Michael Farmer is a meteorite hunter. Here, he talks about his unusual job.（迈克尔·法默（Michael Farmer）是一名职业陨石猎人。在这里，他畅谈起自己这份非同寻常的职业。） National Geographic (NG): What’s the hardest part of your job?（国家地理（NG）：您工作中最大的艰辛是什么？） Michael Farmer: I’m always looking for new pieces of meteorite rock, so I have to travel a lot. I’ve been to about 70 countries or so.（迈克尔·法默：我一直在搜寻新的陨石样本，因此必须常年奔波于世界各地。我至今已经去过大约70个国家。） The job can be dangerous because some rocks are worth a lot of money. On one such trip, I was robbed and almost killed. That was scary.（这份工作充满凶险，因为有些陨石价值连城。在一次寻石之旅中，我曾遭遇武装抢劫，险些丧命。当时真是惊魂未定。） There are other issues, too. It’s illegal to take meteorite pieces from some countries. So you have to be very careful and learn the law. It’s different everywhere.（此外还有其他难题。在某些国家，擅自将陨石带出国境是违法的。所以你必须极其审慎，精通当地法律，各地法条千差万别。）

NG: Are there a lot of meteorite pieces on Earth?（NG：地球上散落的陨石很多吗？） Michael Farmer: Yes, there are millions, but most land in the forest, jungle, or ocean. They’re almost impossible to locate.（迈克尔·法默：是的，有数百万块之多，但绝大多数都坠入了茂密森林、热带丛林或茫茫深海中，几乎无法搜寻定位。） One of the best places to find pieces is in the Sahara Desert in Africa.（寻找陨石的最佳地点之一是非洲的撒哈拉大沙漠。） You can see them easily in the sand. The heat also preserves the rocks well.（在空旷金黄的沙丘上，黑色的陨石一览无余，而且沙漠干燥炽热的气候能使这些天外来石历经千年仍完好无损。）

NG: What’s the most valuable meteorite you’ve found?（NG：您寻获的最昂贵的陨石是什么？） Michael Farmer: I found one piece in the Middle East, and I sold it for $100,000. It was a small piece—about the size of a walnut.（迈克尔·法默：我在中东找到过一块，卖了10万美元。它体积很小——大概只有核桃那么大。） But the most valuable was in Canada. Three partners and I discovered a very rare type of meteorite called a pallasite.（但最有价值的一块是在加拿大发现的。我和三位同伴发掘到一块极其罕见的橄榄陨铁（pallasite）。） It weighed 53 kilograms, and it’s around 4.5 billion years old.（它重达53公斤，地质年龄约为45亿年。） We sold it to the Canadian government for just under a million dollars.（我们以接近100万美元的价格将它出售给了加拿大政府。） Now it’s in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. It’s a national treasure.（如今它陈列在多伦多的皇家安大略博物馆中，被誉为国宝级文物。）

NG: Who else buys the rocks from you?（NG：还有哪些人会向您购买陨石？） Michael Farmer: Museums and private collectors are always calling me. New meteorites are in demand, and so they sell quickly.（迈克尔·法默：各大博物馆和私人收藏家经常给我打电话。新鲜出炉的稀缺陨石供不应求，往往很快被抢购一空。） I also sell them to a lot of scientists. They don’t have the time or money to search for these rocks.（我也把许多陨石转让给科研学者。科学家往往没有足够的时间和经费亲自四处勘察寻石。） Without the help of hunters, 99 percent of these meteorites would be lost to science.（要是没有职业猎人的搜寻协助，这其中99%的珍贵陨石都将与科学界失之交臂。）