英语听书《海底两万里》第278期 第21章 在陆地上的两天(10)

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　　Tipsy from that potent¹ juice, our bird of paradise had been reduced to helplessness.  无双乌被豆寇汁迷醉了，使得它瘫软无力。它不能飞，走路也很困难。

　　It was unable to fly. It was barely able to walk. But this didn't alarm me, and I just let it sleep off its nutmeg. 但我用不着为它担心，让它好好地睡它的酒后觉就是了。

　　This bird belonged to the finest of the eight species credited to Papua and its neighboring islands.  这只无双鸟属于巴布亚和邻近群岛出产的八种无双鸟中最美的一种。

　　It was a great emerald, one of the rarest birds of paradise. It measured three decimeters long.  这是大翡翠无双鸟，最罕有的一种。它有三分米长，

　　Its head was comparatively small, and its eyes, placed near the opening of its beak², were also small.  头比较小，眼睛也不大，就在嘴近边。它的嘴是黄色，脚爪和指甲是褐色，

　　But it offered a wonderful mixture of hues³: a yellow beak, brown feet and claws, hazel wings with purple tips,  翼是臻子色，翼端是朱红色，头上和颈后是淡黄色，喉间是翡翠色，

　　pale yellow head and scruff of the neck, emerald throat, the belly⁴ and chest maroon⁵ to brown.  腹部和胸部是栗子色，因此，它看来像是十分华丽的各种色彩的综合。

　　Two strands⁶, made of a horn substance covered with down, rose over its tail, which was lengthened⁷ by long, very light feathers of wonderful fineness,  而且尾巴上耸起两个角形的绒毛绿球，和很细腻的很轻飘的细长羽毛连接，好像拖垂的长带，

　　and they completed the costume of this marvelous bird that the islanders have poetically⁸ named the sun bird. 于是这一切就把这只奇鸟的整个形象完全美化起来了，所以当地上人很诗意地称它为太阳的鸟。

　　How I wished I could take this superb bird of paradise back to Paris, to make a gift of it to the zoo at the Botanical Gardens, which doesn't own a single live specimen⁹. 我很希望能把这只好看的无双鸟带回巴黎去，送给植物园，因为园中还没有一只活的无双鸟。

　　So it must be a rarity or something? the Canadian asked, in the tone of a hunter who, from the viewpoint of his art, gives the game a pretty low rating. 这鸟真是很罕见吗广加拿大人问，用一种不从美术的观点来估计猎物的口气。

　　A great rarity, my gallant¹⁰ comrade, and above all very hard to capture alive. And even after they're dead, there's still a major market for these birds.  十分罕见，我老实的同伴，特别是十分难得捉到活的。就是死了，这些鸟仍然是重要的贸易对象。

　　So the natives have figured out how to create fake ones, like people create fake pearls or diamonds. 所以上人想法制造假的，像制造珍珠和钻石一样。

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