英语听书《海底两万里》第491期 第30章 从合恩角到亚马逊河(14)

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The manatees¹ let themselves be struck down without offering any resistance. 因为这些海牛面对捕捉丝毫不做反抗。

Several thousand kilos of meat were hauled below, to be dried and stored. 就这样，几千公斤的肉被晾得干干的放进船内库存起来。

The same day an odd fishing practice further increased the Nautilus's stores, so full of game were these seas. 这一带海域的物产丰富，那一天，另一次大规模的捕鱼又使“鹦鹉螺号”船上的食品储备大增。

Our trawl brought up in its meshes² a number of fish whose heads were topped by little oval slabs³ with fleshy edges. 船上的鱼网捞上来了很多头上隆起一块椭圆形肉边骨片的鱼。

These were suckerfish from the third family of the subbrachian Malacopterygia.  那是属于亚鳃软骨目第三科的印鱼。

These flat disks on their heads consist of crosswise plates of movable cartilage, 它们身上的扁平圆盘是由活动的横软骨组成的，

between which the animals can create a vacuum, enabling them to stick to objects like suction cups. 这种鱼可以在这些软骨之间造成真空，使自己能像吸盘一样吸在物体上。

The remoras I had observed in the Mediterranean⁴ were related to this species. 我在地中海观察过的印鱼就属于这一类。

But the creature at issue here was an Echeneis osteochara, unique to this sea. 但这里的这一类，是这一海区特有的软骨鱼。

Right after catching⁵ them, our seamen⁶ dropped them in buckets of water. 我们的水手一捉到这些鱼，就把它们放进盛满海水的桶中。

Its fishing finished, the Nautilus drew nearer to the coast. 捕鱼结束了后，“鹦鹉螺号”船只就向海岸靠近。

In this locality a number of sea turtles were sleeping on the surface of the waves. 在那个地方，有不少海龟睡在水波上。

It would have been difficult to capture these valuable reptiles⁷, because they wake up at the slightest sound, and their solid carapaces⁸ are harpoon-proof. 但要想捉到这些珍贵的爬行动物是很困难的，因为稍微有动静，它们就会醒过来，而且它们坚硬的甲壳不怕鱼叉攻击。

But our suckerfish would effect their capture with extraordinary certainty and precision. 但用印鱼就可以特别有保障并准确地捕捉到海龟。

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