万物简史 第333期:美丽而危险(16)

 　　Like Earth itself, I remarked. Precisely¹, he agreed. “就像地球本身一样。”我说。“一点不错。”他表示赞同。

　　The risks at Yellowstone apply to park employees as much as to visitors. 黄石公园对游客来说有危险，对公园雇员来说也同样有危险。

　　Doss got a horrific sense of that in his first week on the job five years earlier. 多斯5年前到这里来上班的第一个星期就有那种可怕的感觉。

　　Late one night, three young summer employees engaged in an illicit² activity known as "hot-potting"—swimming or basking³ in warm pools. 有一天深夜，3个年轻的夏季雇员干了一件非法活动，叫做“泡沙锅”——即在热水池里游泳或取暖。

　　Though the park, for obvious reasons, doesn't publicize it, not all the pools in Yellowstone are dangerously hot. 虽然园方由于显而易见的理由没有把情况公开，但黄石公园的水池不是个个都是滚烫的。

　　Some are extremely agreeable⁴ to lie in, 有一些你躺在里面简直惬意极了，

　　and it was the habit of some of the summer employees to have a dip late at night even though it was against the rules to do so. 部分夏季雇员有在深夜下去泡一泡的习惯，尽管这么做是违反规定的。

　　Foolishly the threesome had failed to take a flashlight, which was extremely dangerous  那3个人也真傻，没有带个手电筒；这是极其危险的，

　　because much of the soil around the warm pools is crusty and thin and one can easily fall through into a scalding vent⁵ below. 因为热水池周围的泥土结成了薄薄的一层硬壳，人很容易掉进下面灼烫的喷气孔。

　　In any case, as they made their way back to their dorm, they came across a stream that they had had to leap over earlier. 无论如何，他们在返回宿舍的途中，要跨越一条早先不得不跳过去的小溪。

　　They backed up a few paces, linked arms and, on the count of three, took a running jump. 他们后退几步，胳膊挽着胳膊，数了一二三，接着就跑过去纵身一跳。

　　In fact, it wasn't the stream at all. It was a boiling pool. 事实上，那根本不是一条小溪，而是一个沸腾的水池。

　　In the dark they had lost their bearings⁶. None of the three survived. 他们在黑暗里看不清方向。三个人没有一个活着回来。

　　I thought about this the next morning as I made a brief call, on my way out of the park, at a place called Emerald Pool, in the Upper Geyser Basin. 次日上午，在离开公园的途中，我一面想着那件事，一面对一个名叫翡翠池的地方作了短暂考察。翡翠池位于上间歇泉池。

　　Doss hadn't had time to take me there the day before, but I thought I ought at least to have a look at it, for Emerald Pool is a historic⁷ site. 多斯前一天没有时间带我去那里，但我觉得至少应当去看一眼，因为翡翠池是个很有历史意义的地方。

1 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

2 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

3 basking   

v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽

参考例句：

• We sat basking in the warm sunshine. 我们坐着享受温暖的阳光。
• A colony of seals lay basking in the sun. 一群海豹躺着晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 agreeable   

adj.符合的，一致的，欣然同意的，令人愉快的

参考例句：

• He was quite agreeable to accepting the plan.他乐意接受这项计划。
• I enjoyed an agreeable holiday this summer.今年夏天我度过了一个愉快的假期。

5 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

6 bearings   

举止( bearing的名词复数 )； 风度； 方向； 轴承

参考例句：

• To keep your bearings in a desert sandstorm is impossible. 在沙漠的尘暴中要想保持方位感是不可能的。
• With the aid of a compass the traveler can find his bearings. 藉助罗盘，旅行者可以找到自己所处的方位。

7 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。