ON JANUARY 28, in latitude 9 degrees 4' north, when the Nautilus returned at noon to the surface of the sea, it lay in sight of land some eight miles to the west. Right off, I observed a cluster of mountains about 2,000 feet high, whose shapes were very whimsically sculpted. After our position fix, I reentered the lounge, and when our bearings were reported on the chart, I saw that we were off the island of Ceylon, that pearl dangling from the lower lobe of the Indian peninsula.
1月28日正午，當諾第留斯號浮上水面來的時候，它在北緯9度4分，望見西邊八海里遠有一塊陸地。我首先注意一群山嶺，這群山嶺約二千英呎高，山形起伏，很不整齊。測定了這陸地的方位後，我回到客廳中，把測好的經緯度跟地圖一對時，我發現我們是在錫蘭島面前了，它是掛在印度半島下端的一顆寶珠。
I went looking in the library for a book about this island, one of the most fertile in the world. Sure enough, I found a volume entitled Ceylon and the Singhalese by H. C. Sirr, Esq. Reentering the lounge, I first noted the bearings of Ceylon, on which antiquity lavished so many different names. It was located between latitude 5 degrees 55' and 9 degrees 49' north, and between longitude 79 degrees 42' and 82 degrees 4' east of the meridian of Greenwich; its length is 275 miles; its maximum width, 150 miles; its circumference, 900 miles; its surface area, 24,448 square miles, in other words, a little smaller than that of Ireland.
我到圖書室去找一部關於這座島的著作，它是地球上的島嶼中最富饒的一個島。我正好找到西爾所寫、題名為《錫蘭和錫蘭人的一部書。回到客廳中來，我首先記下錫蘭的方位，並且知道古時候這島有各種不同的名稱。它的位置是在北緯5度55分和9度49分2red，東經79度42分和82度4分之間，“島長二百七十五英里，最寬的地方一瓦五十英里，周圍丸首英里，面積二萬四千四百四十八平方英里，就是說，比愛爾蘭島面積小一些尼摩船長和他的副手這時候進來了。
Just then Captain Nemo and his chief officer appeared.
The captain glanced at the chart. Then, turning to me:
船長在地圖上看了一下，然後回過來對我說：”
"The island of Ceylon," he said, "is famous for its pearl fisheries. Would you be interested, Professor Aronnax, in visiting one of those fisheries?"
“錫蘭島：是以采珍珠聞名的地方。柯龍納斯先生，您高興去看採珠場嗎？”
"Certainly, captain."
“船長，當然高興。”
"Fine. It's easily done. Only, when we see the fisheries, we'll see no fishermen. The annual harvest hasn't yet begun. No matter. I'll give orders to make for the Gulf of Mannar, and we'll arrive there late tonight."
“好，這是容易的事。不過，我們僅能看到採珠場，卻看不見採珠人。每年定期的採珠現在還沒有開始。但這沒關係。我吩咐船駛到馬納爾灣，夜間我們就可以到達。”
The captain said a few words to his chief officer who went out immediately. Soon the Nautilus reentered its liquid element, and the pressure gauge indicated that it was staying at a depth of thirty feet.
船長對船副說了幾句話，船副立即出去。不久諾第留斯號潛入水中，壓力表指出它是在水深三十英呎的地方。
With the chart under my eyes, I looked for the Gulf of Mannar. I found it by the 9th parallel off the northwestern shores of Ceylon. It was formed by the long curve of little Mannar Island. To reach it we had to go all the way up Ceylon's west coast.
面前擺着地圖，我找馬納爾灣。我在錫蘭島的西北海岸，緯度9度上找到了。這海灣由馬納爾小島的延長海岸綫所形成。要到這灣，必須上溯錫蘭島整個西部海岸。
"Professor," Captain Nemo then told me, "there are pearl fisheries in the Bay of Bengal, the seas of the East Indies, the seas of China and Japan, plus those seas south of the United States, the Gulf of Panama and the Gulf of California; but it's off Ceylon that such fishing reaps its richest rewards. No doubt we'll be arriving a little early. Fishermen gather in the Gulf of Mannar only during the month of March, and for thirty days some 300 boats concentrate on the lucrative harvest of these treasures from the sea. Each boat is manned by ten oarsmen and ten fishermen. The latter divide into two groups, dive in rotation, and descend to a depth of twelve meters with the help of a heavy stone clutched between their feet and attached by a rope to their boat."
“教授，”尼摩船長這時說話了，“在孟加拉灣，在印度海，在中國海和日本海，在美洲南部的海，在巴拿馬灣，在加利福尼亞灣，都有人采珍珠，但採珠成績最優良的地方是在錫蘭島。我們來這裡，時候是早了一些。每年三月採珠人才齊集在馬納爾灣，為期整整有三十天，他們的三百隻船一齊做這種採取海中珠寶的有利事業。每隻船有十個划船手和十個採珠人。採珠人分做兩組，彼此輪流潛入水中，他們是用兩隻腳夾着一塊很重的石頭，再用一根長繩把他系在船上，他們下至十二米深的地方採珠。”
"You mean," I said, "that such primitive methods are still all that they use?"
“那麼，”我說，“他們總是使用這種原始方法嗎？”
"All," Captain Nemo answered me, "although these fisheries belong to the most industrialized people in the world, the English, to whom the Treaty of Amiens granted them in 1802."
“總是使用這種原始方法，”尼摩船長回答我，“雖然這些採珠場是屬於地球上最靈巧的人民一英國人——因為1802年的阿米恩條約①把採珠場轉讓給他們了。”
"Yet it strikes me that diving suits like yours could perform yeoman service in such work."
“不過，我覺得，像您使用的那種潛水衣對於採珠可以大有用處。”
"Yes, since those poor fishermen can't stay long underwater. On his voyage to Ceylon, the Englishman Percival made much of a Kaffir who stayed under five minutes without coming up to the surface, but I find that hard to believe. I know that some divers can last up to fifty-seven seconds, and highly skillful ones to eighty-seven; but such men are rare, and when the poor fellows climb back on board, the water coming out of their noses and ears is tinted with blood. I believe the average time underwater that these fishermen can tolerate is thirty seconds, during which they hastily stuff their little nets with all the pearl oysters they can tear loose. But these fishermen generally don't live to advanced age: their vision weakens, ulcers break out on their eyes, sores form on their bodies, and some are even stricken with apoplexy on the ocean floor."
“是的，很有用，因為那些可憐的採珠人不能在水底下留得很久，英國人培西華在他寫的錫蘭島遊記中，說有一個加非列利②人在水下留了五分鐘，沒有上水面來，這件事我覺得不甚可靠。我知道有些潛水人可以留到五十六秒，最有能耐的可以留到八十六秒，不過這種人是很少的，並且，回到船上來，這些可憐人的鼻孔和耳朵都流出帶血的水來……我認為這些採珠人可以留在水裡面忍受的平均時間為三十秒，在這三十秒內，他們得趕快把自己采得的珍珠貝塞在一個小網中。一般的說，這些採珠人不能活得很久，他們的眼力很早就衰退，眼睛上發生潰瘍，他們的身上有許多創傷，他們有時甚至于在水底下就中鳳了。”
"Yes," I said, "it's a sad occupation, and one that exists only to gratify the whims of fashion. But tell me, captain, how many oysters can a boat fish up in a workday?"
“是的，”我說，“這是一種淒慘的職業，這是為滿足少數人的偏好的。不過，船長，請您告訴我，一隻船一整天可以采得多少珍珠貝呢？”
"About 40,000 to 50,000. It's even said that in 1814, when the English government went fishing on its own behalf, its divers worked just twenty days and brought up 76,000,000 oysters."
“大約四萬至五萬左右。甚至有人說，1814年，英國政府實行公營採珠，它的採珠人在二十天的工作中，一共采得七千六百萬珍珠貝。”
"At least," I asked, "the fishermen are well paid, aren't they?"
“至少，”我問，“這些採珠人可以得到足夠的工資吧？”
"Hardly, professor. In Panama they make just $1.00 per week. In most places they earn only a penny for each oyster that has a pearl, and they bring up so many that have none!"
“哪能說足夠呢，教授。在巴拿馬，他們每星期得一元。 平常采到一個有珍珠的貝，他們才能得一分錢，何況他們采得的貝里面多數是沒有珍珠的！”
"Only one penny to those poor people who make their employers rich! That's atrocious!"
“這些可憐人，使他們的東家發了財，自己只能在采封一顆有珠子的貝才得到一分錢！真可恨！”
"On that note, professor," Captain Nemo told me, "you and your companions will visit the Mannar oysterbank, and if by chance some eager fisherman arrives early, well, we can watch him at work."
“教授，就這樣吧，”尼摩船長對我說，“您跟您的同伴們一同去參觀馬納爾的礁石岩脈，如果有早來的採珠人已經在那裡，那我們就看看他們采珍珠。”
"That suits me, captain."
“船長，就這麼辦吧。”
"By the way, Professor Aronnax, you aren't afraid of sharks, are you?"
“請問一下，阿龍納斯先生，您怕鮫魚嗎？”
"Sharks?" I exclaimed.
“鮫魚嗎？“我喊。
This struck me as a pretty needless question, to say the least.
這個問題，至少對我來說，沒有興味。
"Well?" Captain Nemo went on.
“怎樣？”尼摩船長立即又問。
"I admit, captain, I'm not yet on very familiar terms with that genus of fish."
“船長，我老實對您說，我沒有習慣跟這魚打交道。”
"We're used to them, the rest of us," Captain Nemo answered. "And in time you will be too. Anyhow, we'll be armed, and on our way we might hunt a man-eater or two. It's a fascinating sport. So, professor, I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."
“我們已經很習慣了，”尼摩船長回答，“過些時候，你們也會習慣的。此外，我們是帶著武器的，這樣，我們或者可以獵得一條鮫魚。那是很有興味的打獵。那麼，教授，明天，明天一清早再會吧。”
This said in a carefree tone, Captain Nemo left the lounge.
尼摩船長語氣從容地說了這話，他就離開了客廳。
If you're invited to hunt bears in the Swiss mountains, you might say: "Oh good, I get to go bear hunting tomorrow!" If you're invited to hunt lions on the Atlas plains or tigers in the jungles of India, you might say: "Ha! Now's my chance to hunt lions and tigers!" But if you're invited to hunt sharks in their native element, you might want to think it over before accepting.
As for me, I passed a hand over my brow, where beads of cold sweat were busy forming.
“我們要考慮一下，”我自言自語他說，“我們不要忙，到海底森林中打水獺，像我們在克利斯波島樹林中做的那樣。 可以去。但是，跑到海底下去，準知道會不會碰到鮫魚，那就不一樣了！”
"Let's think this over," I said to myself, "and let's take our time. Hunting otters in underwater forests, as we did in the forests of Crespo Island, is an acceptable activity. But to roam the bottom of the sea when you're almost certain to meet man-eaters in the neighborhood, that's another story! I know that in certain countries, particularly the Andaman Islands, Negroes don't hesitate to attack sharks, dagger in one hand and noose in the other; but I also know that many who face those fearsome animals don't come back alive. Besides, I'm not a Negro, and even if I were a Negro, in this instance I don't think a little hesitation on my part would be out of place."
我於是幻想著鮫魚了，想到它闊大的；有一排一排尖科牙齒的牙床，一下就可以把人咬為兩段，我腰上已經感到有點痛了。其次，尼摩船長提出這次令人為難的邀請時，他那種滿不在乎的樣子，我簡直猜不透！人們不是要以為這就等於要到樹下去捉一隻不咬人的狐狸那樣容易嗎？我心中想：“不錯！康塞爾一定不願意參加，這樣我就可以有藉口不去奉陪船長了。”至于尼德-蘭，我老實說，我覺得他去不去就不大靠得住。不管怎麼大的危險，對於他的戰鬥性總有一種誘惑力。
And there I was, fantasizing about sharks, envisioning huge jaws armed with multiple rows of teeth and capable of cutting a man in half. I could already feel a definite pain around my pelvic girdle. And how I resented the offhand manner in which the captain had extended his deplorable invitation! You would have thought it was an issue of going into the woods on some harmless fox hunt!
"Thank heavens!" I said to myself. "Conseil will never want to come along, and that'll be my excuse for not going with the captain."
As for Ned Land, I admit I felt less confident of his wisdom. Danger, however great, held a perennial attraction for his aggressive nature.
I went back to reading Sirr's book, but I leafed through it mechanically. Between the lines I kept seeing fearsome, wide-open jaws.
我又拿西爾的書來讀，但我只是無心地翻一翻。我在書中的字裡行間，看見那大大張開的怕人的牙床。
Just then Conseil and the Canadian entered with a calm, even gleeful air. Little did they know what was waiting for them.
這時候，康塞爾和尼德-蘭，神氣安靜，並且快活地走進來。他們不知道有什麼等待着他們。
"Ye gods, sir!" Ned Land told me. "Your Captain Nemo--the devil take him--has just made us a very pleasant proposition!"
“好哇，”尼德-蘭對我說，“先生，您那尼摩船長——一個鬼物！——向我們作了一個很客氣。的提議。”
"Oh!" I said "You know about--"
“啊！”我說，“你們知道……”
"With all due respect to master," Conseil replied, "the Nautilus's commander has invited us, together with master, for a visit tomorrow to Ceylon's magnificent pearl fisheries. He did so in the most cordial terms and conducted himself like a true gentleman."
“對不起先生，”康塞爾回答，“諾第留斯號船長請我們明天跟先生一齊去參觀錫蘭島很好看的採珠場。他說的話很漂亮，簡直是一位地道的紳士。”
"He didn't tell you anything else?"
“他對你們沒有說別的嗎？”
"Nothing, sir," the Canadian replied. "He said you'd already discussed this little stroll."
“先生，”加拿大人回答，“除了他已經給您講過的這次散步外，什麼也沒有說。”
"Indeed," I said. "But didn't he give you any details on--"
“是的，”我說，“他沒有對你們介紹詳細的情形，關於……”
"Not a one, Mr. Naturalist. You will be going with us, right?"
“沒有，生物學家。您跟我們一同去，是嗎？”
"Me? Why yes, certainly, of course! I can see that you like the idea, Mr. Land."
“我……當然！蘭師傅，我覺得您對這事很有興趣。”
"Yes! It will be a really unusual experience!"
“對了！這事很新奇，十分新奇。”
"And possibly dangerous!" I added in an insinuating tone.
“或者很危險呢！”我用暗示的語氣又加上一句。
"Dangerous?" Ned Land replied. "A simple trip to an oysterbank?"
“很危險！”尼德-蘭回答，“到珍珠貝礁石上走一走！”
Assuredly, Captain Nemo hadn't seen fit to plant the idea of sharks in the minds of my companions. For my part, I stared at them with anxious eyes, as if they were already missing a limb or two. Should I alert them? Yes, surely, but I hardly knew how to go about it.
一定是尼摩船長認為沒有必要讓我的同伴想到鮫魚，“所以他不對他們說。我眼光有些慌張地注視他們，好像他-們的肢體已經被咬走了一部分似的。我應該事先通知他們嗎？當然應該的，不過我不知道怎樣跟他們說才好。
"Would master," Conseil said to me, "give us some background on pearl fishing?"
“先生，”康塞爾對我說，“先生願意給我們講一些關於采珍珠的情形嗎？”
"On the fishing itself?" I asked. "Or on the occupational hazards that--"
“是講采珍珠這事情本身呢，”我問，“還是講有關…… 的故事呢？”
"On the fishing," the Canadian replied. "Before we tackle the terrain, it helps to be familiar with it."
“講采珍珠的事情，“加拿大人回答，“到實地去看之前，先知道一點是好的。”
"All right, sit down, my friends, and I'll teach you everything I myself have just been taught by the Englishman H. C. Sirr!"
“好吧，朋友們，你們坐下，我從英國人西爾寫的書中所知道的一切，都講給你們聽吧。”
Ned and Conseil took seats on a couch, and right off the Canadian said to me:
尼德-蘭和康塞爾在長沙發上坐下，加拿大人首先對我說：
"Sir, just what is a pearl exactly?"
“先生，珍珠是什麼呢？”
"My gallant Ned," I replied, "for poets a pearl is a tear from the sea; for Orientals it's a drop of solidified dew; for the ladies it's a jewel they can wear on their fingers, necks, and ears that's oblong in shape, glassy in luster, and formed from mother-of-pearl; for chemists it's a mixture of calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate with a little gelatin protein; and finally, for naturalists it's a simple festering secretion from the organ that produces mother-of-pearl in certain bivalves."
“老實的尼德，”我回答；“對詩人來說，珍珠是大海的眼淚；對東方人來說，它是一滴固體化的露水；對婦女們來說，它是她們帶在手指上。脖子上或耳朵上的，長圓形，透明色，螺鈾質的飾物；對化學家來說，它是帶了些膠質的磷酸鹽和碳酸鈣的混合物；最後，對生物學家來說，它不過是某種雙殻類動物產生螺鋼質的器官的病態分泌物。”
"Branch Mollusca," Conseil said, "class Acephala, order Testacea."
“軟體門，”康塞爾說，“無頭綱，甲殼屬。”
"Correct, my scholarly Conseil. Now then, those Testacea capable of producing pearls include rainbow abalone, turbo snails, giant clams, and saltwater scallops--briefly, all those that secrete mother-of-pearl, in other words, that blue, azure, violet, or white substance lining the insides of their valves."
“不過，”我又說，一在體內能凝結成珍珠的最好軟體動物，就是那珍珠貝，侞白珠貝，寶貴的小紋貝。珍珠不過是成為圓形的螺鈾體的凝結物。它或者粘在珠貝的殻上，或者嵌在動物本身的皺摺上。在介殼上的是粘着固定的，在肉上的是活動自由的。不過，珍珠總有一個小小的固體物，或一顆石卵，或一粒沙，作為它的核心，螺鈾質在好幾年中間連續不停地、薄薄一層地環繞着這核心累積起來。”
"Are mussels included too?" the Canadian asked.
"Yes! The mussels of certain streams in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Saxony, Bohemia, and France."
"Good!" the Canadian replied. "From now on we'll pay closer attention to 'em."
"But," I went on, "for secreting pearls, the ideal mollusk is the pearl oyster Meleagrina margaritifera, that valuable shellfish. Pearls result simply from mother-of-pearl solidifying into a globular shape. Either they stick to the oyster's shell, or they become embedded in the creature's folds. On the valves a pearl sticks fast; on the flesh it lies loose. But its nucleus is always some small, hard object, say a sterile egg or a grain of sand, around which the mother-of-pearl is deposited in thin, concentric layers over several years in succession."
"Can one find several pearls in the same oyster?" Conseil asked.
“人們可以在同一個貝中，找到好幾顆珍珠嗎？”康塞爾們。
"Yes, my boy. There are some shellfish that turn into real jewel coffers. They even mention one oyster, about which I remain dubious, that supposedly contained at least 150 sharks."
“可以的、老實人。有些小紋貝，簡直就是一個珍珠筐。 有人甚至這樣說，一個珍珠貝里面——這點我很懷疑： 含有不下于一百五十個鮫魚。”
"150 sharks!" Ned Land yelped.
“一百五十個鮫魚？“尼德-蘭喊。
"Did I say sharks?" I exclaimed hastily. "I meant 150 pearls. Sharks wouldn't make sense."
“我是說鮫魚來着嗎？”我急忙喊道，“我是要說一百五十個珍珠。說鮫魚那就沒有意義了。”
"Indeed," Conseil said. "But will master now tell us how one goes about extracting these pearls?"
“正是，”康塞爾說，“先生現在可以讓我們知道用什麼方法把珍珠取出來嗎？”
"One proceeds in several ways, and often when pearls stick to the valves, fishermen even pull them loose with pliers. But usually the shellfish are spread out on mats made from the esparto grass that covers the beaches. Thus they die in the open air, and by the end of ten days they've rotted sufficiently. Next they're immersed in huge tanks of salt water, then they're opened up and washed. At this point the sorters begin their twofold task. First they remove the layers of mother-of-pearl, which are known in the industry by the names legitimate silver, bastard white, or bastard black, and these are shipped out in cases weighing 125 to 150 kilograms. Then they remove the oyster's meaty tissue, boil it, and finally strain it, in order to extract even the smallest pearls."
“把珍珠取出來有好幾種方法，珍珠粘在殻上的時候，採珠人就時常用鉗子把它突出來。不過，最平常的辦法是把小紋貝攤在海岸邊的草蓆上面。它們這樣擺在露夭中就死了，十天後，它們到了相當腐敗的程度了；於是把它們浸在寬大的海水池沼裡面，然後打開它們，洗刷它們。就在這個時候，進行雙重的刮削工作。首先，把商業中稱為‘真銀白混雜白，和-混雜黑，的螺鈾片一類一類分開，分盛在一百二十五公斤到一百五十公斤的箱子裡。然後把珍珠貝的腺組織取開，把它煎煮，用篩子篩，把最小的珍珠都取出來。”
"Do the prices of these pearls differ depending on their size?" Conseil asked.
“珍珠的價格是看它們的大小嗎？”康塞爾問。
"Not only on their size," I replied, "but also according to their shape, their water--in other words, their color--and their orient-- in other words, that dappled, shimmering glow that makes them so delightful to the eye. The finest pearls are called virgin pearls, or paragons; they form in isolation within the mollusk's tissue. They're white, often opaque but sometimes of opalescent transparency, and usually spherical or pear-shaped. The spherical ones are made into bracelets; the pear-shaped ones into earrings, and since they're the most valuable, they're priced individually. The other pearls that stick to the oyster's shell are more erratically shaped and are priced by weight. Finally, classed in the lowest order, the smallest pearls are known by the name seed pearls; they're priced by the measuring cup and are used mainly in the creation of embroidery for church vestments."
“不僅看它們的大小，”我回答，“並且看它們的形狀，看它們的水質，就是看它們的顏色，看它們的明亮——也就是看那種迷人眼睛的變化不定的亮光。最美麗的珍珠稱為童貞珠或模範珠；它們在軟體動物的纖維上孤立長成；它們是白色的，時常不透明，但有的是蛋白的透明，最常有的形狀是球形或梨形。球形的，做手錫；梨形的，做耳環；因為這是最寶貴的珍珠，它們論粒賣。其他的珍珠粘在貝殼上，形狀比較不規律，它們論重量賣。最後，小珍珠是分在低級的一類，稱為小粒。它們論堆賣。”
"But it must be a long, hard job, sorting out these pearls by size," the Canadian said.
"No, my friend. That task is performed with eleven strainers, or sieves, that are pierced with different numbers of holes. Those pearls staying in the strainers with twenty to eighty holes are in the first order. Those not slipping through the sieves pierced with 100 to 800 holes are in the second order. Finally, those pearls for which one uses strainers pierced with 900 to 1,000 holes make up the seed pearls."
"How ingenious," Conseil said, "to reduce dividing and classifying pearls to a mechanical operation. And could master tell us the profits brought in by harvesting these banks of pearl oysters?"
"According to Sirr's book," I replied, "these Ceylon fisheries are farmed annually for a total profit of 3,000,000 man-eaters."
"Francs!" Conseil rebuked.
"Yes, francs! 3,000,000 francs!" I went on. "But I don't think these fisheries bring in the returns they once did. Similarly, the Central American fisheries used to make an annual profit of 4,000,000 francs during the reign of King Charles V, but now they bring in only two-thirds of that amount. All in all, it's estimated that 9,000,000 francs is the current yearly return for the whole pearl-harvesting industry."
"But," Conseil asked, "haven't certain famous pearls been quoted at extremely high prices?"
"Yes, my boy. They say Julius Caesar gave Servilia a pearl worth 120,000 francs in our currency."
"I've even heard stories," the Canadian said, "about some lady in ancient times who drank pearls in vinegar."
"Cleopatra," Conseil shot back.
"It must have tasted pretty bad," Ned Land added.
"Abominable, Ned my friend," Conseil replied. "But when a little glass of vinegar is worth 1,500,000 francs, its taste is a small price to pay."
"I'm sorry I didn't marry the gal," the Canadian said, throwing up his hands with an air of discouragement.
"Ned Land married to Cleopatra?" Conseil exclaimed.
"But I was all set to tie the knot, Conseil," the Canadian replied in all seriousness, "and it wasn't my fault the whole business fell through. I even bought a pearl necklace for my fiancée, Kate Tender, but she married somebody else instead. Well, that necklace cost me only $1.50, but you can absolutely trust me on this, professor, its pearls were so big, they wouldn't have gone through that strainer with twenty holes."
"My gallant Ned," I replied, laughing, "those were artificial pearls, ordinary glass beads whose insides were coated with Essence of Orient."
"Wow!" the Canadian replied. "That Essence of Orient must sell for quite a large sum."
"As little as zero! It comes from the scales of a European carp, it's nothing more than a silver substance that collects in the water and is preserved in ammonia. It's worthless."
"Maybe that's why Kate Tender married somebody else," replied Mr. Land philosophically.
"But," I said, "getting back to pearls of great value, I don't think any sovereign ever possessed one superior to the pearl owned by Captain Nemo."
"This one?" Conseil said, pointing to a magnificent jewel in its glass case.
"Exactly. And I'm certainly not far off when I estimate its value at 2,000,000 . . . uh . . ."
"Francs!" Conseil said quickly.
"Yes," I said, "2,000,000 francs, and no doubt all it cost our captain was the effort to pick it up."
"Ha!" Ned Land exclaimed. "During our stroll tomorrow, who says we won't run into one just like it?"
"Bah!" Conseil put in.
"And why not?"
"What good would a pearl worth millions do us here on the Nautilus?"
"Here, no," Ned Land said. "But elsewhere. . . ."
"Oh! Elsewhere!" Conseil put in, shaking his head.
"In fact," I said, "Mr. Land is right. And if we ever brought back to Europe or America a pearl worth millions, it would make the story of our adventures more authentic--and much more rewarding."
"That's how I see it," the Canadian said.
"But," said Conseil, who perpetually returned to the didactic side of things, "is this pearl fishing ever dangerous?"
“不過，”康塞爾說，“采珍珠很危險嗎？”
"No," I replied quickly, "especially if one takes certain precautions."
“不，”我急急地回答，“要是事前採取一些預防辦法”，就更沒有什麼危險。”
"What risks would you run in a job like that?" Ned Land said. "Swallowing a few gulps of salt water?"
“這種職業有什麼冒險的呢？”尼德-蘭說，“頂多喝幾口海水罷了！”
"Whatever you say, Ned." Then, trying to imitate Captain Nemo's carefree tone, I asked, "By the way, gallant Ned, are you afraid of sharks?"
“尼德-蘭，就是跟你說的那樣，”我也試用尼摩船長滿不在乎的語氣來說，“老實的尼德，我問你，你怕鮫魚嗎？”
"Me?" the Canadian replied. "I'm a professional harpooner! It's my job to make a mockery of them!"
“我，怕？“加拿大人回答，“職業的魚叉手！捕捉它們是我的本行哩！”
"It isn't an issue," I said, "of fishing for them with a swivel hook, hoisting them onto the deck of a ship, chopping off the tail with a sweep of the ax, opening the belly, ripping out the heart, and tossing it into the sea."
“我不是說拿大鈎鈎它們，，我說，“把它們拉到船甲板上來，用斧子砍斷它們的尾巴，割開它們的肚腹，挖出它們的心肝扔到海裡面去！”
"So it's an issue of . . . ?"
“那是說，碰見……？”
"Yes, precisely."
“正是。”
"In the water?"
“在水中碰見嗎？”
"In the water."
“在水中碰見。”
"Ye gods, just give me a good harpoon! You see, sir, these sharks are badly designed. They have to roll their bellies over to snap you up, and in the meantime . . ."
“手拿一很好魚叉，不：先生，您知道，鮫魚的形態是夭生有缺點的。它們要咬人的話，先得把肚子翻轉，倒過身子來，在這個時候……”
Ned Land had a way of pronouncing the word "snap" that sent chills down the spine.
尼德。蘭帶某種口氣說出這個“咬”字，簡直使人脊背上都發涼了。
"Well, how about you, Conseil? What are your feelings about these man-eaters?"
“康塞爾，你呢，你覺得鮫魚怎樣？”
"Me?" Conseil said. "I'm afraid I must be frank with master."
“我對先生總是但白說實話的。”康塞爾說。
Good for you, I thought.
我心中想：“這樣就好了。”
"If master faces these sharks," Conseil said, "I think his loyal manservant should face them with him!"
“如果先生去攻打鮫魚，”康塞爾說，“我想性的助手有什麼理由不跟他一起去攻打它們！”