Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

海底二萬里

   CHAPTER 17

   第一部 第十七章

   An Underwater Forest

   海底森林

   WE HAD FINALLY arrived on the outskirts of this forest, surely one of the finest in Captain Nemo's immense domains. He regarded it as his own and had laid the same claim to it that, in the first days of the world, the first men had to their forests on land. Besides, who else could dispute his ownership of this underwater property? What other, bolder pioneer would come, ax in hand, to clear away its dark underbrush?

   我們到底走到森林的邊緣了,這可能是尼摩船長的廣大領土中最美好的一處。他把森林看作是他的,他把森林的所有權歸他自己,像世界開闢的時候,最初出現的一批人霸佔所有權一樣。其實,又有誰能夠跟他爭這海底財產的所有權呢?哪有比他更大膽的開荒者,手拿着斧子,敢來這裡砍伐荊棘,開墾田地呢?

   This forest was made up of big treelike plants, and when we entered beneath their huge arches, my eyes were instantly struck by the unique arrangement of their branches--an arrangement that I had never before encountered.

   這森林中生長的都是高大的木本植物,當我們走到樹,林中間闊大的拱形枝幹之下,我的眼光首先就被林中樹枝排列的奇特形狀所吸引,感到奇怪的是這種形狀,我從來沒有看見過。

   None of the weeds carpeting the seafloor, none of the branches bristling from the shrubbery, crept, or leaned, or stretched on a horizontal plane. They all rose right up toward the surface of the ocean. Every filament or ribbon, no matter how thin, stood ramrod straight. Fucus plants and creepers were growing in stiff perpendicular lines, governed by the density of the element that generated them. After I parted them with my hands, these otherwise motionless plants would shoot right back to their original positions. It was the regime of verticality.

   林中地上並沒有生長什麼草,小樹上叢生的枝權沒有一根向外蔓延,也不彎曲垂下,也不向橫的方面伸展。所有草木都筆直伸向洋面。沒有枝條,沒有葉帶,不管怎麼細小,都是筆直的,像鐵桿一般。海帶和水藻,受到海水強大密度的影響,堅定不移地沿著垂直線生長。而且這些水草叉是靜止不動的,當我用手分開它們的時候,一放手,它們立即回覆原來的筆直狀態。這林子簡直就是垂直線的世界。

   I soon grew accustomed to this bizarre arrangement, likewise to the comparative darkness surrounding us. The seafloor in this forest was strewn with sharp chunks of stone that were hard to avoid. Here the range of underwater flora seemed pretty comprehensive to me, as well as more abundant than it might have been in the arctic or tropical zones, where such exhibits are less common. But for a few minutes I kept accidentally confusing the two kingdoms, mistaking zoophytes for water plants, animals for vegetables. And who hasn't made the same blunder? Flora and fauna are so closely associated in the underwater world!

   不久我便看慣了這種古怪的形狀,同時也習慣了我們四周的相對的黑暗環境。林中地上隨處有尖利的石塊,很不容易躲開。海底植物,據我看,在這裡是應有盡有了,比產量較少的南北兩極地帶或熱帶區域,可能更為豐富。不過,在幾分鐘內,我不知不覺地把動植物兩類混淆起來,把植蟲動物當做水產植物,把動物當做植物。本來,誰能不弄錯呢?在海底下,動物界和植物界是十分接近的:

   I observed that all these exhibits from the vegetable kingdom were attached to the seafloor by only the most makeshift methods. They had no roots and didn't care which solid objects secured them, sand, shells, husks, or pebbles; they didn't ask their hosts for sustenance, just a point of purchase. These plants are entirely self-propagating, and the principle of their existence lies in the water that sustains and nourishes them. In place of leaves, most of them sprouted blades of unpredictable shape, which were confined to a narrow gamut of colors consisting only of pink, crimson, green, olive, tan, and brown. There I saw again, but not yet pressed and dried like the Nautilus's specimens, some peacock's tails spread open like fans to stir up a cooling breeze, scarlet rosetangle, sea tangle stretching out their young and edible shoots, twisting strings of kelp from the genus Nereocystis that bloomed to a height of fifteen meters, bouquets of mermaid's cups whose stems grew wider at the top, and a number of other open-sea plants, all without flowers. "It's an odd anomaly in this bizarre element!" as one witty naturalist puts it. "The animal kingdom blossoms, and the vegetable kingdom doesn't!"

   我觀察到,所有這裡的植物界產品,跟土壤只是表面上連接起來。它們沒有根,支持它們的不管是固體、是沙、是貝、是甲殼或石子,都沒有什麼影響,它們所要求的只是一個支點,而不是藉以生長購力量。這些植物只是自己發展起來,它們生存的唯一資源就是那維持它們和滋養它們的海水。它們大部分不長葉子,只長出奇形怪狀的小片,表面的色彩很有限,只有玫瑰紅、洋紅、青綠、青黃、灰褐、古銅等顏:色。我在這裡又看到的,不是像在諾第留斯號船上風乾的標本,而是恬生生的、似乎迎鳳招展地作扇子般展開的孔雀彩貝,大紅的陶瓷貝,伸長像可食的嫩筍一樣的片形貝。細長柔軟,一直長到十五米高的古銅藻,莖在頂上長大的一束一柬瓶形水草,以及其他許多的海產植物,通通沒有花。一位很風趣的生物學家曾說過:“動物類開花,植物類不開花,大海真是奇異例外的環境,古怪新奇的自然!”

   These various types of shrubbery were as big as trees in the temperate zones; in the damp shade between them, there were clustered actual bushes of moving flowers, hedges of zoophytes in which there grew stony coral striped with twisting furrows, yellowish sea anemone from the genus Caryophylia with translucent tentacles, plus anemone with grassy tufts from the genus Zoantharia; and to complete the illusion, minnows flitted from branch to branch like a swarm of hummingbirds, while there rose underfoot, like a covey of snipe, yellow fish from the genus Lepisocanthus with bristling jaws and sharp scales, flying gurnards, and pinecone fish.

   在這些像溫帶樹木一般高大的各種不同的灌木中間,在它們的濕潤的蔭影下面,遍生着帶有生動花朵的真正叢林,植蟲動物的籬笆行列,上面像花一般開放出彎曲條紋的腦紋狀珊瑚,觸鬚透明的黑黃石竹珊瑚,草地上一堆一堆的石花珊瑚——為了使這個幻覺完整無缺一又有蠅魚,它們像成群的蜂雀,從這枝飛到那枝,至于兩腮聳起、鱗甲尖利的麥蟲魚,飛魚,單鰭魚,那簡直就像一群鵪鶉,在我們腳下跳來跳去。

   Near one o'clock, Captain Nemo gave the signal to halt. Speaking for myself, I was glad to oblige, and we stretched out beneath an arbor of winged kelp, whose long thin tendrils stood up like arrows.

   到一點鐘左右,尼摩船長髮出暫時休息的信號。在我來說,我很高興能休息一下,我們於是在一個海草華蓋下面躺下來,這海草的細長枝條像箭一般直插着。

   This short break was a delight. It lacked only the charm of conversation. But it was impossible to speak, impossible to reply. I simply nudged my big copper headpiece against Conseil's headpiece. I saw a happy gleam in the gallant lad's eyes, and to communicate his pleasure, he jiggled around inside his carapace in the world's silliest way.

   這一刻的休息我覺得很舒服,美中不足的是我們不能彼此交談。沒有法子說話,當然也沒有法子回答。我僅僅把我粗大的銅頭挨近康塞爾的銅頭。我看見了這老實人的眼睛閃出興奮的亮光,又為表示滿意起見,他在銅殼子裡面亂搖亂擺,作最滑稽可笑的怪樣子。

   After four hours of strolling, I was quite astonished not to feel any intense hunger. What kept my stomach in such a good mood I'm unable to say. But, in exchange, I experienced that irresistible desire for sleep that comes over every diver. Accordingly, my eyes soon closed behind their heavy glass windows and I fell into an uncontrollable doze, which until then I had been able to fight off only through the movements of our walking. Captain Nemo and his muscular companion were already stretched out in this clear crystal, setting us a fine naptime example.

   雖然走了四小時的路,我並不感到有吃東西的需要,心裡很為驚異。為什麼會這樣,我說不出來。但另一方面,像所有潛水人一樣,我感到很想睡覺,沒有法子剋制。所以我的眼睛也就在很厚的玻璃後面閉起來,我立即掉到無法剋制的昏睡中,這昏睡,剛纔也只是靠向前的走動才暫時制止了它。尼摩船長和他的壯健同伴,早就躺在清澈的水晶體中,先給我們作出睡眠的榜樣了。

   How long I was sunk in this torpor I cannot estimate; but when I awoke, it seemed as if the sun were settling toward the horizon. Captain Nemo was already up, and I had started to stretch my limbs, when an unexpected apparition brought me sharply to my feet.

   我沉迷在這種昏睡中有多少時候,那我不能估計;但當我醒來的時候,看看太陽已經向西邊低下去了。尼摩船長已經站起來,我也開始伸展我的四肢,就在這個時候,出現一件意外的東西,我立即站起兩腳。

   A few paces away, a monstrous, meter-high sea spider was staring at me with beady eyes, poised to spring at me. Although my diving suit was heavy enough to protect me from this animal's bites, I couldn't keep back a shudder of horror. Just then Conseil woke up, together with the Nautilus's sailor. Captain Nemo alerted his companion to this hideous crustacean, which a swing of the rifle butt quickly brought down, and I watched the monster's horrible legs writhing in dreadful convulsions.

   離我們幾步遠的地方,有一隻高一米的梅蜘蛛,斜着眼注視我,就要向我身上撲來。雖然我的潛水衣相當厚重,可以保護我不會被它咬傷,但我也不能不害怕,不能不顫抖。康塞爾和諾第留斯號的水手就在這個時候醒來。尼摩船長把這個怕人的甲殼類動物指給他的同伴看,他的同伴一槍托打死了它,我看見這個怪物的醜陋腳爪作怕人的怞搐,拚命掙扎。

   This encounter reminded me that other, more daunting animals must be lurking in these dark reaches, and my diving suit might not be adequate protection against their attacks. Such thoughts hadn't previously crossed my mind, and I was determined to keep on my guard. Meanwhile I had assumed this rest period would be the turning point in our stroll, but I was mistaken; and instead of heading back to the Nautilus, Captain Nemo continued his daring excursion.

   這次碰見這個怪物就使我想到一定還有其他更可怕的動物時常到這黑沉沉的海底下來,我的潛水衣可能無力保護我,無法抵抗它們的襲擊。我起先沒有想到這事,現在我決心要時刻警惕。此外,我又以為這次休息是我們這次旅行的結束,但我錯了,尼摩船長並不讓我們回到船上去,仍然繼續他的大膽的旅行。

   The seafloor kept sinking, and its significantly steeper slope took us to greater depths. It must have been nearly three o'clock when we reached a narrow valley gouged between high, vertical walls and located 150 meters down. Thanks to the perfection of our equipment, we had thus gone ninety meters below the limit that nature had, until then, set on man's underwater excursions.

   地面總是往下陷,斜度更是明顯,把我們拉到最深的海底。這時候,想是快要到三點了,我們到了一座狹小的山谷中,這山谷在峭壁間,在一百五十米深的海底下。由於我們使用的器械極完善,我們可以超越好像大自然拿來限制人的在海底旅行不得超過丸十米的深度。

   I say 150 meters, although I had no instruments for estimating this distance. But I knew that the sun's rays, even in the clearest seas, could reach no deeper. So at precisely this point the darkness became profound. Not a single object was visible past ten paces. Consequently, I had begun to grope my way when suddenly I saw the glow of an intense white light. Captain Nemo had just activated his electric device. His companion did likewise. Conseil and I followed suit. By turning a switch, I established contact between the induction coil and the glass spiral, and the sea, lit up by our four lanterns, was illuminated for a radius of twenty-five meters.

   我說我們是在一百五十米的深度;雖然沒有什麼器械可以讓我測量,但我知道,即最清澈的海水,陽光也不能再往下照了。正是在這時候,周圍變得漆黑。在十步外什麼也看不見。所以我只能摸索着走,這時我看見一道相當明亮的白光忽然閃出來。原來是尼摩船長使用他的電光機器。他的同伴照他那樣做。康塞爾和我也學着他們的榜樣。我轉動螺絲釘,使電磁鐵跟曲玻璃管接通,燈亮了,海中有我們四盞探照燈的照射,周圍二十五米內都明亮起來。

   Captain Nemo continued to plummet into the dark depths of this forest, whose shrubbery grew ever more sparse. I observed that vegetable life was disappearing more quickly than animal life. The open-sea plants had already left behind the increasingly arid seafloor, where a prodigious number of animals were still swarming: zoophytes, articulates, mollusks, and fish.

   尼摩船長繼續走人森林中最幽深的地方,沿途樹木漸漸稀少。我注意到,在海底,植物界要比動物界消失得早些。海產植物雖然已經放棄了這些變為貧瘠的土地,但數量很多的動物、植蟲動物、節肢動物、軟體動物和魚類仍然到處皆是。

   While we were walking, I thought the lights of our Ruhmkorff devices would automatically attract some inhabitants of these dark strata. But if they did approach us, at least they kept at a distance regrettable from the hunter's standpoint. Several times I saw Captain Nemo stop and take aim with his rifle; then, after sighting down its barrel for a few seconds, he would straighten up and resume his walk.

   我一邊走一邊想,我們帶的蘭可夫燈的燈光必然要引起那些沉黑的海底下居民的注意,齊集前來。可是,它們雖然前來,但總是留在獵人力量不可及,距離相當遠的地方。好幾次,我看見尼摩船長停步,瞄準他的槍,但經過一些時候的觀察後,他又把槍放下,再向前行。

   Finally, at around four o'clock, this marvelous excursion came to an end. A wall of superb rocks stood before us, imposing in its sheer mass: a pile of gigantic stone blocks, an enormous granite cliffside pitted with dark caves but not offering a single gradient we could climb up. This was the underpinning of Crespo Island. This was land.

   後來,大約四點鐘左右的時候,新奇驚人的旅行結束了。一道高大的岩石牆和一大堆怪石群矗立在我們面前,那是巨人般的岩石層,花崗石的懸崖,沉黑的岩洞,可是看不見有可以攀爬上去的路徑。 這是克利斯波島的盡頭,是陸地了。

   The captain stopped suddenly. A gesture from him brought us to a halt, and however much I wanted to clear this wall, I had to stop. Here ended the domains of Captain Nemo. He had no desire to pass beyond them. Farther on lay a part of the globe he would no longer tread underfoot.

   尼摩船長突然停住腳步。他向我們打手勢,要我們停下來,我雖然很想穿過這道牆,但我不能不止步,這裡是尼摩船長的領地的最後界限。他不願意走過這界限。過這界限便是他的腳步不願踩踏的地球的陸地部分了。

   Our return journey began. Captain Nemo resumed the lead in our little band, always heading forward without hesitation. I noted that we didn't follow the same path in returning to the Nautilus. This new route, very steep and hence very arduous, quickly took us close to the surface of the sea. But this return to the upper strata wasn't so sudden that decompression took place too quickly, which could have led to serious organic disorders and given us those internal injuries so fatal to divers. With great promptness, the light reappeared and grew stronger; and the refraction of the sun, already low on the horizon, again ringed the edges of various objects with the entire color spectrum.

   我們於是開始往回走。尼摩船長又在前面帶領他的小……小隊伍,他總是毫不遲疑地向前走。我覺得,我們轉回諾第留斯號船上去,好像不是走原來的路。這條新路很陡,因此:很難走,顯然它是比較接近海面。不過,回到海水上層的行動不能十分突然,防止壓力的減小不要過急,因為壓力減Jy過急,可能在我們機體中引起嚴重的疾病,發生使潛水人有性命危險的身體內傷。所以我們是慢慢地上來。很快光線:又出現了,又擴大了,太陽已經在天際的低處,曲折作用重:新又把七色的光圈套在各種不同的物體上了。

   At a depth of ten meters, we walked amid a swarm of small fish from every species, more numerous than birds in the air, more agile too; but no aquatic game worthy of a gunshot had yet been offered to our eyes.

   在十米深的地方,我們就走在一大群各種各類的小魚中間,比空中飛烏的數量還多,也更敏捷,但還沒有值得我們槍擊的水產獵物在我們眼前出現。

   Just then I saw the captain's weapon spring to his shoulder and track a moving object through the bushes. A shot went off, I heard a faint hissing, and an animal dropped a few paces away, literally struck by lightning.

   這時候,我看見船長的槍急急頂在肩上,對著叢林間一個正在走動的東西瞄準。槍響了,我聽到輕微的嘯聲,那個動物在離幾步遠的地方被擊中倒下來了。

   It was a magnificent sea otter from the genus Enhydra, the only exclusively marine quadruped. One and a half meters long, this otter had to be worth a good high price. Its coat, chestnut brown above and silver below, would have made one of those wonderful fur pieces so much in demand in the Russian and Chinese markets; the fineness and luster of its pelt guaranteed that it would go for at least 2,000 francs. I was full of wonderment at this unusual mammal, with its circular head adorned by short ears, its round eyes, its white whiskers like those on a cat, its webbed and clawed feet, its bushy tail. Hunted and trapped by fishermen, this valuable carnivore has become extremely rare, and it takes refuge chiefly in the northernmost parts of the Pacific, where in all likelihood its species will soon be facing extinction.

   倒下來的是一隻很好看的水獺,一隻水獸,它可能是住在海中的唯一的四足獸了。這水獺有一米半長,價值一定非常大。它的皮,表面是慄褐色,底面是銀白色,可以製成十分好看的皮筒,在俄國和中國的市場上,是十分罕見的皮料。皮毛的柔軟精細和它的光滑色澤決定它的價格至少也是二千法郎。我很讚美這新奇的哺侞類動物,圓突的頭,上面有短短的耳朵,圓圓的眼睛,像貓須一般的白色瓮須,掌形帶甲的腳,團簇的尾巴。這種珍貴的內食動物,因為漁人的追趕和捕獲,現在已經十分稀罕,它們主要是躲藏在太平洋的北極圈裡,就是在北極圈裡,它們這一族也快要滅絶了。

   Captain Nemo's companion picked up the animal, loaded it on his shoulder, and we took to the trail again.

   尼摩船長的同伴跑上前去把水獺撿起來,放在肩頭上,我們又向前走。

   For an hour plains of sand unrolled before our steps. Often the seafloor rose to within two meters of the surface of the water. I could then see our images clearly mirrored on the underside of the waves, but reflected upside down: above us there appeared an identical band that duplicated our every movement and gesture; in short, a perfect likeness of the quartet near which it walked, but with heads down and feet in the air.

   在一小時內,一片細沙的平原在我們腳下襬開。平原時常升至距海面不及兩米的深度。我當時看見我們的影子反映在水中,清楚地現出來,方向正相反:在我們上面,現出同樣的一群人,表演我們的動作和姿勢,一切都相同,就是腦袋垂在下面,兩腳倒懸在空中。

   Another unusual effect. Heavy clouds passed above us, forming and fading swiftly. But after thinking it over, I realized that these so-called clouds were caused simply by the changing densities of the long ground swells, and I even spotted the foaming "white caps" that their breaking crests were proliferating over the surface of the water. Lastly, I couldn't help seeing the actual shadows of large birds passing over our heads, swiftly skimming the surface of the sea.

   值得記下的還有另一種情況。一陣陣的濃雲飛掠過去,這些雲很快地形成,也很快地消失;但仔細一想,我明白,這些所謂雲只不過是海底厚薄不一的波浪所反映出來的。我又看到浪頭向下折落時演成無數泡沫飛濺的滾滾白禱,像羊群一樣。我也見過那些在我們頭上的巨大鳥類的陰影,它們從海面疾飛掠過。

   On this occasion I witnessed one of the finest gunshots ever to thrill the marrow of a hunter. A large bird with a wide wingspan, quite clearly visible, approached and hovered over us. When it was just a few meters above the waves, Captain Nemo's companion took aim and fired. The animal dropped, electrocuted, and its descent brought it within reach of our adroit hunter, who promptly took possession of it. It was an albatross of the finest species, a wonderful specimen of these open-sea fowl.

   這個時候,我親眼看到一次射擊,也許從來沒有一個獵人曾經發射過這樣準確、漂亮的槍。一隻大鳥,可以看得很清楚,兩翼張得很大的飛翔前來。尼摩船長的同伴看見大鳥在離水波僅僅幾米的上面,尼摩就瞄準,射擊。大鳥被擊落下來,一直掉到這位敏捷的獵人的近旁,他立即把鳥捉住。這是最美麗的一種海鵝,海鳥中最使人讚美的一個鳥類品種。

   This incident did not interrupt our walk. For two hours we were sometimes led over plains of sand, sometimes over prairies of seaweed that were quite arduous to cross. In all honesty, I was dead tired by the time I spotted a hazy glow half a mile away, cutting through the darkness of the waters. It was the Nautilus's beacon. Within twenty minutes we would be on board, and there I could breathe easy again--because my tank's current air supply seemed to be quite low in oxygen. But I was reckoning without an encounter that slightly delayed our arrival.

   我們走路並沒有因打海鵝這件事中斷。在兩小時內,我們有時沿著細沙平原走,有時沿著蘚苔草地走,相當難走。老實說,我實在不能再走了,這個時候,我看見半裡遠的地方,有一道模糊光線衝破了海水的沉黑。那是諾第留斯號的探照燈。要不了二十分鐘,我們就可以上船了,一到船上,我便可以自由呼吸,因為我覺得我的空氣儲藏器好像只能供應我一些含氧很少的空氣了。不過我這樣打算,並沒有估計到下面的意外遭遇,使我們耽擱了一些時間才到達船上。

   I was lagging behind some twenty paces when I saw Captain Nemo suddenly come back toward me. With his powerful hands he sent me buckling to the ground, while his companion did the same to Conseil. At first I didn't know what to make of this sudden assault, but I was reassured to observe the captain lying motionless beside me.

   我走在尼摩船長後面約二十步左右,看見尼摩船長突然向我面前轉回來。他用他有力的手,把我按倒在地下,他的同伴對康塞爾也同樣做。初時我對於這次突然的攻擊,作種種的猜想,但我看見船長也躺在我近邊,不敢動,心中就安然了。

   I was stretched out on the seafloor directly beneath some bushes of algae, when I raised my head and spied two enormous masses hurtling by, throwing off phosphorescent glimmers.

   我於是躺在地上,正好躲在蘚苔叢林的後面,當我拾起頭來,我看見有巨大無比的軀體發出磷光,氣勢洶洶地走過來。

   My blood turned cold in my veins! I saw that we were under threat from a fearsome pair of sharks. They were blue sharks, dreadful man-eaters with enormous tails, dull, glassy stares, and phosphorescent matter oozing from holes around their snouts. They were like monstrous fireflies that could thoroughly pulverize a man in their iron jaws! I don't know if Conseil was busy with their classification, but as for me, I looked at their silver bellies, their fearsome mouths bristling with teeth, from a viewpoint less than scientific-- more as a victim than as a professor of natural history.

   我血管中的血都凝結了!我看見逼近我們的是十分厲害的鮫魚,是一對火鮫,是最可怕的鯊魚類,尾巴巨大,眼光獃板陰沉,嘴的周圍有很多孔,孔中噴出磷質,閃閃發光。真是大得怕人的火鮫,它們的鐵牙床,可以把整個人咬成肉醬!我不知道康塞爾是不是正在留心把它們分類,在我說來,我與其說是拿生物學者的身份,不如說是拿將被吞食的人的身份,很不科學的觀點來觀察它們的銀白的肚腹,滿是利牙的大嘴。

   Luckily these voracious animals have poor eyesight. They went by without noticing us, grazing us with their brownish fins; and miraculously, we escaped a danger greater than encountering a tiger deep in the jungle.

   十分幸運,這對貪食的動物目力很差,看不太清楚。它們並沒有看見我們就走過去了,只是它們的黃黑的尾巴略略觸到我們,我們能躲過這次危險真像是個奇蹟,毫無疑問,這次危險比在深林中碰見猛虎還要大得多。

   Half an hour later, guided by its electric trail, we reached the Nautilus. The outside door had been left open, and Captain Nemo closed it after we reentered the first cell. Then he pressed a button. I heard pumps operating within the ship, I felt the water lowering around me, and in a few moments the cell was completely empty. The inside door opened, and we passed into the wardrobe.

   半小時後,有電光引路,我們到達了諾第留斯號。外部的門仍然開着,尼摩船長一見我們都已經走進了第一個小房中後,就把門關起來。然後他手按一個圓鈕;我聽到船內部的怞水機活動起來,我覺得我周圍的水漸漸低下去,過了一會兒,小房中的水便完全排出去了。內部的門打開來,我、們走進了儲衣室。

   There our diving suits were removed, not without difficulty; and utterly exhausted, faint from lack of food and rest, I repaired to my stateroom, full of wonder at this startling excursion on the bottom of the sea.

   在儲衣室,我們把潛水衣脫下來,脫時當然要費些功夫;我非常疲乏,走回自己房中,一方面對於這次海底的驚:人旅行,眉飛色舞,讚歎不已,另一方面,簡直累得不能動,躺在床上昏昏沉沉地睡着了。