本文节选自 Darius Hinks 所著英文背景书《Liber Xenologis》，该译文作为练习仅为个人与交流使用，不用作商业用途。
《致命的植物》摘选集
Extract from the Plantorum Mortiferurn
《致命的植物》是一部晦涩难懂的书稿，虽然没有特定的作者，但作为一本异形植物指南，它确实能派上用场。尽管我没有时间将每一个章节都收录到本书之中，不过，关于卡塔昌丛林植物的那一段能够很好地反映出异形植物是如何能像异形动物一样致命的。
(资料图)
The Plantorum Mortiferum is an obscure text, not attributed to any particular author, but it is a useful guide to xenoflora. I do not have time in this book to include every chapter, but the section on Catachan jungle flora gives a good indication of how alien plant life can be just a lethal as alien fauna.
脑叶树——卡塔昌控心藤
Brainleaf——Vinea catachanus dominari
脑叶树的叶片可以腾空飞行，其推进方式与飞鸟相似。在落到生物体上后，这些看似无害叶片会用带刺的卷须将自己附着在猎物的血肉上。想要取下这些叶片几乎是不可能的，因为一旦就位，它们的卷须便会深入体内，与受害者的神经系统啮合到一起。
The leaves of the brainleaf tree are able to fling themselves through the air with a method of propulsion that is similar to that of a bird. The leaves are seemingly harmless until they land on a living body, at which point they use barbed tendrils to attach themselves to their prey's flesh. The leaves are almost impossible to remove and, once in place, spread the tendrils deeper into the body, meshing them with the victim's nervous system.
从那时起，受害者就沦为了叶片的无脑囚奴，只能执行最基础的运动机能。也就是说，除非叶片受到了威胁，为了保护它，无脑的宿主会猝然而动，为其拼死奋战。叶片通常会栖居在宿主（通常是人类）身上，直到对方日渐虚弱，然后它就会去找个新家。令人难以置信的是，许多卡塔昌星界军的兵团成员会在脑叶树丛里赛跑，他们把这当成了一项通过仪式。不过我曾听说，一个卡塔昌卫军就算被脑叶植物麻痹了心智，他的口齿也依然能和他的战友一样清晰。
From this point on, the victim becomes a mindless slave of the leaf, able to perform only the most basic motor functions. That is unless there is a threat to the leaf, at which point the mindless host lurches into action, fighting desperately to defend it. The leaf will inhabit the (often human) host until it wastes away, and will then look for a new home. Incredibly, members of various Catachan Astra Militarum regiments race through brainleaf groves as a rite of passage. Although, I have heard it said that a Catachan Guardsman whose mind has been numbed by a brainleaf plant would probably still be as articulate as his comrades.
钉刺草——易型棘
Spiker——Spina transformatio
生命会用五花八门的方式实现自我延续，其手段也同样令人震惊。钉刺草是一种巨大的球状植物，它长满了锋利的尖刺。路人经过时造成的震动足以触发这种植物的攻击机制。钉刺草会将棘刺射向四面八方，哪怕只有一枚扎破了皮肤，这个生物也将迎来自己的末日。涌入受害者的血液之中的诱变毒素会开始着手改变对方的组织结构。如果受害者碰巧是人类的话，那么他可能会跌跌撞撞地走上一两个小时，与此同时，他的肉体中会长出棘刺，然而毒素的见效速度的是如此之快，以至于他根本就无法求助，甚至不知道自己身上究竟发生了什么事。等到了第二天，他会被彻底的改头换面，然后就会变得跟那颗毒害他的植物没什么两样了。
The means by which life perpetuates itself are as varied as they are shocking. The spiker is a large, spherical plant coated in sharp, needle-like spines. The vibrations caused by a passer-by are enough to trigger the plant's attack mechanism. The spiker fires its spines in every direction, and should even one of them pierce the skin of a creature, it is doomed. Mutagenic toxins flood the victim's bloodstream and begin to alter its anatomy. If the victim happens to be human, he may manage to stumble around for an hour or two, sprouting spines from his flesh, but the toxins are so fast-acting he will not be able to seek help or even understand what is happening to him. By the next day he will have undergone a complete transformation and will be indistinguishable from the plant that poisoned him.
绝息草——呼吸道寄生株
Breath weed——Parasitus respirare
目前尚不清楚绝息草究竟是真正的植物，还是一种真菌。它就长在树桩的两侧，看起来就像藤蔓一样。然而，如果一只动物或一个人擦草而过的话，那么绝息草就会溶解成一团在空中飞来飞去的孢子。这些孢子，即使只有一个落入口中，那么它就会附着在舌头上。在其生命周期的这一阶段，孢子是可以被去除的，但由于其看起来只不过是一个小水泡，所以常常会被忽略掉，在一两天之内，它就会被宿主的舌头吸收掉，就此消失不见。
It is unclear if the breathweed is a true plant or a form of fungus. It grows on the side of tree trunks and resembles a vine. However, if an animal or person brushes past the weed, it dissolves into a cloud of airborne spores. If even a single one of these spores lands in a mouth, it attaches itself to the tongue. At this stage of its life cycle, it would be possible to remove the spore, but as it appears to be no more than a small blister, it is often overlooked and in a day or two has been absorbed by the host's tongue, vanishing from sight.
在之后的几个星期里，孢子会由内而外地将舌头吃掉，如此一来，它就能不断地生长，直到最终取代掉原来的那条舌头，并变得与之无异。宿主并不知道。它的舌头实际上是一种饥肠辘辘、不断生长的寄生物，经其而过之（的食物）会被吸收掉绝大部分的营养物质，同时，它还会产生出更多的孢子。宿主会日渐虚弱而死；当他们咽下最后一口气时，那条假舌头会溶解消散，成熟的孢子会被释放而出，而新的绝息草也会就此扎根。
Over the subsequent weeks, the spore eats the tongue from the inside, growing as it does so, until it has eventually taken the place of the original tongue and is indistinguishable from it. The host has no idea that its tongue is actually a hungry, growing parasite that absorbs most of the nutrients that pass over it while producing more spores. The host gradually wastes away and dies; as they take their final breath, the pseudo tongue dissolves, releasing the spores it has grown and seeding new weeds.
维纳斯捕人草——病虐藤
Venus Mantrap——Vinea malum
在卡塔昌，（如果想知道）动植物的本能与掠食属性是如何被放大到令人震惊的极限的，（那么）这种巨大的食肉植物就是是一个很好的例子。就像与它同名的维纳斯捕蝇草一样，维纳斯捕人草能够将带有尖刺的叶片像双颚一样闭合起来，从而把任何蠢到会在它附近溜达的家伙困住。然而，和维纳斯捕蝇草不同的是，这种植物并不仅仅只会满足于守株待兔——它的卷须和叶片会向离植物主干数英尺之遥的猎物发起扑击，并用大型捕食者一般的气力将对方活活拖死。一些卡塔昌丛林斗士兵团要求他们的卫军在从捕人草的正中央抢出一片花瓣之前禁止被晋升为中士。
This large, carnivorous plant is a good example of how on Catachan the natural, predatory attributes of flora and fauna have been magnified to shocking extremes. Like its namesake, the Venus flytrap, the Venus mantrap is able to snap its barbed leaves closed like jaws, trapping anyone foolish enough to stray within reach. Unlike the Venus flytrap, however, this plant is not content to simply wait for passing prey - its tendrils and leaves are able to lunge and attack victims that are many feet away from the main part of the plant, dragging them to their deaths with the strength of a large predator. Some Catachan Jungle Fighter regiments require their Guardsmen to snatch a petal from the heart of the mantrap before being promoted to the rank of sergeant.
关键词： 食肉植物 组织结构 令人震惊 生命周期 守株待兔 甚至不知道 神经系统 发生了什么 不可能的 也就是说 难以置信 只有一个 如此一来 绝大部分 最后一口
