BBC记者的南海奇闻所见（中英对照）

The boat pitches up and down and rolls from side to side in the heavy swell. The noise of the big diesel motor, just below the floor, is hammering at my head.
小船在滚滚巨浪中上下左右颠簸，我的大脑被甲板上那大型柴油发动机产生的噪音所困扰着。
My nose is filled with the smell of dried fish and diesel fumes, my T-shirt glued to my chest with sweat. Proper sleep is impossible.
浓浓的鱼腥味和柴油发动机尾气充满了我的鼻腔，汗水将T恤粘在胸口。睡眠绝无可能。
For more than 40 hours it has been like this. Our wooden fishing boat has tossed its way across the South China Sea. Most of the time we barely exceed walking pace. “Who would be a fisherman?” I wonder out loud.
40多小时糟糕的航程。我们的木制渔船摇摇晃晃地穿过南中国海。大多数时候，我们没有超过步行速度。 “谁愿意成为渔夫？”我惊呼道。
I stare out at the endless rolling waves. On the horizon the sky is dark and threatening. Then my eye is caught by something sticking up above the waves. It looks like an oil or gas-drilling platform. What on earth is it doing here?
我凝视着一望无际的波涛。眼前的天空暗无天光和充满危险。紧接着我看到了一些矗立在海浪之中的物体。它看上去像油气钻井平台。它究竟做什么用？
As we get closer, to my right, I am sure I can now see something pale and sandy beside the platform. “That looks like land!” I say. It can’t be. I look at my GPS.
随着渐渐的靠近，在我的右方，我确切看到白色沙质的物体在平台的旁边。 “这看起来像土地！”我说。这是不可能的。我看着自己的GPS。
There is no land marked anywhere near here, only a submerged reef of the Spratly Island chain. But my eyes are not deceiving me. A few kilometres away I can now clearly see the outline of an island.
这附近标明没有任何陆地，南沙群岛岛链只有暗礁。但我的眼睛没有欺骗我。几公里远，我现在可以清楚地看到一个小岛的轮廓。
“What is this place called?” I ask our Filipino skipper.
“这是什么地方叫什么名字？”我问我们的菲律宾队长。
“Gaven Reef,” he says.
“南熏礁，”他说。
“Get closer!” I shout over the din of the engine.
“再靠近点！”我大声喊叫遮盖了发动机的噪音。
He turns the boat directly towards the islet. But the dark clouds are rolling in fast. Moments later we are enveloped. Water cascades off the fishing boat’s roof. The islet disappears.
他改变航向朝着小岛前行。但是，天空乌云滚滚，不一会儿，我们笼罩渔船屋顶流下的瀑布之中。小岛视野中消失了。
“How long will the rain last?” I ask the skipper.
“雨还要持续多久？”我问队长。
“Four or five hours, maybe longer,” he says.
“四五个小时，可能会更长一些，”他说。
My heart sinks. All this time, all this way, only to be beaten by the weather. But I know I have seen it, an island where there wasn’t one just a few weeks ago – even the skipper has never it seen before.
一直被天气敲打着，我心情低落。但我知道我已经看到了那个岛，它几个星期前不存在 - 甚至是队长从来也没见过。
The captain turns the boat back to our old course – south, into the rain. We plough on. The waves are getting bigger. After four hours the rain begins to recede. Ahead I can see another island.
船长转会原来的航向-南方，在雨中，我们破浪前行。海浪越来越大。四个小时以后，雨开始退去。前方我可以看到另一个岛屿。
This one I am expecting. This place is called Johnson South Reef. On my GPS it again shows no land, just a submerged reef.
这一次如我所料。这个地方叫赤瓜礁。在我的GPS上再次表明不是陆地，而是一个暗礁。
But I’ve seen aerial photographs of this place taken by the Philippine navy. They show the massive land reclamation work China has been doing here since January.
我看了菲律宾海军空中拍摄的照片。照片显示中国从一月一直在这里垦荒造陆。
Millions of tonnes of rock and sand have been dredged up from the sea floor and pumped into the reef to form new land.
数以百万吨的砂石从海底挖出，泵送至礁上形成新的陆地。
Along the new coastline I can see construction crews building a sea wall. There are cement-pumping trucks, cranes, large steel pipes, and the flash of welding torches.
沿着新的海岸线，我看到施工队伍正在建设海堤。那里有无数的水泥泵车、起重机、大型钢管和闪着焊花的焊枪。
On top of a white concrete blockhouse a soldier is standing looking back at us through binoculars.
在白色混凝土碉堡顶部，一个士兵正站在上面用双筒望远镜监视着我们。
I urge the skipper to get even closer, but a volley of flares erupts in the sky – it is a Chinese warning.
我敦促船长再考近些，但空中传来明亮的曳射 - 这是中国人的警告。
The boat pitches up and down and rolls from side to side in the heavy swell. The noise of the big diesel motor, just below the floor, is hammering at my head.
小船在滚滚巨浪中上下左右颠簸，我的大脑被甲板上那大型柴油发动机产生的噪音所困扰着。
My nose is filled with the smell of dried fish and diesel fumes, my T-shirt glued to my chest with sweat. Proper sleep is impossible.
浓浓的鱼腥味和柴油发动机尾气充满了我的鼻腔，汗水将T恤粘在胸口。睡眠绝无可能。
For more than 40 hours it has been like this. Our wooden fishing boat has tossed its way across the South China Sea. Most of the time we barely exceed walking pace. “Who would be a fisherman?” I wonder out loud.
40多小时糟糕的航程。我们的木制渔船摇摇晃晃地穿过南中国海。大多数时候，我们没有超过步行速度。 “谁愿意成为渔夫？”我惊呼道。
I stare out at the endless rolling waves. On the horizon the sky is dark and threatening. Then my eye is caught by something sticking up above the waves. It looks like an oil or gas-drilling platform. What on earth is it doing here?
我凝视着一望无际的波涛。眼前的天空暗无天光和充满危险。紧接着我看到了一些矗立在海浪之中的物体。它看上去像油气钻井平台。它究竟做什么用？
As we get closer, to my right, I am sure I can now see something pale and sandy beside the platform. “That looks like land!” I say. It can’t be. I look at my GPS.
随着渐渐的靠近，在我的右方，我确切看到白色沙质的物体在平台的旁边。 “这看起来像土地！”我说。这是不可能的。我看着自己的GPS。
There is no land marked anywhere near here, only a submerged reef of the Spratly Island chain. But my eyes are not deceiving me. A few kilometres away I can now clearly see the outline of an island.
这附近标明没有任何陆地，南沙群岛岛链只有暗礁。但我的眼睛没有欺骗我。几公里远，我现在可以清楚地看到一个小岛的轮廓。
“What is this place called?” I ask our Filipino skipper.
“这是什么地方叫什么名字？”我问我们的菲律宾队长。
“Gaven Reef,” he says.
“南熏礁，”他说。
“Get closer!” I shout over the din of the engine.
“再靠近点！”我大声喊叫遮盖了发动机的噪音。
He turns the boat directly towards the islet. But the dark clouds are rolling in fast. Moments later we are enveloped. Water cascades off the fishing boat’s roof. The islet disappears.
他改变航向朝着小岛前行。但是，天空乌云滚滚，不一会儿，我们笼罩渔船屋顶流下的瀑布之中。小岛视野中消失了。
“How long will the rain last?” I ask the skipper.
“雨还要持续多久？”我问队长。
“Four or five hours, maybe longer,” he says.
“四五个小时，可能会更长一些，”他说。
My heart sinks. All this time, all this way, only to be beaten by the weather. But I know I have seen it, an island where there wasn’t one just a few weeks ago – even the skipper has never it seen before.
一直被天气敲打着，我心情低落。但我知道我已经看到了那个岛，它几个星期前不存在 - 甚至是队长从来也没见过。
The captain turns the boat back to our old course – south, into the rain. We plough on. The waves are getting bigger. After four hours the rain begins to recede. Ahead I can see another island.
船长转会原来的航向-南方，在雨中，我们破浪前行。海浪越来越大。四个小时以后，雨开始退去。前方我可以看到另一个岛屿。
This one I am expecting. This place is called Johnson South Reef. On my GPS it again shows no land, just a submerged reef.
这一次如我所料。这个地方叫赤瓜礁。在我的GPS上再次表明不是陆地，而是一个暗礁。
But I’ve seen aerial photographs of this place taken by the Philippine navy. They show the massive land reclamation work China has been doing here since January.
我看了菲律宾海军空中拍摄的照片。照片显示中国从一月一直在这里垦荒造陆。
Millions of tonnes of rock and sand have been dredged up from the sea floor and pumped into the reef to form new land.
数以百万吨的砂石从海底挖出，泵送至礁上形成新的陆地。
Along the new coastline I can see construction crews building a sea wall. There are cement-pumping trucks, cranes, large steel pipes, and the flash of welding torches.
沿着新的海岸线，我看到施工队伍正在建设海堤。那里有无数的水泥泵车、起重机、大型钢管和闪着焊花的焊枪。
On top of a white concrete blockhouse a soldier is standing looking back at us through binoculars.
在白色混凝土碉堡顶部，一个士兵正站在上面用双筒望远镜监视着我们。
I urge the skipper to get even closer, but a volley of flares erupts in the sky – it is a Chinese warning.
我敦促船长再考近些，但空中传来明亮的曳射 - 这是中国人的警告。