A MOMENT LATER we were seated on a couch in the lounge, cigars between our lips. The captain placed before my eyes a working drawing that gave the ground plan, cross section, and side view of the Nautilus. Then he began his description as follows:
一會兒,我們坐在客廳的一張長沙發上,各人嘴裡叼着雪茄。船長把一幅詳細的圖放在我面前,這圖是諾第留斯號的平面圖、側面圖和投影圖。然後他用下面的話來描述這只船的形狀:
"Here, Professor Aronnax, are the different dimensions of this boat now transporting you. It's a very long cylinder with conical ends. It noticeably takes the shape of a cigar, a shape already adopted in London for several projects of the same kind. The length of this cylinder from end to end is exactly seventy meters, and its maximum breadth of beam is eight meters. So it isn't quite built on the ten-to-one ratio of your high-speed steamers; but its lines are sufficiently long, and their tapering gradual enough, so that the displaced water easily slips past and poses no obstacle to the ship's movements.
“阿龍納斯先生,下面就是您乘的這只船的形狀和容積。船是很長的圓筒形,兩端作圓錐狀。很明顯,它很像一支雪前煙。這種形式,在輪敦有些船的構造早已採用過了。這個圓筒的長度,從頭到尾,正好是七十米,它的橫柄,最寬、的地方是八米。所以這船的構造跟普通的遠航大汽船不是”完全一樣的,它的寬是長的十分之一,它從頭至尾是夠長、砌,兩腰包底又相當圓,因此船行駛時積水容易排走,絲毫不會阻礙它的航行。
"These two dimensions allow you to obtain, via a simple calculation, the surface area and volume of the Nautilus. Its surface area totals 1,011.45 square meters, its volume 1,507.2 cubic meters-- which is tantamount to saying that when it's completely submerged, it displaces 1,500 cubic meters of water, or weighs 1,500 metric tons.
“拿上面寬長兩個數量計算一下,就可以得到諾第留斯號的面積和體積。面積共為一千零十一平方米四十五釐米,體積共為一千五百點二立方米——就是說,船完全沉入水中時,它的徘水量或體重為一千五百立方米或一千五百噸。
"In drawing up plans for a ship meant to navigate underwater, I wanted it, when floating on the waves, to lie nine-tenths below the surface and to emerge only one-tenth. Consequently, under these conditions it needed to displace only nine-tenths of its volume, hence 1,356.48 cubic meters; in other words, it was to weigh only that same number of metric tons. So I was obliged not to exceed this weight while building it to the aforesaid dimensions.
“當我繪製這只在水底航行用的船的圖樣時,我要求它的吃水部分占十分之九,浮出部分只占十分之一,這樣它就可以在水中保持平衡。因此,在這些條件下,它的排水量只能為它體積的十分之九,即一千三百五十六立方米四十八釐米,也就是說,船的體重等於這個數目的噸數。所以我製造這船要根據上面的積量,船的全體重量不能超過這個數目。
"The Nautilus is made up of two hulls, one inside the other; between them, joining them together, are iron T-bars that give this ship the utmost rigidity. In fact, thanks to this cellular arrangement, it has the resistance of a stone block, as if it were completely solid. Its plating can't give way; it's self-adhering and not dependent on the tightness of its rivets; and due to the perfect union of its materials, the solidarity of its construction allows it to defy the most violent seas.
“諾第留斯號由雙層船殻造成,一層是內殻,另一層是外殼,兩殻之間,用許多T字形的蹄鐵把它們連接起來,使船身堅硬無比。是的,由於殻與殻之間有這種細胞式的結構,這船像是一大塊實鐵,中間飽滿無隙,可以抵抗一切。它的邊緣不可能鬆動;船身合而為一,是由於結構本身的力量,不是由於鉸釘的扣緊;因為材料配置完全適合,構造整齊劃一,它可以在海洋中行駛,不怕最洶湧的風浪。
"The two hulls are manufactured from boilerplate steel, whose relative density is 7.8 times that of water. The first hull has a thickness of no less than five centimeters and weighs 394.96 metric tons. My second hull, the outer cover, includes a keel fifty centimeters high by twenty-five wide, which by itself weighs 62 metric tons; this hull, the engine, the ballast, the various accessories and accommodations, plus the bulkheads and interior braces, have a combined weight of 961.52 metric tons, which when added to 394.96 metric tons, gives us the desired total of 1,356.48 metric tons. Clear?"
“這兩層船殻是用鋼板製造的,鋼的密度與海水密度的比例是十比七至八。第一層船殻至少有五釐米厚,重量是三百九十四點九六噸。第二層內殻,就是龍骨,有五十釐米高,二十五釐米寬,只重六十二噸。機器,鎮船機,各種附屬船具和裝置品,內部的各樣牆板和木材等等的重量和上面的三百九十四點丸六噸蛆在屍袒,就是總重量一千三百五十六點四八噸中的一部分了。這您明白嗎?”
"Clear," I replied.
“明白。“我答。
"So," the captain went on, "when the Nautilus lies on the waves under these conditions, one-tenth of it does emerge above water. Now then, if I provide some ballast tanks equal in capacity to that one-tenth, hence able to hold 150.72 metric tons, and if I fill them with water, the boat then displaces 1,507.2 metric tons-- or it weighs that much--and it would be completely submerged. That's what comes about, professor. These ballast tanks exist within easy access in the lower reaches of the Nautilus.
“所以,”船長又說,“在這種條件下,當諾第留斯號在海中時,它浮出海面十分之一。但是,如果我裝設了容積等於這十分之一的儲水池,容水重量為一百五十點七二噸,如果我讓水池裝滿了水,這時船的排水量或重量是一千五百零七噸,那它就完全潛入水中了。教授,事情原來就是這:樣。這些儲水池實際是存在的,它們在諾第留斯號的下層。
I open some stopcocks, the tanks fill, the boat sinks, and it's exactly flush with the surface of the water."
我打開儲,水池的門,水池就填滿了,剛被水面齊頂淹沒的船於是往下沉了。
"Fine, captain, but now we come to a genuine difficulty. You're able to lie flush with the surface of the ocean, that I understand. But lower down, while diving beneath that surface, isn't your submersible going to encounter a pressure, and consequently undergo an upward thrust, that must be assessed at one atmosphere per every thirty feet of water, hence at about one kilogram per each square centimeter?"
“對,船長,可是這裡有實際的困難。這樣,您可以使船面跟洋面一致,我可以理解。但是,再向下沉,潛入水面以下,您的潛水機器不是碰到一種壓力嗎?碰到一種由下而上的浮力嗎?這種力是以三十英呎高的水柱壓力即一個大”氣壓力為計算標準的,也就是說,每一平方釐米所受的力約為一公斤。”
"Precisely, sir."
“對,先生。”
"Then unless you fill up the whole Nautilus, I don't see how you can force it down into the heart of these liquid masses."
“所以,只有您把諾第留斯號全部裝滿了水,否則,我不明白您是怎樣把船潛到海底下去。”
"Professor," Captain Nemo replied, "static objects mustn't be confused with dynamic ones, or we'll be open to serious error. Comparatively little effort is spent in reaching the ocean's lower regions, because all objects have a tendency to become 'sinkers.' Follow my logic here."
“教授,”尼摩船長回答,“不應當把靜力學和動力學混:淆起來,不然的話,就要發生嚴重的錯誤。到達海洋的下層,實際不用費很大的力量,因為凡物體都有下沉到底的傾向。請您聽我的推論吧。”
"I'm all ears, captain."
“船長,我靜聽著您的話。”
"When I wanted to determine what increase in weight the Nautilus needed to be given in order to submerge, I had only to take note of the proportionate reduction in volume that salt water experiences in deeper and deeper strata."
“要船潛入水底,就必需增加重量,當我決定增加時,我只須注意海水體積在不同深度中的壓縮數量就成了。”
"That's obvious," I replied.
“當然。”我回答。
"Now then, if water isn't absolutely incompressible, at least it compresses very little. In fact, according to the most recent calculations, this reduction is only .0000436 per atmosphere, or per every thirty feet of depth. For instance, to go 1,000 meters down, I must take into account the reduction in volume that occurs under a pressure equivalent to that from a 1,000-meter column of water, in other words, under a pressure of 100 atmospheres. In this instance the reduction would be .00436. Consequently, I'd have to increase my weight from 1,507.2 metric tons to 1,513.77. So the added weight would only be 6.57 metric tons."
“可是,水雖不是絶對不可壓縮,但至少是很難壓縮。是這樣,根據最近的計算,每一大氣壓(即三十英呎高的水柱壓力)下,這種壓縮數量是一千萬分之四百三十六。比方要到一,千米深的水層,我這時要注意的就是海水在一千米:的壓力下,即一百大氣壓的壓力下它的體積的壓縮數量。這個數量為十萬分之四百三十六。所以我這時應增加到的總重量,不是,一千五百零七點二噸,而是一千五百十三點七七噸。因此,增加的重量數是六點五七噸。”
"That's all?"
“僅僅這個數目嗎?、
"That's all, Professor Aronnax, and the calculation is easy to check. Now then, I have supplementary ballast tanks capable of shipping 100 metric tons of water. So I can descend to considerable depths. When I want to rise again and lie flush with the surface, all I have to do is expel that water; and if I desire that the Nautilus emerge above the waves to one-tenth of its total capacity, I empty all the ballast tanks completely."
“僅僅這個數目,阿龍納斯先生。並且,很容易用計算來證實。本來我有不少的補充儲水池,能容百噸的水量。所以我可以下降至海底很深的地方。當我要上升,跟洋面相齊時,放出這些水就成,當我要諾第留斯號全身十分之一浮出水面時,把全部儲水池的水排出去就可以了。”
This logic, backed up by figures, left me without a single objection.
對於根據數字的這些推理,我當然不能提出反對意見。
"I accept your calculations, captain," I replied, "and I'd be ill-mannered to dispute them, since your daily experience bears them out. But at this juncture, I have a hunch that we're still left with one real difficulty."
“船長,”我回答,“我承認您計算的精確,如果我還要爭執,那就顯得是無理取閙了,因為經驗每天都說明您是對的。但目前我感到有一種實際困難的存在。”
"What's that, sir?"
“先生,什麼困難呢?”
"When you're at a depth of 1,000 meters, the Nautilus's plating bears a pressure of 100 atmospheres. If at this point you want to empty the supplementary ballast tanks in order to lighten your boat and rise to the surface, your pumps must overcome that pressure of 100 atmospheres, which is 100 kilograms per each square centimeter. This demands a strength--"
“當您到一千米深的時候,諾第留斯號的外層受着一百大氣壓的壓力。如果在這個時候;”您想排出各補充儲水池偽水量,使船輕快,上升到水面,那一定要船上怞水機的力量能超過這一百大氣壓的壓力,這壓力每平方釐米是一百公斤。因此,這一種力……”
"That electricity alone can give me," Captain Nemo said swiftly. "Sir, I repeat: the dynamic power of my engines is nearly infinite. The Nautilus's pumps have prodigious strength, as you must have noticed when their waterspouts swept like a torrent over the Abraham Lincoln. Besides, I use my supplementary ballast tanks only to reach an average depth of 1,500 to 2,000 meters, and that with a view to conserving my machinery. Accordingly, when I have a mind to visit the ocean depths two or three vertical leagues beneath the surface, I use maneuvers that are more time-consuming but no less infallible."
“單單電就可以給我這一種力量!”尼摩船長急着說,“先生,我一再同您說,我的機器的動力差不多是無限的。諾第留斯號的怞水機有異乎尋常的力量,您應當看見過了,上次對林肯號噴出的水柱,像強大的激流一樣,猛烈地衝去。另外,只是要到一千五百和二千米的中等深度時,我才使用那些補充儲水池,這是為了愛護我的機器,小心使用它。所以,當我忽然想到水面下二、三里深的海洋底下時,我還使用別的駕駛法,雖然時間較長久,但也一樣有效。”
"What are they, captain?" I asked.
“船長,什麼方法呢?”我問。
"Here I'm naturally led into telling you how the Nautilus is maneuvered."
“這樣一來,我自然得告訴你我是怎樣駕駛諾第留斯號的。”
"I can't wait to find out."
“我很想知道。”
"In order to steer this boat to port or starboard, in short, to make turns on a horizontal plane, I use an ordinary, wide-bladed rudder that's fastened to the rear of the sternpost and worked by a wheel and tackle. But I can also move the Nautilus upward and downward on a vertical plane by the simple method of slanting its two fins, which are attached to its sides at its center of flotation; these fins are flexible, able to assume any position, and can be operated from inside by means of powerful levers. If these fins stay parallel with the boat, the latter moves horizontally. If they slant, the Nautilus follows the angle of that slant and, under its propeller's thrust, either sinks on a diagonal as steep as it suits me, or rises on that diagonal. And similarly, if I want to return more swiftly to the surface, I throw the propeller in gear, and the water's pressure makes the Nautilus rise vertically, as an air balloon inflated with hydrogen lifts swiftly into the skies."
“駕駛這船,要它向左向右,簡單說,要它在水平面上走時,我使用普通的舵,舵上還有寬闊的副舵,裝在船尾,用機輪和滑車轉動。但我又可以使諾第留斯號在水中上升、,下降,這時我就使用兩個縱斜機板,機板裝在船的兩側浮標線的中央,它們是活動的,可以隨便變換位置,使用動力強大的槓桿,從船內部來躁縱它們。縱斜機板的位置如果與船身平行,船便在水平面上行駛,如果它們的位置傾斜了,諾第留斯號在推進器的推動下,就沿著傾斜方向或沿著我所要的對角綫沉下去,或沿著這對角綫浮上來。並且,我想更快地浮上水面來時,我就催動推進器,水的壓力使諾第留斯號直線地浮上來,像一隻氫氣球迅速升人空中一樣。”
"Bravo, captain!" I exclaimed. "But in the midst of the waters, how can your helmsman follow the course you've given him?"
“真了不得!船長,”我喊道,“但是,領航人怎樣能看見您在水底下指示船所應走的路線呢?”
"My helmsman is stationed behind the windows of a pilothouse, which protrudes from the topside of the Nautilus's hull and is fitted with biconvex glass."
“領航人是守在一個裝有玻璃的籠間裡,這籠間在諾第留斯號船身的上部突出部分,裝有各種凹凸玻璃片,保證他可以清楚地看見航路。”
"Is glass capable of resisting such pressures?"
“玻璃片能抵抗這樣強大的壓力嗎?,
"Perfectly capable. Though fragile on impact, crystal can still offer considerable resistance. In 1864, during experiments on fishing by electric light in the middle of the North Sea, glass panes less than seven millimeters thick were seen to resist a pressure of sixteen atmospheres, all the while letting through strong, heat-generating rays whose warmth was unevenly distributed. Now then, I use glass windows measuring no less than twenty-one centimeters at their centers; in other words, they've thirty times the thickness."
“能抵抗。玻璃雖然經不起衝擊,很脆,但有強大的耐壓力。1864年在北方海中利用電光做打魚的實驗,我們知道,當時使用的玻璃片只有七毫米厚,可以抵抗十六大氣壓的壓力,同時又可以讓強烈發熱的光線通過,使它獲得不平均的熱力的配給。何況我們使用的玻璃片,中央的厚度至少是二十一釐米,就是說,比上面打魚用的玻璃片厚三十倍。”
"Fair enough, captain, but if we're going to see, we need light to drive away the dark, and in the midst of the murky waters, I wonder how your helmsman can--"
“尼摩船長,這個我承認;但是在海中要想看得清清楚楚,一定要有光亮來排除黑暗,請問在海水的漆黑中間……”
"Set astern of the pilothouse is a powerful electric reflector whose rays light up the sea for a distance of half a mile."
“在領航人的籠間後面,裝有一座光度很強的電光探照燈,半海裡以內的海洋都可以照亮。”
"Oh, bravo! Bravo three times over, captain! That explains the phosphorescent glow from this so-called narwhale that so puzzled us scientists! Pertinent to this, I'll ask you if the Nautilus's running afoul of the Scotia, which caused such a great uproar, was the result of an accidental encounter?"
“啊!了不起,真是了不起!船長。我現在明白那種所謂獨角鯨的磷光現象了,它真叫學者們迷離驚嘆!我順便問一下,那鬨動一時的諾第留斯號和斯各脫亞號的相撞事件,是一次偶然的結果嗎?”
"Entirely accidental, sir. I was navigating two meters beneath the surface of the water when the collision occurred. However, I could see that it had no dire consequences."
“先生,那完全是出乎意外。我那時正在水面下二米航行,所以發生了衝撞。可是我也看到斯各脫亞號並沒有受到很大的損失。”
"None, sir. But as for your encounter with the Abraham Lincoln . . . ?"
“先生,是的,沒有受到重大的損失。但是跟林肯號的相碰呢?……”
"Professor, that troubled me, because it's one of the best ships in the gallant American navy, but they attacked me and I had to defend myself! All the same, I was content simply to put the frigate in a condition where it could do me no harm; it won't have any difficulty getting repairs at the nearest port."
“教授,關於這事,我對於美國海軍部的這艘勇敢的、最好的戰艦覺得有些抱歉,不過這是人家來攻擊我,我不得不自衛!但我也只做到使這艘戰艦不能傷害我,它可以到最近的海港修理好它所受到的損傷,並不很困難。”
"Ah, commander," I exclaimed with conviction, "your Nautilus is truly a marvelous boat!"
“啊!船長,”我誠懇地喊道,“您這艘諾第留斯號真正是一艘神奇的船!”
"Yes, professor," Captain Nemo replied with genuine excitement, "and I love it as if it were my own flesh and blood! Aboard a conventional ship, facing the ocean's perils, danger lurks everywhere; on the surface of the sea, your chief sensation is the constant feeling of an underlying chasm, as the Dutchman Jansen so aptly put it; but below the waves aboard the Nautilus, your heart never fails you! There are no structural deformities to worry about, because the double hull of this boat has the rigidity of iron; no rigging to be worn out by rolling and pitching on the waves; no sails for the wind to carry off; no boilers for steam to burst open; no fires to fear, because this submersible is made of sheet iron not wood; no coal to run out of, since electricity is its mechanical force; no collisions to fear, because it navigates the watery deep all by itself; no storms to brave, because just a few meters beneath the waves, it finds absolute tranquility! There, sir. There's the ideal ship! And if it's true that the engineer has more confidence in a craft than the builder, and the builder more than the captain himself, you can understand the utter abandon with which I place my trust in this Nautilus, since I'm its captain, builder, and engineer all in one!"
“是的,教授,”尼摩船長情緒也很激動地回答,“我愛它,像是愛我最心愛的東西一樣!雖然你們的船常受海洋的意外襲擊。海上一切都是危險的,荷蘭人楊生說的很好他說人們在海上的第一個印象就是怕人的無底深淵的感覺但是在諾底留斯號船上,人們心中就一點沒有什麼害怕。用不着害怕船要損毀,因為這只船的雙層船殻是剛鐵似的堅硬;它沒有風浪的翻騰或顛簸可以毀損的纜索一類東西:它沒有風可以吹走的帆;它沒有蒸汽可以破裂的鐵爐;它不會發生可怕的火災,因為船完全是鋼鐵製的,不是木頭造的;它不用有時會用完的煤炭,因為電是它的機械原動力;因為它在深水獨來獨往,不會發生可怕的相撞;它又不用冒風暴的危險,因為它在水面幾米下便能得到絶對的平靜!先生,以上就是這船的優點。它是一隻特殊優異,獨一無二的船!對於這只船,設計工程師可能比監造建築師有信心,監造建築師可能又比船長更有信心,如果真是這樣,那您就可以理解到我對我的諾第留斯號為什麼完全信賴了,因為我同時是這只船的船長、建築師和工程師!”
Captain Nemo spoke with winning eloquence. The fire in his eyes and the passion in his gestures transfigured him. Yes, he loved his ship the same way a father loves his child!
尼摩船長滔滔不絶地雄辯他說著。他眼中的火焰,他手勢的激動,使他完全變成另一個人。是的!他愛他的船,像一個父親愛他的兒子一樣!
But one question, perhaps indiscreet, naturally popped up, and I couldn't resist asking it.
但有一個也許是冒昧的問題,自然而然的出現了,我忍不住問他:
"You're an engineer, then, Captain Nemo?"
“尼摩船長,您是這船的設計工程師嗎?”
"Yes, professor," he answered me. "I studied in London, Paris, and New York back in the days when I was a resident of the earth's continents."
“是的,教授。”他回答我,“當我還是陸地上的居民的時候,我曾在輪敦,在巴黎,在紐約學習過。”
"But how were you able to build this wonderful Nautilus in secret?"
“但是,您怎樣能秘密地建造這艘奇異的令人五體投地諾第留斯號呢?”
"Each part of it, Professor Aronnax, came from a different spot on the globe and reached me at a cover address. Its keel was forged by Creusot in France, its propeller shaft by Pen & Co. in London, the sheet-iron plates for its hull by Laird's in Liverpool, its propeller by Scott's in Glasgow. Its tanks were manufactured by Cail & Co. in Paris, its engine by Krupp in Prussia, its spur by the Motala workshops in Sweden, its precision instruments by Hart Bros. in New York, etc.; and each of these suppliers received my specifications under a different name."
“阿龍納斯先生,船的每一塊材料都是從地球上的不同點,寫上假地址送來給我的。船的龍骨是法國克魯棱工廠造的,推進器大軸是輪敦朋尼公司制的,船殻的鋼鐵板是利物浦利亞工廠造的,推進器是格拉斯哥斯各脫工廠制的。船上的儲水池是巴黎嘉衣公司造的,機器是由普魯士克虜由工廠制的,船前頭的沖角出自瑞典的摩達拉工廠,精確的測驗儀器出自紐約的哈提兄弟公司等等,上面的每一製造廠都收到上面署名不同的我的設計圖,按圖樣製造。”
"But," I went on, "once these parts were manufactured, didn't they have to be mounted and adjusted?"
“不過,”我說,“這些制好了的一塊一塊材料,還得把它們配合起來、裝置起來呢?”
"Professor, I set up my workshops on a deserted islet in midocean. There our Nautilus was completed by me and my workmen, in other words, by my gallant companions whom I've molded and educated. Then, when the operation was over, we burned every trace of our stay on that islet, which if I could have, I'd have blown up."
“教授,我在大洋中一個荒島上建立了我的工作場。在島上,我的工人,就是我所教養成的我的勇敢的同伴,跟我一起,共同把諾第留斯號完全裝配好了。然後,工程完了,我放起火來,把我們在這島上所遺留的痕跡都消滅了,如果可能的話,我還要把這島都炸燬呢。”
"From all this, may I assume that such a boat costs a fortune?"
“那麼,這樣看來,我可以相信,這船的建築費用一定是十分浩大了?”
"An iron ship, Professor Aronnax, runs 1,125 francs per metric ton. Now then, the Nautilus has a burden of 1,500 metric tons. Consequently, it cost 1,687,000 francs, hence 2,000,000 francs including its accommodations, and 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 with all the collections and works of art it contains."
“阿龍納斯先生,一隻鋼鐵製的船,每噸容量的建築費為一千一百二十五法郎。可是諾第留斯號的載重噸數是一千五百噸,那麼它的建築費是一百七十丸萬法郎,連裝備費一共為二百萬法郎,連船內所有的美術品和收藏物一共為是五百萬法郎。”
"One last question, Captain Nemo."
“尼摩船長,我要問您最後一個問題。”
"Ask, professor."
“請您問吧,教授。”
"You're rich, then?"
“您是很富有嗎?”
"Infinitely rich, sir, and without any trouble, I could pay off the ten-billion-franc French national debt!"
“無限地富有,我可以一點不為難地償清法國的幾十億國債!”
I gaped at the bizarre individual who had just spoken these words. Was he playing on my credulity? Time would tell.
我注視着這位跟我這樣說話的古怪人物。難道他以為我可欺而故意吹牛嗎?將來我一定有機會知道他這話是真是假。