本课您将学到：fluke（偶然机会），bull，carcass和body（不同的尸体）

　　西方的节日很多，象圣诞节、感恩节、愚人节等等都是为我们所熟知的节日，但大家听说过鲸鱼节吗？我想知道的人很少了。它只爱斯基摩人的节日，预示着丰收和喜庆，就象我们庆祝中秋节一样。只不过他们的丰收果实是鲸鱼......

　　On the edge of the Arctic Ocean at Point Barrow, several fur-clad Eskimos gaze（凝视） intently（专心地） at a narrow area of blue water between the ice floes（浮冰） where a great creature of the sea comes closer and closer. They watch anxiously as she surfaces（浮出水面）, blows a stream of water into the air and disappears, only to surface later a little nearer.

　　在北冰洋沿岸的Point Barrow，几个穿着皮衣的爱斯基摩人专注的凝视着大块浮冰间狭窄的蓝色海面，一个巨大的海洋生物从哪儿游了过来。人们焦急地等待她露出水面，喷出水气然后消失，不一会儿又在附近现身。

　　Finally the huge 30-ton bowhead whale（北极鲸） comes up almost close enough to touch. One man rushes（冲） toward him with a harpoon（鱼叉） gun. He thrusts（用力推） the gun hard against the whale's side and explodes（使爆炸） a cartridge（弹药） that goes through the bowhead's skin. The mammal（哺乳动物） dives（下潜） again but in a few minutes he floats（飘浮）, belly（腹部） upward, to the surface of the sea.

　　终于，这头重达三十吨的北极鲸触手可及了。一个人飞快地抓起鱼叉冲过来，狠狠地朝鲸鱼刺去，使炸药从鲸鱼在皮肤里引爆。这哺乳动物再次下沉，过几分钟她会肚子朝上的漂起来，浮在海面上。

　　A man raises a flag on a nearby pole（杆） to signal（标示） the catch. By the time the boat crew（全体船员） has towed（拖） the carcass（尸体） to the edge of the ice, villagers are streaming（涌动） toward it. Villagers grab（匆忙抓住） the line around the fluke of the whale and haul（拖） away with shouts and laughter. Slowly the carcass, more than four times the weight of a bull elephant（公象）, appears on the ice to be cut up, dragged to the village and stored in pits in the permanently（永久地） frozen（冰冻的） ground.