Rope, Coupling, and the Sluice in the Glowworm Cave - 適合進階的英文短篇故事，含中譯與發音

From the low platform, Nell watched a damp mark lengthen where a cold drip struck the plank.

She then planted her boots, wrapped both hands around the guide rope, and set a slow rhythm. Earlier, Paul had slid the boat a handspan with two steady pulls, a quiet demonstration in the red glow. The rope felt cool and slightly rough, its wet fibers prickling her palms near a brass coupling at the bow. Blue-green points hung above like a still sky; breath fogged and vanished before her nose reached the chill air.

A bead dropped from a stalactite and struck her eyelid, an ice-cold tap that broke her grip mid-pull. The rope slid half a hand through her fingers, and the boat answered with a small, careful imbalance. Paul caught the gunwale with a knee and murmured, "Cold rope today," his voice flattened by the wet stone. Water ticked somewhere behind them, the tiny note traveling a long way on the stone. She set the rope down on the thwart and wiped the cold from her lashes with the back of her wrist.

When her hands returned to the line, the boat had drifted a little, and the ceiling's constellation sat higher above. She paused with the rope slack and, instead of pulling, leaned over the platform edge where the damp mark kept lengthening. The plank met her fingertip with a cool film, and a shallow groove led that thin water toward a slit in the stone. Beneath the boards, a low stone sluice whispered, carrying whatever reached it into a side channel she could not see.

She took one slow pull anyway, then stopped again, eyeing the opaque mirror below where the lights rippled around her sleeve. The brass coupling knocked the bow as the hull settled square, and her free hand traced the groove back to the slit. Another bead formed on the plank near her knuckle, crept along the channel, and hesitated at a splinter where flow broke apart. Its path toward the sluice stayed undecided on the wet grain. Nell lowered her finger, eased a fresh droplet onto the channel, and held it there against the chill plank.

在低矮的平台上，內爾看見一滴冷水打在木板上，濕痕慢慢延長。

她接著站穩腳步，雙手抓住導繩，慢慢拉動。先前保羅在微紅的燈光下，安靜地示範過兩下，船身就前進了一點。繩子涼而微粗，濕潤的纖維在她掌心刺刺作響，船首邊一個黃銅接頭輕貼在木板上。上方藍綠色的點點像一片靜止的天空；哈出的白霧在鼻尖前就消散在冷空氣裡。

一滴水從石鐘乳落下，打在她的眼皮上，冰冷的一觸讓她停在半拉之間。繩子從指間滑出半個掌寬，船身隨之微微失衡。保羅用膝蓋頂住舷緣，低聲說：「今天的繩子好冷，」他的聲音被濕石面壓得又平又短。後方哪裡傳來滴水聲，這細小的節拍沿著石壁傳得很遠。她把繩子放在橫板上，用手背拭去睫毛上的冷水。

等她再握回繩子，船已經略略漂離，頭頂的星光像是抬得更高。她讓繩子鬆在掌中，沒有立刻拉，反而探到平台邊，看那一條還在延長的濕痕。木板接住她的指尖，表面覆著一層涼薄水膜，一條淺槽把那細水引向石頭上的一道狹縫。木板下方有條低矮的石槽在細細流動，把流入的水帶進她看不見的側邊水道。

她又拉了一下，卻再度停住，瞄向下方那面不透光的水鏡，光點在她袖口周圍輕輕起伏。黃銅接頭在船首敲了一下，船身坐正，她空著的手把那條淺槽一路摸回狹縫。另一滴水在她指節旁成形，沿著槽細細前行，在一根木刺前停了停，水路被分開。它會不會順利匯入石槽，或先在木板上漫開，仍在濕潤的木紋上未定。內爾把指尖再度放低，按上一顆新的水珠，讓它貼著冷木板躺進那條細細的水道。