Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

海底二万里

   SECOND PART

   CHAPTER 1

   第二部 第一章

   The Indian Ocean

   印度洋

   NOW WE BEGIN the second part of this voyage under the seas. The first ended in that moving scene at the coral cemetery, which left a profound impression on my mind. And so Captain Nemo would live out his life entirely in the heart of this immense sea, and even his grave lay ready in its impenetrable depths. There the last sleep of the Nautilus's occupants, friends bound together in death as in life, would be disturbed by no monster of the deep! "No man either!" the captain had added.

   这次海底旅行的第二部分现在开始了。第一部分在珊瑚墓地动人的场面上结束,在我心中留下很深刻的印象。 看来尼摩船长的生活是完全在那无边大海中间度过的,甚至他的坟墓,他都在最秘密的深渊中预备好了。那里,不会有这样或那样的海怪来扰乱诺第留斯号船员的长眠。这些船员共命运,同生死。在那儿“也不会有一个生人来扰乱!” 尼摩船长又补充了这一句。

   Always that same fierce, implacable defiance of human society!

   他对人类社会总是表示那样的不信任,倔强,坚决,这是一种无可妥协的不信任。

   As for me, I was no longer content with the hypotheses that satisfied Conseil. That fine lad persisted in seeing the Nautilus's commander as merely one of those unappreciated scientists who repay humanity's indifference with contempt. For Conseil, the captain was still a misunderstood genius who, tired of the world's deceptions, had been driven to take refuge in this inaccessible environment where he was free to follow his instincts. But to my mind, this hypothesis explained only one side of Captain Nemo.

   对我来说,我再也不能满足于康塞尔的那些说法了,虽然这个老实人仍坚持他的看法,认为诺第留斯号的船长是被埋没的一位学者,是拿蔑视来回答人世冷淡的一位学者。

   In fact, the mystery of that last afternoon when we were locked in prison and put to sleep, the captain's violent precaution of snatching from my grasp a spyglass poised to scour the horizon, and the fatal wound given that man during some unexplained collision suffered by the Nautilus, all led me down a plain trail. No! Captain Nemo wasn't content simply to avoid humanity! His fearsome submersible served not only his quest for freedom, but also, perhaps, it was used in lord-knows-what schemes of dreadful revenge.

   他还以为船长是一位不为人们所了解的天才,受不了人世的欺骗,不得已才逃避到这个他的本能可以允许他行动自曲而别人却不能到达的大海里来。但是,照我来看,这些说有一亿五千万公亩的广阔水面,海水十分澄清,低下头来望它的人都会感到头晕目眩。

   Right now, nothing is clear to me, I still glimpse only glimmers in the dark, and I must limit my pen, as it were, to taking dictation from events.

   But nothing binds us to Captain Nemo. He believes that escaping from the Nautilus is impossible. We are not even constrained by our word of honor. No promises fetter us. We're simply captives, prisoners masquerading under the name "guests" for the sake of everyday courtesy. Even so, Ned Land hasn't given up all hope of recovering his freedom. He's sure to take advantage of the first chance that comes his way. No doubt I will do likewise. And yet I will feel some regret at making off with the Nautilus's secrets, so generously unveiled for us by Captain Nemo! Because, ultimately, should we detest or admire this man? Is he the persecutor or the persecuted? And in all honesty, before I leave him forever, I want to finish this underwater tour of the world, whose first stages have been so magnificent. I want to observe the full series of these wonders gathered under the seas of our globe. I want to see what no man has seen yet, even if I must pay for this insatiable curiosity with my life! What are my discoveries to date? Nothing, relatively speaking-- since so far we've covered only 6,000 leagues across the Pacific!

   Nevertheless, I'm well aware that the Nautilus is drawing near to populated shores, and if some chance for salvation becomes available to us, it would be sheer cruelty to sacrifice my companions to my passion for the unknown. I must go with them, perhaps even guide them. But will this opportunity ever arise? The human being, robbed of his free will, craves such an opportunity; but the scientist, forever inquisitive, dreads it.

   That day, January 21, 1868, the chief officer went at noon to take the sun's altitude. I climbed onto the platform, lit a cigar, and watched him at work. It seemed obvious to me that this man didn't understand French, because I made several remarks in a loud voice that were bound to provoke him to some involuntary show of interest had he understood them; but he remained mute and emotionless.

   While he took his sights with his sextant, one of the Nautilus's sailors-- that muscular man who had gone with us to Crespo Island during our first underwater excursion--came up to clean the glass panes of the beacon. I then examined the fittings of this mechanism, whose power was increased a hundredfold by biconvex lenses that were designed like those in a lighthouse and kept its rays productively focused. This electric lamp was so constructed as to yield its maximum illuminating power. In essence, its light was generated in a vacuum, insuring both its steadiness and intensity. Such a vacuum also reduced wear on the graphite points between which the luminous arc expanded. This was an important savings for Captain Nemo, who couldn't easily renew them. But under these conditions, wear and tear were almost nonexistent.

   When the Nautilus was ready to resume its underwater travels, I went below again to the lounge. The hatches closed once more, and our course was set due west.

   We then plowed the waves of the Indian Ocean, vast liquid plains with an area of 550,000,000 hectares, whose waters are so transparent it makes you dizzy to lean over their surface. There the Nautilus generally drifted at a depth between 100 and 200 meters. It behaved in this way for some days. To anyone without my grand passion for the sea, these hours would surely have seemed long and monotonous; but my daily strolls on the platform where I was revived by the life-giving ocean air, the sights in the rich waters beyond the lounge windows, the books to be read in the library, and the composition of my memoirs, took up all my time and left me without a moment of weariness or boredom.

   诺第留斯号通常是在水深一百和二百米间的地方行驶。好几天内都是这样。对于不十分爱海的人,定然觉得在船中的时间过得很长和非常单调,但对我来说就不同了,我每天在平台上散步,呼吸海洋的新鲜空气来锻炼身体。并通过客厅的玻璃观察物产丰富的海水景象,阅读图书室的书籍,写我的笔记,这样就消磨了我所有的时间,不让我有一刻的厌烦或无聊。

   All in all, we enjoyed a highly satisfactory state of health. The diet on board agreed with us perfectly, and for my part, I could easily have gone without those changes of pace that Ned Land, in a spirit of protest, kept taxing his ingenuity to supply us. What's more, in this constant temperature we didn't even have to worry about catching colds. Besides, the ship had a good stock of the madrepore Dendrophylia, known in Provence by the name sea fennel, and a poultice made from the dissolved flesh of its polyps will furnish an excellent cough medicine.

   我们各人的健康情况都使人很满意。船上的饮食起居对我们也完全适合,在我个人来说,尼德-兰由于不满的无情而想法做出口味不同的菜,实在也用不着。还有,在海底经常稳定的温度下,甚至于伤风也不会有的。另外,法国南方称为“海茵香”的那种石蚕属的草树,在船上还储藏有相当数量,它跟那腔肠动物容易溶化的肉和起来,可以作为一种治疗咳嗽的优良药膏。

   For some days we saw a large number of aquatic birds with webbed feet, known as gulls or sea mews. Some were skillfully slain, and when cooked in a certain fashion, they make a very acceptable platter of water game. Among the great wind riders--carried over long distances from every shore and resting on the waves from their exhausting flights-- I spotted some magnificent albatross, birds belonging to the Longipennes (long-winged) family, whose discordant calls sound like the braying of an ass. The Totipalmes (fully webbed) family was represented by swift frigate birds, nimbly catching fish at the surface, and by numerous tropic birds of the genus Phaeton, among others the red-tailed tropic bird, the size of a pigeon, its white plumage shaded with pink tints that contrasted with its dark-hued wings.

   好几天内,我们看到了大量的水鸟,噗足鸟,大海鸥或海鸥。有些海鸟很巧妙地被打死后,用一种方法烹调起来,使人又尝到很可口的水禽野味。

   The Nautilus's nets hauled up several types of sea turtle from the hawksbill genus with arching backs whose scales are highly prized. Diving easily, these reptiles can remain a good while underwater by closing the fleshy valves located at the external openings of their nasal passages. When they were captured, some hawksbills were still asleep inside their carapaces, a refuge from other marine animals. The flesh of these turtles was nothing memorable, but their eggs made an excellent feast.

   诺第留斯号的鱼网打到好几种海龟,它们是海甲鱼属,背后隆起,龟甲很是宝贵。这些龟容易潜入水中,闭起鼻腔外孔的活肉塞,就可以在水中停留很久。有些海甲鱼被网打来的时候,它们还在甲壳中睡觉,那是为了要躲避海中动物的捕捉,这些甲鱼肉一般说是不好吃的,但甲鱼蛋却是美味的珍品。

   As for fish, they always filled us with wonderment when, staring through the open panels, we could unveil the secrets of their aquatic lives. I noted several species I hadn't previously been able to observe.

   至于鱼类,当我们从打开的嵌板窥见了它们的水中生活的秘密时,总是激起我们的赞美。我仔细地看好几种鱼。

   I'll mention chiefly some trunkfish unique to the Red Sea, the sea of the East Indies, and that part of the ocean washing the coasts of equinoctial America. Like turtles, armadillos, sea urchins, and crustaceans, these fish are protected by armor plate that's neither chalky nor stony but actual bone. Sometimes this armor takes the shape of a solid triangle, sometimes that of a solid quadrangle. Among the triangular type, I noticed some half a decimeter long, with brown tails, yellow fins, and wholesome, exquisitely tasty flesh; I even recommend that they be acclimatized to fresh water, a change, incidentally, that a number of saltwater fish can make with ease. I'll also mention some quadrangular trunkfish topped by four large protuberances along the back; trunkfish sprinkled with white spots on the underside of the body, which make good house pets like certain birds; boxfish armed with stings formed by extensions of their bony crusts, and whose odd grunting has earned them the nickname "sea pigs"; then some trunkfish known as dromedaries, with tough, leathery flesh and big conical humps.

   这些鱼以前我一直没有机会观察过。 我主要想说的是红海、印度洋和近赤道美洲那一部分太平洋所特有的牡蛎类。这些鱼类跟甲鱼、执豚、云丹、甲壳类一样,保护它们身体的,不是白垩的,也不是石质的,而是真正骨质的甲壳。这种甲壳有时为立体三角形,有时为立体四方形。

   From the daily notes kept by Mr. Conseil, I also retrieve certain fish from the genus Tetradon unique to these seas: southern puffers with red backs and white chests distinguished by three lengthwise rows of filaments, and jugfish, seven inches long, decked out in the brightest colors. Then, as specimens of other genera, blowfish resembling a dark brown egg, furrowed with white bands, and lacking tails; globefish, genuine porcupines of the sea, armed with stings and able to inflate themselves until they look like a pin cushion bristling with needles; seahorses common to every ocean; flying dragonfish with long snouts and highly distended pectoral fins shaped like wings, which enable them, if not to fly, at least to spring into the air; spatula-shaped paddlefish whose tails are covered with many scaly rings; snipefish with long jaws, excellent animals twenty-five centimeters long and gleaming with the most cheerful colors; bluish gray dragonets with wrinkled heads; myriads of leaping blennies with black stripes and long pectoral fins, gliding over the surface of the water with prodigious speed; delicious sailfish that can hoist their fins in a favorable current like so many unfurled sails; splendid nurseryfish on which nature has lavished yellow, azure, silver, and gold; yellow mackerel with wings made of filaments; bullheads forever spattered with mud, which make distinct hissing sounds; sea robins whose livers are thought to be poisonous; ladyfish that can flutter their eyelids; finally, archerfish with long, tubular snouts, real oceangoing flycatchers, armed with a rifle unforeseen by either Remington or Chassepot: it slays insects by shooting them with a simple drop of water.

   我从助手康塞尔每天写的札记中。又可以举出这一带海中所特有的腹鱼类,比如红背脊,白肚腹的针鱼,这鱼很特别,它有三行纵列的线纹。还有长七英寸,颜色鲜艳的电鱼。其次,作为其他鱼属的标本,可以举出类似黑褐色蛋时卵形鱼,这鱼有白色的带纹,没有尾:鱼虎,这鱼是真正的海豪猪,身上多刺,可以鼓起身子,变成一个满布尖刺的球;各海洋所同有的海马鱼,会飞的长嘴飞马鱼,这鱼的腹鳍很阔大,形状生得像翼一般,虽然不能高飞,但至少也能跳人空中:构形鸽子鱼,这鱼的尾上有许多鱼鳞的圆环;下巴很长的大颚鱼,这是长二十五公分,带漂亮颜色的美味好吃的鱼;灰白的美首鱼,这鱼的头部是高低不乎的;无数会跳的奇形鱼,这鱼身上带黑纹,长长的腹鳍,能以惊人的速度在水面上溜来溜去:美丽的风帆鱼,这鱼可以竖起所有的鳍,就像向着顺流扯起布帆来一样;华美的彩鱼,这鱼受大自然的特别优待,一身具有黄、天蓝、银白和金黄各种颜色;绒翼鱼,这鱼的翼全由丝条组成;老是沾上污泥的刺鳍鱼,这鱼发出蟋嗦的声音;海幼鱼,这鱼的肝被认为有毒;波帝鱼,这鱼在眼睛上戴有一个会动的眼罩,最后,管状的长嘴哨子…… 鱼,这鱼是真正的海中家雀,带有一支枪,夏斯包式和雷明答式枪的制造者所没有想到的一种枪,射出一滴水就可以把昆虫打死。

   From the eighty-ninth fish genus in Lacépède's system of classification, belonging to his second subclass of bony fish (characterized by gill covers and a bronchial membrane), I noted some scorpionfish whose heads are adorned with stings and which have only one dorsal fin; these animals are covered with small scales, or have none at all, depending on the subgenus to which they belong. The second subgenus gave us some Didactylus specimens three to four decimeters long, streaked with yellow, their heads having a phantasmagoric appearance. As for the first subgenus, it furnished several specimens of that bizarre fish aptly nicknamed "toadfish," whose big head is sometimes gouged with deep cavities, sometimes swollen with protuberances; bristling with stings and strewn with nodules, it sports hideously irregular horns; its body and tail are adorned with callosities; its stings can inflict dangerous injuries; it's repulsive and horrible.

   拉色别德所分类的第八十九种鱼属,属于骨质鱼类的第二亚纲,特征为有一个鳃盖和一块鳃膜,在这个属里我看到有蝎子鱼,这鱼的头上有尖刺,只有一个脊绪,这些鱼按照所属的不同亚属,细小的鳞或有或没有。第二亚属中有一些两指鱼的品种、这鱼长三至四分米,身上有黄色带纹,头的形状很是古怪。至于第一亚属,也有一些外号称为“海檐赊”的怪鱼品种,这是脑袋很大的鱼,头上有时带很深的皱纹,有时肿起一个一个的瘤,身上各处带利刺和疙瘩,有长短不一和看来很可怕的角’,身上和尾上满是鸡眼,这鱼的利刺刺人很危险,是使人讨厌、害怕的鱼。

   From January 21 to the 23rd, the Nautilus traveled at the rate of 250 leagues in twenty-four hours, hence 540 miles at twenty-two miles per hour.

   从1月21日至23日,诺第留斯号每天二十四小时走二百五十里,即五百四十海里,也就是说每小时走二十二海里。

   If, during our trip, we were able to identify these different varieties of fish, it's because they were attracted by our electric light and tried to follow alongside; but most of them were outdistanced by our speed and soon fell behind; temporarily, however, a few managed to keep pace in the Nautilus's waters.

   我们所以能在走的时候认识各种各样的鱼,是因为这些鱼受电光的吸引,前来陪伴我们,大部分的鱼追不上船的速度,不久就落在后面,但有些鱼在一定的时间内仍然可以跟上来,在诺第留斯号附近的海水中浮游。

   On the morning of the 24th, in latitude 12 degrees 5' south and longitude 94 degrees 33', we raised Keeling Island, a madreporic upheaving planted with magnificent coconut trees, which had been visited by Mr. Darwin and Captain Fitzroy. The Nautilus cruised along a short distance off the shore of this desert island. Our dragnets brought up many specimens of polyps and echinoderms plus some unusual shells from the branch Mollusca. Captain Nemo's treasures were enhanced by some valuable exhibits from the delphinula snail species, to which I joined some pointed star coral, a sort of parasitic polypary that often attaches itself to seashells.

   24日晨,在南纬12度5分,东经94度33分,我们望见了企林岛,这是造礁珊瑚浮起的岛,岛上有很多高大好看的椰子树,达尔丈和费兹一罗亚船长曾到过这岛。诺第留斯号在距离不远的水中沿这座荒岛的悬崖行驶。它的打捞机打了许多腔肠类和棘皮类动物,以及软体动物门的好些新奇介壳动物。

   Soon Keeling Island disappeared below the horizon, and our course was set to the northwest, toward the tip of the Indian peninsula.

   不久,企林岛在天边看不见了,航行路线是指着西北,向印度半岛的尖端驶去!

   "Civilization!" Ned Land told me that day. "Much better than those Papuan Islands where we ran into more savages than venison! On this Indian shore, professor, there are roads and railways, English, French, and Hindu villages. We wouldn't go five miles without bumping into a fellow countryman. Come on now, isn't it time for our sudden departure from Captain Nemo?"

   那天,尼德-兰对我说:“到了有文化的地方了。这当然比巴布亚强得多,在巴布亚碰见的野蛮人比鹿还多呢! 教授,在这印度半岛的陆地上,有马路,铁路,有英国的、法国的和印度的城市。走五英里路,一定可以碰到一个本国人。嗯!跟尼摩船长不客气,离开他的机会,现在不是到来了吗?”

   "No, no, Ned," I replied in a very firm tone. "Let's ride it out, as you seafaring fellows say. The Nautilus is approaching populated areas. It's going back toward Europe, let it take us there. After we arrive in home waters, we can do as we see fit. Besides, I don't imagine Captain Nemo will let us go hunting on the coasts of Malabar or Coromandel as he did in the forests of New Guinea."

   “不,尼德,不,”我声调很坚决地回答他,“像你们水手说的,让它跑去。诺第留斯号走近人居住的地方,它要回到欧洲去了,让它带我们去吧。一到我们的欧洲海中,我们要谨慎小心地出主意,决定我们要做的事情。并且,我想足摩船长不会让我们踏上马拉巴尔①或科罗曼德尔②海岸,像在新几内亚森林中一样去打猎。”

   "Well, sir, can't we manage without his permission?"

   “那么!先生,我们不要他的准许不成吗?”

   I didn't answer the Canadian. I wanted no arguments. Deep down, I was determined to fully exploit the good fortune that had put me on board the Nautilus.

   我不回答加拿大人。我不愿意争论。实际上,对于命运中所能有的一切机会,我心中都要尽力思考。难道不正是命运把我送到诺第留斯号船上来的吗?

   After leaving Keeling Island, our pace got generally slower. It also got more unpredictable, often taking us to great depths. Several times we used our slanting fins, which internal levers could set at an oblique angle to our waterline. Thus we went as deep as two or three kilometers down but without ever verifying the lowest depths of this sea near India, which soundings of 13,000 meters have been unable to reach. As for the temperature in these lower strata, the thermometer always and invariably indicated 4 degrees centigrade. I merely observed that in the upper layers, the water was always colder over shallows than in the open sea.

   从企林岛起,船行速度一般他说已慢下来。行程也比较任意,时常把我们拉到很深的地方去。船员使用了几次纵斜机板,船内部杠杆可以把机板对浮标线作倾斜的移动。 我们这样就一直到了二三公里深的地方,但对于这一万三千米的探测器都还不能达到底的印度海的深处,从未加以实测。至于低水层的温度,温度表老是不变地指着四度。 不过在上面水层中,我注意到,在深水处的水总比大海面的水寒冷。

   On January 25, the ocean being completely deserted, the Nautilus spent the day on the surface, churning the waves with its powerful propeller and making them spurt to great heights. Under these conditions, who wouldn't have mistaken it for a gigantic cetacean? I spent three-quarters of the day on the platform. I stared at the sea. Nothing on the horizon, except near four o'clock in the afternoon a long steamer to the west, running on our opposite tack. Its masting was visible for an instant, but it couldn't have seen the Nautilus because we were lying too low in the water. I imagine that steamboat belonged to the Peninsular & Oriental line, which provides service from the island of Ceylon to Sidney, also calling at King George Sound and Melbourne.

   1月25日,洋面完全荒凉,什么也没有,这一天诺第留斯号是浮出水面来度过的。强大的推进器搅动水波,把水流喷人高空。在这种情况下,人们怎么会不把它当作一条巨大的鲸鱼类动物呢?这一天四分之三的时间我都在乎台上。我远望大海。天边什么也没有,只在下午四点的时候-,有一艘长形的汽船,跟我们对渡而行,在西方行驶。这船的桅杆有一个时候可以看见,但它不可能看见紧挨着水面的诺第留斯号。我想这艘汽船是属于印度半岛和东方航线轮船公司的,它航行于锡兰岛和悉尼之间,中途停泊在佐治玉呷和墨尔本港。

   At five o'clock in the afternoon, just before that brief twilight that links day with night in tropical zones, Conseil and I marveled at an unusual sight.

   下午五点的时候,在热带地方白天和黑夜之间的短暂的黄昏来临之前,康塞尔和我看到一个新奇的景象,使我们惊叹。

   It was a delightful animal whose discovery, according to the ancients, is a sign of good luck. Aristotle, Athenaeus, Pliny, and Oppian studied its habits and lavished on its behalf all the scientific poetry of Greece and Italy. They called it "nautilus" and "pompilius." But modern science has not endorsed these designations, and this mollusk is now known by the name argonaut.

   那是一种迷人的动物,照古代人的说法,碰见它,就预告将有好运气到来。亚里士多德,雅典尼③,普林尼,奥比安②,研究过它的性情嗜好,并且使尽希腊和意大利学者们所有的诗词来对待它。他们称它为“诺第留斯”和“庞比留斯”。但近代科学没有接受这个名称,这种软体动物现在名为“阿哥那提”——肛鱼。

   Anyone consulting Conseil would soon learn from the gallant lad that the branch Mollusca is divided into five classes; that the first class features the Cephalopoda (whose members are sometimes naked, sometimes covered with a shell), which consists of two families, the Dibranchiata and the Tetrabranchiata, which are distinguished by their number of gills; that the family Dibranchiata includes three genera, the argonaut, the squid, and the cuttlefish, and that the family Tetrabranchiata contains only one genus, the nautilus. After this catalog, if some recalcitrant listener confuses the argonaut, which is acetabuliferous (in other words, a bearer of suction tubes), with the nautilus, which is tentaculiferous (a bearer of tentacles), it will be simply unforgivable.

   这时候在洋面上走动的正是这肛鱼属的一群。在我们看来,有几千几万条。它们是带突瘤的肛鱼属,是印度洋特有的一种。这些美丽的软体动物是向后倒退来行动的,它们使用运动管,把吐出的水从管中排出,就走动起来了。它们有八根触须,其中六根又长又细,浮在水面上,其他两根弯圆作掌形,迎凤张开,像轻帆那样。

   Now, it was a school of argonauts then voyaging on the surface of the ocean. We could count several hundred of them. They belonged to that species of argonaut covered with protuberances and exclusive to the seas near India.

   These graceful mollusks were swimming backward by means of their locomotive tubes, sucking water into these tubes and then expelling it. Six of their eight tentacles were long, thin, and floated on the water, while the other two were rounded into palms and spread to the wind like light sails. I could see perfectly their undulating, spiral-shaped shells, which Cuvier aptly compared to an elegant cockleboat. It's an actual boat indeed. It transports the animal that secretes it without the animal sticking to it.

   我完全可以看见它们的螺旋波纹的介壳,居维埃的比方很恰当,说这壳是一只精美的小艇。是的,这壳真正是一只小船,虽然它是这个动物分泌出来的,但它没有紧紧附着它,而是它把这动物装载在里面。

   "The argonaut is free to leave its shell," I told Conseil, "but it never does."

   “肛鱼可以自由离开它的介壳,”我对康塞永说,“但它从不离开它。”

   "Not unlike Captain Nemo," Conseil replied sagely. "Which is why he should have christened his ship the Argonaut."

   “尼摩船长就是这样,”康塞尔很恰当地回答,“所以称他的船为肛鱼号更恰当些。”

   For about an hour the Nautilus cruised in the midst of this school of mollusks. Then, lord knows why, they were gripped with a sudden fear. As if at a signal, every sail was abruptly lowered; arms folded, bodies contracted, shells turned over by changing their center of gravity, and the whole flotilla disappeared under the waves. It was instantaneous, and no squadron of ships ever maneuvered with greater togetherness.

   大约有一个钟头左右,诺第留斯号在这群软体动物中例行驶。一会儿,不知道发生了什么可怕的事情,突然把它:们吓住了。它们好像听到信号一样,所有的帆一下子都卷起来了,胳膊都收回去了,身体都缩起来了,翻倒的介壳改变了重心,整个队伍都沉在水波中不见了。这是一瞬间的事,从来没有一只舰队的演习能执行这么整齐划一的动作。

   Just then night fell suddenly, and the waves barely surged in the breeze, spreading placidly around the Nautilus's side plates.

   这时候,黑夜突然来临,微风仅能掀起一些海浪在诺第留斯号边缘下缓慢地推过去。

   The next day, January 26, we cut the equator on the 82nd meridian and we reentered the northern hemisphere.

   第二天,1月26日,我们在东经82度上穿过了赤道线,船又回到北半球了。

   During that day a fearsome school of sharks provided us with an escort. Dreadful animals that teem in these seas and make them extremely dangerous. There were Port Jackson sharks with a brown back, a whitish belly, and eleven rows of teeth, bigeye sharks with necks marked by a large black spot encircled in white and resembling an eye, and Isabella sharks whose rounded snouts were strewn with dark speckles. Often these powerful animals rushed at the lounge window with a violence less than comforting. By this point Ned Land had lost all self-control. He wanted to rise to the surface of the waves and harpoon the monsters, especially certain smooth-hound sharks whose mouths were paved with teeth arranged like a mosaic, and some big five-meter tiger sharks that insisted on personally provoking him. But the Nautilus soon picked up speed and easily left astern the fastest of these man-eaters.

   这一天,一大群鲛鱼陪着我们。这些可怕的动物在这一带海中繁殖,使这一带变成很危险的地方。其中有背脊栗子色,肚腹灰白色的烟色鲸,嘴里有十二排长牙;有睛点鲛,这鲛脖子上有一个大黑点。被白圆圈圈起来,很像一只眼睛;有淡黄蚊,嘴脸圆形,带有灰点。这些力大的动物时常冲撞客厅的玻璃,来势猛烈,使人害怕。尼德-兰情不自禁了。他要上水面去调叉这些怪物,尤其有一种鲨鱼鲛类。 嘴中有一列一列的牙,组成花纹一样,又有一种虎皮大蚊,长五米,特别刺激他,使他技痒,忍耐不住。但诺第留斯号增加速度,不久就把这些最炔的鲛鱼都甩在后面了。

   On January 27, at the entrance to the huge Bay of Bengal, we repeatedly encountered a gruesome sight: human corpses floating on the surface of the waves! Carried by the Ganges to the high seas, these were deceased Indian villagers who hadn't been fully devoured by vultures, the only morticians in these parts. But there was no shortage of sharks to assist them with their undertaking chores.

   1月27日,在广阔的孟加拉湾口,我们好几次碰见了凄惨怕人的景象!有很多尸体浮在水波上面。那是印度城市中的死人,从恒河流下,输送到大海,因为这地方的唯一掩埋者——骛乌——没有能完全吞食他们。但海中鲸鱼很多,可以帮助骛鸟来完成这件丧气事。

   Near seven o'clock in the evening, the Nautilus lay half submerged, navigating in the midst of milky white waves. As far as the eye could see, the ocean seemed lactified. Was it an effect of the moon's rays? No, because the new moon was barely two days old and was still lost below the horizon in the sun's rays. The entire sky, although lit up by stellar radiation, seemed pitch-black in comparison with the whiteness of these waters.

   晚上七点左右,诺第留斯号在奶海里航行,船身一半在水里,一半露在水面上。一望无际的大洋呈侞白色。这是月光的力量吗?不是的,因为新月还不到两天,早在阳光中水平线下不见了。整个天空,虽然有星光照亮,但跟水上的白色对比,显得很黯淡。

   Conseil couldn't believe his eyes, and he questioned me about the causes of this odd phenomenon. Luckily I was in a position to answer him.

   康塞尔以为自己的眼睛昏花了,不敢相信,他问我这种新奇现象的原因。很幸运,我可以答得出来。

   "That's called a milk sea," I told him, "a vast expanse of white waves often seen along the coasts of Amboina and in these waterways."

   “这就是人们所称道的奶海,”我对他说,“是阔大的白色水流,时常在盎波尼岛海岸和这一带海中看到。”

   "But," Conseil asked, "could master tell me the cause of this effect, because I presume this water hasn't really changed into milk!"

   “不过,”康塞尔问,“先生可以让我知道是什么原因产生这种效果吗?因为,我想这海水并没有变成奶呀!”

   "No, my boy, and this whiteness that amazes you is merely due to the presence of myriads of tiny creatures called infusoria, a sort of diminutive glowworm that's colorless and gelatinous in appearance, as thick as a strand of hair, and no longer than one-fifth of a millimeter. Some of these tiny creatures stick together over an area of several leagues."

   “不,康塞尔,这种使你惊奇的白色是由于水中有无数亿万的细微滴虫,那是一种发光的微虫,外形是胶质无色的,有一根头发那样厚,长也不超过一毫米的五分之一。这些微生滴虫在好几里长的海面上彼此连接起来、形成一片白色。”

   "Several leagues!" Conseil exclaimed.

   “好几里长!”康塞尔喊道。

   "Yes, my boy, and don't even try to compute the number of these infusoria. You won't pull it off, because if I'm not mistaken, certain navigators have cruised through milk seas for more than forty miles."

   “是的,老实人、你不用去计算这些滴虫的数量。你一定算不出来,因为我听说过,某些航海家在这奶海上走了四十多海里远。

   I'm not sure that Conseil heeded my recommendation, because he seemed to be deep in thought, no doubt trying to calculate how many one-fifths of a millimeter are found in forty square miles. As for me, I continued to observe this phenomenon. For several hours the Nautilus's spur sliced through these whitish waves, and I watched it glide noiselessly over this soapy water, as if it were cruising through those foaming eddies that a bay's currents and countercurrents sometimes leave between each other.

   在几小时内,诺第留斯号的冲角冲开这白色水流,向前行驶,我看见它没有声响地在这肥皂泡沫的水面上溜过去,就像在海湾中、顺流和逆流相冲时所形成的水沫上面行驶那样。

   Near midnight the sea suddenly resumed its usual hue, but behind us all the way to the horizon, the skies kept mirroring the whiteness of those waves and for a good while seemed imbued with the hazy glow of an aurora borealis.

   半夜左右,海面忽然又现出乎常的颜色来,但在我们船后面,直至天边尽处,天空反映着水面的白色,很久都像受北极的模糊曙光澈照一样。