46 The Raft Trip
木筏之旅
“It's my first rafting trip,” I said.
“这是我第一次做木筏,”我说道。
“But that's confidential information, okay?” The river guide nodded in agreement.
“不过这是个秘密,可别说哦。”河道向导点点头答应了。
Although the raft was a bit confining, it was a very congenial atmosphere.
虽说木筏有点窄,但气氛宜人。
Everyone was also very careful to conform to the rules and procedures so that nobody would get hurt.
大家非常小心地遵从种种规则和程序,以免有人受伤。
There's no room for confusion or conflict when you're in the dangerous rapids. Conformity is important to safety.
在危险的湍流上绝不可有丝毫的混乱或是冲突。服从对安全很重要。
It wasn't long before we were facing the most dangerous part of the river, the confluence.
很快,我们来到河上最危险的一段—汇流处,
This is the area where two rivers flow into one.
这是两条河交汇的地方。
Our guide started organizing our four rafts into a single-file configuration.
我们的向导开始组织大家将四条木筏合并组成单列纵队的队形结构。
Then, with his horn, he sent a confirmation signal to the other guides.
然后,他吹了一声号角,向其他向导发出确认信号。
Two beeps echoed from each raft confirming that they were ready to run through the confluence.
两条木筏各传来一声嘟的信号,确定他们已一切就绪,准备冲过汇流处。
We approached the confluence at the perfect speed.
我们以恰到好处的速度来到汇流处。
Suddenly, we noticed another group of rafts coming from the opposite river.
突然,我们注意到从对面那条河上漂过来一组木筏。
They entered the confluence at the same time, creating congestion and several collisions between our rafts.
与我们同时,他们也来到汇流处,造成河道拥堵,两边的木筏还发生了好几次碰撞。
The stock of this near disaster aggravated my congenital heart condition.
这几近灾难的突发事件加重了我的先天性心脏衰弱。
Our licensed guide was very upset because this was not supposed to be a congested river.
我们的持照向导相当恼火,因为河道不该出现拥堵现象。
He soon discovered that the other rafting group was not licensed to be on the river that day.
他很快发现另一队木筏那天是不允许在河上走了。
He confronted their leader and threatened to have the authorities confiscate their equipment.
他劈头盖脸就威胁那边的带头人,要让当局没收他们的器材。
The leader apologized and claimed he was confused by the dates.
那位带头人表示道歉并声称他弄混了日期。
He promised to confine his group to the left side of the river for the rest of the day.
他保证接下来他的木筏会限制在河道左边活动。
Our guide told him that such confinement would not be necessary but that he should keep a safe distance from our rafts.
我们的向导告诉他,这种限制就不必了,只要他能同我们的木筏保持一段安全距离就行。
The trip ended safely and we all received congratulations for a job well done.
这次旅行安全结束,我们因为干得出色而备受祝贺。