THE WAY HE SAID THIS, the unexpectedness of this scene, first the biography of this patriotic ship, then the excitement with which this eccentric individual pronounced these last words--the name Avenger whose significance could not escape me--all this, taken together, had a profound impact on my mind. My eyes never left the captain. Hands outstretched toward the sea, he contemplated the proud wreck with blazing eyes. Perhaps I would never learn who he was, where he came from or where he was heading, but more and more I could see a distinction between the man and the scientist. It was no ordinary misanthropy that kept Captain Nemo and his companions sequestered inside the Nautilus's plating, but a hate so monstrous or so sublime that the passing years could never weaken it.
這種說話方式，這個意外場面，這艘愛國戰艦的歷史事件，開頭是淡淡他講述，但是當這個古怪人物說出他最後幾句話的時候，卻已滿懷激動的情緒。這個“復仇號”的名字，這個名字的意義，特別引起我的注意；這一切結合起來，深深打動我的心神。我的眼光不離開船長，注視着他。他，兩手向海伸出，火熱的眼睛看那光榮戰艦的殘骸。或者我永遠不知道他是誰，從哪裡來，到哪裡去，但我愈來愈清楚地把這個人從僅是有學問的學者當中區分出來了。把尼摩船長和他的同伴們關閉在諾第留斯號船殻中的，並不是一種普通的憤世情緒，而是一種時間所不能削弱的，非常奇特的，非常崇高的仇恨。
Did this hate also hunger for vengeance? Time would soon tell.
這種仇恨還是要找報復嗎？將來不久就要讓我知道。
Meanwhile the Nautilus rose slowly to the surface of the sea, and I watched the Avenger's murky shape disappearing little by little. Soon a gentle rolling told me that we were afloat in the open air.
可是，諾第留斯號慢慢地回到海而上來，我看著復仇號的模糊形象漸漸消失。不久，有些輕微的搖擺給我指出，我們是浮在自由空氣中的水面上了。
Just then a hollow explosion was audible. I looked at the captain. The captain did not stir.
這時候，有一種輕微的爆炸聲發出。我眼看著船長，船長直立不動。
"Captain?" I said.
“船長？”我說。
He didn't reply.
他不回答。
I left him and climbed onto the platform. Conseil and the Canadian were already there.
我離開他，到平台上去。康塞爾和加拿大人比我先在乎台上了。
"What caused that explosion?" I asked.
“哪裡的爆炸聲？“我問。
"A cannon going off," Ned Land replied.
“是一下炮響。”尼德-蘭回答。
I stared in the direction of the ship I had spotted. It was heading toward the Nautilus, and you could tell it had put on steam. Six miles separated it from us.
我眼光向我早先見到的那只汽船的方位望去。它向諾第留斯號駛來，人們看到它加大氣壓，迅速追趕。它距我們只有六海里。
"What sort of craft is it, Ned?"
“尼德，那是什麼船？”
"From its rigging and its low masts," the Canadian replied, "I bet it's a warship. Here's hoping it pulls up and sinks this damned Nautilus!"
“看它的帆索船具，看它的桅杆高度，”加拿大人回答，“我敢打賭那是一艘戰艦。它希望追上我們，必要的話，把諾第留斯號這怪物擊沉！”
"Ned my friend," Conseil replied, "what harm could it do the Nautilus? Will it attack us under the waves? Will it cannonade us at the bottom of the sea?"
“尼德朋友，”康塞爾說，“它可能對諾第留斯號加以傷害嗎？它可能做水下攻擊嗎？“它可能炮轟海底嗎？”
"Tell me, Ned," I asked, "can you make out the nationality of that craft?"
“尼德，您告訴我，”我說，“您能認出這船的國籍嗎？”
Creasing his brow, lowering his lids, and puckering the corners of his eyes, the Canadian focused the full power of his gaze on the ship for a short while.
"No, sir," he replied. "I can't make out what nation it's from. It's flying no flag. But I'll swear it's a warship, because there's a long pennant streaming from the peak of its mainmast."
“不，”他回答，“先生，我不能認出它是屬於哪一國籍。它沒有掛旗。但我可以肯定，它是一艘戰艦。”
For a quarter of an hour, we continued to watch the craft bearing down on us. But it was inconceivable to me that it had discovered the Nautilus at such a distance, still less that it knew what this underwater machine really was.
在一刻鐘的時間內，我們繼續觀察這只向我們駛來的大船。但是，我不能相信它從這個距離就能認出諾第留斯號，更不能相信它會知道這個潛水艇是什麼。
Soon the Canadian announced that the craft was a big battleship, a double-decker ironclad complete with ram. Dark, dense smoke burst from its two funnels. Its furled sails merged with the lines of its yardarms. The gaff of its fore-and-aft sail flew no flag. Its distance still kept us from distinguishing the colors of its pennant, which was fluttering like a thin ribbon.
不久加拿大人通知我，那是一艘大戰艦，有沖角，有兩層鐵甲板。濃厚的黑煙從它的兩座煙囪噴出來。它的帆彼此擠得很緊，跟帆架錯雜在一起。帆架上沒有懸掛任何旗幟。距離還遠，不能辨認它的信號旗的顏色，這信號旗像一條薄帶在空中飄揚。
It was coming on fast. If Captain Nemo let it approach, a chance for salvation might be available to us.
它迅速前來。如果尼摩船長讓它近前，那麼一個得救的機會就在我們面前了。
"Sir," Ned Land told me, "if that boat gets within a mile of us, I'm jumping overboard, and I suggest you follow suit."
“先生，”尼德-蘭說，“這船距我們一海里的時候，我就跳到海中去，我同時建議您跟我一樣做。”
I didn't reply to the Canadian's proposition but kept watching the ship, which was looming larger on the horizon. Whether it was English, French, American, or Russian, it would surely welcome us aboard if we could just get to it.
我不回答加拿大人的提議，我繼續注視那船，眼看它愈來愈大了。不管它是英國船、法國船、美國船、俄國船，如果我們能到船上，它一定很歡迎我們。
"Master may recall," Conseil then said, "that we have some experience with swimming. He can rely on me to tow him to that vessel, if he's agreeable to going with our friend Ned."
“請先生好好回憶一下”康塞爾於是說，“上一次我們游水的經驗。先生完全可以相信我，如果先生覺得跟着尼德朋友走是合適的話，我會把先生馱到那船邊去的。”
Before I could reply, white smoke streamed from the battleship's bow. Then, a few seconds later, the waters splashed astern of the Nautilus, disturbed by the fall of a heavy object. Soon after, an explosion struck my ears.
我正要回答的時候，一道白煙從戰艦的前部發出，幾秒鐘後，有一件重東西落下，把水攪亂，水花飛濺到諾第留斯號的後部。不一會兒，爆炸聲傳到我耳中來。
"What's this? They're firing at us!" I exclaimed.
“怎麼？他們向我們開炮！”我喊。
"Good lads!" the Canadian muttered.
“勇敢的好人！”加拿大人低聲說。
"That means they don't see us as castaways clinging to some wreckage!"
“他們並不把我們當作攀附在海上漂流破船的遇難人！”
"With all due respect to master--gracious!" Conseil put in, shaking off the water that had sprayed over him from another shell. "With all due respect to master, they've discovered the narwhale and they're cannonading the same."
“請先生原諒……好，”康塞爾把再打來的一個炮彈濺在他身上的水撲下去的時候說，“請先生原諒，他們認出這條獨角鯨，他們炮打獨角鯨哩。”
"But it must be clear to them," I exclaimed, "that they're dealing with human beings."
“可是他們要看清楚，”我喊，“他們面對著的是人呢。”
"Maybe that's why!" Ned Land replied, staring hard at me.
“或者正是為這個呢！”尼德-蘭眼盯着我回答。
The full truth dawned on me. Undoubtedly people now knew where they stood on the existence of this so-called monster. Undoubtedly the latter's encounter with the Abraham Lincoln, when the Canadian hit it with his harpoon, had led Commander Farragut to recognize the narwhale as actually an underwater boat, more dangerous than any unearthly cetacean!
我心中得到了全面的啟示。肯定的，人們現在已經知道。應該怎樣看待這個所謂怪物的存在。無疑的，當它跟林肯號接觸，加拿大人用魚叉打它的時候，法拉古司令認出這條獨角鯨實際是一隻潛水船，比神怪的鯨科動物更危險的東西。
Yes, this had to be the case, and undoubtedly they were now chasing this dreadful engine of destruction on every sea!
對，事情應該是這樣，無疑的，在所有的海面上，人們現在正追逐這可怕的毀滅性機器!
Dreadful indeed, if, as we could assume, Captain Nemo had been using the Nautilus in works of vengeance! That night in the middle of the Indian Ocean, when he imprisoned us in the cell, hadn't he attacked some ship? That man now buried in the coral cemetery, wasn't he the victim of some collision caused by the Nautilus? Yes, I repeat: this had to be the case. One part of Captain Nemo's secret life had been unveiled. And now, even though his identity was still unknown, at least the nations allied against him knew they were no longer hunting some fairy-tale monster, but a man who had sworn an implacable hate toward them!
是的，我可以這樣假定，如果尼摩船長拿諾第留斯號來進行報復，那當然很可怕！那一夜，我們被禁在我們的小房中，在印度洋上，它不是攻擊了某些船隻嗎？那個葬在珊瑚墓地的人，他不是因為諾第留斯號所引起的衝擊的犧牲者嗎？是的，我一再說。看來事情確實是這樣。尼摩船長的神秘生活的一部分被揭露出來了。他的身份雖然沒有證明，但至少，聯合起來反對它的國家，現在是追打一個不是空想的怪物，而是對各國有深仇宿恨的人!
This whole fearsome sequence of events appeared in my mind's eye. Instead of encountering friends on this approaching ship, we would find only pitiless enemies.
整個怕人可怪的這段往事都在我眼前現出來。在這只追趕前來的船上，我們碰不見朋友，我們只見到無情的敵人。
Meanwhile shells fell around us in increasing numbers. Some, meeting the liquid surface, would ricochet and vanish into the sea at considerable distances. But none of them reached the Nautilus.
可是，更多的炮彈在我們周圍落下。有些碰在水面上，只碰一下就跳起來，落在距離很遠的海面不見了．沒有一顆打中諾第留斯號。
By then the ironclad was no more than three miles off. Despite its violent cannonade, Captain Nemo hadn't appeared on the platform. And yet if one of those conical shells had scored a routine hit on the Nautilus's hull, it could have been fatal to him.
那艘鐵甲艦距我們只有三海里了。不管它的猛烈炮擊，尼摩船長並不到平台上來。可是，如果一顆這種錐形炮彈正規地打在諾第留斯號船殻上，可能是它的致命傷。
The Canadian then told me:
加拿大人於是對我說。
"Sir, we've got to do everything we can to get out of this jam! Let's signal them! Damnation! Maybe they'll realize we're decent people!"
“先生，我們應當儘力想法，解除我們月前的危儉。我：們發出信號吧！天塌下也不管了！人們或者明白我們是正直善良的人！”
Ned Land pulled out his handkerchief to wave it in the air. But he had barely unfolded it when he was felled by an iron fist, and despite his great strength, he tumbled to the deck.
尼德-蘭拿出他的手中，在空中招搖。但他剛把手中打開來，雖然他有非常大的氣力，但他馬上就被一隻鐵一般的手掀倒在平台板上。
"Scum!" the captain shouted. "Do you want to be nailed to the Nautilus's spur before it charges that ship?"
“渾東西！”船長喊，“你要我在諾第留斯號衝擊那只戰船之前，先把你釘在它的沖角上嗎？”
Dreadful to hear, Captain Nemo was even more dreadful to see. His face was pale from some spasm of his heart, which must have stopped beating for an instant. His pupils were hideously contracted. His voice was no longer speaking, it was bellowing. Bending from the waist, he shook the Canadian by the shoulders.
尼摩船長，聽他的說話已經很可怕，看他的臉孔更是可怕。他的臉孔由於心髒的痙攣而變得蒼白，看來他的心臟跳動是暫時停止了一下的。他的瞳人可怕地怞縮着。他的聲音不是說話，而是吼起來了。他身向前彎，手下扭住加拿大人的肩頭。
Then, dropping Ned and turning to the battleship, whose shells were showering around him:
然後把加拿大人放下，回頭對著那把炮彈向我們周圍雨點般打來的戰船，用他強大的聲音喊：
"O ship of an accursed nation, you know who I am!" he shouted in his powerful voice. "And I don't need your colors to recognize you! Look! I'll show you mine!"
“啊！你知道我是誰，你這被詛咒的國家的船！我不需要你的旗就認得你！你看！我給你看我的旗！”
And in the bow of the platform, Captain Nemo unfurled a black flag, like the one he had left planted at the South Pole.
尼摩船長在平台前頭展開一面旗，這旗跟他在南極插下的相同。
Just then a shell hit the Nautilus's hull obliquely, failed to breach it, ricocheted near the captain, and vanished into the sea.
這時候，一顆炮彈縱斜地打到諾第留斯號船身上，但沒有能損傷它，炮彈跳到船長附近，又落入海中了。
Captain Nemo shrugged his shoulders. Then, addressing me:
尼摩船長聳聳兩肩。他向着我，用乾脆的語氣對我說：
"Go below!" he told me in a curt tone. "You and your companions, go below!"
“下去，下去，您和您的同伴們都下去。”
"Sir," I exclaimed, "are you going to attack this ship?"
“先生，”我喊，“您要攻打那船嗎？”
"Sir, I'm going to sink it."
“先生，我要把它打沉。”
"You wouldn't!"
“您不要做這事！”
"I will," Captain Nemo replied icily. "You're ill-advised to pass judgment on me, sir. Fate has shown you what you weren't meant to see. The attack has come. Our reply will be dreadful. Get back inside!"
“我要做，”尼摩船長冷冷地回答，“您休想給我下判斷，先生。命運注定給您看見了您不應該看見的事情。對方的攻擊開始了，我的反擊是很可怕的。您進去。”
"From what country is that ship?"
“這艘船是哪一國的？”
"You don't know? Fine, so much the better! At least its nationality will remain a secret to you. Go below!"
“您不知道嗎？那麼！最好！至少，它的國籍對您來說是一個秘密。您下去。”
The Canadian, Conseil, and I could only obey. Some fifteen of the Nautilus's seamen surrounded their captain and stared with a feeling of implacable hate at the ship bearing down on them. You could feel the same spirit of vengeance enkindling their every soul.
加拿大人、康塞爾和我，我們只能服從。十五六個諾第留斯號船上的水手圍繞着船長，帶著十分堅決的仇恨情緒注視那艘向他們追來的戰艦。
I went below just as another projectile scraped the Nautilus's hull, and I heard the captain exclaim:
我下去的時候，又有一顆炮彈落在諾第留斯號身上，我聽到船長喊：
"Shoot, you demented vessel! Shower your futile shells! You won't escape the Nautilus's spur! But this isn't the place where you'll perish! I don't want your wreckage mingling with that of the Avenger!"
“打吧，瘋狂的戰艦！盡情放出你無用的炮彈來！你決躲不過諾第留斯號的沖角。但你不應該在這個地點滅亡！我不願你的殘骸跟復仇號的光榮殘骸相混！”
I repaired to my stateroom. The captain and his chief officer stayed on the platform. The propeller was set in motion. The Nautilus swiftly retreated, putting us outside the range of the vessel's shells. But the chase continued, and Captain Nemo was content to keep his distance.
我回到房中。船長和他的副手留在平台上。推進器轉動起來，諾第留斯號迅速避開，到戰艦炮彈射程不能及的地方。但它仍然繼續追來，尼摩船長僅僅使它保持一定距離。
Near four o'clock in the afternoon, unable to control the impatience and uneasiness devouring me, I went back to the central companionway. The hatch was open. I ventured onto the platform. The captain was still strolling there, his steps agitated. He stared at the ship, which stayed to his leeward five or six miles off. He was circling it like a wild beast, drawing it eastward, letting it chase after him. Yet he didn't attack. Was he, perhaps, still undecided?
下午四點左右，使我非常苦惱的那種焦急不安的情緒，再也抑制不住我自己了，我又到中央樓梯那邊去，嵌板開着。我冒險到平台上。船長腳步激動地還在那裡踱來踱去。他注視在他後面五六海里的戰艦。他像野獸一般，在戰艦周圍轉來轉去，把它引到東方，讓它追來。不過他並不回擊。他或者還是遲疑不決嗎？
I tried to intervene one last time. But I had barely queried Captain Nemo when the latter silenced me:
我想作一次最後的努力。但我剛要開口，他就不許我說話，要我禁聲。他對我說：
"I'm the law, I'm the tribunal! I'm the oppressed, and there are my oppressors! Thanks to them, I've witnessed the destruction of everything I loved, cherished, and venerated--homeland, wife, children, father, and mother! There lies everything I hate! Not another word out of you!"
“我是權利！我是正義！我是被壓迫的，瞧，那就是壓迫者！由於他，所有一切我熱愛過的，親熱過的，尊敬過的，祖園、愛人、子女、我的父親、我的母親，他們全死亡了！所有我仇恨的一切，就在那裡！您不許說話！”
I took a last look at the battleship, which was putting on steam. Then I rejoined Ned and Conseil.
我眼光最後向那艘戰艦看一下，它正加緊追來。隨後我找到尼德和康塞爾，我喊道：
"We'll escape!" I exclaimed.
“我們逃走！”
"Good," Ned put in. "Where's that ship from?"
“好。”已德說，“戰艦是哪一國的？”
"I've no idea. But wherever it's from, it will sink before nightfall. In any event, it's better to perish with it than be accomplices in some act of revenge whose merits we can't gauge."
“我不知道。不管它是哪一國的，黑夜來臨前它一定要被擊沉。總之，與其充當還不知道是否正義的報復行為的同謀人，倒不如跟它一起死亡。”
"That's my feeling," Ned Land replied coolly. "Let's wait for nightfall."
“這正是我的意見，”尼德-蘭冷淡地回答，“我們等到黑夜再說。”
Night fell. A profound silence reigned on board. The compass indicated that the Nautilus hadn't changed direction. I could hear the beat of its propeller, churning the waves with steady speed. Staying on the surface of the water, it rolled gently, sometimes to one side, sometimes to the other.
黑夜來了。船上只是一片深沉的靜默。羅盤指出諾第留斯號沒有改變它的方向。我聽到它的推進器轉動，規律迅速地攪打海水。它浮在水波上，水波的輕微擺動時而使它轉向這一邊，時而使它轉向那一邊。
My companions and I had decided to escape as soon as the vessel came close enough for us to be heard--or seen, because the moon would wax full in three days and was shining brightly. Once we were aboard that ship, if we couldn't ward off the blow that threatened it, at least we could do everything that circumstances permitted. Several times I thought the Nautilus was about to attack. But it was content to let its adversary approach, and then it would quickly resume its retreating ways.
我的同伴和我，我們決心在戰艦相當近前的時候就逃出去，或者我們可以被聽到，或者我們可以被看見，因為月亮過三天就圓了，照得很亮。一經到了戰艦上面，就是我們不能阻止危害它的襲擊，至少我們是做了環境許可我們做的一切。有幾次，我以為諾第留斯號就要下手攻擊了。但它僅僅讓它的敵手近前來，並且過一會後，它又作逃避的姿態。
Part of the night passed without incident. We kept watch for an opportunity to take action. We talked little, being too keyed up. Ned Land was all for jumping overboard. I forced him to wait. As I saw it, the Nautilus would attack the double-decker on the surface of the waves, and then it would be not only possible but easy to escape.
黑夜的一部分時間平安地度過。我們等待時機，準備行動。我們差不多不說話，因為情緒十分激動。尼德-蘭真想跳到海中去。我強迫他等待。照我的看法，諾第留斯號要在水面上攻擊這艘帶雙層甲板的戰艦，這樣就不僅可能，並已容易逃走。
At three o'clock in the morning, full of uneasiness, I climbed onto the platform. Captain Nemo hadn't left it. He stood in the bow next to his flag, which a mild breeze was unfurling above his head. His eyes never left that vessel. The extraordinary intensity of his gaze seemed to attract it, beguile it, and draw it more surely than if he had it in tow!
早晨三點，我心中很不安，到平台上去。尼摩船長並沒有走開。他站在船前頭，挨近他的旗，旗受微風吹動，在他頭上招展。他兩眼不離開那艘戰艦。他目光炯炯，有如電照，好像是吸引它，誘惑它，像駁船一樣更確實可靠地把它位過來！
The moon then passed its zenith. Jupiter was rising in the east. In the midst of this placid natural setting, sky and ocean competed with each other in tranquility, and the sea offered the orb of night the loveliest mirror ever to reflect its image.
那時月亮經過子午綫。木星升起在東方。在這和平的大自然中間，天空和海洋彼此競賽安靜，大海給黑夜的月輪當作一面最美麗的明鏡，恐怕這面明鏡從沒有這樣美地把月亮的影子照出來呢。
And when I compared this deep calm of the elements with all the fury seething inside the plating of this barely perceptible Nautilus, I shivered all over.
當我想到海天一色的深沉安靜，跟所有醞釀在極其渺小的諾第留斯號裡面的憤怒相比，較，我感到我整個生命都顫抖了。
The vessel was two miles off. It drew nearer, always moving toward the phosphorescent glow that signaled the Nautilus's presence. I saw its green and red running lights, plus the white lantern hanging from the large stay of its foremast. Hazy flickerings were reflected on its rigging and indicated that its furnaces were pushed to the limit. Showers of sparks and cinders of flaming coal escaped from its funnels, spangling the air with stars.
戰艦在距我們兩海里的地方。它駛前來，老是向着那表示諾第留斯號所在的磷光追來。我看見戰艦綠色和紅色的表示方位的燈光，以及掛在前面大桅椅上的白色船燈。模糊的反射光線顯出它上面的船具，同時指出它的火力過度猛烈。一陣一陣的火花，一團一團燃着的煤渣，從它的煙囪中噴出來，像星光一樣，散人空中。
I stood there until six o'clock in the morning, Captain Nemo never seeming to notice me. The vessel lay a mile and a half off, and with the first glimmers of daylight, it resumed its cannonade. The time couldn't be far away when the Nautilus would attack its adversary, and my companions and I would leave forever this man I dared not judge.
我這樣一直在那裡獃到早晨，尼摩船長好像一直就沒有看見我。戰艦跟我們還有一海里半的距離，到第一次曙光出現的時候，它的炮聲又隆隆響起來。諾第留斯號攻擊它的敵人，我的同伴和我，我們要永遠離開我不敢加以判斷的這個人的時刻，看來不久就到了。
I was about to go below to alert them, when the chief officer climbed onto the platform. Several seamen were with him. Captain Nemo didn't see them, or didn't want to see them. They carried out certain procedures that, on the Nautilus, you could call "clearing the decks for action." They were quite simple. The manropes that formed a handrail around the platform were lowered. Likewise the pilothouse and the beacon housing were withdrawn into the hull until they lay exactly flush with it. The surface of this long sheet-iron cigar no longer offered a single protrusion that could hamper its maneuvers.
我正要下去通知他們的時候，船上副手走到平台上，有：好幾個水手跟着他。尼摩船長沒有看見他們，或不願看見他們。當時就採取了可以稱為諾第留斯號的“戰鬥準備”的某些措施；這些措施很簡單。先把在平台周圍作為欄杆的綫網放下來：同樣，探照燈和領航人的籠間也藏到船身裡面，僅僅挨着船身露出在水面。這條長形鋼板雪前煙的外部，連一個可能阻礙它行動的突出部分，現在也沒有了。
I returned to the lounge. The Nautilus still emerged above the surface. A few morning gleams infiltrated the liquid strata. Beneath the undulations of the billows, the windows were enlivened by the blushing of the rising sun. That dreadful day of June 2 had dawned.
我回到客廳中。諾第留斯號老是浮出水面。清晨的曙光有些滲入到水中。由於海浪的波動，玻璃窗受到初升太陽的紅光，呈現生動活潑的氣象。這可怕的6月2日開始了。
At seven o'clock the log told me that the Nautilus had reduced speed. I realized that it was letting the warship approach. Moreover, the explosions grew more intensely audible. Shells furrowed the water around us, drilling through it with an odd hissing sound.
五點，我看測程器，知道諾第留斯號的速度減慢了。我明白它是故意讓敵人接近。並且炮聲也一陣一陣響得更猛烈。炮彈滾人周圍水中，發出奇異的呼嘯聲，對準海中射擊
"My friends," I said, "it's time. Let's shake hands, and may God be with us!"
“朋友們，”我說，“時候到了。大家握一握手，願上帝保護我們！”
Ned Land was determined, Conseil calm, I myself nervous and barely in control.
尼德-蘭很堅定，康塞爾很鎮靜，我神經緊張，差不多抑制不住自己。
We went into the library. Just as I pushed open the door leading to the well of the central companionway, I heard the hatch close sharply overhead.
我們走人圖書室。當我推開那扇對著中央樓梯籠間的門的時候，我聽到上層嵌板忽然關閉了。
The Canadian leaped up the steps, but I stopped him. A well-known hissing told me that water was entering the ship's ballast tanks. Indeed, in a few moments the Nautilus had submerged some meters below the surface of the waves.
加拿大人奮身跳到梯階上去，但我把他拉住。很熟悉的一聲呼嘯，使我知道水被吸人船上的儲水池中來。是的，不一會，諾第留斯號就潛入水面下幾米的深處。
I understood this maneuver. It was too late to take action.
我明白了它的行動目標；我們現在要行動已經遲了。
The Nautilus wasn't going to strike the double-decker where it was clad in impenetrable iron armor, but below its waterline, where the metal carapace no longer protected its planking.
諾第留斯號不想從堅固的鐵甲上來攻打這艘有雙層甲板的戰艦；它是要在那戰艦的浮標線下面，它的鋼殻不能保護它的邊緣地方來進行襲擊。
We were prisoners once more, unwilling spectators at the performance of this gruesome drama. But we barely had time to think. Taking refuge in my stateroom, we stared at each other without pronouncing a word. My mind was in a total daze. My mental processes came to a dead stop. I hovered in that painful state that predominates during the period of anticipation before some frightful explosion. I waited, I listened, I lived only through my sense of hearing!
我們又被關起來，要被迫做正在準備中的凶惡慘劇的見證人。並且，我們差不多也沒有時間來思考。我們躲到我的房間裡面，大家面面相覷，一句話不說。我心中十分恍忽：思想也停滯了。我這時的處境就像等待某一種可怕的爆炸那樣，十分難受。我等待着，注意聽，我只有靠聽覺來生活了！
Meanwhile the Nautilus's speed had increased appreciably. So it was gathering momentum. Its entire hull was vibrating.
可是，諾第留斯號的速度顯然增大了。它現在採取的是前進的速度：它的整個船殻都顫抖了。
Suddenly I let out a yell. There had been a collision, but it was comparatively mild. I could feel the penetrating force of the steel spur. I could hear scratchings and scrapings. Carried away with its driving power, the Nautilus had passed through the vessel's mass like a sailmaker's needle through canvas!
突然我大喊一聲。衝撞發生了，但相對較輕。我感到那鋼鐵沖角的穿透力量。我聽到拉開來和送進去的聲音。但諾第留斯號在推進器的強力推動下，從這艘戰艦身上橫衝過去，就像帆船上的尖桿穿過布帆那樣！
I couldn't hold still. Frantic, going insane, I leaped out of my stateroom and rushed into the lounge.
我簡直忍不住了。我像瘋子一樣，神經完全錯亂，我跑出我的房間，急急走進客廳中。
Captain Nemo was there. Mute, gloomy, implacable, he was staring through the port panel.
尼摩船長在客廳中。沉默、憂鬱、冷麵無情，他通過左舷的嵌板，兩眼注視看。
An enormous mass was sinking beneath the waters, and the Nautilus, missing none of its death throes, was descending into the depths with it. Ten meters away, I could see its gaping hull, into which water was rushing with a sound of thunder, then its double rows of cannons and railings. Its deck was covered with dark, quivering shadows.
一個龐大的物體沉到水底下來，諾第留斯號跟它一起下降到深淵中要親眼看一看它臨死時的慘痛。距我十米遠，我看見這只船殻裂開，海水像雷鳴一般湧進去，然後水淹了兩列大炮和吊床艙房。甲板上滿是往來亂動的黑影。
The water was rising. Those poor men leaped up into the shrouds, clung to the masts, writhed beneath the waters. It was a human anthill that an invading sea had caught by surprise!
海水湧上來。那些受難的不幸的人都跳到桅牆網上，抓住桅牆，在水中掙扎，扭彎肢體。這簡直就是突然被整個大海侵進來的人類螞蟻窩！
Paralyzed, rigid with anguish, my hair standing on end, my eyes popping out of my head, short of breath, suffocating, speechless, I stared-- I too! I was glued to the window by an irresistible allure!
我麻痹了，像被臨死的痛苦僵化了，頭髮豎起來了，兩眼睜得很大，呼吸急促喘不過來，沒有氣息，沒有聲音，我也兩眼盯着看！一種不可抗拒的吸引力使我緊緊貼在玻璃上面！
The enormous vessel settled slowly. Following it down, the Nautilus kept watch on its every movement. Suddenly there was an eruption. The air compressed inside the craft sent its decks flying, as if the powder stores had been ignited. The thrust of the waters was so great, the Nautilus swerved away.
那艘巨大戰艦慢慢地下沉。諾第留斯號追隨着它，窺伺着它的所有動作。忽然戰艦上發生了爆炸。被壓縮的空氣把戰艦的甲板轟跑了，就像船艙中着了火一樣。海水湧入的力量十分強大，影響到諾第留斯號，它也傾斜了。
The poor ship then sank more swiftly. Its mastheads appeared, laden with victims, then its crosstrees bending under clusters of men, finally the peak of its mainmast. Then the dark mass disappeared, and with it a crew of corpses dragged under by fearsome eddies. . . .
這麼一來，那艘不幸受害的戰船就迅速地下沉。它的桅槁架滿擠着遇難人，首先現出來，其次是它的橫木架，上面有一串一串的人把它壓得彎曲了，最後是那大桅頂。然後，那沉黑的巨體沉沒水中，跟它一起，這一群死屍組成的船員都被強大無比的漩渦拉下……
I turned to Captain Nemo. This dreadful executioner, this true archangel of hate, was still staring. When it was all over, Captain Nemo headed to the door of his stateroom, opened it, and entered. I followed him with my eyes.
我轉過頭來看尼摩船長。這個可怕的裁判執行人，是真正的仇恨天神，眼睛老是盯着看。當一切都完了，尼摩船長向他的房門走去，把門打開，走進房中。我眼看著他。
On the rear paneling, beneath the portraits of his heroes, I saw the portrait of a still-youthful woman with two little children. Captain Nemo stared at them for a few moments, stretched out his arms to them, sank to his knees, and melted into sobs.
在他房間裡面的嵌板上，他的那些英雄人物的肖像下面，我看到一個年紀還輕的婦人和兩個小孩的肖像。尼摩船長兩眼看這肖像一下，向像中人伸出兩隻胳膊，同時跪着，怞咽起來。