Nothing would remain but water.(什么也不会留下，只有水。) That is the way of ice. Fresh water poured into salt water, and each absorb(吸收，融合)ed the other. Some observers thought they saw a bluer tinge(一丝，淡淡色调) in the ocean round about(在周围，大约). In its dying months, A23a carried parallel(平行的) blue lines of meltwater(融水) on its scarred(伤痕累累的) surface. Each represented a crack(裂缝) that would soon gape wider(裂得更大). It drift(漂流)ed, at about 30km a day, in runnels of its own blood(在它自己的血液般的溪流中).
什么也不会留下，只有水。冰就是这样。淡水注入咸水，彼此交融。一些观察者觉得他们看到周围海洋带上了更蓝的色调。在它消亡前的几个月里，A23a伤痕累累的表面流淌着平行的蓝色融水线。每一条都代表一道即将裂得更开的缝隙。它每天漂流约30公里，在自己血液般的溪流中移动。
Intermittently, as others grew or decayed(消逝，腐烂), it was the biggest iceberg in the world. It took up(占据（面积）) 3,500-3,900 square kilometres: more than two Greater Londons, Rhode Island or St Petersburg, depending on your vantage point(视角，有利位置). It weighed, at a brave estimate(据大胆估算), about a trillion tonnes. Forty metres of it stood above the surface, around 400 below, where its keel(龙骨，船的脊骨) had a habit of dragging(经常拖拽) on the seabed. It was not a towering(高耸的), jagged(锯齿状的，嶙峋的) monster, but a table of snow(一张雪白的台桌): its great flat whiteness filled the horizon from east to west. Magnificence and majesty could be horizontal, too.(壮丽和威严也可以是水平方向的。)
断断续续地，随着其他冰山生长或消逝，它是世界上最大的冰山。它占据了3500到3900平方公里：取决于你的视角，比两个大伦敦、罗德岛州或圣彼得堡还要大。据大胆估算，它重约一万亿吨。40米露出水面，大约400米在水下，它的龙骨经常拖拽海床。它不是一座高耸嶙峋的怪物，而是一张雪白的台桌：它巨大的平坦白色充满了从东到西的地平线。壮丽和威严也可以是水平方向的。
It was not only, on and off(断断续续地), the biggest iceberg, but also the oldest, with the most eventful(充满大事的) history. It calved(崩解（冰川断裂）) in 1986 from the Filchner Ice Shelf, along with two siblings(兄弟姐妹), A22 and A24. They were born ancient(生来古老), full of the leavings(残余物，遗留物) of the glaciers that had carved out(开凿出，刻出) the Antarctic continent. All three, huge as they were, sank at once to the bottom of the Weddell Sea.(三座冰山尽管巨大，却立刻沉入威德尔海海底。) A23a was stuck so fast that(卡得非常紧以至于) it did not move for more than 30 years. The siblings escaped, went north and died in the tepid(温热的，微温的) South Atlantic; A23a stayed where it was, in safely near-freezing waters(接近冰点的水域). It was not until it began to wobble(摇晃，摆动), melting very slightly, loosening the grip of the bottom-muds(松动底部泥浆的抓握), that its further adventures began.
它不仅仅是断断续续地最大，也是最老的，有着最波澜壮阔的历史。它于1986年从菲尔希纳冰架崩解，连同两个兄弟A22和A24。它们生来古老，充满了曾刻画南极大陆的冰川的遗留物。三座冰山尽管巨大，却立刻沉入威德尔海海底。A23a卡得非常紧，30多年没有移动。它的兄弟逃走了，向北行进而死于温热的南大西洋；A23a待在原地，处于安全的接近冰点的水域。直到它开始摇晃，非常轻微地融化，松动底部泥浆的抓握，它的进一步冒险才开始了。