英语听书《海底两万里》第221期 第17章 海底森林(2)

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号：tingroom，领取免费英语资料大礼包。

　　The seafloor in this forest was strewn with sharp chunks¹ of stone that were hard to avoid.  林中地上随处有尖利的石块，很不容易躲开。

　　Here the range of underwater flora² seemed pretty comprehensive to me,  海底植物，据我看，在这里是应有尽有了，

　　as well as more abundant than it might have been in the arctic or tropical zones, where such exhibits are less common.  比产量较少的南北两极地带或热带区域，可能更为丰富。

　　But for a few minutes I kept accidentally confusing the two kingdoms, mistaking zoophytes for water plants, animals for vegetables.  不过，在几分钟内，我不知不觉地把动植物两类混淆起来，把植虫动物当做水产植物，把动物当做植物。

　　And who hasn't made the same blunder? Flora and fauna³ are so closely associated in the underwater world! 本来，谁能不弄错呢？在海底下，动物界和植物界是十分接近的：

　　I observed that all these exhibits from the vegetable kingdom were attacthed to the seafloor by only the most makeshift methods.  我观察到，所有这里的植物界产品，跟土壤只是表面上连接起来。

　　They had no roots and didn't care which solid objects secured them, sand, shells, husks, or pebbles⁴; they didn't ask their hosts for sustenance⁵, just a point of purchase.  它们没有根，支持它们的不管是固体、是沙、是贝、是甲壳或石子，都没有什么影响，它们所要求的只是一个支点，而不是借以生长购力量。

　　These plants are entirely⁶ self-propagating, and the principle of their existence lies in the water that sustains and nourishes them.  这些植物只是自己发展起来，它们生存的唯一资源就是那维持它们和滋养它们的海水。

　　In place of leaves, most of them sprouted⁷ blades of unpredictable shape,  它们大部分不长叶子，只长出奇形怪状的小片，

　　which were confined to a narrow gamut⁸ of colors consisting only of pink, crimson⁹, green, olive, tan, and brown.  表面的色彩很有限，只有玫瑰红、洋红、青绿、青黄、灰褐、古铜等颜色。

分享到：