英语听书《海底两万里》第279期 第21章 在陆地上的两天(11)

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　　Yes, Conseil. 是的，康塞尔。

　　And is master familiar with how the islanders go about it? 那么，先生知道土人的制造方法吗?

　　Perfectly² familiar.  知道。

　　During the easterly monsoon³ season, birds of paradise lose the magnificent feathers around their tails that naturalists⁴ call 'below-the-wing' feathers.  当东方的季候凤起来的时候，无双鸟便脱掉了它尾巴周围的美丽羽毛，这些脱下的羽毛，生物学家把它们叫做副翼羽毛。

　　These feathers are gathered by the fowl⁵ forgers and skillfully fitted onto some poor previously⁶ mutilated parakeet.  假造鸟类的人把这些羽毛收拾起来，很巧妙地把它们装在预先打死、拔了毛的可怜的鹦鹉身上。

　　Then they paint over the suture, varnish⁷ the bird, and ship the fruits of their unique labors⁸ to museums and collectors in Europe. 然后他们把皮毛接合的地方粘起来，粉饰好鸟身，他们就把这些新奇的制作品送到欧洲各地的博物馆和喜爱鸟类的人。

　　Good enough! Ned Land put in. If it isn't the right bird, it's still the right feathers, and so long as the merchandise isn't meant to be eaten, I see no great harm! 好的尼德·兰说，虽然这不是鸟的本体，但总是鸟的羽毛，如果鸟不是拿来食用，我想也没有什么坏处！

　　But if my desires were fulfilled by the capture of this bird of paradise, those of our Canadian huntsman remained unsatisfied.  我的欲望虽然因为捕得这只无双鸟得到满足，但加拿：大猎人的欲望还没有得到满足。

　　Luckily, near two o'clock Ned Land brought down a magnificent wild pig of the type the natives call bari-outang.  很运气，在两点左右，尼德·兰打到一只肥大的林中野猪，这是土人叫做巴利奥唐的一种猪。

　　This animal came in the nick of time for us to bag some real quadruped meat, and it was warmly welcomed.  这猪正好在我们追求真正四足兽肉的时候到来了，所以它很受欢迎，被留下了。

　　Ned Land proved himself quite gloriously with his gunshot. Hit by an electric bullet, the pig dropped dead on the spot. 尼德·兰对自己打枪的准确，表示很得意。野猪中了电气弹，倒在地上死了。

　　The Canadian properly skinned and cleaned it, after removing half a dozen cutlets destined⁹ to serve as the grilled¹⁰ meat course of our evening meal.  加拿大人从猪身上割下六七块腰窝肉准备晚上烤着吃，他又把它的皮毛剥去，开膛，清出内脏。

　　Then the hunt was on again, and once more would be marked by the exploits of Ned and Conseil. 然后又来打猎，这次打猎又显出了尼德·兰和康塞尔的劳绩。

　　In essence, beating the bushes, the two friends flushed a herd¹¹ of kangaroos that fled by bounding away on their elastic¹² paws.  果然，这一对朋友在搜索树丛的时候，赶出了一大群袋鼠，它们伸开有弹性的腿来，一蹦一跳地逃走。

　　But these animals didn't flee so swiftly that our electric capsules couldn't catch up with them. 这些动物虽然跳、走得快，但还没有逃远，电气弹已经追上它们了。

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