英语听书《海底两万里》第307期 第23章 珊瑚王国(4)

 　　I took the wounded man's pulse. It was intermittent¹.  病人的脉搏，我按了按，已经时有时无。

　　The body's extremities² were already growing cold, and I saw that death was approaching without any possibility of my holding it in check.  身体各处，手，指脚趾的尖端已经冰冷，我看出死已临头，没法救治了。

　　After dressing³ the poor man's wound, I redid the linen⁴ bandages around his head, and I turned to Captain Nemo. 我包扎好这个不幸的病人，又把他头上的纱布弄好，转过身来对着尼摩船长；我问他：

　　How did he get this wound? I asked him. 哪来的这伤痕呢？

　　That's not important, the captain replied evasively. The Nautilus suffered a collision that cracked one of the engine levers, and it struck this man.  那没关系！船长掩饰地回答，诺第留斯号受到一次仲撞，弄断了机器上的一条杠杆，打中了这个人。

　　My chief officer was standing⁵ beside him. This man leaped forward to intercept⁶ the blow.  般副正在他旁边。他奋身前去，顶受了这打击…

　　A brother lays down his life for his brother, a friend for his friend, what could be simpler?  兄弟为自己的兄弟牺牲，朋友为自己的朋友牺牲，再没有更简单的享！

　　That's the law for everyone on board the Nautilus. But what's your diagnosis⁷ of his condition? 这是诺第留斯号船上全体船员共同遵守的规律！您对于他的病精的意见究竟怎样？

　　I hesitated to speak my mind. 我迟疑不敢说。

　　You may talk freely, the captain told me. This man doesn't understand French. 您可以说，船长对我说，这人不懂得法语。

　　I took a last look at the wounded man, then I replied: 我最后看一下伤员，然后回答：

　　This man will be dead in two hours. 这人在两小时内就要死了。

　　Nothing can save him? 没有什么办法可以救他吗？

　　Nothing. 没有。

　　Captain Nemo clenched⁸ his fists, and tears slid from his eyes, which I had thought incapable⁹ of weeping. 尼摩船长的手抖起来，几滴眼泪从他的眼中流出来了，从前我以为他的眼睛是不会哭的。

　　For a few moments more I observed the dying man, whose life was ebbing¹⁰ little by little. He grew still more pale under the electric light that bathed his deathbed.  霎时间，我再看一下这垂死的人，他的生命一点一点消失了。他苍白的面色，由于有明亮的电光照在他临死的床上，更显得惨白。

　　I looked at his intelligent head, furrowed¹¹ with premature¹² wrinkles that misfortune, perhaps misery¹³, had etched long before.  我看他的聪明头额有很多过早的皱纹，那是生活中的不幸或多年的贫苦给他造成的。

　　I was hoping to detect the secret of his life in the last words that might escape from his lips! 我要从他嘴里偶然吐出的一些话，明白他生平的秘密！您可以退出了，阿龙纳斯先生。尼摩船长这时对我说。

1 intermittent   

adj.间歇的，断断续续的

参考例句：

• Did you hear the intermittent sound outside?你听见外面时断时续的声音了吗？
• In the daytime intermittent rains freshened all the earth.白天里，时断时续地下着雨，使整个大地都生气勃勃了。

2 extremities   

n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地

参考例句：

• She was most noticeable, I thought, in respect of her extremities. 我觉得她那副穷极可怜的样子实在太惹人注目。 来自辞典例句
• Winters may be quite cool at the northwestern extremities. 西北边区的冬天也可能会相当凉。 来自辞典例句

3 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

4 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

5 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。

6 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

7 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

8 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

10 ebbing   

（指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落

参考例句：

• The pain was ebbing. 疼痛逐渐减轻了。
• There are indications that his esoteric popularity may be ebbing. 有迹象表明，他神秘的声望可能正在下降。

11 furrowed   

v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Overhead hung a summer sky furrowed with the rash of rockets. 头顶上的夏日夜空纵横着急疾而过的焰火。 来自辞典例句
• The car furrowed the loose sand as it crossed the desert. 车子横过沙漠，在松软的沙土上犁出了一道车辙。 来自辞典例句

12 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

13 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。