In the Laboratory with Agassiz

“When do you wish to begin?” he asked.

“你想什么时候开始？”他问。

“Now,” I replied.

“现在。”我答道。

This seemed to please him, and with an energetic “Very well,” he reached from a shelf a huge jar of specimens in yellow alcohol.

这似乎让他很高兴。他干脆地说了一声“很好”，便从架子上取下一只大罐子，里面是泡在黄色酒精里的标本。

With that he left me, but in a moment returned with explicit instructions as to the care of the object entrusted to me.

说完他就走了，可是一转眼又回来，明确交代了怎样照管交给我的这件东西。

“No man is fit to be a naturalist,” said he, “who does not know how to take care of specimens.”

“不懂得照管标本的人，”他说，“不配做博物学家。”

In ten minutes I had seen all that could be seen in that fish, and started in search of the professor, who had however left the museum; and when I returned, after lingering over some of the odd animals stored in the upper apartment, my specimen was dry all over. I dashed the fluid over the fish as if to resuscitate the beast from a fainting-fit, and looked with anxiety for a return of the normal, sloppy appearance. This little excitement over, nothing was to be done but return to a steadfast gaze at my mute companion. Half an hour passed,—an hour,—another hour; the fish began to look loathsome. I turned it over and around; looked it in the face,—ghastly; from behind, beneath, above, sideways, at a three quarters’ view,—just as ghastly. I was in despair; at an early hour I concluded that lunch was necessary; so, with infinite relief, the fish was carefully replaced in the jar, and for an hour I was free.

十分钟里，我就把那条鱼身上能看的都看完了，于是去找教授，可他已经离开了博物馆；等我在楼上一间陈列室里看了一会儿那些稀奇古怪的动物再回来，我的标本已经全身干透了。我把液体泼在鱼身上，好像要把一头昏过去的野兽救醒，焦急地盼着它恢复那副正常的湿漉漉的样子。这阵小小的忙乱过去之后，就没有别的事可做了，只能回去继续盯着我这位不会说话的同伴。半小时过去了，——一小时，——又一小时；那条鱼开始显得令人作呕。我把它翻过来，转过去；正面看它的脸，——可怕；从后面、下面、上面、侧面，从四分之三的角度看，——一样可怕。我绝望了；时间还早，我就断定该吃午饭了；于是，带着无限的轻松，我小心地把鱼放回罐里，有一个小时我是自由的。

On my return, I learned that Professor Agassiz had been at the museum, but had gone and would not return for several hours. My fellow-students were too busy to be disturbed by continued conversation. Slowly I drew forth that hideous fish, and with a feeling of desperation again looked at it. I might not use a magnifying glass; instruments of all kinds were interdicted. My two hands, my two eyes, and the fish; it seemed a most limited field. I pushed my finger down its throat to feel how sharp the teeth were. I began to count the scales in the different rows until I was convinced that that was nonsense. At last a happy thought struck me—I would draw the fish; and now with surprise I began to discover new features in the creature. Just then the professor returned.

回来以后，我得知阿加西教授来过博物馆，但又走了，好几个小时都不会回来。同学们都太忙，不能用聊天去打扰他们。我慢慢地把那条丑陋的鱼取出来，怀着一种绝望的心情又看着它。我不许用放大镜；一切仪器都在禁止之列。我的两只手，我的两只眼睛，再加上这条鱼：这片天地似乎窄得可怜。我把手指伸进它的喉咙，摸一摸牙齿有多锋利。我开始数不同行列上的鳞片，直到确信这毫无意义。最后，我想到一个好主意——我要把这条鱼画下来；这一画，我惊讶地发现了这个动物身上的种种新特征。就在这时，教授回来了。

With these encouraging words, he added,—

说了这几句鼓励的话，他接着问道，——

“Well, what is it like?”

“那么，它是什么样子的？”

“You have not looked very carefully; why,” he continued, more earnestly, “you haven’t even seen one of the most conspicuous features of the animal, which is as plainly before your eyes as the fish itself; look again, look again!” and he left me to my misery.

“你看得不够仔细；咦，”他更恳切地接着说，“这个动物身上最显眼的特征之一，你连看都没看到，它就像这条鱼本身一样明明白白地摆在你眼前；再看，再看！”说完他就走了，留下我一个人难受。

I was piqued; I was mortified. Still more of that wretched fish! But now I set myself to my task with a will, and discovered one new thing after another, until I saw how just the professor’s criticism had been. The afternoon passed quickly, and when, toward its close, the professor inquired,—

我很恼火，也很羞愧。还是那条讨厌的鱼！可是这回我下定决心干这件事，发现了一样又一样新东西，直到明白教授的批评是多么中肯。下午过得很快，到傍晚时分，教授问道，——

“Do you see it yet?”

“你看出来了吗？”

“That is next best,” said he, earnestly, “but I won’t hear you now; put away your fish and go home; perhaps you will be ready with a better answer in the morning. I will examine you before you look at the fish.”

“这是第二好的事，”他恳切地说，“不过我现在不听你说了；把鱼收起来，回家去吧；也许明天早上你会有个更好的回答。我要在你看鱼之前先考你。”

The cordial greeting from the professor the next morning was reassuring; here was a man who seemed to be quite as anxious as I, that I should see for myself what he saw.

第二天早上，教授亲切地招呼我，这让我安下心来；这是一个似乎和我一样急切的人，盼着我能亲眼看到他所看到的东西。

“Do you perhaps mean,” I asked, “that the fish has symmetrical sides with paired organs?”

“您指的也许是，”我问道，“这条鱼两侧对称，器官成对？”

His thoroughly pleased, “Of course, of course!” repaid the wakeful hours of the previous night. After he had discoursed most happily and enthusiastically—as he always did—upon the importance of this point, I ventured to ask what I should do next.

他那一声由衷高兴的“当然，当然！”抵得上我前一夜所有的不眠。他就这一点的重要性兴致勃勃、娓娓动听地讲了一番——他总是这样——之后，我大着胆子问下一步该做什么。

“Oh, look at your fish!” he said, and left me again to my own devices. In a little more than an hour he returned and heard my new catalogue.

“哦，看你的鱼！”他说完，又把我交给了我自己。过了一个多小时，他回来听我的新清单。

“That is good, that is good!” he repeated; “but that is not all; go on;” and so for three long days he placed that fish before my eyes, forbidding me to look at anything else, or to use any artificial aid. “Look, look, look,” was his repeated injunction.

“很好，很好！”他一再说，“但还不是全部；接着看；”就这样，整整三天，他把那条鱼放在我眼前，不许我看别的东西，也不许借助任何人工的帮助。“看，看，再看，”这是他反复的叮嘱。

This was the best entomological lesson I ever had,—a lesson, whose influence has extended to the details of every subsequent study; a legacy the professor has left to me, as he has left it to many others, of inestimable value, which we could not buy, with which we cannot part.

这是我上过的最好的一课昆虫学，——这一课的影响，延伸到了我此后每一项研究的细节之中；这是教授留给我的一份遗产，也像他留给许多别人的一样，价值无法估量，我们买不来，也舍不得丢下。

A year afterward, some of us were amusing ourselves with chalking outlandish beasts upon the museum blackboard. We drew prancing star-fishes; frogs in mortal combat; hydra-headed worms; stately crawfishes, standing on their tails, bearing aloft umbrellas; and grotesque fishes with gaping mouths and staring eyes. The professor came in shortly after, and was as amused as any, at our experiments. He looked at the fishes.

一年以后，我们几个人在博物馆的黑板上用粉笔画些古怪的动物取乐。我们画了腾跃的海星；殊死搏斗的青蛙；长着许多头的虫子；用尾巴站立、高举着伞的威风凛凛的小龙虾；还有张着大嘴、瞪着眼睛的奇形怪状的鱼。不一会儿，教授进来了，他和我们谁都一样被这些涂鸦逗乐了。他看着那些鱼。

“Hæmulons, every one of them,” he said; “Mr. —— drew them.”

“全是石鲈，”他说，“是某某先生画的。”

True; and to this day, if I attempt a fish, I can draw nothing but Hæmulons.

没错；直到今天，我要是想画一条鱼，除了石鲈什么也画不出来。

The fourth day, a second fish of the same group was placed beside the first, and I was bidden to point out the resemblances and differences between the two; another and another followed, until the entire family lay before me, and a whole legion of jars covered the table and surrounding shelves; the odor had become a pleasant perfume; and even now, the sight of an old, six-inch, worm-eaten cork brings fragrant memories!

第四天，同一类的第二条鱼放在了第一条旁边，我被要求指出两者的相同与不同之处；接着一条又一条，直到整个科都摆在我面前，桌子上和四周的架子上排满了一大群罐子；那气味已经变成了一种好闻的香味；直到现在，看到一只六英寸长、被虫蛀过的旧软木塞，还会勾起芬芳的回忆！

The whole group of Hæmulons was thus brought in review; and, whether engaged upon the dissection of the internal organs, the preparation and examination of the bony frame-work, or the description of the various parts, Agassiz’ training in the method of observing facts and their orderly arrangement was ever accompanied by the urgent exhortation not to be content with them.

就这样，整个石鲈类群都检阅了一遍；无论是解剖内脏，制备和检查骨骼，还是描述各个部分，阿加西在观察事实、整理事实的方法上给我们的训练，总伴随着一句恳切的告诫：不要满足于事实本身。

At the end of eight months, it was almost with reluctance that I left these friends and turned to insects; but what I had gained by this outside experience has been of greater value than years of later investigation in my favorite groups.

八个月结束时，我几乎是依依不舍地离开了这些朋友，转向昆虫；但是我从这段本行以外的经历中得到的东西，比后来多年在我所偏爱的类群里的研究都更有价值。