Lesson 42

Cave exploration, or pot-holing, as it has come to be known, is a relatively new sport.
洞穴探险，或称“洞穴探险”，正如人们现在所称呼的那样，是一项相对较新的运动。
Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures people down to the depths of the earth.
也许正是对孤独的渴望，或者是获得意外发现的机会，吸引着人们深入到地底深处。
It is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation for a pot-holer's motives.
要对洞穴探险者的动机做出满意的解释是不可能的。
For him, caves have the same peculiar fascination which high mountains have for the climber.
对他来说，洞穴具有同样的独特魅力，正如高山对登山者所具有的吸引力一样。
They arouse instincts which can only be dimly understood.
他们唤起了一些只能被模糊理解的本能。
Exploring really deep caves is not a task for the Sunday afternoon rambler.
探索极深的洞穴绝非周日午后漫步者所能胜任的任务。
Such undertakings require the precise planning and foresight of military operations.
这样的任务需要军事行动般的精确计划与预见。
It can take as long as eight days to rig up rope ladders and to establish supply bases before a descent can be made into a very deep cave.
在可以下降进入一个非常深的洞穴之前，搭建绳梯和建立供应基地可能需要长达八天的时间。
Precautions of this sort are necessary, for it is impossible to foretell the exact nature of the difficulties which will confront the pot-holer.
这类预防措施是必要的，因为无法预见洞穴探险者将要面临的困难的确切性质。
The deepest known cave in the world is the Gouffre Berger near Grenoble.
世界上已知最深的洞穴是位于格勒诺布尔附近的贝尔热洞穴。
It extends to a depth of 3,723 feet.
它延伸到3,723英尺的深度。
This immense chasm has been formed by an underground stream which has tunnelled a course through a flaw in the rocks.
这个巨大的深渊是由一条地下溪流在岩石的裂缝中钻出一条通道而形成的。
The entrance to the cave is on a plateau in the Dauphiné Alps.
洞穴的入口位于多芬阿尔卑斯山脉的一个高原上。
As it is only six feet across, it is barely noticeable.
由于它仅仅只有六英尺宽，它几乎不引人注意。
The cave might never have been discovered had not the entrance been spotted by the distinguished French pot-holer, Berger.
若不是入口被著名的法国洞穴探险家贝尔热发现，这个洞穴可能永远不会被发现。
Since its discovery, it has become a sort of pot-holers' Everest.
自其发现以来，它已然成为了洞穴探险界中的“珠穆朗玛峰”。
Though a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explored.
虽然已经进行了一些下潜，但其中大部分仍然有待探索。
A team of pot-holers recently went down the Gouffre Berger.
一支洞穴探险队最近下到了贝尔热洞穴。
After entering the narrow gap on the plateau, they climbed down the steep sides of the cave until they came to a narrow corridor.
进入高原上的狭窄缝隙后，他们沿着洞穴陡峭的侧壁爬下，直到来到一条狭窄的走廊。
They had to edge their way along this, sometimes wading across shallow streams, or swimming across deep pools.
他们不得不沿着这条路侧身前行，有时蹚过浅溪，有时游过深潭。
Suddenly they came to a waterfall which dropped into an underground lake at the bottom of the cave.
突然，他们来到一个瀑布前，瀑布落入洞穴底部的地下湖中。
They plunged into the lake, and after loading their gear on an inflatable rubber dinghy, let the current carry them to the other side.
他们跳入湖中，在将装备装上充气小艇后，顺着水流漂到了对岸。
To protect themselves from the icy water, they had to wear special rubber suits.
为了保护自己免受冰冷海水的侵害，他们必须穿上特殊的橡胶潜水服。
At the far end of the lake, they came to huge piles of rubble which had been washed up by the water.
在湖泊的远端，他们来到了成堆的被水冲刷上来的碎石前。
In this part of the cave, they could hear an insistent booming sound which they found was caused by a small waterspout shooting down into a pool from the roof of the cave.
在洞穴的这一部分，他们能听到一种持续的轰鸣声，他们发现这是由一个小水柱从洞穴顶部向下喷射进水池引起的。
Squeezing through a cleft in the rocks, the pot-holers arrived at an enormous cavern, the size of a huge concert hall.
挤过岩石中的一个裂缝，洞穴探险者们到达了一个巨大的洞穴，其规模相当于一个巨大的音乐厅。
After switching on powerful arc lights, they saw great stalagmites — some of them over forty feet high — rising up like tree-trunks to meet the stalactites suspended from the roof.
在开启了强力弧光灯之后，他们看见了巨大的石笋——其中一些高度超过四十英尺——像树干一样向上升起，接应着从洞顶悬挂下来的钟乳石。
Round about, piles of limestone glistened in all the colours of the rainbow.
在周围，成堆的石灰岩闪烁着彩虹般的色彩。
In the eerie silence of the cavern, the only sound that could be heard was made by water which dripped continuously from the high dome above them.
在洞穴阴森的寂静中，唯一能听到的声音是水滴从他们头顶上方的高大穹顶不断滴落的声音。