英國(guó)語(yǔ)文第六冊(cè)(雙語(yǔ)):熱帶地區(qū)(二)(7)

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Meantime the native advances stealthily and by slow stages, with his arm raised in the attitude of throwing his spear, until he is within reach of his prey. At last the whistling spear penetrates the devoted animal: then the wood rings with shouts; women and children all join pell-mell in the chase. After a time the exhausted animal turns on its pursuers, places its back against a tree, and prepares to seize and rend any one who may approach too near. The wily native keeps clear of its murderous embrace, and kills it by throwing spears into its breast from the distance of a few yards.

與此同時(shí)，土著居民們會(huì)一邊緩慢地穩(wěn)步向前移動(dòng)一邊將胳膊舉到可以射殺到獵物的合適的投矛高度。終于，長(zhǎng)矛呼嘯而出，刺穿了那只忠厚老實(shí)的袋鼠：敲木聲夾雜著呼喊聲響起，婦女和兒童全都興奮地相互追逐起來(lái)。不久后，那只狼狽的袋鼠轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身靠在樹(shù)上，死死盯著獵殺它的人，做好了抓住并撕碎任何一個(gè)靠近它的人的準(zhǔn)備。老道的土著們靈活地避開(kāi)了袋鼠暴虐的反擊，并在幾碼遠(yuǎn)的地方用長(zhǎng)矛刺進(jìn)袋鼠的身體最終致使它無(wú)力生還。

As the land within the tropics is remarkable for the greatness of its physical aspects, so the tropical oceans are preëminent for the violence of their storms. In the Indian and Chinese Seas these convulsions of nature generally take place at the change of the monsoons; in the West Indies, at the beginning and at the end of the rainy seasons. The tornado which devastated the Island of Guadeloupe in July 1846, blew down buildings constructed of solid stone, and tore the guns of a battery from their carriages. Another, which raged some years ago in the Mauritius, demolished a church and drove thirty-two vessels on the strand. A few days later, a fleet of crippled vessels, the victims of the recent hurricane, might have been seen making their way into the harbour of Port Louis—some dismasted, others kept afloat with difficulty, firing guns of distress or giving other signs of their helpless condition.

要說(shuō)熱帶地區(qū)的陸地因其物理形態(tài)的偉大而舉世矚目，熱帶海洋則因其風(fēng)暴的猛烈而舉世聞名。在印度洋和中國(guó)海域上，大自然一般會(huì)在季風(fēng)交替之際開(kāi)始爆發(fā)各種動(dòng)亂；在西印度群島上，動(dòng)亂則爆發(fā)在雨季的初期和末期。1846年7月的一場(chǎng)龍卷風(fēng)摧毀了瓜德羅普島、刮倒了堅(jiān)如磐石的大樓、撕裂了運(yùn)輸而來(lái)的炮臺(tái)上的槍管。還有多年前發(fā)生在毛里求斯的一場(chǎng)龍卷風(fēng)，摧毀了一座教堂、致使三十二只船只被迫擱淺。幾天后，一些受損的船只——也是最近一場(chǎng)颶風(fēng)的受害者，被發(fā)現(xiàn)正在駛向路易斯港口，其中一些船只桅桿被折斷，還有一些無(wú)助地漂浮在海面上，發(fā)著求救信號(hào)或者其它信號(hào)來(lái)告知自己的艱難處境。

Such are the terrible effects of the tornadoes and cyclones of the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans; but the storms of the misnamed Pacific are no less furious, and frequently overwhelm the coral islands and palm-groves of Polynesia with destruction. A hurricane which, in April 1845, burst over Pitcairn Island, washed all the fertile mould from the rocks, and, uprooting three hundred cocoa-nut trees, cast them into the sea. Every fishing-boat on the island was destroyed, and thousands of fruit-bearing bananas were swept away.

這就是大西洋和印度洋的龍卷風(fēng)和颶風(fēng)帶來(lái)的可怕影響。此外，太平洋雖名為“太平”，但是那里的風(fēng)暴卻不乏狂烈，曾屢次淹沒(méi)珊瑚島并毀壞波利尼西亞的棕櫚樹(shù)林。1845年4月的一場(chǎng)颶風(fēng)肆虐了皮特克恩島，沖刷了巖礁旁所有肥沃的泥土并將三百棵可可樹(shù)連根拔起、拋入大海，島上的漁船被摧毀殆盡，成千上萬(wàn)只香蕉被沖向四面八方。

Though the tropical storms are thus frequently a scourge, they are often productive of no less signal benefits. Many a murderous epidemic has suddenly ceased after one of these natural convulsions; and myriads of insects, the destroyers of the planter's hopes, are swept away by the fierce tornado. Besides, if the equatorial hurricanes are much more furious than our storms, a more luxurious vegetation effaces their vestiges in a shorter time. Thus Nature teaches us that a preponderance of good is frequently concealed behind the paroxysms of her apparently unbridled rage.

熱帶風(fēng)暴雖說(shuō)是災(zāi)禍，但其帶來(lái)的好處也頗多。有許多致命的流行病在經(jīng)歷這樣的自然動(dòng)亂后會(huì)突然消失不見(jiàn)；還有成千上萬(wàn)只讓種植園主絕望的昆蟲(chóng)會(huì)被猛烈的龍卷風(fēng)沖得無(wú)影無(wú)蹤。除此之外，如果赤道颶風(fēng)來(lái)得更猛烈些，它便能在短時(shí)間內(nèi)將某種過(guò)度繁殖的植被一掃而空。所以說(shuō)大自然教導(dǎo)我們：它那表面怒不可遏的一通發(fā)泄的背后往往隱藏的是更大的善意。