那么,独角兽的角到底是干嘛用的？

The mythical unicorn continues to gallop its way across the fields of human imagination, from the 4,000-year-old Indus Valley civilization carvings to the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino. But as Argentinian writer and dreamer Jorge Luis Borges pointed out, "The first version of the Unicorn is nearly identical with the latest."

有关独角兽的传说经久不衰，从4000年前的印度河流域文明的石刻上到今天星巴克的独角兽星冰乐，都有这种生物的身影。但正如阿根廷作家/幻想家豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯所言，"独角兽最初和最末的形象基本一样。"

In other words, the unicorn is rarely little more than a one-horned horse. As Joe McCormick and I discuss in our podcast episode "Unicorns of the Mythic World," the fairy-tale beast has come to symbolize everything from sinful lust to Jesus Christ himself, and the purpose of its single horn is rarely clear. Luckily, our episode provides some tantalizing biological suggestions as to why these fanciful beasts would boast such a fabulous protrusion.

换句话说，独角兽基本上就是长了一只角的马。我曾和 Joe McCormick 在我们的播客中讨论过，这种传说中的生物代表着一切从肮脏到圣洁的事物，但这个角的意义却不甚明晰。好在我们的节目提供了一些看上去靠谱的生物学建议来说明为什么要长出来这只角。

For starters, we can cast aside the more magical properties. Natural world organisms don't purify lakes or heal wounded paladins with their bony growths. It's also tempting to cast aside the notion presented in Ridley Scott's 1985 film "Legend," that a unicorn's horn is "a single horn reaching straight to heaven," as if it functions as a sort of divine antenna.

首先我们不考虑魔法因素。大自然不会自己净化湖泊或者用自己的骨骼生长治疗受伤的圣骑士。也先不要琢磨雷德利·斯科特1985年的电影《Legend》说的“独角兽的角是直通天堂的”，好像一根神圣的天线一样。

Yet the idea of a horn antenna isn't that far-fetched. The most famous unicorn of the natural world is the narwhal (Monodon monoceros), though its lone tusk is actually an oversized canine tooth that grows straight out of the creature's face. The exact purpose of the tusk remains a topic of scientific dispute, but it might well function as a sense organ. After all, it's loaded with sensitive nerve endings.

但角状天线这个概念还不算很离谱的。自然界最接近独角兽的动物是一角鲸(Monodon monoceros)，但它的这一根牙齿实际上是一个超大的犬齿，直接从脸上生长出来的。这颗牙的确切目的仍然是一个有科学争论的话题，但它可能是充当了一个感官，毕竟里面是敏感的神经末梢。

Some researchers theorize that narwhals use the tusk to focus their potent echolocation powers, which they use to hunt fish, shrimp and squid. Martin Nweeia of Harvard's School of Dental Medicine also suggests that it could be used to detect changes in water salinity. Still, sensory explanations for narwhal tusks are undercut by the fact that females rarely grow them. As in most cases of sexual dimorphism, we can usually assume that mating plays a key role in the difference.

一些研究人员推测独角鲸使用这颗牙集中他们强大的回声定位能力，用它来捕鱼、虾和鱿鱼。哈佛大学牙医学院的 Martin Nweeia 也猜测这颗牙可能是用来检测海水咸度变化的。尽管如此，对于独角鲸的感官解释还是受制于雌性很少生长这颗牙的事实。正如大多数第二性征的情况一样，我们通常可以认为这是在交配中起着关键作用的东西。

This brings us back to the unicorn. Perhaps only the males of the species boast horns as a means of sparring with romantic rivals or communicating sexual fitness to potential mates. The latter reason, at least, would jibe with the writings of fifth-century B.C.E. Greek historian Ctesias, in which the unicorn's horn is red, black and white. That sounds like a festive mating display to me.

这样我们又回到了独角兽本身。独角兽的角或许就是雄性用于与情敌决斗或者向潜在的配偶传达性健康的工具。后者可能更符合公元前5世纪希腊历史学家克特西亚斯的描述，他写道独角兽的角是红色、黑色和白色组成的。这听起来像是一个喜庆的交配展。

The other obvious possibility is that they provide a means for the unicorn to defend itself against predators, such as human hunters or its legendary rival, the lion. This at least matches up with one of the creature's most closely associated real-world counterpart: the rhinoceros.

另一个明显的可能性是，角为独角兽提供了一种手段来防御捕食者，如猎人或狮子。这至少与和独角兽最密切相关的现实世界中的对应生物相匹配：犀牛。

The unicorns of medieval European art were a docile-looking bunch, but older texts described a more fearsome creature. First-century Roman author Pliny the Elder wrote that a unicorn could not be taken alive, and others depicted it as a creature capable of besting lions. Sometimes, it would seem, the most violently obvious guess is the most valid.

中世纪欧洲艺术中描述的独角兽看起来很温顺，但更古老的文字却描述了更可怕的生物。公元一世纪的罗马作家大普林尼写到，独角兽不能被活捉，其他人则将其描绘为一种能够击败狮子的生物。有时往往最显而易见的猜测是最真实的。