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Beneath the Legend of the Loch Ness monster 尼斯湖水怪之秘辛

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Like all great legends, the origins of cryptozoology’s greatest mystery – “Nessie,” the Loch Ness Monster – lie in the swirling mists of time.

就算所有的伟大传说，神秘动物学最大的谜团起源──尼斯──也就是尼斯湖水怪，始终置身在时间漩涡的谜团中。

The 54 square-km Loch Ness is Great Britain’s largest freshwater lake. Over 2.5 km wide and plunging to 300 meters in places, its murky waters have spawned countless eyewitness accounts of a large, serpentine creature. The Picts, an ancient Scottish people, carved bewildering images of “swimming elephants” in stone over 1,500 years ago. The first written record of an aquatic monster comes from the life of Saint Columba, who lived about A.D. 565.

54平方公里的尼斯湖是英国最大的淡水湖。湖面超过2.5公里宽，某些地方还深达300公尺深，迷雾般的水域产生了无数的传言，人们声称亲眼见到一个巨大的蛇形生物。皮克特人是一支古老的苏格兰人民，早在一千五百多年前就在石头上刻着令人迷惘的「游泳象群」的图案。有关水怪的第一笔文字记录是出自于一位大约活在公元565年左右的圣者哥伦巴。

The modern image of Nessie wriggles back to 1933 when a local couple saw “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface” of the lake. A media frenzy ensued. With regular sightings over subsequent decades, Nessie continues to command public attention, encouraging many journalists, and devotees to try and ascertain the truth of her existence.

尼斯的现今迷踪可以追溯到1933年，当地的一对男女目击一只巨兽在湖面上翻滚、戏水，从此媒体开始为之疯狂。之后数十年间持续有人目击尼斯，她始终是大众注意的焦点，促使许多作家、科学家和狂热分子试着想要去证实她的存在。

Some believe Nessie is a plesiosaur, an aquatic cousin of the dinosaur, and underwater caves allow Nessie to remain hidden. Skeptics, however, argue that people’s minds are creating monsters out of seals, wave patterns, or driftwood.

有些人认为尼斯是一只蛇头龙（是恐龙的水系表亲），也认为尼斯湖的深度、低能见度和水底洞穴都使得尼斯水怪得以暗藏其中。然而，怀疑论者却认为是人们脑子把海豹、水纹或浮木视成了水怪。

So far, only Loch Ness itself knows the truth.

至今，还是只有尼斯湖本身才知道事实的真相。

Vocabulary

单词发音

loch [lɑk] n.【苏格兰】湖；海湾 a lake

cryptozoology [krɪptəzu'ɑlədʒɪ] n.（研究传说中动物存在可能性的）传说动物学

mist [mɪst] n. 薄雾

murky [ˋmɝkɪ] adj. 昏暗的；朦胧的 dark, dim, or gloomy

spawn [spɔn] v.大量产生；造成，酿成 to produce in large numbers

account [əˋkaʊnt] n. 报道﹐叙述 a narrative or record of events

serpentine [ˋsɝpən͵taɪn] adj. 像蛇般蜷曲的

bewildering [bɪ`wɪldərɪŋ] adj. 令人困惑的; 令人感到茫无头绪的 causing utter confusion; puzzling

wriggle [ˋwɪg!] v. 蠕动；扭动 to move along by twisting and turning the body, as a worm or snake

frenzy [ˋfrɛnzɪ] n. 狂热 a mania; a craze

ensue [ɛnˋsu] v. 接着发生；接踵而来 to follow subsequently or in order; come next or afterwards

devotee [͵dɛvəˋti] n. 热心之士；爱好者

ascertain [͵æsɚˋten] v. 查明，弄清 to find out definitely; learn with certainty or assurance

plesiosaur [ˋplisɪəsɔr] n. 蛇颈龙

driftwood [ˋdrɪft͵wʊd] n. 浮木

Sentence of the Day

Many who claim to have sighted Nessie were respected pillars of the community, not lunatics.

许多声称看到尼斯的人都是社会上有声望的人，不是泛泛之辈。

lunatic [ˋlunə͵tɪk] n. 疯子，疯傻的人

课文讲解

Tourists Rory and Catriona are discussing Nessie on the shores of Loch Ness:  旅客罗利和卡翠欧娜在尼斯湖旁讨论尼斯水怪：

R: Is she really down there?

她真的住在这湖里面吗？

C: Could be. Loch Ness is part of the Great Glen – a huge rift connecting the North Sea with the Atlantic. A chain of interconnected lakes would provide ample room for a monster to roam about.

有可能。尼斯湖是属于苏格兰大峡谷区的一部分，而这个大峡谷是连接北海到大西洋的一块隙地。相连的湖群产生的广大空间足够让水怪到处游荡。

R: I saw a BBC special in which they did a sonar survey of Loch Ness that discovered nothing but an old buoy.

我看过一则BBC特集，他们曾经用声纳去侦测尼斯湖，除了一个老的浮标以外，结果什么都没有。

C: Meaning that Loch Ness was found to be empty. But Nessie could’ve been hiding in a different loch or in one of those caves down there.

意思是人们发现尼斯湖是一个空湖。但是尼斯水怪有可能躲在不同的湖里，或是躲在底下其中一个洞穴里。

R: You think so?

妳这么认为吗？

C: Nessie might even be a family of dinosaurs, instead of just the single creature of popular legend.

尼斯水怪也有可能是一个恐龙家族，而不只是一只传说中的有名生物而已。

R: How could Loch Ness have sustained a group of plesiosaurs since dinosaur times?

尼斯湖怎么能让一群蛇头龙从恐龙时代存活至今？

C: Well, a family might’ve survived by feeding along the entire length of the Great Glen.

嗯，有可能牠们一家族沿着整个苏格兰峡谷取食而得以生存。

R: And it could all be a hoax or mass hysteria. Back in thirty-three, some guy faked a cast of a Nessie footprint.

也有可能是一场骗局，或是大众一窝蜂的热潮而已。回想起在1933年时，一些人还造假了尼斯水怪的脚印。

C: True. Probably trying to make a quick buck.

这倒是，可能大家只想赚钱。

R: Good mysteries should remain unsolved anyway.

总之，美好的谜团最好不要被揭开。

C: I’ll drink to that. Let’s head inside for a wee dram of that other Scottish legend – single malt whisky.

我同意。我们去品味另一项苏格兰传奇──来喝一杯纯麦芽威士忌吧。

－by Nick Wheeler

Vocabulary

单词发音

rift [rɪft] n. 裂缝，裂口 a narrow fissure in rock

chain [tʃen] n.  一连串，一系列 a series of closely linked or connected things

ample [ˋæmp!] adj. 充足的﹐ 充裕的 large in degree, kind, or quantity

roam [rom] v. 漫游；流浪

sonar [ˋsonɑr] n. 声纳（设备）〔船上或潜艇上利用声波探测水下目标位置的仪器〕

buoy [bɔɪ] n. 浮标，浮筒 a float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, or indicate a navigational channel

hoax [hoks] n. 骗局；玩笑；恶作剧 an act intended to deceive or trick

hysteria [hɪsˋtɪrɪə] n. 歇斯底里; 〔众人的〕狂热情绪的爆发 behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable emotion, such as fear or panic

make a quick buck 迅速赚钱 to make money with little effort or in a short time

drink to【口】我为这干一杯！〔用于表示赞同某人的话〕to toast someone or something; to take an alcoholic drink in honor of someone or something

wee dram a shot of Scotch Whisky; a single malt Scotch, for example from Glenmorangie or Laphroaig or a blended whisky like The Famous Grouse or Black Bottle

wee [wi] adj. 极小的，很小的

dram [dræm] n. 少量的酒〔尤指威士忌〕

Sentence of the Day

No one knows if Nessie is a dinosaur or one of those things that go bump in the night.

没有人真正知道尼斯到底是恐龙，还是子虚乌有的事。

thing that go bump in the night【谑】奇怪的或可怕的声音等