美国语文第五册 第237期:龟煲汤(1)

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　　which was not likely to suffer from exposure to salt water, so it was reserved until all the pigs, and sheep, and poultry¹ had been eaten.  那种龟不可能在海水里喂养，因此待到鸭鸡一干家常肉类悉数消耗殆尽，绿毛龟这才引起饕餮们热情关注。

　　A few days before we arrived, it was determined² to kill the turtle and have a feast the next day. 轮船眼看几天后就要抵达目的地了，事情即刻敲定下来，明天船长好好地犒劳大家，这回，绿毛龟也该寿终正寝了。

　　Our cabin gentlemen had been long enough deprived of fresh meats to make them cast lickerish glances towards their hard-skinned friend,  客舱里的绅士们很久未能品尝鲜肉，随着有肉可啖的消息传开，盯着那位长有坚硬绿壳的朋友，

　　and there was a great smacking³ of lips the day before he was killed.  人们眼里无不冒出饥渴绿光。那头龟却是如此不谙人事，嘴里不时发出的吧咂声响亮依然。

　　As I walked aft occasionally, I heard them congratulating themselves on their prospective⁴ turtle soup and forcemeat balls;  我偶尔走到船尾，听到那些先生们兴高采烈地谈论期待中的龟汤，甚至还有喷香的五香龟肉丸。

　　and one of them, to heighten the luxury of the feast, ate nothing but a dry biscuit for the twenty-four hours preceding,  有位绅士更为大肆渲染餐宴的规格排场，尽管接下来整整一天，除了啃点发硬的饼干，船上什么吃的也没有，

　　that he might be prepared to devour⁵ his full share of the unctuous⁶ compound.  可他，简直为自己那份鲜美醇厚的龟煲汤急不可耐了。

　　It was to be a gala day with them; and though it was not champagne⁷ day, that falling on Saturday and this on Friday,  绅士们的欢乐日子到来了，尽管周六才能喝上香槟，今天周五，

　　they agreed to have champagne a day in advance, that nothing should be wanting to give a finish to their turtle.  大家还是一致赞同将香槟日提前，这样看来，龟汤带来的憧憬亦就不会留有任何遗憾了。

　　It happened to be a rougher day than usual when the turtle was cooked,  更何况还有，今天海上风浪很不凑巧地比平常要大，但人们对船上颠簸早已习以为常，

　　but they had become too well used to the motion of the ship to mind that. 更何况还有厨房里喷香的美食诱惑，这些风浪亦就实在不值得计较了。

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