1级-《奥米茄文件》第10课

前情提要 

祖德和霍克找了几只羊作为诱饵，接连观察了三天都不见怪物踪影。到了第四天，怪物终于出现了，霍克险些受到伤害，祖德开枪杀死了怪物。他们发现它的长相非常奇怪恐怖。这个怪物是内西吗？如果不是内西，它又是什么呢？这个时候那些军人又出现了……

故事原文 

The Omega Files L10

奥米茄文件 L10

The tall man looked unhappy. 'It is, or it was, one of the army's new fighters.(1) It got away from our laboratory, and we just couldn't catch it.'

高个子看起来不太高兴。他说：“它是，它曾是军方新研制的一种武器，从我们的实验室里逃出来了。我们一直没抓住它。”

'But it was alive... a—a living thing,’ said Hawker.

“可它是活的……一个——一个生物呀。”霍克说。

'You can make a lot of living things in a laboratory these days,' said the tall man. 'Genetic engineering is getting very clever.(2) This fighter can run all night, live under water, see in the dark. But it's new. We haven't got it right yet.'

“现在一个实验室能生产出许多这样的活物来，”高个子说，“生物工程越来越先进了。它能跑一整夜，生活在水下，有夜视眼。但它刚研制出来，我们还没有进一步完善它。”

'And it's programmed to kill anything, is it?' said Jude.（3）

“它被生产出来杀一切生物的，是吗？”祖德问。

'No, no,' the tall man said quickly. 'Not this one. This one just kills small animals with four legs—sheep, dogs, cats, things like that.'

“不，不，”高个子马上说道，“这只不是。它只杀四条腿的小动物——羊、狗、猫等等诸如此类的东西。”

'Well,' said Jude, 'that is nice to know.'

“呵，”祖德说，“真是个好消息。”

'And where are the other monsters?' asked Hawker. 'For killing men, women, and children—things like that.'

“其他怪物在哪儿呢？”霍克问，“那些专门造出来杀男人、女人和儿童——诸如此类的？”

The tall man smiled. 'Can't answer that, I'm afraid. Talk to your people in Brussels. Well, we must get back. Lots to do, you know. Thanks for your help. Bye.'

高个子笑了笑说：“恐怕我无可奉告。和布鲁塞尔那边说说吧。好，我们得回去了，还有许多事要做。谢谢你们帮我们杀了它。再见。”

The men in grey put their dead monster in one of the boats and went away up the loch into the dark and the rain.

灰衣人把死了的怪物抬到其中一条船上，然后两只船向湖那边开去了，最后消失在漆黑的雨夜里。

***

'And what did Arla say about it all?' I asked.

“阿拉对此有何看法？”我问。

'He was so angry!' Hawker said. 'He went crazy! He didn't know about the monsters, you see. Or the laboratory. The army didn't tell anyone in Brussels.'

“他非常生气！”霍克说，“他简直气疯了！要知道他对怪物和实验室的事一无所知。军方没有向布鲁塞尔透露任何消息。”

'And Arla liked to know everyone's secrets,' said Jude.

“而阿拉却想知道一切秘密。”祖德说。

'Did the army make any more monsters?' I asked.

“军方后来又制造更多的怪物了吗？”我问。

'Not in Scotland,' said Hawker. 'The British army closed their laboratory after that. The Americans and the French made some monsters years later. They were smaller, like big cats, but with eight legs.'

“不在苏格兰了，”霍克说，“英国军方自那以后就关闭了他们的实验室。几年后美国和法国造出了一些怪物。它们个头小，像大型猫科动物，却有八条腿。”

'Where are they now?' I said. 'You don't hear anything about them.'

“它们现在在哪儿？”我问，“你们就再没听到什么消息？”

'Of course not,' said Jude. 'People don't want to hear about monsters.'

“当然没有，”祖德回答，“人们总不爱听怪物的事儿。”

'They're in Antarctica.(4) Or in a place deep under the ground,' said Hawker. 'Nice and secret. Just waiting for the next war.'

“它们在南极，或在地下深处。”霍克说，“悄悄地、安静地待在那儿，等待下一次战争的爆发。”

'And so there isn't a Loch Ness monster, and never was one,’ I said.

“这么说，没有尼斯湖怪兽了，而且从来也没有。”我说。

'Nessie?' said Jude. She looked me in the eyes and did not smile. 'Of course there's a loch Ness monster. She's a blue-grey colour, has a small head, a very long neck, and is about fifteen metres long... Go and look at all the photos of her on the Internet.'(5)

“内西？祖徳盯着我的眼睛，严肃地说，“当然有尼斯湖怪兽了。她有着墨绿色的皮肤，小小的脑袋，极长的脖子，身长大约有15米……去网上看她的照片吧。” 

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点 

1. fighter 战士；斗士

    fight 战斗；斗争

2. genetic engineering 基因/生物工程

    genetic 基因的

    gene 基因

3. be programmed to do sth. 被编程/制造出来做某事

    program 程序；编程

例句：

This software is programmed to improve people’s communication.

这个软件被制造出来是为了促进人们的交流。

4. Antarctica 南极（洲）

例句：

There are a lot of penguins in Antarctica.

在南极有很多企鹅。

5. blue-grey colour 墨绿色

    greeny-black colour 墨绿色