國家地理:加里曼丹島的地底洞天(3)
Now imagine them down there, Frank and Cookie, mud smeared and grinning, on the verge of joining two cave systems into a single, immense whole. Not your thing? Well, for cavers, it's the thing. And it's rare that such superlative connections are made. In the often obscure world of underground exploration, which is governed by international bodies with names such as the "Longest, Largest, and Deepest Committee," such a feat would be a very big deal.
現(xiàn)在，想象一下在地底的弗蘭克和庫奇，全身泥巴、開心微笑：很快就能將兩個(gè)洞穴系統(tǒng)連接成一個(gè)巨大完整的洞穴系統(tǒng)了。你沒什么興趣嗎？對(duì)探洞家來說，這是他們最有興趣的事了。能做到這種“某某之最”的連結(jié)是非常罕見的。地底探索的世界通常鮮為人知，由名為“最長、最大、最深委員會(huì)”之類的國際機(jī)構(gòu)負(fù)責(zé)管理，在這個(gè)世界里，此等壯舉可是天大的事。
Elsewhere far below the Earth's surface, in the entrails of Racer Cave, another team was slithering into place. They too carried hammers and a drill, and soon the two teams would begin banging on the cave walls and drilling into the rock, listening for each other, hoping noise would lead them to a connection and a spot in the record books.
在地底深處的另一個(gè)地方，黑蛇洞內(nèi)部，另一支隊(duì)伍也正又滑又鉆地就位了。他們也帶著鐵錘和電鉆，兩支隊(duì)伍很快就會(huì)開始在穴壁巖石上敲打、鉆洞，傾聽彼此的聲響，希望噪音能帶領(lǐng)他們找到連結(jié)點(diǎn)，讓他們名留青史。
