英语听书《海底两万里》第360期 第23章 珊瑚王国(57)

 I stood up and could clearly observe the Canadian's adversary¹. This dugong--which also boasts the name halicore--closely resembled a manatee².  我站起来，很清楚地看见加拿大人的对手。这海马又名为儒良，很像海牛。

Its oblong body ended in a very long caudal fin³ and its lateral⁴ fins⁵ in actual fingers.  它的长方身体后边是拉得很长的尾巴，它两侧的绪尖端就是指爪。

It differs from the manatee in that its upper jaw⁶ is armed with two long, pointed⁷ teeth that form diverging⁸ tusks⁹ on either side. 它跟海牛不同的地方是它的上颚有两枚很长很长的牙齿，作为分在两旁的防御武器。

This dugong that Ned Land was preparing to attack was of colossal¹⁰ dimensions, easily exceeding seven meters in length.  尼德兰准备攻打的这条海马身躯巨大，身长至少超过七米。

It didn't stir and seemed to be sleeping on the surface of the waves, a circumstance that should have made it easier to capture. 它在水面上躺着不动，好像睡着了，这种情况就比较容易猎龋小艇小心地挨近海马，只有五六米远了。

The skiff approached cautiously to within three fathoms¹¹ of the animal. The oars¹² hung suspended above their rowlocks.  所有的桨都、挂在铁圈子上不动。我身子站起一半。

I was crouching¹³. His body leaning slightly back, Ned Land brandished¹⁴ his harpoon¹⁵ with expert hands. 尼德·兰全身有些往后仰，老练的手挥动鱼叉，把叉找出。

Suddenly a hissing¹⁶ sound was audible, and the dugong disappeared. Although the harpoon had been forcefully hurled¹⁷, it apparently¹⁸ had hit only water. 忽然听到一声呼啸，海马沉下不见了。龟叉用力过猛，可能是打在水中了。

Damnation! exclaimed the furious Canadian. I missed it! 鬼怪东西！愤怒的加拿大人喊道，我没有打中它！

No, I said, the animal's wounded, there's its blood; but your weapon didn't stick in its body. 打中了，我说，那东西受伤了，瞧，那不是它的血？：不过你的叉并没有钉在它的身上。

My harpoon! Get my harpoon! Ned Land exclaimed. 我的鱼叉！我的鱼叉！尼德·兰喊。

The sailors went back to their sculling, and the coxswain steered¹⁹ the longboat toward the floating barrel.  水手们又划起来，小艇艇长让小艇向浮桶划去。

We fished up the harpoon, and the skiff started off in pursuit of the animal. 鱼叉收回来，小艇就追赶那海马。

The latter returned from time to time to breathe at the surface of the sea.  海马时时浮出海面上来呼吸。

Its wound hadn't weakened it because it went with tremendous speed.  它受到的伤没有使它的…气力削弱，因为它跑得非常快。

Driven by energetic arms, the longboat flew on its trail.  小艇由健壮的胳膊划着，迅速追上去。

Several times we got within a few fathoms of it, and the Canadian hovered²⁰ in readiness to strike; but then the dugong would steal away with a sudden dive, and it proved impossible to overtake the beast. 好几次只相距儿米了，加拿大人就要投叉了，但海马立即沉下，躲开了，简直不可能打中它。

1 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

2 manatee   

n.海牛

参考例句：

• We watched dolphin,manatee,sea lion and whale shows.我们看了海豚、海牛、海狮和鲸的表演。
• One of the most extraordinary river creatures is Amazonian manatee.其中河里最特别的生物之一要数亚马孙海牛。

3 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。

4 lateral   

adj.侧面的，旁边的

参考例句：

• An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
• Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。

5 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

6 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

8 diverging   

分开( diverge的现在分词 )； 偏离； 分歧； 分道扬镳

参考例句：

• Plants had gradually evolved along diverging and converging pathways. 植物是沿着趋异和趋同两种途径逐渐演化的。
• With member-country bond yields now diverging, 'it's a fragmented set of markets. 但随着成员国债券收益率之差扩大，市场已经分割开来。

9 tusks   

n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头

参考例句：

• The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
• Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

10 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

11 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。

12 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》

13 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

14 brandished   

v.挥舞( brandish的过去式和过去分词 )；炫耀

参考例句：

• "Bang!Bang!"the small boy brandished a phoney pistol and shouted. “砰！砰！”那小男孩挥舞着一支假手枪，口中嚷嚷着。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Swords brandished and banners waved. 刀剑挥舞，旌旗飘扬。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 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。

16 hissing   

n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steam escaped with a loud hissing noise. 蒸汽大声地嘶嘶冒了出来。
• His ears were still hissing with the rustle of the leaves. 他耳朵里还听得萨萨萨的声音和屑索屑索的怪声。 来自汉英文学 - 春蚕

17 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

19 steered   

v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。
• The freighter steered out of Santiago Bay that evening. 那天晚上货轮驶出了圣地亚哥湾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。