评论
打印
Chapter Eight Two Narrow Escapes
第八章 两次死里逃生
Everyone was cheerful as the Dawn Treader sailed from Dragon Island.
黎明踏浪号终于要离开龙岛了, 人人都很开心。
They had fair winds as soon as they were out of the bay and came early next morning to the unknown land which some of them had seen when flying over the mountains while Eustace was still a dragon.
船一出海湾, 一路顺风, 第二天一大早就到了那个无名地。尤斯塔斯还是条龙的时候, 有些人骑在他身上飞过群山曾见过这地方。
It was a low green island inhabited by nothing but rabbits and a few goats, but from the ruins of stone huts, and from blackened places where fires had been, they judged that it had been peopled not long before.
这是一块低矮的绿岛, 上面有些兔子和几只山羊, 不过根据石屋的残址和被火烧得发黑的岩石来看, 这里不久前还住过人。
There were also some bones and broken weapons.
岛上还有一些骨头和破旧的武器。
"Pirates'work, "said Caspian.
"是海盗的杰作吧。"凯斯宾说
"Or the dragon's, "said Edmund.
"要不就是龙干的。"爱德蒙说。
The only other thing they found there was a little skin boat, or coracle, on the sands.
此外他们在岛上找到的唯一的东西就是一只小皮艇, 又叫皮筏子,
It was made of hide stretched over a wicker framework.
是用兽皮绷在一个柳条框架上做成的。
It was a tiny boat, barely four feet long, and the paddle which still lay in it was in proportion.
那只小小的船, 只有四英尺长, 船桨还搁在那儿, 和船的大小相称。
They thought that either it had been made for a child or else that the people of that country had been Dwarfs. Reepicheep decided to keep it, as it was just the right size for him;so it was taken on board.
他们心想, 要么这船是造给孩子的, 或者这里住着小矮人。雷佩契普决定留着这条船, 因为这船的大小跟它的身材正合适, 所以就带上了大船。
They called that land Burnt Island, and sailed away before noon.
他们把这地方叫做火烧岛, 没到中午就离开了。
For some five days they ran before a south-south east wind, out of sight of all lands and seeing neither fish nor gull.
他们顺着东南风航行了五天, 一直没有见到陆地, 也没有见到鱼和海鸥。
Then they had a day that rained hard till the afternoon.
后来有一天下了一场雨, 午后才停。
Eustace lost two games of chess to Reepicheep and began to get like his old and disagreeable self again, and Edmund said he wished they could have gone to America with Susan.
尤斯塔斯跟雷佩契普下棋, 输了两局之后, 又露出令人讨厌的样子。爱德蒙说他真希望当初他们跟苏珊一起去了美国。
Then Lucy looked out of the stern windows and said: "Hello ! I do believe it's stopping. And what's that ?"
露茜望着窗外说："嘿!雨真的停了。你们看那是什么?"
They all tumbled up to the poop at this and found that the rain had stopped and that Drinian, who was on watch, was also staring hard at something astern.
大家听到后, 都跑到船尾来看, 发现雨真的停了, 正在值班的德里宁也盯着船尾外面的什么东西。
Or rather, at several things. They looked a little like smooth rounded rocks, a whole line of them with intervals of about forty feet in between.
确切地说有好多东西。那些东西看上去像光滑的卵石, 但是两两之间相隔大约四十英尺, 排成长长的一列。
"But they can't be rocks, "Drinian was saying, "because they weren't there five minutes ago. "
"不可能是石头, "德里宁说, "因为五分钟之前那儿还没有这些东西。"
"And one's just disappeared, "said Lucy.
"有一块刚才不见了。"露茜说。
"Yes, and there's another one coming up, "said Edmund.
"是啊, 还有一块突然冒出来了。"
"And nearer, "said Eustace.
"越来越近了。"尤斯塔斯说。
"Hang it!"said Caspian. "The whole thing is moving this way. "
"真见鬼!"凯斯宾说, "那些东西都往这儿移动了。"
"And moving a great deal quicker than we can sail, Sire, "said Drinian. "It'll be up with us in a minute. "
"而且它们的速度比我们的船还快, 陛下, "德里宁说, "很快就会追上我们。"
They all held their breath, for it is not at all nice to be pursued by an unknown something either on land or sea.
他们都屏住呼吸, 因为不管是在陆地上还是海上, 被未知的东西追总没好事。
But what it turned out to be was far worse than anyone had suspected.
谁知道, 这玩意一露头比猜想的还可怕。
Suddenly, only about the length of a cricket pitch from their port side, an appalling head reared itself out of the sea.
忽然, 在离左舷还有一个投球距离的时候, 一个吓人的脑袋钻出海面。
It was all greens and vermilions with purple blotches--except where shellfish clung to it--and shaped rather like a horse's, though without ears.
这东西的脑袋上除了寄生贝之外, 还有绿色的、红色的和紫色的疙瘩。那形状像一只没有耳朵的马头。
It had enormous eyes, eyes made for staring through the dark depths of the ocean, and a gaping mouth filled with double rows of sharp fish-like teeth.
脑袋上长着可以透视海洋深处的大眼睛, 还有一张咧开的大嘴长着上下两排尖利的牙齿。
It came up on what they first took to be a huge neck, but as more and more of it emerged everyone knew that this was not its neck but its body and that at last they were seeing what so many people have foolishly wanted to see--the great Sea Serpent.
脑袋和脖子连在一起, 越变越长----大家这才发现这不是脖子, 而是身子, 最后他们总算看见了有不少人想要见识的----大海蛇。
The folds of its gigantic tail could be seen far away, rising at intervals from the surface.
远远就能看见它巨大的尾巴上的皱槽, 不时升出水面。
And now its head was towering up higher than the mast.
这时它正昂起脑袋, 高耸在桅杆上面。
Every man rushed to his weapon, but there was nothing to be done, the monster was out of reach.
大家都跑去拿武器, 可是并没什么用, 因为这东西太高了。
