近亲联姻真的有那么可怕吗?

They're the butt of jokes and the target of stern laws. Now a study shows cousins run few risks in mating.
他们是众人取笑的对象和法律严厉制裁的目标。现在一项研究表明近亲联姻并无妨。

Paul had taken his cousin Donna on a long trek through a remote part of Colombia. They had missed the day's meals and had only a jar of pickled vegetables and a bottle of drinks. So they repaired to hammocks strung up under the moonlight--and began a love story that has lasted 14 years and produced two children.
保罗带领表妹唐娜出发去哥伦比亚的一个偏远地区徒步旅行。他们白天没有赶上吃正餐，现在只有一罐泡菜，一瓶饮料。无奈之下，只能在月光下搭起了吊床，双双就寝，从而开始了一个已持续14年，拥有两个子女的爱情故事。

"I was shocked that I had fallen in love with my first cousin and surprised that this miracle had fallen on me, " says Paul. "My only real concern was the medical issue."
保罗说：“我非常惊讶自己竟会爱上表妹，这一奇迹会发生在自己身上简直是不可思议。我惟一担心的是从医学角度看此事会产生的问题。”

Paul, a graduate student in New York City, and Donna, a financial adviser, are just two in a long, flourishing line of kissin' first cousins. Charles Darwin wed his cousin Emma and spawned 10 children, including four brilliant scientists. Albert Einstein' s second wife Elsa was his first cousin. Queen Victoria said" I do" to hers. So have millions worldwide. In parts of Saudi Arabia, 39％ of all marriages are between first cousins.
保罗是纽约市的一名研究生，而唐娜是一名金融顾问。他们俩仅仅是无数结为夫妻的表兄妹中的一对。查尔斯·达尔文与其表妹爱玛结合，养育了10个子女，其中有四位杰出的科学家。阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦与他的第二任妻子埃尔萨是表亲。维多利亚女王曾在婚礼上对她的表哥说：“我愿意”。全世界有数以百万计说过“我愿意”的新人有血缘关系。在沙特阿拉伯，有39％的婚姻发生在有亲族关系的男女之间。

In the U.S., though, the practice bears a stigma of inbreeding just this side of incest. The taboo is not only social but legislative: 24 states ban the marriage of first cousins; five others allow it only if the couple is unable to bear children. A major reason for this ban is the belief that kids of first cousins are tragically susceptible to serious congenital illnesses.
然而在美国，同宗结亲的做法仍带有近亲繁殖的耻辱，并有乱伦之嫌。这种禁忌不仅是社会习俗方面的，而且有来自立法机关的：有24个州禁止近亲结婚；其他5 个州只有在一对夫妻不育的条件下才许可。颁布此禁令的一个主要原因是人们相信近亲结婚易导致下一代不幸地患上严重的先天性疾病。