海底兩萬里 第162期 第11章 諾第留斯號(13)

　　An excitable conchologist would surely have fainted dead away before other, more numerous glass cases in which were classified specimens from the mollusk branch.

　　一位神經稍微銳敏一點的貝殼類專家，到了另一些陳列軟體類動物標本的玻璃柜面前，一定要高興得發(fā)昏了。

　　There I saw a collection of incalculable value that I haven't time to describe completely.

　　我這里看見的這一套標本，簡直是無價之寶，時間不允許我一一加以描寫。

　　Among these exhibits I'll mention, just for the record:

　　在這些珍品中，我僅僅為了備忘起見舉出數種：

　　an elegant royal hammer shell from the Indian Ocean, whose evenly spaced white spots stood out sharply against a base of red and brown;

　　首先是美麗的印度洋的王槌貝，貝身上的規(guī)律白點襯著紅棕色的底子，鮮明突出。

　　an imperial spiny oyster, brightly colored, bristling with thorns, aspecimen rare to European museums, whose value I estimated at 20,000 francs;

　　其次，棘皮王風，顏色鮮艷，全身長著棘刺，是歐洲博物館中罕有的品種，我估計它的價值為兩萬法郎。

　　a common hammer shell from the seas near Queensland, very hard to come by;

　　其次，新荷蘭島海中的普通糙貝，這種貝很不容易捕獲。

　　exotic cockles from Senegal, fragile white bivalve shells that a single breath could pop like a soap bubble;

　　其次，塞內加爾島的奇異唇貝，這貝的兩片脆酥白殼好像是肥皂泡，一吹就要消散似的。

　　several varieties of watering-pot shell from Java, a sort of limestone tube fringed with leafy folds and much fought over by collectors.

　　其次，幾種爪哇偽噴水壺形貝，這種貝像是邊緣有葉狀皺紋的石灰質的管子，最為愛好貝殼的人所歡迎。