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After I had recovered from my first experience in the water, I thought it great fun to sit on a big rock in my bathing-suit and feel wave after wave dash against the rock, sending up a shower of spray which quite covered me. I felt the pebbles rattling as the waves threw their ponderous weight against the shore; the whole beach seemed racked by their terrific onset, and the air throbbed with their pulsations. The breakers would swoop back to gather themselves for a mightier leap, and I clung to the rock, tense, fascinated, as I felt the dash and roar of the rushing sea!
经过了初次水中历险后，我想，如果穿着泳衣坐在一块大礁石上该是多么有趣的事啊，那样我就能感受到海浪撞击岩石的气势，四溅的浪花会把我彻底浇湿。当滚滚波涛涌向岸边的时候，我还能感觉到卵石咔嗒咔嗒的撞击声。整个海滩似乎都在遭受着波浪可怕的攻击，空气也变得躁动不安起来。翻滚的大浪先是向后退却汇集，然后再奋力一跃猛扑下来。我紧紧地靠在礁石上，既紧张又兴奋，大海的波涛和怒吼令我心醉神迷。
I could never stay long enough on the shore. The tang of the untainted, fresh and free sea air was like a cool, quieting thought, and the shells and pebbles and the seaweed with tiny living creatures attached to it never lost their fascination for me. One day Miss Sullivan attracted my attention to a strange object which she had captured basking in the shallow water. It was a great horseshoe crab—the first one I had ever seen. I felt of him and thought it very strange that he should carry his house on his back. It suddenly occurred to me that he might make a delightful pet; so I seized him by the tail with both hands and carried him home. This feat pleased me highly, as his body was very heavy, and it took all my strength to drag him half a mile. I would not leave Miss Sullivan in peace until she had put the crab in a trough near the well where I was confident he would be secure. But next morning I went to the trough, and lo, he had disappeared! Nobody knew where he had gone, or how he had escaped. My disappointment was bitter at the time; but little by little I came to realize that it was not kind or wise to force this poor dumb creature out of his element, and after awhile I felt happy in the thought that perhaps he had returned to the sea.
在海岸边，我从来没有待够的感觉。洁净、清新而奔放的大海气息宛若一种冷静从容的思想。对我而言，贝壳、卵石、海草连同依附其间的微小生物从未失去它们的魅力。一天，苏立文小姐从浅滩捕获了一条姥鲛似的东西，这种奇异的物种引起了我的注意。事实上，这是一种巨大的鲎——我以前从来没见过这种海洋生物。我一边摸一边想，这种奇怪的生物一定是把它的房子背在了身上。突然，我觉得它也许能成为一个讨人喜欢的宠物。于是，我用双手抓住它的尾巴把它拎回了家。我兴致高昂，由于它很沉，所以提着它走半英里几乎用尽了我所有的力气。后来，苏立文小姐把它放在了靠近井边的过道上，我想它在那里一定很安全。可是第二天一早我去过道查看时，发现它消失不见了！没有人知道它去了哪里，也不知道它是如何逃走的。当时，我极度失望，但是随着时间的推移，我逐渐意识到，强迫这个不能说话的可怜生物离开自然环境既不仁慈，也不明智。所以，一想到它可能返回了大海，我就感到很高兴。
