像閃電一般炔，他們粗暴地把我們架進這只潛水船中。我的夥伴和我，簡直連辨明方向的時間都沒有。他們走進這浮動的監牢中，心中會有什麼感覺，我可不知道：但我自己卻不禁打了個寒戰，感覺皮膚都冰涼了。我們跟誰打交道呢？無疑地是跟一些新型的橫行海上的海盜打交道。
THIS BRUTALLY EXECUTED capture was carried out with lightning speed. My companions and I had no time to collect ourselves. I don't know how they felt about being shoved inside this aquatic prison, but as for me, I was shivering all over. With whom were we dealing? Surely with some new breed of pirates, exploiting the sea after their own fashion.
我們一進去，上面狹小的蓋板立即關上了，四周是漆黑的一團。從光亮的地方，突然進入黑暗中，我的眼睛什麼也看不見。我感到我的光腳是緊緊地踩在一架鐵梯上。尼德-蘭和康塞爾，被人們抓得緊緊的，跟在我後面。鐵梯下面一扇門打開了，我們走進去以後，門就立即關上，發出很響亮的聲音。
The narrow hatch had barely closed over me when I was surrounded by profound darkness. Saturated with the outside light, my eyes couldn't make out a thing. I felt my naked feet clinging to the steps of an iron ladder. Forcibly seized, Ned Land and Conseil were behind me. At the foot of the ladder, a door opened and instantly closed behind us with a loud clang.
關在裡面的，現在單單剩下我們了。在什麼地方呢？我說不出來，甚至也猜不出來。只見一片漆黑，竟黑到這麼一種程度：在幾分鐘後，就是通常在最黑暗的夜間浮來浮去的那種模糊光線，我的眼睛也一點沒碰到。
We were alone. Where? I couldn't say, could barely even imagine. All was darkness, but such utter darkness that after several minutes, my eyes were still unable to catch a single one of those hazy gleams that drift through even the blackest nights.
尼德-蘭對人家給我們的這種款待方式非常憤慨，池盡情地發泄他的憤怒。
Meanwhile, furious at these goings on, Ned Land gave free rein to his indignation.
“混蛋！“他喊，“這兒的人待客不亞於喀裡多尼亞人！他們只差吃人肉罷了！我才不奇怪呢，不過我要聲明，我不會不反抗就讓他們吃我！”
"Damnation!" he exclaimed. "These people are about as hospitable as the savages of New Caledonia! All that's lacking is for them to be cannibals! I wouldn't be surprised if they were, but believe you me, they won't eat me without my kicking up a protest!"
“安靜些，尼德-蘭好朋友，安靜些，”康塞爾平心靜氣他說，“沒到時候，您用不着冒火。我們還沒有被放在烤盤裡呢！”
"Calm yourself, Ned my friend," Conseil replied serenely. "Don't flare up so quickly! We aren't in a kettle yet!"
“對，還沒有放在烤盤裡，”加拿大人答，“但是毫無疑伺，我們已經在烤爐裡了。這麼黑。哼！好在我的尖板刀還帶在身邊，用得着它的時候，我是會看得清楚的。這些盜，看他們誰敢先來向我下手吧……”
"In a kettle, no," the Canadian shot back, "but in an oven for sure. It's dark enough for one. Luckily my Bowie knife hasn't left me, and I can still see well enough to put it to use. The first one of these bandits who lays a hand on me--"
“尼德-蘭，您不用發脾氣，”我於是對魚叉手說，“暴躁：沒有什麼用，只會把事情搞壞了，誰知道有沒有人在偷聽我們說話呢！我們倒不如先想法知道我們是在什麼地方。”
"Don't be so irritable, Ned," I then told the harpooner, "and don't ruin things for us with pointless violence. Who knows whether they might be listening to us? Instead, let's try to find out where we are!"
我摸索着慢慢地走。走了五步，我碰到一堵鐵牆，牆是用螺絲釘鉚住的鐵板。然後，我轉回來，撞上一張木頭桌子，桌子邊放有幾張方板凳。這間監獄的地板上鋪着很厚的麻墊子，走起來沒有一點腳步聲。光光的牆壁摸不出有問窗的痕跡。康塞爾從相反的方向走過來，碰着我；我們回到這艙房的中間，這艙房大約長二十英呎，寬十英呎。至于高度，尼德-蘭身材雖高，也沒有能衡量出來。
I started moving, groping my way. After five steps I encountered an iron wall made of riveted boilerplate. Then, turning around, I bumped into a wooden table next to which several stools had been set. The floor of this prison lay hidden beneath thick, hempen matting that deadened the sound of footsteps. Its naked walls didn't reveal any trace of a door or window. Going around the opposite way, Conseil met up with me, and we returned to the middle of this cabin, which had to be twenty feet long by ten wide. As for its height, not even Ned Land, with his great stature, was able to determine it.
半個鐘頭過去了，我們的情形一點沒有改變，就在這時候，我們眼前的黑暗忽然轉變為極度的光明。我們的牢獄突然明亮了，就是說，房中突然充滿了十分強烈的發光體，我起初簡直受不了這種光亮。看見這雪白、強烈的光，我認出，這就是發生在潛水艇周圍，很美麗的磷光似的電光。我自然而然地閉了一下眼睛，一會兒又睜開，我看見光線是從裝在艙頂上的一個半透明的半球體中發出來的。
Half an hour had already gone by without our situation changing, when our eyes were suddenly spirited from utter darkness into blinding light. Our prison lit up all at once; in other words, it filled with luminescent matter so intense that at first I couldn't stand the brightness of it. From its glare and whiteness, I recognized the electric glow that had played around this underwater boat like some magnificent phosphorescent phenomenon. After involuntarily closing my eyes, I reopened them and saw that this luminous force came from a frosted half globe curving out of the cabin's ceiling.
“好了！我們能看清楚了廣尼德-蘭喊，手拿着刀，作防衛的姿勢。
"Finally! It's light enough to see!" Ned Land exclaimed, knife in hand, staying on the defensive.
“是的，我們能看清楚了，”我答，同時提出相反的意見，“不過我們的處境還是跟剛纔一般黑暗。”
"Yes," I replied, then ventured the opposite view. "But as for our situation, we're still in the dark."
“願先生耐心些。”冷靜的康塞爾說。
"Master must learn patience," said the emotionless Conseil.
艙房的突然明亮正好使我可以仔細地看一下裡面的環境。房中只有一張桌子和五張凳子。看不見門戶，想是閉得很緊密。沒有什麼聲響傳到我們耳邊來。在這艇的內部似乎是死一般的沉寂。它是走着呢，在海面上呢，還是在海底下呢？我沒有法子猜測。
This sudden illumination of our cabin enabled me to examine its tiniest details. It contained only a table and five stools. Its invisible door must have been hermetically sealed. Not a sound reached our ears. Everything seemed dead inside this boat. Was it in motion, or stationary on the surface of the ocean, or sinking into the depths? I couldn't tell.
不過那個光明的球總不會無緣無故地亮起來。我估計船上就會有人來。如果人家忘記了我們，人家便不會使這所黑牢亮起來。
But this luminous globe hadn't been turned on without good reason. Consequently, I hoped that some crewmen would soon make an appearance. If you want to consign people to oblivion, you don't light up their dungeons.
我果然沒有想錯。不久就聽到門閂響，門開了，兩個人走進來。
I was not mistaken. Unlocking noises became audible, a door opened, and two men appeared.
一個是身材短小，筋肉發達，兩肩寬闊，軀體壯健，堅強的頭顱，蓬蓬的黑髮，濃濃的鬍鬚，犀利的眼光，他的風度帶有法國普羅丈斯省人所特有的那種南方人的氣概。狄德羅認為人的手勢是富於譬喻的，真是說的對，現在這個短小的人正是這句活的活證據。可以感覺到，在他慣用的語言中，一定是充滿了修辭學中的各種譬喻詞彙。當然我並役有機會證實這事，因為他對我講的是一種特異的、聽不懂的話。
One was short and stocky, powerfully muscled, broad shouldered, robust of limbs, the head squat, the hair black and luxuriant, the mustache heavy, the eyes bright and penetrating, and his whole personality stamped with that southern-blooded zest that, in France, typifies the people of Provence. The philosopher Diderot has very aptly claimed that a man's bearing is the clue to his character, and this stocky little man was certainly a living proof of this claim. You could sense that his everyday conversation must have been packed with such vivid figures of speech as personification, symbolism, and misplaced modifiers. But I was never in a position to verify this because, around me, he used only an odd and utterly incomprehensible dialect.
第二個來人更值得詳細地加以描寫。格拉第奧列或恩格爾的門徒一看他的容貌，可能就知道他是怎樣一個人。用不着遲疑，我立刻看出這個人的主要特點：第一，自信，因為他的頭高傲地擺在兩肩形成的弧線中，他那漆黑的眼睛冷靜地注視着人；第二，鎮定，因為他的膚色，蒼白不紅，表示他血脈的安定；第三，強毅，這從他眼眶筋肉的迅速收縮看出來；最後，勇敢，因為他的深呼吸就表明了他的脅活力強。
The second stranger deserves a more detailed description. A disciple of such character-judging anatomists as Gratiolet or Engel could have read this man's features like an open book. Without hesitation, I identified his dominant qualities-- self-confidence, since his head reared like a nobleman's above the arc formed by the lines of his shoulders, and his black eyes gazed with icy assurance; calmness, since his skin, pale rather than ruddy, indicated tranquility of blood; energy, shown by the swiftly knitting muscles of his brow; and finally courage, since his deep breathing denoted tremendous reserves of vitality.
我還要說，這個人的樣子很高傲，他堅定的眼光好像反映出他高深的思藝。從他整個形貌來看。叢他的舉止和表情的一致性來看，根據相面先生的說法，無疑地，他是個但白直率的人。
I might add that this was a man of great pride, that his calm, firm gaze seemed to reflect thinking on an elevated plane, and that the harmony of his facial expressions and bodily movements resulted in an overall effect of unquestionable candor-- according to the findings of physiognomists, those analysts of facial character.
我看見這個人在面前，心中自然而然地覺得很安定，我預料我們的會談將很順利。
I felt "involuntarily reassured" in his presence, and this boded well for our interview.
這個人究竟是三十五歲還是五十歲，我可不能確定。他的身材高大，他的前額寬闊，鼻子筆直，嘴唇平正，牙齒齊整，兩手細長，用手相學家的話來說，特別“精靈”，就是說。正好配得上他富有情感的心靈。這人可能是我從來沒有碰見過的最完美的人型。更有一個細微的特徵，他的兩個眼睛，彼此隔開略遠一些，可以把整個一方景色同時收入眼帘中。這一特點——我在以後證實了——使他的眼力比尼德-蘭的還要高強。當這個人注視着一件東西的時候，他緊喳起眉毛，微微合起他寬大的眼皮，這樣，眼皮正好圈着眼珠，使得視野的範圍縮小，他注視着！好厲害的眼光！遠方縮小的物件都被他放大！他一眼便看透您的心事！在我們看來是很模糊的海波，他一目便能瞭然！他一眼便能看出海底深處的一切情形！
Whether this individual was thirty-five or fifty years of age, I could not precisely state. He was tall, his forehead broad, his nose straight, his mouth clearly etched, his teeth magnificent, his hands refined, tapered, and to use a word from palmistry, highly "psychic," in other words, worthy of serving a lofty and passionate spirit. This man was certainly the most wonderful physical specimen I had ever encountered. One unusual detail: his eyes were spaced a little far from each other and could instantly take in nearly a quarter of the horizon. This ability-- as I later verified--was strengthened by a range of vision even greater than Ned Land's. When this stranger focused his gaze on an object, his eyebrow lines gathered into a frown, his heavy eyelids closed around his pupils to contract his huge field of vision, and he looked! What a look--as if he could magnify objects shrinking into the distance; as if he could probe your very soul; as if he could pierce those sheets of water so opaque to our eyes and scan the deepest seas . . . !
這兩個陌生人，頭上戴着水獺皮的便帽，腳上蹬着海豹皮的水靴，身上穿著特殊織物的衣服，腰身不緊，動作起來方便自如。
Wearing caps made of sea-otter fur, and shod in sealskin fishing boots, these two strangers were dressed in clothing made from some unique fabric that flattered the figure and allowed great freedom of movement.
兩人中高大的一位——他顯然是這船上的首腦——注意地打量着我們，一句話也不說。然後轉身跟他的同伴談了一會，他說的話我聽不懂。這是一種響亮、和諧、婉轉的語言，其中母音的聲調好像變化很多。
The taller of the two--apparently the leader on board--examined us with the greatest care but without pronouncing a word. Then, turning to his companion, he conversed with him in a language I didn't recognize. It was a sonorous, harmonious, flexible dialect whose vowels seemed to undergo a highly varied accentuation.
他的同伴一邊點頭一邊回答，講了幾句完全聽不懂的話。然後他的眼光回過來，好像直接問我。
The other replied with a shake of the head and added two or three utterly incomprehensible words. Then he seemed to question me directly with a long stare.
我拿法國話回答他，說我不懂他的諸；但他似乎不懂我說的什麼，這情形真叫我相當為難。
I replied in clear French that I wasn't familiar with his language; but he didn't seem to understand me, and the situation grew rather baffling.
“先生就講講我們的經過情形好了，”康塞爾對我說，“這兩位先生也許可能聽懂幾句！”
"Still, master should tell our story," Conseil said to me. "Perhaps these gentlemen will grasp a few words of it!"
我重新講述我們遭遇的經過，每個音節都唸得清楚，一點細節都沒有遺漏。我說出我們的姓名和身份，然後我正式介紹我們：阿龍納斯教授，他的僕人康塞爾，魚叉手尼德-蘭師傅。
I tried again, telling the tale of our adventures, clearly articulating my every syllable, and not leaving out a single detail. I stated our names and titles; then, in order, I introduced Professor Aronnax, his manservant Conseil, and Mr. Ned Land, harpooner.
這個眼睛又溫和又鎮定的人，安詳地、而且禮貌地、非常注意地聽我說話。但他的面容沒有露出一點跡象足以表明他聽懂了我說的經過。當我說完了之後，他一句話也不說。
The man with calm, gentle eyes listened to me serenely, even courteously, and paid remarkable attention. But nothing in his facial expression indicated that he understood my story. When I finished, he didn't pronounce a single word.
現在只有說英國活試試看。或者他可能聽懂這種現在很通行的語言。我懂英語和德語，看書沒有問題，可是談話卻還不行。但是，無論如何，總要想辦法使人家聽得懂。
One resource still left was to speak English. Perhaps they would be familiar with this nearly universal language. But I only knew it, as I did the German language, well enough to read it fluently, not well enough to speak it correctly. Here, however, our overriding need was to make ourselves understood.
“來吧，您來吧，我對魚叉手說，”尼德-蘭師傅，現在輪到您了，請您儘量從肚子裡把英國人說的地道的英語拿出來。您想法比我說得更清楚一點。”
"Come on, it's your turn," I told the harpooner. "Over to you, Mr. Land. Pull out of your bag of tricks the best English ever spoken by an Anglo-Saxon, and try for a more favorable result than mine."
尼德-蘭一點不推托，把我講過的話又講了一遍，他講的我差不多都聽得懂。內容是一樣的，但形式不同了。加拿大人，由於他的性格，說話時很激動。他憤憤地埋怨人家蔑視人權，把我們關在這裡，質問人家憑什麼法律扣留我們，他引證了“人身保障法”的條文，說要控訴非法覊禁他的人，他全身激動，指手畫腳，大聲叫喊，最後，他用富於表情的手勢，讓對方明白，我們餓得要命。
Ned needed no persuading and started our story all over again, most of which I could follow. Its content was the same, but the form differed. Carried away by his volatile temperament, the Canadian put great animation into it. He complained vehemently about being imprisoned in defiance of his civil rights, asked by virtue of which law he was hereby detained, invoked writs of habeas corpus, threatened to press charges against anyone holding him in illegal custody, ranted, gesticulated, shouted, and finally conveyed by an expressive gesture that we were dying of hunger.
這卻是真話，但我們差不多完全忘記自己餓了。
This was perfectly true, but we had nearly forgotten the fact.
魚叉手很吃驚，因為他的話跟我說的一樣，好像也沒有為對方所瞭解。來看我們的這兩個人，連眉頭也沒有皺一皺。很明顯，他們既不懂得阿拉哥的語言，也不懂得法拉第的語言。
Much to his amazement, the harpooner seemed no more intelligible than I had been. Our visitors didn't bat an eye. Apparently they were engineers who understood the languages of neither the French physicist Arago nor the English physicist Faraday.
我們所有的語言資本都拿出來了，可是並沒有解決問題，我很為難，不知道怎麼辦才好，這時康塞爾對我說：
Thoroughly baffled after vainly exhausting our philological resources, I no longer knew what tactic to pursue, when Conseil told me:
“如果先生允許的活，我現在用德語來講一講。”
"If master will authorize me, I'll tell the whole business in German."
“什麼！你會說德語？”我喊。
"What! You know German?" I exclaimed.
“這不至于使先生不高興吧，我像普通佛蘭德人一樣，會說德語。”
"Like most Flemish people, with all due respect to master."
“正相反，你會說德語，我很高興。說吧，好小伙子。”
"On the contrary, my respect is due you. Go to it, my boy."
康塞爾拿他很鎮定的語調，將我們的經過情形作了第三次的敘述。可是，不管講述人怎樣把話說得婉轉漂亮，音調怎樣和諧動聽，德語也無濟幹事。
And Conseil, in his serene voice, described for the third time the various vicissitudes of our story. But despite our narrator's fine accent and stylish turns of phrase, the German language met with no success.
最後，實在沒有別的辦法了，我極力想起我早年所學過的語言，我拿拉丁話來講述我們的遭遇和經過。西賽羅聽了，可能要塞住耳朵，把我趕到廚房裡去，可是，我也勉強對付着說完了。但結果還是白費。
Finally, as a last resort, I hauled out everything I could remember from my early schooldays, and I tried to narrate our adventures in Latin. Cicero would have plugged his ears and sent me to the scullery, but somehow I managed to pull through. With the same negative result.
我們最後一次的嘗試又失敗了，這兩個陌生人用那不可懂的語言彼此說了幾句諸，他們就走開了，甚至于世界各國通用的使人安心的手勢也沒對我們做一下。門又關起來了。
This last attempt ultimately misfiring, the two strangers exchanged a few words in their incomprehensible language and withdrew, not even favoring us with one of those encouraging gestures that are used in every country in the world. The door closed again.
“這簡直是太無恥了！”尼德-蘭喊，他是第二十次發怒了。“怎麼！我們給他們說法語、英語、德語、拉丁語，可是這些混蛋就沒有一個人懂得禮貌，連理也不理！”
"This is outrageous!" Ned Land shouted, exploding for the twentieth time. "I ask you! We speak French, English, German, and Latin to these rogues, and neither of them has the decency to even answer back!"
“尼德-蘭，安靜些，”我對憤怒的魚叉手說，“發脾氣解決不了問題。”
"Calm down, Ned," I told the seething harpooner. "Anger won't get us anywhere."
“但是，教授先生，”我們好動火的同伴答，“難道我們就這樣餓死在這鐵籠子裡嗎？”
"But professor," our irascible companion went on, "can't you see that we could die of hunger in this iron cage?"
“算了吧！“康塞爾說，“只要心中放寬一些，我們還可以支持得很久！”
"Bah!" Conseil put in philosophically. "We can hold out a good while yet!"
“朋友們，不要失望，”我說，“我們現在是走在很壞的道路上。你們給我耐心等待一下，先說說你們對於這船的船長和船員的看法吧。”
"My friends," I said, "we mustn't despair. We've gotten out of tighter spots. So please do me the favor of waiting a bit before you form your views on the commander and crew of this boat."
“我的看法就是這樣，”尼德-蘭答，“這些人是混”
"My views are fully formed," Ned Land shot back. "They're rogues!"
"Oh good! And from what country?"
"Roguedom!"
“老實的尼德-蘭，這個國家在地圖上還沒有繪出來哩，我承認這兩個人的國籍實在很難斷定！他們不是英國人，不是法國人，不是德國人，這是可以肯定的了。我倒想說這個船長和他的助手是生長在低緯度地帶的人。他們身上帶有南方人的特點。他們可能是西班牙人、土耳其人、阿拉伯人或印度人嗎？但是他們的身型還不容許我下斷語。至於他們的語言，那是完全無法懂得的。”
"My gallant Ned, as yet that country isn't clearly marked on maps of the world, but I admit that the nationality of these two strangers is hard to make out! Neither English, French, nor German, that's all we can say. But I'm tempted to think that the commander and his chief officer were born in the low latitudes. There must be southern blood in them. But as to whether they're Spaniards, Turks, Arabs, or East Indians, their physical characteristics don't give me enough to go on. And as for their speech, it's utterly incomprehensible."
“這就是不懂得各種語言的苦惱了，”康塞爾答，“也可以說世界上沒有統一的語言真不方便！”
"That's the nuisance in not knowing every language," Conseil replied, "or the drawback in not having one universal language!"
“這有什麼用呢！”尼德-蘭答，“你們沒有看見嗎？這些人有他們自己的語言，這種語言好像是為了叫好人沒法向他們討飯吃才創造的！但是，在地球上所有的國家，張張嘴，動動牙床，咬咬齒和唇，這意思難道還不明白嗎？在魁北克和在帕摩圖一樣，在巴黎和跟巴黎對面的城市一樣，這不就是說我餓了，給我東西吃嗎！”
"Which would all go out the window!" Ned Land replied. "Don't you see, these people have a language all to themselves, a language they've invented just to cause despair in decent people who ask for a little dinner! Why, in every country on earth, when you open your mouth, snap your jaws, smack your lips and teeth, isn't that the world's most understandable message? From Quebec to the Tuamotu Islands, from Paris to the Antipodes, doesn't it mean: I'm hungry, give me a bite to eat!"
“呵！”康塞爾說，“真有那麼不聰明的人！”
"Oh," Conseil put in, "there are some people so unintelligent by nature . . ."
當他說這話的時候，房門開了，進來一個侍者，他給我們送來衣服，海上穿的上衣和短褲，衣服的質料我簡直不認得。我趕快拿來穿上，我的同伴跟我一樣，穿上了衣服。
As he was saying these words, the door opened. A steward entered. He brought us some clothes, jackets and sailor's pants, made out of a fabric whose nature I didn't recognize. I hurried to change into them, and my companions followed suit.
這時候，侍者一可能是啞巴，也可能是聾子——把三份餐具放在桌上。
Meanwhile our silent steward, perhaps a deaf-mute, set the table and laid three place settings.
千這才像話，看來不是壞事。”康塞爾說。
"There's something serious afoot," Conseil said, "and it bodes well."
“算了吧！”心中忿恨的魚叉手說，“這裡有什麼可吃的？至多是甲魚肝、鯊魚片，海狗排罷了！”
"Bah!" replied the rancorous harpooner. "What the devil do you suppose they eat around here? Turtle livers, loin of shark, dogfish steaks?"
“我們看吧！”康塞爾說。
"We'll soon find out!" Conseil said.
食品用銀製的罩子蓋着，兩邊對稱地在桌布上擺好了，我們在飯桌前坐下。很顯然，我們是跟有文化和有禮貌的人打交道，如果沒有那照耀着我們的電光，我簡直要以為自己不是在利物浦阿德費旅館裡，就是在巴黎的大飯店裡。可是我得聲明一句，麵包和酒完全沒有。飲水很新鮮、很清涼，但不過是水，水不是尼德-蘭愛喝的。在端來給我們吃的肉類中間，有幾種我認得是烹調得很精緻的魚：但有幾盤很好吃的菜，我說不出名日來，甚至于它們是植物是動物，我都不敢說。至于桌上的食具，更是精美，無可指摘。每一件東西，匙子、叉子、刀、盤，上面都有一個字母，字母周圍有一句題詞，我們照原來的樣式抄在下面：
Overlaid with silver dish covers, various platters had been neatly positioned on the table cloth, and we sat down to eat. Assuredly, we were dealing with civilized people, and if it hadn't been for this electric light flooding over us, I would have thought we were in the dining room of the Hotel Adelphi in Liverpool, or the Grand Hotel in Paris. However, I feel compelled to mention that bread and wine were totally absent. The water was fresh and clear, but it was still water--which wasn't what Ned Land had in mind. Among the foods we were served, I was able to identify various daintily dressed fish; but I couldn't make up my mind about certain otherwise excellent dishes, and I couldn't even tell whether their contents belonged to the vegetable or the animal kingdom. As for the tableware, it was elegant and in perfect taste. Each utensil, spoon, fork, knife, and plate, bore on its reverse a letter encircled by a Latin motto, and here is its exact duplicate:
MOBILLSiNMOBILD
MOBILIS IN MOBILI
動中之動！這句題詞只要把原來的IN字譯成“中”字而不譯成“上”字，就正好用在這只潛水船上。“N”可能是在海底下發號施令的那位神秘人物的姓名開頭的一個字母！
Moving within the moving element! It was a highly appropriate motto for this underwater machine, so long as the preposition in is translated as within and not upon. The letter N was no doubt the initial of the name of that mystifying individual in command beneath the seas!
尼德-蘭和康塞爾跟我不一樣，並沒有想得這麼多。他們在儘量地吃，我立刻也跟他們一樣做。此外，我對，於我們的命運也放心了，據我看來事情很清楚，我們的主人決沒有意思讓我們俄死。
Ned and Conseil had no time for such musings. They were wolfing down their food, and without further ado I did the same. By now I felt reassured about our fate, and it seemed obvious that our hosts didn't intend to let us die of starvation.
可是，什麼事都是有始有終的，都要過去的，就是餓眷肚子，十五小時沒吃東西這樣的事也不是例外的。現在矜們的肚子裝滿了，又迫切地感到需要睡覺了。我們跟死亡連續鬥爭了一夜，現在想睡覺也是很自然的。
But all earthly things come to an end, all things must pass, even the hunger of people who haven't eaten for fifteen hours. Our appetites appeased, we felt an urgent need for sleep. A natural reaction after that interminable night of fighting for our lives.
“說真的，我真想好好地睡一覺。”康塞爾說。
"Ye gods, I'll sleep soundly," Conseil said.
“我也想睡一睡！”尼德-蘭答。
"Me, I'm out like a light!" Ned Land replied.
我的兩個同伴躺在艙房的地毯上，不久就呼呼地酣睡了。
My two companions lay down on the cabin's carpeting and were soon deep in slumber.
至於我個人，雖然感到有睡覺的需要，可是卻不那麼容易睡得着。很多的思慮湧上心頭，很多不可解決的問題塞滿了我的腦子，很多的想象要我的眼睛睜開來！我們在哪兒？把我們帶走的是什麼奇異的力量？我感到——不如說我以為感到——這船正向海底最深的地方下沉。許多惡夢把我糾纏住了。我在這神秘的避難所裡面，窺見一大群沒人知道的動物，這只潛水艇似乎是它們的同類，它跟它們一樣活着，一樣動着，一樣可怕！……之後，我的腦子安靜下來，我蒙蒙嚨隴地幻想著，不久也就沉沉地人睡了……
As for me, I gave in less readily to this intense need for sleep. Too many thoughts had piled up in my mind, too many insoluble questions had arisen, too many images were keeping my eyelids open! Where were we? What strange power was carrying us along? I felt--or at least I thought I did--the submersible sinking toward the sea's lower strata. Intense nightmares besieged me. In these mysterious marine sanctuaries, I envisioned hosts of unknown animals, and this underwater boat seemed to be a blood relation of theirs: living, breathing, just as fearsome . . . ! Then my mind grew calmer, my imagination melted into hazy drowsiness, and I soon fell into an uneasy slumber.