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Hi, my name's Gordon Bass, and I'm a writer, and I want to tell you a story about a man.
大家好，我是戈登·巴斯，我是一名作家，今天，我想给大家讲一个关于一个男人的故事。
His name was Ben Carlin, and he drove the oceans of the world in an amphibious vehicle.
他的名字叫本·卡林，他曾经驾驶一辆水路两栖汽车穿越了世界所有海洋。
There was only one problem: the vehicle tended to sink.
唯一的问题是：汽车有下沉的倾向。
Ben Carlin met my grandfather in 1947, so I grew up hearing stories about Ben.
本·卡林1947年认识了我的祖父，所以我是听他的故事长大的。
Eventually, I became so obsessed with his adventure that I ended up writing a book about him.
结果呢，我就对他的冒险迷得不行，最后还写了一本关于他的书。
Ben was born in Western Australia.
本出生在澳大利亚西部。
He was a smart kid, but he could never shake the feeling that he'd grown up on the very edge of the world,
他小时候很聪明，但一直无法摆脱被边缘化了的感觉，
and so as soon as he was able, he wanted to set off and find adventure.
所以，一到自己有能力出去冒险的年龄，他就迫不及待地想要上路。
He'd started by mining for gold in Western Australia, didn't do very well at that.
一开始他是在西澳大利亚淘金，但并不是很如意。
He joined the Army and signed up for bomb disposal in World War II,
后来他参了军，二战时还加入了拆弹部队，
but he ended up repairing latrines and runways,
但最后却落得个修厕所和跑道的下场，
so he felt he'd been a failure at that.
所以那时候他觉得自己很失败。
And finally, at the age of 35, he decided he had one more shot to accomplish something that would put his name on the map.
最后，在自己35岁的时候，他决定，给自己最后一次机会，去做一件能让自己名扬天下的事情。
He decided he was gonna circle the world in an amphibious vehicle.
他便打算开两栖车环游世界。
The vehicle in question was an amphibious version of the World War II Army Jeep.
那台车是二战军用吉普的两栖版本。
So picture an Army Jeep with a boat shell around it, and that's what it was.
想象一辆围了一圈船壳的军用吉普车，他开的就是那种。
Ben found one for $901 and spent the next year preparing it for his journey.
本花901美元买了一台那样的吉普车，次年就为他的旅行做起了准备。
He called it the Half-Safe.
他给车取了个名字；半保险箱。
It was supposed to be good on land and water, but in reality it turned out not to be so great on either one.
那台车原本应该在陆地上和水上驾驶起来都很顺利，实际上却都不顺利。
In 1948, Carlin and his American wife Elinore set off from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
1948年，卡林和他的美国妻子埃莉诺从加拿大新斯科舍省的哈利法克斯出发了。
The journey was not smooth.
旅程并不顺利。
The entire cabin was just 5 feet wide,
整个船舱只有5英尺宽，
so the only way to sleep was to curl up on the back bench seat.
所以，唯一的睡觉方式就是蜷缩在后座上。
The engine was so loud that they just stopped trying to talk to each other.
而且，引擎的声音实在是太大了，搞得两个人在路上话都不说了。
They hit a gale in the middle of the Atlantic.
不仅如此，他们还在大西洋中央地带遇到了大风。
They thought they were gonna die, and at that point they realized they hadn't even packed life jackets.
那时他们都觉得活不成了，而且，那时候他们才意识到自己连救生衣都没带。
