在這次大風暴之後，我們的船被拋到東方去了。在紐約或聖勞輪斯河口附近陸地逃走的一切希望都消滅了。可憐的尼德十分失望，他像尼摩船長一樣孤獨，不理人。康塞爾和我，我們再不離開，時常在一起。
IN THE AFTERMATH of this storm, we were thrown back to the east. Away went any hope of escaping to the landing places of New York or the St. Lawrence. In despair, poor Ned went into seclusion like Captain Nemo. Conseil and I no longer left each other.
我上面說過，諾第留斯號躲到東方去。更正確一點，我應當說是躲到東北方去。幾天來，它有時在水面上漂流，有時在水底下行駛，在航海家十分懼怕的濃霧中間沉浮不定。這些濃霧的發生主要由於冰雪融解，使大氣極端潮濕。有多少船隻在這一帶海中找尋岸上模糊不清的燈火的時候就沉沒了！有多少災禍由於這些陰暗的霧氣造成！在那些暗礁上，回潮的聲音被風聲所淹沒，因而多少船隻未能避免觸礁的厄運，在船隻之間，儘管它們有表示方位的燈光，儘管它們鳴笛相告，敲鐘報警，仍然發生了多少次相撞。
As I said, the Nautilus veered to the east. To be more accurate, I should have said to the northeast. Sometimes on the surface of the waves, sometimes beneath them, the ship wandered for days amid these mists so feared by navigators. These are caused chiefly by melting ice, which keeps the air extremely damp. How many ships have perished in these waterways as they tried to get directions from the hazy lights on the coast! How many casualties have been caused by these opaque mists! How many collisions have occurred with these reefs, where the breaking surf is covered by the noise of the wind! How many vessels have rammed each other, despite their running lights, despite the warnings given by their bosun's pipes and alarm bells!
所以，這一帶海底的情形真像是一所戰場，戰敗者靜默地躺在那裡。有一些已經朽爛了，另一些還嶄新，它們的鐵製部分和銅質船底反映出我們探照燈的光輝。這些船隻中間，有多少在統計表中特別指出的危險地點——種族角、聖-保羅島、美島峽、聖-勞輪斯河口，連同它們的船員，它們的乘客，一齊沉沒了！
So the floor of this sea had the appearance of a battlefield where every ship defeated by the ocean still lay, some already old and encrusted, others newer and reflecting our beacon light on their ironwork and copper undersides. Among these vessels, how many went down with all hands, with their crews and hosts of immigrants, at these trouble spots so prominent in the statistics: Cape Race, St. Paul Island, the Strait of Belle Isle, the St. Lawrence estuary! And in only a few years, how many victims have been furnished to the obituary notices by the Royal Mail, Inman, and Montreal lines; by vessels named the Solway, the Isis, the Paramatta, the Hungarian, the Canadian, the Anglo-Saxon, the Humboldt, and the United States, all run aground; by the Arctic and the Lyonnais, sunk in collisions; by the President, the Pacific, and the City of Glasgow, lost for reasons unknown; in the midst of their gloomy rubble, the Nautilus navigated as if passing the dead in review!
5月15日，我們是在紐芬蘭島暗礁脈的極南端。暗礁脈是海水沖積的結果，是一大堆有機體的渣滓殘骸，它們被大西洋暖流從赤道一路輸送過來；或被寒流夾帶，從北極沿美洲海岸流下來。這裡還累積起由那冰雪的崩裂沖刷下來的漂流石岩。這裡形成了戍億成萬死亡的魚類，軟體類或植蟲類的骸骨堆積場。
By May 15 we were off the southern tip of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. These banks are the result of marine sedimentation, an extensive accumulation of organic waste brought either from the equator by the Gulf Stream's current, or from the North Pole by the countercurrent of cold water that skirts the American coast. Here, too, erratically drifting chunks collect from the ice breakup. Here a huge boneyard forms from fish, mollusks, and zoophytes dying over it by the billions.
紐芬蘭島暗礁脈間，海水並不很深，大約至多不過幾百米。但向南一點，海底就突然下陷，形成一個深三千米的澗袕。在這裡，暖流就擴大了，它的水流完全散開了。它的速度減低，它的溫度下降，它變為海了。
The sea is of no great depth at the Grand Banks. A few hundred fathoms at best. But to the south there is a deep, suddenly occurring depression, a 3,000-meter pit. Here the Gulf Stream widens. Its waters come to full bloom. It loses its speed and temperature, but it turns into a sea.
被諾第留斯號駛過所驚嚇的魚類中間，我舉出硬鰭海兔；身長一米，脊背灰黑，肚腹橙黃，它對於夫妻愛情很是忠實——它雖然給自己的同類作了榜樣，但並不被同類所模仿，有一條身材長大的油尼納克魚，是一種翡翠色的酥魚，味道很美。有眼睛圓大的卡拉克魚，頭有點像狗的腦袋。有奇形鯽魚，像蛇一樣，是卵生的魚。有彈形蝦虎魚，或河沙魚，長兩分米，黑色。有長尾魚，尾很長，發出銀色的光輝，是速度很快的魚，一直可以跑到極北的海中去。
Among the fish that the Nautilus startled on its way, I'll mention a one-meter lumpfish, blackish on top with orange on the belly and rare among its brethren in that it practices monogamy, a good-sized eelpout, a type of emerald moray whose flavor is excellent, wolffish with big eyes in a head somewhat resembling a canine's, viviparous blennies whose eggs hatch inside their bodies like those of snakes, bloated gobio (or black gudgeon) measuring two decimeters, grenadiers with long tails and gleaming with a silvery glow, speedy fish venturing far from their High Arctic seas.
船上魚網也打到一條大膽、勇敢、強悍、多肉的魚，這魚頭上有刺，鰭上有針，是長二至三米的海中蝎子，它是奇形鯽魚、鱈魚和鮭魚的死敵；它是北方海中的刺鱔魚，身上多瘤，栗子色，鯨紅色。諾第留斯號的打魚人費了些工夫才把這魚捉到手：這魚由於鰓蓋結構特殊，接觸乾燥的空氣後呼吸器官們得保全，因此它離開海水，還可以活一些時候。
Our nets also hauled in a bold, daring, vigorous, and muscular fish armed with prickles on its head and stings on its fins, a real scorpion measuring two to three meters, the ruthless enemy of cod, blennies, and salmon; it was the bullhead of the northerly seas, a fish with red fins and a brown body covered with nodules. The Nautilus's fishermen had some trouble getting a grip on this animal, which, thanks to the formation of its gill covers, can protect its respiratory organs from any parching contact with the air and can live out of water for a good while.
我現在舉出一些叢魚，這是在北極海中長久陪伴着船隻的小魚。銀白尖嘴魚，是大西洋北部特產的魚，還有“位斯加斯”笠子魚。我看見了鷹魚類，這是鰲魚的一種，它們特別喜歡居住在這一帶水中：在這紐芬蘭島暗礁脈上，簡直是看不完；打不盡。
And I'll mention--for the record--some little banded blennies that follow ships into the northernmost seas, sharp-snouted carp exclusive to the north Atlantic, scorpionfish, and lastly the gadoid family, chiefly the cod species, which I detected in their waters of choice over these inexhaustible Grand Banks.
人們可以說，這些鰲魚是山中的魚，因為紐芬蘭島不過是一座海底大山。當諾第留斯號從它們擁擠的隊伍中間打開一條道路的時候，康塞爾不能不說出這話來：
Because Newfoundland is simply an underwater peak, you could call these cod mountain fish. While the Nautilus was clearing a path through their tight ranks, Conseil couldn't refrain from making this comment:
“呀！鱉魚哩！”他說，“我以為鱉魚是跟蝶魚和靴底魚一般板平的呢？”
"Mercy, look at these cod!" he said. "Why, I thought cod were flat, like dab or sole!"
“你大天真了！”我喊道，“鱉魚只在雜貨鋪中是乎板的，那是人家把它們割開了擺出來的。但在水裡面，它們跟鰥魚類一樣，是紡錘形的魚，完全便于水中穿行。”
"Innocent boy!" I exclaimed. "Cod are flat only at the grocery store, where they're cut open and spread out on display. But in the water they're like mullet, spindle-shaped and perfectly built for speed."
“我相信是這樣，先生，”康塞爾回答，“這麼多！烏雲一般！螞蟻窩一般！”
"I can easily believe master," Conseil replied. "But what crowds of them! What swarms!"
“唆！我的朋友，如果沒有它們的敵人笠子魚和人類，它們可能更多呢！你知道在單單一條母鱉魚身上有多少卵嗎？”
"Bah! My friend, there'd be many more without their enemies, scorpionfish and human beings! Do you know how many eggs have been counted in a single female?"
“我們儘量地說吧，”康塞爾回答，“五十萬。”
"I'll go all out," Conseil replied. "500,000."
“一千一百萬，我的朋友。”
"11,000,000, my friend."
“一千一百萬，除非我親自計算過，否則我決不能相信。”
"11,000,000! I refuse to accept that until I count them myself."
“康塞爾，你算去吧。你可能更快地相信我的諾了。本來，法國人，英國人，美國人，丹麥人，挪威人，打鱉魚都是上千上萬打的。消費鱉魚的數量是巨大無比的，如果不是這種魚有這樣驚人的繁殖力，海中早就沒有它們了。比如單單在英國和美國，有五千隻船由七萬五千水手駕駛，專供打鱉魚之用。平均每一隻船可以打到四萬條，一共就是二十萬條。在挪威沿海的情形也一樣。”
"So count them, Conseil. But it would be less work to believe me. Besides, Frenchmen, Englishmen, Americans, Danes, and Norwegians catch these cod by the thousands. They're eaten in prodigious quantities, and without the astonishing fertility of these fish, the seas would soon be depopulated of them. Accordingly, in England and America alone, 5,000 ships manned by 75,000 seamen go after cod. Each ship brings back an average catch of 4,400 fish, making 22,000,000. Off the coast of Norway, the total is the same."
“好，”康塞爾回答，“那我相信先生的活。我不去算它們了。”
"Fine," Conseil replied, "I'll take master's word for it. I won't count them."
“算什麼呢？”
"Count what?"
“就是那一千一百萬隻卵。但我要特別提一句——”
"Those 11,000,000 eggs. But I'll make one comment."
“特別提什麼？”
"What's that?"
“就是，如果所有的卵都能成長，那麼四條母鰲魚即可以供應英國、美國和挪威了。”
"If all their eggs hatched, just four codfish could feed England, America, and Norway."
當我們掠過紐芬蘭島暗礁脈時，我看得很清楚每隻船放下來的十來根長釣絲，上面裝有二百個鈎餌，每根釣絲的一端用小錨鈎住，由固定在浮標上的綫把它拉在水面上。諾第留斯號在這水底線網中間很巧妙地駛過去。
As we skimmed the depths of the Grand Banks, I could see perfectly those long fishing lines, each armed with 200 hooks, that every boat dangled by the dozens. The lower end of each line dragged the bottom by means of a small grappling iron, and at the surface it was secured to the buoy-rope of a cork float. The Nautilus had to maneuver shrewdly in the midst of this underwater spiderweb.
“占在許多船隻往來的這一帶海中停得不久，它直往北緯42度上駛。那是跟紐芬蘭的聖-約翰港和內心港在同一緯度，內心港是橫過大西洋海底電線的終點。
But the ship didn't stay long in these heavily traveled waterways. It went up to about latitude 42 degrees. This brought it abreast of St. John's in Newfoundland and Heart's Content, where the Atlantic Cable reaches its end point.
諾第留斯號並不繼續往北，它向東駛，好像它要沿著海底電線，作為電線柱的暗礁高地駛去；這些高地經過多次的探測，高低起伏都有很確切的記錄。
Instead of continuing north, the Nautilus took an easterly heading, as if to go along this plateau on which the telegraph cable rests, where multiple soundings have given the contours of the terrain with the utmost accuracy.
那是5月17日，距內心港約五百海里，在二千八百米深的地方，我看見放在侮底下的電線。康塞爾，我沒有預先告訴池，看見電線，起初認為是一條巨大的海蛇，打算按照他平常的方法，把它分類。但我很快使這老實人明白過來，同時為安慰他的苦惱起見，我給他談了這條海底電線裝設的特殊過程。
It was on May 17, about 500 miles from Heart's Content and 2,800 meters down, that I spotted this cable lying on the seafloor. Conseil, whom I hadn't alerted, mistook it at first for a gigantic sea snake and was gearing up to classify it in his best manner. But I enlightened the fine lad and let him down gently by giving him various details on the laying of this cable.
第一條海底電線是在1857年和1858年間裝設的，但傳達了四百次左右的電報後，就不能用了。1863年工程師們製造一條新綫，長三千四百公里，貢四千五百噸，由大東方號裝運。但這次的裝設又失敗了。
The first cable was put down during the years 1857-1858; but after transmitting about 400 telegrams, it went dead. In 1863 engineers built a new cable that measured 3,400 kilometers, weighed 4,500 metric tons, and was shipped aboard the Great Eastern. This attempt also failed.
可是5月25日，諾第留斯號下降到三千八百三十二米深的地方，就是在裝設失敗、電線中斷的地點。這地點距愛爾蘭海岸六百三十八海里。當時人們查出下午兩點跟歐洲的電報交通就中斷了。船上的電氣工人決定把綫拉上來之前，先把它割斷，晚上十一點，他們把損壞部分的電線拉上來。他們重新做了一個聯絡和接線，又把綫放到海底去。可是過了幾天，綫又斷了，並且不可能把它從海底收回。
Now then, on May 25 while submerged to a depth of 3,836 meters, the Nautilus lay in precisely the locality where this second cable suffered the rupture that ruined the undertaking. It happened 638 miles from the coast of Ireland. At around two o'clock in the afternoon, all contact with Europe broke off. The electricians on board decided to cut the cable before fishing it up, and by eleven o'clock that evening they had retrieved the damaged part. They repaired the joint and its splice; then the cable was resubmerged. But a few days later it snapped again and couldn't be recovered from the ocean depths.
美國人並不因此就失望。倡辦海底電線的人，大膽的西留斯-費爾提，把自己的全部財產投到裡面去，同時，又發出募股新辦法。新股款立即募足。另一條海底線在最優良的條件下裝備起來。伶電的鋼絲包在膠皮裡面，完全絶緣，先由纖維做的帶子纏裹，周密保護，外面再用金屬套管包起來。大東方號于1866年7月13日開出，到海上裝設電線。
These Americans refused to give up. The daring Cyrus Field, who had risked his whole fortune to promote this undertaking, called for a new bond issue. It sold out immediately. Another cable was put down under better conditions. Its sheaves of conducting wire were insulated within a gutta-percha covering, which was protected by a padding of textile material enclosed in a metal sheath. The Great Eastern put back to sea on July 13, 1866.
裝設進行相當順利；可是發生了意外事件。有好幾次，把綫放開來裝的時候，電氣工人檢查出線上有新釘進去的人釘目的在損毀裡面的銅絲，使它不能傳電。安德生船長，他的宮佐，他的工程師，一道開會，考慮這事，他們貼出佈告說，如果罪人當時在船上被拿獲，他將不經審判，立即投入海中。自後，這種犯罪行為就不再發生。
The operation proceeded apace. Yet there was one hitch. As they gradually unrolled this third cable, the electricians observed on several occasions that someone had recently driven nails into it, trying to damage its core. Captain Anderson, his officers, and the engineers put their heads together, then posted a warning that if the culprit were detected, he would be thrown overboard without a trial. After that, these villainous attempts were not repeated.
7月23日，大東方號把海底線裝到了只距紐芬蘭島八i公里的時候，人們從愛爾蘭打電報給它，說普魯土和奧地利在薩多瓦戰事後已經成立了停戰協定。17日，它在濃霧中安裝到內心港。海底電線的工作順利地完成了。第一封海底電報是青年的美洲向老年的歐洲發出的刁：為時人所瞭解的下面幾句言詞：“光榮是屬於天上的上帝，和平是屬於地上的善良的人們。”
By July 23 the Great Eastern was lying no farther than 800 kilometers from Newfoundland when it received telegraphed news from Ireland of an armistice signed between Prussia and Austria after the Battle of Sadova. Through the mists on the 27th, it sighted the port of Heart's Content. The undertaking had ended happily, and in its first dispatch, young America addressed old Europe with these wise words so rarely understood: "Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will."
我不能想象看見的海底電線仍是它原來的樣子，這條長蛇由介殼的殘體掩蔽起來，到處叢生着有孔蟲，外面封上了一層石質的粘膠，保護它不受有鑽穿力的軟體動物的侵害。它安靜地躺在海底，不受海水波動的影響，只是感到從美州到歐州要百分之三十二秒鐘順利傳達電報的輕微電壓。這條海底電線可以經久耐用，因為人們指出，樹膠外套留在海水中，變得更加優良，更加堅固了。
I didn't expect to find this electric cable in mint condition, as it looked on leaving its place of manufacture. The long snake was covered with seashell rubble and bristling with foraminifera; a crust of caked gravel protected it from any mollusks that might bore into it. It rested serenely, sheltered from the sea's motions, under a pressure favorable to the transmission of that electric spark that goes from America to Europe in 32/100 of a second. This cable will no doubt last indefinitely because, as observers note, its gutta-percha casing is improved by a stay in salt water.
並且，在這選擇得十分合適的暗礁高地上，海底線並沒有沉到它能被衝斷的深水層中去。諾第留斯號沿電線到了最深的水底，達到四千四百三十一米的深處，電線安置在那裡，一點不顯出拖拉的痕跡。然後我們走近1863年意外事件發生的地點。
Besides, on this well-chosen plateau, the cable never lies at depths that could cause a break. The Nautilus followed it to its lowest reaches, located 4,431 meters down, and even there it rested without any stress or strain. Then we returned to the locality where the 1863 accident had taken place.
這裡的海底形成一個闊一百二十公里的廣大山谷，在山谷上面，就是把勃朗峰放下去，山峰也還露不出水面來．山谷在東邊有一道高二千米的峭壁把它擋住。我們于26日到了這山谷，諾第留斯號距愛爾蘭只有一百五十公里了。
There the ocean floor formed a valley 120 kilometers wide, into which you could fit Mt. Blanc without its summit poking above the surface of the waves. This valley is closed off to the east by a sheer wall 2,000 meters high. We arrived there on May 28, and the Nautilus lay no farther than 150 kilometers from Ireland.
尼摩船長是要上溯到不列顛群島靠陸嗎？不是。十分出我意外，他又向南下駛，回到歐洲海中來。在繞過翡翠島的時的嗎？
Would Captain Nemo head up north and beach us on the British Isles? No. Much to my surprise, he went back down south and returned to European seas. As we swung around the Emerald Isle, I spotted Cape Clear for an instant, plus the lighthouse on Fastnet Rock that guides all those thousands of ships setting out from Glasgow or Liverpool.
An important question then popped into my head.
Would the Nautilus dare to tackle the English Channel? Ned Land (who promptly reappeared after we hugged shore) never stopped questioning me. What could I answer him? Captain Nemo remained invisible. After giving the Canadian a glimpse of American shores, was he about to show me the coast of France?
But the Nautilus kept gravitating southward. On May 30, in sight of Land's End, it passed between the lowermost tip of England and the Scilly Islands, which it left behind to starboard.
If it was going to enter the English Channel, it clearly needed to head east. It did not.
All day long on May 31, the Nautilus swept around the sea in a series of circles that had me deeply puzzled. It seemed to be searching for a locality that it had some trouble finding. At noon Captain Nemo himself came to take our bearings. He didn't address a word to me. He looked gloomier than ever. What was filling him with such sadness? Was it our proximity to these European shores? Was he reliving his memories of that country he had left behind? If so, what did he feel? Remorse or regret? For a good while these thoughts occupied my mind, and I had a hunch that fate would soon give away the captain's secrets.
The next day, June 1, the Nautilus kept to the same tack. It was obviously trying to locate some precise spot in the ocean. Just as on the day before, Captain Nemo came to take the altitude of the sun. The sea was smooth, the skies clear. Eight miles to the east, a big steamship was visible on the horizon line. No flag was flapping from the gaff of its fore-and-aft sail, and I couldn't tell its nationality.
A few minutes before the sun passed its zenith, Captain Nemo raised his sextant and took his sights with the utmost precision. The absolute calm of the waves facilitated this operation. The Nautilus lay motionless, neither rolling nor pitching.
I was on the platform just then. After determining our position, the captain pronounced only these words:
"It's right here!"
He went down the hatch. Had he seen that vessel change course and seemingly head toward us? I'm unable to say.
I returned to the lounge. The hatch closed, and I heard water hissing in the ballast tanks. The Nautilus began to sink on a vertical line, because its propeller was in check and no longer furnished any forward motion.
Some minutes later it stopped at a depth of 833 meters and came to rest on the seafloor.
The ceiling lights in the lounge then went out, the panels opened, and through the windows I saw, for a half-mile radius, the sea brightly lit by the beacon's rays.
I looked to port and saw nothing but the immenseness of these tranquil waters.
To starboard, a prominent bulge on the sea bottom caught my attention. You would have thought it was some ruin enshrouded in a crust of whitened seashells, as if under a mantle of snow. Carefully examining this mass, I could identify the swollen outlines of a ship shorn of its masts, which must have sunk bow first. This casualty certainly dated from some far-off time. To be so caked with the limestone of these waters, this wreckage must have spent many a year on the ocean floor.
What ship was this? Why had the Nautilus come to visit its grave? Was it something other than a maritime accident that had dragged this craft under the waters?
我心中正在思索的時候，在我旁邊，我聽到尼摩船長緩慢的聲音在那裡說：
I wasn't sure what to think, but next to me I heard Captain Nemo's voice slowly say:
“從前這只船叫做馬賽人號。它裝有七十四門大炮，于1762年下水。1778年8月13日，由拉-波亞披-威土利歐指揮，對普列斯敦號①勇敢作戰。1779年7月4日，它跟德斯丹②海軍大將的艦隊一齊攻下格這那德③。1781年9月5日，它參加格拉斯④伯爵在捷薩別克灣⑤的海戰。179：年，法蘭西共和國更換了它的名稱。同年4月16日，它加入威拉列-若亞尤斯③指揮的艦隊，護送美國派出的山萬-斯他比爾海軍大將率領的一隊小麥輸送船。共和紀元之年岡月①11和12兩日，這艦隊跟英國艦隊在海上遭遇。先生，今天是圓月13日，1868年6月1日。一天一天算，現在是整整七十四年，在相同的這個地點，北緯47度2分，西經17度28分，這只戰艦，經過英勇的戰鬥後，三支桅被打斷，船艙中湧進海水，它的三分之一船員失去戰鬥力，情願帶它的三百五十六名水手沉到海底去，不願意投降敵人，把旗幟釘在船尾，在‘法蘭西共和國萬歲！’的歡呼聲中，沉沒海中。”
"Originally this ship was christened the Marseillais. It carried seventy-four cannons and was launched in 1762. On August 13, 1778, commanded by La Poype-Vertrieux, it fought valiantly against the Preston. On July 4, 1779, as a member of the squadron under Admiral d'Estaing, it assisted in the capture of the island of Grenada. On September 5, 1781, under the Count de Grasse, it took part in the Battle of Chesapeake Bay. In 1794 the new Republic of France changed the name of this ship. On April 16 of that same year, it joined the squadron at Brest under Rear Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse, who was entrusted with escorting a convoy of wheat coming from America under the command of Admiral Van Stabel. In this second year of the French Revolutionary Calendar, on the 11th and 12th days in the Month of Pasture, this squadron fought an encounter with English vessels. Sir, today is June 1, 1868, or the 13th day in the Month of Pasture. Seventy-four years ago to the day, at this very spot in latitude 47 degrees 24' and longitude 17 degrees 28', this ship sank after a heroic battle; its three masts gone, water in its hold, a third of its crew out of action, it preferred to go to the bottom with its 356 seamen rather than surrender; and with its flag nailed up on the afterdeck, it disappeared beneath the waves to shouts of 'Long live the Republic!'"
“復仇號！”我喊道。
"This is the Avenger!" I exclaimed.
“是的！先生。復仇號！多美的名號！”尼摩船長交叉着兩手，低聲說。
"Yes, sir! The Avenger! A splendid name!" Captain Nemo murmured, crossing his arms.