85 The Graveyard of Elephants

Fortune hunters used to think that if they could find the elephants’ graveyard they would be rich. Legend had it that old elephants, when they knew they were approaching death, would go to the same secret spot in the jungle to die. According to some accounts, an animal that was wounded or sick would be guided and half carried by other elephants so that it could reach this sacred spot. Of course, if this were true, it would mean that great amounts of ivory would have accumulated at this hidden place. However, despite numerous attempts, no one has ever found this mysterious elephant graveyard.

Recently, however, people have become more interested in learning the truths about live elephants’ behavior than in developing fantastic schemes for finding the tusks of dead ones. Interested scientists who have journeyed to Africa have watched elephants in the wild for years, allowing the huge animals to get used to them so they could observe their behavior at close range. What they have learned about elephants is far more exciting than the location of some secret burial site. Researchers have found that elephants are very intelligent and social animals that form strong friendships among themselves and help to defend and raise each other’s calves. The sympathetic elephants that crowd around one of their wounded friends are actually trying to nurse and protect it, not lead it off to some mythical graveyard.

85 大象的墓地

寻宝者过去认为，只要能找到大象的墓地，就能发家致富。传说年老的大象知道自己快要死亡时，会前往丛林中同一个秘密地点死去。根据一些说法，受伤或生病的大象会在其他大象的引导和半搀扶下，抵达这个神圣的地方。当然，如果这是真的，这意味着大量象牙会堆积在这个隐蔽之处。然而，尽管多次尝试，没人找到过这个神秘的大象墓地。

不过最近，人们更感兴趣的是了解活大象的行为真相，而非制定寻找死象象牙的离奇计划。感兴趣的科学家们前往非洲，多年来观察野外的大象，让这些巨兽习惯他们的存在，以便近距离观察它们的行为。他们对大象的了解，远比某个秘密 burial 地点的位置更令人兴奋。研究人员发现，大象是非常聪明的群居动物，它们彼此之间会建立牢固的友谊，还会帮忙保护和抚养彼此的幼崽。围在受伤同伴身边的富有同情心的大象，实际上是在照料和保护它，而非将它引向某个神秘的墓地。