海底兩萬里 第285期 第21章 在陸地上的兩天(17)

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"Fine, Conseil! And I agree that there are honorable cannibals who decently devour their prisoners. However, I'm opposed to being devoured, even in all decency, so I'll keep on my guard, especially since the Nautilus's commander seems to be taking no precautions. And now let's get to work!"

“對！康塞爾，我同意你的說法，他們是吃人肉的誠實(shí)人,他們是老老實(shí)實(shí)地吃俘虜?shù)娜狻２贿^我不想被他們吞食，即使是老老實(shí)實(shí)的吞食，我也不愿意。我要時時警戒，十分小心，因?yàn)橹Z第留斯號的船長好像一點(diǎn)不注意，不加防范?，F(xiàn)在我們動手撈吧。”

For two hours our fishing proceeded energetically but without bringing up any rarities. Our dragnet was filled with Midas abalone, harp shells, obelisk snails, and especially the finest hammer shells I had seen to that day. We also gathered in a few sea cucumbers, some pearl oysters, and a dozen small turtles that we saved for the ship's pantry.

在兩個鐘頭內(nèi)，我們打魚進(jìn)行得相當(dāng)活躍，但沒有打到罕見的珍品。打撈器里面裝滿了驢耳貝、豎琴貝、河貝子，特別又打到了我今天才看見的最好看的糙魚，我們又打了一些海參，產(chǎn)珍珠的牡蠣和一打左右的小鱉，這些都打來作為船上的食用品。

But just when I least expected it, I laid my hands on a wonder, a natural deformity I'd have to call it, something very seldom encountered. Conseil had just made a cast of the dragnet, and his gear had come back up loaded with a variety of fairly ordinary seashells, when suddenly he saw me plunge my arms swiftly into the net, pull out a shelled animal, and give a conchological yell, in other words, the most piercing yell a human throat can produce.

但是，在絕對的無意中，我卻找到一件珍奇品，我應(yīng)該說，找到一件自然變形的珍品，這種東西最不容易碰見?？等麪柊汛驌破鞣畔氯ビ謸破饋淼臅r候，器中裝滿很平常的各種貝類，他忽然看見我的胳膊很快伸進(jìn)網(wǎng)里面去，取出一個貝殼來，發(fā)出貝類學(xué)家的喊聲，即是說，發(fā)出人類喉嚨可以發(fā)出的最尖銳的喊聲。

"Eh? What happened to master?" Conseil asked, very startled. "Did master get bitten?"

“哎！先生怎么啦？”康塞爾問，他非常驚怪，“先生被咬了嗎？”

"No, my boy, but I'd gladly have sacrificed a finger for such a find!"

“沒有，老實(shí)人，我實(shí)在愿意用我的一個指頭來換取我：的發(fā)現(xiàn)呢。”

"What find?"

“什么發(fā)現(xiàn)呢？”

"This shell," I said, displaying the subject of my triumph.

“就是這個貝殼。”我手指著我的戰(zhàn)利品說。

"But that's simply an olive shell of the 'tent olive' species, genus Oliva, order Pectinibranchia, class Gastropoda, branch Mollusca--"

“但這不過是一個普通的斑紅橄欖貝,橄欖貝屬，節(jié)鰓圖，腹足綱，軟體類門…”

"Yes, yes, Conseil! But instead of coiling from right to left, this olive shell rolls from left to right!"

“對，康塞爾，但這個橄欖貝紋跟普通的不一樣，不是從右往左卷過來，而是從左往右轉(zhuǎn)過去。”

"It can't be!" Conseil exclaimed.

“可能嗎？”康塞爾喊道。

"Yes, my boy, it's a left-handed shell!"

“一點(diǎn)不錯，老實(shí)人，這是一個左卷貝！”