英语听书《海底两万里》第525期 第32章 海湾暖流(16)

 Oh, that Gulf¹ Stream! It truly lives up to its nickname, the Lord of Storms!   啊！海湾暖流！它完全称得上暴风雨之王！

All by itself it creates these fearsome cyclones² through the difference in temperature between its currents and the superimposed layers of air. 正是它的水流中的空气层温度差造成了这可畏的飓风。

The rain was followed by a downpour of fire. 一阵闪电跟在大雨的后面。

Droplets³ of water changed into exploding tufts. 雨滴变成了带电的羽饰。

You would have thought Captain Nemo was courting a death worthy⁴ of himself, seeking to be struck by lightning.  尼摩船长站在那里，好像在期望着让雷劈死似的，他觉得只有这种死亡才能配得上他。

In one hideous⁵ pitching movement, the Nautilus reared its steel spur into the air like a lightning rod, and I saw long sparks shoot down it. 一阵吓人的摇晃后，“鹦鹉螺号”的钢铁冲角冲向天空，像一支避雷针一样，上面溅出长长的火花。

Shattered, at the end of my strength, I slid flat on my belly⁶ to the hatch. 我精疲力尽，瘫倒地上。我向嵌板爬去，

I opened it and went below to the lounge. 打开嵌板下到客厅里。

By then the storm had reached its maximum intensity⁷.  这时的暴风雨最猛烈，

It was impossible to stand upright inside the Nautilus. 在“鹦鹉螺号”船内站都站不住。

Captain Nemo reentered near midnight.  而尼摩船长等到午夜前后才回到船里。

I could hear the ballast tanks filling little by little, and the Nautilus sank gently beneath the surface of the waves. 我听到储水器慢慢地装满了水，“鹦鹉螺号”缓缓地潜入水中。

Through the lounge's open windows, I saw large, frightened fish passing like phantoms⁸ in the fiery⁹ waters.  透过客厅打开的玻璃窗，我看到了一群惊慌失措的鱼，像一群幽灵一样，在着火的水中穿过。

Some were struck by lightning right before my eyes! 有几条竟在我的眼皮底下被雷击死！

The Nautilus kept descending¹⁰. “鹦鹉螺号”船只一直往下沉。

I thought it would find calm again at fifteen meters down.  我想它会在15米深处找回安宁的。

No. The upper strata¹¹ were too violently agitated¹². 但不！上层的水摇晃得太猛烈，

It needed to sink to fifty meters, searching for a resting place in the bowels¹³ of the sea. 它不得不下沉到50米的深海里才能找到宁静。

But once there, what tranquility we found, what silence, what peace all around us! 而此时，深海里是多么的安宁，多么的寂静，好一片平静的世界！

Who would have known that a dreadful hurricane was then unleashed¹⁴ on the surface of this ocean? 有谁会相信现在海面上正展开着一场可怕的暴风雨呢？

End of Chapter 19 第19章完

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句

3 droplets   

n.小滴( droplet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Droplets of sweat were welling up on his forehead. 他额头上冒出了滴滴汗珠。 来自辞典例句
• In constrast, exhaled smoke contains relatively large water droplets and appears white. 相反，从人嘴里呼出的烟则包含相当大的水滴，所以呈白色。 来自辞典例句

4 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

5 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

6 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

7 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

8 phantoms   

n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They vanished down the stairs like two phantoms. 他们像两个幽灵似的消失在了楼下。 来自辞典例句
• The horrible night that he had passed had left phantoms behind it. 他刚才度过的恐布之夜留下了种种错觉。 来自辞典例句

9 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

10 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

11 strata   

n.地层（复数）；社会阶层

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• They represent all social strata.他们代表各个社会阶层。

12 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

13 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》