选修七Unit 3 OLD TOM THE KILLER WHALE虎鲸老汤姆 I was 16 when I began work in June 1902 at the whaling station. 1902年6月，我开始在捕鲸站里工作，那 时我才16岁。 I had heard of the killers that every year helped whalers catch huge whales. 在此之 前我曾经听说过虎鲸每年帮助捕鲸人 捕捉大鲸鱼。I thought, at the time, that this was just a story but then I witnessed it with my own eyes many times.当时我以为只是一个故事 罢了，但是后来我亲眼见过多次。 On the afternoon I arrived at the station, as I was sorting out my accommodation, I heard a loud noise coming from the bay. 有天下午 我来到捕鲸站，正在找住处的时候， 听到从海湾那边传来一阵喧闹声。We ran down to the shore in time to see an enormous animal opposite us throwing itself out of the water and then crashing down again. 我们及 时赶到岸边，看到对面有一个庞大的 动物猛力跃出海面，然后又坠落到水 里。 It was black and white and fish-shaped. But I knew it wasn't a fish.它黑白相间，样子像鱼，但我知道它 并不是鱼。 "That's Old Tom, the killer," one of the whalers, George, called out to me. “那是老汤姆，是虎鲸。”一位叫乔 治的捕鲸人高声对我说， "He's telling us there's a whale out there for us." “它是在告诉我们那边有一头鲸，叫我 们去捕猎。” Another whaler yelled out, "Rush-oo ...rush-oo." This was the call that announced there was about to be a whale hunt. 另一位捕鲸人大声 喊叫，“快走啊……走啊。”这是宣告猎鲸 行动马上就要开始的呼声。 "Come on, Clancy. To the boat," George said as he ran ahead of me. “克兰西，快上，上船去。”乔治在我前面 边跑边说。 I had already heard that George didn't like being kept waiting, so even though I didn't have the right clothes on, I raced after him. 我以前就听说过，乔治不喜 欢等人，所以尽管我还没有穿上合适的 衣服，就跟在他后面跑起来。 Without pausing we jumped into the boat with the other whalers and headed out into the bay. 一刻不停 地，我们和其他捕鲸人都跳进渔船， 朝海湾方向驶去。 I looked down into the water and could see Old Tom swimming by the boat, showing us the way. 我朝水里望去，可以看到老 汤姆就在渔船旁边游着，为我们指 路。A few minutes later, there was no Tom, so George started beating the water with his oar and there was Tom, circling back to the boat, leading us to the hunt again.几分钟 之后，汤姆不见了，于是乔治开始用桨拍 打水面。汤姆出现了，转回到船边，又领 着我们前往捕猎处。 Using a telescope we could see that something was happening. 通 过望远镜，我们可以看到远处有情况 发生了。As we drew closer, I could see a whale being attacked by a pack of about six other killers. 走近 一看，原来是一头大鲸受到约六、七条 虎鲸的攻击。 "What're they doing?" I asked George. 我问乔治，“它们在干什么 呢？” "Well, it's teamwork - the killers over there are throwing themselves on top of the whale's blow-hole to stop it breathing. And those others are stopping it diving or fleeing out to sea," George told me, pointing towards the hunt. “啊，它们在协同 作战呢——那些虎鲸正在往那头鲸的 出气孔上扑去，不让它呼吸，而其他那 些虎鲸则阻止它潜水或逃跑。”乔治 一边指着捕猎的情景，一边告诉 我。And just at that moment, the most extraordinary thing happened. 在这时候，最精彩的场面出现了。 The killers started racing between our boat and the whale just like a pack of excited dogs.虎鲸们在我们的渔 船和那头鲸之间开始追逐了，就像一 群发狂的猎狗一样。 Then the harpoon was ready and the man in the bow of the boat aimed it at the whale. 于是，猎鲸叉准 备好了。站在船头的那个人把叉瞄准了 那头鲸。 He let it go and the harpoon hit the spot. Being badly wounded, the whale soon died. 扔了 出去，恰好击中了要害，鲸受了重伤，没过 多久就死了。 Within a moment or two, its body was dragged swiftly by the killers down into the depths of the sea. 过了片刻，鲸的尸体就要被虎鲸 们迅速拖向深海中去了。 The men started turning the boat around to go home.捕鲸人于是调转船头往回 走。 "What's happened?" I asked. "Have we lost the whale?" “怎么 啦？”我问道，“我们失去鲸了吗？” "Oh no," Jack replied. "We'll return tomorrow to bring in the body. 杰克回答说：“不，我们明天再回 来运鲸鱼的尸体。It won't float up to the surface for around 24 hours."它 在24小时以内是不会浮出水面的。” "In the meantime, Old Tom, and the others are having a good feed on its lips and tongue," added Red, laughing.雷德笑着补充说：“在这段时 间里，老汤姆和其他虎鲸会饱餐一顿 的，鲸唇和鲸舌就是它们的美食”。 Although Old Tom and the other killers were fierce hunters, they, never harmed or attacked people.虽 然老汤姆和其他虎鲸都凶恶，但是它 们从来不伤害人，也不袭击人。In fact, they protected them.事实上，它们还 会保护人。There was one day when we were out in the bay during a hunt and James was washed off the boat.有一天，我们出海捕鲸的时 候，詹姆斯被冲下水去了。 "Man overboard! Turn the boat around!" urged George, shouting loudly.乔治大声喊道：“有人落水了！把 船头调回去！” The sea was rough that day and it was difficult to handle the boat.那 天海上波涛汹涌，很难调转船 头。The waves were carrying James further and further away from us. 海浪把詹姆斯冲得离我们越来越 远。From James's face, I could see he was terrified of being abandoned by us. 从詹姆斯的脸上我能看出他 非常恐慌，生怕被我们遗弃。Then suddenly I saw a shark.随后我们看 到一条鲨鱼。 "Look, there's a shark out there," I screamed.我尖叫起来，“瞧，那边有一 条鲨鱼。” "Don't worry, Old Tom won't let it near," Red replied.雷德回答说：“别着 急，老汤姆不会让它靠近的。” It took over half an hour to get the boat back to James, and when we approached him, I saw James being firmly held up in the water by Old Tom.我们花了半个小时才把船调 转头来，回到詹姆斯落水的地方。当我 们靠近他的时候，我看到老汤姆正在 水中稳稳托着詹姆斯，I couldn't believe my eyes.我几乎不相信自己的 眼睛。 There were shouts of "Well done, Old Tom" and 'Thank God" as we pulled James back into the boat.当 我们把詹姆斯拉上渔船的时候，大家 都欢呼着“老汤姆，好样的”，“感谢上 帝”。 And then Old Tom was off and back to the hunt where the other killers were still attacking the whale.后来，老汤姆离开了，回到捕猎 的地方，跟其他虎鲸一起捕鲸去了。
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