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Most people agree that honesty is a good thing. But does Mother Nature agree? Animals can't talk, but can they lie in other ways? Can they lie with their bodies and behavior? Animal experts may not call it lying, but they do agree that many animals, from birds to chimpanzees, behave dishonestly to fool other animals. Why? Dishonesty often helps them survive.
大多数人都认为诚实是一件好事。但大自然母亲也会如此吗？动物不会说话，但它们能以其他方式撒谎吗？它们能用身体和行为撒谎吗？动物专家可能不会称之为撒谎，但他们确实赞同，从鸟类到黑猩猩，许多动物都会做出不诚实的行为来愚弄其他动物。为什么？不诚实常常帮助它们生存。
Many kinds of birds are very successful at fooling other animals. For example, a bird called the plover sometimes pretends to be hurt in order to protect its young. When a predator(猎食动物)gets close to its nest, the plover leads the predator away from the nest. How? It pretends to have a broken wing. The predator follows the "hurt" adult, leaving the baby birds safe in the nest.
许多鸟类都非常成功地愚弄了其他动物。例如，扑鸟有时为了保护它的幼鸟而假装受伤。当猎食动物靠近它的巢穴时，它会引导猎食动物离开巢穴。怎么做呢？它假装翅膀折断了。猎食者跟随“受伤”的成鸟，把雏鸟安全地留在巢中。
Another kind of bird, the scrub jay, buries its food so it always has something to eat. Scrub jays are also thieves. They watch where others bury their food and steal it. But clever scrub jays seem to know when a thief is watching them. So they go back later, unbury the food, and bury it again somewhere else.
另一种鸟，灌木松鸦，会把食物埋起来，这样它总是有东西吃。灌木松鸦也是小偷，它们会观察别人把食物埋在哪里，然后把食物偷走。但是聪明的灌木松鸦似乎知道小偷在什么时候盯着它们。所以它们会晚点回去，把食物挖出来，然后再埋在其他地方。
Birds called cuckoos have found a way to have babies without doing much work. How? They don't make nests. Instead, they get into other birds' nests secretly. Then they lay their eggs and fly away. When the baby birds come out, their adoptive parents feed them.
布谷鸟找到了一种不用做很多准备就能产卵的方法？它们不筑巢，而是偷偷进入其他鸟类的巢穴，产卵并飞走。当雏鸟出来时，它们的养父母会给它们喂食。
Chimpanzees, or chimps, can also be sneaky. After a fight, the losing chimp will give its hand to the other. When the winning chimp puts out its hand, too, the chimps are friendly again. But an animal expert once saw a losing chimp take the winner's hand and start fighting again.
黑猩猩也可能很狡猾。在一场战斗后，输的黑猩猩会向另一只伸出手来。当获胜的黑猩猩也伸出手来时，黑猩猩会再次友好起来。但一位动物专家曾看到一只输的黑猩猩握着胜利者的手，再次开始战斗。
Chimps are sneaky in other ways, too. When chimps find food that they love, such as bananas, it is natural for them to cry out. Then other chimps come running. But some clever chimps learn to cry very softly when they find food. That way, other chimps don't hear them, and they don't need to share their food.
黑猩猩在其他方面也很狡猾。当黑猩猩找到自己喜欢的食物，比如香蕉时，它们很自然地会发出叫声，然后其他黑猩猩就会跑过来。但是一些聪明的黑猩猩在找到食物时会学会非常轻柔地哭。这样，其他黑猩猩就听不到它们的声音，也就不需要分享它们的食物。
As children, many of us learn the saying "You can't fool Mother Nature." But maybe you can't trust her, either.
我们中的许多人在儿童时期学会了“你不能愚弄大自然母亲”这句话。但也许你也不能相信她。
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