英语听书《海底两万里》第357期 第23章 珊瑚王国(54)

 With Ned and Conseil, I went to sit on the platform. The coast to the east looked like a slightly blurred¹ mass in a damp fog. 我坐在平台上，有尼德·兰和康塞尔陪着。东岸好像有一大块东西，在湿雾中隐约显现。

Leaning against the sides of the skiff, we were chatting of one thing and another, when Ned Land stretched his hand toward a point in the water, saying to me: 我们靠在小艇侧面，大家随便地说东道西，正谈的时候，尼德·兰伸手指着海上的一点，对我说：

See anything out there, professor? 教授，您看见那边的东西吗？

No, Ned, I replied, but you know I don't have your eyes. 没有，尼德，我回答，我的眼睛不好，您是知道的。

Take a good look, Ned went on. There, ahead to starboard, almost level with the beacon²! Don't you see a mass that seems to be moving around? 好好地看一下，尼德·兰又说，那右舷前头，差不多在探照灯的同一直线上！您看不见那块好像动的东西吗？

Right, I said after observing carefully, I can make out something like a long, blackish object on the surface of the water. 是的，我仔细地看一下说，我望见水面上有一个灰黑色的长东西。

A second Nautilus? Conseil said. 是另一只诺第留斯号吗？康塞尔说。

No, the Canadian replied, unless I'm badly mistaken, that's some marine³ animal. 不是，加拿大人说，或者我弄错了，或者那是一只海牛动物。

Are there whales in the Red Sea? Conseil asked. 红海中有鲸鱼吗？康塞尔问。

Yes, my boy, I replied, they're sometimes found here. 有的，老实人，我回答，人们有时碰得见呢。

That's no whale, continued Ned Land, whose eyes never strayed from the object they had sighted. We're old chums, whales and I, and I couldn't mistake their little ways. 那不是鲸鱼，尼德·兰回答，同时目不转晴地盯住那东西，鲸鱼和我，我们是老相识，它们的形状我决不至弄错。

Let's wait and see, Conseil said. The Nautilus is heading that direction, and we'll soon know what we're in for. 我们等着吧，康塞尔说，诺第留斯号向那边驶去了，一会我们就可以知道那是什么东西。

In fact, that blackish object was soon only a mile away from us. It looked like a huge reef stranded⁴ in midocean. What was it? I still couldn't make up my mind. 正是，这灰黑的物体不久离我们只有一海里远了。它很像搁浅在海中间的大礁。是什么呢？我还不能说出来。

Oh, it's moving off! It's diving! Ned Land exclaimed. Damnation! What can that animal be?  啊！它走动了！它潜入水中了，尼德·兰喊道，真奇怪！可能是什么动物呢？

It doesn't have a forked tail like baleen⁵ whales or sperm⁶ whales, and its fins⁷ look like sawed-off limbs. 它没有跟鲸鱼或大头鲸一样的分开来的尾巴，它的鳍好像是切断的手足那样。

But in that case-I put in. 那么是…我说。

Good lord, the Canadian went on, it's rolled over on its back, and it's raising its breasts in the air! 好吗，加拿大人立即又说，它朝天翻过来了，它把奶头挺起在空中了！

It's a siren! Conseil exclaimed. With all due respect to master, it's an actual mermaid⁸! 那是人鱼！康塞尔喊道，是真正的人鱼，请先生原谅我这样说。

1 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

5 baleen   

n.鲸须

参考例句：

• Other baleen whales have splash guards too,but not like this.一些须鲸物种头顶也有护住喷水孔的构造，但并不长成这样。
• Baleen whales often appear in this region. Be careful!这一带经常有须鲸出没，要注意安全啊。

6 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

7 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

8 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。