015 岩洞变家园

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" Fetch your mother, Jack," I said as we stood at the mouth of the dark cave

“去把你妈妈接来，杰克，”我们站在黑暗的洞口时，我说道。

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" And bring as many candles as you can

“还有，尽量多拿些蜡烛过来。

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We'll need some light to explore this place."

我们需要些光亮来探索这个地方。”

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Jack jumped into the cart and urged Storm, the buffalo, to hurry

杰克跳上马车，催促水牛哥风暴赶快走。

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He soon returned with my wife, Franz, and the two dogs

他很快便带着我的妻子、弗朗兹和两条狗回来了。

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Everyone was excited about our discovery

每个人都为我们的发现感到兴奋。

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" Are we really going to live here?" asked Franz." Where will I sleep?"

“我们真的要住在这里吗？”弗朗兹问。“那我睡在哪儿呀？”

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" How big is this cave?" asked my wife

“这个洞穴有多大？”我的妻子问。

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" Let's light some candles and find out," I replied

“我们点上蜡烛去看看吧。”我回答说。

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With our candles lit, we entered the cave and everyone fell silent

点亮蜡烛后，我们走进了洞穴，大家都安静了下来。

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The vast cave was like a crystal palace

这个巨大的洞穴就像一座水晶宫殿。

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The candles cast a golden light on the walls, which sparkled like stars

烛光在墙上投下金色的光辉，墙壁像星星一样闪闪发光。

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Great crystal pillars rose from the floor and hung from the ceiling

巨大的水晶柱从地面升起，又悬挂在天花板上。

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" What are these crystals?" asked Ernest

“这些水晶是什么？”欧内斯特问。

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" Rock salt," I said." And look at the floor. It's made of hard, dry sand

“是岩盐，”我说。“看看这地面，是由又硬又干的沙子构成的。”

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We can live here without the slightest fear of getting wet during the rainy season."

我们可以住在这里，完全不用担心雨季会受潮。

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We returned to Falconhurst with our minds full of wonder at our discovery

我们回到鹰巢，心中对我们的发现充满了惊奇。

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All we talked about was our new house

我们谈论的都是我们的新房子。

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Our nest in the tree had seemed so safe and comfortable compared to Tentholm

与帐篷屋相比，我们在树上的巢穴曾是那样安全和舒适。

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But now we decided to keep Falconhurst only as a summer residence

但现在我们决定，鹰巢只作为夏季住所使用。

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So we set to work on the cave, which we named Rockburg

于是我们开始动手改造这个洞穴，我们给它起名叫“岩堡”。

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The first thing was to provide light and air

首要任务是解决采光和通风。

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We cut openings in the rock, and fit them with a door and some windows we'd brought from the ship

我们在岩石上凿出开口，并装上我们从船上带来的一扇门和几扇窗户。

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Then we divided the cave into rooms

然后，我们把洞穴分隔成几个房间。

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Our living space included areas for sitting, eating, and sleeping

我们的起居空间包括了就坐、用餐和睡觉的区域。

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To the right were our kitchen and workshop. To the left were the stables

右边是我们的厨房和工作间。左边是牲口棚。

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Behind all this, in the dark recess of the cave, was our storage area

在这所有区域后面，洞穴深处的暗凹里，是我们的储藏区。

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We had learned from the last rainy season that we needed to have a proper fireplace and chimney

经过上一个雨季，我们认识到需要有一个像样的壁炉和烟囱。

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Our stable arrangements were much better this time too

我们这次对牲口棚的安排也好多了。

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And there was plenty of space in our workshop for the biggest project

而且我们的工作间有足够的空间来进行那个最大的项目。

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During this time we made frequent trips to Tentholm

在这段时间里，我们经常前往帐篷堡。

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The shore provided us with plenty to eat: lobsters, crabs, and mussels

海岸为我们提供了充足的食物：龙虾、螃蟹和贻贝。

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But one morning there was an additional surprise for us

但一天早上，我们有了一个额外的惊喜。

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The sea rolled and heaved, and rays from the sun lit up the water as if it were on fire

大海翻滚汹涌，阳光照亮了水面，仿佛着了火一般。

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" The sea is boiling!" exclaimed Jack

“大海沸腾了！”杰克喊道。

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" Why are there flashes of silver in the water?" asked Ernest

“水里为什么有银光闪闪？”欧内斯特问道。

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" And what are those birds doing?" said Fritz

“那些鸟在干什么？”弗里茨说。

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Hovering over the water, hundreds of birds were screaming loudly

数百只鸟在水面上盘旋，大声尖叫着。

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Then they dove toward the water

然后，它们朝水面扎了下去。

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Meanwhile a shining, sparkling silver mass in the water rolled directly toward our shore

与此同时，水中一团闪闪发亮的银色物体，径直朝我们的海岸涌来。

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" That's a shoal of herring," I said

“那是一群鲱鱼，”我说道。

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" Millions of these fish swim together

“数百万条这样的鱼一起游动。

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Pursued by larger fish, they make for shallow waters near the shore

被更大的鱼追赶，它们向岸边附近的浅水区游去。

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And that's where we'll catch them."

我们会在那里抓住它们。”

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We soon had a fishery in operation

我们很快就开始捕鱼了。

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Jack and Fritz stood in the water with baskets and scooped up the fish

杰克和弗里茨拿着篮子站在水里，捞起了鱼。

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After cleaning the fish, Ernest and I preserved them in barrels with layers of salt

清洗完鱼后，欧内斯特和我将它们一层盐一层鱼地腌制在木桶里。

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When the barrels were full, we rolled them away to the cool storage room at the back of our cave

木桶装满后，我们把它们滚到洞穴后面凉爽的储藏室里。

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Now we had not only a place to live during the rainy season, but also some more food

现在我们不仅在雨季有了住处，还多了一些食物。

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And our good fortune did not end with the herring

而且我们的好运并没有随着鲱鱼而结束。

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About a month later, Jack spied another shoal of fish

大约一个月后，杰克又发现了一群鱼。

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I ran down to the shore with him and realized that these big fish were sturgeon

我和他一起跑到岸边，意识到这些大鱼是鲟鱼。

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Jack was delighted with his discovery

杰克对他的发现欣喜不已。

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" These are proper fish!" he exclaimed." Not like those puny herring

“这才是像样的鱼！”他喊道，“不像那些小小的鲱鱼。

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How do you preserve these fish — salted or smoked?"

这些鱼要怎么保存——腌制的还是烟熏的？”

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" Not so fast," I replied

“别急，”我回答说。

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" Tell me how you're going to catch them, and I'll tell you how to preserve them."

“告诉我你打算怎么抓它们，然后我再告诉你如何保存它们。”

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" Oh, I'll catch them soon enough," he replied

“哦，我很快就能抓到它们，”他回答道。

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He darted off to Rockburg and returned with a bow and arrow and a ball of string

他飞快地跑回岩堡，回来时带着一副弓箭和一团线。

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After tying the string to the arrow, he advanced to the water's edge

把线系在箭上后，他走到了水边。

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His arrow flew from the bow, and to my surprise struck one of the largest fish

箭从弓上飞了出去，令我惊讶的是，射中了最大的一条鱼。

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" Help! Father, help!" cried Jack as the fish darted away with the arrow

“救命！爸爸，救命！”鱼带着箭猛冲而去，杰克喊道。

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" Help! Or he will pull me into the water!"

“救命！不然它会把我拉进水里的！”

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I ran to his side and together we struggled with the huge fish

我跑到他身边，我们一起与那条大鱼搏斗。

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As soon as we landed it, Fritz and Ernest appeared

我们刚把它拉上岸，弗里茨和欧内斯特就出现了。

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Eager to participate, they rushed off for fishing equipment

他们急切地想参与，便跑去拿捕鱼装备。

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They returned and were soon in the water, Fritz with a harpoon and Ernest with a fishing rod

他们回来了，很快就下了水，弗里茨拿着鱼叉，欧内斯特拿着钓竿。

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After some time Fritz managed to harpoon a gigantic sturgeon

过了一会儿，弗里茨终于用鱼叉叉中了一条巨大的鲟鱼。

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But he couldn't land it even with our help

但即使有我们帮忙，他也无法把它拉上岸。

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" I'd hate to lose this fish." He panted." It must be eight feet long."

“我真不想失去这条鱼。”他喘着气说，“它一定有八英尺长。”