英语听书《海底两万里》第523期 第32章 海湾暖流(14)

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He was lashed¹ around the waist to withstand the monstrous² breakers foaming⁴ over the deck. 为了预防汹涌澎湃的巨浪，他的腰间系着一根缆绳。

I hoisted⁵ and attached myself to the same place, dividing my wonderment between the storm and this incomparable man who faced it head-on. 我也登上平台，系上绳子，欣赏这场暴风雨和这个昂首挺立的无可伦比的人。

The raging sea was swept with huge tattered⁶ clouds drenched⁷ by the waves. 浸在水波中的大块的乌云横扫过海涛翻滚的水面。

I saw no more of the small intervening billows that form in the troughs of the big crests⁸. 我再也见不到那些大涡漩中的小浪花了，

Just long, soot-colored undulations with crests so compact they didn't foam³.  只见一阵阵煤烟色的低矮长浪头，一浪接一浪而来，

They kept growing taller. They were spurring each other on. 慢慢地浪峰越来越高，相互推拥激荡。

The Nautilus, sometimes lying on its side, sometimes standing⁹ on end like a mast, rolled and pitched frightfully. “鹦鹉螺号”，时而侧身卧倒，时而像桅杆一样屹立，发疯地翻转摇晃。

Near five o'clock a torrential rain fell, but it lulled¹⁰ neither wind nor sea. 5点钟左右，一场暴雨降临了，但海浪和狂风并没因此平息。

The hurricane was unleashed¹¹ at a speed of forty-five meters per second, hence almost forty leagues per hour. 暴风以每秒45米，即接近每小时40里的速度脱缰而来。

Under these conditions houses topple, roof tiles puncture¹² doors, iron railings snap in two, and twenty-four-pounder cannons¹³ relocate.  在这种情况下，它可以掀翻房屋，把屋瓦吹进门里，折断铁栏栅，让一架24厘米的大炮挪位。

And yet in the midst of this turmoil¹⁴, the Nautilus lived up to that saying of an expert engineer: "A well-constructed hull¹⁵ can defy any sea!" 然而，在风暴中间，“鹦鹉螺号”船只证实了一个工程师学者的话：“没有不能纵横大海的构造完美的船体！”

This submersible was no resisting rock that waves could demolish;  这不是一座海浪能够冲毁的坚石，

it was a steel spindle, obediently in motion, without rigging or masting, and able to brave their fury with impunity¹⁶. 而是一只驯良、活动的钢铁纺锤，它不用工具，不用桅墙，就能在狂风暴雨中丝毫不损。

Meanwhile I was carefully examining these unleashed breakers.  然而，我认真地观察起扑面而来的海涛。

They measured up to fifteen meters in height over a length of 150 to 175 meters,  它们窜至5米高，宽幅是150至175米，

and the speed of their propagation (half that of the wind) was fifteen meters per second. 推进的速度是风速的一半，即每秒15米。

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