The Sea Lion　海狮

Although such large and powerful creatures,these sea lions are innocent and playful.See,one of them has reared himself up on his hind legs,if legs they may be called,and is sitting on a chair with his flappers over the back of the chair.It inhabits the eastern shores of Kamchatka,and is in some places extremely abundant,and measuring about fifteen feet in length.It is much addicted to roaring,which,as much as the mane of the old males,has obtained for it the name of the Sea Lion.The old males have a fierce appearance,yet they fly in great haste on the approach of man,but if driven to extremities they will fight desperately;but in captivity they are capable of being tamed,and become very familiar with man.The scientific name of the sea lion is Otary.

别看海狮高大威猛，实际上它们既天真又顽皮。瞧，一头海狮已经撑着后腿站起来了，如果可以把它们叫作腿的话。忽而它又坐到椅子上，还把两只大前掌搭上了椅背。海狮生活在俄罗斯堪察加半岛的东岸。在有些地方，海狮的数量密集，身体长达十五英尺有余。（1英尺=30.48厘米，15英尺大约等于4.57米——译者注。下文中此类换算标准均为译者注）。因为它特别喜欢吼，加上成年雄海狮的脖子上长着鬃毛，所以得名海狮。成年雄海狮长相凶悍。然而，一旦有人靠近，它们会蹿出水面，迅速逃离；不过，如果逼急了，它们也会奋起抵抗。被捕获的海狮是可以驯化的，而且能和人混得很熟。海狮的学名叫海狗（Otary）。