Among the luxuries which the captain had provided for himself and passengers was a fine green turtle,
船上那只漂亮的绿毛龟有幸列入美味佳肴的名单，那是船长为旅客及他本人准备的。
which was not likely to suffer from exposure to salt water, so it was reserved until all the pigs, and sheep, and poultry had been eaten.
那种龟不可能在海水里喂养，因此待到鸭鸡一干家常肉类悉数消耗殆尽，绿毛龟这才引起饕餮们热情关注。
A few days before we arrived, it was determined to kill the turtle and have a feast the next day.
轮船眼看几天后就要抵达目的地了，事情即刻敲定下来，明天船长好好地犒劳大家，这回，绿毛龟也该寿终正寝了。
Our cabin gentlemen had been long enough deprived of fresh meats to make them cast lickerish glances towards their hard-skinned friend,
客舱里的绅士们很久未能品尝鲜肉，随着有肉可啖的消息传开，盯着那位长有坚硬绿壳的朋友，
and there was a great smacking of lips the day before he was killed.
人们眼里无不冒出饥渴绿光。那头龟却是如此不谙人事，嘴里不时发出的吧咂声响亮依然。
As I walked aft occasionally, I heard them congratulating themselves on their prospective turtle soup and forcemeat balls;
我偶尔走到船尾，听到那些先生们兴高采烈地谈论期待中的龟汤，甚至还有喷香的五香龟肉丸。
and one of them, to heighten the luxury of the feast, ate nothing but a dry biscuit for the twenty-four hours preceding,
有位绅士更为大肆渲染餐宴的规格排场，尽管接下来整整一天，除了啃点发硬的饼干，船上什么吃的也没有，
that he might be prepared to devour his full share of the unctuous compound.
可他，简直为自己那份鲜美醇厚的龟煲汤急不可耐了。
It was to be a gala day with them; and though it was not champagne day, that falling on Saturday and this on Friday,
绅士们的欢乐日子到来了，尽管周六才能喝上香槟，今天周五，
they agreed to have champagne a day in advance, that nothing should be wanting to give a finish to their turtle.
大家还是一致赞同将香槟日提前，这样看来，龟汤带来的憧憬亦就不会留有任何遗憾了。
It happened to be a rougher day than usual when the turtle was cooked,
更何况还有，今天海上风浪很不凑巧地比平常要大，但人们对船上颠簸早已习以为常，
but they had become too well used to the motion of the ship to mind that.
更何况还有厨房里喷香的美食诱惑，这些风浪亦就实在不值得计较了。
