英语听书《海底两万里》第500期 第31章 章鱼(8)

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

but a certain Olaus Magnus tells of a cephalopod a mile long that looked more like an island than an animal. 而且还有一位名叫奥拉乌斯·马纽的人说过，有一种长1海里的头足类动物，说它是动物，还不如说它是小岛。

There's also the story of how the Bishop¹ of Trondheim set up an altar one day on an immense rock. 人们也说过，尼德罗斯的主教有一天在一块大岩石上设了一个祭坛，

After he finished saying mass, this rock started moving and went back into the sea. 他一做完弥撒，这块岩石就移动起来，沉入海里。

The rock was a devilfish." 原来这块岩石是一只章鱼。”

And that's everything we know? the Canadian asked. “说完了吗？”加拿大人问。

No, I replied, "another bishop, Pontoppidan of Bergen, also tells of a devilfish so large a whole cavalry² regiment³ could maneuver⁴ on it." “还没有，”我回答，“另一个主教，篷多比丹·德·柏乐根，也同样说过一只章鱼，在它上面还能操练一队骑兵呢！”

"They sure did go on, those oldtime bishops⁵!" Ned Land said. “他们可真会说啊，这些从前的主教们！”尼德·兰说。

Finally, the naturalists⁶ of antiquity⁷ mention some monsters with mouths as big as a gulf,  “最后，古代的博物学家也记载过这种怪物，它们的嘴就像一个海湾，

which were too huge to get through the Strait of Gibraltar. 身体大得连直布罗陀海峡都走不过去。”

Good work, men! the Canadian put in.“ 真神！”加拿大人说。

But in all these stories, is there any truth? Conseil asked. “可在所有的记载中，有真实的吗？”康塞尔问。 

"None at all, my friends, at least in those that go beyond the bounds of credibility and fly off into fable⁸ or legend. “没有，我的朋友们，从上升为神话或传说要超出真实界限这个角度看是完全没有的。

Yet for the imaginings of these storytellers there had to be, if not a cause, at least an excuse. 但是，神话作者的想象必须有一个原因，要不至少要有一个假托。

It can't be denied that some species of squid and other devilfish are quite large, though still smaller than cetaceans.  我们不能否认存在着一些非常巨型的章鱼和枪乌贼，但它们应是比鲸类动物小的。

分享到：