英语听书《海底两万里》第293期 第21章 在陆地上的两天(24)

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　　I gaped² at the captain. 我眼盯着船长。

　　You don't understand? he said to me. 您不明白吗？他对我说。

　　Not in the least. 一点不明白。

　　Well, come along and you'll see! 那么，您来吧，您就可以看见了。

　　I headed to the central companionway. There, very puzzled, Ned Land and Conseil watched the crewmen opening the hatches,  我向中央铁梯走去。尼德·兰和康塞尔在那里，他们心中很奇怪，正看着船上的人员把嵌板打开，

　　while a frightful³ clamor and furious shouts resounded⁴ outside. 同时疯狂可怕的大声叫唤在外面震天价响。

　　The hatch lids fell back onto the outer plating. Twenty horrible faces appeared.  嵌板的外面放下来了。怕人的二十副脸孔现出来了。

　　But when the first islander laid hands on the companionway railing, he was flung backward by some invisible power, lord knows what!  但第一个土人，那个把手放在铁梯扶手上的，马上被一种神秘不可见的力量推到后面去，

　　He ran off, howling in terror and wildly prancing⁵ around. 他发出怕人的叫喊，做出奇怪的跳跃逃跑。

　　Ten of his companions followed him. All ten met the same fate. 他的十个同伴陆续前来按扶挡,十个也得到相同的命运，受到打击，向后逃走。

　　Conseil was in ecstasy⁶. Carried away by his violent instincts, Ned Land leaped up the companionway.  康塞尔乐得发狂了。尼德·兰由于他急躁的天性所驱使，跑到楼梯上去。

　　But as soon as his hands seized the railing, he was thrown backward in his turn. 但是，一当他两手抓住扶手的时候，他也被击惯倒。

　　Damnation! he exclaimed. I've been struck by a lightning bolt! 有鬼！有鬼!他喊，我被雷打了！

　　These words explained everything to me.  这句话给我说明了一切。

　　It wasn't just a railing that led to the platform, it was a metal cable fully⁷ charged with the ship's electricity.  那并不是扶手，那是一根铁索，通过了船上的电流，直达到平台。

　　Anyone who touched it got a fearsome shock-and such a shock would have been fatal if Captain Nemo had thrown the full current from his equipment into this conducting cable!  谁触到它，谁都受到一种厉害的震动，如果尼摩船长把他机器中的整个电流都放到这导体中去，另这种震动就是致命的力量！

　　It could honestly be said that he had stretched between himself and his assailants a network of electricity no one could clear with impunity⁸. 人们真可以说，在来攻的敌人和他之间，他张挂了一副电网，谁都不徒通过它而不受到惩罚。

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