62:0.1 (703.1) ABOUT one million years ago the immediate ancestors of mankind made their appearance by three successive and sudden mutations stemming from early stock of the lemur type of placental mammal. The dominant factors of these early lemurs were derived from the western or later American group of the evolving life plasm. But before establishing the direct line of human ancestry, this strain was reinforced by contributions from the central life implantation evolved in Africa. The eastern life group contributed little or nothing to the actual production of the human species.
62:0.1 (703.1) 大約一百萬年前，人類的直系祖先通過三次連續且突然的基因突變而出現，這些突變源於早期狐猴類型的胎盤哺乳動物品系。這些早期狐猴的顯性遺傳因子源自西部或後來的美洲群體的進化生命質。但在確立人類直接祖先之前，這種世係曾因在非洲進化的中央區生命植入的貢獻而得到加強。東部的生命群體對人類種族的實際產生幾乎或根本沒有貢獻。
62:1.1 (703.2) The early lemurs concerned in the ancestry of the human species were not directly related to the pre-existent tribes of gibbons and apes then living in Eurasia and northern Africa, whose progeny have survived to the present time. Neither were they the offspring of the modern type of lemur, though springing from an ancestor common to both but long since extinct.
62:1.1 (703.2) 與人類祖先有關的早期狐猴與當時生活在歐亞大陸和北非的、其後代存活至今的長臂猿和猿類部落沒有直接關係。它們也不是現代狐猴的後代，儘管它們與現代狐猴有一個共同的但早已滅絕的祖先。
62:1.2 (703.3) While these early lemurs evolved in the Western Hemisphere, the establishment of the direct mammalian ancestry of mankind took place in southwestern Asia, in the original area of the central life implantation but on the borders of the eastern regions. Several million years ago the North American type lemurs had migrated westward over the Bering land bridge and had slowly made their way southwestward along the Asiatic coast. These migrating tribes finally reached the salubrious region lying between the then expanded Mediterranean Sea and the elevating mountainous regions of the Indian peninsula. In these lands to the west of India they united with other and favorable strains, thus establishing the ancestry of the human race.
62:1.2 (703.3) 雖然這些早期狐猴是在西半球進化而來的，但人類的直接哺乳動物祖先的確立卻發生在亞洲西南部，在原初的中央生命植入區域，但位於東部地區的邊界。幾百萬年前，北美類型的狐猴穿過白令陸橋向西遷徙，並沿著亞洲海岸慢慢地向西南移動。這些遷徙的部落最終到達了位於當時擴展的地中海和印度半島抬升的山區之間的宜居地區。在這些印度以西的土地上，他們與其他有利的品系結合，從而確立了人類的祖先。
62:1.3 (703.4) With the passing of time the seacoast of India southwest of the mountains gradually submerged, completely isolating the life of this region. There was no avenue of approach to, or escape from, this Mesopotamian or Persian peninsula except to the north, and that was repeatedly cut off by the southern invasions of the glaciers. And it was in this then almost paradisiacal area, and from the superior descendants of this lemur type of mammal, that there sprang two great groups, the simian tribes of modern times and the present-day human species.
62:1.3 (703.4) 隨著時間的推移，印度西南部山區的海岸逐漸沉沒，使這個地區的生命完全隔絕了。除了向北之外，這個美索不達米亞或波斯半島既無進路，也無退路，而通往北方的路也因冰川的向南侵襲而屢遭阻隔。正是在這個當時近乎天堂般的地區，正是從這種狐猴類哺乳動物的優良後代中，衍生出了兩個重要的分支：現代的類人猿與當今的人類。
62:2.1 (703.5) A little more than one million years ago the Mesopotamian dawn mammals, the direct descendants of the North American lemur type of placental mammal, suddenly appeared. They were active little creatures, almost three feet tall; and while they did not habitually walk on their hind legs, they could easily stand erect. They were hairy and agile and chattered in monkeylike fashion, but unlike the simian tribes, they were flesh eaters. They had a primitive opposable thumb as well as a highly useful grasping big toe. From this point onward the prehuman species successively developed the opposable thumb while they progressively lost the grasping power of the great toe. The later ape tribes retained the grasping big toe but never developed the human type of thumb.
62:2.1 (703.5) 一百多萬年前，美索不達米亞的發端類哺乳動物, 即北美狐猴型胎盤哺乳動物的直系後裔突然出現了。牠們是活躍的小生物，身高近一米；雖然牠們還不習慣用後腿行走，但卻能輕易直立了。牠們毛髮濃密、身手敏捷，並像猴子一樣嘰嘰喳喳地說，但與類人猿族群不同的是，牠們是肉食者。牠們有原始的可對握拇指，還有極為實用的抓握大腳趾。從這時起，前人類物種陸續發展出了可對握的拇指, 而其大腳趾的抓握能力則逐漸喪失。後來的猿類族群雖然保留了能抓握的大腳趾，卻從未發展出人類那樣的拇指。
62:2.2 (704.1) These dawn mammals attained full growth when three or four years of age, having a potential life span, on the average, of about twenty years. As a rule offspring were born singly, although twins were occasional.
62:2.2 (704.1) 這些發端類哺乳動物在三、四歲時便發育成熟，平均潛在壽命約為二十年。一般來說, 後代都是單胎出生，雖然偶爾也會有雙胞胎。
62:2.3 (704.2) The members of this new species had the largest brains for their size of any animal that had theretofore existed on earth. They experienced many of the emotions and shared numerous instincts which later characterized primitive man, being highly curious and exhibiting considerable elation when successful at any undertaking. Food hunger and sex craving were well developed, and a definite sex selection was manifested in a crude form of courtship and choice of mates. They would fight fiercely in defense of their kindred and were quite tender in family associations, possessing a sense of self-abasement bordering on shame and remorse. They were very affectionate and touchingly loyal to their mates, but if circumstances separated them, they would choose new partners.
62:2.3 (704.2) 這種新物種成員的腦容量相對於體型而言，是迄今為止地球上所有動物中最大的。他們具備許多後來成為原始人特徵的情感，並展現出諸多相似的本能。牠們極具好奇心，而且在任何事情取得成功時，都會流露出極大的喜悅。對食物的飢餓感與對性的渴望都已高度發展，而在求偶與選擇伴侶的原始形式中則體現了明確的性別選擇。他們會為守護族人而奮力搏鬥，而對家庭成員則十分溫和，並懷有一種近乎羞愧與悔恨的自卑感。牠們對伴侶非常深情且忠誠得令人動容，但若因故被迫分離，牠們便會選擇新的伴侶。
62:2.4 (704.3) Being small of stature and having keen minds to realize the dangers of their forest habitat, they developed an extraordinary fear which led to those wise precautionary measures that so enormously contributed to survival, such as their construction of crude shelters in the high treetops which eliminated many of the perils of ground life. The beginning of the fear tendencies of mankind more specifically dates from these days.
62:2.4 (704.3) 由於體型矮小, 且擁有能察覺森林棲息地中危險的敏銳頭腦，牠們因此產生了非同尋常的恐懼，這促使牠們採取了一些聰明的預防措施，這些措施對其生存貢獻極大，例如在高聳的樹冠上搭建簡陋的庇護所，藉此避開了地面生活的許多危險。人類恐懼傾向的源起，更確切地說，正是始於這段時期。
62:2.5 (704.4) These dawn mammals developed more of a tribal spirit than had ever been previously exhibited. They were, indeed, highly gregarious but nevertheless exceedingly pugnacious when in any way disturbed in the ordinary pursuit of their routine life, and they displayed fiery tempers when their anger was fully aroused. Their bellicose natures, however, served a good purpose; superior groups did not hesitate to make war on their inferior neighbors, and thus, by selective survival, the species was progressively improved. They very soon dominated the life of the smaller creatures of this region, and very few of the older noncarnivorous monkeylike tribes survived.
62:2.5 (704.4) 這些發端類哺乳動物展現出前所未見的族群精神。牠們確實極具群居性，然而, 一旦當其慣常的生活節奏受到任何干擾，牠們便會變得極其好鬥, 一旦怒火完全被點燃；牠們便會顯露出火爆的脾氣。然而，牠們好鬥的天性卻發揮了積極作用；優良的族群會毫不猶豫地向其弱小的鄰居開戰，因此，通過選擇性生存，該物種得以逐步改良。牠們很快便主宰了該地區小型生物的生存，而較古老的非肉食性類猴族群的倖存者則寥寥無幾。
62:2.6 (704.5) These aggressive little animals multiplied and spread over the Mesopotamian peninsula for more than one thousand years, constantly improving in physical type and general intelligence. And it was just seventy generations after this new tribe had taken origin from the highest type of lemur ancestor that the next epoch-making development occurred—the sudden differentiation of the ancestors of the next vital step in the evolution of human beings on Urantia.
62:2.6 (704.5) 這些好鬥的小動物在長達一千多年的時間裡不斷繁衍，並擴散至美索不達米亞半島各地，其體型與整體智力也持續提升。就在這個新族群從最高級的狐猴祖先誕生後的僅僅七十代，便出現了下一個劃時代的發展進程——即玉苒廈人類進化中下一個關鍵階段的祖先突然出現了分化。
62:3.1 (704.6) Early in the career of the dawn mammals, in the treetop abode of a superior pair of these agile creatures, twins were born, one male and one female. Compared with their ancestors, they were really handsome little creatures. They had little hair on their bodies, but this was no disability as they lived in a warm and equable climate.
62:3.1 (704.6) 在發端類哺乳動物的演化初期，這些身手敏捷的生物中一對出色的配偶，在樹梢居所中生下了一對雙胞胎，一男一女。與牠們的祖先相比，牠們確實是兩個俊俏的小生物。牠們的身體毛髮稀疏，但由於牠們生活在溫暖且恒定的環境中，這並未造成任何不便。
62:3.2 (705.1) These children grew to be a little over four feet in height. They were in every way larger than their parents, having longer legs and shorter arms. They had almost perfectly opposable thumbs, just about as well adapted for diversified work as the present human thumb. They walked upright, having feet almost as well suited for walking as those of the later human races.
62:3.2 (705.1) 這兩個孩子長大後身高略超過一米二十。牠們在各方面都比父母高大，腿更長，手臂更短。牠們擁有幾乎能完全對握的拇指，簡直就像現代人類的拇指那樣，能很好地適應各種工作。牠們直立行走，雙腳幾乎與後期人類種族的一樣，非常適合行走。
62:3.3 (705.2) Their brains were inferior to, and smaller than, those of human beings but very superior to, and comparatively much larger than, those of their ancestors. The twins early displayed superior intelligence and were soon recognized as the heads of the whole tribe of dawn mammals, really instituting a primitive form of social organization and a crude economic division of labor. This brother and sister mated and soon enjoyed the society of twenty-one children much like themselves, all more than four feet tall and in every way superior to the ancestral species. This new group formed the nucleus of the mid-mammals.
62:3.3 (705.2) 牠們的大腦雖不如人類發達，體積也較小，但卻遠遠優於牠們的祖先，且相對而言體積也大得多。這對雙胞胎很早就展現出較高的智力，很快便被公認為整個發端類哺乳動物部落的首領，他們實際上建立了一種原始的社會組織形式與粗略的經濟分工。這對兄妹結為連理，很快便迎來了二十一個與他們極為相似的孩子承歡膝下，這些孩子的身高都超過一米二，在各方面都優於其祖先物種。這個新的群體構成了中間類哺乳動物的核心。
62:3.4 (705.3) When the numbers of this new and superior group grew great, war, relentless war, broke out; and when the terrible struggle was over, not a single individual of the pre-existent and ancestral race of dawn mammals remained alive. The less numerous but more powerful and intelligent offshoot of the species had survived at the expense of their ancestors.
62:3.4 (705.3) 當這個全新且優異族群的人數日益增加時，戰爭，一場殘酷的戰爭，便爆發了；而當這場可怕的爭鬥結束時，那些先存的發端類哺乳動物的祖先族群，竟無一倖存。而這個物種中數量較少、但更強大且更聰明的分支，正是以犧牲其祖先為代價才存活下來。
62:3.5 (705.4) And now, for almost fifteen thousand years (six hundred generations), this creature became the terror of this part of the world. All of the great and vicious animals of former times had perished. The large beasts native to these regions were not carnivorous, and the larger species of the cat family, lions and tigers, had not yet invaded this peculiarly sheltered nook of the earth’s surface. Therefore did these mid-mammals wax valiant and subdue the whole of their corner of creation.
62:3.5 (705.4) 在接下來的近一萬五千年（六百代）裡，這種生物便成了這片區域的噩夢。昔日所有巨大而凶猛的動物都已滅絕。這些地區原生的大型野獸並非肉食性，而貓科中的大型物種，獅子和老虎，尚未入侵這個地球表面上格外隱蔽的角落。正因如此，這些中間類哺乳動物才變得英勇無畏，並征服了牠們所處的這方天地。
62:3.6 (705.5) Compared with the ancestral species, the mid-mammals were an improvement in every way. Even their potential life span was longer, being about twenty-five years. A number of rudimentary human traits appeared in this new species. In addition to the innate propensities exhibited by their ancestors, these mid-mammals were capable of showing disgust in certain repulsive situations. They further possessed a well-defined hoarding instinct; they would hide food for subsequent use and were greatly given to the collection of smooth round pebbles and certain types of round stones suitable for defensive and offensive ammunition.
62:3.6 (705.5) 與其祖先物種相比，中間類哺乳動物在各方面都有所進步。甚至牠們的預期壽命也更長，約為二十五年。這個新物種身上出現了一些基本的人類特徵。除了其祖先呈現出的先天習性外，這些中間類哺乳動物在某些令人反感的情況下，還能夠表現出厭惡。他們還具備一種非常明顯的囤積本能；他們會將食物藏起來以備日後使用，並且熱衷於收集適合用作防禦和攻擊彈藥的光滑圓潤的卵石，以及某些類型的圓形石塊。
62:3.7 (705.6) These mid-mammals were the first to exhibit a definite construction propensity, as shown in their rivalry in the building of both treetop homes and their many-tunneled subterranean retreats; they were the first species of mammals ever to provide for safety in both arboreal and underground shelters. They largely forsook the trees as places of abode, living on the ground during the day and sleeping in the treetops at night.
62:3.7 (705.6) 這些中間類哺乳動物是最早展現出明確建造傾向的物種，這體現在牠們在建造樹梢居所及佈滿通道的地下巢穴時所展現的競爭行為；牠們是史上首個同時在樹上與地下庇護所中確保安全的哺乳動物物種。他們基本上告別了樹上生活，白天在地面活動，晚上則睡在樹梢上。
62:3.8 (705.7) As time passed, the natural increase in numbers eventually resulted in serious food competition and sex rivalry, all of which culminated in a series of internecine battles that nearly destroyed the entire species. These struggles continued until only one group of less than one hundred individuals was left alive. But peace once more prevailed, and this lone surviving tribe built anew its treetop bedrooms and once again resumed a normal and semipeaceful existence.
62:3.8 (705.7) 隨著時間推移，數量的自然增長最終導致激烈的食物競爭與求偶對抗，所有這些因素最終演變成一連串的內鬥，幾乎將整個物種滅絕。戰鬥持續進行，直到僅剩一組不到一百人的倖存者。但和平終究再次降臨，這個唯一倖存的部落重新搭建了樹梢上的居所，並再度過上了正常且相對安寧的生活。
62:3.9 (705.8) You can hardly realize by what narrow margins your prehuman ancestors missed extinction from time to time. Had the ancestral frog of all humanity jumped two inches less on a certain occasion, the whole course of evolution would have been markedly changed. The immediate lemurlike mother of the dawn-mammal species escaped death no less than five times by mere hairbreadth margins before she gave birth to the father of the new and higher mammalian order. But the closest call of all was when lightning struck the tree in which the prospective mother of the Primates twins was sleeping. Both of these mid-mammal parents were severely shocked and badly burned; three of their seven children were killed by this bolt from the skies. These evolving animals were almost superstitious. This couple whose treetop home had been struck were really the leaders of the more progressive group of the mid-mammal species; and following their example, more than half the tribe, embracing the more intelligent families, moved about two miles away from this locality and began the construction of new treetop abodes and new ground shelters—their transient retreats in time of sudden danger.
62:3.9 (705.8) 你們恐怕難以想像，你們的前人類祖先曾不時地險些瀕臨滅絕。倘若全人類的先祖青蛙在某個特定時刻跳躍的距離少了五厘米，整個進化進程將會截然不同。發端類哺乳動物物種類似狐猴的直系母親，在誕下新的更高等哺乳動物類別的始祖之前，曾至少五次以毫釐之差倖免於難。但最驚險的一次，是當閃電擊中靈長類雙胞胎的準媽媽正在睡覺的那棵樹時。這對中間類哺乳動物的父母都遭受了極度驚嚇和嚴重燒傷；他們七個孩子中有三個因這道從天而降的閃電而喪生。這些正在進化的動物幾乎可說是迷信的。這對樹梢居所遭雷擊的夫婦，不愧為中間類哺乳動物物種中更為進步群體的領袖；在他們的帶領下，部族中超過半數的成員，包括那些較為聰明的家族，遷移至距此地約三公里外的地方，開始建造新的樹梢居所與地面庇護所——即他們在突發危險時的臨時避難所。
62:3.10 (706.1) Soon after the completion of their home, this couple, veterans of so many struggles, found themselves the proud parents of twins, the most interesting and important animals ever to have been born into the world up to that time, for they were the first of the new species of Primates constituting the next vital step in prehuman evolution.
62:3.10 (706.1) 他們的新居落成後不久，這對歷經無數艱辛的夫婦，便欣喜地迎來了雙胞胎，這對雙胞胎是迄今為止降生於世最引人關注、最重要的生物，因為他們是靈長類新物種的首批成員，標誌著前人類進化史上的下一個關鍵階段。
62:3.11 (706.2) Contemporaneously with the birth of these Primates twins, another couple—a peculiarly retarded male and female of the mid-mammal tribe, a couple that were both mentally and physically inferior—also gave birth to twins. These twins, one male and one female, were indifferent to conquest; they were concerned only with obtaining food and, since they would not eat flesh, soon lost all interest in seeking prey. These retarded twins became the founders of the modern simian tribes. Their descendants sought the warmer southern regions with their mild climates and an abundance of tropical fruits, where they have continued much as of that day except for those branches which mated with the earlier types of gibbons and apes and have greatly deteriorated in consequence.
62:3.11 (706.2) 就在這對靈長類雙胞胎誕生之際，另一對伴侶——一對中間類哺乳動物族群中極度遲鈍的雄性和雌性，一對在智力和體能上都較為遜色的配偶——也生下了一對雙胞胎。這對一雌一雄的雙胞胎對征服毫無興趣；他們只關心覓食，而且因為不吃肉，很快便對尋找獵物失去了所有興趣。這對智力遲緩的雙胞胎成了現代類人猿族群的始祖。他們的後代遷徙至氣候溫和、熱帶水果豐饒的南方地區，在那裡，除了那些與較早類型的長臂猿和猩猩交配，因而大幅退化的分支以外，其他分支仍大致維持著當年的樣子。
62:3.12 (706.3) And so it may be readily seen that man and the ape are related only in that they sprang from the mid-mammals, a tribe in which there occurred the contemporaneous birth and subsequent segregation of two pairs of twins: the inferior pair destined to produce the modern types of monkey, baboon, chimpanzee, and gorilla; the superior pair destined to continue the line of ascent which evolved into man himself.
62:3.12 (706.3) 由此不難看出，人類與猿類的唯一關聯僅在於它們都源於中間類哺乳動物，在這個族群中，曾有兩對雙胞胎同時誕生並隨後分道揚鑣：較低等的一對註定要孕育出現代類型的猴、狒狒、黑猩猩和大猩猩；較高等的一對則註定要延續那條向上的支脈，最終進化為人類自身。
62:3.13 (706.4) Modern man and the simians did spring from the same tribe and species but not from the same parents. Man’s ancestors are descended from the superior strains of the selected remnant of this mid-mammal tribe, whereas the modern simians (excepting certain pre-existent types of lemurs, gibbons, apes, and other monkeylike creatures) are the descendants of the most inferior couple of this mid-mammal group, a couple who only survived by hiding themselves in a subterranean food-storage retreat for more than two weeks during the last fierce battle of their tribe, emerging only after the hostilities were well over.
62:3.13 (706.4) 現代人類與類人猿確實源自同一個族群和物種，但並非出自同一對父母。人類的祖先源自這個中間類哺乳動物族群中經自然選擇存留下來的優良血統，而現代的類人猿（除某些先存類型的狐猴、長臂猿、 猩猩及其他類猴生物）則是該中間類哺乳動物群體中最低劣的一對配偶的後代，這對配偶之所以能夠倖存，僅僅是因為在族群最後一場激烈戰鬥期間，躲藏在地下儲糧避難所長達兩週以上，並在戰事完全平息後才現身。
62:4.1 (706.5) Going back to the birth of the superior twins, one male and one female, to the two leading members of the mid-mammal tribe: These animal babies were of an unusual order; they had still less hair on their bodies than their parents and, when very young, insisted on walking upright. Their ancestors had always learned to walk on their hind legs, but these Primates twins stood erect from the beginning. They attained a height of over five feet, and their heads grew larger in comparison with others among the tribe. While early learning to communicate with each other by means of signs and sounds, they were never able to make their people understand these new symbols.
62:4.1 (706.5) 回到那對優良的一雌一雄雙胞胎的誕生，回到那兩位中間類哺乳動物族群領袖的後代：這些動物幼崽的體態非同尋常；牠們身上的毛髮比其雙親還少，而且年幼時便堅持直立行走。牠們的祖先向來都是學習用後腿行走，但這對靈長類雙胞胎從一開始就直立了。他們的身高達到一米五以上，而且與部落中的其他同類相比，他們的頭也長得更大。雖然他們很早就學會借助手勢和聲音來溝通，卻始終無法讓族人理解這些新的符號。
62:4.2 (707.1) When about fourteen years of age, they fled from the tribe, going west to raise their family and establish the new species of Primates. And these new creatures are very properly denominated Primates since they were the direct and immediate animal ancestors of the human family itself.
62:4.2 (707.1) 大約十四歲時，他們逃離了自己的族群，向西遷徙，以養育後代並建立靈長類新物種。而將這些新生物稱為「靈長類」非常貼切，因為牠們正是人類家族本身直接且最近的動物祖先。
62:4.3 (707.2) Thus it was that the Primates came to occupy a region on the west coast of the Mesopotamian peninsula as it then projected into the southern sea, while the less intelligent and closely related tribes lived around the peninsula point and up the eastern shore line.
62:4.3 (707.2) 於是，靈長類動物便佔據了美索不達米亞半島西岸的一片區域，當時該半島向南延伸至南部海域，而那些智力較低、與他們血緣相近的族群，則居住在半島頂端及東海岸線一帶。
62:4.4 (707.3) The Primates were more human and less animal than their mid-mammal predecessors. The skeletal proportions of this new species were very similar to those of the primitive human races. The human type of hand and foot had fully developed, and these creatures could walk and even run as well as any of their later-day human descendants. They largely abandoned tree life, though continuing to resort to the treetops as a safety measure at night, for like their earlier ancestors, they were greatly subject to fear. The increased use of their hands did much to develop inherent brain power, but they did not yet possess minds that could really be called human.
62:4.4 (707.3) 與其中間類哺乳動物祖先相比，靈長類更具人類特徵，而較少動物特徵。這種新物種的骨骼比例與原始人類種族非常相似。手和腳已完全發育成人類的形態，這些生物不僅能夠像其日後的人類後代一樣行走，甚至還能奔跑。他們基本上放棄了樹上生活，儘管如此，他們仍會以樹梢作為夜間的一項安全措施，因為就像他們的早期祖先一樣，他們極易感到恐懼。他們更頻繁地使用雙手，這對發展其與生俱來的大腦能力大有裨益，但他們尚未具備真正能稱為人類的心智。
62:4.5 (707.4) Although in emotional nature the Primates differed little from their forebears, they exhibited more of a human trend in all of their propensities. They were, indeed, splendid and superior animals, reaching maturity at about ten years of age and having a natural life span of about forty years. That is, they might have lived that long had they died natural deaths, but in those early days very few animals ever died a natural death; the struggle for existence was altogether too intense.
62:4.5 (707.4) 儘管靈長類動物在情感本質上與其祖先幾乎沒有區別，但在其所有習性上卻顯現出更多的人類特徵。牠們確實是極好且優良的動物，約在十歲時達到性成熟，自然壽命則約為四十年。換言之，倘若牠們是自然死亡，或許能活那麼久；但在那個年代，極少有動物能自然死亡；生存競爭實在太激烈了。
62:4.6 (707.5) And now, after almost nine hundred generations of development, covering about twenty-one thousand years from the origin of the dawn mammals, the Primates suddenly gave birth to two remarkable creatures, the first true human beings.
62:4.6 (707.5) 如今，經過近九百代的發展，涵蓋了自發端類哺乳動物起源以來的大約兩萬一千年，靈長類動物突然孕育出兩個非凡的生物，即最早的真正人類。
62:4.7 (707.6) Thus it was that the dawn mammals, springing from the North American lemur type, gave origin to the mid-mammals, and these mid-mammals in turn produced the superior Primates, who became the immediate ancestors of the primitive human race. The Primates tribes were the last vital link in the evolution of man, but in less than five thousand years not a single individual of these extraordinary tribes was left.
62:4.7 (707.6) 因此，正是源自北美狐猴類型的發端類哺乳動物，孕育出了中間類哺乳動物；而這些中間類哺乳動物又進化出了優良的靈長類，靈長類成為了原始人類的直接祖先。靈長類族群是人類進化過程中的最後一個關鍵環節，但不到五千年，這些非凡的族群已無一倖存。
62:5.1 (707.7) From the year a.d. 1934 back to the birth of the first two human beings is just 993,419 years.
62:5.1 (707.7) 從西元1934年回溯到最初兩個人類的誕生，只有993,419年。
62:5.2 (707.8) These two remarkable creatures were true human beings. They possessed perfect human thumbs, as had many of their ancestors, while they had just as perfect feet as the present-day human races. They were walkers and runners, not climbers; the grasping function of the big toe was absent, completely absent. When danger drove them to the treetops, they climbed just like the humans of today would. They would climb up the trunk of a tree like a bear and not as would a chimpanzee or a gorilla, swinging up by the branches.
62:5.2 (707.8) 這兩個非凡的生物是真正的人類。他們擁有完美的人類拇指，這點與其許多祖先相同，而他們的腳，則與當今人類種族的一樣完美。他們會走會跑，卻不會攀爬；大腳趾的抓握功能已不復存在，完全沒有了。當危險迫使他們逃往樹梢時，他們的攀爬方式與黨今的人類完全一樣。牠們會像熊一樣爬上樹幹，而不是像黑猩猩或大猩猩那樣，在樹枝間擺盪著向上攀爬。
62:5.3 (708.1) These first human beings (and their descendants) reached full maturity at twelve years of age and possessed a potential life span of about seventy-five years.
62:5.3 (708.1) 這些最初的人類（及其後代）在十二歲時便達到完全成熟，預期壽命約為七十五歲。
62:5.4 (708.2) Many new emotions early appeared in these human twins. They experienced admiration for both objects and other beings and exhibited considerable vanity. But the most remarkable advance in emotional development was the sudden appearance of a new group of really human feelings, the worshipful group, embracing awe, reverence, humility, and even a primitive form of gratitude. Fear, joined with ignorance of natural phenomena, is about to give birth to primitive religion.
62:5.4 (708.2) 這對人類雙胞胎很早就顯現出許多新的情感。他們對萬物及其他生命懷有敬佩之情，並展現出相當程度的虛榮心。但在情感發展方面，最引人注目的進展，是突然出現一組新的真正的人類情感，即崇拜之情，包括敬畏、崇敬、謙卑，甚至還有一種原始形式的感恩。恐懼，加上對自然現象的無知，即將催生出原始的宗教。
62:5.5 (708.3) Not only were such human feelings manifested in these primitive humans, but many more highly evolved sentiments were also present in rudimentary form. They were mildly cognizant of pity, shame, and reproach and were acutely conscious of love, hate, and revenge, being also susceptible to marked feelings of jealousy.
62:5.5 (708.3) 這些原始人類不僅顯現了這些人類情感，而且許多更為高度進化的情感也已初顯端倪。他們對憐憫、羞恥和恥辱感知模糊，卻對愛、恨和報復意識敏銳，同時也容易產生強烈的嫉妒情緒。
62:5.6 (708.4) These first two humans—the twins—were a great trial to their Primates parents. They were so curious and adventurous that they nearly lost their lives on numerous occasions before they were eight years old. As it was, they were rather well scarred up by the time they were twelve.
62:5.6 (708.4) 這兩個最初的人類, 即這對雙胞胎，對他們的靈長類父母而言，是一個巨大的考驗。他們是如此好奇又愛冒險，以致在八歲之前就曾多次險些喪命。事實上，他們十二歲時身上已是傷痕累累了。
62:5.7 (708.5) Very early they learned to engage in verbal communication; by the age of ten they had worked out an improved sign and word language of almost half a hundred ideas and had greatly improved and expanded the crude communicative technique of their ancestors. But try as hard as they might, they were able to teach only a few of their new signs and symbols to their parents.
62:5.7 (708.5) 他們很早就學會了進行語言交流；到十歲時，他們已發展出一種改良的包含了近五十個概念的手語和文字語言，並大幅改進與擴展了祖先那套粗糙的溝通技巧。但無論他們多麼努力，最終也只能教會他們的父母少數幾個新的手勢和符號。
62:5.8 (708.6) When about nine years of age, they journeyed off down the river one bright day and held a momentous conference. Every celestial intelligence stationed on Urantia, including myself, was present as an observer of the transactions of this noontide tryst. On this eventful day they arrived at an understanding to live with and for each other, and this was the first of a series of such agreements which finally culminated in the decision to flee from their inferior animal associates and to journey northward, little knowing that they were thus to found the human race.
62:5.8 (708.6) 大約九歲那年，他們在一個晴朗的日子沿河而下，並舉行了一次至關重要的會議。所有常駐在玉苒廈的天界智能存有，包括我在內，都作為這場午間幽會所發生事件的觀察員而到場了。在這個重大的日子裡，他們達成共識，要彼此相伴、並為彼此而活，這是一系列此類協議中的第一項，這些協議最終促使他們決定逃離那些低等的動物夥伴，向北而行，當時他們渾然不知，自己正將就此創立人類種族。
62:5.9 (708.7) While we were all greatly concerned with what these two little savages were planning, we were powerless to control the working of their minds; we did not—could not—arbitrarily influence their decisions. But within the permissible limits of planetary function, we, the Life Carriers, together with our associates, all conspired to lead the human twins northward and far from their hairy and partially tree-dwelling people. And so, by reason of their own intelligent choice, the twins did migrate, and because of our supervision they migrated northward to a secluded region where they escaped the possibility of biologic degradation through admixture with their inferior relatives of the Primates tribes.
62:5.9 (708.7) 雖然我們都極為擔憂這兩個小野人究竟在打什麼主意，但我們無力掌控他們的心智運作；我們沒有——也不能——隨意干涉他們的決定。但在行星職能的允許範圍內，我們，生命載運者，和我們的夥伴一起，協力引導這對人類雙胞胎向北行進，遠離他們那群毛髮濃密、部分棲居樹上的族人。因此，基於他們自身的明智抉擇，這對雙胞胎確實遷徙了；而由於我們的引導，他們向北遷徙至一個隱蔽的區域，從而避免了與靈長類族群中那些低等親屬混血，而導致生物性退化的可能性。
62:5.10 (708.8) Shortly before their departure from the home forests they lost their mother in a gibbon raid. While she did not possess their intelligence, she did have a worthy mammalian affection of a high order for her offspring, and she fearlessly gave her life in the attempt to save the wonderful pair. Nor was her sacrifice in vain, for she held off the enemy until the father arrived with reinforcements and put the invaders to rout.
62:5.10 (708.8) 就在牠們即將離開家鄉的森林之際，牠們的母親在一場長臂猿的襲擊中不幸喪生。雖然她沒有他們那樣的聰明才智，但她確實對自己的後代懷有一種值得珍視的、高尚的母性之愛，並在試圖拯救這對奇妙的幼崽時，她毫不畏懼地獻出了自己的生命。她的犧牲並非徒勞，因為她成功擋住了敵人，直到父親率領增援部隊趕到，將入侵者擊退。
62:5.11 (709.1) Soon after this young couple forsook their associates to found the human race, their Primates father became disconsolate—he was heartbroken. He refused to eat, even when food was brought to him by his other children. His brilliant offspring having been lost, life did not seem worth living among his ordinary fellows; so he wandered off into the forest, was set upon by hostile gibbons and beaten to death.
62:5.11 (709.1) 這對年輕伴侶離開同伴去創立人類種族後不久，他們的靈長類父親便悲痛欲絕——他心碎了。他拒絕進食，即使其他孩子把食物端給他也是如此。既然他那聰穎的後代已然喪生，在那些平凡的同伴中，生活似乎已不值得繼續；於是他走進森林，遭到敵對的長臂猿襲擊，最終被毆打致死。
62:6.1 (709.2) We, the Life Carriers on Urantia, had passed through the long vigil of watchful waiting since the day we first planted the life plasm in the planetary waters, and naturally the appearance of the first really intelligent and volitional beings brought to us great joy and supreme satisfaction.
62:6.1 (709.2) 我們這些玉苒廈的生命傳遞者，自從我們最初將生命原質植入行星水域的那一天起，便經歷了漫長的觀察等待，因此，首批真正智能且有意志生物的出現，自然為我們帶來了巨大的喜悅與無上的滿足。
62:6.2 (709.3) We had been watching the twins develop mentally through our observation of the functioning of the seven adjutant mind-spirits assigned to Urantia at the time of our arrival on the planet. Throughout the long evolutionary development of planetary life, these tireless mind ministers had ever registered their increasing ability to contact with the successively expanding brain capacities of the progressively superior animal creatures.
62:6.2 (709.3) 我們透過觀察七個輔助心靈之靈的運作，持續關注這對雙胞胎的心智發展，這些輔助心智之靈是在我們抵達這顆行星時，被指派到玉苒廈的。在行星生命的漫長進化發展過程中，這些不知疲倦的心智侍奉者不斷注意到，隨著日益優越的動物們大腦容量的逐步擴展，他們與之建立聯繫的能力也日益增強。
62:6.3 (709.4) At first only the spirit of intuition could function in the instinctive and reflex behavior of the primordial animal life. With the differentiation of higher types, the spirit of understanding was able to endow such creatures with the gift of spontaneous association of ideas. Later on we observed the spirit of courage in operation; evolving animals really developed a crude form of protective self-consciousness. Subsequent to the appearance of the mammalian groups, we beheld the spirit of knowledge manifesting itself in increased measure. And the evolution of the higher mammals brought the function of the spirit of counsel, with the resulting growth of the herd instinct and the beginnings of primitive social development.
62:6.3 (709.4) 起初，在原始動物生命的本能與反射行為中，唯有直覺之靈能夠發揮作用。隨著更高等類型的分化，理解之靈得以賦予這類生物自發聯想的能力。後來，我們觀察到勇氣之靈的運作；正在進化的動物確實發展出了一種粗略形式的防護性自我意識。在哺乳動物群體出現之後，我們看到了知識之靈以更顯著的方式展現出來。而高等哺乳動物的進化帶來了諮議之靈的運作，隨之而來的是群居本能的增強，以及原始社會發展的萌芽。
62:6.4 (709.5) Increasingly, on down through the dawn mammals, the mid-mammals, and the Primates, we had observed the augmented service of the first five adjutants. But never had the remaining two, the highest mind ministers, been able to function in the Urantia type of evolutionary mind.
62:6.4 (709.5) 隨著進化的推進，從發端類哺乳動物，到中間類哺乳動物，再到靈長類動物，我們觀察到前五個輔助之靈所發揮的作用不斷增強。但剩下的兩位最高等的心智侍奉者，卻從未能在玉苒廈類型的進化心智中運作過。
62:6.5 (709.6) Imagine our joy one day—the twins were about ten years old—when the spirit of worship made its first contact with the mind of the female twin and shortly thereafter with the male. We knew that something closely akin to human mind was approaching culmination; and when, about a year later, they finally resolved, as a result of meditative thought and purposeful decision, to flee from home and journey north, then did the spirit of wisdom begin to function on Urantia and in these two now recognized human minds.
62:6.5 (709.6) 試想一下我們那天有多麼喜悅——那時這對雙胞胎大約十歲——崇拜之靈首先接觸了女孩的心智，不久之後也接觸了男孩的心智。我們知道，某種與人類心智極為相似的事物正接近頂峰；大約一年後，當他們經過深思熟慮並下定決心，最終決定離家北上時，智慧之靈便開始在玉苒廈以及這兩個如今已被認定為人類的心智中運作了。
62:6.6 (709.7) There was an immediate and new order of mobilization of the seven adjutant mind-spirits. We were alive with expectation; we realized that the long-waited-for hour was approaching; we knew we were upon the threshold of the realization of our protracted effort to evolve will creatures on Urantia.
62:6.6 (709.7) 七個輔助心智之靈隨即接獲了一道新的動員令。我們滿懷期待；我們意識到那等待已久的時刻即將來臨；我們知道，我們已站在門口，我們在玉苒廈上演化出意志受造物的長期努力終於要實現了。
62:7.1 (709.8) We did not have to wait long. At noon, the day after the runaway of the twins, there occurred the initial test flash of the universe circuit signals at the planetary reception-focus of Urantia. We were, of course, all astir with the realization that a great event was impending; but since this world was a life-experiment station, we had not the slightest idea of just how we would be apprised of the recognition of intelligent life on the planet. But we were not long in suspense. On the third day after the elopement of the twins, and before the Life Carrier corps departed, there arrived the Nebadon archangel of initial planetary circuit establishment.
62:7.1 (709.8) 我們並沒有等多久。在雙胞胎逃離後的次日中午，宇宙迴路訊號的首次測試閃光在玉苒廈的行星接收中心出現了。當然，我們都因意識到一個重大事件即將發生而心潮澎湃；但由於這個世界是一個生命實驗站，對於我們將如何獲悉對這顆行星上智能生命的確認，我們完全不知道。但我們沒等多久就有了答案。在這對雙胞胎逃離後的第三天，在生命載運者團隊離開之前，負責建立初期行星迴絡的內巴頓大天使抵達了。
62:7.2 (710.1) It was an eventful day on Urantia when our small group gathered about the planetary pole of space communication and received the first message from Salvington over the newly established mind circuit of the planet. And this first message, dictated by the chief of the archangel corps, said:
62:7.2 (710.1) 那是玉苒廈上意義重大的一天，當時我們小組聚集在行星空間通訊樞紐周圍，通過新建立的行星心智迴路，接收到了來自薩爾文頓的第一則訊息。而這第一則訊息是由大天使團隊的首領口述的，內容如下：
62:7.3 (710.2) “To the Life Carriers on Urantia—Greetings! We transmit assurance of great pleasure on Salvington, Edentia, and Jerusem in honor of the registration on the headquarters of Nebadon of the signal of the existence on Urantia of mind of will dignity. The purposeful decision of the twins to flee northward and segregate their offspring from their inferior ancestors has been noted. This is the first decision of mind—the human type of mind—on Urantia and automatically establishes the circuit of communication over which this initial message of acknowledgment is transmitting.”
62:7.3 (710.2) 「致玉苒廈的生命載運者們——祝賀你們！我們謹此轉達薩爾文頓、伊甸廈和耶路瑟姆的極大喜悅，慶賀具有意志尊嚴的心智在玉苒廈上存在的訊號，已在內巴頓總部完成登記。這對雙胞胎向北逃亡，並將他們的後代與低等的祖先隔離，這個有意識的決定已被記錄。這是玉苒廈上的心智—人類的心智類型—所作出的第一個決定，它自動建立了一個通訊迴路，這條最初的確認訊息正是通過此迴路傳送而來的。」
62:7.4 (710.3) Next over this new circuit came the greetings of the Most Highs of Edentia, containing instructions for the resident Life Carriers forbidding us to interfere with the pattern of life we had established. We were directed not to intervene in the affairs of human progress. It should not be inferred that Life Carriers ever arbitrarily and mechanically interfere with the natural outworking of the planetary evolutionary plans, for we do not. But up to this time we had been permitted to manipulate the environment and shield the life plasm in a special manner, and it was this extraordinary, but wholly natural, supervision that was to be discontinued.
62:7.4 (710.3) 接著，通過這條新迴路傳來了伊甸廈至高者的問候，其中包含給常駐生命載運者的指示，禁止我們干預我們所建立的生命模式。我們得到指示，不得干涉人類進步的事務。但不應推斷生命載運者曾任意且機械地干預行星進化計畫的自然發展，因為我們從未這樣做過。但在此之前，我們一直被允許以一種特殊的方式來操控環境並保護生命原質，而這項非凡卻完全自然的監管，即將被終止。
62:7.5 (710.4) And no sooner had the Most Highs left off speaking than the beautiful message of Lucifer, then sovereign of the Satania system, began to planetize. Now the Life Carriers heard the welcome words of their own chief and received his permission to return to Jerusem. This message from Lucifer contained the official acceptance of the Life Carriers’ work on Urantia and absolved us from all future criticism of any of our efforts to improve the life patterns of Nebadon as established in the Satania system.
62:7.5 (710.4) 至高者話音剛落，當時的撒旦尼亞系統君主路西法的美好訊息，便開始傳到這個行星了。此時，生命載運者聽到了他們自己首領的歡迎辭，並獲得了返回耶路瑟姆的許可。來自路西法的這則訊息正式認可了生命承載者在玉苒廈上的工作，並免除了我們日後因任何旨在改善撒旦尼亞系統中確立的內巴頓生命模式的努力而可能遭受的批評。
62:7.6 (710.5) These messages from Salvington, Edentia, and Jerusem formally marked the termination of the Life Carriers’ agelong supervision of the planet. For ages we had been on duty, assisted only by the seven adjutant mind-spirits and the Master Physical Controllers. And now, will, the power of choosing to worship and to ascend, having appeared in the evolutionary creatures of the planet, we realized that our work was finished, and our group prepared to depart. Urantia being a life-modification world, permission was granted to leave behind two senior Life Carriers with twelve assistants, and I was chosen as one of this group and have ever since been on Urantia.
62:7.6 (710.5) 來自薩爾文頓、伊甸廈和耶路瑟姆的這些訊息，正式標誌著生命載運者對該行星長期監管的終結。長久以來，我們始終盡忠職守，期間僅有七個輔助心智之靈和主物理控制者相協助。如今，意志，即選擇崇拜與揚升的能力，已出現在這顆行星的進化受造物身上，我們意識到我們的工作完成了，於是我們的團隊便準備啟程離開。由於玉苒廈是一個生命改良型世界，因此我們獲准留下兩位資深生命載運者及十二位助手；我被選為該小組的一員，自此便一直在玉苒廈上。
62:7.7 (710.6) It is just 993,408 years ago (from the year a.d. 1934) that Urantia was formally recognized as a planet of human habitation in the universe of Nebadon. Biologic evolution had once again achieved the human levels of will dignity; man had arrived on planet 606 of Satania.
62:7.7 (710.6) 僅僅在993,408年前（自西元1934年起），玉苒廈才被正式認定為內巴頓宇宙中一顆有人類居住的行星。生物進化再次達到了具備意志尊嚴的人類層次；人類已現身於撒旦尼亞的第606號行星。
62:7.8 (710.7) [Sponsored by a Life Carrier of Nebadon resident on Urantia.]
62:7.8 (710.7) [由一位常駐在玉苒廈的內巴頓生命載運者提供。]