英语听书《海底两万里》第438期 第26章 大头鲸和长须鲸(19)

 Captain Nemo was right. I was outdoing him in daring! It was I who was sweeping¹ him to the pole.  船长是对的，我甚至要大胆他说服他了！是我把他拉到南极去了！

I was leading the way, I was out in front...but no, you silly fool! Captain Nemo already knew the pros² and cons³ of this question, and it amused him to see you flying off into impossible fantasies! 我走在他前面了，我比他走得更远了…完全不是：可怜的傻瓜。尼摩船长对这个问题的反对和赞成的意见比你更知道得多呢，他不过让你在这些不可能的梦想中高兴发疯，看来好玩罢了。

Nevertheless, he didn't waste an instant.  可是，他一点时间也不白丢。

At his signal, the chief officer appeared.  他发出信号，船副上来了。

The two men held a quick exchange in their incomprehensible language, and either the chief officer had been alerted previously⁴ or he found the plan feasible, because he showed no surprise. 两人用那不可懂的语言，迅速地谈了一下，或者船副预先就得到了通知，或者他看到这计划可以实行，他一点也不使人看出有惊异的表示。

But as unemotional as he was, he couldn't have been more impeccably emotionless than Conseil when I told the fine lad our intention of pushing on to the South Pole.  即使如此，他的冷谈也比不上康塞尔。当我告诉这个老实人，我们一直要走到南极的企图的时候，他所表示出的那种神情真可以说是冷淡极了。

He greeted my announcement with the usual As master wishes, and I had to be content with that.  他听了我的话，就只拿一句随您先生的便来回答我，我也只好满足了。

As for Ned Land, no human shoulders ever executed a higher shrug⁵ than the pair belonging to our Canadian. 至于尼德·兰，如果问谁的两肩耸得最高，那就是加拿大人的两肩了。

Honestly, sir, he told me. You and your Captain Nemo, I pity you both! 他对我说： 您瞧，先生，您和您的尼摩船长真使我觉得十分可怜！

But we will go to the pole, Mr. Land. 尼德师傅，我们是要到南极呢。

Maybe, but you won't come back! 可以去的，但你们不能回来了！

And Ned Land reentered his cabin, to keep from doing something desperate, he said as he left me. 他回他的舱房去。为的是不要弄出人命。他离开我的时候这样说。

Meanwhile preparations for this daring attempt were getting under way.  但是，这个大胆企图的准备工作开始执行了。

The Nautilus's powerful pumps forced air down into the tanks and stored it under high pressure.  诺第留斯号的强大抽气机把空气吸人储藏库，用高压力装到库里面去。

Near four o'clock Captain Nemo informed me that the platform hatches were about to be closed.  四点左右，尼摩船长告诉我，平台上的嵌板要关起来了。

I took a last look at the dense⁶ Ice Bank we were going to conquer.  我两眼最后看一下我们就要穿过去的深厚冰山白天色晴朗，

The weather was fair, the skies reasonably clear, the cold quite brisk, namely -12 degrees centigrade; but after the wind had lulled⁷, this temperature didn't seem too unbearable⁸. 大气鲜洁，很冷，温度零下十二度，但风停下来了，这种温度并不使人觉得很难受。

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 cons   

n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

6 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

7 lulled   

vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They lulled her into a false sense of security. 他们哄骗她，使她产生一种虚假的安全感。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The movement of the train lulled me to sleep. 火车轻微的震动催我进入梦乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。