1月28日正午，当诺第留斯号浮上水面来的时候，它在北纬9度4分，望见西边八海里远有一块陆地。我首先注意一群山岭，这群山岭约二千英尺高，山形起伏，很不整齐。测定了这陆地的方位后，我回到客厅中，把测好的经纬度跟地图一对时，我发现我们是在锡兰岛面前了，它是挂在印度半岛下端的一颗宝珠。
ON JANUARY 28, in latitude 9 degrees 4' north, when the Nautilus returned at noon to the surface of the sea, it lay in sight of land some eight miles to the west. Right off, I observed a cluster of mountains about 2,000 feet high, whose shapes were very whimsically sculpted. After our position fix, I reentered the lounge, and when our bearings were reported on the chart, I saw that we were off the island of Ceylon, that pearl dangling from the lower lobe of the Indian peninsula.
我到图书室去找一部关于这座岛的著作，它是地球上的岛屿中最富饶的一个岛。我正好找到西尔所写、题名为《锡兰和锡兰人的一部书。回到客厅中来，我首先记下锡兰的方位，并且知道古时候这岛有各种不同的名称。它的位置是在北纬5度55分和9度49分2red，东经79度42分和82度4分之间，“岛长二百七十五英里，最宽的地方一瓦五十英里，周围丸首英里，面积二万四千四百四十八平方英里，就是说，比爱尔兰岛面积小一些尼摩船长和他的副手这时候进来了。
I went looking in the library for a book about this island, one of the most fertile in the world. Sure enough, I found a volume entitled Ceylon and the Singhalese by H. C. Sirr, Esq. Reentering the lounge, I first noted the bearings of Ceylon, on which antiquity lavished so many different names. It was located between latitude 5 degrees 55' and 9 degrees 49' north, and between longitude 79 degrees 42' and 82 degrees 4' east of the meridian of Greenwich; its length is 275 miles; its maximum width, 150 miles; its circumference, 900 miles; its surface area, 24,448 square miles, in other words, a little smaller than that of Ireland.
Just then Captain Nemo and his chief officer appeared.
船长在地图上看了一下，然后回过来对我说：”
The captain glanced at the chart. Then, turning to me:
“锡兰岛：是以采珍珠闻名的地方。柯龙纳斯先生，您高兴去看采珠场吗？”
"The island of Ceylon," he said, "is famous for its pearl fisheries. Would you be interested, Professor Aronnax, in visiting one of those fisheries?"
“船长，当然高兴。”
"Certainly, captain."
“好，这是容易的事。不过，我们仅能看到采珠场，却看不见采珠人。每年定期的采珠现在还没有开始。但这没关系。我吩咐船驶到马纳尔湾，夜间我们就可以到达。”
"Fine. It's easily done. Only, when we see the fisheries, we'll see no fishermen. The annual harvest hasn't yet begun. No matter. I'll give orders to make for the Gulf of Mannar, and we'll arrive there late tonight."
船长对船副说了几句话，船副立即出去。不久诺第留斯号潜入水中，压力表指出它是在水深三十英尺的地方。
The captain said a few words to his chief officer who went out immediately. Soon the Nautilus reentered its liquid element, and the pressure gauge indicated that it was staying at a depth of thirty feet.
面前摆着地图，我找马纳尔湾。我在锡兰岛的西北海岸，纬度9度上找到了。这海湾由马纳尔小岛的延长海岸线所形成。要到这湾，必须上溯锡兰岛整个西部海岸。
With the chart under my eyes, I looked for the Gulf of Mannar. I found it by the 9th parallel off the northwestern shores of Ceylon. It was formed by the long curve of little Mannar Island. To reach it we had to go all the way up Ceylon's west coast.
“教授，”尼摩船长这时说话了，“在孟加拉湾，在印度海，在中国海和日本海，在美洲南部的海，在巴拿马湾，在加利福尼亚湾，都有人采珍珠，但采珠成绩最优良的地方是在锡兰岛。我们来这里，时候是早了一些。每年三月采珠人才齐集在马纳尔湾，为期整整有三十天，他们的三百只船一齐做这种采取海中珠宝的有利事业。每只船有十个划船手和十个采珠人。采珠人分做两组，彼此轮流潜入水中，他们是用两只脚夹着一块很重的石头，再用一根长绳把他系在船上，他们下至十二米深的地方采珠。”
"Professor," Captain Nemo then told me, "there are pearl fisheries in the Bay of Bengal, the seas of the East Indies, the seas of China and Japan, plus those seas south of the United States, the Gulf of Panama and the Gulf of California; but it's off Ceylon that such fishing reaps its richest rewards. No doubt we'll be arriving a little early. Fishermen gather in the Gulf of Mannar only during the month of March, and for thirty days some 300 boats concentrate on the lucrative harvest of these treasures from the sea. Each boat is manned by ten oarsmen and ten fishermen. The latter divide into two groups, dive in rotation, and descend to a depth of twelve meters with the help of a heavy stone clutched between their feet and attached by a rope to their boat."
“那么，”我说，“他们总是使用这种原始方法吗？”
"You mean," I said, "that such primitive methods are still all that they use?"
“总是使用这种原始方法，”尼摩船长回答我，“虽然这些采珠场是属于地球上最灵巧的人民一英国人——因为1802年的阿米恩条约①把采珠场转让给他们了。”
"All," Captain Nemo answered me, "although these fisheries belong to the most industrialized people in the world, the English, to whom the Treaty of Amiens granted them in 1802."
“不过，我觉得，像您使用的那种潜水衣对于采珠可以大有用处。”
"Yet it strikes me that diving suits like yours could perform yeoman service in such work."
“是的，很有用，因为那些可怜的采珠人不能在水底下留得很久，英国人培西华在他写的锡兰岛游记中，说有一个加非列利②人在水下留了五分钟，没有上水面来，这件事我觉得不甚可靠。我知道有些潜水人可以留到五十六秒，最有能耐的可以留到八十六秒，不过这种人是很少的，并且，回到船上来，这些可怜人的鼻孔和耳朵都流出带血的水来……我认为这些采珠人可以留在水里面忍受的平均时间为三十秒，在这三十秒内，他们得赶快把自己采得的珍珠贝塞在一个小网中。一般的说，这些采珠人不能活得很久，他们的眼力很早就衰退，眼睛上发生溃疡，他们的身上有许多创伤，他们有时甚至于在水底下就中凤了。”
"Yes, since those poor fishermen can't stay long underwater. On his voyage to Ceylon, the Englishman Percival made much of a Kaffir who stayed under five minutes without coming up to the surface, but I find that hard to believe. I know that some divers can last up to fifty-seven seconds, and highly skillful ones to eighty-seven; but such men are rare, and when the poor fellows climb back on board, the water coming out of their noses and ears is tinted with blood. I believe the average time underwater that these fishermen can tolerate is thirty seconds, during which they hastily stuff their little nets with all the pearl oysters they can tear loose. But these fishermen generally don't live to advanced age: their vision weakens, ulcers break out on their eyes, sores form on their bodies, and some are even stricken with apoplexy on the ocean floor."
“是的，”我说，“这是一种凄惨的职业，这是为满足少数人的偏好的。不过，船长，请您告诉我，一只船一整天可以采得多少珍珠贝呢？”
"Yes," I said, "it's a sad occupation, and one that exists only to gratify the whims of fashion. But tell me, captain, how many oysters can a boat fish up in a workday?"
“大约四万至五万左右。甚至有人说，1814年，英国政府实行公营采珠，它的采珠人在二十天的工作中，一共采得七千六百万珍珠贝。”
"About 40,000 to 50,000. It's even said that in 1814, when the English government went fishing on its own behalf, its divers worked just twenty days and brought up 76,000,000 oysters."
“至少，”我问，“这些采珠人可以得到足够的工资吧？”
"At least," I asked, "the fishermen are well paid, aren't they?"
“哪能说足够呢，教授。在巴拿马，他们每星期得一元。 平常采到一个有珍珠的贝，他们才能得一分钱，何况他们采得的贝里面多数是没有珍珠的！”
"Hardly, professor. In Panama they make just $1.00 per week. In most places they earn only a penny for each oyster that has a pearl, and they bring up so many that have none!"
“这些可怜人，使他们的东家发了财，自己只能在采封一颗有珠子的贝才得到一分钱！真可恨！”
"Only one penny to those poor people who make their employers rich! That's atrocious!"
“教授，就这样吧，”尼摩船长对我说，“您跟您的同伴们一同去参观马纳尔的礁石岩脉，如果有早来的采珠人已经在那里，那我们就看看他们采珍珠。”
"On that note, professor," Captain Nemo told me, "you and your companions will visit the Mannar oysterbank, and if by chance some eager fisherman arrives early, well, we can watch him at work."
“船长，就这么办吧。”
"That suits me, captain."
“请问一下，阿龙纳斯先生，您怕鲛鱼吗？”
"By the way, Professor Aronnax, you aren't afraid of sharks, are you?"
“鲛鱼吗？“我喊。
"Sharks?" I exclaimed.
这个问题，至少对我来说，没有兴味。
This struck me as a pretty needless question, to say the least.
“怎样？”尼摩船长立即又问。
"Well?" Captain Nemo went on.
“船长，我老实对您说，我没有习惯跟这鱼打交道。”
"I admit, captain, I'm not yet on very familiar terms with that genus of fish."
“我们已经很习惯了，”尼摩船长回答，“过些时候，你们也会习惯的。此外，我们是带着武器的，这样，我们或者可以猎得一条鲛鱼。那是很有兴味的打猎。那么，教授，明天，明天一清早再会吧。”
"We're used to them, the rest of us," Captain Nemo answered. "And in time you will be too. Anyhow, we'll be armed, and on our way we might hunt a man-eater or two. It's a fascinating sport. So, professor, I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."
尼摩船长语气从容地说了这话，他就离开了客厅。
This said in a carefree tone, Captain Nemo left the lounge.
If you're invited to hunt bears in the Swiss mountains, you might say: "Oh good, I get to go bear hunting tomorrow!" If you're invited to hunt lions on the Atlas plains or tigers in the jungles of India, you might say: "Ha! Now's my chance to hunt lions and tigers!" But if you're invited to hunt sharks in their native element, you might want to think it over before accepting.
“我们要考虑一下，”我自言自语他说，“我们不要忙，到海底森林中打水獭，像我们在克利斯波岛树林中做的那样。 可以去。但是，跑到海底下去，准知道会不会碰到鲛鱼，那就不一样了！”
As for me, I passed a hand over my brow, where beads of cold sweat were busy forming.
我于是幻想着鲛鱼了，想到它阔大的；有一排一排尖科牙齿的牙床，一下就可以把人咬为两段，我腰上已经感到有点痛了。其次，尼摩船长提出这次令人为难的邀请时，他那种满不在乎的样子，我简直猜不透！人们不是要以为这就等于要到树下去捉一只不咬人的狐狸那样容易吗？我心中想：“不错！康塞尔一定不愿意参加，这样我就可以有借口不去奉陪船长了。”至于尼德-兰，我老实说，我觉得他去不去就不大靠得住。不管怎么大的危险，对于他的战斗性总有一种诱惑力。
"Let's think this over," I said to myself, "and let's take our time. Hunting otters in underwater forests, as we did in the forests of Crespo Island, is an acceptable activity. But to roam the bottom of the sea when you're almost certain to meet man-eaters in the neighborhood, that's another story! I know that in certain countries, particularly the Andaman Islands, Negroes don't hesitate to attack sharks, dagger in one hand and noose in the other; but I also know that many who face those fearsome animals don't come back alive. Besides, I'm not a Negro, and even if I were a Negro, in this instance I don't think a little hesitation on my part would be out of place."
And there I was, fantasizing about sharks, envisioning huge jaws armed with multiple rows of teeth and capable of cutting a man in half. I could already feel a definite pain around my pelvic girdle. And how I resented the offhand manner in which the captain had extended his deplorable invitation! You would have thought it was an issue of going into the woods on some harmless fox hunt!
"Thank heavens!" I said to myself. "Conseil will never want to come along, and that'll be my excuse for not going with the captain."
As for Ned Land, I admit I felt less confident of his wisdom. Danger, however great, held a perennial attraction for his aggressive nature.
我又拿西尔的书来读，但我只是无心地翻一翻。我在书中的字里行间，看见那大大张开的怕人的牙床。
I went back to reading Sirr's book, but I leafed through it mechanically. Between the lines I kept seeing fearsome, wide-open jaws.
这时候，康塞尔和尼德-兰，神气安静，并且快活地走进来。他们不知道有什么等待着他们。
Just then Conseil and the Canadian entered with a calm, even gleeful air. Little did they know what was waiting for them.
“好哇，”尼德-兰对我说，“先生，您那尼摩船长——一个鬼物！——向我们作了一个很客气。的提议。”
"Ye gods, sir!" Ned Land told me. "Your Captain Nemo--the devil take him--has just made us a very pleasant proposition!"
“啊！”我说，“你们知道……”
"Oh!" I said "You know about--"
“对不起先生，”康塞尔回答，“诺第留斯号船长请我们明天跟先生一齐去参观锡兰岛很好看的采珠场。他说的话很漂亮，简直是一位地道的绅士。”
"With all due respect to master," Conseil replied, "the Nautilus's commander has invited us, together with master, for a visit tomorrow to Ceylon's magnificent pearl fisheries. He did so in the most cordial terms and conducted himself like a true gentleman."
“他对你们没有说别的吗？”
"He didn't tell you anything else?"
“先生，”加拿大人回答，“除了他已经给您讲过的这次散步外，什么也没有说。”
"Nothing, sir," the Canadian replied. "He said you'd already discussed this little stroll."
“是的，”我说，“他没有对你们介绍详细的情形，关于……”
"Indeed," I said. "But didn't he give you any details on--"
“没有，生物学家。您跟我们一同去，是吗？”
"Not a one, Mr. Naturalist. You will be going with us, right?"
“我……当然！兰师傅，我觉得您对这事很有兴趣。”
"Me? Why yes, certainly, of course! I can see that you like the idea, Mr. Land."
“对了！这事很新奇，十分新奇。”
"Yes! It will be a really unusual experience!"
“或者很危险呢！”我用暗示的语气又加上一句。
"And possibly dangerous!" I added in an insinuating tone.
“很危险！”尼德-兰回答，“到珍珠贝礁石上走一走！”
"Dangerous?" Ned Land replied. "A simple trip to an oysterbank?"
一定是尼摩船长认为没有必要让我的同伴想到鲛鱼，“所以他不对他们说。我眼光有些慌张地注视他们，好像他-们的肢体已经被咬走了一部分似的。我应该事先通知他们吗？当然应该的，不过我不知道怎样跟他们说才好。
Assuredly, Captain Nemo hadn't seen fit to plant the idea of sharks in the minds of my companions. For my part, I stared at them with anxious eyes, as if they were already missing a limb or two. Should I alert them? Yes, surely, but I hardly knew how to go about it.
“先生，”康塞尔对我说，“先生愿意给我们讲一些关于采珍珠的情形吗？”
"Would master," Conseil said to me, "give us some background on pearl fishing?"
“是讲采珍珠这事情本身呢，”我问，“还是讲有关…… 的故事呢？”
"On the fishing itself?" I asked. "Or on the occupational hazards that--"
“讲采珍珠的事情，“加拿大人回答，“到实地去看之前，先知道一点是好的。”
"On the fishing," the Canadian replied. "Before we tackle the terrain, it helps to be familiar with it."
“好吧，朋友们，你们坐下，我从英国人西尔写的书中所知道的一切，都讲给你们听吧。”
"All right, sit down, my friends, and I'll teach you everything I myself have just been taught by the Englishman H. C. Sirr!"
尼德-兰和康塞尔在长沙发上坐下，加拿大人首先对我说：
Ned and Conseil took seats on a couch, and right off the Canadian said to me:
“先生，珍珠是什么呢？”
"Sir, just what is a pearl exactly?"
“老实的尼德，”我回答；“对诗人来说，珍珠是大海的眼泪；对东方人来说，它是一滴固体化的露水；对妇女们来说，它是她们带在手指上。脖子上或耳朵上的，长圆形，透明色，螺铀质的饰物；对化学家来说，它是带了些胶质的磷酸盐和碳酸钙的混合物；最后，对生物学家来说，它不过是某种双壳类动物产生螺钢质的器官的病态分泌物。”
"My gallant Ned," I replied, "for poets a pearl is a tear from the sea; for Orientals it's a drop of solidified dew; for the ladies it's a jewel they can wear on their fingers, necks, and ears that's oblong in shape, glassy in luster, and formed from mother-of-pearl; for chemists it's a mixture of calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate with a little gelatin protein; and finally, for naturalists it's a simple festering secretion from the organ that produces mother-of-pearl in certain bivalves."
“软体门，”康塞尔说，“无头纲，甲壳属。”
"Branch Mollusca," Conseil said, "class Acephala, order Testacea."
“不过，”我又说，一在体内能凝结成珍珠的最好软体动物，就是那珍珠贝，侞白珠贝，宝贵的小纹贝。珍珠不过是成为圆形的螺铀体的凝结物。它或者粘在珠贝的壳上，或者嵌在动物本身的皱折上。在介壳上的是粘着固定的，在肉上的是活动自由的。不过，珍珠总有一个小小的固体物，或一颗石卵，或一粒沙，作为它的核心，螺铀质在好几年中间连续不停地、薄薄一层地环绕着这核心累积起来。”
"Correct, my scholarly Conseil. Now then, those Testacea capable of producing pearls include rainbow abalone, turbo snails, giant clams, and saltwater scallops--briefly, all those that secrete mother-of-pearl, in other words, that blue, azure, violet, or white substance lining the insides of their valves."
"Are mussels included too?" the Canadian asked.
"Yes! The mussels of certain streams in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Saxony, Bohemia, and France."
"Good!" the Canadian replied. "From now on we'll pay closer attention to 'em."
"But," I went on, "for secreting pearls, the ideal mollusk is the pearl oyster Meleagrina margaritifera, that valuable shellfish. Pearls result simply from mother-of-pearl solidifying into a globular shape. Either they stick to the oyster's shell, or they become embedded in the creature's folds. On the valves a pearl sticks fast; on the flesh it lies loose. But its nucleus is always some small, hard object, say a sterile egg or a grain of sand, around which the mother-of-pearl is deposited in thin, concentric layers over several years in succession."
“人们可以在同一个贝中，找到好几颗珍珠吗？”康塞尔们。
"Can one find several pearls in the same oyster?" Conseil asked.
“可以的、老实人。有些小纹贝，简直就是一个珍珠筐。 有人甚至这样说，一个珍珠贝里面——这点我很怀疑： 含有不下于一百五十个鲛鱼。”
"Yes, my boy. There are some shellfish that turn into real jewel coffers. They even mention one oyster, about which I remain dubious, that supposedly contained at least 150 sharks."
“一百五十个鲛鱼？“尼德-兰喊。
"150 sharks!" Ned Land yelped.
“我是说鲛鱼来着吗？”我急忙喊道，“我是要说一百五十个珍珠。说鲛鱼那就没有意义了。”
"Did I say sharks?" I exclaimed hastily. "I meant 150 pearls. Sharks wouldn't make sense."
“正是，”康塞尔说，“先生现在可以让我们知道用什么方法把珍珠取出来吗？”
"Indeed," Conseil said. "But will master now tell us how one goes about extracting these pearls?"
“把珍珠取出来有好几种方法，珍珠粘在壳上的时候，采珠人就时常用钳子把它突出来。不过，最平常的办法是把小纹贝摊在海岸边的草席上面。它们这样摆在露夭中就死了，十天后，它们到了相当腐败的程度了；于是把它们浸在宽大的海水池沼里面，然后打开它们，洗刷它们。就在这个时候，进行双重的刮削工作。首先，把商业中称为‘真银白混杂白，和-混杂黑，的螺铀片一类一类分开，分盛在一百二十五公斤到一百五十公斤的箱子里。然后把珍珠贝的腺组织取开，把它煎煮，用筛子筛，把最小的珍珠都取出来。”
"One proceeds in several ways, and often when pearls stick to the valves, fishermen even pull them loose with pliers. But usually the shellfish are spread out on mats made from the esparto grass that covers the beaches. Thus they die in the open air, and by the end of ten days they've rotted sufficiently. Next they're immersed in huge tanks of salt water, then they're opened up and washed. At this point the sorters begin their twofold task. First they remove the layers of mother-of-pearl, which are known in the industry by the names legitimate silver, bastard white, or bastard black, and these are shipped out in cases weighing 125 to 150 kilograms. Then they remove the oyster's meaty tissue, boil it, and finally strain it, in order to extract even the smallest pearls."
“珍珠的价格是看它们的大小吗？”康塞尔问。
"Do the prices of these pearls differ depending on their size?" Conseil asked.
“不仅看它们的大小，”我回答，“并且看它们的形状，看它们的水质，就是看它们的颜色，看它们的明亮——也就是看那种迷人眼睛的变化不定的亮光。最美丽的珍珠称为童贞珠或模范珠；它们在软体动物的纤维上孤立长成；它们是白色的，时常不透明，但有的是蛋白的透明，最常有的形状是球形或梨形。球形的，做手锡；梨形的，做耳环；因为这是最宝贵的珍珠，它们论粒卖。其他的珍珠粘在贝壳上，形状比较不规律，它们论重量卖。最后，小珍珠是分在低级的一类，称为小粒。它们论堆卖。”
"Not only on their size," I replied, "but also according to their shape, their water--in other words, their color--and their orient-- in other words, that dappled, shimmering glow that makes them so delightful to the eye. The finest pearls are called virgin pearls, or paragons; they form in isolation within the mollusk's tissue. They're white, often opaque but sometimes of opalescent transparency, and usually spherical or pear-shaped. The spherical ones are made into bracelets; the pear-shaped ones into earrings, and since they're the most valuable, they're priced individually. The other pearls that stick to the oyster's shell are more erratically shaped and are priced by weight. Finally, classed in the lowest order, the smallest pearls are known by the name seed pearls; they're priced by the measuring cup and are used mainly in the creation of embroidery for church vestments."
"But it must be a long, hard job, sorting out these pearls by size," the Canadian said.
"No, my friend. That task is performed with eleven strainers, or sieves, that are pierced with different numbers of holes. Those pearls staying in the strainers with twenty to eighty holes are in the first order. Those not slipping through the sieves pierced with 100 to 800 holes are in the second order. Finally, those pearls for which one uses strainers pierced with 900 to 1,000 holes make up the seed pearls."
"How ingenious," Conseil said, "to reduce dividing and classifying pearls to a mechanical operation. And could master tell us the profits brought in by harvesting these banks of pearl oysters?"
"According to Sirr's book," I replied, "these Ceylon fisheries are farmed annually for a total profit of 3,000,000 man-eaters."
"Francs!" Conseil rebuked.
"Yes, francs! 3,000,000 francs!" I went on. "But I don't think these fisheries bring in the returns they once did. Similarly, the Central American fisheries used to make an annual profit of 4,000,000 francs during the reign of King Charles V, but now they bring in only two-thirds of that amount. All in all, it's estimated that 9,000,000 francs is the current yearly return for the whole pearl-harvesting industry."
"But," Conseil asked, "haven't certain famous pearls been quoted at extremely high prices?"
"Yes, my boy. They say Julius Caesar gave Servilia a pearl worth 120,000 francs in our currency."
"I've even heard stories," the Canadian said, "about some lady in ancient times who drank pearls in vinegar."
"Cleopatra," Conseil shot back.
"It must have tasted pretty bad," Ned Land added.
"Abominable, Ned my friend," Conseil replied. "But when a little glass of vinegar is worth 1,500,000 francs, its taste is a small price to pay."
"I'm sorry I didn't marry the gal," the Canadian said, throwing up his hands with an air of discouragement.
"Ned Land married to Cleopatra?" Conseil exclaimed.
"But I was all set to tie the knot, Conseil," the Canadian replied in all seriousness, "and it wasn't my fault the whole business fell through. I even bought a pearl necklace for my fiancée, Kate Tender, but she married somebody else instead. Well, that necklace cost me only $1.50, but you can absolutely trust me on this, professor, its pearls were so big, they wouldn't have gone through that strainer with twenty holes."
"My gallant Ned," I replied, laughing, "those were artificial pearls, ordinary glass beads whose insides were coated with Essence of Orient."
"Wow!" the Canadian replied. "That Essence of Orient must sell for quite a large sum."
"As little as zero! It comes from the scales of a European carp, it's nothing more than a silver substance that collects in the water and is preserved in ammonia. It's worthless."
"Maybe that's why Kate Tender married somebody else," replied Mr. Land philosophically.
"But," I said, "getting back to pearls of great value, I don't think any sovereign ever possessed one superior to the pearl owned by Captain Nemo."
"This one?" Conseil said, pointing to a magnificent jewel in its glass case.
"Exactly. And I'm certainly not far off when I estimate its value at 2,000,000 . . . uh . . ."
"Francs!" Conseil said quickly.
"Yes," I said, "2,000,000 francs, and no doubt all it cost our captain was the effort to pick it up."
"Ha!" Ned Land exclaimed. "During our stroll tomorrow, who says we won't run into one just like it?"
"Bah!" Conseil put in.
"And why not?"
"What good would a pearl worth millions do us here on the Nautilus?"
"Here, no," Ned Land said. "But elsewhere. . . ."
"Oh! Elsewhere!" Conseil put in, shaking his head.
"In fact," I said, "Mr. Land is right. And if we ever brought back to Europe or America a pearl worth millions, it would make the story of our adventures more authentic--and much more rewarding."
"That's how I see it," the Canadian said.
“不过，”康塞尔说，“采珍珠很危险吗？”
"But," said Conseil, who perpetually returned to the didactic side of things, "is this pearl fishing ever dangerous?"
“不，”我急急地回答，“要是事前采取一些预防办法”，就更没有什么危险。”
"No," I replied quickly, "especially if one takes certain precautions."
“这种职业有什么冒险的呢？”尼德-兰说，“顶多喝几口海水罢了！”
"What risks would you run in a job like that?" Ned Land said. "Swallowing a few gulps of salt water?"
“尼德-兰，就是跟你说的那样，”我也试用尼摩船长满不在乎的语气来说，“老实的尼德，我问你，你怕鲛鱼吗？”
"Whatever you say, Ned." Then, trying to imitate Captain Nemo's carefree tone, I asked, "By the way, gallant Ned, are you afraid of sharks?"
“我，怕？“加拿大人回答，“职业的鱼叉手！捕捉它们是我的本行哩！”
"Me?" the Canadian replied. "I'm a professional harpooner! It's my job to make a mockery of them!"
“我不是说拿大钩钩它们，，我说，“把它们拉到船甲板上来，用斧子砍断它们的尾巴，割开它们的肚腹，挖出它们的心肝扔到海里面去！”
"It isn't an issue," I said, "of fishing for them with a swivel hook, hoisting them onto the deck of a ship, chopping off the tail with a sweep of the ax, opening the belly, ripping out the heart, and tossing it into the sea."
“那是说，碰见……？”
"So it's an issue of . . . ?"
“正是。”
"Yes, precisely."
“在水中碰见吗？”
"In the water?"
“在水中碰见。”
"In the water."
“手拿一很好鱼叉，不：先生，您知道，鲛鱼的形态是夭生有缺点的。它们要咬人的话，先得把肚子翻转，倒过身子来，在这个时候……”
"Ye gods, just give me a good harpoon! You see, sir, these sharks are badly designed. They have to roll their bellies over to snap you up, and in the meantime . . ."
尼德。兰带某种口气说出这个“咬”字，简直使人脊背上都发凉了。
Ned Land had a way of pronouncing the word "snap" that sent chills down the spine.
“康塞尔，你呢，你觉得鲛鱼怎样？”
"Well, how about you, Conseil? What are your feelings about these man-eaters?"
“我对先生总是但白说实话的。”康塞尔说。
"Me?" Conseil said. "I'm afraid I must be frank with master."
我心中想：“这样就好了。”
Good for you, I thought.
“如果先生去攻打鲛鱼，”康塞尔说，“我想性的助手有什么理由不跟他一起去攻打它们！”
"If master faces these sharks," Conseil said, "I think his loyal manservant should face them with him!"