英语听书《海底两万里》第358期 第23章 珊瑚王国(55)

 That word siren put me back on track, and I realized that the animal belonged to the order Sirenia:  人鱼这个名字使我摸到了们路，我明白了这个动物是。

marine¹ creatures that legends have turned into mermaids³, half woman, half fish. 属于这一目的海中动物，就是神话中当它是鱼美人的人鱼水怪。

No, I told Conseil, that's no mermaid², it's an unusual creature of which only a few specimens⁴ are left in the Red Sea. That's a dugong. 不，我对康塞尔说，这不是人鱼，是一只奇怪的动物，在红海中并不见得有多少。这是海马。

Order Sirenia, group Pisciforma, subclass Monodelphia, class Mammalia, branch Vertebrata, Conseil replied. 人鱼目，鱼形类，单官哺乳亚纲，哺乳纲，脊椎动物门。康塞尔回答。

And when Conseil has spoken, there's nothing else to be said. 康奏尔这样说过后，那就没有什么可以说的了。

Meanwhile Ned Land kept staring. His eyes were gleaming with desire at the sight of that animal.  可是尼德·兰老是注视着。他的眼睛看见这东西，闪出要把它捉到手的贪婪光芒。

His hands were ready to hurl⁵ a harpoon⁶. You would have thought he was waiting for the right moment to jump overboard and attack the creature in its own element. 他的手像是要去叉它。看他的样子，真是让人要说，他是等待时机，跃人海中，到水里面去攻打它。

Oh, sir, he told me in a voice trembling with excitement, I've never killed anything like that! 呵！先生，他情绪激动，声音发抖地说，我从没有打到过这种东西。

His whole being was concentrated in this last word. 鱼叉手的全部心意都表现在这一句话里面。

Just then Captain Nemo appeared on the platform. He spotted⁷ the dugong. He understood the Canadian's frame of mind and addressed him directly: 这时候，尼摩船长在平台上出现。他望见了海马。他朋白了加拿大人的姿态，立即对鱼叉手说：

If you held a harpoon, Mr. Land, wouldn't your hands be itching⁸ to put it to work? 兰师傅，您要是手拿鱼又，一定会手痒得难过，要试一下吗？

Positively⁹, sir. 您说得正对，先生。

And just for one day, would it displease¹⁰ you to return to your fisherman's trade and add this cetacean to the list of those you've already hunted down? 将来您再操叉鱼这一行的时候，把这只鲸科动物加在您曾经打过的鲸鱼账上，您不会不高兴吧？

It wouldn't displease me one bit. 这样我决不会不高兴。

All right, you can try your luck! 那么您可以试一试。

Thank you, sir, Ned Land replied, his eyes ablaze¹¹. 谢谢您，先生。尼德·兰回答，眼睛亮起来了。

Only, the captain went on, I urge you to aim carefully at this animal, in your own personal interest. 不过，船长立即又说，我请您不要放走这东西，这对您有利呢。

Is the dugong dangerous to attack? I asked, despite the Canadian's shrug¹² of the shoulders. 打这海马有危险吗。"我问，我并不理会加拿大人做着耸肩的姿态。

Yes, sometimes, the captain replied. These animals have been known to turn on their assailants and capsize their longboats.  是，有时候有危险，船长回答，这东西向攻打它的人转过身来，把他的小艇撞翻。

But with Mr. Land that danger isn't to be feared. His eye is sharp, his arm is sure.  但对兰师傅来说，这种危险用不着害怕。他的眼光很敏捷，他的胳膊很准确。

If I recommend that he aim carefully at this dugong, it's because the animal is justly regarded as fine game, and I know Mr. Land doesn't despise a choice morsel¹³. 我所以劝他留心，不要放走这海马，是因为人们把这东西看作一种美味好吃的猎物，我也知道，兰师傅决不至讨厌一大块一大块好吃的肥肉。

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。

3 mermaids   

n.（传说中的）美人鱼( mermaid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The high stern castle was a riot or carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs. 其尾部高耸的船楼上雕满了神仙、妖魔鬼怪、骑士、国王、勇士、美人鱼、天使。 来自辞典例句
• This is why mermaids should never come on land. 这就是为什么人鱼不应该上岸的原因。 来自电影对白

4 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 hurl   

vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂

参考例句：

• The best cure for unhappiness is to hurl yourself into your work.医治愁苦的最好办法就是全身心地投入工作。
• To hurl abuse is no way to fight.谩骂决不是战斗。

6 harpoon   

n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获

参考例句：

• The harpoon drove deep into the body of the whale.渔叉深深地扎进鲸鱼体内。
• The fisherman transfixed the shark with a harpoon.渔夫用鱼叉刺住鲨鱼。

7 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

8 itching   

adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他痒得几乎忍不住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My nose is itching. 我的鼻子发痒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

10 displease   

vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气

参考例句：

• Not wishing to displease her,he avoided answering the question.为了不惹她生气，他对这个问题避而不答。
• She couldn't afford to displease her boss.她得罪不起她的上司。

11 ablaze   

adj.着火的，燃烧的；闪耀的，灯火辉煌的

参考例句：

• The main street was ablaze with lights in the evening.晚上，那条主要街道灯火辉煌。
• Forests are sometimes set ablaze by lightning.森林有时因雷击而起火。

12 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

13 morsel   

n.一口，一点点

参考例句：

• He refused to touch a morsel of the food they had brought.他们拿来的东西他一口也不吃。
• The patient has not had a morsel of food since the morning.从早上起病人一直没有进食。