FOR SOME WHILE the voyage of the Abraham Lincoln was marked by no incident. But one circumstance arose that displayed Ned Land's marvelous skills and showed just how much confidence we could place in him.
林肯號的航行，在這些天當中，並沒有碰到什麼意外。但發生了一件事，這件事使得尼德-蘭顯出了他驚人的技巧，同時也說明了我們對他的那種信任是應該的。
Off the Falkland Islands on June 30, the frigate came in contact with a fleet of American whalers, and we learned that they hadn't seen the narwhale. But one of them, the captain of the Monroe, knew that Ned Land had shipped aboard the Abraham Lincoln and asked his help in hunting a baleen whale that was in sight. Anxious to see Ned Land at work, Commander Farragut authorized him to make his way aboard the Monroe. And the Canadian had such good luck that with a right-and-left shot, he harpooned not one whale but two, striking the first straight to the heart and catching the other after a few minutes' chase!
6月30日，在馬露因海面上，林肯號向美國的捕鯨船打聽那條獨角鯨的消息，這些捕鯨船都說役碰見。但其中一隻名叫孟祿號的捕鯨船船長，知道尼德-蘭在我們船上。要請他幫忙，追捕已經發現了的一條鯨魚。法拉古艦長很想看看尼德-蘭的本領，就准許他到孟祿號船上去。我們的加拿大朋友運氣真好，不僅是打了一條鯨魚，而且是打了兩條，他投出雙叉，一叉直刺人一條鯨魚的心臟，追趕了幾分鐘以後，另一條也被捕獲了。
Assuredly, if the monster ever had to deal with Ned Land's harpoon, I wouldn't bet on the monster.
毫無疑問，如果我們追趕的那個怪物，真的跟尼德-蘭的魚叉相碰，我決不敢打賭，保證這個怪物無事。
The frigate sailed along the east coast of South America with prodigious speed. By July 3 we were at the entrance to the Strait of Magellan, abreast of Cabo de las Virgenes. But Commander Farragut was unwilling to attempt this tortuous passageway and maneuvered instead to double Cape Horn.
戰艦以驚人的速度，沿著美洲東南方的海岸行駛，7月3日，我們到達麥哲輪海峽口上，與童女峽在同一個緯度。但法拉古艦長不願意通過這曲折的海峽，要從合恩角繞過去。
The crew sided with him unanimously. Indeed, were we likely to encounter the narwhale in such a cramped strait? Many of our sailors swore that the monster couldn't negotiate this passageway simply because "he's too big for it!"
全體船員一致贊成他的主張。的確，我們哪能在這狹窄的海峽裡碰到那條獨角鯨呢？大多數水手都肯定怪物不能通過海峽，因為它身體很大，海峽容不下它！
Near three o'clock in the afternoon on July 6, fifteen miles south of shore, the Abraham Lincoln doubled that solitary islet at the tip of the South American continent, that stray rock Dutch seamen had named Cape Horn after their hometown of Hoorn. Our course was set for the northwest, and the next day our frigate's propeller finally churned the waters of the Pacific.
的海面上，繞過這座孤島。這是伸在美洲大陸南端的岩石。從前荷蘭水手把自己故鄉的名字送給它，稱它為合恩角。現在船向西北開，明天，戰艦的機輪就要在太平洋水波中攪動了。
"Open your eyes! Open your eyes!" repeated the sailors of the Abraham Lincoln.
“睜大眼睛！睜大眼睛！”林肯號上的水手們一再他說。
And they opened amazingly wide. Eyes and spyglasses (a bit dazzled, it is true, by the vista of $2,000.00) didn't remain at rest for an instant. Day and night we observed the surface of the ocean, and those with nyctalopic eyes, whose ability to see in the dark increased their chances by fifty percent, had an excellent shot at winning the prize.
他們都把眼睛睜得大大的。真的，眼睛和望遠鏡好象被二千美元獎金的遠景所眩惑，一刻也不願休息。白天黑夜，人人都留心洋面，患晝盲症的人因在黑暗中能看得清。比別人要多百分之五十的機會獲得這筆獎金。
As for me, I was hardly drawn by the lure of money and yet was far from the least attentive on board. Snatching only a few minutes for meals and a few hours for sleep, come rain or come shine, I no longer left the ship's deck. Sometimes bending over the forecastle railings, sometimes leaning against the sternrail, I eagerly scoured that cotton-colored wake that whitened the ocean as far as the eye could see! And how many times I shared the excitement of general staff and crew when some unpredictable whale lifted its blackish back above the waves. In an instant the frigate's deck would become densely populated. The cowls over the companionways would vomit a torrent of sailors and officers. With panting chests and anxious eyes, we each would observe the cetacean's movements. I stared; I stared until I nearly went blind from a worn-out retina, while Conseil, as stoic as ever, kept repeating to me in a calm tone:
我個人是不受金錢引誘的，但我在船上也同樣注意觀察海面。除了用餐的幾分鐘，睡眠的幾小時，不管日曬也好，雨淋也好，我總不離開甲板。有時伏在船頭圍板上，有時扶着船尾的欄杆，我目不轉晴，死盯着一望無際、白練般的浪濤！有好幾次，一條任性的鯨魚把灰黑的脊背露在波濤上的時候，我跟船上全體職工人員一樣馬上就激動起來。戰艦的甲板上馬上就擠滿了人，水手和軍官像水流一般地從布棚下湧出來了。人人都心頭跳動，眼光閃爍，注視着鯨魚的行動。我非常注意地看著，看得眼睛發黑，簡直要變成瞎子了。但康塞爾總是若無其事的，用安靜的語氣一再對我說：
"If master's eyes would kindly stop bulging, master will see farther!"
“如果先生願意少費些目力，眼睛不要睜得大大，先生也許能看得更清楚一些！”
But what a waste of energy! The Abraham Lincoln would change course and race after the animal sighted, only to find an ordinary baleen whale or a common sperm whale that soon disappeared amid a chorus of curses!
但是，空歡喜了一場！林肯號轉了方向，向發現的動物衝去，原來是一條平常的長鬚鯨，或一條普通的大頭鯨，不多時就在大家的咒罵聲中不見了！
However, the weather held good. Our voyage was proceeding under the most favorable conditions. By then it was the bad season in these southernmost regions, because July in this zone corresponds to our January in Europe; but the sea remained smooth and easily visible over a vast perimeter.
可是天氣很好。船在良好的情況中航行，這正是南半球天氣惡劣的季節，而這一帶的七月卻和我們歐洲的一月差不多。不過海是平靜的，人們一眼可以看得很遠。
Ned Land still kept up the most tenacious skepticism; beyond his spells on watch, he pretended that he never even looked at the surface of the waves, at least while no whales were in sight. And yet the marvelous power of his vision could have performed yeoman service. But this stubborn Canadian spent eight hours out of every twelve reading or sleeping in his cabin. A hundred times I chided him for his unconcern.
尼德。蘭總是抱著不肯輕信的態度；除了輪到他在甲板上看守以外，他甚至故意不看洋面——至少在沒有發現鯨魚的時候是這樣。他的神奇的眼力有很大的用處，可是在十二小時中有八小時，這位固執的加拿大人只是在艙房中看書或睡覺，我多少次責備他的冷淡和不關心。
"Bah!" he replied. "Nothing's out there, Professor Aronnax, and if there is some animal, what chance would we have of spotting it? Can't you see we're just wandering around at random? People say they've sighted this slippery beast again in the Pacific high seas-- I'm truly willing to believe it, but two months have already gone by since then, and judging by your narwhale's personality, it hates growing moldy from hanging out too long in the same waterways! It's blessed with a terrific gift for getting around. Now, professor, you know even better than I that nature doesn't violate good sense, and she wouldn't give some naturally slow animal the ability to move swiftly if it hadn't a need to use that talent. So if the beast does exist, it's already long gone!"
“算了吧！”他答，“阿龍納斯先生，什麼都沒有，就算海中真有什麼怪物，我們可能有機會看見它嗎？我們不是漫無計劃地瞎撿嗎？據說在太平洋的北部海中，又有人看見了這個無法找到的怪物，這我並不否認：但是，自從那次碰見後，兩個月已經過去了，要是根據您的這條獨角鯨的怪脾氣來看，它決不願意長久停在這一帶海上！它移動極快，不可捉摸。並且，教授，您比我更瞭解，自然造物，決不自相矛盾，它決不使天性遲緩的動物，有快速走動的能力，因為這種能力對-它並無必要。所以，這種動物如果存在的話，它早就跑遠了！”
I had no reply to this. Obviously we were just groping blindly. But how else could we go about it? All the same, our chances were automatically pretty limited. Yet everyone still felt confident of success, and not a sailor on board would have bet against the narwhale appearing, and soon.
聽了他這話，我沒法回答。很明顯，我們確實是盲目地行動着。可是，又有什麼辦法呢？我們的機會很有限，不過，對於事情的成功，還沒有人加以懷疑，船上沒有一名水手敢打賭，說沒有獨角鯨，說它不會出現。
On July 20 we cut the Tropic of Capricorn at longitude 105 degrees, and by the 27th of the same month, we had cleared the equator on the 110th meridian. These bearings determined, the frigate took a more decisive westward heading and tackled the seas of the central Pacific.
7月20日南回歸綫正交在經度105度，同月27日我們穿過了在西經110度上的赤道綫。此後，船便一直向西行駛，駛進太平洋的中部海中。
Commander Farragut felt, and with good reason, that it was best to stay in deep waters and keep his distance from continents or islands, whose neighborhoods the animal always seemed to avoid--"No doubt," our bosun said, "because there isn't enough water for him!" So the frigate kept well out when passing the Tuamotu, Marquesas, and Hawaiian Islands, then cut the Tropic of Cancer at longitude 132 degrees and headed for the seas of China.
法拉古艦長想得對，駛到深水的地方，離開這個怪物好像不願意挨近的大陸和海島。這樣也許好些，機會也許多些；“可能因為接近陸地的海，對於這個怪物，還不夠深！”水手長這樣說。戰艦添了煤後，穿過帕摩圖群島、馬貴斯群島，夏威夷群島，在東經：32度越過了北回歸線，向中國海開去。
We were finally in the area of the monster's latest antics! And in all honesty, shipboard conditions became life-threatening. Hearts were pounding hideously, gearing up for futures full of incurable aneurysms. The entire crew suffered from a nervous excitement that it's beyond me to describe. Nobody ate, nobody slept. Twenty times a day some error in perception, or the optical illusions of some sailor perched in the crosstrees, would cause intolerable anguish, and this emotion, repeated twenty times over, kept us in a state of irritability so intense that a reaction was bound to follow.
我們終於到了這個怪物最近活動的地方了！老實說。我們在船上簡直不是過生活了。心跳動得太厲害了，說不定將來會得不可治療的血瘤症。全體船員，神經都極度緊張，那種程度，我簡直不能形容。大家不吃飯、不睡覺。由於瞭望的水手估計錯了或看錯了而引起的蚤動，每天總有一二十次。這種連續不斷的蚤動，更加強了人們的緊張，以致不能不產生反響。
And this reaction wasn't long in coming. For three months, during which each day seemed like a century, the Abraham Lincoln plowed all the northerly seas of the Pacific, racing after whales sighted, abruptly veering off course, swerving sharply from one tack to another, stopping suddenly, putting on steam and reversing engines in quick succession, at the risk of stripping its gears, and it didn't leave a single point unexplored from the beaches of Japan to the coasts of America. And we found nothing! Nothing except an immenseness of deserted waves! Nothing remotely resembling a gigantic narwhale, or an underwater islet, or a derelict shipwreck, or a runaway reef, or anything the least bit unearthly!
三個月來（在這三個月當中，真是一天等於一世紀），林肯號跑遍了太平洋北部所有的海面，有時向着看到的鯨魚衝去，有時忽然離開航線，有時突然掉轉船頭，有時一下子停住……它不惜弄壞機器，不惜浪費動力，從日本海岸到美洲海岸，沒有一處不曾搜索過。但是，什麼也沒有看見！看見的只是那浩瀚無邊的大海！至于什麼巨大的獨角鯨、潛在水中的海島，沉沒的破船、飛走的暗礁，以及什麼神秘的東西，卻都沒有看見！
So the reaction set in. At first, discouragement took hold of people's minds, opening the door to disbelief. A new feeling appeared on board, made up of three-tenths shame and seven-tenths fury. The crew called themselves "out-and-out fools" for being hoodwinked by a fairy tale, then grew steadily more furious! The mountains of arguments amassed over a year collapsed all at once, and each man now wanted only to catch up on his eating and sleeping, to make up for the time he had so stupidly sacrificed.
因此，反響發生了。首先是人心失望，給懷疑的心理打開一個缺口。船上產生了另一種情緒，造成這情緒的因素是三分羞愧，七分惱怒。死盯住一個空想，自然是“愚蠢“，但更多的是惱怒！一年來累積起的像磐石一般的理由，一下子完全垮下來了，這時每個人都想好好吃一吃，睡一睡，來彌補因為自己愚蠢而犧牲了的時間。
With typical human fickleness, they jumped from one extreme to the other. Inevitably, the most enthusiastic supporters of the undertaking became its most energetic opponents. This reaction mounted upward from the bowels of the ship, from the quarters of the bunker hands to the messroom of the general staff; and for certain, if it hadn't been for Commander Farragut's characteristic stubbornness, the frigate would ultimately have put back to that cape in the south.
由於天生就的動搖性，容易從一個極端跑到另一個極端。當初最熱誠擁護這次遠征的人，現在卻變成最激烈的反對者了。這次反響從艙底發生，從倉庫看守人的崗位傳到船參謀部的軍官餐廳。毫無疑問，如果不是法拉古艦長特別堅持，這艘船早就掉頭往南開了。
But this futile search couldn't drag on much longer. The Abraham Lincoln had done everything it could to succeed and had no reason to blame itself. Never had the crew of an American naval craft shown more patience and zeal; they weren't responsible for this failure; there was nothing to do but go home.
可是，這種無益的搜索再也不能拖得過久。林肯號已經盡了最大的努力，實在絲毫沒有可以責備的地方了。美國海軍部派到這只船上的人員，從沒有表現過這麼大的耐心和熱情；失敗並不能怪他們；現在除了回航沒有什麼可做了。
A request to this effect was presented to the commander. The commander stood his ground. His sailors couldn't hide their discontent, and their work suffered because of it. I'm unwilling to say that there was mutiny on board, but after a reasonable period of intransigence, Commander Farragut, like Christopher Columbus before him, asked for a grace period of just three days more. After this three-day delay, if the monster hadn't appeared, our helmsman would give three turns of the wheel, and the Abraham Lincoln would chart a course toward European seas.
關於回航的建議向艦長提出來了。艦民不聽，堅持自己的意見。水手們公然表示不滿，船上事務當然要受影響。我不敢說船上就會發生叛變，但堅持了一個時期以後，法拉古艦長像從前的哥輪布①一樣，請大家再忍耐三天。如果三天期滿，怪物還不出現，掌舵的人把舵輪轉三次，林肯號就向歐洲海岸進發。
This promise was given on November 2. It had the immediate effect of reviving the crew's failing spirits. The ocean was observed with renewed care. Each man wanted one last look with which to sum up his experience. Spyglasses functioned with feverish energy. A supreme challenge had been issued to the giant narwhale, and the latter had no acceptable excuse for ignoring this Summons to Appear!
這個諾言在11月2日發出，它的效果首先是輓回了全體船員的失敗心理。人人又以新的注意力觀察洋面。人人都要最後看一下海洋，作為這次遠征的紀念。望遠鏡不停地使用，沒有一刻空着。這是對巨大獨角鯨的最後挑戰。對於這次“出庭”的傳票，它決不能找出什麼理由置之不理了
Two days passed. The Abraham Lincoln stayed at half steam. On the offchance that the animal might be found in these waterways, a thousand methods were used to spark its interest or rouse it from its apathy. Enormous sides of bacon were trailed in our wake, to the great satisfaction, I must say, of assorted sharks. While the Abraham Lincoln heaved to, its longboats radiated in every direction around it and didn't leave a single point of the sea unexplored. But the evening of November 4 arrived with this underwater mystery still unsolved.
兩天過去了，林肯號以低速度慢慢前進。在可能碰到這個動物的海面上，人們想盡方法引起它的注意或刺激它遲鈍的神經。人們把一大塊一大塊的臘肉拉在船後，——但我應該說，這內使鯊魚們感到十分滿意。林肯號一停下來，許多小船放下去，馬上就向戰艦周圍各方出發，不讓一處海面不被搜索到。11月4日晚上到了，這個潛在海底的秘密還是沒有揭露出來。
At noon the next day, November 5, the agreed-upon delay expired. After a position fix, true to his promise, Commander Farragut would have to set his course for the southeast and leave the northerly regions of the Pacific decisively behind.
明天，11月5日正午，規定的期限便滿期了。中午一過，法拉古艦長就要履行他的諾言，使戰艦離開太平洋的北部海面，向東南方開行。
By then the frigate lay in latitude 31 degrees 15' north and longitude 136 degrees 42' east. The shores of Japan were less than 200 miles to our leeward. Night was coming on. Eight o'clock had just struck. Huge clouds covered the moon's disk, then in its first quarter. The sea undulated placidly beneath the frigate's stempost.
船這時正在北緯31度15分，東經136度42分。日本本上就在高我們不及兩百英里左右的下方。黑夜快到了。船上正敲八點鐘。一片片的烏雲掩蓋了上弦的新月。大海波紋在船後面平靜地舒展着。
Just then I was in the bow, leaning over the starboard rail. Conseil, stationed beside me, stared straight ahead. Roosting in the shrouds, the crew examined the horizon, which shrank and darkened little by little. Officers were probing the increasing gloom with their night glasses. Sometimes the murky ocean sparkled beneath moonbeams that darted between the fringes of two clouds. Then all traces of light vanished into the darkness.
這時候，我倚在船頭右舷圍板上。康塞爾站在我的旁邊，眼睛向前看著。全體船員，爬在纜素梯繩上面，細心考察漸漸縮小和沉黑了的天邊。軍官們拿着夜間用的望遠鏡，向漸次黑暗的各方搜索。月亮有時從朵朵的雲間吐出一綫光芒，使沉黑的海面閃耀着光輝；一會兒又消逝在黑暗中了。
Observing Conseil, I discovered that, just barely, the gallant lad had fallen under the general influence. At least so I thought. Perhaps his nerves were twitching with curiosity for the first time in history.
我看著康塞爾，看出他的情緒多少也受了船上一般的影響。至少我是這樣感覺。也許，他的神經還是第一次在好奇心的力量下震動了。
"Come on, Conseil!" I told him. "Here's your last chance to pocket that $2,000.00!"
“喂，康塞爾，”我跟他說，“現在是獲得兩千美元獎金的最後一次機會了。”
"If master will permit my saying so," Conseil replied, "I never expected to win that prize, and the Union government could have promised $100,000.00 and been none the poorer."
“請先生容許我對這件事說句話，”康塞爾答，“我從不想獲得這筆獎金，合眾國政府可以答應給十萬美元，它也並不因此就窮了。”
"You're right, Conseil, it turned out to be a foolish business after all, and we jumped into it too hastily. What a waste of time, what a futile expense of emotion! Six months ago we could have been back in France--"
“你說得對，康塞爾；總之，這是一件愚蠢的事情，我們沒怎麼考慮就參加進來了。白費了多少時間，消耗了多少精神！要不，六個月以前，我們已經回到法國了……”
"In master's little apartment," Conseil answered. "In master's museum! And by now I would have classified master's fossils. And master's babirusa would be ensconced in its cage at the zoo in the Botanical Gardens, and it would have attracted every curiosity seeker in town!"
‘在先生的小房子裡！”康塞爾答道，“在先生的博物館裡！我早已把先生的生物化石分類了！先生的野豬也早就養在植物園的籠中、，吸引着巴黎全城所有好奇的人來參觀了！”
"Quite so, Conseil, and what's more, I imagine that people will soon be poking fun at us!"
“正跟你所說的一樣，康塞爾，並且，我想，我們還沒有估計到人家會怎樣嘲笑我們呢！”
"To be sure," Conseil replied serenely, "I do think they'll have fun at master's expense. And must it be said . . . ?"
“可不是”，康塞爾安然回答，“我想，人們一定會嘲笑您先生。我該不該說……？”
"It must be said, Conseil."
“你說下去，康塞爾。”
"Well then, it will serve master right!"
“好，那就是先生應得的報酬！”
"How true!"
“確是這樣！”
"When one has the honor of being an expert as master is, one mustn't lay himself open to--"
“一個人如果有幸能和先生一樣是一位學者，他就決不該冒昧從事……”
Conseil didn't have time to complete the compliment. In the midst of the general silence, a voice became audible. It was Ned Land's voice, and it shouted:
康塞爾沒有說完他的“恭維”話。在全船的沉默當中，大家聽到了一個人的聲音，那是尼德-蘭的聲音，他喊着：
"Ahoy! There's the thing in question, abreast of us to leeward!"
“看哪！我們尋找了多時的那傢伙就在那裡，正斜對著我們呢！”