海底兩萬里 第17期 第2章 正與反(6)

If, on the other hand, we do know every living species.

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!