精美英文欣赏:漫步巴西森林

Part 3 Wandering in Brazilian Forest

第三部分 漫步巴西森林

February 29th, 1832

1832年2月29日

The day has past delightfully¹. Delight itself, however, is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist² who, for the first time, has been wandering by himself in a Brazilian forest. Among the multitude of striking objects, the general luxuriance of the vegetation bears away the victory. The elegance³ of the grasses, the novelty of the parasitical⁴ plants, the beauty of the flowers, the glossy⁵ green of the foliage⁶, all tend to this end. A most paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades⁷ the shady parts of the wood. The noise from the insects is so loud, that it may be heard even in a vessel⁸ anchored several hundred yards from the shore; yet within the recesses⁹ of the forest a universal silence appears to reign¹⁰. To a person fond of natural history, such a day as this, brings with it a deeper pleasure than he ever can hope again to experience. After wandering about for some hours, I returned to the landing-place; but, before reaching it. I was overtaken by a tropical storm. 1 tried to find shelter under a tree which was so thick that it would never have been penetrated¹¹ by common English rain; but here, in a couple of minutes, a little torrent¹² flowed down the trunk. It is to this violence of the rain we must attribute the verdure at the bottom of the thickest woods: if the showers were like those of a colder climate, the greater part would be absorbed or evaporated before it reached the ground. I will not at present attempt to describe the gaudy¹³ scenery of this noble bay, because, in our homeward voyage, we called here a second time, and I shall then have occasion to remark on it.

这一天过得很愉快。然而，愉快这个词还不足以表达一个博物学家首次独自漫步巴西森林的感受。在众多惹人注目的事物中，植被的繁茂最为引人入胜。草木优雅，寄生植物新奇，百花艳丽，树叶翠绿欲滴，所有的一切使得这里的植被拔得头筹。林荫间弥漫着喧嚣和寂静这对十分矛盾的组合。昆虫的叫声如此响亮，即使是在离岸儿百码外停泊的船只上也能听到，而森林深处却似乎完全为沉寂所笼罩。对于一个深爱着博物学的人来说，这样的一天带来的无比欢乐是他以后很难再期望重新经历的。漫步数小时后，我准备返回登陆的地方。但是在回去之前，我遇上了一场热带暴雨。我试着在一棵树下避雨，这棵大树非常茂盛。英国的雨水是绝不会穿透它茂密的枝叶的。可是，在这里，不到几分钟工夫，一条小小的瀑布便沿着树干顺流而下。然而，正因为雨水的猛烈才使得繁茂森林的最低处也如此郁郁葱葱，如果阵雨像寒冷气候中的那样，人部分水分在达到地面之前就被吸收或蒸发了。因为在返回的途中，我们还会再次造访这里，我现在暂时不打算描绘这个瑰丽海湾的绚丽景色了，到那时我会有机会对它进行评说的。

The geology of the surrounding country possesses little interest. Throughout the coast of Brazil, and certainly for a considerable space inland from the Rio Plata to Cape¹⁴ St. Roque, lat. 5° S., a distance of more than 2000 geographical¹⁵ miles, wherever solid rock occurs, it belongs to a granitic¹⁶ formation. The circumstance of this enormous area being thus constituted of materials, which almost every geologist¹⁷ believes have been crystallized by the action of heat under pressure, gives rise to many curious reflections. Was this effect produced beneath the depths of a profound ocean? Or did a covering of strata¹⁸ formerly¹⁹ extend over it, which has since been removed? Can we believe that any power, action for a time short of infinity²⁰, could have denuded²¹ the granite²² over so many thousand square leagues?

周围地区的地质情祝没有什么特别之处。巴西整个海岸，当然还有内陆很大一片区域，即从拉普拉塔到南纬5度的圣罗克海角2000多英里的地理范围内，只要是有坚固岩石的地方，都属于花岗岩地层。为此几乎每一位地质学家都认为这片广袤区域的组成物质是在压力作用下受热结晶形成的，但这样的地质状况本身引起了许多好奇者的思考。这个作用过程是在海洋深处发生的吗?以前它上面是还覆盖着一层底层，而后被移开了吗?我们是否可以相信有种力量经过漫长时期的作用，能够将如此几千平方公里范围的花岗岩侵蚀掉呢?

1 delightfully   

大喜，欣然

参考例句：

• The room is delightfully appointed. 这房子的设备令人舒适愉快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The evening is delightfully cool. 晚间凉爽宜人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

3 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。

4 parasitical   

adj. 寄生的(符加的)

参考例句：

• It is related to her prior infestation by the dominant parasitical species here. 那是涉及在她身上已经滋生了的具备支配权的优势寄生物种。
• Finally, the array antennas composed of parasitical cells are mainly researched. 最后，本文重点研究了由加寄生天线的单元组成的天线阵列。

5 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

6 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

7 pervades   

v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• An unpleasant smell pervades the house. 一种难闻的气味弥漫了全屋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• An atmosphere of pessimism pervades the economy. 悲观的气氛笼罩着整个经济。 来自辞典例句

8 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

9 recesses   

n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• I could see the inmost recesses. 我能看见最深处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I had continually pushed my doubts to the darker recesses of my mind. 我一直把怀疑深深地隐藏在心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

11 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

12 torrent   

n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发

参考例句：

• The torrent scoured a channel down the hillside. 急流沿着山坡冲出了一条沟。
• Her pent-up anger was released in a torrent of words.她压抑的愤怒以滔滔不绝的话爆发了出来。

13 gaudy   

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

参考例句：

• She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
• The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。

14 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

15 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

16 granitic   

花岗石的，由花岗岩形成的

参考例句：

• A batholith has been defined as a huge intrusive mass of granitic rock. 岩基的定义是巨大的花岗石侵入岩体。
• A granitic rock composed chiefly of quartz and mica. 一种由石英和云母构成的花岗石。

17 geologist   

n.地质学家

参考例句：

• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley.在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。
• He was a geologist,rated by his cronies as the best in the business.他是一位地质学家，被他的老朋友们看做是这门行当中最好的一位。

18 strata   

n.地层（复数）；社会阶层

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• They represent all social strata.他们代表各个社会阶层。

19 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

20 infinity   

n.无限，无穷，大量

参考例句：

• It is impossible to count up to infinity.不可能数到无穷大。
• Theoretically,a line can extend into infinity.从理论上来说直线可以无限地延伸。

21 denuded   

adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物

参考例句：

• hillsides denuded of trees 光秃秃没有树的山坡
• In such areas we see villages denuded of young people. 在这些地区，我们在村子里根本看不到年轻人。 来自辞典例句

22 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。