美国语文第四册 第116期:长颈鹿(2)

 　　Le Vaillant (the celebrated¹ French traveler and naturalist) was the first who gave us any exact account of the form and habits of the giraffe. 勒.瓦扬（法国著名旅行家和博物学家）是第一个为我们精确描述长颈鹿的外形和生活习性的人。

　　While he was traveling in South Africa, he happened one day to discover a hut covered with the skin of one of those animals; 他在南非旅行时，一天碰巧发现了一个棚屋上覆盖着长颈鹿的鹿皮；

　　and learned to his surprise that he was now in a part of the country where the creature was found. 他惊讶地了解到这里就是发现长颈鹿的地方。

　　He could not rest contented² until he had seen the animal alive, and had secured a specimen³. 除非亲自看到野生的长颈鹿，取得标本，否则他无法安心。

　　Having on several days obtained sight of some of them,  后来有几天他看到了一些长颈鹿，

　　he, with his attendants, on horseback and accompanied with dogs, gave chase; but they baffled all pursuit. 因此他和助手骑着马，带着猎犬，开始追踪；但是没有追到。

　　After a chase of a whole day, which effected nothing but the fatigue⁴ of the party, he began to despair of success. 后来在追了整整一天后，队伍疲劳极了却一无所获，他开始丧失信心了。

　　"The next day," says he, "by sunrise, I was in pursuit of game, in the hope of obtaining some provisions for my men. “第二天，”他说，“黎明的时候，我正在追逐猎物，希望为我们的人弄一些吃的。

　　After several hours' fatigue, we saw, at the turn of a hill, seven giraffes, which my pack of dogs instantly pursued. 几个小时后，在一个山丘的拐弯处，我们见到七只长颈鹿，猎犬立刻追过去。

　　Six of them went off together; but the seventh, cut off by my dogs, took another way. 六只长颈鹿一起奔跑；但是第七只长颈鹿被猎犬拦截，向另一个方向跑去。

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。

3 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

4 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。