英语听书《海底两万里》第530期 第33章 北纬47.24度, 西经17.28度(5)

 "Bah! My friend, there'd be many more without their enemies, scorpionfish and human beings! “哎！我的朋友，如果它们没有天敌——伊豆鲉鱼和人类，那还会更多呢！

Do you know how many eggs have been counted in a single female?" 你知道一只雌鳕鱼能产多少卵吗？”

"I'll go all out," Conseil replied. "500,000." “我尽量说吧，”康塞尔回答说，“50万颗。”

"11,000,000, my friend." “110万颗，我的朋友。”

"11,000,000! I refuse to accept that until I count them myself." “110万颗。这我可不会相信，除非我自己数过。”

"So count them, Conseil. But it would be less work to believe me. “数吧，康塞尔。不过你很快就会相信我。

Besides, Frenchmen, Englishmen, Americans, Danes, and Norwegians catch these cod¹ by the thousands. 再说，成千上万的法国人英国人、美洲人、丹麦人、挪威人，他们都在捕捉鳕鱼。

They're eaten in prodigious² quantities, and without the astonishing fertility of these fish, the seas would soon be depopulated of them.  人们消费鳕鱼的数量是惊人的，如果没有惊人的产出，海里的鳕鱼恐怕就要绝迹了。

Accordingly, in England and America alone, 5,000 ships manned by 75,000 seamen³ go after cod. 只是在英国和美洲，就有 5000艘由75000名水手驾驶的船只，被遣往捕捉鳕鱼。

Each ship brings back an average catch of 4,400 fish, making 22,000,000. 每只船平均约带回4万条，这总共就2500万条。

Off the coast of Norway, the total is the same." 而挪威一带的海域也是一样的情形。”

"Fine," Conseil replied, "I'll take master's word for it. I won't count them." “好，”康塞尔回答，“我就相信先生的话，不数了。”

"Count what?" “不数什么？”

"Those 11,000,000 eggs. But I'll make one comment." “110万颗卵。但我要指出一点。”

"What's that?" “哪一点？”

"If all their eggs hatched, just four codfish could feed England, America, and Norway." “就是，如果所有的卵都能孵化，那四条雌鳕鱼就能满足英国、美洲和挪威的供给了。”

1 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

2 prodigious   

adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• This business generates cash in prodigious amounts.这种业务收益丰厚。
• He impressed all who met him with his prodigious memory.他惊人的记忆力让所有见过他的人都印象深刻。

3 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。