海底两万里 第24期 第3章 随您先生的便(2)

But in the meantime I would have to look for this narwhale in the northern Pacific Ocean; which meant returning to France by way of the Antipodes.

不过，目前我必须到太平洋的北部去找这个海麒麟。这和我要回法国去，却是背道而驰了。

Conseil! I called in an impatient voice.

康塞尔!”我用不耐烦伪声音叫着。

Conseil was my manservant.

康塞尔是我的仆人。

A devoted lad who went with me on all my journeys; a gallant Flemish boy whom I genuinely liked and who returned the compliment; a born stoic, punctilious on principle,habitually hardworking, rarely startled by life's surprises, very skillful with his hands, efficient in his every duty, and despite his having a name that means counsel, never giving advice，not even the unsolicited kind!

他一向陪我出去旅行。这诚实的青年是佛兰蒙人，我很喜欢他，他对我也很好。他是一个生牲冷淡、循规蹈矩、一贯热心的人，对于生活中的突然事件并不惊奇，他的两手很灵巧，什么事都做得来，虽然他的名字叫做康塞尔，可是人家不问他的时候，他决不发表意见。

From rubbing shoulders with scientists in our little universe by the Botanical Gardens, the boy had come to know a thing or two.

因为跟植物园里学术界人士经常接触，康塞尔渐渐学了些东西。

In Conseil I had a seasoned specialist in biological classification, an enthusiast who could run with acrobatic agility up and down the whole ladder of branches, groups, classes, subclasses, orders, families, genera, subgenera, species, and varieties.

我可以说他简直是一个专家，他对于生物学的分类十分熟悉，他能像杂技演员爬梯子一样熟练地从门、类、纲、亚纲、目、科、属、亚属、种、变种，一直数到最后的一个类别。

But there his science came to a halt. Classifying was everything to him, so he knew nothing else.

可是他的学问只局限在分类学上。分类就是他的生活，除此以外他什么都不知道。

Well versed8 in the theory of classification, he was poorly versed in its practical application, and I doubt that he could tell a sperm9 whale from a baleen10 whale!

他对于分类的理论很有研究，但缺乏实践，我想，他大概连大头鲸和长须鲸都分不出来!

And yet, what a fine, gallant lad!

总之，他是个忠实正直的人!