海底兩萬里 第24期 第3章 隨您先生的便(2)

But in the meantime I would have to look for this narwhale in the northern Pacific Ocean; which meant returning to France by way of the Antipodes.

不過，目前我必須到太平洋的北部去找這個海麒麟。這和我要回法國去，卻是背道而馳了。

Conseil! I called in an impatient voice.

康塞爾!”我用不耐煩偽聲音叫著。

Conseil was my manservant.

康塞爾是我的仆人。

A devoted lad who went with me on all my journeys; a gallant Flemish boy whom I genuinely liked and who returned the compliment; a born stoic, punctilious on principle,habitually hardworking, rarely startled by life's surprises, very skillful with his hands, efficient in his every duty, and despite his having a name that means counsel, never giving advice，not even the unsolicited kind!

他一向陪我出去旅行。這誠實的青年是佛蘭蒙人，我很喜歡他，他對我也很好。他是一個生牲冷淡、循規(guī)蹈矩、一貫熱心的人，對于生活中的突然事件并不驚奇，他的兩手很靈巧，什么事都做得來，雖然他的名字叫做康塞爾，可是人家不問他的時候，他決不發(fā)表意見。

From rubbing shoulders with scientists in our little universe by the Botanical Gardens, the boy had come to know a thing or two.

因為跟植物園里學(xué)術(shù)界人士經(jīng)常接觸，康塞爾漸漸學(xué)了些東西。

In Conseil I had a seasoned specialist in biological classification, an enthusiast who could run with acrobatic agility up and down the whole ladder of branches, groups, classes, subclasses, orders, families, genera, subgenera, species, and varieties.

我可以說他簡直是一個專家，他對于生物學(xué)的分類十分熟悉，他能像雜技演員爬梯子一樣熟練地從門、類、綱、亞綱、目、科、屬、亞屬、種、變種，一直數(shù)到最后的一個類別。

But there his science came to a halt. Classifying was everything to him, so he knew nothing else.

可是他的學(xué)問只局限在分類學(xué)上。分類就是他的生活，除此以外他什么都不知道。

Well versed8 in the theory of classification, he was poorly versed in its practical application, and I doubt that he could tell a sperm9 whale from a baleen10 whale!

他對于分類的理論很有研究，但缺乏實踐，我想，他大概連大頭鯨和長須鯨都分不出來!

And yet, what a fine, gallant lad!

總之，他是個忠實正直的人!