本文选自《经济学人》1月16日刊文章。这篇文章是一项有趣的研究，研究巴厘岛一个寺庙的猴子偷游客物品，并通过这些物品向游客索要食物、讨价还价的过程。幼猴没有区分物品价值的能力，但成年猴子却可以根据所偷物品的价值与游客讨价还价，索要更多食物，而且它们也更倾向于偷价值高的物品。这个研究表明，猴子和人一样，狡诈不是天生的，而且后天学来的。
选文精讲
Balinese temple monkeys are sophisticated thievesThey prove that human beings are not the only species able to negotiate a dealIF YOU VISIT Uluwatu temple in Bali, beware. The long-tailed macaques there are well-known thieves. Since time out of mind they have made a living by robbing visitors of their possessions and then holding those objects hostage until a ransom in the form of food is paid. That is quite clever. But Jean-Baptiste Leca of the University of Lethbridge, in Canada, wondered whether these monkeys are cleverer still. Sometimes, they do not accept the first offer and hold out for more. He therefore asked himself whether they are able to assess how valuable an object is to its owner, and factor that into their negotiations.
- time out of mind：很久以前、自古以来
- hold sb hostage: 挟持某人当作人质
如果你要参观巴厘岛的乌鲁瓦图神庙，要小心。那里的长尾猕猴是有名的小偷。很久以来，他们就靠抢劫游客的物品，然后把这些物品当作交换食物的筹码来谋生。这很聪明，但是加拿大Lethbridge大学的Jean-Baptiste Leca怀疑这些猴子是否（比我们想象的）更聪明。有时，它们不接受第一次报价，拿着这些物品索要更多的食物。因此，他问自己，它们是否能够评估一件物品对其拥有者的价值，并将这一因素纳入谈判之中。Laboratory experiments conducted in the past with various species of monkey and ape suggest such primates can indeed attach a value to something intrinsically worthless to them, like a coloured plastic counter, by learning that tokens of this sort may be exchanged for food, and that different types of token bring different rewards, not all of them equally valued by the animal (a desirable grape versus an undesirable piece of cucumber, for example). That, though, is an artificial protocol in an artificial setting. The macaques of Uluwatu are true wild animals, albeit ones that are familiar with, and comfortable in the presence of, human beings.
过去，实验室对不同种类的猴子和猿进行的实验表明，灵长类动物确实可以给对它们来说毫无价值的东西，比如一个彩色的塑料计数器，附加价值，通过学习这种类型的筹码可以用来交换食物，而且不同的筹码可以带来不同的回报，动物对它们有不同的估值(例如一个想要的葡萄和一个不想要的黄瓜)。这是类似于人类的协议，乌鲁瓦图的猕猴是真正的野生动物，尽管它们与人类是近亲，而且在人类面前很舒服。
