国家地理 加里曼丹岛的地底洞天(13)

An hour later we arrived at the mouth of Good Luck Cave, where a river emerged from a tall cleft¹ in a wall of limestone². We waded³ in and pushed ahead, the clear warm water reaching first to our calves⁴, then swelling⁵ over our hips⁶, then shoving into our chests.

一小时后，我们到达了幸运洞洞口，在那里，一条小河从石灰岩壁高处的裂缝中涌出。我们涉水前行，清澈温暖的水流先没过小腿，然后涨到臀部，又没过胸膛。

The passage widened and grew, opening like a train tunnel above us. Bats and birds commuted⁷ through it, occasionally dipping into our headlamp beams, and soon the river became whitewater, blasting through sharp channels of limestone, forcing us onto boulders⁸ slick with spray and guano.

通道变得宽阔起来，像火车隧道一般在我们头顶铺开。蝙蝠和鸟儿穿梭其间，时不时地穿过照明灯的光束。没过一会儿，小河就变得湍急，冲进石灰岩的缝隙。我们不得不爬上光滑的大卵石。被浪花冲刷的大卵石沾满了鸟粪。

The route was so treacherous⁹ that in certain places previous cavers had bolted ropes to the walls so they could drag themselves forward against the current.

这条路线很危险。先前的探险者需要在几处地方把绳索固定在岩壁上，让绳子拽着他们前行，冲过湍流。

After a wild and sodden¹⁰ mile, the river disappeared into the earth, and Sarawak Chamber¹¹ swallowed us into its vastness.

过了这惊险的一英里，队员们浑身都湿透了。小河流入了土壤，我们被无比宽阔的砂拉越洞穴吞没了。

Even when every lamp focused upward, we could see only the dim suggestion of its massive dome¹². And if we turned our lamps toward the back of the cave, we saw nothing at all. It was easy to imagine Eavis and his friends lost, years before, in the void.

就算每盏照明灯都照向上方，我们也只能模糊地看见大穹顶。而如果我们把照明灯照向洞穴后方，就什么都看不见了。不难想象艾维斯和他的朋友们几年前迷失在这黑暗空间的情景。

"If you look around, you might find our old boot prints," Eavis said, laughing. "Stumbling around like blind mice we were."

“环顾四周，你可能会看到我们以前的脚印。”艾维斯笑着说。“你们跌跌撞撞的样子和我们当初一样，像一群瞎眼鼠。”

1 cleft   

n.裂缝；adj.裂开的

参考例句：

• I hid the message in a cleft in the rock.我把情报藏在石块的裂缝里。
• He was cleft from his brother during the war.在战争期间，他与他的哥哥分离。

2 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

3 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

4 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

6 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

8 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

10 sodden   

adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑

参考例句：

• We stripped off our sodden clothes.我们扒下了湿透的衣服。
• The cardboard was sodden and fell apart in his hands.纸板潮得都发酥了，手一捏就碎。

11 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

12 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。