英语听书《海底两万里》第424期 第26章 大头鲸和长须鲸(5)

Why, Ned! I replied. You still aren't over your old fishing urges? 怎么。我回答，尼德，您还没有打消您哪打鲸鱼的老念头吗？

How could a whale fisherman forget his old trade, sir?  先生，打鲸鱼的人能够忘记他从前的手艺吗？

Who could ever get tired of such exciting hunting? 他能够厌倦这种捕捉所引起的激动吗？

You've never fished these seas, Ned? 尼德，您从没有在这一带海中打过鲸鱼吗？

Never, sir. Just the northernmost seas, equally in the Bering Strait and the Davis Strait. 从没有，先生。我只在北极海中打鲸鱼，就在白令海峡和台维斯海峡一带。

So the southern right whale is still unknown to you.  那么，南极的鲸鱼对您来说还是陌生的。

Until now it's the bowhead whale you've hunted, and it won't risk going past the warm waters of the equator¹. 您以前捕捉的都是平常的白鲸，它并木敢冒险通过赤道的温热海水。

Oh, professor, what are you feeding me? the Canadian answered in a tolerably skeptical² tone³. 啊！教授，您给我说什么呀？加拿大人用相当怀疑的口气回答。

I'm feeding you the facts. 我说的是事实哩。

By thunder! In '65, just two and a half years ago, I to whom you speak, I myself stepped onto the carcass of a whale near Greenland, and its flank⁴ still carried the marked harpoon⁵ of a whaling ship from the Bering Sea.  好嘛！格陵兰岛附近捕获了一条鲸鱼，它身上还带着一般白令海峡的捕鲸船所刺中的鱼叉。

Now I ask you, after it had been wounded west of America, how could this animal be killed in the east, unless it had cleared the equator and doubled Cape⁶ Horn or the Cape of Good Hope? 现在我要问您，鲸鱼在美洲西边被刺中了，如果它没有绕合恩角或好望角；通过赤道，它哪能死在美洲东边呢？

I agree with our friend Ned, Conseil said, and I'm waiting to hear how master will reply to him. 我跟尼德朋友的想法一样，康塞尔说，我等着听先生的答复哩。

Master will reply, my friends, that baleen⁷ whales are localized, according to species⁸, within certain seas that they never leave.  朋友们，先生的答复是这样，鲸鱼类是有地方性的，按照种类的不同；它们定居在某处海中，并不离开。

And if one of these animals went from the Bering Strait to the Davis Strait, it's quite simply because there's some passageway from the one sea to the other, either along the coasts of Canada or Siberia. 如果有一条鲸鱼从白令海峡走到台维斯侮峡，那很简单，因为这两个海洋间一定有一条相通的水路，或在美洲海岸边，或在亚洲海岸边。

You expect us to fall for that? the Canadian asked, tipping me a wink⁹. 要我们相信您的话吗？加拿大人闭着一只眼睛问：

If master says so, Conseil replied. 我们要相信先生的话。康塞尔回答。

Which means, the Canadian went on, since I've never fished these waterways, I don't know the whales that frequent them? 那么，加拿大人立即又说既然我没有在这一带海中打过鲸鱼，我就不认得往来这一带海中的鲸鱼类吗？

1 equator   

n.赤道，（平分球形物体的面的）圆

参考例句：

• Singapore is near the equator.新加坡位于赤道附近。
• The United States is north of the equator.美国位于赤道以北。

2 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

3 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。

4 flank   

n.肋，（动物的）侧边，侧翼；vt.位于...的侧面

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry.我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• They continued along the flank of the mountain.他们沿着山的一侧继续前行。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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。

8 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

9 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。