Members of the Poaching Fraternity 关于偷猎者
Among the various wild animals which inhabit the earth,it is difficult to decide which are really friendly and which are really hostile to man's interests.The actual fact appears to be that there is neither hostility nor friendship.If farmers and gardeners kill off too many birds,nature revenges herself by sending a plague of insects which the small birds,if alive,would have eaten.Gamekeepers ruthlessly shoot hawks and kites,or snare stoats and polecats,with the result that their game grows up too thick for its feeding ground,sickly specimens are allowed to linger on,and a destructive murrain follows.The rook,no doubt,is fond of eggs;but nevertheless he does the farmer good service when he devours the grubs which are turned up by the plow;and as the salmon disease,which of late has proved so destructive,is attributed by the best authorities to overcrowding,that glossy-coated fisherman,the otter,is really a benefactor to the followers of Izaak Walton's gentle craft.
地球上生活着各种各样的野生动物，哪些是我们的朋友，哪些是我们的敌人？这很难说。实际上，根本就没有什么敌人和朋友。如果农夫和园丁杀死太多的鸟，大自然就会报复，让那些本来可以被鸟吃掉的虫子大肆泛滥。猎场看守人无情地射杀鹰和鸢这样的猛禽，或者诱捕白鼬和臭鼠，它们的猎物就过度繁殖，其觅食地也因此而变得不堪重负，羸弱的动物也得不到及时的淘汰，结果毁灭性的瘟疫就接踵而至。毫无疑问，秃鼻鸦喜欢偷吃鸟蛋，但是，农民犁地的时候，它们也会吃掉从地下翻出来的虫子，这倒帮了农民的大忙；另外，根据最权威的解释，刚刚被证明极具毁灭性的鲑鱼病是由于鲑鱼数量过多引起的，由此看来，穿着溜滑外套的捕鱼高手水獭可真是那些艾萨克·沃尔顿垂钓技巧信徒们的大恩人呀！
【注】
Izzaak Walton艾萨克·沃尔顿，17世纪英国的一位垂钓爱好者，写了著名的《垂钓大全》（The Compleat Angler），该书介绍了钓鱼技巧、场地选取、鱼饵选取等，也是一本语言优美的散文书。The followers of Izaak Walton's gentle craft指那些垂钓爱好者。这句话的意思是说，对于那些喜欢钓鱼的人来说，捕鱼高手水獭能够让鱼类保持一定数量平衡，而避免了鱼类疾病的盛行，从而也保护了鱼类，使喜欢钓鱼的人能有鱼可钓，因此，他们应该感谢水獭。