自打人类进入文明时代之后,巨兽便仅仅作为一个文化符号而存在,已经跃升到食物链顶端的人类不再把它们视为梦魇。但是,在漫长的历史进化过程中,人类的先祖们的确曾经跟剑齿虎、猛犸象这些史前巨兽们同行,甚至一度因为这些巨兽的存在而濒临灭绝。于是乎,对于巨兽的恐惧和敬畏,被保留在了人类各式各样的文化结晶之中。科幻大师儒勒·凡尔纳在其名作《地心游记》中便描写了一个被巨兽统治的地下王国。自此,巨兽题材成为科幻的一个重要母题。 Since beating humans into the age of civilization, behemoths exist only as a cultural symbol, and humans that have jumped to the top of the food chain no longer treat them as nightmares. However, during the long course of historical evolution, human ancestors did indeed go along with prehistoric behemoths such as saber-toothed tigers and mammoths, and were once on the brink of extinction because of the presence of these behemoths. As a result, fear and awe for behemoths are preserved in all kinds of human cultural forms. Science fiction master Jules Verne in his famous book “The Earth’s Travels” describes a behemoth under the rule of the underground kingdom. Since then, monster themes have become an important motif of science fiction.