洞穴探险，或称"竖井探险"——正如它现在被称呼的那样——是一项相对较新的运动。
Cave exploration, or pot-holing, as it has come to be known, is a relatively new sport.
也许正是对独处的渴望，或是偶然发现未知事物的机会，诱使人们深入地球的深处。
Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures people down to the depths of the earth.
要对一个洞穴探险者的动机给出令人满意的解释是不可能的。
It is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation for a pot-holer's motives.
对他来说，洞穴具有与高山对登山者同样的那种奇异的魅力。
For him, caves have the same peculiar fascination which high mountains have for the climber.
洞穴唤起了某些只能被隐约理解的本能。
They arouse instincts which can only be dimly understood.
探索真正深邃的洞穴，并不是一项适合周日下午悠闲散步者的任务。
Exploring really deep caves is not a task for the Sunday afternoon rambler.
这类壮举需要像军事行动一样精确的规划和预见性。
Such undertakings require the precise planning and foresight of military operations.
在进入一个非常深的洞穴之前，架设绳梯和建立补给基地可能需要长达八天的时间。
It can take as long as eight days to rig up rope ladders and to establish supply bases before a descent can be made into a very deep cave.
这类预防措施是必要的，因为要预先知晓洞穴探险者将面临的困难的确切性质是不可能的。
Precautions of this sort are necessary, for it is impossible to foretell the exact nature of the difficulties which will confront the pot-holer.
世界上已知最深的洞穴是位于格勒诺布尔附近的古弗雷·贝尔热洞。
The deepest known cave in the world is the Gouffre Berger near Grenoble.
它的深度延伸至 3,723 英尺。
It extends to a depth of 3,723 feet.
这个巨大的深渊是由一条地下溪流形成的，它在岩石的裂缝中穿凿出了一条通道。
This immense chasm has been formed by an underground stream which has tunnelled a course through a flaw in the rocks.
洞穴的入口位于多菲内阿尔卑斯山的一处高原上。
The entrance to the cave is on a plateau in the Dauphine Alps.
由于入口只有六英尺宽，它几乎不引人注意。
As it is only six feet across, it is barely noticeable.
如果不是被杰出的法国洞穴探险家贝尔热发现了这个入口，这个洞穴可能永远不会被发现。
The cave might never have been discovered had not the entrance been spotted by the distinguished French pot-holer, Berger.
自从被发现以来，它已成为一种洞穴探险者的珠穆朗玛峰。
Since its discovery, it has become a sort of pot-holers' Everest.
尽管已经进行了多次下洞，但其中许多部分仍有待探索。
Though a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explored.
一支洞穴探险队最近深入了古弗雷·贝尔热洞。
A team of pot-holers recently went down the Gouffre Berger.
穿过高原上那个狭窄的缺口进入洞穴后，他们沿着洞穴陡峭的壁攀爬而下，直到来到一条狭窄的走廊。
After entering the narrow gap on the plateau, they climbed down the steep sides of the cave until they came to a narrow corridor.
他们不得不沿着这条通道侧身挤行，有时趟过浅浅的溪流，有时游过深深的水潭。
They had to edge their way along this, sometimes wading across shallow streams, or swimming across deep pools.
突然，他们来到了一处瀑布，瀑布跌落进洞穴底部的一个地下湖中。
Suddenly they came to a waterfall which dropped into an underground lake at the bottom of the cave.
他们跳入湖中，把装备装上一只充气橡皮艇后，让水流将他们带到对岸。
They plunged into the lake, and after loading their gear on an inflatable rubber dinghy, let the current carry them to the other side.
为了保护自己免受冰冷湖水的侵害，他们不得不穿上特制橡胶潜水服。
To protect themselves from the icy water, they had to wear special rubber suits.
在湖的远端，他们来到了被水冲积成的巨大瓦砾堆旁。
At the far end of the lake, they came to huge piles of rubble which had been washed up by the water.
在洞穴的这个区域，他们能听到一种持续不断的轰鸣声，他们发现这是由一股从洞穴顶部射入水潭的细小水柱引起的。
In this part of the cave, they could hear an insistent booming sound which they found was caused by a small waterspout shooting down into a pool from the roof of the cave.
从岩石的裂缝中挤过之后，探险者们来到了一个巨大的洞室，其大小犹如一座巨型音乐厅。
Squeezing through a cleft in the rocks, the pot-holers arrived at an enormous cavern, the size of a huge concert hall.
打开强力弧光灯后，他们看到了巨大的石笋——其中一些高达四十多英尺——像树干一样向上耸立，去迎接从洞顶悬垂下来的钟乳石。
After switching on powerful arc lights, they saw great stalagmites--some of them over forty feet high--rising up like tree-trunks to meet the stalactites suspended from the roof.
四周，成堆的石灰岩在彩虹般的色彩中闪闪发光。
Round about, piles of limestone glistened in all the colours of the rainbow.
在洞室令人毛骨悚然的寂静中，唯一能听到的声音，是水从高高的穹顶上不停滴落所发出的。
In the eerie silence of the cavern, the only sound that could be heard was made by water which dripped continuously from the high dome above them.