Gregory Scott Paul: differenze tra le versioni

Contenuto cancellato Contenuto aggiunto
Nessun oggetto della modifica
Riga 5:
:''The biggest living terrestrial predator, the Siberian tiger, at about a third of a metric ton (300 kg) pales in comparison to the biggest of the meat-eating dinosaurs, which reached 5 to perhaps 20 metric tons - the size of elephants and bigger. But while elephants cannot run, the biggest predatory dinosaurs probably ran as fast as horses, and they hunted herbivores that themselves were as big as or bigger than elephants.'' (p. 19)
 
*Cosa penseremmo e cosa sentiremmo sui dinosauri carnivori se fossero vivi ai tempi nostri? Gli umanoumani hanno da tempo sentito antipatia verso i carnivori, i nostri concorrenti per la scarsa proteina. Ma i nostri sentimenti sono leggermente placati dai tratti attraenti che vediamo in loro. Per quanto siano grandi e possenti, i leoni ci rammentano delle bestiole che si raggomitolano sui nostri grembi, e che fanno le fuse quando li accarezziamo. Nello stesso modo, i nobili lupi ci rammentano dei nostri compagni canini. I cani e i gatti sono buoni compagni perché sono intelligenti, sensibili alle nostre esigenze, e i loro corpi flessibili li rendono piacevoli da toccare e per giocarci. Più importante, sono ammaestrabili. I loro occhi rivolti di fronte ci fanno ricordare noi stessi. Al contrario, neanche i dinosauri carnivori più piccoli avrebbero un tale vantaggio. Nessuno di loro era abbastanza intelligente per essere addomesticabile o ammaestrabile. Infatti, avrebbero rappresentato un pericolo continuo per i loro padroni. I loro corpi rigidi, e forse piumati, non sarebbero del tipo che ci piacerebbe avere ai piedi in letto. I giganti dai tratti rettiloidi, i grandi carnivori, sarebbero stati veramente orribili e terrificanti. Avremmo ammirato la loro grandezza e la loro potenza, nello stesso modo in cui molti s'interessano nelle macchine da guerra, ma non ci piacerebbero. Le loro immagini nella letteratura e nella musica sarebbero demonici e potenti - mostri da temere e distruggere ma, allo stesso tempo, d'ammirare.
:''How would we think and feel about predatory dinosaurs if they were alive today? Humans have long felt antipathy toward carnivores, our competitors for scarce protein. But our feelings are somewhat mollified by the attractive qualities we see in them. For all their size and power, lions remind us of the little creatures that we like to have curl up in our laps and purr as we stroke them. Likewise, noble wolves recall our canine pets. Cats and dogs make good companions because they are intelligent and responsive to our commands, and their supple bodies make them pleasing to touch and play with. And, very importantly, they are house-trainable. Their forward-facing eyes remind us of ourselves. However, even small predaceous dinosaurs would have had no such advantage. None were brainy enough to be companionable or house-trainable; in fact, they would always be a danger to their owners. Their stiff, perhaps feathery bodies were not what one would care to have sleep at the foot of the bed. The reptilian-faced giants that were the big predatory dinosaurs would truly be horrible and terrifying. We might admire their size and power, much as many are fascinated with war and its machines, but we would not like them. Their images in literature and music would be demonic and powerful - monsters to be feared and destroyed, yet emulated at the same time. '' (p. 19)