英语听书《海底两万里》第231期 第18章 太平洋下四千里(3)

 　　After its fishing was finished and its air supply renewed,  鱼捕完了，空气调换了，

　　I thought the Nautilus would resume its underwater excursion,  我想诺第留斯号又要作海底旅行了；

　　and I was getting ready to return to my stateroom, when Captain Nemo turned to me and said without further preamble¹: 当我正准备回房的时候，尼摩船长向我回转身来，没有什么客套，直截了当地对我说：

　　Look at this ocean, professor! Doesn't it have the actual gift of life?  您看这海洋，教授，它不是赋有真实的生命吗？

　　Doesn't it experience both anger and affection?  它不是具有愤怒和温情吗？

　　Last evening it went to sleep just as we did, and there it is, waking up after a peaceful night! 昨天，它跟我们一般安静地睡着，现在，过了平安的一夜，它又动起来了。

　　No hellos or good mornings for this gent! You would have thought this eccentric individual was simply continuing a conversation we'd already started! 不说早安，不说晚安！谁也要认为这个奇怪的人物现在只不过是把已经开了头的谈话继续说下去。

　　See! he went on. It's waking up under the sun's caresses²!  请看，他又说，它在太阳的抚摩下苏醒了!

　　It's going to relive its daily existence!  它又要过它的日间生活了！

　　What a fascinating field of study lies in watching the play of its organism.  观察它有机生活的变化作用, 实在是很有兴趣的学术研究呢。

　　It owns a pulse and arteries³, it has spasms⁴, and I side with the scholarly Commander Maury, 它有脉搏、有血管、有起伏，我觉得科学家莫利是对的，

　　who discovered that it has a circulation as real as the circulation of blood in animals. 他发现海洋跟动物身上的血液循环一样，有真正的循环作用。

　　I'm sure that Captain Nemo expected no replies from me, and it seemed pointless to pitch in with Ah yes,  当然尼摩船长并不等待我的答话， 我觉得跟他说许多,当然,

　　Exactly, or How right you are! 一定和您对，没有什么用处。

　　Rather, he was simply talking to himself, with long pauses between sentences.  他说话，与其说是对着我，不如说是对着他自己，他说完每一句后，中间停顿相当长的时间。

　　He was meditating⁵ out loud. 这实在是一种特殊形式的沉思.

　　Yes, he said, the ocean owns a genuine circulation,  是的，他说，海洋有真正的循环作用，

　　and to start it going, the Creator of All Things has only to increase its heat, salt, and microscopic⁶ animal life.  要引起这作用，单由造物者在海中增加热、盐和微生动物就成了。

　　In essence, heat creates the different densities⁷ that lead to currents and countercurrents.  正是，热力造成海水的不同密度，使海中发生许多顺流和逆流。

　　Evaporation⁸, which is nil⁹ in the High Arctic regions and very active in equatorial zones,  水汽蒸发，在北极区域完全没有，在赤道地带就很为活动，

　　brings about a constant interchange of tropical and polar waters.  造成热带海水和极圈海水间永远不停的交流。

1 preamble   

n.前言；序文

参考例句：

• He spoke without preamble.他没有开场白地讲起来。
• The controversy has arisen over the text of the preamble to the unification treaty.针对统一条约的序文出现了争论。

2 caresses   

爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A breeze caresses the cheeks. 微风拂面。
• Hetty was not sufficiently familiar with caresses or outward demonstrations of fondness. 海蒂不习惯于拥抱之类过于外露地表现自己的感情。

3 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spasms   

n.痉挛( spasm的名词复数 )；抽搐；（能量、行为等的）突发；发作

参考例句：

• After the patient received acupuncture treatment,his spasms eased off somewhat. 病人接受针刺治疗后，痉挛稍微减轻了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The smile died, squeezed out by spasms of anticipation and anxiety. 一阵阵预测和焦虑把她脸上的微笑挤掉了。 来自辞典例句

5 meditating   

a.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

7 densities   

密集( density的名词复数 )； 稠密； 密度（固体、液体或气体单位体积的质量）； 密度（磁盘存贮数据的可用空间）

参考例句：

• The range of densities of interest is about 3.5. 有用的密度范围为3．5左右。
• Densities presumably can be probed by radar. 利用雷达也许还能探测出气体的密度。

8 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

9 nil   

n.无，全无，零

参考例句：

• My knowledge of the subject is practically nil.我在这方面的知识几乎等于零。
• Their legal rights are virtually nil.他们实际上毫无法律权利。