With what does the writer compare the Gouffre Berger?
作者用什么来比较古夫*伯杰?
Cave exploration, or pot-holing, as it has come to be known, is a relatively new sport.
洞穴探险，或挖洞，因为它已经被称为，是一个相对较新的运动。
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.
也许是对孤独的渴望，或者是对一个意想不到的发现的机会，引诱人们来到地球的深处。
It is impossible to give a satisfactory explanation for a pot-holer's motives.
对于一个大锅洞的动机,要给出一个令人满意的解释是不可能的.
For him, caves have the same peculiar fascination which high mountains have for the climber.
对他来说，洞穴与高山对登山者同样具有独特的魅力。
They arouse instincts which can only be dimly understood.
它们唤起了只能模糊理解的本能。
Exploring really deep caves is not a task for the Sunday afternoon rambler.
对于周日下午的漫步者来说，探索真正深的洞穴并不是一项任务。
Such undertakings require the precise planning and foresight of military operations
这种事业需要对军事行动进行精确的规划和预见
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.
在进入一个非常深的洞穴之前，安装绳梯和建立补给基地可能需要长达八天的时间。
Precautions of this sort are necessary,
这种预防措施是必要的,
for it is impossible to foretell the exact nature of the difficulties which will confront the pot-holer.
因为不可能预测出锅洞将面临的困难的确切性质。
The deepest known cave in the world is the Gouffre Berger near Grenoble.
世界上已知最深的洞穴是格勒诺布尔附近的Gouffre Berger。
It extends to a depth of 3, 723 feet.
它延伸到3,723英尺的深度。
This immense chasm has been formed by an underground stream which has tunnelled a course through a flaw in the rocks.
这条巨大的裂缝是由一条地下溪流形成的，它通过岩石上的一个缺陷挖掘了一条路线。
The entrance to the cave is on a plateau in the Dauphine Alps.
洞穴的入口位于多芬阿尔卑斯山的高原上。
As it is only six feet across, it is barely noticeable.
因为它只有六英尺宽，所以几乎看不出来。
The cave might never have been discovered
这个洞穴可能永远不会被发现
had not the entrance been spotted by the distinguished French pot-holer, Berger.
难道入口没有被着名的法国壶洞伯杰发现吗?
Since its discovery, it has become a sort of pot-holers' Everest.
自从它被发现以来，它已经成为一种壶洞的珠穆朗玛峰。
Though a number of descents have been made, much of it still remains to be explored.
虽然已经进行了一些下降，但其中大部分仍有待探索。
A team of pot-holers recently went down the Gouffre Berger.
一队挖锅的人最近去了古夫*伯杰。
After entering the narrow gap on the plateau,
进入高原上的狭窄缝隙后,
they climbed down the steep sides of the cave until they came to a narrow corridor.
他们沿着陡峭的洞穴爬下，直到他们来到一条狭窄的走廊。
They had to edge their way along this,
他们不得不沿着这条路前进,
sometimes wading across shallow streams, or swimming across deep pools.
有时涉水穿过浅水流，或游过深水池。
Suddenly they came to a waterfall which dropped into an underground lake at the bottom of the cave.
突然，他们来到了一个瀑布，它掉进了洞穴底部的一个地下湖中。
They plunged into the lake,
他们一头扎进湖里,
and after loading their gear on an inflatable rubber dinghy, let the current carry them to the other side.
在将他们的装备装载到充气橡胶小艇上后，让水流将他们带到另一边。
To protect themselves from the icy water, they had to wear special rubber suits.
为了保护自己免受冰冷的水，他们不得不穿特殊的橡胶套装。
At the far end of the lake, they came to huge piles of rubble which had been washed up by the water.
在湖的尽头，他们来到了被水冲走的巨大瓦砾堆旁。
In this part of the cave, they could hear an insistent booming sound
在洞穴的这一部分，他们可以听到持续的轰鸣声
which they found was caused by a small waterspout shooting down into a pool from the roof of the cave.
他们发现这是由一个小水柱从洞穴的屋顶射入一个水池引起的。
Squeezing through a cleft in the rocks,
挤过岩石中的裂缝,
the pot-holers arrived at an enormous cavern, the size of a huge concert hall.
壶洞到达了一个巨大的洞穴，有一个巨大的音乐厅那么大。
After switching on powerful arc lights,
打开强大的弧光灯后,
they saw great stalagmites--some of them over forty feet high--rising up like tree-trunks to meet the stalactites suspended from the roof.
他们看到巨大的石笋-其中一些超过四十英尺高-像树干一样升起，以迎接悬挂在屋顶上的钟乳石。
Round about, piles of limestone glistened in all the colours of rainbow.
四周,成堆的石灰石在彩虹的所有颜色中闪闪发光.
In the eerie silence of the cavern,
在洞穴令人毛骨悚然的寂静中,
the only sound that could be heard was made by water which dripped continuously from the high dome above them.
唯一能听到的声音是水从他们上面的高圆顶不断滴下来的。
