I HAVE NO IDEA how long this slumber lasted; but it must have been a good while, since we were completely over our exhaustion. I was the first one to wake up. My companions weren't yet stirring and still lay in their corners like inanimate objects.
我們睡了多少時候，我不知道；但一定很久，因為我們的精神完全恢復了。我醒得最早。我的同伴還沒有動靜，仍睡在那個角落裡，像一堆東西一樣。
I had barely gotten up from my passably hard mattress when I felt my mind clear, my brain go on the alert. So I began a careful reexamination of our cell.
從這張硬邦邦的床上起來，我立刻感到我的頭腦清醒了，我的精神充沛了。於是我又重新觀察我們這間牢房。
Nothing had changed in its interior arrangements. The prison was still a prison and its prisoners still prisoners. But, taking advantage of our slumber, the steward had cleared the table. Consequently, nothing indicated any forthcoming improvement in our situation, and I seriously wondered if we were doomed to spend the rest of our lives in this cage.
裡面的佈置絲毫沒有變動。牢房還是牢房，囚徒還是囚徒。不過那個侍者乘我們睡熟的時候，把桌上的東西拿走了。沒有任何跡象可以表明我們的處境就會發生變化，我冷靜地在想，我們是不是注定要永遠生活在這個囚籠中。
This prospect seemed increasingly painful to me because, even though my brain was clear of its obsessions from the night before, I was feeling an odd short-windedness in my chest. It was becoming hard for me to breathe. The heavy air was no longer sufficient for the full play of my lungs. Although our cell was large, we obviously had used up most of the oxygen it contained. In essence, over an hour's time a single human being consumes all the oxygen found in 100 liters of air, at which point that air has become charged with a nearly equal amount of carbon dioxide and is no longer fit for breathing.
這種苦難就要臨頭的思想使我更為難過的是，我腦子雖然不像昨天那樣糾纏不清了，可是心口上總覺得特別壓抑。我呼吸非常困難，濃濁的空氣已經不夠我肺部一呼一吸的調換。雖然牢房還算寬大，但很明白，我們已經消耗掉了裡面大部分氧氣。本來每人每小時要消費一百升空氣中所含有的氧，這空氣到了含有差不多等量的二氧化碳時，就不能呼吸了。
So it was now urgent to renew the air in our prison, and no doubt the air in this whole underwater boat as well.
因此，給我們的牢房換換空氣，是很迫切需要的了，無疑的，整個潛水艇也該換換空氣了。
Here a question popped into my head. How did the commander of this aquatic residence go about it? Did he obtain air using chemical methods, releasing the oxygen contained in potassium chlorate by heating it, meanwhile absorbing the carbon dioxide with potassium hydroxide? If so, he would have to keep up some kind of relationship with the shore, to come by the materials needed for such an operation. Did he simply limit himself to storing the air in high-pressure tanks and then dispense it according to his crew's needs? Perhaps. Or, proceeding in a more convenient, more economical, and consequently more probable fashion, was he satisfied with merely returning to breathe at the surface of the water like a cetacean, renewing his oxygen supply every twenty-four hours? In any event, whatever his method was, it seemed prudent to me that he use this method without delay.
這使我想到一個問題。這所浮動住宅的首腦是怎樣解決換氣問題的？他是用化學方法獲得空氣的嗎？是用氯酸鉀加熱放出氧氣，還是用氫氧化鉀吸收二氧化碳氣呢？真是這樣的話，他必須與陸地保持一定的聯繫才能取得這些化學原料。或者他只是利用高壓力把空氣儲藏在密封的房間裡，然後根據船上人員的需要再把空氣放出來嗎？或者是這樣。或者，他是用更方便，更經濟，而且更可能的方法，那就是像鯨魚類動物一樣，浮到水面上來呼吸，二十四小時換一次空氣。不管怎樣，不管用哪種方法，我覺得為了慎重起見，現在應該趕快使用了。
In fact, I had already resorted to speeding up my inhalations in order to extract from the cell what little oxygen it contained, when suddenly I was refreshed by a current of clean air, scented with a salty aroma. It had to be a sea breeze, life-giving and charged with iodine! I opened my mouth wide, and my lungs glutted themselves on the fresh particles. At the same time, I felt a swaying, a rolling of moderate magnitude but definitely noticeable. This boat, this sheet-iron monster, had obviously just risen to the surface of the ocean, there to breathe in good whale fashion. So the ship's mode of ventilation was finally established.
事實上，我不得不加緊呼吸，把這房間裡很少的一點氧氣都吸取了，這時候，我忽然吸到一股帶海水鹹味的新鮮空氣，我感到涼爽輕快。這正是使人精神煥發的海風；含有大量碘質的海風！我張大了嘴，讓肺部充滿了新鮮氣體。同時我感到船在搖擺。這鐵皮怪分明是浮到海面上來，用鯨魚呼吸的方式呼吸了。因此我完全肯定了這船調換空氣的辦法。
When I had absorbed a chestful of this clean air, I looked for the conduit--the "air carrier," if you prefer--that allowed this beneficial influx to reach us, and I soon found it. Above the door opened an air vent that let in a fresh current of oxygen, renewing the thin air in our cell.
我一邊自由呼吸着新鮮空氣，一邊尋找把這種養人的氣體送到我們周圍的那個東西，或不如說“通氣管子”，我不久便找到了。在房門上面，開有一個通氣孔，一陣一陣的新鮮空氣就從這通氣孔進來，填補房中不足的空氣。
I had gotten to this point in my observations when Ned and Conseil woke up almost simultaneously, under the influence of this reviving air purification. They rubbed their eyes, stretched their arms, and sprang to their feet.
我正在觀察的時候，尼德-蘭和康塞爾，在新鮮空氣的刺激下，也差不多同時醒來了。他們擦擦眼睛，伸伸胳膊，一下就站起來。
"Did master sleep well?" Conseil asked me with his perennial good manners.
“先生睡得好嗎？”康塞爾跟平常一樣客客氣氣地問。
"Extremely well, my gallant lad," I replied. "And how about you, Mr. Ned Land?"
“很不錯。康塞爾。“我答，”尼德-蘭師傅，您睡得怎樣？”
"Like a log, professor. But I must be imagining things, because it seems like I'm breathing a sea breeze!"
“十分甜美，教授。不過，我不知道我是不是弄錯了，好像我現在呼吸的是海風！”
A seaman couldn't be wrong on this topic, and I told the Canadian what had gone on while he slept.
一個水手不可能弄錯；我告訴加拿大人，當他睡熟的時候所發生的一切。
"Good!" he said. "That explains perfectly all that bellowing we heard, when our so-called narwhale lay in sight of the Abraham Lincoln."
“對！”他說，“這就完全說明了我們在林肯號上看到這條所謂獨角鯨的時候所聽到的那種吼聲了。”
"Perfectly, Mr. Land. It was catching its breath!"
“不錯，足德-蘭師傅，這是它的呼吸聲！”
"Only I've no idea what time it is, Professor Aronnax, unless maybe it's dinnertime?"
“不過，阿龍納斯先生，現在幾點鐘了，我完全不知道，恐怕至少也是晚餐時候了吧？”
"Dinnertime, my fine harpooner? I'd say at least breakfast time, because we've certainly woken up to a new day."
“老實的魚叉手，晚餐時候嗎？恐怕至少是午餐時候了，因為從昨天算起，我們現在是在過第二天了。”
"Which indicates," Conseil replied, "that we've spent twenty-four hours in slumber."
“這麼說，”康塞爾說，“我們是睡了二十四個小時了。”
"That's my assessment," I replied.
“我想是的。”我答。
"I won't argue with you," Ned Land answered. "But dinner or breakfast, that steward will be plenty welcome whether he brings the one or the other."
“我不反對你的意見，”尼德-蘭答，“晚餐也好，午餐也好，不管侍者送來什麼，都是歡迎的。”
"The one and the other," Conseil said.
“晚餐和午餐都來。”康塞爾說。
"Well put," the Canadian replied. "We deserve two meals, and speaking for myself, I'll do justice to them both."
“不錯，”加拿大人答，“我們有權利要這兩頓飯，在我個人，這兩頓飯我都得嘗嘗。”
"All right, Ned, let's wait and see!" I replied. "It's clear that these strangers don't intend to let us die of hunger, otherwise last evening's dinner wouldn't make any sense."
“對呀！尼德-蘭，再等一會，”我答，“現在很明白，這些人並不想餓死我們，因為，如果要餓死我們，昨天的晚餐便沒有意義了。”
"Unless they're fattening us up!" Ned shot back.
“是要把我們填肥！”尼德-蘭答。
"I object," I replied. "We have not fallen into the hands of cannibals."
“我反對您這話，”我答，“我們並不是落在吃人的野蠻人手裡！”
"Just because they don't make a habit of it," the Canadian replied in all seriousness, "doesn't mean they don't indulge from time to time. Who knows? Maybe these people have gone without fresh meat for a long while, and in that case three healthy, well-built specimens like the professor, his manservant, and me ---"
“一次送飯不能作為定論，”加拿大人很正經地答，“誰知道這些人是不是很久就沒有新鮮的肉吃了，真是這樣的話，像您教授，您的僕人和我，三個身體康健的人的肉……”
"Get rid of those ideas, Mr. Land," I answered the harpooner. "And above all, don't let them lead you to flare up against our hosts, which would only make our situation worse."
“尼德-蘭師傅，您不要這樣想，”我口答魚叉手，“您更不能從這個角度來反對我們的主人，這樣只能使情勢更加嚴重，更加不利。”
"Anyhow," the harpooner said, "I'm as hungry as all Hades, and dinner or breakfast, not one puny meal has arrived!"
“不管怎樣，”魚叉手說，“我肚子餓得要命，晚餐也好，今餐也好，還是不送來！”
"Mr. Land," I answered, "we have to adapt to the schedule on board, and I imagine our stomachs are running ahead of the chief cook's dinner bell."
“尼德-蘭師傅，”我答，“我們要遵照船上的規定，我想我們的胃口是走在用餐時間的前面了。”
"Well then, we'll adjust our stomachs to the chef's timetable!" Conseil replied serenely.
“是！我們把胃口擺在規定的餐時就好了！”康塞爾安靜地答。
"There you go again, Conseil my friend!" the impatient Canadian shot back. "You never allow yourself any displays of bile or attacks of nerves! You're everlastingly calm! You'd say your after-meal grace even if you didn't get any food for your before-meal blessing-- and you'd starve to death rather than complain!"
“康塞爾好朋友，在這件事上我佩服您，”性急的加拿大人答，“您不發愁，也不冒火！總是鎮定，若無其事！您可骼把飯後的禱告挪到飯前來念，寧願餓死，也不肯埋怨！”
"What good would it do?" Conseil asked.
“埋怨有什麼用呢？”康塞爾問。
"Complaining doesn't have to do good, it just feels good! And if these pirates--I say pirates out of consideration for the professor's feelings, since he doesn't want us to call them cannibals-- if these pirates think they're going to smother me in this cage without hearing what cusswords spice up my outbursts, they've got another think coming! Look here, Professor Aronnax, speak frankly. How long do you figure they'll keep us in this iron box?"
“至少總可以出口氣呀！能這樣就已經不錯了。如果這些海盜——我說海盜是尊重他們，並且我也不願意使教授不痛快，他不讓我叫他們吃人的野人——如果這些海盜認為他們把我關在這氣悶的籠子裡，而可以一點不聽到我、發脾氣的咒罵，那他們就弄錯了！好，阿龍納斯先生，請您老實說，您想他們會不會把我們長時間關在這鐵盒子裡？
"To tell the truth, friend Land, I know little more about it than you do."
“老實說，尼德-蘭好朋友，我跟您一樣，知道的不比您多。”
"But in a nutshell, what do you suppose is going on?"
“那麼，您就猜一猜，怎麼樣？”
"My supposition is that sheer chance has made us privy to an important secret. Now then, if the crew of this underwater boat have a personal interest in keeping that secret, and if their personal interest is more important than the lives of three men, I believe that our very existence is in jeopardy. If such is not the case, then at the first available opportunity, this monster that has swallowed us will return us to the world inhabited by our own kind."
“我想，這次偶然事件使我們知道了一個重大的秘密。如果潛水艇上的人認為這個秘密對他們有重大利害關係，一定要保守，如果這種利害關係比三個人的生命更要緊，那麼，我認為我們的生命就危險了。反過來，如果情形不是這樣，那麼，一有機會，這個吞食我們的怪物就可以把我們送回我們人類居住的大陸。”
"Unless they recruit us to serve on the crew," Conseil said, "and keep us here--"
“就怕他們把我們編人他們的船員名冊中了，”康塞爾說，“他們就這樣把我們留下來了……”
"Till the moment," Ned Land answered, "when some frigate that's faster or smarter than the Abraham Lincoln captures this den of buccaneers, then hangs all of us by the neck from the tip of a mainmast yardarm!"
“留下我們，”尼德-蘭答，“一直到有一艘比林肯號更快、或更靈巧的戰艦，破獲了這個匪巢，把巢中的人員和我們送到船上大桅的橫木上，讓大家自由自在，儘量呼吸一次空氣。”
"Well thought out, Mr. Land," I replied. "But as yet, I don't believe we've been tendered any enlistment offers. Consequently, it's pointless to argue about what tactics we should pursue in such a case. I repeat: let's wait, let's be guided by events, and let's do nothing, since right now there's nothing we can do."
“尼德-蘭師傅，您想得對，”我答，“可是，據我們知道，人家還沒有向我們提出關於這事的建議，我們現在就來討論應該採取哪一種辦法，是沒有用處的。我一再說，我們要等待，既然沒事就不必隨便找事。”
"On the contrary, professor," the harpooner replied, not wanting to give in. "There is something we can do."
“正相反！教授，”魚叉手答，他堅持自己的意見，“一“定要幹一下。”
"Oh? And what, Mr. Land?"
“哎！尼德-蘭師傅，幹什麼呀？”
"Break out of here!"
“我們逃。”
"Breaking out of a prison on shore is difficult enough, but with an underwater prison, it strikes me as completely unworkable."
“逃出陸上的監牢都很困難，何況逃出海底的監牢？我看絶對辦不到。”
"Come now, Ned my friend," Conseil asked, "how would you answer master's objection? I refuse to believe that an American is at the end of his tether."
“好吧，尼德-蘭，”康塞爾問，“您怎樣回敬先生的反對意見呢？我相信一個美洲人是不會弄到束手無策的！”
Visibly baffled, the harpooner said nothing. Under the conditions in which fate had left us, it was absolutely impossible to escape. But a Canadian's wit is half French, and Mr. Ned Land made this clear in his reply.
魚叉手顯然很為難，默不作聲。在目前的情況下，想逃出去，是一件絶對不可能的事。但一個加拿大人應當算做半個法國人，從尼德-蘭師傅的回答，就可以看出來。
"So, Professor Aronnax," he went on after thinking for a few moments, "you haven't figured out what people do when they can't escape from their prison?"
“那麼，阿龍納斯先生，”他思考了一會說，“您想想看，那無法逃出監牢的囚徒該怎麼辦呢？”
"No, my friend."
“想不出來，我的朋友。”
"Easy. They fix things so they stay there."
“這很簡單，就是自己想辦法留在裡面。”
"Of course!" Conseil put in. "Since we're deep in the ocean, being inside this boat is vastly preferable to being above it or below it!"
“對呀！”康塞爾說，“留在裡面總比留在上面或下面好些！”
"But we fix things by kicking out all the jailers, guards, and wardens," Ned Land added.
“不過，首先要將看守、警衛和把門的都趕出去。“尼德-蘭補充說。
"What's this, Ned?" I asked. "You'd seriously consider taking over this craft?"
“尼德，蘭，您說什麼？您真想奪取這只船嗎？
"Very seriously," the Canadian replied.
“真想。”加拿大人答。
"It's impossible."
“這是不可能的。”
"And why is that, sir? Some promising opportunity might come up, and I don't see what could stop us from taking advantage of it. If there are only about twenty men on board this machine, I don't think they can stave off two Frenchmen and a Canadian!"
“先生，為什麼不可能呢？說不定會碰到個把好機會。那時，我不覺得有什麼可以阻止我們不去利用它。如果這只機器船上只有二十個人，我想，他們是不能使兩個法國人和一個加拿大人退縮的！”
It seemed wiser to accept the harpooner's proposition than to debate it. Accordingly, I was content to reply:
接受魚叉手的提議比討論它好些。所以我只作了下面的回答：
"Let such circumstances come, Mr. Land, and we'll see. But until then, I beg you to control your impatience. We need to act shrewdly, and your flare-ups won't give rise to any promising opportunities. So swear to me that you'll accept our situation without throwing a tantrum over it."
“尼德-蘭師傅，到那時候我們再想辦法。不過，我求您，在機會到來以前，千萬不要性急，千萬要忍耐，我們只能有計劃有策略的行事，發脾氣是創造不了有利條件的。所以您的答應我，要暫時忍耐，不能過于激動。”
"I give you my word, professor," Ned Land replied in an unenthusiastic tone. "No vehement phrases will leave my mouth, no vicious gestures will give my feelings away, not even when they don't feed us on time."
“教授先生，我答應您不發脾氣。尼德蘭帶著不大能使人安心得語氣回答，”我不說一句粗話，也不露一個結果對我不利的粗暴動作，就是桌上的菜飯不按照心中想望的”時間端出來，我也同樣不動火。”
"I have your word, Ned," I answered the Canadian.
“尼德-蘭，這麼說，那就一言為定了。”我這樣回答了加拿大人。
Then our conversation petered out, and each of us withdrew into his own thoughts. For my part, despite the harpooner's confident talk, I admit that I entertained no illusions. I had no faith in those promising opportunities that Ned Land mentioned. To operate with such efficiency, this underwater boat had to have a sizeable crew, so if it came to a physical contest, we would be facing an overwhelming opponent. Besides, before we could do anything, we had to be free, and that we definitely were not. I didn't see any way out of this sheet-iron, hermetically sealed cell. And if the strange commander of this boat did have a secret to keep-- which seemed rather likely--he would never give us freedom of movement aboard his vessel. Now then, would he resort to violence in order to be rid of us, or would he drop us off one day on some remote coast? There lay the unknown. All these hypotheses seemed extremely plausible to me, and to hope for freedom through use of force, you had to be a harpooner.
隨後，我們的談話停止了，我們各自思考。至於我個人，我承認，不管魚叉手怎樣有信心，我對他的辦法絲毫沒有什麼幻想。我不承認會有像尼德-蘭所說的那些機會。這艘潛水艇既然能開得這樣穩穩當當的，上面一定有不少人，因此，萬一斗起來，我們碰到的對手是強大的。再說，最要緊的是能夠自由，可是我們現在根本就沒有自由。我簡。直想不出有什麼方法可以從這關閉得密密實實的鐵板房裡、逃出去。其次，這位古怪的船長只要有點保守秘密的意：思——至少看來是這樣——他決不讓我們隨便在船上自由行動。現在，他會不會用暴力把我們于掉，或者有一天把我們拋棄在某一個角落裡？這都是不可知的事。不過這些假設在我看來都十分可能，都可以講得通，只有那腦筋簡單盼魚叉手才指望能夠重新取得自己的自由。
I realized, moreover, that Ned Land's brooding was getting him madder by the minute. Little by little, I heard those aforesaid cusswords welling up in the depths of his gullet, and I saw his movements turn threatening again. He stood up, pacing in circles like a wild beast in a cage, striking the walls with his foot and fist. Meanwhile the hours passed, our hunger nagged unmercifully, and this time the steward did not appear. Which amounted to forgetting our castaway status for much too long, if they really had good intentions toward us.
我看得出尼德-蘭因為腦子裡想得太多，變得更加激動了。我漸漸聽到他喉嚨中咕咕着不知罵些什麼，我看見他的樣子愈來愈怕人。他站起來，像一隻關在籠中的老虎。轉來轉去，用腳踢用拳打牆壁。時間過得很快，大家感覺餓得厲害，這一回，侍者並沒有來。如果人家對我們真正懷着好意，那現在真是有些過于忽視我們受難人的處境了。
Tortured by the growling of his well-built stomach, Ned Land was getting more and more riled, and despite his word of honor, I was in real dread of an explosion when he stood in the presence of one of the men on board.
尼德-蘭的胃口很大，他餓得發慌，越來越按捺不住了，儘管他有言在先，我還是怕他一看見船上的人就要發：作。
For two more hours Ned Land's rage increased. The Canadian shouted and pleaded, but to no avail. The sheet-iron walls were deaf. I didn't hear a single sound inside this dead-seeming boat. The vessel hadn't stirred, because I obviously would have felt its hull vibrating under the influence of the propeller. It had undoubtedly sunk into the watery deep and no longer belonged to the outside world. All this dismal silence was terrifying.
又過了兩小時，尼德-蘭憤怒得更厲害了。他叫叫喊喊，但沒有用。鐵板牆是又聾又啞的。我甚至聽不到這只死氣沉沉的船上有一點聲響。船不動了，因為我不感覺到船身在推進器推動下所發生的震顫。它可能是潛入到大海的最深處，跟陸地毫無關係了。這種陰沉的寂靜真叫人駭怕。
As for our neglect, our isolation in the depths of this cell, I was afraid to guess at how long it might last. Little by little, hopes I had entertained after our interview with the ship's commander were fading away. The gentleness of the man's gaze, the generosity expressed in his facial features, the nobility of his bearing, all vanished from my memory. I saw this mystifying individual anew for what he inevitably must be: cruel and merciless. I viewed him as outside humanity, beyond all feelings of compassion, the implacable foe of his fellow man, toward whom he must have sworn an undying hate!
我們受人冷落，困守在這間房子裡，這樣下去究竟還有多久，我不敢設想。我們跟這只船的船長會見以後所產生的各種希望，現在漸漸破滅了。這個人溫和的眼光，慷慨的、夠，高雅的舉止都從我的記憶中消失了。現在，出現密我面前的卻是一個無情的、冷酷的怪人。我感到他是沒有入性、沒有一點同情心的人，是人類不可饒恕的敵人，他琳人懷有永遠不解的仇恨！
But even so, was the man going to let us die of starvation, locked up in this cramped prison, exposed to those horrible temptations to which people are driven by extreme hunger? This grim possibility took on a dreadful intensity in my mind, and fired by my imagination, I felt an unreasoning terror run through me. Conseil stayed calm. Ned Land bellowed.
但是，他把我們關在這狹小的牢房裡，不給我們飯吃。聽任我們因此鏈而走險，是不是存心要餓死我們呢，這個可怕的念頭在我心中是這樣強烈，我感到有一種莫名其妙的恐懼侵襲着我。康塞爾還是若無其事。尼德。蘭就像猛虎般在吼叫。
Just then a noise was audible outside.
這個時候，外面傳來了聲響。
Footsteps rang on the metal tiling. The locks were turned, the door opened, the steward appeared.
金屬地板上發出腳步聲。門鎖轉動了，門開了，侍者進來了。
Before I could make a single movement to prevent him, the Canadian rushed at the poor man, threw him down, held him by the throat. The steward was choking in the grip of those powerful hands.
我還沒來得及衝上去阻止他，加拿大人已經猛撲過去，抓住這個不幸的侍者，把他按倒，扼住他的喉嚨。侍者被他那有力的大手掐得都不能透氣了。
Conseil was already trying to loosen the harpooner's hands from his half-suffocated victim, and I had gone to join in the rescue, when I was abruptly nailed to the spot by these words pronounced in French:
康塞爾正要從魚叉手的雙手中把這個上氣不接下氣的侍者拉過來，我也正要去盡我的力量幫着他的時候，忽然我聽到下面用法語說的幾句話，我獃在那裡不動了：
"Calm down, Mr. Land! And you, professor, kindly listen to me!"
“您不要急，尼德-蘭師傅；您，教授先生，請聽我說！”