27 南极(5)

In the air there passed sooty albatross with four-meter wingspans, birds aptly dubbed vultures of the ocean,

空中又有煤黑的信天翁飞过,翼幅四米宽,它们也叫海鸳,

also gigantic petrels including several with arching wings, enthusiastic eaters of seal that are known as quebrantahuesos,

名称是很适当的,有巨大的海燕类,其中有弓形海燕,翼作拱形,最喜欢吃海豹。

and cape pigeons, a sort of small duck, the tops of their bodies black and white--in short, a whole series of petrels, some whitish with wings trimmed in brown, others blue and exclusive to these Antarctic seas, the former so oily,

有海棋鸟,是一种小鸭;身上带白和黑。最后,有一组海燕类,有的是灰白,两翼边缘是栗子,有的是蓝,是南冰洋的特产。

I told Conseil, that inhabitants of the Faroe Islands simply fit the bird with a wick, then light it up.

我对康塞尔说:灰白的一种油脂很多。在费罗哀岛,人们在它们的腹部放上灯芯,就可以点燃起来。

With that minor addition, Conseil replied, these fowl would make perfect lamps! After this, we should insist that nature equip them with wicks in advance!

差一点儿,康塞尔回答,它们就完全是一盏灯了这样看来,我们只有再要求大自然预先在它们身上准备一个灯芯好了!

Half a mile farther on, the ground was completely riddled with penguin nests, egg-laying burrows from which numerous birds emerged.

走过半海里后,地上现出许多短翼潜水鸟的鸟巢,这些巢是一种筑好来产的洞窟,从洞窟中飞出很多的潜水鸟。

Later Captain Nemo had hundreds of them hunted because their black flesh is highly edible.

尼摩船长在后来,打了好几百只这种鸟,因为它们的黑的肉很可以吃。

They brayed like donkeys.

它们发出像驴叫的声音。

The size of a goose with slate-colored bodies, white undersides, and lemon-colored neck bands, these animals let themselves be stoned to death without making any effort to get away.

这些鸟像我;一般的身材,身上是石板,下面白,颈上带柠檬的花缘,就那样让人拿石子打死,并不想法逃走。

Meanwhile the mists didn't clear, and by eleven o'clock the sun still hadn't made an appearance.

可是,云雾并不散开,到十一点,太还不出来。

Its absence disturbed me. Without it, no sights were possible.

不出,使我心中焦急,没有太,不可能做各种观察。

Then how could we tell whether we had reached the pole?

那么,怎样决定我们是到了南极呢?

When I rejoined Captain Nemo, I found him leaning silently against a piece of rock and staring at the sky.

当我回到尼摩船长那边的时候,我看他胳膊肘靠在一块岩石上,默不作声,眼盯着天空。

He seemed impatient, baffled. But what could we do?

看来他有些不耐烦,心中在生气。但有什么办法?

This daring and powerful man couldn't control the sun as he did the sea.

这个胆大又强有力的人不能照他命令海洋那样指挥太