21 在陆地上的两天(16)
During this whole time of low tide, the islanders lurked near the Nautilus, but they weren't boisterous. I often heard them repeat the word assai, and from their gestures I understood they were inviting me to go ashore, an invitation I felt obliged to decline.
在整个低一潮一期间，这些土人在诺第留斯号周围转来转去；但他们并不大声喧闹。我常常听到他们一再说阿洗这句话，从他们的手势来看，我懂得他们是要我到岛上去，但我想对他们这个邀请还是谢绝的好。
So the skiff didn't lea一ve shipside that day, much to the displeasure of Mr. Land who couldn't complete his provisions. The adroit Canadian spent his time preparing the meat and flour products he had brought from Gueboroa Island. As for the sa一vages, they went back to shore near eleven o'clock in the morning, when the heads of coral began to disappear under the wa一ves of the rising tide. But I saw their numbers swell considerably on the beach. It was likely that they had come from neighboring islands or from the mainland of Papua proper. However, I didn't see one local dugout canoe.
所以这一天小艇不能离大船了，使得尼德·兰师傅很是失望，他不可能补足他所要的食物了。这个手巧的加拿大人于是利用他的时间，来准备他从格波罗尔岛上带回来舶肉类和面粉。至于那些土人，在早晨十一点左右，当珊瑚石尖顶开始在上涨的潮水下隐没不见时，都回到岸上去了。但我看见他们在海滩上的人数大量增加了。大约他们是从邻近小岛来的，或者就是从巴布亚本岛来的。不过我还没有看到一只上人的独木舟。
Ha一ving nothing better to do, I decided to dredge these beautiful, clear waters, which exhibited a profusion of shells, zoophytes, and open-sea plants. Besides, it was the last day the Nautilus would spend in these waterways, if, tomorrow, it still floated off to the open sea as Captain Nemo had promised.
我因为目前没有什么可做的，就想到要在这些清澈的海水中去捞捞看，好像水里面有丰富的贝壳类、植虫类和海产植物。并且今天又是诺第留斯号在这一带海面停留的最后一天了，因为照尼摩船长的诺言，在明天潮涨的时候，船就要浮出去了。
So I summoned Conseil, who brought me a small, light dragnet similar to those used in oyster fishing.
因此我叫康塞尔，他给我拿了一个轻便的小捞器，就像拿来打牡蛎的捞器一般的网。
What about these sa一vages? Conseil asked me. With all due respect to master, they don't strike me as very wicked!
那些野蛮人呢？康塞尔问我，不怕先生见怪，我觉得他们并不十分凶恶！
They're cannibals even so, my boy.
可是他们要吃人的，老实人。
A person can be both a cannibal and a decent man, Conseil replied, just as a person can be both gluttonous and honorable. The one doesn't exclude the other.
一个人同时可以是吃人肉的又是老实的，康塞尔回答就像一个人同时可以是贪食的又是诚实的一样，彼此中不对立。