万物简史 第400期:浩瀚的海洋(19)

 What little we know of them comes almost entirely¹ from eavesdropping² on their songs, but even these are a mystery. 我们对它们的一点了解，儿乎完全出自我们偷听到的它们的叫声，而连那个也还是个谜。

Blue whales will sometimes break off a song, then pick it up again at the same spot six months later. 蓝鲸有时候突然不叫，然后6个月以后又在同一地点接着叫下去。

Sometimes they strike up with a new song, which no member can have heard before but which each already knows. 有时候它们还会发出一种新的叫声，这种声音以前可能哪条蓝鲸也没有听到过，但每条蓝鲸都已懂得。

How they do this is not remotely understood. 它们怎么办得到，为什么要这么办，我们一点儿也不清楚。

And these are animals that must routinely come to the surface to breathe. 而且，那些动物还必须经常浮到水面来呼吸。

For animals that need never surface, obscurity can be even more tantalizing³. 至于从不需要浮到水面的动物，它们的朦胧状态可能更令人感到好奇。

Consider the fabled⁴ giant squid. 想一想那个著名的大乌贼。

Though nothing on the scale of the blue whale, it is a decidedly substantial animal, 虽然它的个儿比不上蓝鲸，但它肯定是个庞然大物，

with eyes the size of soccer balls and trailing tentacles⁵ that can reach lengths of sixty feet. 眼睛有足球那么大，触角可以伸到18米长。

It weighs nearly a ton and is Earth's largest invertebrate⁶. 它的分量差不多有1吨重，是地球上最大的无脊椎动物。

If you dumped one in a normal household swimming pool, there wouldn't be much room for anything else. 要是你在小游泳池里放上个大乌贼，就没有多少地方放别的东西。

Yet no scientist—no person as far as we know—has ever seen a giant squid alive. 但是，没有哪个科学家——据我们所知也没有哪个人——看见过活的大乌贼。

Zoologists⁷ have devoted⁸ careers to trying to capture, or just glimpse, living giant squid and have always failed. 有的动物学家花了毕生的时间想要捕捉或就看一眼活的大乌贼，但总以失败告终。

They are known mostly from being washed up on beaches—particularly, for unknown reasons, the beaches of the South Island of New Zealand. 人们之所以知道，主要是因为它们被冲上海滩——由于不知道的原因，尤其是新西兰南岛的海滩。

They must exist in large numbers because they form a central part of the sperm⁹ whale's diet, and sperm whales take a lot of feeding. 它们肯定大量存在，因为它们是抹香鲸的主要食物，而抹香鲸的食量是很大的。

The indigestible parts of giant squid, in particular their beaks¹⁰, （大乌贼的不可消化部分，尤其是他的喙部，

accumulate in sperm whales' stomachs into the substance known as ambergris, which is used as a fixative in perfumes. 积累在抹香鲸胃部的鲸蜡里，形成了所谓的龙诞香。龙诞香用做香水的固定剂。

The next time you spray on Chanel No. 5 (assuming you do), you may wish to reflect that you are dousing¹¹ yourself in distillate of unseen sea monster. 你下一次喷洒夏奈尔5号香水的时候，你也许会愿意想到，你是在用一种不露面的海洋怪物的蒸馏物打扮你自己。）

1 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

2 eavesdropping   

n. 偷听

参考例句：

• We caught him eavesdropping outside the window. 我们撞见他正在窗外偷听。
• Suddenly the kids,who had been eavesdropping,flew into the room. 突然间，一直在偷听的孩子们飞进屋来。

3 tantalizing   

adj.逗人的；惹弄人的；撩人的；煽情的v.逗弄，引诱，折磨( tantalize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This was my first tantalizing glimpse of the islands. 这是我第一眼看见的这些岛屿的动人美景。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have only vague and tantalizing glimpses of his power. 我们只能隐隐约约地领略他的威力，的确有一种可望不可及的感觉。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

4 fabled   

adj.寓言中的，虚构的

参考例句：

• For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
• Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 tentacles   

n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛

参考例句：

• Tentacles of fear closed around her body. 恐惧的阴影笼罩着她。
• Many molluscs have tentacles. 很多软体动物有触角。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 invertebrate   

n.无脊椎动物

参考例句：

• Half of all invertebrate species live in tropical rain forests.一半的无脊椎动物物种生活在热带雨林中。
• Worms are an example of invertebrate animals.蠕虫是无脊椎动物的一个例子。

7 zoologists   

动物学家( zoologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Zoologists refer barnacles to Crustanceans. 动物学家把螺蛳归入甲壳类。
• It is now a source of growing interest for chemists and zoologists as well. 它现在也是化学家和动物学家愈感兴趣的一个所在。

8 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

9 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

10 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网

11 dousing   

v.浇水在…上( douse的现在分词 )；熄灯[火]

参考例句：

• The other spider took a second dousing before it emerged, still alive. 另外一个蜘蛛在冲刷第二遍时才被发现，是个活蜘蛛。 来自互联网
• At this point, the specimen can be shattered by dousing it with sterilized warm saline. 此时，可以用浸入温暖的消毒盐水的方法粉碎标本。 来自互联网