Day 5 阅读范围 (Part 1: Chapter 9 & Chapter 10)
问题
1. Aronnax feels short of breath, and figures that the oxygen levels in the room (and the submarine more generally) are getting a bit low. Then, what does he do?
2. The mysterious "captain" enters the room. Who is the mysterious "captain"?
翻译
1. In fact, I was already obliged to increase my respirations to eke out of this cell the little oxygen it contained, when suddenly I was refreshed by a current of pure air, and perfumed with saline emanations.
2. This man expressed himself with perfect ease, without any accent. His sentences were well turned, his words clear, and his fluency of speech remarkable.
要求:
1.尽量回答上面问题
2.思考:
Further reading to help you develop your understanding of these two chapters:
The contrast between Arronax’s panic about the lack of oxygen—clearly triggered by being both inside a mysterious vessel and inside a prison cell within that vessel—is a distinct contrast to the sense of freedom illustrated by Mobilis in Mobili. Whereas the submarine itself may enable the commander and crew to freely roam the ocean, the vessel also effectively functions as a prison for the panicked Arronax, Ned, and Conseil.
It is difficult to tell whether the commander is a hero or villain. Indeed, as the novel ends up showing overall, he is not quite either. His capture of Arronax, Conseil, and Ned may seem like a brutal act of aggression, but—as he points out—it is actually justifiable if they are considered prisoners of war. Perhaps he is simply acting in self-defense.
Rules are obviously important to the commander, yet he appears to have a contradictory relationship to them. On one hand, he has exiled himself from society in order to escape what he calls its “stupid laws.” Yet almost in the same breath, he immediately imposes a rule on his captives. It seems as if the commander considers other people’s rules “stupid,” but not his own.
