Outline

【故事主线】

分别来自中国香港、印度、英国和澳大利亚的六位主人公为了寻找传说中的食人族踏上了开往南美的邮轮……

Profile

【人物简介】

小强：男，香港富豪之子，喜好探险旅游，本次探险旅行的发起人。

蜜儿：女，香港某野外生存俱乐部教练，武功出色，中国的“劳拉”。

威廉：男，英国作家，以经常发布一些惊世奇闻的旅行游记著称。

桑杰：印度小男孩，印度洋海啸后当地的唯一幸存者。

艾德里安：男，澳大利亚生物学家，喜欢研究昆虫。

白雪：蜜儿的宠物狗，忠心耿耿，总给人带来意外惊喜。

编剧：James Palmer（英国）

情节策划：何彦平、王妮

插画：姚薇

本栏目有偿欢迎读者参与剧情策划

投稿信箱：contribution@bilingualtime.com

Plot Synopsis

【本期剧情】

天气突然变得十分恶劣，很多小陨石不断降落，地球上死伤无数，小强和蜜儿在神秘人的帮助下才幸免于难。维多利亚号不得已驶回悉尼，大家应艾德里安的邀请一起前往他家，等待维多利亚号再次启航。但在途中却发生了意想不到的离奇车祸，随之而来的还有那个如影随形的神秘人……

Episode 7: Traffic Accident

第七集：突发车祸

情景1：

轮船驶离悉尼已经一天左右，小强站在甲板上，蜜儿让他看奇异的天象。天上有紫光和绿光在旋转，还有奇怪的闪电。

Xiaoqiang: Look at the sky! What a weird storm.

Candy: No kidding! Especially those lights - its like seeing the aurora borealis or something.

Xiaoqiang: The what?

Candy: The Northern Lights. You know, at the pole, you get those strange lights in the sky, like fireworks. Like that.

（她指向天空。）

Xiaoqiang: And those flashes - like shooting stars.

Candy: Maybe theres a meteorite storm? A whole bunch of them hitting the atmosphere and burning up.

Xiaoqiang: That could be - hold on, whats that?

Candy: I dont - what? Oh god, run!

（一枚陨石从天空砸向轮船。蜜儿和小强在甲板下跑，突然看到一个神秘的人，全身被海水浸透，沿船体爬上来。）

Xiaoqiang: Quick, in here! Whats he doing? Its going to hit him right on. Its going to hit us!Brace yourself!

（眼看陨石就要砸到轮船了，陌生人以惊人的力量和速度猛地击向它，陨石应声落入海里，煮沸了附近的海水，溅起一团水花和雾气。）

Captain: (over the loudspeaker) This is your captain speaking. Please remain calm. In view of the unusual weather events -

Candy: No kidding!

Captain: - were returning to harbour, where we will disembark you as soon as possible. Were receiving reports of these same bizarre anomalies throughout the Pacific, including numerous meteorites striking the ocean, so it may be some time before were safe to travel. Well handle enquiries and compensation back in port. For now, lets get you back safely.

Xiaoqiang: What can be going on? Ive never heard of so many meteorites falling before.

Candy: Beats me. I just hope we can make it back to Sydney

情景2：

轮船回到了悉尼。蜜儿、小强、威廉、桑杰和白雪聚在甲板上，想下一步怎么做，而风暴继续肆虐着港口。

William: My god, its like the very elements are working with that woman!

Candy: Dont you think youre being a bit paranoid, William? I mean, Im sure shes dangerous, but I dont think she actually controls the weather.

William: I suppose. But you have to admit, its an odd coincidence.

Xiaoqiang: Im sure thats all it is, coincidence. Sanjay, hows Snow White doing?

Sanjay: He doesnt like the storm. (Snow White whimpers, and curls himself against Sanjay.) But I will take care of him.

Xiaoqiang: Good boy. Now, what are we going to do? Ive been calling around, and all the hotels are booked up. So many people are stuck here because of the meteorites - flights are grounded, of course. Imagine if one of those things hit a plane!

Adrian: Gday, folks. Glad I found you - its chaos out here.

William: Good to see you, Adrian.

Candy: I think William speaks for everyone there. What a mess!

Adrian: Dont worry, guys. You can stay in my place out near the Blue Mountains till all this has blown over.

Xiaoqiang: Thats so generous of you. You must let me compens-

Adrian: I wouldnt hear of it. Youre my guests.

Candy: Thank you again.

Adrian: Really, no worries. Its a big place, and Im sure the storm wont last beyond a day or two.Come on, lets take my jeep.

(他们挤进艾德里安的车里。)

Candy: Wow, this is a massive SUV!

Adrian: Yeah, I brought it for field work - you know, the bush here is rough, so you need to be able to go over all sorts of terrain.

Candy: How long have you been a - how do you say it?

Adrian: (laughing) A lepidopterist?

Sanjay: What is that?

Adrian: A butterfly hunter, son. Anyway - going on for twenty years now, since a couple of years out of college.

Candy: Why did you get into it?

Adrian: I had a biology degree, no job, and one of my old professors suggested it. But I became enthusiastic about it pretty fast. Theyre really fascinating creatures, butterflies.

Candy: How do you mean?

Adrian: Well, theyre beautiful - but also, theres so many of them. More variety than almost any other species, and you can find them everywhere. Ive been all over the world on butterfly hunts.China, South America, Russia … about the only place you wont find butterflies is the Antarctic. Round here the best specimens are in the rainforests, up in Queensland. Sydneys actually a bit of a butterfly desert, but the department at the university is good, weirdly, so I teach here and travel elsewhere.

Candy: You like the travel?

Adrian: (laughing) Of course! Though you see some pretty weird things. I was in Mexico once, looking for a rare species, and I stumbled straight into a drug deal on the border.

Candy: No!

Adrian: There I was, in my hat and waving my net around, and suddenly six guys were pointing guns at me. I was lucky they didnt shoot me on the spot.

Candy: How did you get away?

Adrian: Well, my Spanish wasnt very good at the time, but I guess it was obvious enough that I was harmless. Two of them wanted to kill me anyway, but the boss said I was just some stupid gringo scientist, and he liked butterflies. So they just tied me up, blindfolded me, and dumped me on the edge of town. They left my equipment, even.

Candy: Oh my god!

Adrian: And then in Russia - thats where I met William for the first time - I met a shaman who said that when his spirit left his body at night, it went into a butterfly. Or a group of butterflies. The translation wasnt very clear, but he knew amazing details about the local species - breeding grounds, habits, all kinds of things.

Candy: You think his spirit really went into the butterflies?

Adrian: Well, he was an old man, and hed lived in the area all his life. Sometimes people are just very in tune with the natural world, especially those who live close to the earth, you know? Ive seen the Aboriginals here find water in a desert as dry as bone, or track prey with nothing but traces. But maybe he was telling the truth. There are a lot of strange things in the world, after all.

Candy: Like the meteorites!

Adrian: Bugger me if I know whats going on with that.

Candy: Look, Sanjay and Xiaoqiang have fallen asleep.

William: Theyre exhausted. Im pretty much the same myself.

Adrian: Dont worry, mate, well have you back in the – JESUS CHRIST!

Candy: Aaargggh!

（不知从哪儿冲来一辆卡车，撞上SUV，SUV从路上坠下。）

Adrian: Hang on!

（SUV坠下，大家都被甩了出来。）

情景3：

他们苏醒后……

Xiaoqiang: Unnnhhh … my head.

Candy: Is everyone all right? I think - oww - Ive broken some fingers.

Adrian: Im just bruised. Bloody cars a bloody write-off, though.

Candy: He just came out of nowhere - it was like he hit us deliberately.

William: Serafima …

Candy: I think you might be right this time, William. But wait - I thought she wanted us in the Amazon?

Xiaoqiang: Sanjay!

Sanjay: (groaning) I am ok. And Snow White is ok too.

Snow White: Woof!

Candy: Wait, whos that? Over there?

Xiaoqiang: It looks like the man from the boat!

William: The one who hit the meteorite?

Xiaoqiang: Yes - where did he come from?

Adrian: Ill check him out - I had a year of pre-med before biology. Here, William, see if you can get the boot open - theres a first aid kit in there.

Candy: Hes handsome … wheres he from, do you think? India.

Sanjay: He looks like a Sikh - with the turban, and the beard. There are many Sikhs in my hometown.

Adrian: A few in Sydney too, but he doesnt look like a local. Look at his clothes. Anyway, hes breathing - just knocked out - he should be right when he wakes up.

Candy: We should call the police - Im sure that truck deliberately hit us.

Xiaoqiang: I dont know - this guy was like a superman - and the showers - and the Russian princess - you think the police will believe any of this.

Adrian: Ill call a mate to come pick you up and drop you at my house. Here, heres the keys. Alarm code is 1066. I better stick around - Ive got to get the SUV hauled off for insurance.

Xiaoqiang: OK. Well see you back there. Maybe by then this guy will have woken up, and well get some answers at last …

情景1:

轮船驶离悉尼已经一天左右，小强站在甲板上，蜜儿让他看奇异的天象。天上有紫光和绿光在旋转，还有奇怪的闪光。

小强：看天上！好诡异的风暴。

蜜儿：不是吧！尤其是那些光——就像北极极光什么的。

小强：什么？

蜜儿：北极光。你知道的，在极地，天空有那些奇特的光，像烟花。就那样。

（她指向天空。）

小强：还有那些闪光，就像流星。

蜜儿：可能会有流星雨？许多流星进入大气层后燃烧。

小强：有可能，等等，那是什么？

蜜儿：我不知道，什么？噢天哪，快跑！

（一枚陨石从天空砸向轮船。蜜儿和小强在甲板下跑，突然看到一个神秘的人，全身被海水浸透，沿船舷爬上来。）

小强：快，过来！他在干嘛？他要被砸个正着。也会砸到我们。抓紧些！

（眼看陨石就要砸到轮船了，陌生人以惊人的力量和速度猛地击向它，陨石应声落入海里，煮沸了附近的海水，溅起一团水花和雾气。）

船长：（透过扩音器）我是船长。请镇定。鉴于天气异常……

蜜儿：别开玩笑！

船长：我们要回港，然后尽快让你们下船。我们接到报告说，整个太平洋上空都出现了同样的异常现象，无数陨石坠入海里，我们要过些时候才能安全出发。我们将在港内处理询问和补偿事宜。现在，我们将把你们送到安全的地方。

小强：要出什么事呢？我以前从未听说过有这么多陨石降落。

蜜儿：我也没有。我只是希望我们能回到悉尼。

情景2：

轮船回到了悉尼。蜜儿、小强、威廉、桑杰和白雪聚在甲板上，想下一步怎么做，而风暴继续肆虐着港口。

威廉：我的天，似乎这些东西也在跟那个女人合谋！

蜜儿：威廉，你是不是有点疑神疑鬼啊？她的确很危险，但我觉得她控制不了天气。

威廉：希望吧。但你得承认，这巧合得离谱。

小强：肯定是巧合了。桑杰，白雪怎么样？

桑杰：他不喜欢风暴。（白雪呜咽着，靠向桑杰。）但我会照看他。

小强：好孩子。现在我们怎么办？我到处打电话，所有的旅店都被预订一空。由于陨石，很多人都被困在这里。航班也取消了。试想如果一颗陨石砸到飞机。

艾德里安：好啊，朋友们。找到你们真是太好了，这里真是一团糟。

威廉：见到你很高兴，艾德里安。

蜜儿：我想威廉代表了这里的每个人。好乱！

艾德里安：大家别担心。你们可以住我在蓝山附近的寓所，直至风暴停止。

小强：您真是慷慨大方。我们必须要付钱……

艾德里安：这我可不答应。你们是我的客人。

蜜儿：再次感谢您。

艾德里安：真的，甭担心。我那里地方很大，风暴肯定不会超过一两天。来吧，上我的吉普车。

（他们挤在艾德里安的车里。）

蜜儿：这个SUV好大。

艾德里安：是啊，我带来进行野外工作的。你们也知道，灌木丛里坑坑洼洼的，得穿越各种地形。

蜜儿：您作为——有多久了 ，怎么说来着？

艾德里安：（大笑）鳞翅类学者？

桑杰：这是什么？

艾德里安：就是捕捉蝴蝶的人，孩子。到现在已经二十年了，大学毕业几年之后就开始了。

蜜儿：你为什么干这一行呢？

艾德里安：我拿了生物学学位，却没有工作，这是我的一位老教授的建议。但我很快就迷上了它。它们真令人着迷，蝴蝶。

蜜儿：此话怎讲？

艾德里安：嗯，它们很美，数量也很多。种类几乎比任何其它物种都多，在哪儿都能见到它们。我满世界地捉蝴蝶。中国、南美、俄罗斯……唯一找不到蝴蝶的地方就是南极。这附近最好的蝴蝶样本是在北部昆士兰的雨林。悉尼简直是蝴蝶的沙漠，但很奇怪，这里大学研究蝴蝶的系所还不错，我在这儿教书，去其它地方旅行。

蜜儿：你喜欢旅行？

艾德里安：（大笑）当然！不过你会遇到一些怪事儿。有一次我在墨西哥找一个珍稀物种，却在边境陷入了一个贩毒交易。

蜜儿：不是吧！

艾德里安：我戴着帽子，挥舞着我的网，突然间，六个人用枪指向我。我命大，他们没有现场毙了我。

蜜儿：你是怎么逃脱的？

艾德里安：当时我的西班牙语还不大好，但我知道自己显然是无害处的。只是其中两人想把我杀了，但他们的头说，我只是个又蠢又笨的外国科学家罢了，他也喜欢蝴蝶。所以他们把我绑了，蒙住我的眼睛，把我扔到城郊。连我的设备也留给我了。

蜜儿：我的天！

艾德里安：有一次在俄罗斯，我是在那里第一次遇见威廉的。我碰到了一位萨满巫师，他说晚上自己会灵魂出窍，然后进入一个蝴蝶。或者一群蝴蝶。翻译得不大明白，但他知道当地物种的惊人细节，繁殖地、习性和各种事情。

蜜儿：你认为他的灵魂真的进入蝴蝶了么？

艾德里安：他年纪很大，一辈子都住在当地。有时候人与大自然很和谐，尤其是跟土地打交道的人，你知道么？我见过这里的土著人在干枯的沙漠里找水，仅凭动物的足迹寻找猎物。不过他说的可能是实话。毕竟这世上怪事儿多得很。

蜜儿：就像陨石！

艾德里安：我真的不知道那究竟是怎么回事。

蜜儿：看，桑杰和小强睡着了。

威廉：他们太累了。我也相当累。

艾德里安：大家别担心，我们要让你们回到——天哪！

蜜儿：啊！

（不知从哪儿冲来一辆卡车，撞上SUV，SUV从路上坠下。）

艾德里安：抓紧！

（SUV坠下，大家都被甩了出来。）

情景3：

他们苏醒后……

小强：啊……我的头。

蜜儿：大家都好么？我想，噢，我几根手指受伤了。

艾德里安：我只是擦伤。不过车上沾了血就彻底报废了。

蜜儿：不知道他从哪里来的，他好像是故意撞我们。

威廉：色拉费马……

蜜儿：我觉得你这次是对的，威廉。但等等，我以为她希望我们去亚马逊呢。

小强：桑杰！

桑杰：（呻吟）我还好。白雪也好。

白雪：汪汪！

蜜儿：等等，那是谁？那边？

小强：好像是船上的那个人！

威廉：那个击中陨石的人？

小强：是，他从哪儿来的呢？

艾德里安：我会为他检查——学生物之前我上了一年的医学预科。过来，威廉，看你能不能打开后备箱，这里有急救药箱。

蜜儿：他真帅……你们猜他是哪儿人？印度。

桑杰：他像是锡克人，裹着长头巾，蓄着胡子。我家乡有很多锡克人。

艾德里安：悉尼也有一些，但他不像当地人。看看他的衣服。先不管这些，他还有气儿，只是晕倒了，醒来后应该就没事了。

蜜儿：我们应该报警。我敢肯定那辆卡车是故意撞我们的。

小强：我不知道。这个人像超人——陨石雨，还有俄国公主，你觉得警察会相信这些么？

艾德里安：我会找个伙计来接你们，把你们送到我家。给，这是钥匙。报警代码是1066。我最好待在这儿。我得找人把我的车吊起来，以便要求保险补偿。

小强：好吧。我们在那里见。可能那时候这个人已经醒了，我们最终会得到一些答案……

Notes

1. a whole bunch of

意为“一群；一束；一伙”。

例句：The reorganization will give us a whole bunch of problems.

重新改组会给我们带来一连串的问题。

He gave a bunch of flowers to his girlfriend.

他送给女友一束花。

2. hold on

意为“等一等；坚持；别挂电话”。

例句：Hold on for a minute, I've just got to put on my make-up.

等一会儿，我得化一下妆。

If he can just hold on a little longer, we can get help to him.

如果他能再坚持一会儿，我们就能使他得到帮助了。

3. brace yourself

意为“振作精神”。

例句：Brace yourself for a new challenge!

振作起来，迎击新的挑战!

4. In view of

意为“由于；鉴于”。

例句：In view of the facts, it seems useless to continue.

鉴于这些事实，继续下去似乎是无益的。

5. beat me

意为“难倒我了”，是You beat me的简称。

例句：You beat me; I don't know the answer.

你难倒我了；我不知道答案。

6. book up

意为“（票、车位、房间等）订完”。

7. in tune with

意为 “与……和谐；与……协调”。

例句：In his new job, John felt in tune with his surroundings and his associates.

约翰觉得自己与工作环境及同事们相处得很和睦。

8. as dry as bone

意为“十分干燥”。

例句：We badly need some rain; my garden is as dry as a bone.

我们急需些雨水，我的花园干透了。

9. knock out

意为：“使昏迷”。

例句：The drug knocked him out.

麻醉药使他昏迷了。

To be continued…

下集预告

艾德里安将所有人带回家，还有那个昏迷不醒的神秘男子。大家对这一系列奇怪事件都感到非常不安时却发现神秘男子的身体构造异于常人，而且他的身上也有一个小型蛇形符，在他奇迹般地苏醒后，蛇形符背后的秘密初露端倪，而维多利亚号也宣布停止原来的航行计划，那小强一行人是否因此而放弃他们的探险之旅呢？