少年派的奇幻漂流 Chapter 95

Chapter 95,Mr. Tomohiro Okamoto, of the Maritime ¹ Department in the Japanese Ministry ² of Transport, now retired ³, told me that he and his junior colleague at the time, Mr. Atsuro Chiba, were in Long Beach, California - the American western seaboard's main container port, near L.A. - on unrelated business when they were advised that a lone ⁴ survivor ⁵ of the Japanese ship Tsimtsum, which had vanished without a trace in Pacific international waters several months before, was reported to have landed near the small town of Tomatlan, on the coast of Mexico. They were instructed by their department to go down to contact the survivor and see if any light could be shed on the fate of the ship. They bought a map of Mexico and looked to see where Tomatlan was. Unfortunately for them, a fold of the map crossed Baja California over a small coastal ⁶ town named Tomatan, printed in small letters. Mr. Okamoto was convinced he read Tomatlan. Since it was less than halfway ⁷ down Baja California, he decided ⁸ the fastest way to get there would be to drive.,They set off in their rented car. When they got to Tomatan, eight hundred kilometres south of Long Beach, and saw that it was not Tomatlan, Mr. Okamoto decided that they would continue to Santa Rosalia, two hundred kilometres further south, and catch the ferry across the Gulf ⁹ of California to Guaymas. The ferry was late and slow. And from Guaymas it was another thirteen hundred kilometres to Tomatlan. The roads were bad. They had a flat tire. Their car broke down and the mechanic who fixed ¹⁰ it surreptitiously cannibalized the motor of parts, putting in used parts instead, for the replacement ¹¹ of which they had to pay the rental ¹² company and which resulted in the car breaking down a second time, on their way back. The second mechanic overcharged them. Mr. Okamoto admitted to me that they were very tired when they arrived at the Benito Juarez Infirmary in Tomatlan, which is not at all in Baja California but a hundred kilometres south of Puerto Vallarta, in the state of Jalisco, nearly level with Mexico City. They had been travelling non-stop for forty-one hours. "We work hard," Mr. Okamoto wrote.,He and Mr. Chiba spoke ¹³ with Piscine Molitor Patel, in English, for close to three hours, taping the conversation. What follows are excerpts ¹⁴ from the verbatim transcript ¹⁵. I am grateful to Mr. Okamoto for having made available to me a copy of the tape and of his final report. For the sake of clarity I have indicated who is speaking when it is not immediately apparent. Portions printed in a different font were spoken in Japanese, which I had translated.,第三部 墨西哥托马坦镇贝尼托华雷斯医院,    第九十五章,    他们开着租来的车出发了 。当他们到达长滩以南800公里处的托马·坦 ，发现那里并不是托马坦的时候
，冈本决定继续向南开200公里到圣罗莎利亚，然后乘轮渡越过加利福尼亚湾到瓜伊马斯
。渡船晚点了 ，而且开得很慢。从瓜伊马斯到托马坦还有1 300公里 。路很难走
。轮胎瘪了
，车坏了，修车的机修工偷偷拆下发动机零件 ，把旧零件放进去。因为零件被更换，他们得赔偿汽车租赁公司
，而且车在他们回去的路上又坏了一次 。第二位机修工多收了他们钱。冈本先生向我承认，他们到达托马坦的贝尼托华雷斯医院时已经非常疲劳了
。这家医院根本不是在下加利福尼亚 ，而是在巴亚尔塔港
，在哈利斯科，几乎与墨西哥城在一个纬度上。他们一口气赶了四十一小时的路 。“我们拼命干活
。 ”本先生写道。,    他和千叶先生用英语与帕特尔先生交谈了将近三个小时 ，并将谈话做了录音 。下面是一字不差的录音文字记录节选
。我感谢冈本先生向我提供了一份复制录音带和他的最终报告。为清楚起见
，我在说话人不很明确之处做了提示 。用不同字体印刷的部分的原文是日语，是我翻译过来的
。, ,The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。,They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉 。