英语听书《海底两万里》第328期 第23章 珊瑚王国(25)

 　　Rifles! What for? Don't your mountaineers attack bears dagger¹ in hand? And isn't steel surer than lead? Here's a sturdy blade. Slip it under your belt and let's be off. 枪支：有什么用？你们山中人不是手拿短刀去打熊吗？钢刀不比铅弹更可靠吗？这里有一把刺刀，把它挂在您腰带上，我们走吧。

　　I stared at my companions. They were armed in the same fashion, and Ned Land was also brandishing³ an enormous harpoon⁴ he had stowed in the skiff before leaving the Nautilus. 我看看我的同伴。他们跟我一样拿着短刀，此外，尼德·兰用手挥动一把鱼叉，这叉是他离开诺第留斯号之前放在小艇中的。

　　Then, following the captain's example, I let myself be crowned with my heavy copper⁵ sphere, and our air tanks immediately went into action. 然后，跟着船长，我也戴起那沉重的铜球，我们的空气储藏器立即活动起来。

　　An instant later, the longboat's sailors helped us overboard one after the other, and we set foot on level sand in a meter and a half of water.  一会儿，小艇上的水手们把我们一个一个扶人水中，在一米半的深处，我们的脚踩在平坦的沙上。

　　Captain Nemo gave us a hand signal. We followed him down a gentle slope and disappeared under the waves. 尼摩船长对我们做个手势，我们跟着他走，沿着逐渐下斜的坡道走，我们就没入到水底下了。

　　There the obsessive⁶ fears in my brain left me. I became surprisingly calm again.  在水底下，缠绕我脑际的鲛鱼的念头没有了，我心中变得十分安静。

　　The ease with which I could move increased my confidence, and the many strange sights captivated my imagination. 由于动作方便，我增加了信心，水底下奇异的景象完全吸住了我的想象力。

　　The sun was already sending sufficient light under these waves. The tiniest objects remained visible.  太阳已经把足够的光度照到水底下来，最微小的物体也可以看见。

　　After ten minutes of walking, we were in five meters of water, and the terrain⁷ had become almost flat. 走了10分钟后，我们到了五米水深处，底面差不多是平坦的。

　　Like a covey of snipe over a marsh⁸, there rose underfoot schools of unusual fish from the genus Monopterus, whose members have no fin⁹ but their tail.  在我们走的路上，一大群单鳍属的新奇鱼类，像沼泽地中的一群一群山鸡那样，飞一般地哄起；这种鱼没有其它的鳍，只有尾上的那一支。

　　I recognized the Javanese eel², a genuine eight-decimeter serpent with a bluish gray belly¹⁰, which, without the gold lines over its flanks, could easily be confused with the conger eel.  我认得其中的爪哇鳗，真正跟蛇一样，长八分米，肚腹苍白，很容易跟两测没有金线的海鳗相混，分辨不出来。

　　From the butterfish genus, whose oval bodies are very flat, I observed several adorned¹¹ in brilliant colors and sporting a dorsal¹² fin like a sickle¹³, edible¹⁴ fish that, when dried and marinated, make an excellent dish known by the name karawade;  至于躯体压缩作蛋形的硬鳍属中，我看到颜色鲜艳的燕雀鱼，脊鳍像镰刀一样，那是可以食用的鱼，晾干浸在盐水中，称为卡拉瓦的美味的好菜；

　　then some sea poachers, fish belonging to the genus Aspidophoroides, whose bodies are covered with scaly¹⁵ armor divided into eight lengthwise sections. 其次为属于长轴属的土兰格巴鱼、全身披着上面有八条纵带的鳞的甲冗。

1 dagger   

n.匕首，短剑，剑号

参考例句：

• The bad news is a dagger to his heart.这条坏消息刺痛了他的心。
• The murderer thrust a dagger into her heart.凶手将匕首刺进她的心脏。

2 eel   

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

• He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。
• In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

3 brandishing   

v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀

参考例句：

• The horseman came up to Robin Hood, brandishing his sword. 那个骑士挥舞着剑，来到罗宾汉面前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He appeared in the lounge brandishing a knife. 他挥舞着一把小刀，出现在休息室里。 来自辞典例句

4 harpoon   

n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获

参考例句：

• The harpoon drove deep into the body of the whale.渔叉深深地扎进鲸鱼体内。
• The fisherman transfixed the shark with a harpoon.渔夫用鱼叉刺住鲨鱼。

5 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

6 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

7 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

8 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

9 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

10 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

11 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

12 dorsal   

adj.背部的，背脊的

参考例句：

• His dorsal fin was down and his huge pectorals were spread wide.它的脊鳍朝下耷拉着，巨大的胸鳍大张着。
• The shark's dorsal fin was cut off by the fisherman.鲨鱼的背鳍被渔夫割了下来。

13 sickle   

n.镰刀

参考例句：

• The gardener was swishing off the tops of weeds with a sickle.园丁正在用镰刀嗖嗖地割掉杂草的顶端。
• There is a picture of the sickle on the flag. 旗帜上有镰刀的图案。

14 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

15 scaly   

adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的

参考例句：

• Reptiles possess a scaly,dry skin.爬行类具有覆盖着鳞片的干燥皮肤。
• The iron pipe is scaly with rust.铁管子因为生锈一片片剥落了。