. Many scientists believe she feels emotion and is thinking about her feelings. It's called affective consciousness. It's now thought likely all mammals are aware of their instinctive feelings. It could be hard to be a good mother without it.
母亲跟着大部队前进，但她又返回了五次。她的大脑一定在来回挣扎。许多科学家认为，它能感受到情感，并在思考自己的感受。这就是所谓的情感意识。现在人们认为，所有哺乳动物都可能意识到自己的本能感受。没有这种本能，很难成为一个好母亲。

As her baby got weaker, she left for the last time. We can't know for sure what she was thinking or feeling, but she behaved as though she'd come to a decision that she found very difficult.
随着她的孩子越来越虚弱，她最后一次离开了。我们无法确定她当时的想法或感受，但她表现得就像做出了一个她觉得非常困难的决定。

Emotions are just instincts that you can feel, that you are aware of. They're the voices of our genes and our past. But conscious minds can manipulate each other's emotions right from the start.
情绪只是一种本能，你能感觉到，你能意识到。它们是我们的基因和过去发出的声音。但有意识的大脑从一开始就能操纵对方的情绪。

A vervet monkey is born. The baby meets a young cousin. He may be a new friend, an ally or competition. It all depends on his mother's social standing. She is not the only one in her community having a baby.
一只青长尾猴出生了。这只小猴遇到了一个年轻的表亲。他可能是一个新的朋友、盟友或竞争对手。这一切都取决于他母亲的社会地位。她不是社区里唯一一个生孩子的人。

For the teenage sisters, it's a thrilling time. They beg any chance to hold the newborns. The high-ranking females don't beg, they grab babies and teach them who's boss. Junior mothers have to be more protective.
对于十几岁的姐妹们来说，这是一个激动人心的时刻。他们乞求任何抱住新生儿的机会。地位较高的雌性不会乞求，它们会夺走幼崽，告诉它们谁是老大。年轻母亲必须更加保护孩子。

词汇表
motherhood  母性，母亲身份
primate 灵长类动物
wrestle with 与…搏斗， 努力克服
newborn 新生儿，新生幼崽
Madagascar 马达加斯加岛（非洲岛国）
ring-tailed lemur 环尾狐猴：因身体像猴，面部像狐，有着黑白相间的环状长尾而得名，喜欢成群活动
drought 干旱，旱灾
appalling dilemma 可怕的两难困境
outsider 外人，局外人，不合群的人
troop 一群（人或野生动物），部队
back and forth 反复地，来回地
affective consciousness 情感意识，指的是个体对自身情感状态的认识和理解
mammal 哺乳动物
instinctive feeling 本能感受
come to a decision 做出决定
manipulate 操纵，控制
vervet monkey 黑长尾猴，长尾黑颚猴：体型似家猫大小，具有高度社会化的行为和结构
ally 同盟，盟友
social standing 社会地位
high-ranking 高级别的，地位高的

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