英语听书《海底两万里》第395期 第25章 地中海四十八小时(21)

 The terrain¹ consisted mostly of thick slime mixed with petrified² branches, but it changed little by little near four o'clock in the afternoon;  下午四点左右，地面上夹带有化石枝叶的厚泥土渐渐改变了；

it grew rockier and seemed to be strewn with pudding stones and a basaltic gravel³ called "tuff," together with bits of lava⁴ and sulfurous obsidian⁵.  石头愈来愈多，有好些变质岩，玄武石凝灰岩，同时又有硫磺火石和黑暇石散在中间。

I expected these long plains to change into mountain regions, and in fact, as the Nautilus was executing certain turns, I noticed that the southerly horizon was blocked by a high wall that seemed to close off every exit.  我想山岳地带不久就要接上辽阔的平原。真的，在诺第留斯号更往前驶的时候，我望见南方的天际水平线，被一带高墙挡起来，好像完全没有出路似的。

Its summit obviously poked⁶ above the level of the ocean.  很显然，墙顶是超出大洋水面了。

It had to be a continent or at least an island, either one of the Canaries or one of the Cape⁷ Verde Islands.  那可能是大陆，至少也是一个岛，或加纳里群岛之一，或青角群岛之一。

Our bearings hadn't been marked on the chart-perhaps deliberately-and I had no idea what our position was.  船方位的标记还没有做—可能是有意这样—我不知道我们所在的方位。

In any case this wall seemed to signal the end of Atlantis, of which, all in all, we had crossed only a small part. 总之，这座高墙我看来是标记出大西洋洲的尽头，我们没有走过的恐怕也只有很小的一部分了。

Nightfall didn't interrupt my observations. I was left to myself. Conseil had repaired to his cabin.  黑夜没有中断我的观察，我独自一人留下，康塞尔回他的房中去了。

The Nautilus slowed down, hovering⁸ above the muddled⁹ masses on the seafloor, sometimes grazing them as if wanting to come to rest, sometimes rising unpredictably to the surface of the waves.  诺第留斯号行驶缓慢，在地面认不清的一堆一堆东西上面往来盘旋，有时它接触到这些乱堆，好像它想停留在上面似的；有时又很任意地浮出海水面上来。

Then I glimpsed a few bright constellations¹⁰ through the crystal waters, specifically five or six of those zodiacal stars trailing from the tail end of Orion. 我这时通过海水透明晶体，望见一些光辉的星宿，那正是跟参垦鱼贯排列起来的六七颗黄道星宿。

1 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。

2 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

4 lava   

n.熔岩，火山岩

参考例句：

• The lava flowed down the sides of the volcano.熔岩沿火山坡面涌流而下。
• His anger spilled out like lava.他的愤怒像火山爆发似的迸发出来。

5 obsidian   

n.黑曜石

参考例句：

• Obsidian is sacred to the Maoris.黑曜石是毛利人的神圣之物。
• Once you have enough obsidian,activate the idols.一旦你有足够的黑曜石，激活神像。

6 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

8 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

9 muddled   

adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
• I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 constellations   

n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人）

参考例句：

• The map of the heavens showed all the northern constellations. 这份天体图标明了北半部所有的星座。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His time was coming, he would move in the constellations of power. 他时来运转，要进入权力中心了。 来自教父部分