03The Living Seas
富有生命的海洋
导读
本文是一篇科学小品文，载于《大西洋月刊》（The Atlantic）1986年3月号，对海洋的作用及最新发现作了简明扼要的叙述，具有丰富的知识性。本文具有科技文章的一般特点，即平铺直叙而不转弯抹角，文字比较通俗易懂，逻辑性强，适于一般读者阅读。
美国迪士尼（Walt Disney）游乐园中一部分就是介绍海底世界奇迹的景象，称为The Living Sea，有人译为“活海”。为避免与“活鱼”之类概念混淆，本文标题不妨译成“富有生命的海洋”，似乎更接近文中原意。
The ocean covers three quarters of the earth's surface, produces 90 percent of all its life-supporting oxygen, and is the driving force behind[1]the entire weather system. There are over 450 million cubic miles of sea water on the earth; and each cubic mile contains over 150 million tons of minerals.
So vast and so pervasive is the sea that[2]if the earth's crust
were made level, ocean water would form a blanket[3]over 8,000 feet deep.
The oceans contribute immeasurably to the earth's life support system as well as provide an untapped storehouse of food, minerals, energy,and archaeological treasure[4].
Advanced atmospheric diving suits[5] permit researchers to descend to depths of 1,500 feet. Yet the ocean's average depth is greater than 12,000 feet. It is at these depths that remarkable discoveries are being made, discoveries[6] which only a short time ago would have been impossible.
In that depth, where darkness is absolute and pressure exceeds eight tons per square inch, robotic submersibles [7]have discovered enormous gorges, four times deeper than the Grand Canyon[8]. Here, too, are volcanoes that vastly outnumber those on land. Landslides the size of Rhode Island[9]have been recorded, as well as raging undersea storms that go completely unnoticed on the surface while dramatically rearranging the underwater landscapes[10].
And under these seas the largest single geological feature[11]on earth has been found—a mountain range that dwarfs the Himalayas. It's a range that covers nearly one quarter of the earth's surface.
All these discoveries have come from the exploration of less than one-tenth of this undersea mountain range.
The earth is the only planet we know that has an ocean. The ocean is the largest feature[12] on earth. Yet it's the one feature we know the least about. We know more about the moon 240,000 miles away than we know about the three-fourths of the earth covered with water. Man has set foot on the moon, but not on the most remote part of the earth, 35,000 feet under the sea.
Technology is changing all that. It's literally parting the waves[13]for today's undersea explorers. And it's bringing about the opportunity to transform vision, curiosity[14], and wonder into practical knowledge.
Properly managed as a tool to serve society[15], technology is the best hope for overcoming economic and social problems facing people everywhere. It always has been. The earliest relics of human life are tools. And our ancient ancestors used these tools to understand and change the world around them and make it better. The same is true today[16]. The deep sea is the last frontier[17]left to explore.
海洋占地球表面四分之三。地球上维持生命的氧气，90%产生于海洋，整个天气体系变化的动力也是海洋。地球上的海水超过4.5亿立方英里，每立方英里含有的矿物超过1.5亿吨。
海洋如此广大浩瀚，如此分布辽阔，如果使地球表层平整起来，那么海水可以形成深8000多英尺的覆盖层。
海洋对地球上的维持生命系统作出了不可估量的贡献，同时又是一座尚未打开的宝库，储有食物、矿物、能源和具有很大考古价值的东西。
先进的常压潜水衣可以使研究人员下沉到1500英尺的深度。但海洋的平均深度超过12000英尺。现在正是在这个深度才发现了惊人的情况，这些发现在不久以前是不可能办到的。
这个深度的海中完全是漆黑一片，每平方英寸的压力超过8吨，潜水机器人在这里发现了巨大的峡谷，比美国科罗拉多大峡谷深3倍。这里火山之多，大大超过陆地上的火山，也曾有过规模大到和罗得岛一样的山崩，还有猛烈的海底风暴，这种风暴在海面上一点也觉察不到，但却剧烈改变着水下的景观。
就在这些海洋中发现了地球上唯一最大的地质构成——一条使喜马拉雅相形见绌的大山脉，这条山脉几乎覆盖了地球表面的四分之一。
上述那些发现都是来自探索这条水下山脉不到十分之一的地区所见到的。
地球是我们所知有海洋存在的唯一行星。海洋是地球构成的最大部分，而正是这部分我们知道得最少。我们对这一覆盖地球四分之三的水域所知的情况，还不如我们对远离地球24万英里的月球所知道的多。人类已涉足月球，但对海面以下35000英尺地球最深邃的地方却从未涉足过。
技术正在改变这一切，它正在劈波斩浪为今日的水下探索者开路。它正在创造机会使幻想、求知欲和高深莫测的事情转化成实实在在的知识。
把技术当做服务于社会的工具适当地加以掌握，它就是克服各地人民所面临的经济与社会问题最大的希望所在。技术历来都是如此。人类生活的最早遗物就是工具。我们远古的祖先使用那些工具来认识世界改造世界使之日趋完善。今天的情况也还是如此。
深海是尚待探索的最后一个领域。
翻译点评
[1] driving force behind：在其后起作用的推动力，此处behind不一定要译出。
[2] so vast...that...：倒装句，主语是sea, so...that..．连用，that后为结果分句，此分句中又包含一个虚拟条件分句。
[3] blanket：意为“覆盖层”。
[4] archaeological treasure：意为“在考古学上非常有价值的东西”, treasure=very valuable object。
[5] Advanced atmospheric diving suits：意为“先进的常压潜水服”。suits之前堆砌3个修饰语，这种结构在科技文章中是常见的语言现象（下面注11同此），各修饰语排列次序以意义上与suit密切程度来决定其靠近程度。atmospheric指保持恒常的大气压力。
[6] discoveries：与前文discoveries同位，重复此词便于后面再接定语从句，在翻译时可以不看成与前面有联系，译成相对独立的汉语分句。
[7] robotic submersibles：与其译成“机器人式的潜水装置”不如译成“潜水的机器人”。
[8] the Grand Canyon：指美国科罗拉多大峡谷。
[9] the size of Rhode Island：此部分做定语修饰Landslides，相当于前面省去which are，意为一次山崩可以形成一个罗得岛。罗得岛又称“罗德艾兰”，是美国东北的一个州，面积为3144平方千米。
[10] rearranging the underwater landscapes：是由动词arrange变来的现在分词，相当于changing之意；landscapes意为“景观”。
[11] the largest single geological feature：意为“唯一最大的地质构成”, single=being the only one, feature=the makeup or structure of a thing。
[12] feature：此处的feature与前文的feature略有不同，它意为something that goes to make up something else，因此可以译为“构成部分”。
[13] literally parting the waves: parting the waves（把波浪分开）是形象词语， literally指完全可以按字面形象来理解，译时可以借用汉语词组“劈波斩浪”。
[14] curiosity：意为the desire to know，因此可译为“求知欲”。
[15] Properly managed...society：此部分为句子前置修饰语，译时可把后面主语加上，形成汉语的一个相对独立的分句。
[16] The same is true today：顺序译法“同样情况也适用于今天”不如逆序译法“今天情况也还是如此”。
[17] frontier：此词译为“领域”（《新英汉词典》第3义项）比译成“边界”好。
（陈文伯译注）
Translation Practices
翻译练习
Technology is changing all that. It's literally parting the waves for today's undersea explorers. And it's bringing about the opportunity to transform vision, curiosity, and wonder into practical knowledge.
Key
技术正在改变这一切，它正在劈波斩浪为今日的水下探索者开路。它正在创造机会使幻想、求知欲和高深莫测的事情转化成实实在在的知识。
Emulation美文自己写得出——学生仿写
仿写范例
Realism or Romanticism
High in the sky, the moon, like an impeccable jade plate, is so consuming that many romanticists will be delighted at its wax and sad for its wane. However, when you appreciate it by a telescope, you'll astonishingly find that the holy moon is no more than a face covered with myriads of pits and volcanoes—and this is realism. In actual life, I'm a realist.
First things first, subsistence comes first, which is the prerequisite of doing anything else. Only by facing the reality and overcoming the difficulties, can we enjoy our life and the bliss of romanticism. I deeply understand that I have to work hard incessantly for my meals, house and even every cent of money, though I also dream to live a life of Xu Zhimo. However, except poems, what else did Mr. Xu own? Didn't he need a dwelling to rest in? Was there anything he gave his wife and children? Maybe one day when a great deal of inexhaustible money falls on me, I would have a recollection of Mr. Xu and his famous words, “Very quietly I take my leave, as quietly as I came here, not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away.”
Secondly, the joy of romanticism won't last long without the foundation of realism. Romanticists take wishes as their wings, whereas the real happy people are those whose wishes won't take the place of their deeds. Once upon a time, the notorious emperor YOU in the Zhou Dynasty in ancient China remobilized tens of thousand soldiers regardless of their weariness by lightening the beacons time and again. However, this turned out to be a joke! And the emperor only aimed to win a smile of his concubine. As a result, very soon the Zhou Dynasty was overthrown and perished in the flood of history. Indeed, just as one poet once put it, “Life is like a shell, which cannot produce the pearl of romanticism unless infused with sand of realism.”
Of course, life without romanticism to many is coffee without sugar or cream. A bit of romanticism can add huge fun and delight to our daily existence. Modern life is designed to drain emotional energy, lack of which only means a serious energy crisis—a crisis more destructive and dangerous than any economic crisis. One of the best ways to overcome such a crisis is to infill a bit of romanticism to our day-to-day existence. However, romanticism without the backing up of realism is out of the question.
All in all, even romanticism needs the reason of realism. We should fill our life with wisdom of realism so that we can be more romantic and mellow.