英语听书《海底两万里》第256期 第20章 托列斯海峡(4)

　　Thank you, Conseil. Only I must ask you to postpone¹ the question of new year's gifts, and temporarily accept a hearty² handshake in their place.  谢谢，康塞尔，不过我要你把新年送礼的问题搁下来，现在暂且好好握一下手作为新年的贺仪。

　　That's all I have on me. 我目前只有这个在身边。

　　Master has never been more generous,Conseil replied. 先生从没有像现在这样慷慨.康塞尔回答。

　　And with that, the gallant³ lad went away. 说完这话，这老实人走开了。

　　By January 2 we had fared 11,340 miles, hence 5,250 leagues, from our starting point in the seas of Japan. 1月2日，自我们从日本海出发到现在，我们已经走了一万一千三百四十海里，即五千二百五十里了。

　　Before the Nautilus's spur there stretched the dangerous waterways of the Coral Sea, off the northeast coast of Australia.  现在诺第留斯号的冲角面前望见的，就是澳大利亚洲东北边岸珊瑚海的危险海面。

　　Our boat cruised along a few miles away from that daunting⁴ shoal where Captain Cook's ships wellnigh miscarried on June 10, 1770.  我们的船在距离几海里远的地方沿暗礁脉驶过去；1770年6月10日，

　　The craft that Cook was aboard charged into some coral rock, and if his vessel⁵ didn't go down,  库克率领的船几乎在这里失事沉没，库克自己乘的船碰在一座岩石上，船所以不沉，

　　it was thanks to the circumstance that a piece of coral broke off in the collision and plugged the very hole it had made in the hull⁶. 那是由于一种特殊的情形，就是有一块珊瑚石因船捡上去而崩下来，堵在被冲破的船身上，船因此得以保全。

　　I would have been deeply interested in visiting this long, 360-league reef, against which the ever-surging sea broke with the fearsome intensity⁷ of thunderclaps.  我很想看一看这条长三百六十里的暗礁脉，暗礁脉上常有波涛汹涌的海水冲击，奔腾澎湃，十分凶猛，好像隆隆的雷声。

　　But just then the Nautilus's slanting⁸ fins⁹ took us to great depths, and I could see nothing of those high coral walls.  可是，这个时候，诺第留斯号转动纵斜机板，把我们带到水底很深的地方，我没有法子看到这座珊瑚造成的长城。

1 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

2 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

3 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

4 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

5 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

6 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

7 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

8 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

9 fins   

[医]散热片；鱼鳍；飞边；鸭掌

参考例句：

• The level of TNF-α positively correlated with BMI,FPG,HbA1C,TG,FINS and IRI,but not with SBP and DBP. TNF-α水平与BMI、FPG、HbA1C、TG、FINS和IRI呈显著正相关，与SBP、DBP无相关。 来自互联网
• Fins are a feature specific to fish. 鱼鳍是鱼类特有的特征。 来自辞典例句