英语听书《海底两万里》第281期 第21章 在陆地上的两天(13)

 　　WITHOUT STANDING¹ UP, we stared in the direction of the forest, my hand stopping halfway² to my mouth, Ned Land's completing its assignment. 我们向树林方面看去，但没有站起来，我的手正拿食物向嘴里送就停住了，尼德·兰的手也正好把东西放到嘴中就不动了。

　　Stones don't fall from the sky, Conseil said, or else they deserve to be called meteorites³. 康塞尔说：一块石头不能从天上掉下来，不然的话，就应该叫它为陨石了。

　　A second well-polished stone removed a tasty ringdove leg from Conseil's hand, giving still greater relevance⁴ to his observation. 第二块石头，加工的圆形石头，又落下来，把康塞尔手中好吃的一块山鸠腿肉打落了，这证明他的看法更有道理，需要我们注意。

　　We all three stood up, rifles to our shoulders, ready to answer any attack. 我们三人全站起来，把枪扛在肩上，准备立即回答这次·突然的攻击。

　　Apes maybe? Ned Land exclaimed. 是一些猿猴吗？尼德·兰喊。

　　Nearly, Conseil replied. Savages⁵. 可以说是，康塞尔回答，他们是野蛮人。

　　Head for the skiff! I said, moving toward the sea. 回小艇去。我说，同时向海边走。

　　Indeed, it was essential to beat a retreat because some twenty natives,  果然，我们必须向后退走，因为有二十来个土人，

　　armed with bows and slings⁶, appeared barely a hundred paces off, on the outskirts⁷ of a thicket⁸ that masked the horizon to our right. 拿着弓箭和投石器，从遮住了右方天际的丛林边缘出来，相距不过一百步左右。

　　The skiff was aground ten fathoms⁹ away from us. 我们的小艇停在离我们二十米远的海上。

　　The savages approached without running, but they favored us with a show of the greatest hostility¹⁰. It was raining stones and arrows. 这些土人并不快跑，慢慢走来；可是他们做种种表示故意的动作。石块和弓筋像雨点一般打来。

　　Ned Land was unwilling¹¹ to leave his provisions behind, and despite the impending¹² danger,  尼德·兰不愿意放弃所有的食物，不顾近在眼前的危险，

　　he clutched his pig on one side, his kangaroos on the other, and scampered¹³ off with respectable speed. 一边拿野猪，一边拿袋鼠，相当快地把食物收拾起来。

　　In two minutes we were on the strand¹⁴. Loading provisions and weapons into the skiff, pushing it to sea, and positioning its two oars¹⁵ were the work of an instant.  两分钟后，我们就到了滩上。把食物和武器放在小艇里，将小艇推人海中，安上两支桨，这是一瞬间的事。

　　We hadn't gone two cable lengths when a hundred savages, howling and gesticulating, entered the water up to their waists.  我们还没有划到二百米远，一百左右的土人大喊大叫，指手画脚地一直走到水深至腰间的海水中。

　　I looked to see if their appearance might draw some of the Nautilus's men onto the platform.  我小心地看，以为这些土人的出现一定要把诺第留斯号船上的一些人引到平台上来观看。

　　But no. Lying well out, that enormous machine still seemed completely deserted¹⁶. 可是没有；这只庞大的机器船睡在海面上，完全看不见人的踪影。

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

3 meteorites   

n.陨星( meteorite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One theory about the existence of extraterrestrial life rests on the presence of carbon compounds in meteorites. 地球外存在生命的理论是基于陨星上存在碳化合物质这一事实的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

5 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

6 slings   

抛( sling的第三人称单数 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• "Don't you fear the threat of slings, Perched on top of Branches so high?" 矫矫珍木巅，得无金丸惧？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Used for a variety of things including slings and emergency tie-offs. 用于绳套，设置保护点，或者紧急情况下打结。

7 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

8 thicket   

n.灌木丛，树林

参考例句：

• A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。
• We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。

9 fathoms   

英寻( fathom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The harbour is four fathoms deep. 港深为四英寻。
• One bait was down forty fathoms. 有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。

10 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

11 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

12 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

13 scampered   

v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cat scampered away. 猫刺棱一下跑了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The rabbIt'scampered off. 兔子迅速跑掉了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

15 oars   

n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
• The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。