2014-01-04

【Aiden in English】

        Under the huge yellow sun, the life in Tala Private Game Reserve was remarkable. Everything was moving and had a role in the on-going circle of life. There, 3 of the African Big Five could be seen, which was the black rhino, elephant, and cape buffalo in the wild savannah outside of Durban, South Africa.

        As we drove through, the first animal we saw was a gnu which was sitting in the middle of the road. Its short pointy horns stuck out of the sides of the animal's head while it took its time crossing the road. The next animal we spotted was a black ostrich. It was a male and was dining on a garden of seeds. More animals came out one after the other. The impalas grazed in the tall grass, while Egyptian geese swan through the lagoon, searching for small fish.

        In the mealtime, we noticed some new animals like the Kudus which looked like a deer with long antlers and the Gemsbok, an antelope with a white stripe down the center of its face. However, a Gemsbok had pointy antlers where as a Kudu had curved antlers.

        No matter how good the animals appeared to be, the scenery always better. Endless rolling hills stretched into the distance. On the other side, there was a small pond with a jungle on the horizon. Not a cloud was in the sky and the sun was shining brightly.

        As we went on, the animals began to repeat. Sounders of warthogs flew by and zebras just turned into a black and white blur. Rhino lay down by the lagoon in the sun. Their large horns reflected the light, making it shine and gleam. 

        All the animals seemed like the ones in a zoo. They had no predators because the people kept the lions and leopards away. The animals just stood there without anything to fear. They looked like statues that ate, slept, gave birth, slept, and ate. Sometimes life needs a little danger to really make it interesting.

【紅霞譯文】

        太陽光芒萬丈，把塔拉私營禁獵區的動物滋養得膘肥體胖，生命周而復始永不停息，非洲五霸中的黑犀牛、大象和水牛三位好漢常年駐紮南非德班城外這片野味十足的大草原上。

        我們驅車遊覽，靜坐在馬路中間的角馬首先擋住了去路，其腦袋上長得羚角又尖又短，過馬路不慌不忙，比老牛拉破車速度還慢。接下來黑色公鴕鳥進入視線，它正在花園裡忙打牙祭。越來越多的動物競相出現，黑斑羚在深草叢中飽食終日﹔埃及雁團團圍着瀉湖飛來轉去，死死盯住水中小魚。

        在領略上述“老面孔”風采的同時，我們還結識了一些新知，像扭角林羚和南非劍羚，兩者都是羚羊之類的動物，但扭角林羚鹿角既長又尖﹔而南非劍羚臉心則有斑紋，並且鹿角帶彎。

        其實不管這裡野生動物有多麼誘人，都不及周圍自然風光旖旎。放眼望去，連綿起伏的丘陵無窮無盡地伸向遙遠，清泉潺潺，綠樹悠悠，明媚的天空萬里無雲，燦爛的陽光普照大地。

        我們繼續向前，見到的都是已經熟知的動物。疣豬從眼前飛速閃過，斑馬黑白條紋令人看得眼花繚亂﹔犀牛四仰八叉躺在瀉湖旁曬着太陽，兩個大牛角反射出刺眼的光芒。

        這裡所有的野生動物好像圈養在動物園的馴養動物一樣沒有任何天敵，因為獅子和豹子早已被人們拒之門外，所以它們無憂無慮逍遙自在，猶如一尊活雕塑，整天吃飯、睡覺、繁衍後代，睡了吃吃了睡。生活有時候需要一點緊迫感，否則索然乏味