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Without water, one might not expect to find any caves,
没有水的地方似乎不可能有洞穴
but beneath these rolling desert slopes in the United States
但是在美国这些荒凉起伏的山崖之下
lies one of the longest, deepest and most surprising caves in the world.
存在着一座世界上最长、最深，也最令人惊奇的洞穴
Its secrets remained unknown until 1986,
它的秘密直到1986年才被人们发现
when cavers dug through several metres of loose rock at the bottom of this pit.
洞穴专家们在松散的岩层中挖出了一条几十米深的通道，直达这个深渊的底部
They named the cave Lechuguilla and since its discovery,
他们把这个洞命名为“龙舌兰洞”，自从那次发现之后，
more than 1 20 miles of passageways have been mapped.
迄今已测绘了120多英里的地道
When the first explorers descended, no one guessed at the sheer size of this cave,
第一批探险家进入这个洞后，没有一个人能预料到它竟然有这么大
but even that was not going to be the biggest surprise.
即便如此，这也不能算是最大的惊奇
Little did they realise that Lechuguilla would soon be regarded by cavers the world over as the most beautiful of all caves.
不久他们便意识到，龙舌兰洞很快就会被全世界的洞穴专家公认为地球上最美丽的洞穴
They were about to discover some of the most exquisite formations ever seen underground.
因为他们发现了一些地底世界中最精美的构造。
The walls were covered with the most delicate and fragile crystals.
石壁上布满了光洁美丽的脆弱结晶。
