纪录片《南太平洋》 第43期 四海为家（11）

These freshwater eels¹ in the Solomons began their lives hundreds of miles away,

一开始这些所罗门的淡水鳗可能生活在数百公里外

possibly in a deep sea trench² off New Guinea.

或许是在新几内亚的深海沟里

Yet as larvae³ and then elvers,

当还是鱼卵和幼鳗时

they made their way into these freshwater pools

它们来到这些淡水池

and over 40 years, grew into two-metre giants.

经过40多年，长成了2米长的巨鳗

The eels are highly prized by the locals.

当地人对之视若珍宝

These Solomon Islanders hand feed them,

所罗门岛民喂养它们

not to fatten⁴ them up for dinner, but to encourage them to stick around.

并非出于食用的目的，而是鼓励鳗鱼在此地栖息繁衍

By scavenging on whatever's decaying here,

通过处理池中的腐烂物

the eels clean the islanders' precious pools of drinking water...

鳗鱼净化了岛民宝贵的饮水源

and over time, the honorary guests have become tame.

随着时间慢慢流逝，这些荣誉嘉宾变得十分温顺。

1 eels   

abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system）

参考例句：

• Eels have been on the feed in the Lower Thames. 鳗鱼在泰晤士河下游寻食。
• She bought some eels for dinner. 她买回一些鳗鱼做晚餐。

2 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

3 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

4 fatten   

v.使肥，变肥

参考例句：

• The new feed can fatten the chicken up quickly enough for market.新饲料能使鸡长得更快，以适应市场需求。
• We keep animals in pens to fatten them.我们把动物关在围栏里把它们养肥。