美国小学英语教材6:第9课 摄像机猎象记(7)(在线收听

   Camera hunting 照相机狩猎

  Hunting with the camera has become more important to the study of wild life than hunting with the rifle. 相比于枪支狩猎,照相机狩猎对于研究野生动物更加重要。
  Osa and I seldom shoot except for food or to save ourselves or our workers in times of great danger. 欧莎和我很少开枪,除非是为了找寻食物,或是在危难时刻自救或帮助工作伙伴。
  Osa usually holds the gun, and it is my faith in her nerve that has made possible most of our best pictures. 欧莎总是拿着枪,我对她的信任让我们获得了许多珍贵照片。
  Twice she has dropped elephants at my feet. Once a lion charged me in the open. 有两次她都是在大象走进我时将它们放倒,一次,一头狮子在野外冲我袭来。
  I kept cranking because she held the gun. At fifteen feet she fired. It didn't stop him. 我继续绕弯跑,因为欧莎拿着枪,在距离我15英尺时她开了枪,但却没有阻止它向前。
  She fired again, and the lion dropped so close that I could touch his mane with my toe. 她再次开枪,狮子倒下了,它距离我很紧,我的脚指头都能碰到它的鬣。
  I usually become so interested in the pictures I am getting that I don't realize the danger. Osa looks out for that. 我对我拍摄的照片产生了兴趣,我没有意识到危险,但欧莎觉察到了。
  Photographing wild life is a very dangerous business for the person who hasn't had wide experience 拍摄野生动物很危险,因为拍摄者没有户外经验,
  and who does not know just what chances he can take with safety. 也不知道抓住机会让自己逃离险境。
  After spending years in the jungle, one comes to know how a particular animal is likely to act. 在野外生活几年后,人们才知道动物有可能要干什么。
  But we take every care, because there is always some uncertainty as to what wild animals will do. 但是我们非常小心,因为动物的行为还是充满不确定性。
  Camera hunting is a life work that I would not advise for many people. 照相机狩猎是一生所追求的工作,我不建议人们参与其中。
  It is thrilling if you like it; but for every thrill there may be days, perhaps weeks, of dull, tiresome preparation. 这份工作很刺激,但每一个刺激的瞬间都需要几天,或许几周的苦恼准备。
  Often after endless labor of tracking animals, planning with care, lugging cameras and other things, 通常在经历跟踪动物,详细计划,搬运照相机等其它事情后,
  and coming right up on the beasts you are looking for, you do not get a good film. 当你真的找到了你要寻找的动物时,你却没法拍出好的纪录片。
  Then again, you secure a picture that makes you want to stand out in the middle of the desert and shout the tidings to the world. 但下一次你或许就能收获好照片,这种感觉会让你站在沙漠中央,或站在世界的制高点上。
  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/mgxxyyjc/d6c/454033.html