英语听书《海底两万里》第242期 第19章 万尼科罗群岛(4)（在线收听）

 　　When the Nautilus returned to the surface of the ocean, I could take in Reao Island over its whole flat, wooded expanse.  当诺第留斯号回到海面上来的时候，我可以望见这个低洼的和多树的克列蒙瑞尼岛发展的全部过程。

　　Obviously its madreporic rocks had been made fertile by tornadoes and thunderstorms.  岛上的珊瑚石显然是由于旋风和风暴的冲刷，
　　One day, carried off by a hurricane from neighboring shores,  变成了肥饶的沃上。不知什么时候，一些谷粒果核被暴风带到邻近土地，
　　some seed fell onto these limestone beds, mixing with decomposed particles of fish and marine plants to form vegetable humus.  落在石灰质的地上，地里夹杂了鱼类和海产植物分解出来的渣滓，成为很好的草木肥料。
　　Propelled by the waves, a coconut arrived on this new coast.  随后又有一些可可果核被波浪冲来，漂到了这边新开辟的海岸。
　　Its germ took root. Its tree grew tall, catching steam off the water. A brook was born. Little by little, vegetation spread.  不久种子发芽生根，渐渐长大，成树，成林，贮蓄了水蒸气。水流于是形成了。植物也就渐渐生长繁殖。
　　Tiny animals--worms, insects--rode ashore on tree trunks snatched from islands to windward. Turtles came to lay their eggs.  有些微生动物，爬虫，昆虫，附在被大风吹倒的其他海岛的树干上，输送到这边。龟鳖到这里来下蛋，
　　Birds nested in the young trees.  禽鸟在嫩枝上结巢。
　　In this way animal life developed, and drawn by the greenery and fertile soil, man appeared.  动物就这样在岛上活跃起来。不久，人类被岛上的青葱和肥饶的土地所吸引，也在岛上出现了。
　　And that's how these islands were formed, the immense achievement of microscopic animals. 这就是群岛—微生动物的惊人杰作的形成过程。
　　Near evening Reao Island melted into the distance, and the Nautilus noticeably changed course.  傍晚时候，克列蒙端尼岛在远处隐没不见了，
　　After touching the Tropic of Capricorn at longitude 135 degrees, it headed west-northwest, going back up the whole intertropical zone.  诺第留斯号的航路显然是改变了方向。 在西经135度上接触到南回归线的时候，船又上溯南北两回归线间的海水，向西北偏西驶去。
　　Although the summer sun lavished its rays on us, we never suffered from the heat,  虽然夏季的太阳光十分厉害，但我们一点不受炎热的影响，
　　because thirty or forty meters underwater, the temperature didn't go over 10 degrees to 12 degrees centigrade. 因为在水底三十至四十米的深度，温度总不超过十度到十二度。
　　By December 15 we had left the alluring Society Islands in the west, likewise elegant Tahiti, queen of the Pacific.  12月15日，我们在东边望到了使人留恋的社会群岛和作为太平洋玉后的啊娜多姿的塔希提岛。
　　In the morning I spotted this island's lofty summits a few miles to leeward.  我早晨在距离几里的下方，望见了这岛上的高耸的山峰。
　　Its waters supplied excellent fish for the tables on board: mackerel, bonito, albacore, and a few varieties of that sea serpent named the moray eel. 沿岛水产供应我们船上餐桌许多美味的鱼，鳍鱼、鲤鱼、乳白鱼，以及好几种属于鳗鱼类的海蛇。
  原文地址：http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/hdlwl/439074.html