海底兩萬(wàn)里 第89期 第7章 一種從未見(jiàn)過(guò)的魚(yú)(12)

　　I swiftly hoisted myself to the summit of this half-submerged creature or object that was serving as our refuge.

　　我很快爬到這個(gè)半浸在水中，已經(jīng)作了我們的臨時(shí)避難所的生物上面。

　　I tested it with my foot. Obviously it was some hard, impenetrable substance, not the soft matter that makes up the bodies of our big marine mammals.

　　我用腳踢它，它分明是堅(jiān)固結(jié)實(shí)、鉆不透的硬物體，而不是構(gòu)成海中哺乳類動(dòng)物的龐大軀體的柔軟物質(zhì)。

　　But this hard substance could have been a bony carapace, like those that covered someprehistoric animals,

　　不過(guò)這個(gè)堅(jiān)硬物體可能是一種骨質(zhì)的甲殼，跟太古時(shí)代動(dòng)物的甲殼相似，

　　and I might have left it at that and classified this monster among such amphibiousreptiles as turtles or alligators.

　　我很可以把這個(gè)怪物歸人兩棲的爬蟲(chóng)類，如龜鱉、鱷魚(yú)、遙龍之類。

　　Well, no. The blackish back supporting me was smooth and polished with no overlappingscales.

　　可是!不然!在我腳下的灰黑色的背脊是有光澤的。滑溜溜的，而不是粗糙有鱗的。

　　On impact, it gave off a metallic sonority, and as incredible as this sounds, it seemed, I swear, to be made of riveted plates.

　　它被撞時(shí)發(fā)出金屬的響亮聲，這是那么不可思議，看來(lái)，我只好說(shuō)它是由螺絲釘鉚成的鐵板制造的了。

　　No doubts were possible!

　　再不可能懷疑了!