NIGHT FELL. I went to bed. I slept pretty poorly. Man-eaters played a major role in my dreams. And I found it more or less appropriate that the French word for shark, requin, has its linguistic roots in the word requiem.
黑夜来临,我睡了,睡得很不好。鲛鱼在我梦中起了重大的作用,我觉得把“超度”作为“鲨鱼”一词的语源③,说它对也行,说它不对也行。
The next day at four o'clock in the morning, I was awakened by the steward whom Captain Nemo had placed expressly at my service. I got up quickly, dressed, and went into the lounge.
第二天早晨四点,尼摩船长特别吩咐前来伺候我的管事人把我叫醒6我立即起床,穿了衣服,到客厅去。
Captain Nemo was waiting for me.
尼摩船长在厅中等着我。
"Professor Aronnax," he said to me, "are you ready to start?"
“阿龙纳斯先生,”他说,“您准备好了吗?
"I'm ready."
“准备好了。”
"Kindly follow me."
“请跟我来。”
"What about my companions, captain?"
“船长,我的同伴们呢?
"They've been alerted and are waiting for us."
“他们已经得到通知,等着我们了。”
"Aren't we going to put on our diving suits?" I asked.
我问:“我们不穿潜水衣吗?”
"Not yet. I haven't let the Nautilus pull too near the coast, and we're fairly well out from the Mannar oysterbank. But I have the skiff ready, and it will take us to the exact spot where we'll disembark, which will save us a pretty long trek. It's carrying our diving equipment, and we'll suit up just before we begin our underwater exploring."
“不用穿了。”我不让诺第留斯号很接近海岸,我们是在马纳尔礁石岩脉的远处海上。不过我准备好了那只小艇,它可以载我们到下水的地点,让我们免走一段相当长的路程。艇中放了我们的潜水服装,到我们要作水底探访的时候,就穿戴起来。”
Captain Nemo took me to the central companionway whose steps led to the platform. Ned and Conseil were there, enraptured with the "pleasure trip" getting under way. Oars in position, five of the Nautilus's sailors were waiting for us aboard the skiff, which was moored alongside.
尼摩船长领我到中央楼梯,梯上通至平台。尼德-兰和康塞尔早在那里了,他们对于准备做的“海底游玩”很为高兴。诺第留斯船上的五个水手拿着桨,在紧靠着大船的小艇中等待我们。
The night was still dark. Layers of clouds cloaked the sky and left only a few stars in view. My eyes flew to the side where land lay, but I saw only a blurred line covering three-quarters of the horizon from southwest to northwest. Going up Ceylon's west coast during the night, the Nautilus lay west of the bay, or rather that gulf formed by the mainland and Mannar Island. Under these dark waters there stretched the bank of shellfish, an inexhaustible field of pearls more than twenty miles long.
夜色还很黑暗。片片的云彩遮满天空,只露出很稀微的星光。我两眼向陆地方面看,我只见一条摇曳不定的直线,封住了从西南到西北的四分之三的天边。诺第留斯号“鲨鱼”法语为requin,是鲛鱼的俗称,它的语源有人认为是从拉丁语requiem(为死者超度的祈祷)转化过来,因为“鲨鱼、一词和“超度”一词最相近,人们就联想,“鲨鱼”是最凶恶的一种鱼,人被咬了。
就会丧命,只有作“超度”来祈祷他长眠了。这种解释很不可靠,所以作者说,找出这种语源学的说法,“说它对也行,说它不对也行“。
在夜间上溯了锡兰岛西部海岸,现在到了这海口的西边,或不如说,到了马纳尔岛陆地形成的这个海湾的西边。这里深水底下,罗列着小纹贝礁石岩脉,长度超过二十英里,真是采不尽的珍珠生产场。
Captain Nemo, Conseil, Ned Land, and I found seats in the stern of the skiff. The longboat's coxswain took the tiller; his four companions leaned into their oars; the moorings were cast off and we pulled clear.
尼摩船长、康塞尔、尼德-兰和我,我们坐在小艇后面、小艇挺长用手把着舵,他的四个同伴抉着桨,解了绳索,我们就离开大船了。
The skiff headed southward. The oarsmen took their time. I watched their strokes vigorously catch the water, and they always waited ten seconds before rowing again, following the practice used in most navies. While the longboat coasted, drops of liquid flicked from the oars and hit the dark troughs of the waves, pitter-pattering like splashes of molten lead. Coming from well out, a mild swell made the skiff roll gently, and a few cresting billows lapped at its bow.
小艇向南驶去,艇中的潜水人并不急子下水。他们的桨使劲地在水中划,我注意到这是海军战舰上常用的方法。 每寸秒划一下。小艇在一定的速度上前进,水珠像熔铅散射出的液体一样,落在漆黑的水波中嘶嘶作响。一阵不大的波浪从海面冲来,使小艇发生轻微的颠簸,有些浪花飞溅到它的前头。
We were silent. What was Captain Nemo thinking? Perhaps that this approaching shore was too close for comfort, contrary to the Canadian's views in which it still seemed too far away. As for Conseil, he had come along out of simple curiosity.
我们沉默不作声,尼摩船长在想什么呢?可能在想现在靠近的陆地,他觉得自己太靠近陆地了,这正跟加拿大人的意见相反,加拿大人却觉得自己跟陆地相距太远了。至于康塞尔,他坐在那里什么也不理会,只是看着新鲜。
Near 5:30 the first glimmers of light on the horizon defined the upper lines of the coast with greater distinctness. Fairly flat to the east, it swelled a little toward the south. Five miles still separated it from us, and its beach merged with the misty waters. Between us and the shore, the sea was deserted. Not a boat, not a diver. Profound solitude reigned over this gathering place of pearl fishermen. As Captain Nemo had commented, we were arriving in these waterways a month too soon.
五点半左右,天边刚放出来的曙光把海岸的上层轮廓更清楚地衬托出来。在东边,海岸相当平坦,向南部分又有点突起。我们跟海岸相距还有五英里,它的边岸跟蒙蒙的雾水相混起来。在边岸和我们之间,海上什么也没有,没有一只船,没有一个采珠人。在这采珠人聚会的场所,是沉重的孤寂。本来尼摩船长已经向我说过,我们到这一带海中来早了一个月。
At six o'clock the day broke suddenly, with that speed unique to tropical regions, which experience no real dawn or dusk. The sun's rays pierced the cloud curtain gathered on the easterly horizon, and the radiant orb rose swiftly.
六点,天忽然亮了,日夜很快来临是热带地区特有的情形,这些地区是没有晨暖和黄昏的。太阳光线穿过堆在东方天边的云幕,灿烂的红日很快就升起来了。
I could clearly see the shore, which featured a few sparse trees here and there.
我清楚地看见陆地,稀疏的树木散在各处。
The skiff advanced toward Mannar Island, which curved to the south. Captain Nemo stood up from his thwart and studied the sea.
小艇向马纳尔岛前进,岛南部渐渐扩大。尼摩船长站起来,看一下海回。
At his signal the anchor was lowered, but its chain barely ran because the bottom lay no more than a meter down, and this locality was one of the shallowest spots near the bank of shellfish. Instantly the skiff wheeled around under the ebb tide's outbound thrust.
他点一点头,锚就抛下去了,但铁链只下沉了一点,因为水底只有一米左右深、这里形成了一处小纹贝礁岩脉突起来的最高峰。小艇受了向大海方面排去的退潮力量,立即转过头来。
"Here we are, Professor Aronnax," Captain Nemo then said. "You observe this confined bay? A month from now in this very place, the numerous fishing boats of the harvesters will gather, and these are the waters their divers will ransack so daringly. This bay is felicitously laid out for their type of fishing. It's sheltered from the strongest winds, and the sea is never very turbulent here, highly favorable conditions for diving work. Now let's put on our underwater suits, and we'll begin our stroll."
“阿龙纳斯先生,我们到了,”尼摩船长说,“现在您可以看见这狭窄的海湾。一个月后,就在这个地方,无 数珍珠商的采珠船都齐集起来,船中采珠人要大胆去搜索的,也就是这一带的海水。海湾的地位优良,适合于这类采珠工作。它躲避了最强烈的风,海面也从没有很汹涌的波浪;对于采珠人的工作,这些都是很有利的条件。现在让我们穿起潜水衣,开始下水游览吧。”
I didn't reply, and while staring at these suspicious waves, I began to put on my heavy aquatic clothes, helped by the longboat's sailors. Captain Nemo and my two companions suited up as well. None of the Nautilus's men were to go with us on this new excursion.
我不回答他的话,我眼望着这可疑的海水,小艇中的水手帮着我穿很重的潜水衣。尼摩船长和我的两个同伴也穿起来。这次旅行,诺第留斯号的船员没有一人陪我们同去。
Soon we were imprisoned up to the neck in india-rubber clothing, and straps fastened the air devices onto our backs. As for the Ruhmkorff device, it didn't seem to be in the picture. Before inserting my head into its copper capsule, I commented on this to the captain.
不久,我们的身体都装在橡皮胶衣里面,一直套到脖子处,背带也把空气箱绑在背上了。可是我们没有带兰可夫灯。我的头部还没有套进铜帽中的时候,我向船长提出灯的问题。
"Our lighting equipment would be useless to us," the captain answered me. "We won't be going very deep, and the sun's rays will be sufficient to light our way. Besides, it's unwise to carry electric lanterns under these waves. Their brightness might unexpectedly attract certain dangerous occupants of these waterways."
“兰可夫灯对我们没有什么用处,”船长回答,“我们不到很深的地方去,太阳光线就足以给我们引路了。并且,在这里的水底下面带着电光灯也是不妥当的。电灯光亮可能意外地惹来这一带海中的危险动物。”
As Captain Nemo pronounced these words, I turned to Conseil and Ned Land. But my two friends had already encased their craniums in their metal headgear, and they could neither hear nor reply.
尼摩船长说这话的时候,我回过头来看康塞尔和尼德-兰,可是这两个朋友已经把脑袋装进金属的球帽里面去了。他们不能听见,也不能答话。
I had one question left to address to Captain Nemo.
我又向尼摩船长提最后一个问题,我问他:
"What about our weapons?" I asked him. "Our rifles?"
“我们的武器呢?我们的枪支呢?”
"Rifles! What for? Don't your mountaineers attack bears dagger in hand? And isn't steel surer than lead? Here's a sturdy blade. Slip it under your belt and let's be off."
“枪支:有什么用?你们山中人不是手拿短刀去打熊吗?钢刀不比铅弹更可靠吗?这里有一把刺刀,把它挂在您腰带上,我们走吧。”
I stared at my companions. They were armed in the same fashion, and Ned Land was also brandishing an enormous harpoon he had stowed in the skiff before leaving the Nautilus.
我看看我的同伴。他们跟我一样拿着短刀,此外,尼德-兰用手挥动一把鱼叉,这叉是他离开诺第留斯号之前放在小艇中的。
Then, following the captain's example, I let myself be crowned with my heavy copper sphere, and our air tanks immediately went into action.
然后,跟着船长,我也戴起那沉重的铜球,我们的空气储藏器立即活动起来。
An instant later, the longboat's sailors helped us overboard one after the other, and we set foot on level sand in a meter and a half of water. Captain Nemo gave us a hand signal. We followed him down a gentle slope and disappeared under the waves.
一会儿,小艇上的水手们把我们一个一个扶人水中,在一米半的深处,我们的脚踩在平坦的沙上。尼摩船长对我们做个手势,我们跟着他走,沿着逐渐下斜的坡道走,我们就没入到水底下了。
There the obsessive fears in my brain left me. I became surprisingly calm again. The ease with which I could move increased my confidence, and the many strange sights captivated my imagination.
在水底下,缠绕我脑际的鲛鱼的念头没有了,我心中变得十分安静。由于动作方便,我增加了信心,水底下奇异的景象完全吸住了我的想象力。
The sun was already sending sufficient light under these waves. The tiniest objects remained visible. After ten minutes of walking, we were in five meters of water, and the terrain had become almost flat.
太阳已经把足够的光度照到水底下来,最微小的物体也可以看见。走了10分钟后,我们到了五米水深处,底面差不多是平坦的。
Like a covey of snipe over a marsh, there rose underfoot schools of unusual fish from the genus Monopterus, whose members have no fin but their tail. I recognized the Javanese eel, a genuine eight-decimeter serpent with a bluish gray belly, which, without the gold lines over its flanks, could easily be confused with the conger eel. From the butterfish genus, whose oval bodies are very flat, I observed several adorned in brilliant colors and sporting a dorsal fin like a sickle, edible fish that, when dried and marinated, make an excellent dish known by the name "karawade"; then some sea poachers, fish belonging to the genus Aspidophoroides, whose bodies are covered with scaly armor divided into eight lengthwise sections.
在我们走的路上,一大群单鳍属的新奇鱼类,像沼泽地中的一群一群山鸡那样,飞一般地哄起;这种鱼没有其它的鳍,只有尾上的那一支。我认得其中的爪哇鳗,真正跟蛇一样,长八分米,肚腹苍白,很容易跟两测没有金线的海鳗相混,分辨不出来。至于躯体压缩作蛋形的硬鳍属中,我看到颜色鲜艳的燕雀鱼,脊鳍像镰刀一样,那是可以食用的鱼,晾干浸在盐水中,称为“卡拉瓦”的美味的好菜;其次为属于长轴属的土兰格巴鱼、全身披着上面有八条纵带的鳞的甲冗。
Meanwhile, as the sun got progressively higher, it lit up the watery mass more and more. The seafloor changed little by little. Its fine-grained sand was followed by a genuine causeway of smooth crags covered by a carpet of mollusks and zoophytes. Among other specimens in these two branches, I noted some windowpane oysters with thin valves of unequal size, a type of ostracod unique to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, then orange-hued lucina with circular shells, awl-shaped auger shells, some of those Persian murex snails that supply the Nautilus with such wonderful dye, spiky periwinkles fifteen centimeters long that rose under the waves like hands ready to grab you, turban snails with shells made of horn and bristling all over with spines, lamp shells, edible duck clams that feed the Hindu marketplace, subtly luminous jellyfish of the species Pelagia panopyra, and finally some wonderful Oculina flabelliforma, magnificent sea fans that fashion one of the most luxuriant tree forms in this ocean.
太阳陆续上升,照得水底更加明亮了乙地下也渐渐起变化。细沙地之后,接着是突起的岩石路,路上铺着一层软体动物和植虫动物形成的地毯。在这两门动物的品种中间,我看到壳很薄的大小不一致的胎盘贝,这是红海和印度洋特有的一种牡蛎;介壳圆形的橙色满月贝;突锥形贝;一些波斯朱红贝,诺第留斯号的美丽色彩就由这种贝供应的;多角岩石贝,长十五厘米,在水底下竖起来,像要抓人的手似的;角形螺贝,全身长着尖刺;张口舌形贝,鸭子贝,这是供应印度斯但市场的可以食用的蝇贝;带甲水母,发出微弱伪亮光;最后还看到使人赞美的扇形圆眼贝,像很美丽的扇子,是这一带海中最易繁殖的树枝形动物之一。
In the midst of this moving vegetation, under arbors of water plants, there raced legions of clumsy articulates, in particular some fanged frog crabs whose carapaces form a slightly rounded triangle, robber crabs exclusive to these waterways, and horrible parthenope crabs whose appearance was repulsive to the eye. One animal no less hideous, which I encountered several times, was the enormous crab that Mr. Darwin observed, to which nature has given the instinct and requisite strength to eat coconuts; it scrambles up trees on the beach and sends the coconuts tumbling; they fracture in their fall and are opened by its powerful pincers. Here, under these clear waves, this crab raced around with matchless agility, while green turtles from the species frequenting the Malabar coast moved sluggishly among the crumbling rocks.
在这些活的植物中间,这些水甲虫的摇篮下面,有无数从伍不整齐的节肢动物跑动,特别多的是齿形蛙类,身上的甲壳作弯曲的三角形;有这一带海中特产的卑格鱼;有那可怕的单性鱼,形状非常难看。我好几次碰见了那种跟单性鱼一样难看的动物,就是达尔文曾经观察过的大蟹,大自然给了它一种本能和力量,可以吃椰子。它爬上海岸,爬到椰子树上把椰子弄下来,椰子掉下来的时候跌破了,它拿它的有力的钳把椰子剥开来吃。在这里明亮的水底下,这种蟹在走动的时候非常灵便。不可比拟。同时又有自由自在的鱼鳖类,就是常到马拉巴海岸的那一类,在动摇的岩石中间慢慢地爬走。
Near seven o'clock we finally surveyed the bank of shellfish, where pearl oysters reproduce by the millions. These valuable mollusks stick to rocks, where they're strongly attached by a mass of brown filaments that forbids their moving about. In this respect oysters are inferior even to mussels, to whom nature has not denied all talent for locomotion.
七点左右,我们终于到了小纹贝礁石岩脉上,岩脉上繁殖着不可数计的亿万珍珠贝。 这些宝贵的软体动物粘附着岩石,它们被那些棕色的纤维结实地缚在石上,摆脱不开。从这点来看,珍珠贝甚至于不如谈菜,因为大自然还给淡菜有可能移动的能力。
The shellfish Meleagrina, that womb for pearls whose valves are nearly equal in size, has the shape of a round shell with thick walls and a very rough exterior. Some of these shells were furrowed with flaky, greenish bands that radiated down from the top. These were the young oysters. The others had rugged black surfaces, measured up to fifteen centimeters in width, and were ten or more years old.
杂色小纹贝,所谓珍珠母的两片介壳差不多相等,壳作圆环形,壳壁很厚,外表很粗,凹凸不平。有些珍珠母的外壳上面带一条一条的淡青色线纹,线纹尽头处有些发亮。 这是属于年轻一类的珍珠母。 别的珍珠母,表面上粗一点,黑一点,有十岁以上的年龄了,宽大可以到十五厘米。
Captain Nemo pointed to this prodigious heap of shellfish, and I saw that these mines were genuinely inexhaustible, since nature's creative powers are greater than man's destructive instincts. True to those instincts, Ned Land greedily stuffed the finest of these mollusks into a net he carried at his side.
尼摩船长用手指给我看一大堆小纹贝,我了解这个宝藏是采不尽的,因为大自然的创造力远远胜过人类的破坏本能。尼德-兰行使他的这种本能,急急把那些最好的珍珠贝塞到他身边带着的鱼网中。
But we couldn't stop. We had to follow the captain, who headed down trails seemingly known only to himself. The seafloor rose noticeably, and when I lifted my arms, sometimes they would pass above the surface of the sea. Then the level of the oysterbank would lower unpredictably. Often we went around tall, pointed rocks rising like pyramids. In their dark crevices huge crustaceans, aiming their long legs like heavy artillery, watched us with unblinking eyes, while underfoot there crept millipedes, bloodworms, aricia worms, and annelid worms, whose antennas and tubular tentacles were incredibly long.
但我们不能停步。我们要跟着船长走,他好像沿着只有他才认得的小路走去。水底地面显然上升,我的胳膊有时候举起来,伸出在水面上了。其次,岩脉的水平面也任意地低下来。我们时常绕着切为一根一根的四角锥形的高大岩石走过去。在岩石的陰暗凹凸的地方,有粗大的甲壳动物,长长的爪架起来,好像一门大炮,眼睛不动,盯住我们。 在我们脚下,爬着无数的多须鱼、藤萝鱼、卷鱼类和环鱼类,它们在那里特别伸长它们的触角和卷须。
Just then a huge cave opened up in our path, hollowed from a picturesque pile of rocks whose smooth heights were completely hung with underwater flora. At first this cave looked pitch-black to me. Inside, the sun's rays seemed to diminish by degrees. Their hazy transparency was nothing more than drowned light.
这时候,我们面前现出一个宽大的石洞,洞在满铺各种海底花草的岩石堆中。起初,我看这洞中很黑暗。照到这里的太阳光好像渐渐微弱,以至熄灭了。剩下的模糊的亮光只不过是浸在水里的光线罢了。
Captain Nemo went in. We followed him. My eyes soon grew accustomed to this comparative gloom. I distinguished the unpredictably contoured springings of a vault, supported by natural pillars firmly based on a granite foundation, like the weighty columns of Tuscan architecture. Why had our incomprehensible guide taken us into the depths of this underwater crypt? I would soon find out.
尼摩船长进入洞中。我们跟他进去。我的眼睛不久就习惯了这种并非漆黑的黑暗。我分辨出那些由天然石柱支架起来的、穹窿很宽大的形成轮廓的起拱石,这些石柱的宽大底座安在花岗岩的石基上,像托斯甘式建筑①的笨重石柱那样。我们的神秘带路人为什么拉我们到这海底下的地窖中来呢?我不久就明白了。
After going down a fairly steep slope, our feet trod the floor of a sort of circular pit. There Captain Nemo stopped, and his hand indicated an object that I hadn't yet noticed.
我们走下相当陡的斜坡,我们的脚踩踏了一种圆形的井底地面。到这里,尼摩船长停住了,他手指一件东西,但我还不能看清楚。
It was an oyster of extraordinary dimensions, a titanic giant clam, a holy-water font that could have held a whole lake, a basin more than two meters wide, hence even bigger than the one adorning the Nautilus's lounge.
那是一只身量巨大的珍珠贝,一只庞大无比的车渠,一个盛一池水的圣水盘,一个超过两米宽的大钵,所以这只贝比诺第留斯号客厅中放着的还大。
I approached this phenomenal mollusk. Its mass of filaments attached it to a table of granite, and there it grew by itself in the midst of the cave's calm waters. I estimated the weight of this giant clam at 300 kilograms. Hence such an oyster held fifteen kilos of meat, and you'd need the stomach of King Gargantua to eat a couple dozen.
我走近这出奇少有的软体动物面前。它的纤维带把它钉在花岗岩的石板上,附着这石板,它就在这石洞的平静海水中单独成长起来。我估计这只贝的重量有三百公斤。而这样一只贝可以有十五公斤的净肉,那就必须有一位卡冈都亚②的肚子才能眷食几打这样巨大的贝了。
Captain Nemo was obviously familiar with this bivalve's existence. This wasn't the first time he'd paid it a visit, and I thought his sole reason for leading us to this locality was to show us a natural curiosity. I was mistaken. Captain Nemo had an explicit personal interest in checking on the current condition of this giant clam.
尼摩船长分明是知道这只双壳动物的存在。他到这个地方来不止一次了,我想他带我们到这里来只是要给我们看一件天然的奇物。我搞错了。尼摩船长有特别目的,是为了解这车渠的情况而来的。
The mollusk's two valves were partly open. The captain approached and stuck his dagger vertically between the shells to discourage any ideas about closing; then with his hands he raised the fringed, membrane-filled tunic that made up the animal's mantle.
这只软体动物的两壳是半张开的。船长走向前去,把短刀插入两壳间,使它们不能再合拢。然后他用手把两壳边挂着的,作为这动物的外套的膜皮弄开。
There, between its leaflike folds, I saw a loose pearl as big as a coconut. Its globular shape, perfect clarity, and wonderful orient made it a jewel of incalculable value. Carried away by curiosity, I stretched out my hand to take it, weigh it, fondle it! But the captain stopped me, signaled no, removed his dagger in one swift motion, and let the two valves snap shut.
在膜皮里面,叶状的皱纹间,我看见一颗可以自由掷动的珍珠,跟椰子一般粗大。它的球圆形状,它的完全透明: 它的无比宝光,使它成为价值不可估计的稀有珍宝。我为好奇心所动,伸手去拿这珠,要掂一掂它的分量,摩摩它! 但船长阻止我,作个不要动的手势,他很快怞出他的短刀,让两片介壳立即合拢来。
I then understood Captain Nemo's intent. By leaving the pearl buried beneath the giant clam's mantle, he allowed it to grow imperceptibly. With each passing year the mollusk's secretions added new concentric layers. The captain alone was familiar with the cave where this wonderful fruit of nature was "ripening"; he alone reared it, so to speak, in order to transfer it one day to his dearly beloved museum. Perhaps, following the examples of oyster farmers in China and India, he had even predetermined the creation of this pearl by sticking under the mollusk's folds some piece of glass or metal that was gradually covered with mother-of-pearl. In any case, comparing this pearl to others I already knew about, and to those shimmering in the captain's collection, I estimated that it was worth at least 10,000,000 francs. It was a superb natural curiosity rather than a luxurious piece of jewelry, because I don't know of any female ear that could handle it.
我于是明白了尼摩船长的企图。把这颗珍珠塞在那只车渠的衣膜里面,无形中这珠就可以渐渐大起来了。每年,那软体动物的分泌物都在环绕珍珠周围的薄膜上累积起来。只有尼摩船长才认得这个天然的先比的果实在其中“成熟”的腔洞;又可以说,只是他自己把这颗珍珠培养起来,有一天他可以拿来摆在他那满自琳琅的陈列室中。甚至于,他可以照中国人和印度人的办法来决定一颗珍珠的生产。那就是把一块玻璃片和金属物塞人这软体动物的内部皱折里面,螺钢质渐渐把它包裹起来变成珍珠。不管怎样,把这珠跟我所认得的珠比较,跟船长所收藏的珠比较。 都是更为珍贵的。我估计这珠的价值至少是一千万法郎。 它是天然的奇珍异宝,不是奢侈的装饰品,因为,我想恐怕没有女人的耳朵能吃得住这颗大珠。
Our visit to this opulent giant clam came to an end. Captain Nemo left the cave, and we climbed back up the bank of shellfish in the midst of these clear waters not yet disturbed by divers at work.
看完了这个胖大的车渠,尼摩船长离开石洞,我们走到小纹贝礁石上。
We walked by ourselves, genuine loiterers stopping or straying as our fancies dictated. For my part, I was no longer worried about those dangers my imagination had so ridiculously exaggerated. The shallows drew noticeably closer to the surface of the sea, and soon, walking in only a meter of water, my head passed well above the level of the ocean. Conseil rejoined me, and gluing his huge copper capsule to mine, his eyes gave me a friendly greeting. But this lofty plateau measured only a few fathoms, and soon we reentered Our Element. I think I've now earned the right to dub it that.
在这些清澈的海水中间,还没有采珠人来工作,把水搅浑,我们真像闹着无事来此散步的人,我们各走各的路,随自己的意思,或停下,或走开。至于我自己,我已经不把那件由于空想所引起的十分可笑的事放在心上了。海底这时显然接近海面,不久,我的头离水面只有一米了。康塞尔走近我身边,把他的铜球帽贴着我的铜球帽,他挤弄眼睛,向我作个友谊的敬礼。不过这水底高原只有几米长,不久我们又回到“我们的”深水中。我想现在我有权利可以这样讲。
Ten minutes later, Captain Nemo stopped suddenly. I thought he'd called a halt so that we could turn and start back. No. With a gesture he ordered us to crouch beside him at the foot of a wide crevice. His hand motioned toward a spot within the liquid mass, and I looked carefully.
十分钟后,尼摩船长忽然停住了。我以为他是停一下就要转回去。然而不是。他做个手势,要我们在一个宽大的窝里面,挨近他身边蹲下来。他用手指着水中的一点,我很注意地观察。
Five meters away a shadow appeared and dropped to the seafloor. The alarming idea of sharks crossed my mind. But I was mistaken, and once again we didn't have to deal with monsters of the deep.
离我们五米的地方,出现一个黑影,下沉到底。使我害怕的鲛鱼的念头又涌现在我心中了。可是,这一次我又错了,在我们面前的并不是海洋中的怪物。
It was a man, a living man, a black Indian fisherman, a poor devil who no doubt had come to gather what he could before harvest time. I saw the bottom of his dinghy, moored a few feet above his head. He would dive and go back up in quick succession. A stone cut in the shape of a sugar loaf, which he gripped between his feet while a rope connected it to his boat, served to lower him more quickly to the ocean floor. This was the extent of his equipment. Arriving on the seafloor at a depth of about five meters, he fell to his knees and stuffed his sack with shellfish gathered at random. Then he went back up, emptied his sack, pulled up his stone, and started all over again, the whole process lasting only thirty seconds.
那是一个人,一个活人,一个印度人,一个黑人,当然是一个采珠人,一个可怜人,他未到采珠期就前来采珠了。我看见他的艇底。停泊在距他头上只有几英尺的水面上。他潜入水中,随即又浮上来。一块砸成像小面包一般的石头夹在两脚中间,一根绳索缚着石头,系在他的艇子上,使他可以很快地到海底下来。以上就是他所有的采珠工具。到了海底,约五米深左右,他立即跪下,把顺手拿到的小纹珠: 贝塞人他的口袋中。然后,他上去,倒净口袋,拉出石头,又开始下水采珠,一上一下,只不过是三十秒钟。
This diver didn't see us. A shadow cast by our crag hid us from his view. And besides, how could this poor Indian ever have guessed that human beings, creatures like himself, were near him under the waters, eavesdropping on his movements, not missing a single detail of his fishing!
这个采珠人看不见我们。岩石的陰影挡住了他的视线。并且,这个可怜的印度人哪能想到,在水底下有人,有像他那样的人,偷看他的动作,细细观察他采珠的情形呢?
So he went up and down several times. He gathered only about ten shellfish per dive, because he had to tear them from the banks where each clung with its tough mass of filaments. And how many of these oysters for which he risked his life would have no pearl in them!
好几次,他就这样的上去又下来……每一次下水,他只采得十来个螺贝,因为螺贝被坚强的纤维带粘在岩石上,他要使劲把它们拉下来。而且这些螺贝中也还有多少是不含有他不顾性命危险来采取的珍珠呢!
I observed him with great care. His movements were systematically executed, and for half an hour no danger seemed to threaten him. So I had gotten used to the sight of this fascinating fishing when all at once, just as the Indian was kneeling on the seafloor, I saw him make a frightened gesture, stand, and gather himself to spring back to the surface of the waves.
我聚精会神地观察他。他的工作很规律地进行,在半小时内,没有什么危险威胁他。所以我就对这种很有兴趣的采珠景象习惯了,忽然间,在这个印度人跪在水底下的时候,我看见他做一个骇怕的手势,立即站起,使劲往上一跳。 要浮上海面去。
I understood his fear. A gigantic shadow appeared above the poor diver. It was a shark of huge size, moving in diagonally, eyes ablaze, jaws wide open!
我明白了他的骇怕。一个巨大的黑影在这不幸的采珠人头上出现了。那是一条身躯巨大的鲨鱼,发亮的眼睛,张开的嘴巴,迎面斜刺地向前冲来了!
I was speechless with horror, unable to make a single movement.
我伯得发楞,甚至想动一动也不可能。
With one vigorous stroke of its fins, the voracious animal shot toward the Indian, who jumped aside and avoided the shark's bite but not the thrashing of its tail, because that tail struck him across the chest and stretched him out on the seafloor.
这个饥饿的动物,用力拨一下鳍,向印度人身上扑来,他躲在一边,避开鲨鱼的嘴,但没有躲开鲨鱼尾巴的打击,因为鱼尾打在他胸上,他翻倒在水底下。
This scene lasted barely a few seconds. The shark returned, rolled over on its back, and was getting ready to cut the Indian in half, when Captain Nemo, who was stationed beside me, suddenly stood up. Then he strode right toward the monster, dagger in hand, ready to fight it at close quarters.
这个场面不过是几秒钟的事。鲨鱼回来,翻转脊背,就要把印度人切成两半了,这时候,我觉得蹲在我近边的尼摩船长突然站起来。然后,他手拿短刀,直向鲨鱼冲去,准备跟鲨鱼肉搏。
Just as it was about to snap up the poor fisherman, the man-eater saw its new adversary, repositioned itself on its belly, and headed swiftly toward him.
鲨鱼正要咬这个不幸的采珠人的时候,看见了它的新来敌人,它立即又翻过肚腹,很快地向腊长冲来。
I can see Captain Nemo's bearing to this day. Bracing himself, he waited for the fearsome man-eater with wonderful composure, and when the latter rushed at him, the captain leaped aside with prodigious quickness, avoided a collision, and sank his dagger into its belly. But that wasn't the end of the story. A dreadful battle was joined.
我现在还看见尼摩船长当时的姿态。他弯下身子,带着一种特别的冷静,等待那巨大的鲨鱼,当鲨鱼向他冲来的时候,船长非常矫捷地跳在一边,躲开冲击,同时拿短刀刺人鱼腹中。不过,事情并没有完,结果尚未分晓。怕人的战斗开始进行了。
The shark bellowed, so to speak. Blood was pouring into the waves from its wounds. The sea was dyed red, and through this opaque liquid I could see nothing else.
鲨鱼这时可以说是吼起来了。鲜血像水流一般的从它的伤口喷出。
Nothing else until the moment when, through a rift in the clouds, I saw the daring captain clinging to one of the animal's fins, fighting the monster at close quarters, belaboring his enemy's belly with stabs of the dagger yet unable to deliver the deciding thrust, in other words, a direct hit to the heart. In its struggles the man-eater churned the watery mass so furiously, its eddies threatened to knock me over.
海染红了,在这浑浊的水中,我什么也看不见,什么也看不见,一直到水中露出明亮的地方的时候,我才看见勇敢大胆的船长,抓住鲨鱼的一只鳍,跟这个怪物肉搏,短刀乱刺鲨鱼的肚腹,但没有能刺到致命的地方,就是说,没有能刺中鱼的心脏。鲨鱼死命挣扎,疯狂地搅动海水,搅起的漩涡都要把我打翻了。
I wanted to run to the captain's rescue. But I was transfixed with horror, unable to move.
我很想跑去接应船长。但被恐怖慑住,不能挪动。
I stared, wild-eyed. I saw the fight enter a new phase. The captain fell to the seafloor, toppled by the enormous mass weighing him down. Then the shark's jaws opened astoundingly wide, like a pair of industrial shears, and that would have been the finish of Captain Nemo had not Ned Land, quick as thought, rushed forward with his harpoon and driven its dreadful point into the shark's underside.
我两眼发直地注视着。我看见战斗的形势改变了……船长被压在他身上的巨大躯体所翻倒,摔在水底地下。一会儿,只见鲨鱼的牙齿大得伯人,像工厂中的大钳一般,尼摩船长的性命眼看就要不保了,忽然,尼德。兰手拿鱼叉,转念之间,迅速向鲨鱼冲去,他投出可怕的利叉,打中了鲨鱼。
The waves were saturated with masses of blood. The waters shook with the movements of the man-eater, which thrashed about with indescribable fury. Ned Land hadn't missed his target. This was the monster's death rattle. Pierced to the heart, it was struggling with dreadful spasms whose aftershocks knocked Conseil off his feet.
海水中散出一大团鲜血。海水受那疯狂得不可形容的鲨鱼的激打挣扎,汹涌地激荡起来。尼德,兰达到了他的目的。 这是鲨鱼的最后喘息了。被叉刺中了心脏,这东西在怕人的怞搐中作最后的挣扎,反冲上来,掀倒了康塞尔。
Meanwhile Ned Land pulled the captain clear. Uninjured, the latter stood up, went right to the Indian, quickly cut the rope binding the man to his stone, took the fellow in his arms, and with a vigorous kick of the heel, rose to the surface of the sea.
可是,尼德-兰立即把尼摩船长拉起来。船长没有受伤,站起来,走到那个印度人身边,急急把他和石头绪起来的绳索割断,抱起他,两脚使劲一蹬,浮出海面来。
The three of us followed him, and a few moments later, miraculously safe, we reached the fisherman's longboat.
我们三人跟他上来。意外得救的人,转瞬间,都到了采珠人的小艇上。
Captain Nemo's first concern was to revive this unfortunate man. I wasn't sure he would succeed. I hoped so, since the poor devil hadn't been under very long. But that stroke from the shark's tail could have been his deathblow.
尼摩船长首先关心的事是要救活这个不幸的采珠人。 我不知道他是否可以成功。我希望他可以成功,因为这个可怜人浸在水中时间并不很久。但鲨鱼尾巴的打击可能是致命的重伤。
Fortunately, after vigorous massaging by Conseil and the captain, I saw the nearly drowned man regain consciousness little by little. He opened his eyes. How startled he must have felt, how frightened even, at seeing four huge, copper craniums leaning over him!
很运气,由于康塞尔和船长的有力按摩,我看见那不幸的人渐渐恢复了知觉。他睁开眼睛,看见四个大铜脑袋弯身向着他,他应该怎么惊奇,甚至于应该怎么骇怕呢!
And above all, what must he have thought when Captain Nemo pulled a bag of pearls from a pocket in his diving suit and placed it in the fisherman's hands? This magnificent benefaction from the Man of the Waters to the poor Indian from Ceylon was accepted by the latter with trembling hands.
特别是,当尼摩船长从衣服口袋中取出一个珍珠囊,放在他手中时,他心中会怎样想呢。这位水中人给锡兰岛的穷苦印度人的贵重施舍物,由一只发抖的手接过去了。
His bewildered eyes indicated that he didn't know to what superhuman creatures he owed both his life and his fortune.
在他惊奇的眼睛里表示出了救他的性命和给他财产的,一定是不可思议的超人的神灵。
At the captain's signal we returned to the bank of shellfish, and retracing our steps, we walked for half an hour until we encountered the anchor connecting the seafloor with the Nautilus's skiff.
船长点一点头,我们又下到小纹贝的礁石岩脉间,沿着原来跑过的路走去,走了半个钟头后,我们就碰上了挽在水底地面的诺第留斯小艇的铁锚。
Back on board, the sailors helped divest us of our heavy copper carapaces.
一上了小艇,各人有艇上水手的帮助,解开了沉重的铜脑盖。
Captain Nemo's first words were spoken to the Canadian.
尼摩船长的第一句话是对加拿大人说的,他说:
"Thank you, Mr. Land," he told him.
“兰师傅,谢谢您。”
"Tit for tat, captain," Ned Land replied. "I owed it to you."
“船长,那是我对您的报答,”尼德:兰回答,“我应该报答您。”
The ghost of a smile glided across the captain's lips, and that was all.
一个轻淡的微笑在船长的嘴唇间露出来,此外并没有——句别的话了。
"To the Nautilus," he said.
“回诺第留斯号船上去。”他说。
The longboat flew over the waves. A few minutes later we encountered the shark's corpse again, floating.
小艇在水波上飞走。几分钟后,我们碰到浮在海上的那条鲨鱼的尸体。
From the black markings on the tips of its fins, I recognized the dreadful Squalus melanopterus from the seas of the East Indies, a variety in the species of sharks proper. It was more than twenty-five feet long; its enormous mouth occupied a third of its body. It was an adult, as could be seen from the six rows of teeth forming an isosceles triangle in its upper jaw.
看到那鳍梢现出的黑颜色,我认出这条鲨鱼就是印度海中厉害怕人的黑鲨鱼,真正所谓鲨鱼的一种。它身长二十五英尺,它的大嘴占它全长的三分之一。 这是一条成年的鲨鱼,从它嘴里,在上颚上,有摆成等边三角形的六排牙齿,就可以看出来。
Conseil looked at it with purely scientific fascination, and I'm sure he placed it, not without good reason, in the class of cartilaginous fish, order Chondropterygia with fixed gills, family Selacia, genus Squalus.
While I was contemplating this inert mass, suddenly a dozen of these voracious melanoptera appeared around our longboat; but, paying no attention to us, they pounced on the corpse and quarreled over every scrap of it.
当我注视这个尸体时,十多条饥饿贪食的鲛鱼忽然在小艇周围出现,但这些东西并不理睬我们,全扑到死鲨鱼身上去,一块一块抢着吃。
By 8:30 we were back on board the Nautilus.
八点半,我们回到了诺第留斯号船上。
There I fell to thinking about the incidents that marked our excursion over the Mannar oysterbank. Two impressions inevitably stood out. One concerned Captain Nemo's matchless bravery, the other his devotion to a human being, a representative of that race from which he had fled beneath the seas. In spite of everything, this strange man hadn't yet succeeded in completely stifling his heart.
在船上,我把我们在马纳尔一带礁石岩脉间旅行所遭遇到的事故细细回想一下。其中有值得注意的两点一定要握出来。一点是关于尼摩船长的无比勇敢,另一点是关于他对人类、对于逃到海底下去的这一种族的一个代表的牺牲精神。不管他怎么说,这个古怪的人还没有能完全斩断他爱人的心情。
When I shared these impressions with him, he answered me in a tone touched with emotion:
当我把这一点向他提出来的时候,他口气稍微有些激动地回答我:
"That Indian, professor, lives in the land of the oppressed, and I am to this day, and will be until my last breath, a native of that same land!"
“教授,这个印度人是一个被压迫国家的人民,我的心还在这个国家,并且,直到我最后一口气,我的心也是在这个国家!”