海底兩萬里 第17期 第2章 正與反(6)
這說法還是比較今人情服的。
We must look for the animal in question among those marine creatures already cataloged, and in this event I would be inclined to accept the existence of a giant narwhale.
反過來，如果我們的確認(rèn)識了地球上所有的生物，那么我們就必須從已經(jīng)加以分類的海洋生物中找出我們討論的這個動物;在這種情形下，我就要承認(rèn)有一種巨大的獨角鯨的存在。
The common narwhale, or sea unicorn, often reaches a length of sixty feet.
普通常見的獨角鯨，或海麒麟，身長常常達(dá)到六十英尺，
Increase its dimensions fivefold or even tenfold, then give this cetacean a strength in proportion to its size while enlarging its offensive weapons, and you have the animal we're looking for.
現(xiàn)在如果把這長度增加五倍，甚至十倍，同時讓這條鯨、魚類動物有和它身材戊比例的力量，再加強(qiáng)它的攻擊武器，這樣就是現(xiàn)在海上的那個動物了。
It would have the proportions determined by the officers of the Shannon, the instrument needed to perforate the Scotia, and the power to pierce a steamer's hull.
也就是說它有山農(nóng)號軍官們所測定的長度那么長，它的角，可以刺穿斯各脫亞號、它的力量可以沖破一只汽船的船殼。
In essence, the narwhale is armed with a sort of ivory sword, or lance, as certainnaturalists have expressed it.
誠然，這條獨角鯨，如某些生物學(xué)家所說，是具有一把：骨質(zhì)的劍或一把骨質(zhì)的乾，
It's a king-sized tooth as hard as steel.
那么這一定是一根像鋼鐵一樣：
Some of these teeth have been found buried in the bodies of baleen whales, which the narwhale attacks with invariable success.
堅硬的長牙，有人曾經(jīng)在鯨魚身上發(fā)現(xiàn)過獨角鯨的牙齒，。獨角鯨用牙齒攻擊鯨魚總是成功的。
Others have been wrenched, not without difficulty, from the undersides of vesselsthat narwhales have pierced clean through, as a gimlet pierces a wine barrel.
有人也曾經(jīng)從船底上撥出過,好容易才找出來,獨角鯨的牙齒，它鉆通船底就好像利錐穿透木桶那樣。
The museum at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris owns one of these tusks with a length of 2.25 meters and a width at its base of forty-eight centimeters!
巴黎醫(yī)學(xué)院陳列館就藏有一枚這種牙齒，長兩米二十五厘米，底寬四十八厘米!
