Chat attack

marine animals / 海兽/ (hǎi shòu)

A: I heard that you are a fan of marine animals. Did you see yesterday's news? 

听说你是海洋动物爱好者,你看见昨天的新闻了吗？ 

(tīnɡshuō nǐshì hǎiyánɡ dònɡwù àihǎozhě, nǐ kànjiàn zuótiān de xīnwén le ma?)

B: Nope. Tell me about it. 

没有呢,说来听听吧。

(méiyǒu ne, shuōlái tīnɡtīnɡ bā.)

A: I heard that a man took a speedboat out to sea in the early morning and saw far off in the distance several huge sea animals float to the surface.

听说有一位先生清晨做快艇出海,看到远处的海面上浮上来几头身躯庞大的海兽。

(tīnɡshuō yǒu yīwèi xiānshēnɡ qīnɡchén zuò kuàitǐnɡ chūhǎi, kàndào yuǎnchǔde hǎimiàn shànɡ fúshànɡlái jǐtóu shēnqū pánɡdà de hǎishòu.)

B: Really? What kind of sea animal were they exactly?  

是吗,它们具体是哪类的海兽呢？

(shìma, tāmén jùtǐ shì nǎlèide hǎishòu ne?)

A: Their backs were black and the skin on their bellies were white. According to the analysis of experts, they were killer whales. 

它们的脊背为黑色,腹部的皮肤为白色。有专家分析,它们就是虎鲸。

(tāmén de jǐbèi wéi hēisè, fùbù de pífū wéi áisè. yǒu zhuānjiā fēnxī, tāmén jiùshì hǔjīnɡ.)

B: I think that man was lucky to be able to see this type of large marine animal. 

我觉得那位先生是挺幸运的,能亲眼看到这种大型海洋动物。

(wǒ juédé nàwèi xiānshēnɡ shì tǐnɡ xìnɡyùn de, nénɡ qīnyǎn kàndào zhèzhǒnɡ dàxínɡ hǎiyánɡ dònɡwù.)

A: Yup. But it was also dangerous, because killer whales are ferocious by nature. 

是,但也挺危险,因为虎鲸性情凶猛。

(shì, dànyě tǐnɡ wēixiǎn, yīnwéi hǔjīnɡ xìnɡqínɡ xiōnɡměnɡ.)

Illustration: Liu Xidan/GT