英语听书《海底两万里》第507期 第31章 章鱼(14)

 Yes, sir. Our propeller¹ is jammed.  “是的，先生。推进器不动了。

I think the horn-covered mandibles of one of these squid are entangled² in the blades. That's why we aren't moving. 我想是一条枪乌贼的下颚骨绞进了轮叶中，使我们走不动了。”

And what are you going to do? “那您想怎么做呢？” 

Rise to the surface and slaughter³ the vermin. “浮出水面，宰了这些害人虫。” 

A difficult undertaking⁴. “这不好办。”

Correct. Our electric bullets are ineffective against such soft flesh, where they don't meet enough resistance to go off. But we'll attack the beasts with axes. “确实如此。电气弹对于这堆软绵绵的肉来说毫无办法，因为打在上面，没有足够的阻力来引发爆炸。但我们可以用斧子砍它。”

And harpoons⁶, sir, the Canadian said, "if you don't turn down my help." “还有鱼叉，先生，”加拿大人说，“请您别拒绝我的帮助。” 

I accept it, Mr. Land. “我接受您的帮助，兰师傅。” 

We'll go with you, I said. And we followed Captain Nemo, heading to the central companionway. “我们陪你们去，”我说着，跟着尼摩船长走向中央扶梯。 

There some ten men were standing⁷ by for the assault, armed with boarding axes. 在中央扶梯那里，已经有十几个人手里握着斧子，准备出击。

Conseil and I picked up two more axes. Ned Land seized a harpoon⁵. 我和康塞尔也拿了两把斧子，尼德·兰抓着一把鱼叉。 

By then the Nautilus had returned to the surface of the waves. 于是“鹦鹉螺号”浮出水面。

Stationed on the top steps, one of the seamen⁸ undid⁹ the bolts of the hatch. 一个水手站在最上面一级台阶上，他正在把嵌板上的螺丝拧开。

But he had scarcely unscrewed the nuts when the hatch flew up with tremendous violence, obviously pulled open by the suckers on a devilfish's arm. 但螺母刚刚被拧开，嵌板就猛地一下子被掀开了，显然是被章鱼的一只爪子上的吸盘拉开的。

Instantly one of those long arms glided¹⁰ like a snake into the opening, and twenty others were quivering above. 立刻，一条像蛇一样的长爪子从开口处滑了进来，其他二十几只爪子在上面蠕动着。

With a sweep of the ax, Captain Nemo chopped off this fearsome tentacle¹¹, which slid writhing¹² down the steps. 尼摩船长一挥斧子，把这条可怕的触须斩断，被斩断的触须卷成了一团滑在阶梯上。

Just as we were crowding each other to reach the platform, two more arms lashed¹³ the air, 当我们正争先恐后挤上平台时，另外两根须爪从空中打过来，

swooped¹⁴ on the seaman¹⁵ stationed in front of Captain Nemo, and carried the fellow away with irresistible¹⁶ violence. 缠在了尼摩船长面前的水手身上，猛地把他卷走。

1 propeller   

n.螺旋桨，推进器

参考例句：

• The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
• A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。

2 entangled   

adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The bird had become entangled in the wire netting. 那只小鸟被铁丝网缠住了。
• Some military observers fear the US could get entangled in another war. 一些军事观察家担心美国会卷入另一场战争。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

4 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

5 harpoon   

n.鱼叉；vt.用鱼叉叉，用鱼叉捕获

参考例句：

• The harpoon drove deep into the body of the whale.渔叉深深地扎进鲸鱼体内。
• The fisherman transfixed the shark with a harpoon.渔夫用鱼叉刺住鲨鱼。

6 harpoons   

n.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的名词复数 )v.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Greenpeace hopes to position its boats between the harpoons and the whales. 绿色和平希望他们的船能开到港口与鲸鱼群之间的地方。 来自互联网
• NIV Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? 7[和合]你能用倒钩枪扎满它的皮，能用鱼叉叉满它的头吗？ 来自互联网

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。

9 Undid   

v. 解开, 复原

参考例句：

• The officer undid the flap of his holster and drew his gun. 军官打开枪套盖拔出了手枪。
• He did wrong, and in the end his wrongs undid him. 行恶者终以其恶毁其身。

10 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 tentacle   

n.触角，触须，触手

参考例句：

• Each tentacle is about two millimeters long.每一个触手大约两毫米长。
• It looked like a big eyeball with a long tentacle thing.它看上去像一个有着长触角的巨大眼球。

12 writhing   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was writhing around on the floor in agony. 她痛得在地板上直打滚。
• He was writhing on the ground in agony. 他痛苦地在地上打滚。

13 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

15 seaman   

n.海员，水手，水兵

参考例句：

• That young man is a experienced seaman.那个年轻人是一个经验丰富的水手。
• The Greek seaman went to the hospital five times.这位希腊海员到该医院去过五次。

16 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。