英语听书《海底两万里》第332期 第23章 珊瑚王国(29)

 　　We walked by ourselves, genuine loiterers stopping or straying as our fancies dictated¹.  我们各走各的路，随自己的意思，或停下，或走开。

　　For my part, I was no longer worried about those dangers my imagination had so ridiculously exaggerated.  至于我自己，我已经不把那件由于空想所引起的十分可笑的事放在心上了。

　　The shallows drew noticeably closer to the surface of the sea, and soon, walking in only a meter of water, my head passed well above the level of the ocean.  海底这时显然接近海面，不久，我的头离水面只有一米了。

　　Conseil rejoined me, and gluing his huge copper² capsule to mine, his eyes gave me a friendly greeting.  康塞尔走近我身边，把他的铜球帽贴着我的铜球帽，他挤弄眼睛，向我作个友谊的敬礼。

　　But this lofty plateau measured only a few fathoms³, and soon we reentered Our Element. I think I've now earned the right to dub⁴ it that. 不过这水底高原只有几米长，不久我们又回到我们的深水中。我想现在我有权利可以这样讲。

　　Ten minutes later, Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. I thought he'd called a halt so that we could turn and start back.  十分钟后，尼摩船长忽然停住了。我以为他是停一下就要转回去。

　　No. With a gesture he ordered us to crouch⁵ beside him at the foot of a wide crevice⁶. His hand motioned toward a spot within the liquid mass, and I looked carefully. 然而不是。他做个手势，要我们在一个宽大的窝里面，挨近他身边蹲下来。他用手指着水中的一点，我很注意地观察。

　　Five meters away a shadow appeared and dropped to the seafloor. The alarming idea of sharks crossed my mind.  离我们五米的地方，出现一个黑影，下沉到底。使我害怕的鲛鱼的念头又涌现在我心中了。

　　But I was mistaken, and once again we didn't have to deal with monsters of the deep. 可是，这一次我又错了，在我们面前的并不是海洋中的怪物。

　　It was a man, a living man, a black Indian fisherman, a poor devil who no doubt had come to gather what he could before harvest time.  那是一个人，一个活人，一个印度人，一个黑人，当然是一个采珠人，一个可怜人，他未到采珠期就前来采珠了。

　　I saw the bottom of his dinghy, moored⁷ a few feet above his head. He would dive and go back up in quick succession.  我看见他的艇底。停泊在距他头上只有几英尺的水面上。他潜入水中，随即又浮上来。

　　A stone cut in the shape of a sugar loaf, which he gripped between his feet while a rope connected it to his boat, served to lower him more quickly to the ocean floor.  一块砸成像小面包一般的石头夹在两脚中间，一根绳索缚着石头，系在他的艇子上，使他可以很快地到海底下来。

　　This was the extent of his equipment.  以上就是他所有的采珠工具。

　　Arriving on the seafloor at a depth of about five meters, he fell to his knees and stuffed his sack with shellfish gathered at random⁸.  到了海底，约五米深左右，他立即跪下，把顺手拿到的小纹珠：贝塞人他的口袋中。

　　Then he went back up, emptied his sack, pulled up his stone, and started all over again, the whole process lasting⁹ only thirty seconds. 然后，他上去，倒净口袋，拉出石头，又开始下水采珠，一上一下，只不过是三十秒钟。

1 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 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。

4 dub   

vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制

参考例句：

• I intend to use simultaneous recording to dub this film.我打算采用同期录音的方法为这部影片配音。
• It was dubbed into Spanish for Mexican audiences.它被译制成西班牙语以方便墨西哥观众观看。

5 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。

6 crevice   

n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口

参考例句：

• I saw a plant growing out of a crevice in the wall.我看到墙缝里长出一棵草来。
• He edged the tool into the crevice.他把刀具插进裂缝里。

7 moored   

adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London. 该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
• We shipped (the) oars and moored alongside the bank. 我们收起桨，把船泊在岸边。

8 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

9 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。