英语听书《海底两万里》第333期 第23章 珊瑚王国(30)

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　　And besides, how could this poor Indian ever have guessed that human beings,  并且，这个可怜的印度人哪能想到，在水底下有人，

　　creatures like himself, were near him under the waters, eavesdropping¹ on his movements, not missing a single detail of his fishing! 有像他那样的人，偷看他的动作，细细观察他采珠的情形呢？

　　So he went up and down several times.  好几次，他就这样的上去又下来。

　　He gathered only about ten shellfish per dive, because he had to tear them from the banks where each clung with its tough mass of filaments².  每一次下水，他只采得十来个螺贝，因为螺贝被坚强的纤维带粘在岩石上，他要使劲把它们拉下来。

　　And how many of these oysters³ for which he risked his life would have no pearl in them! 而且这些螺贝中也还有多少是不含有他不顾性命危险来采取的珍珠呢！

　　I observed him with great care. His movements were systematically⁴ executed, and for half an hour no danger seemed to threaten him.  我聚精会神地观察他。他的工作很规律地进行，在半小时内，没有什么危险威胁他。

　　So I had gotten used to the sight of this fascinating fishing when all at once, just as the Indian was kneeling on the seafloor,  所以我就对这种很有兴趣的采珠景象习惯了，忽然间，在这个印度人跪在水底下的时候，

　　I saw him make a frightened gesture, stand, and gather himself to spring back to the surface of the waves. 我看见他做一个骇怕的手势，立即站起，使劲往上一跳要浮上海面去。

　　I understood his fear. A gigantic shadow appeared above the poor diver. It was a shark of huge size, moving in diagonally, eyes ablaze⁵, jaws⁶ wide open! 我明白了他的骇怕。一个巨大的黑影在这不幸的采珠人头上出现了。那是一条身躯巨大的鲨鱼，发亮的眼睛，张开的嘴巴，迎面斜刺地向前冲来了！

　　I was speechless with horror, unable to make a single movement. 我伯得发楞，甚至想动一动也不可能。

　　With one vigorous stroke of its fins⁷, the voracious⁸ animal shot toward the Indian, who jumped aside and avoided the shark's bite but not the thrashing of its tail,  这个饥饿的动物，用力拨一下鳍，向印度人身上扑来，他躲在一边，避开鲨鱼的嘴，但没有躲开鲨鱼尾巴的打击，

　　because that tail struck him across the chest and stretched him out on the seafloor. 因为鱼尾打在他胸上，他翻倒在水底下。

　　This scene lasted barely a few seconds.  这个场面不过是几秒钟的事。

　　The shark returned, rolled over on its back, and was getting ready to cut the Indian in half, when Captain Nemo, who was stationed beside me, suddenly stood up.  鲨鱼回来，翻转脊背，就要把印度人切成两半了，这时候，我觉得蹲在我近边的尼摩船长突然站起来。

　　Then he strode right toward the monster, dagger⁹ in hand, ready to fight it at close quarters. 然后，他手拿短刀，直向鲨鱼冲去，准备跟鲨鱼肉搏。

　　Just as it was about to snap up the poor fisherman, the man-eater saw its new adversary¹⁰, repositioned itself on its belly¹¹, and headed swiftly toward him. 鲨鱼正要咬这个不幸的采珠人的时候，看见了它的新来敌人，它立即又翻过肚腹，很快地向船长冲来。

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