海底兩萬里 第359期 第23章 珊瑚王國(59)

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I'll let you assess the degree of anger consuming our impatient Ned Land. He hurled at the hapless animal the most potent swearwords in the English language.

人們可以想象到，這個(gè)時(shí)候，性急的尼德·蘭被激怒到了什么程度。他對這條不幸的海馬發(fā)出英語中最有力量的咒罵。

For my part, I was simply distressed to see this dugong outwit our every scheme.

在我個(gè)人，我只是因?yàn)楹ｑR把我們所有的計(jì)謀部弄失敗，心中有些不高興罷了。

We chased it unflaggingly for a full hour, and I'd begun to think it would prove too difficult to capture, when the animal got the untimely idea of taking revenge on us, a notion it would soon have cause to regret.

我們在一個(gè)鐘頭內(nèi)，不停地追趕它，我正在想，捕捉它：恐怕是很不容易了，但這個(gè)東西忽然起了不良的報(bào)復(fù)念頭。

It wheeled on the skiff, to assault us in its turn.

這是它要后悔的呢！它回過身來，攻擊小艇。

This maneuver did not escape the Canadian.

海馬的這種行徑逃不過加拿大人的眼光。

Watch out! he said.

小心！他說。

The coxswain pronounced a few words in his bizarre language, and no doubt he alerted his men to keep on their guard.

小艇艇長說了幾句他的奇怪語言，當(dāng)然是他通知水手們，大家要小心警戒。

Arriving within twenty feet of the skiff, the dugong stopped, sharply sniffing the air with its huge nostrils, pierced not at the tip of its muzzle but on its topside.

海馬到了離小艇二十英尺的水面上停住，它那不在嘴尖端，而在嘴上部敞開的大鼻孔，突然吸著空氣。

Then it gathered itself and sprang at us.

然后，鼓起氣力，向我們撲來。

The skiff couldn't avoid the collision. Half overturned, it shipped a ton or two of water that we had to bail out.

小艇不可能躲開它的沖撞，艇身翻倒了一半，海水跑進(jìn)艇中有一兩噸之多。

But thanks to our skillful coxswain, we were fouled on the bias rather than broadside, so we didn't capsize.

這水必須排出去。由于艇長的機(jī)靈，艇身只是斜面的而不是正面的受到海馬攻擊，所以沒被憧翻沉沒。

Clinging to the stempost, Ned Land thrust his harpoon again and again into the gigantic animal, which imbedded its teeth in our gunwale and lifted the longboat out of the water as a lion would lift a deer.

尼德蘭緊靠在小艇前頭，把魚叉向巨大的動物刺去，這東西牙齒咬住小艇的邊緣，把小艇頂出水面，像獅子咬小鹿那樣。

We were thrown on top of each other, and I have no idea how the venture would have ended had not the Canadian, still thirsting for the beast's blood, finally pierced it to the heart.

我們都被撞翻，彼此身子壓著，如果不是那狠命地跟海馬戰(zhàn)斗的加拿大人把叉打中了動物的心臟，我真不知道這次的冒險(xiǎn)打獵將怎樣結(jié)束呢。

I heard its teeth grind on sheet iron, and the dugong disappeared, taking our harpoon along with it.

我聽到牙齒在小艇鐵板上的喳喳聲響，海馬沉沒不見了，把叉帶走了。

But the barrel soon popped up on the surface, and a few moments later the animal's body appeared and rolled over on its back.

但不久小木桶浮上水面來，一會兒，海馬的軀體現(xiàn)出，脊背翻過來了。

Our skiff rejoined it, took it in tow, and headed to the Nautilus.

小艇劃向前去，把它拖在后面，向諾第留斯號劃去。