Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

海底二萬里

   CHAPTER 11

   第一部 第十一章

   The Nautilus

   諾第留斯號

   CAPTAIN NEMO stood up. I followed him. Contrived at the rear of the dining room, a double door opened, and I entered a room whose dimensions equaled the one I had just left.

   尼摩船長站起來,我在他後面跟着,餐廳後部的兩扇:門打開了。我走進一個房間,大小跟我剛纔走出的那飯廳差不多。

   It was a library. Tall, black-rosewood bookcases, inlaid with copperwork, held on their wide shelves a large number of uniformly bound books. These furnishings followed the contours of the room, their lower parts leading to huge couches upholstered in maroon leather and curved for maximum comfort. Light, movable reading stands, which could be pushed away or pulled near as desired, allowed books to be positioned on them for easy study. In the center stood a huge table covered with pamphlets, among which some newspapers, long out of date, were visible. Electric light flooded this whole harmonious totality, falling from four frosted half globes set in the scrollwork of the ceiling. I stared in genuine wonderment at this room so ingeniously laid out, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

   這是圖書室。圖書室的四壁擺着高大的紫檀木嵌銅絲的書架,架上一層一層的隔板上放滿了裝潢統一的書籍。架子下面擺着一排蒙着慄色獸皮的長沙發;沙發的曲度正合適,坐上去很舒服。沙發旁邊有可以隨意移來移去的輕巧的活動書案,人們可以把書放在上面看。圖書室中央放一張大桌子,上面擺滿了許多小冊子,其中有些是過時的報紙。半嵌在拱形天花板上的四個磨沙玻璃球發出柔和的電光,浸浴着這和諧的整體。我看了這所佈置十分精緻的圖書室,心中十分讚美,我几乎都不敢信任我自己的眼睛。

   "Captain Nemo," I told my host, who had just stretched out on a couch, "this is a library that would do credit to more than one continental palace, and I truly marvel to think it can go with you into the deepest seas."

   “尼摩船長,”我對剛在沙發上躺下的主人說,“這樣一個圖書室,就是放在大陸上的宮廷中也足以自豪,我一想到它可以跟着您到海底的最深處,真不禁要眉飛色舞,十分高興起來。”

   "Where could one find greater silence or solitude, professor?" Captain Nemo replied. "Did your study at the museum afford you such a perfect retreat?"

   “教授,試問哪裡還可以找出比這裡更隱僻更靜溢的地方來?”尼摩船長答,“您的自然博物館的工作室能供給您這樣一個安靜舒適的環境嗎?”

   "No, sir, and I might add that it's quite a humble one next to yours. You own 6,000 or 7,000 volumes here . . ."

   “沒有,先生,我還得說,我的工作室跟這比較起來,顯然是太寒酸了。您這室中有六七千本書呢……”

   "12,000, Professor Aronnax. They're my sole remaining ties with dry land. But I was done with the shore the day my Nautilus submerged for the first time under the waters. That day I purchased my last volumes, my last pamphlets, my last newspapers, and ever since I've chosen to believe that humanity no longer thinks or writes. In any event, professor, these books are at your disposal, and you may use them freely."

   “阿龍納斯先生,共有一萬二千本。這是我跟陸地上的唯一聯繫。但從我的諾第留斯號第一次潛入水底的那一天起,對我來說,人世就完結了。這一天,我買了我最後一批書,最後一批小冊子,最後幾份日報,從那時候起,我就認為,人類沒有什麼思想,也沒有什麼著作了。教授,這些書隨您的便,您可以自由使用。”

   I thanked Captain Nemo and approached the shelves of this library. Written in every language, books on science, ethics, and literature were there in abundance, but I didn't see a single work on economics-- they seemed to be strictly banned on board. One odd detail: all these books were shelved indiscriminately without regard to the language in which they were written, and this jumble proved that the Nautilus's captain could read fluently whatever volumes he chanced to pick up.

   我謝謝尼摩船長。我走近書架。各種文字的科學、哲學和文學書籍,架上多的是;可是我就沒看到一本關於政治經濟學的書籍,這類書籍似乎完全被剔出去了。說來也奇怪,所有的書不管哪種文字的,都隨便混在一起,.沒有醒目的分類,很顯然,諾第留斯號的船長隨手拿一本書都可以流利地讀下去。

   Among these books I noted masterpieces by the greats of ancient and modern times, in other words, all of humanity's finest achievements in history, poetry, fiction, and science, from Homer to Victor Hugo, from Xenophon to Michelet, from Rabelais to Madame George Sand. But science, in particular, represented the major investment of this library: books on mechanics, ballistics, hydrography, meteorology, geography, geology, etc., held a place there no less important than works on natural history, and I realized that they made up the captain's chief reading. There I saw the complete works of Humboldt, the complete Arago, as well as works by Foucault, Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, Chasles, Milne-Edwards, Quatrefages, John Tyndall, Faraday, Berthelot, Father Secchi, Petermann, Commander Maury, Louis Agassiz, etc., plus the transactions of France's Academy of Sciences, bulletins from the various geographical societies, etc., and in a prime location, those two volumes on the great ocean depths that had perhaps earned me this comparatively charitable welcome from Captain Nemo. Among the works of Joseph Bertrand, his book entitled The Founders of Astronomy even gave me a definite date; and since I knew it had appeared in the course of 1865, I concluded that the fitting out of the Nautilus hadn't taken place before then. Accordingly, three years ago at the most, Captain Nemo had begun his underwater existence. Moreover, I hoped some books even more recent would permit me to pinpoint the date precisely; but I had plenty of time to look for them, and I didn't want to put off any longer our stroll through the wonders of the Nautilus.

   這些書籍中間,我看到有古代和近代大師的傑作——這些都是人類在史學、詩歌和科學方面多年積累的成果,從荷馬到維克多-雨果,從翟諾芬到米歇列,從拉伯雷到喬治-桑夫人。,都應有盡有。特別科學書籍,是這所圖書室最珍貴的部分,機械學、彈道學、海洋繪圖學、氣象學、地理學、地質學等等書籍所占的位置不下于自然科學的書籍,我明白這些都是船長研究的重點。我看見架上有韓波爾全集、阿拉哥全集,以及傅戈爾、亨利-聖-克利-德維爾夏斯爾、密爾-愛德華、卡特法日、鄧達爾、法拉第、白爾特洛@、薛希修道院長@、別台曼、莫利少校、阿加昔斯等人的著作;科學院的論文,各國地理學會的會刊等等也有。我寫的那兩本書也放在明顯的位置上,我能得到尼摩船長的相當寬大的接待,大概就是由於這兩本書。在伯特蘭的著作中間,他的那部《天文學的創始人),竟使我推算出這只船製造的確實日期;我知道這部書是于1865年出版,由此可以斷定,諾第留斯號下水是在這一個時期之後。這樣說來,尼摩船長開始他的海底生活,至多不過三年。我很希望有更新近的書籍可以讓我確定這個日期:但我想,我會有時間來做這種研究工作的;我不願再耽誤遊覽諾第留斯號船上的奇蹟。

   "Sir," I told the captain, "thank you for placing this library at my disposal. There are scientific treasures here, and I'll take advantage of them."

   “先生,”我對船長說,“我多謝您把這些圖書讓我隨便使用。這是科學的寶庫,我在這裡一定能得到許多益處。,

   "This room isn't only a library," Captain Nemo said, "it's also a smoking room."

   “這裡不僅是圖書室。“尼摩船長說,“同時又是吸煙室。”

   "A smoking room?" I exclaimed. "Then one may smoke on board?"

   “吸煙室嗎?”我喊,“船上也怞煙嗎?”

   "Surely."

   “當然也怞煙。”

   "In that case, sir, I'm forced to believe that you've kept up relations with Havana."

   “先生,那麼,我不能不想您是跟哈瓦那有來往的了。”

   "None whatever," the captain replied. "Try this cigar, Professor Aronnax, and even though it doesn't come from Havana, it will satisfy you if you're a connoisseur."

   “一點沒有來往。”船長回答,“阿龍納斯先生,這支雪前,您怞怞看,這雖然不是從哈瓦那來的,但如果您是行家,您一定會滿意的。”

   I took the cigar offered me, whose shape recalled those from Cuba; but it seemed to be made of gold leaf. I lit it at a small brazier supported by an elegant bronze stand, and I inhaled my first whiffs with the relish of a smoker who hasn't had a puff in days.

   我接過他給我的雪茄煙,形狀有點像哈瓦那制的輪敦式雪茄,煙葉也似乎是上等的金色煙葉。我在一根漂亮的銅托子上的小火盆上把煙點起來。愛吸煙的人兩天來不怞煙,一拿起煙來,就覺渾身愉快,我盡情地吸了幾口。我說:

   "It's excellent," I said, "but it's not from the tobacco plant."

   “好極了,但不是煙草。”

   "Right," the captain replied, "this tobacco comes from neither Havana nor the Orient. It's a kind of nicotine-rich seaweed that the ocean supplies me, albeit sparingly. Do you still miss your Cubans, sir?"

   “對,”船長回答,“這種煙草不是從哈瓦那來的,也不是從東方來的。這是海裡供給我的一種富有煙精的海藻,這種海藻的數量並不多。先生,您怞不到哈瓦那制的雪前煙不覺得遺憾嗎?”

   "Captain, I scorn them from this day forward."

   “船長,從今天起我就看不起那些煙了。”

   "Then smoke these cigars whenever you like, without debating their origin. They bear no government seal of approval, but I imagine they're none the worse for it."

   “那您就隨便怞吧!用不着討論這些煙的來歷了。它們沒有受過任何煙草管理局的檢查,但我想質量也並不見得就差些。”

   "On the contrary."

   “正相反,很好。”

   Just then Captain Nemo opened a door facing the one by which I had entered the library, and I passed into an immense, splendidly lit lounge.

   這時候,尼摩船長打開一扇門,這門跟我進入圖書室的閂相對,我走進了寬敞華麗的客廳。

   It was a huge quadrilateral with canted corners, ten meters long, six wide, five high. A luminous ceiling, decorated with delicate arabesques, distributed a soft, clear daylight over all the wonders gathered in this museum. For a museum it truly was, in which clever hands had spared no expense to amass every natural and artistic treasure, displaying them with the helter-skelter picturesqueness that distinguishes a painter's studio.

   這客廳是一個長方形的大房間,長十米,寬六米,高五米,夭花板飾有淡淡的圖案花紋,裝在天花板上的燈球射出明亮柔和的光線,照耀着陳列在這博物館中的奇珍異寶。因為這客廳實際上是一所博物館,一隻智慧的妙手把自然界和藝術上的一切珍奇都聚在這裡,使它帶著一個畫家工作室所特有的那種富有藝術性的凌亂。

   Some thirty pictures by the masters, uniformly framed and separated by gleaming panoplies of arms, adorned walls on which were stretched tapestries of austere design. There I saw canvases of the highest value, the likes of which I had marveled at in private European collections and art exhibitions. The various schools of the old masters were represented by a Raphael Madonna, a Virgin by Leonardo da Vinci, a nymph by Correggio, a woman by Titian, an adoration of the Magi by Veronese, an assumption of the Virgin by Murillo, a Holbein portrait, a monk by Velazquez, a martyr by Ribera, a village fair by Rubens, two Flemish landscapes by Teniers, three little genre paintings by Gerard Dow, Metsu, and Paul Potter, two canvases by Gericault and Prud'hon, plus seascapes by Backhuysen and Vernet. Among the works of modern art were pictures signed by Delacroix, Ingres, Decamps, Troyon, Meissonier, Daubigny, etc., and some wonderful miniature statues in marble or bronze, modeled after antiquity's finest originals, stood on their pedestals in the corners of this magnificent museum. As the Nautilus's commander had predicted, my mind was already starting to fall into that promised state of stunned amazement.

   四周的牆壁懸掛着圖案壁毯,壁毯上點綴着三十來幅名畫,畫框子都是一式一樣的,每幅畫之間隔以閃閃發亮的武器飾物。我看見其中有不少名貴的作品,大部分我在歐洲私人的收藏館中,或在圖畫展覽會上曾經欣賞過。歷代各家大師的作品掛在這裡的有:拉斐爾的一幅聖母,達,芬奇的一幅聖女,戈列治的一幅少女,狄提恩的一幅婦人,維郎尼斯的一幅膜拜圖,纓利羅的一幅聖母升天圖,賀爾拜因的一幅肖像,委拉斯開茲的一幅修士,裡貝拉的一幅殉教者,魯本斯的一幅節日歡宴圖,狄尼埃父子的兩幅佛蘭德風景,居拉都。、米蘇。、包台爾派的三幅“世態畫”,葉利哥和普呂東的兩幅油畫巴久生@和魏宜@的幾幅海景圖。在近代的作品中,有簽署德拉克洛瓦、安格爾,德甘、杜羅揚、梅索尼”埃、,多賓宜等名字的油畫、還有一些模仿古代最美典型的縮小銅像和石像,擺在這所華美博物館角落的座架上。諾第留斯號船長所預言的那種驚奇的情況已經開始控制我、的心靈了。

   "Professor," this strange man then said, "you must excuse the informality with which I receive you, and the disorder reigning in this lounge."

   “教授,”這個古怪人說,“請您原諒我這樣毫不客氣地在這裡接待您,請您原諒這所客廳亂七八糟的沒有秩序。”

   "Sir," I replied, "without prying into who you are, might I venture to identify you as an artist?"

   “船長,我並不想知道您是什麼人,但我現在可以猜測您是一位藝術家吧?”

   "A collector, sir, nothing more. Formerly I loved acquiring these beautiful works created by the hand of man. I sought them greedily, ferreted them out tirelessly, and I've been able to gather some objects of great value. They're my last mementos of those shores that are now dead for me. In my eyes, your modern artists are already as old as the ancients. They've existed for 2,000 or 3,000 years, and I mix them up in my mind. The masters are ageless."

   “先生,我至多不過是一個業餘愛好者。我從前喜歡收藏人類雙手創造出來的這些最美的作品。我當時是一個熱烈的接觸,一個不倦的追求家,因此收集了一些價值很高的美術品。這些東西是已經死亡的陸地——對我來說——所留下的最後紀念品了。在我看來,你們的那些近代的美術家也已經是古代的了,他們都已經有兩三千年了,所以在我心中,也不把他們分為古代的和現代的。名家大師是沒有時代的呀。”

   "What about these composers?" I said, pointing to sheet music by Weber, Rossini, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Meyerbeer, Hérold, Wagner, Auber, Gounod, Victor Massé, and a number of others scattered over a full size piano-organ, which occupied one of the wall panels in this lounge.

   “這些音樂家又怎樣呢?”我指着韋伯、羅西尼、莫扎特、貝多芬、海頓、梅衣比爾。、海羅爾、瓦格:納、奧比、古諾以及其他許多人的樂譜說,這些樂譜雜亂地放在一座大型鋼琴上面,鋼琴占着客廳的一方格的地位。

   "These composers," Captain Nemo answered me, "are the contemporaries of Orpheus, because in the annals of the dead, all chronological differences fade; and I'm dead, professor, quite as dead as those friends of yours sleeping six feet under!"

   尼摩船長回答我:“這些音樂家是俄爾甫斯@的同時代人,因為在死者的記憶中,年代的差別消滅了——教授,我跟您的長眠在地下六英呎深的朋友們一樣,我本來是死了!”

   Captain Nemo fell silent and seemed lost in reverie. I regarded him with intense excitement, silently analyzing his strange facial expression. Leaning his elbow on the corner of a valuable mosaic table, he no longer saw me, he had forgotten my very presence.

   尼摩船長默不作聲,他好像掉在深沉的幻想中。我激動地看著他,默默地分析他臉上的表情。他胳膊時靠在一張嵌花的桌子上,他一點也不看著我,似乎忘記了我在他面前。

   I didn't disturb his meditations but continued to pass in review the curiosities that enriched this lounge.

   我不敢打亂他的默想,我繼續觀看廳裡的那些珍品。

   After the works of art, natural rarities predominated. They consisted chiefly of plants, shells, and other exhibits from the ocean that must have been Captain Nemo's own personal finds. In the middle of the lounge, a jet of water, electrically lit, fell back into a basin made from a single giant clam. The delicately festooned rim of this shell, supplied by the biggest mollusk in the class Acephala, measured about six meters in circumference; so it was even bigger than those fine giant clams given to King François I by the Republic of Venice, and which the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris has made into two gigantic holy-water fonts.

   除了藝術作品以外,自然界罕見的產品也占很重要的地位。這些東西主要是植物、貝殼,以及海中的其他產品,大約都是尼摩船長個人的發現。在大廳中間,有一個噴泉。水受電光的照耀,重又落在單由一片大貝殼製成的環形水池中。這個最大的無頭軟體類動物的貝殼,從它鑲有精細花紋的邊緣上量,周邊約有六米長;這貝殼比威尼斯共和國送給佛朗索瓦一世的那些美麗貝殼還要大得多,巴黎聖修佩斯教堂曾用這種貝殼做了兩個巨大的聖水池。

   Around this basin, inside elegant glass cases fastened with copper bands, there were classified and labeled the most valuable marine exhibits ever put before the eyes of a naturalist. My professorial glee may easily be imagined.

   在這環形水池周圍,紅銅架子的玻璃櫃中,最珍貴的海產物品都分了類,並貼著標籤,這些都是一個生物學家很難得看見的東西。作為教授的我所感到的喜悅,是誰都不難想象到的。

   The zoophyte branch offered some very unusual specimens from its two groups, the polyps and the echinoderms. In the first group: organ-pipe coral, gorgonian coral arranged into fan shapes, soft sponges from Syria, isis coral from the Molucca Islands, sea-pen coral, wonderful coral of the genus Virgularia from the waters of Norway, various coral of the genus Umbellularia, alcyonarian coral, then a whole series of those madrepores that my mentor Professor Milne-Edwards has so shrewdly classified into divisions and among which I noted the wonderful genus Flabellina as well as the genus Oculina from Réunion Island, plus a "Neptune's chariot" from the Caribbean Sea--every superb variety of coral, and in short, every species of these unusual polyparies that congregate to form entire islands that will one day turn into continents. Among the echinoderms, notable for being covered with spines: starfish, feather stars, sea lilies, free-swimming crinoids, brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, etc., represented a complete collection of the individuals in this group.

   植蟲動物門的兩類,腔腸類和棘皮類,在櫃中有根奇異的品種。在腔腸類中,有管狀珊瑚,扇形礬花,敘利亞的柔軟侮綿,摩鹿加群島的海木賊,磷光珊瑚,挪威海中很好看的逗點珊瑚,各式各樣的傘形珊瑚,八枚珊瑚蟲,我的老師密爾-愛德華很清楚地分為許多種的整組的石蠶(這裡面,我看見有很美麗的扇形石蠶):波旁島的眼形珊瑚,安的列斯群島的“海神之車”,各種各樣的美麗珊瑚,以及所有一切稀奇古怪的腔腸類動物;這些動物集合起來,能構成整個的海島,這些島將來有一天會結合成為大陸。在外表多刺的棘皮類中,有海盤車、海星球、五角星、慧星球、流盤星、海渭、海參等,作為這一類動物的整套標本擺在這裡。

   An excitable conchologist would surely have fainted dead away before other, more numerous glass cases in which were classified specimens from the mollusk branch. There I saw a collection of incalculable value that I haven't time to describe completely. Among these exhibits I'll mention, just for the record: an elegant royal hammer shell from the Indian Ocean, whose evenly spaced white spots stood out sharply against a base of red and brown; an imperial spiny oyster, brightly colored, bristling with thorns, a specimen rare to European museums, whose value I estimated at 20,000 francs; a common hammer shell from the seas near Queensland, very hard to come by; exotic cockles from Senegal, fragile white bivalve shells that a single breath could pop like a soap bubble; several varieties of watering-pot shell from Java, a sort of limestone tube fringed with leafy folds and much fought over by collectors; a whole series of top-shell snails--greenish yellow ones fished up from American seas, others colored reddish brown that patronize the waters off Queensland, the former coming from the Gulf of Mexico and notable for their overlapping shells, the latter some sun-carrier shells found in the southernmost seas, finally and rarest of all, the magnificent spurred-star shell from New Zealand; then some wonderful peppery-furrow shells; several valuable species of cythera clams and venus clams; the trellis wentletrap snail from Tranquebar on India's eastern shore; a marbled turban snail gleaming with mother-of-pearl; green parrot shells from the seas of China; the virtually unknown cone snail from the genus Coenodullus; every variety of cowry used as money in India and Africa; a "glory-of-the-seas," the most valuable shell in the East Indies; finally, common periwinkles, delphinula snails, turret snails, violet snails, European cowries, volute snails, olive shells, miter shells, helmet shells, murex snails, whelks, harp shells, spiky periwinkles, triton snails, horn shells, spindle shells, conch shells, spider conchs, limpets, glass snails, sea butterflies-- every kind of delicate, fragile seashell that science has baptized with its most delightful names.

   一位神經稍微鋭敏一點的貝殼類專家,到了另一些陳列軟體類動物標本的玻璃櫃面前,一定要高興得發昏了。我這裡看見的這一套標本,簡直是無價之寶,時間不允許我一一加以描寫。在這些珍品中,我僅僅為了備忘起見舉出數種:首先是美麗的印度洋的王槌貝,貝身上的規律白點襯着紅棕色的底子,鮮明突出。其次,棘皮王風,顏色鮮艷,全身長着棘刺,是歐洲博物館中罕有的品種)我估計它的價值為兩萬法郎。其次,新荷蘭島海中的普通糙貝,這種貝很不容易捕獲。其次,塞內加爾島的奇異唇貝,這貝的兩片脆酥白殻好像是肥皂泡,一吹就要消散似的。其次,幾種爪哇偽噴水壺形貝,這種貝像是邊緣有葉狀皺紋的石灰質的管子,最為愛好貝殼的人所歡迎。其次,整整一組的窪貝,有些是青黃色,從美洲海中打來的,另一些是棕儲色,是新荷蘭島海中繁殖的,後一種產自墨西哥灣,殻作鱗次柿比形,最為突出,前一種是從南冰洋中採取的星狀貝。這組中最稀罕的、最好看的是新西蘭的馬刺形貝。又其次,好看的帶硫磺質的版形貝,珍貴的西德列和維納斯優美貝,上闌格巴沿海的格子花盤貝,螺鈿光輝的細紋蹄貝,中國海的綠色帆貝,錐形貝類中差不多沒人知道的圓錐貝,印度和非洲作為貨幣使用的各種各類的磁貝,東印度群島最珍貴的貝殼——“海的光榮’’。最後是紐絲螺、燕子螺、金字塔形螺、海介蛤、卵形貝、螺旋貝、僧帽貝、鐵盔貝、朱紅貝、油螺、豎琴螺、岩石螺、法螺、化石螺、紡錘螺、袖形貝、帶翼貝、笠形貝、硝子貝、棱形貝,這些精美脆酥的烷貝,科學家把最美麗的名詞作為它們的名字。

   Aside and in special compartments, strings of supremely beautiful pearls were spread out, the electric light flecking them with little fiery sparks: pink pearls pulled from saltwater fan shells in the Red Sea; green pearls from the rainbow abalone; yellow, blue, and black pearls, the unusual handiwork of various mollusks from every ocean and of certain mussels from rivers up north; in short, several specimens of incalculable worth that had been oozed by the rarest of shellfish. Some of these pearls were bigger than a pigeon egg; they more than equaled the one that the explorer Tavernier sold the Shah of Persia for 3,000,000 francs, and they surpassed that other pearl owned by the Imam of Muscat, which I had believed to be unrivaled in the entire world.

   另外,在特殊的格子中,擺着最美麗的串珠,被電光照得發出星星的火花,其中有從紅海的尖角螺中取出來的玫瑰紅色珠,有蝶形海耳螺的青色珠,有黃色珠,藍色珠,黑色珠,以及各海洋中各種軟體動物,北方海中蚌蛤類的新奇產品。最後是價值不可估計的寶珠,那是從最稀罕的珍珠貝中取出來的。其中有的比鴿蛋大,它們的價值要超過旅行家達成尼埃賣給波斯國王得價三百萬的那顆珍珠,就是和我認為世界上獨一無二的、馬斯加提教長的另一顆珍珠比較起來,它們還是貴重得多。

   Consequently, to calculate the value of this collection was, I should say, impossible. Captain Nemo must have spent millions in acquiring these different specimens, and I was wondering what financial resources he tapped to satisfy his collector's fancies, when these words interrupted me:

   所以,要估計出這全部物品的價值,可以說是不可能的。尼摩船長一定花了數百萬金錢來購買這些珍寶,我心裡想,他從哪裡弄來這筆款子,來滿足他收藏家的慾望呢,我正想的時候,被下面的諾打斷了:

   "You're examining my shells, professor? They're indeed able to fascinate a naturalist; but for me they have an added charm, since I've collected every one of them with my own two hands, and not a sea on the globe has escaped my investigations."

   “教授,您在看我的貝殼嗎?當然,這些貝殼會使一位生物學家發生濃厚的興趣:但在我來說,卻另有一種樂趣,就是因為這些東西是我自己親手!次集起來的,地球上沒有一處海能躲過我的搜尋。”

   "I understand, captain, I understand your delight at strolling in the midst of this wealth. You're a man who gathers his treasure in person. No museum in Europe owns such a collection of exhibits from the ocean. But if I exhaust all my wonderment on them, I'll have nothing left for the ship that carries them! I have absolutely no wish to probe those secrets of yours! But I confess that my curiosity is aroused to the limit by this Nautilus, the motor power it contains, the equipment enabling it to operate, the ultra powerful force that brings it to life. I see some instruments hanging on the walls of this lounge whose purposes are unknown to me. May I learn--"

   “我瞭解,船長,我瞭解您在這樣稀世寶藏當中走動的時候所感到的喜悅。您是親手把自己的財寶收集起來的人。歐洲沒有一所博物館能有您這樣的關於海洋產物的珍貴收藏。我對於這些收藏固然盡情讚美,可是,對於裝載它的這只船,我不知道更要怎樣來讚美呢!我並不想完全知道您的秘密!不過,我得承認,這艘諾第留斯號,它內部的動力,使它行動的機器,賦予它生命的強大原動力,所有這一切,都引起我的最大好奇心。我看見在這個客廳的牆壁上掛着許多儀器,它們的用處我完全不懂得,我是不是可以知道呢?……”

   "Professor Aronnax," Captain Nemo answered me, "I've said you'd be free aboard my vessel, so no part of the Nautilus is off-limits to you. You may inspect it in detail, and I'll be delighted to act as your guide."

   “阿龍納斯先生,”尼摩船長回答我,“我跟您說過了,您在我船上是自由的,因此,諾第留斯號的任何一部分您都可以去看。所以,您可以詳細參觀它,我很高興,能作您的嚮導。”

   "I don't know how to thank you, sir, but I won't abuse your good nature. I would only ask you about the uses intended for these instruments of physical measure--"

   “我不知道怎麼感謝您才好,先生,但我不能妄用您的美意,隨便亂問,我單單想問那些物理儀器是作什麼用的。……”

   "Professor, these same instruments are found in my stateroom, where I'll have the pleasure of explaining their functions to you. But beforehand, come inspect the cabin set aside for you. You need to learn how you'll be lodged aboard the Nautilus."

   “教授,這樣的一些儀器,我的房子裡也有,到我房中的時候,我一定給您講解它們的用處。現在請先去參觀一下給您留下的艙房。您應該知道您在諾第留斯號船上住得怎麼樣。”

   I followed Captain Nemo, who, via one of the doors cut into the lounge's canted corners, led me back down the ship's gangways. He took me to the bow, and there I found not just a cabin but an elegant stateroom with a bed, a washstand, and various other furnishings.

   我跟在尼摩船長後面,從容廳的一個門穿出,又回到過值中。他領我向船前頭走去,我在那裡看到的,不僅僅是一個艙房,並且是有床、有梳洗台和各種傢具的一個漂亮的房間。

   I could only thank my host.

   我不能不十分感謝我的主人。

   "Your stateroom adjoins mine," he told me, opening a door, "and mine leads into that lounge we've just left."

   “您的房間緊挨着我的房間,”他一邊打開門,一邊對我說,“我的房間跟我們剛離開的客廳相通。”

   I entered the captain's stateroom. It had an austere, almost monastic appearance. An iron bedstead, a worktable, some washstand fixtures. Subdued lighting. No luxuries. Just the bare necessities.

   我走進船長的房間裡。房間內部樸實整齊,有點像隱士住的,房中有一張鐵床,一張辦公檯和一些梳洗用具。淡淡的燈光照着內部。裡面沒有什麼講究的東西。只有一些必需品。

   Captain Nemo showed me to a bench.

   尼摩船長指着一把椅子,對我說:

   "Kindly be seated," he told me.

   “請坐。”

   I sat, and he began speaking as follows:

   我坐下,他對我說了下面的一些話。